Audi A4 S-Line Avant 2.0TDI 2005-2008

Class:           Junior Executive

Rivals:         BMW 320d Tourer, Mercedes C-Class, Toyota Avensis, Lexis IS220d.

Sister Car:   VW Passat

Variants:     4 Door Saloon, 5 Door Avant (Estate), 2 Door Cabriolet

Engines:     Petrol, 1.6, 1.8 20v Turbo, 1.8 16v TFSI, 2.0 20v Turbo, 2.0 16v TFSI, 3.2 20vFSI 

                   Diesel, 1.9TDi, 2.0TDi, 2.7 V6 TDi, 3.0 V6 TDi

Gearbox:    5 Speed Manual, 6 Speed Manual, 6 Speed Tiptronic, 7 Speed Multitronic

Awards:     Top Safety Pick 2007 from the IIHS

This is easily, the best car I have ever owned, and because of the Irish economy, the best car I will own for quite the while.  It took three and a half months religiously searching through Auto Trader and ringing dealers to find the exact car I wanted and I eventually found one in England one late February weekend.  Two phone calls, a deposit and a ferry ride later and I was home with it and it was better then I imagined.  A serious head turner of a car, flash but very practical.  Serious power when you let loose and the 6 Speed short shift gear box is an absolute dream to drive!  I choose the front wheel drive version because after driving a few quattros, I found the system absorbed too much torque in anything under 200 bhp and it tended to kick out a small bit when leaning into a corner.  This car comes on RS6 alloys sporting 235/40 ZR18 tires that are seriously grippy.  The 2 liter TDI engine sports the phase II turbo system which means all the little bugs from the early 2.0TDI are well ironed out.  The only thing apart from regular servicing I have had to change is the Alternator in nearly 3 years owning the car.

The A4 B7 (VAG Chassis Name) derived a lot from the previous B6 chassis, but sported a heavily revised steering setup, suspension geometry, a new engine range as well as the new Bosch 8.0 Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) which is still top of the range in chassis electronics!  The chassis name given to the Avant is B7 8ED.

A new range of engines came with the new A4 B7, the 1.9TDI was now only available in 115bhp, where the 2.0tdi started at 140bhp.  It also saw the introduction of Fuel Stratified Injection (FSI) on the 2.0 TFSI (Turbo) and the 3.2l V6 FSI.  The new 2.0 TDI now featured Pumpe Duse (PD) injectors with 16 valves for the first time.

According to 2007 Swedish Vehicle Inspection sheet, the Audi A4 Avant 2.0TDI, is the most reliable vehicle on the market in the 3-6 year old category with a vehicle inspection rejection rate of 0.0%.  This is the equivalent of our NCT.

With its Bosch ESP, ABS, side curtain and seat airbags, and its optional quattro system, The A4 B7 scored top marks in the Euro NCAP crash test results.

The S-Line Avant comes with Sports Suspension, Audi Concert Audio System, Riccardo Buckets Seats with Lumbar support and the 3 spoke Steering wheel.  As soon as you sit in you know your in something special.  Its extremely maneuverable and easy to park with a great turning circle for a car of its size. 

Your looking at spending at least €10,000 to pick up a clean 2nd hand car, but they are worth every penny.  At €614 to tax they are at the higher end of the spectrum but are well above the older 1.9tdi in terms of performance.

This without any doubt, is still our favourite car of the moment.

gary

BMW M5 2011

On first glimpse of the new 555BHP BMW M5, and we have to say, yes, we would!!

There are 2 cylinders missing from the previous models V10 but the new 4.4 liter V8, which has already featured in the X5M and the X6M, with its unique Exhaust Cross Bank technology gives the beast an amazing 530lb-ft of pure unadulterated torque!!

Due for release later this year with a price tag approaching the 6 figure sum.

Check out this video of the new M5 stretching its legs at Laguna Seca!! 



gary



Peugeot 107 2005-Present

Class:            City Car

Rivals:           Kia Picanto, Hyundai i10, Smart Car, Chevrolet Matiz,

Sister Cars:   Toyota Aygo, Citroen C1

Variants:       3 Door Hatch, 5 Door Hatch

Engine:         Petrol, 1.0

                     Diesel, 1.4HDi

Gearbox:       5 Speed Manual

The Peugeot 107 was developed along with Toyota as part of the B-Zero project in 2005 which saw 3 cars released under 3 different brands, The Peugeot 107, the Citroen C1 and the Toyota Aygo.  All three were built in the new facilities of "Toyota Peugeot Citroen Automobile Czech" in Kolin in the Czech Republic.

The Peugeot 107 replaced the popular 106 after 12 years in production.  For a small car, it handles itself very well on the motorway, as long as your not going uphill!!  Around the town its nimble and smart, very easy to control and to park.  I wasn't a huge fan of the steering position in it as I found it too high and too flat, I found as well that if you were trying to go around a 90 degree sharp bend that it took a lot of work on the steering wheel to get you around the corner.

