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17-04-2009, 06:33 PM
Back home after covering 3000k's in the Tig over the last week. No problems with car at all. Really comfortable on a trip, eats up the k's, and even after back-to-back full day drives, still arrive feeling fine, which I'm really pleased with because that's why I bought it and not a Golf (not really, I still wouldn't have bought a 2WD Golf).
Also got fantastic fuel consumption IMO (averaged 7.7l/100k's on the way home from Coffs!), which I find incredible given the weight of the Tig. Worst I got was 10.8 which was a day's driving which included a run up through the ranges :biggrin:. I was expecting a lot worse.
Any way I look at it though, to get that sort of economy from a 1700kg turbo petrol engined AWD vehicle, is pretty bloody good IMO.
Of course that's forgetting about the performance of it too, which for some of you considering the petrol Tigs might be interested in also. The APR map suits me well. It has great gobs of fat torque down low (sorry TDI's, but this thing is crazy), with the power coming on strong and staying pretty much through the rev range. It flattens the steepest hills and acceleration is also pretty awesome. I won't go into figures, but suffice to say that it is much more than adequate, with roll-on acceleration leaving most everything else on the road in your way, and as far as I'm concerned, makes it much safer. But I need warnings (like my partner punching me in the arm!) because it builds speed deceptively fast, and I'm not used to that bloody VW speedo head that changes calibration after 80k/h and catches me every time. But at the end of the day, it still needs to be kept in perspective because it's still only 2L 4 cylinder turbo - even if it is producing around 190kW and 410Nm.
Where it really shines for me, though, is it's responsiveness which is now right up there. It just never feels like a heavy car, even just the slightest input is transferred straight to the wheels and this really adds to the fun when driving through a good set of twisties. And now with the added power on tap, it really transforms how the car behaves, especially on the run out (although slightly sharper steering and a little flatter will be good when I get that sorted). :) It's a credit to the basic design though.
All up, very happy so far.
Also got fantastic fuel consumption IMO (averaged 7.7l/100k's on the way home from Coffs!), which I find incredible given the weight of the Tig. Worst I got was 10.8 which was a day's driving which included a run up through the ranges :biggrin:. I was expecting a lot worse.
Any way I look at it though, to get that sort of economy from a 1700kg turbo petrol engined AWD vehicle, is pretty bloody good IMO.
Of course that's forgetting about the performance of it too, which for some of you considering the petrol Tigs might be interested in also. The APR map suits me well. It has great gobs of fat torque down low (sorry TDI's, but this thing is crazy), with the power coming on strong and staying pretty much through the rev range. It flattens the steepest hills and acceleration is also pretty awesome. I won't go into figures, but suffice to say that it is much more than adequate, with roll-on acceleration leaving most everything else on the road in your way, and as far as I'm concerned, makes it much safer. But I need warnings (like my partner punching me in the arm!) because it builds speed deceptively fast, and I'm not used to that bloody VW speedo head that changes calibration after 80k/h and catches me every time. But at the end of the day, it still needs to be kept in perspective because it's still only 2L 4 cylinder turbo - even if it is producing around 190kW and 410Nm.
Where it really shines for me, though, is it's responsiveness which is now right up there. It just never feels like a heavy car, even just the slightest input is transferred straight to the wheels and this really adds to the fun when driving through a good set of twisties. And now with the added power on tap, it really transforms how the car behaves, especially on the run out (although slightly sharper steering and a little flatter will be good when I get that sorted). :) It's a credit to the basic design though.
All up, very happy so far.