In early October, I traded in my 2002 Toyota Corolla for a 2012 VW Golf TDI. The obvious improvements of a brand new car aside, my VW is a joy to drive.
The Interior
I’m attracted to a nice steering wheel. The Golf TDI rewards my fetish with a thick three spoke wheel comfortably covered in smooth leather. Each side of the wheel has a cluster of buttons to control my iPhone, the radio, and the little display tucked between the tachometer and speedometer. I frequently toggle that particular display to show my average MPGs. I like watching my ride sip Diesel fuel!
The dark interior color is tastefully accented with silver. There’s a huge touch screen in the middle that entertains my six-year-old daughter by displaying the name of each song as it plays. I’ve never even tested the CD player since we can stream music from my iPhone over Bluetooth, listen to HD radio, or use an SD card.
The seats are comfortable, adjustable, and in the front, heated. The back seat is a big thrill for a little kid. My daughter relishes her own personal map light, arm rest, and peephole into the trunk via the pass-through. There’s an accessory plug in the trunk. With a long cord we can power the kid’s iPod. The back seats fold down in a 60-40 split, making the little hatchback an impressive hauler.
The Exterior
My 4-door hatchback Golf is white. It’s a clean design, understated, and unassuming. The back of the car does seem to attract dirt. I’m tempted to wash just the back of the car even when the rest of it doesn’t look very dirty.
The Drive
The true pleasure of the VW Golf is in the drive. The steering has an incredible on-center feel. It seems like the car knows where you want it, finding the center of the lane and staying there. Ripples and divots in the rough Pennsylvania roads are negated. The car drives easy and smooth.
The DSG transmission has eliminated my already pathetically small desire to ever learn to drive a standard. The transmission has drive, sport, and manual. In the manual mode you can select gears by bumping the shifter forward or back or with the paddles on the steering column. It has been my lifelong dream to have paddle shifters, but I really haven’t used them much. What I use frequently, almost gleefully, is sport mode which will run the engine all the way up to red line as you are thrown back into your seat by impressive low-end torque.
I grinned ear-to-ear for the first full three weeks driving this car.
My husband has said that the brakes don’t feel as good as he would like. I hardly ever use them. The car seems to downshift so intuitively that not much braking is required.
So far, I’m getting about 35 MPG around town and almost 50 MPG on the highway. With that kind of economy it’s incredible there is truly no sacrifice in the driving experience. My VW Golf TDI has me looking forward to the next ten years!