2019 Automobile Of The Year
It鈥檚 one thing to become infatuated with a car after a short fling, as we did when we declared Volkswagen鈥榮 GTI the 2007 Automobile of the Year. It鈥檚 something else to live with it for a full year - especially when we鈥檙e continually spoiled by machinery costing two, three, or even ten times as much. And so a year ago, we ordered our little Volkswagen to see if the candy white GTI would still taste delicious after a full year. The sweet taste of some confections just never gets old. 199 iPod adapter. Included in the VW鈥檚 base price are power windows, mirrors, and door locks; stability control; front, side, and side curtain air bags; HID headlights; and a six-CD changer. The GTI may be a small car, but it certainly wants for no convenience or safety features. Although everyone agreed that the standard plaid cloth seats were cool enough to forgo leather, the decision to order the dual-clutch transmission was more difficult.
While most of the staff begged for three pedals and a stick, this test offered the perfect opportunity to finally settle the gearbox question: is the DSG so good that it鈥檚 a worthy substitute for a manual transmission? It took all of one day for that question to be answered. Senior editor Joe Lorio concluded that 鈥渢he DSG may be the world鈥檚 sportiest automatic, but it鈥檚 not the ultimate manual.鈥?Over the next twelve months, everyone seemed to agree with Lorio. The DSG received endless praise for its ability to shift instantaneously and with no interruption of power, but no one thought of it as a substitute for a conventional manual. Associate editor Sam Smith: 鈥淲ould I buy one? A few staffers noticed that the DSG was a little slow to engage reverse in the morning, and several commented that the dual-clutch GTI wasn鈥檛 as smooth off the line as it would be with a conventional automatic.
鈥淭he combination of nonlinear clutch takeup and turbo lag means off-the-line acceleration is hard to predict,鈥?commented one staffer. There was not another complaint about the driveline. Everyone loved the GTI鈥榮 200-hp engine, which provides big thrust with minimal turbo lag. Thanks to a resonance tube that pipes the engine鈥檚 intake honk directly into the cabin, you鈥檙e always aware of what the little four-cylinder is doing without needing a loud exhaust. From outside, the loudest part of the GTI鈥檚 sound track is the big burp it emits during on-boost upshifts. We played endlessly with the steering-wheel shift paddles to hear the music over and over again. Perhaps that鈥檚 why the downshift paddle wore out. It was replaced under warranty at 10,082 miles, and at the same time, the dealer located the source of a front-end clunk we had been hearing for some time. The sound was caused by subframe bolts that had loosened - a problem other GTI owners have experienced. Our VW also needed an oxygen sensor at 17,099 miles to extinguish a check-engine light, and it developed some interior rattles during its stay with us, but otherwise the GTI was problem-free.
One of the repairs was performed at a routine service interval, so our car visited the dealer five times during its one-year test. 570.13 - that鈥檚 luxury-car territory. VW just announced that all of its 2009 model year cars will have free maintenance during their bumper-to-bumper warranty. That period, however, shrinks from our 2007 warranty鈥檚 four years and 50,000 miles to three years and 36,000 miles. Our disappointment with the GTI鈥檚 service costs dissipated when we were behind the thick, sculpted leather steering wheel, though. Smith gushed, 鈥淭he steering. Oh, my God, the steering. The GTI offers the most steering feel for your new-car dollar, period. It鈥檚 direct, it鈥檚 light, it feels blissfully unassisted but never heavy, and you always know exactly what the front wheels are doing. It reminds me of an older, lighter car.鈥?The GTI鈥檚 fuel economy, however, didn鈥檛 get such rave reviews. With an overall average of 23 mpg, the GTI definitely was not the econohatch we expected it to be. Our DSG-equipped GTI didn鈥檛 even come close to achieving its 25-mpg city and 32-mpg highway EPA economy ratings.
Although the GTI鈥檚 appetite for premium fuel became slightly less voracious during its stay with us, it barely achieved 27 mpg on the interstate. We鈥檝e easily beaten that in much larger cars with bigger engines. Of course, we didn鈥檛 often treat the GTI as an economy car. The pimping happened in unassuming Greensburg, Pennsylvania, where Next Level Performance Tuning transformed our GTI from bunny-quick to cheetah-fast. In addition to the 52-hp boost, the new engine programming gave us a shocking 96 lb-ft of additional torque. The massive midrange torque made the GTI 鈥渢he fastest traffic-beater in the world鈥?according to road test editor Marc Noordeloos. Smith pined for the stock engine鈥檚 more linear power delivery - until we returned the car to 200-hp mode. Then, he wanted the power back. The lowered suspension got mixed reviews. Suspension supernanny Noordeloos complained of too little wheel travel and diminished steering feel, but most people agreed that the GTI was the best-riding lowered car that they鈥檇 ever driven.
