Wheels Names Australia's Best Value Cars
The best value cars on the Australian market have been named by Wheels Magazine with the list emphasising the continued changing of the guard in the local market. There are no Holdens or Fords in the 10 winners named by the magazine which picked the best "bang for your buck" across a range of categories. Even market leader Toyota has failed to crack top spot on the podium though its premium Lexus brand has taken out one of the prizes. Japanese and European brands have shared the spoils with Mazda, Mitsubishi, Kia, Volvo, Skoda and Volkswagen all among the winners. In the mainstream sedan category, the traditional stomping ground of the Holden Commodore and the Ford Falcon in years gone by, the Skoda Octavia 110 was named the best buy. The Kia Picanto S was named the best hatch and the Mazda CX-3 Neo the top value small SUV. The judges chose their Gold Star Cars based on a range of criteria including purchase price, fuel economy, insurance costs, depreciation, servicing costs and warranties. Wheels editor Alex Inwood said.
Having such a technologically advanced engine (even though it is from the factory) means that one should treat it with more respect than that of a normal engined car. I would suggest owners to maintain the Polo GTI as well as the Jetta 1.4TSI religiously and not miss any service intervals. In fact if VW says 15,000km, do it even lesser if possible. There is a 1,500km tollerance for bringing the car in for service - use it at 13,500km INSTEAD of going over the 15,000km mark. Do make sure that the service centre provides VW504 grade engine oil (which is VW's long life oil rating) for this and do not skimp on the quality of oil. Update: Do also wait before you turn off the ignition. Let the oil and the water circulate around a bit after a spirited drive. It lets the fluids cool down as if you turn the ignition off the water and oil stops circulating and heat is stuck in the engine block instead of having some of it return through the radiator and disperses off.
In some VWs the radiator fan stays on after the car stops, but you can assist the car by keeping the engine on for at least a minute or so. What is a minute against a destroyed engine? Note that some of us use aftermarket timers (turbo timers) to do this for us. But if your car is new and under warranty, this may void warranty as it is not a warranted addition. So do it manually. As for coil pack issues, this is a known VW as well as Audi problem. Again, this is heat related. If you are whacking the car silly all of the time this may arise. It isn't as often as you think as I have heard of many VW owners without such issues. It is simple, with great horsepower and torque, comes higher servicing and maintenance costs. I thought it was logical. The same goes for the DSG. This is different from something used in say, a Toyota Vios automatic.
That Toyota can do 'Go Greens' at the traffic lights every time of the day without any problems for years (as it has no torque from the normally aspirated engine to destroy the clutch pads too). So I would suggest buyers be prepared for a change of clutches if you intend to use the car for its duration if you are heavy on the accelerator pedal here and there all of the time. Drive normally most of the time and the DSG may survive as long as it should. The occasional spirited driving and lighting up the tyres at the traffic lights are acceptable. Again, note that it has clutches that may wear out and be prepared for it and you should do fine! Remember, it is a double clutch gearbox - two of everything. The most important issue when driving anything DSG (both wet or dry clutch DSG) is that when you drive it, make sure you come TO A COMPLETE STOP BEFORE CHANGING GEARS.
DSGs suffer from drivetrain shunts or shift shocks if you do not shift properly. When reversing, do not enter into forward until the car has stopped rolling backwards. Put your foot on the brake, come to a complete stop before shifthing into Drive. I know a whole lot of people who are so rough on their automatic transmissions that they break them. A DSG isn't a traditional automatic. In fact a CVT isn't that traditional too. I have encountered friends who have complained about jerky shifts on a CVT but when I thought them to actually shift properly, the issues stop happening. This is the same with maintaining a DSG. You shift properly and it will extend the lifespan of the gearbox. Especially the mechatronic controller which gets totally confused (it suffers from transmission shock when you shift on the fly) and then dies on you if you aren't doing it right.