The 68bhp 1.0 liter engine wasn't exactly crying out no more on the motor way, although it didn't like to touch of acceleration when it was asked to overtake something.  Around the town it made the car feel light and zippy, even with four people in the car.

This is a cheap and easy to run car, very light on petrol, not much boot space to talk about, seeing as when we got to the car with our Ryanair acceptable bags, they wouldn't fit in the boot!  The cabin space is very basic but not too bad, plenty of cubby holes but no lockable glove box.

Breakdown statistics by the AA put the Peugeot 107 (including the Citroen C1 and the Toyota Aygo) on top of the reliability stakes for the sub-small car class. 

We wouldn't rush out to buy this car, but wouldn't grumble too much if we were to be stuck with one. 

Gary



Motoring Costs, AA survey 2011

The cost of running an average sized car in the "Tax Band C" category, has risen by €646 on 2010 the AA has released today in it annual Cost of Motoring survey.  This means that it will cost on average, nearly €12,000 this year to run your car, up 5.8% on last year.  By comparison, a weekly bus pass on Dublin Bus would cost a mere €1000 for the year.

 Conor Faughan of the AA said "Of course, the single biggest change is the cost of fuel, two thirds of the price of fuel is tax and most of this money is going to the Government.  If it wasn't for tax increases we would now be looking at retail prices of about 132c whereas now we are looking at about 150c"

Bear in mind this survey was based on actually owning your car, so any repayments are on top of this again!  Car Insurance rose slightly, averaging 1.2% higher than last year and the cost of servicing and repair has risen by about 2.7%, mostly in line with inflation. 

This time last year, petrol was about €1.27 a liter, now its at about €1.50, mainly due to Government taxes.  As Public Transport is a joke, and there is no infrastructure in place for any sort of alternative travel, looks like the Irish motorist will be burdened with double and treble taxation once again to tax our way out of the recession. 

The Irish Government is being brought to court next year by the European Union over its double taxation policy including VRT on all new and used vehicles which breaches Article 25 of the Treaty of Rome, which gives free movement of goods within the EU.

Gary



Volkswagen Golf Mk V TDI 2003-2008

Class:           Small Hatch, Compact

Rivals:          Ford Focus, Citron C4, Nissan Almera, Opel/Vauxhall Astra, Peugeot 207

Sister Cars:  Audi A3 MkII, Audi TT MkII, VW Jetta, VW Eos, Seat Leon, Skoda Octavia,

Variants:      3 Door Hatch, 5 Door Hatch, 5 Door Compact MPV (Golf Plus), Estate

Engines:      Petrol, 1.4i 16v, 1.4i FSI, 1.6i FSI, 2.0i FSI, 2.0i Turbo FSI (GTI), 2.5i 20v,

                                3.2 VR6 24v (R32)

                    Diesel, 1.4 TSi, 1.9TDi, 2.0 SDi, 2.0TDi,

Gearbox       5 Speed Manual, 6 Speed Manual, 6 Speed Tiptronic, 6 Speed DSG

Awards        Top Gear Car of the Year 2004

                    Fifth Gear Car of the Year 2004

                    What Car? Car of the Year and Best Family Small Car 2004

                    CNN Best Sporty Car (GTI/R32) 2008

To commemorate the launch of the MkV Golf in October 2003, Wolfsburg, where the Headquarters of the VW/Audi group are based, was named "Golfsburg" for the week following the launch.

Thanks to a wide variation of body styles and a great selection of engines to choose from,  VW have ensured that their is a Golf to suit everyone!

To counter act the criticisms of the average dynamics of the MkIV Golf, Volkswagen introduced a new multi-link control blade independent rear suspension system on the MkV.  Along with chassis refinements, the MkV Golf became the class leader for ride and handling!  However, this led to having to increase the body size even though the boot size is still down on the MkIV.  The interior quality of the MkV is well ahead of its rivals, its not on a par anymore with its Audi A3 cousin which is a step ahead of it again in refinement.   

The 1.9T TDi MkV is definitely the Golf of choice to go for for the average motorist.  It combines decent road handling, good performance and great fuel economy with a return of on average of 50mpg mixed driving.  With the new rear suspension system and longer wheel base over the MkIV, the road handling and cornering is much improved over the traditional rear happy Golf of the previous generations.  The only compromise is an increase in road noise inside the cabin but still much better than its rivals.

The MkV Golf proved to be expensive to build, mainly due to the 50 hours taken to build from start to finish which is why the MkVI was released a year early in 2008.  This lead to a high residual value and genuine parts being slightly more expensive than average.  Now you can do a full engine service on the MkV from €90. 

You will buy a 1.4i 16v MkV cheaper than a TDi version but the diesel version is the pick of the range.  Unless of course you can stretch to the 200bhp GTI or the 250bhp 3.2 V6 R32 which still are the benchmark in terms of performance and handling for the Hot Hatch class.

The Golf has always been a fun car to drive, very reliable and mostly economical and as we said before on this blog, most people who have owned the MkV will definately go on to own the new MkVI. 

Gary