My wife had an 04 VW Passat, and decided she wanted a new car. My mission yesterday was to go around to all of the stealerships and find her a new ride. Her only pre-requisites were leather, heated seats, sun roof, 4 doors, auto tranny and "something cool" (yes, pretty open to interpretation by a caffeine-fueled-former-motor-cop-speed-junkie).

My first inclination was to go to the VW shop since that's what we had and she liked it, she just got tired of the manual shift. I looked at the new Passat's, but just wasn't thrilled. Then I spotted the 2007 GTI 4 door... An old buddy of mine in the Marine Corps had a late 80's GTI and it was fun as hell to drive, so I figured I would take a peek. Long story short, I took it for a test drive and was sold.

This freakin' thing is a blast to drive. For a little turbo charged 4 banger, it hauls ass. It has a "DSG Transmission" that is an auto/manual gearbox, with the little F1 paddle shifters on the steering wheel. They (VW) says it shifts faster than a standard auto tranny and also faster than a human can shift a manual. Me of course, having several driving schools under my belt, was a bit skeptical at best. But, after driving the thing, I was thoroughly impressed. It really is a great gearbox, and that little turbo charged 4 screams. It has a "sport mode" for the tranny that actually makes a difference. I've driven cars before that had a "sport mode" on the shifter, but it didn't really do anything other than make noise...but this thing holds the gear changes to red line and actually gives you a noticeable power increase. The car is typical German fit & finish and is surprisingly roomy.

At any rate, just wanted to share. I feel like a kid again in this car, it's the first car I've had in years that I actually look for an excuse to drive.
And, I feel like a cool young hipster...

And of course, the obligatory pic...edited with a better pic so that kayamana could get another (better) look at those cool wheels.

Those rims have got to go.

Quoted: Those rims have got to go.

Dude, they're the factory wheels, it's the wife's car...'nuff said.

Nice, enjoy!

Nice!  Hey what kinda milage that getting?

Quoted: Nice!  Hey what kinda milage that getting?

With the wife driving, probably around the claimed mileage...25/31.
With me driving, not so much.


Aimless, I'm not sure about the WRX, I've never driven one. I hear that they are very quick though. We used to have an 02 Audi TT (1.8 NON-Quatro) and it had nothing for a WRX, but this thing is significantly quicker than the TT was...wanna race??

Uh, how's the WIFE like it??

NICE,   I've read very good things about the  6spd DSG


so about how much  $$$   ?

Aimless, I'll take that race....In my 4WD Titan.

I know what you mean about the older GTI's, an old buddy of mine in the Marine Corps had one and it was a cool car and would scoot for the late 80's. None of the newer cars really excite me with their styling (especially) or performance, but honestly, this thing is deceivingly fast and is a lot of fun to drive. I'm still not bowled over by it's styling, but again, it's the wife's car.

Shivan- The wife loves it actually.

And cnatra, it was stickered at $28.5K, and we got it for $26K w/ TT&T out the door.

Awesome!  I didn't even know they were offering a 4-door version of it.  In a year or two when they start offering the 2L turbodiesel I'll definitely have to take a look.  And I know what you mean about the new Passat, something just aint right with that car.  Especially the interior, it's downright fugly compared to the B5.5.

It seems like a lot of money for a hatchback, but as a fellow VW owner(02 Golf TDI) I know you're getting your money's worth.

Quoted: Quoted: ...wanna race?? I don't have a WRX, just was looking at them. The only way I could race you is if you're willing to take your GTI across a muddy cornfield, otherwise the only way my car would be faster is if we were both driving off a cliff I had a buddy in grad school who had one of the early gtis. That was a GREAT car. The more recent ones never interested me.

The R32 (250bhp) could maybe hang with the WRX but I doubt the standard GTI will.

The DSG tranny is SO far advanced over an automatic that you should be arrested for calling it an 'auto/manual' DSG is a dual-electronic clutch solution that does away with the torque converter altogether. IMO, DSG shares more in common with a manual since it is actually clutched but frankly it doesn't much resemble a manual either.

Anyhoo, appealing little cars. I wish VW was bringing the R36 (~300bhp awd 3.6L Golf) to our shores.

DSG: An SMT without the lag The DSG all but eliminates the lag inherent in SMTs. The DSG is essentially two 3-speed gearboxes with a pair of clutches. When the driver starts out, transmission #1 is in first gear and transmission #2 is in second. The clutch engages and the car starts out in first. When it's time to change gears, the DSG uses the clutches to swap transmissions. The #1 transmission immediately shifts to third gear. At the next change the DSG swaps transmissions again, and #2 shifts to fourth. The DSG's computerized controller calculates the next likely gearchange and shifts the "idle" transmission into that gear. The advantage is the speed of gearchanges: The DSG takes about 8 milliseconds to upshift. Compare that to the SMT in the Ferrari Enzo, which takes 150 ms to upshift. It's also significantly faster than a human: According to Audi, the A3 runs 0-60 in 6.9 seconds with a 6-speed manual and 6.7 seconds with the 6-speed DSG. Like the SMT, the DSG performs double-clutch downshifts and can skip gears (i.e. downshifting from 6th directly to 4th, 3rd, etc). Driving with the DSG The DSG uses a traditional P-R-N-D-S shift pattern. It can shift automatically in either normal (D) or Sport (S) modes. In Normal mode, the DSG shifts to the higher gears early in order to minimize engine noise and maximize fuel economy. In Sport mode the transmission holds the lower gears longer in order to keep the engine in its powerband. This is especially useful for turbocharged cars like Audi A3, VW GTI and VW Jetta GLI, since the turbocharger is only active at higher RPMs. Sport mode also provides more aggressive downshifts with slight accelerator pedal pressure. Manual mode is engaged by either sliding the shift lever to the side or pulling one of the paddles on the steering wheel. Once in manual mode, shifts are made by moving the shifter fore and aft or using the paddles (which are marked " " and "-"). If manual mode was engaged with the paddles, pulling and holding the upshift paddle.

source

Car might be fairly quick and have a qualiity build, but it looks like someone slapped the doors on as an afterthought........

Oh, and BTW, I DO have a WRX, and while it handles well, has decent power, AWD, has never left me stranded (bought new 04' w/70K miles) etc, it isn't all that exciting.

Nice ride. Do you know the claimed weight distribution?
Is the curb weight under 3000 lbs? BBS rims could be next

Quoted: Oh, and BTW, I DO have a WRX, and while it handles well, has decent power, AWD, has never left me stranded (bought new 04' w/70K miles) etc, it isn't all that exciting.

I had one of the first model WRX's and '02, with some small mods, and I think that is what made the car so fun.  It wasn't "exciting", you felt safe and in control despite driving well above reasonable and prudent.

I believe that the Cobb Tuning chip was how the car should have been configured from the factory.  It had a small bump in HP & TQ, but the boost was available as it was being produced, instead of basing it on throttle position and RPM.

Anyway with just a chip, and a short shift kit, it was quite a little performer.  Not "exciting", but certainly a lot of fun on the back roads.

Quoted: Dude, they're the factory wheels, it's the wife's car...'nuff said.

I know. I'm just saying they are't all that appealing. I wouldn't change them either on the wife's car but I would try to find one with something else. No offense was meant in my first reply.

No offense was taken at all.