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

 

Audi R8 5.2 FSI Quattro 2006-Present

Class:      Sports Car
Rivals:     Porsche 911 Carrera 4s, Aston Martin V8 Vantage, BMW M6, Nissan GT-R
Engines:  Petrol 4.2 V8 FSi, 5.2 V10 FSI,
               Diesel, 6.0 V12 TDI
Gearbox: 6 Speed Manual, 6 Speed R-Tronic Single Clutch Semi Automatic
Awards:  Top Gear Car of the Year 2007
               5th Gear Car of the Year and Best Fast Car 2007
               World Car of the Year 2008 Best Design and World Best Performance Car
               Playboy Magazine Car of the Year 2008
               European Car of the Year 2008

This is far and away the best car we have ever tested for the Allparts Review!!  I could not believe my ears when i answered the phone which went something like this; "Mr Conway would you be available next week to test drive the Audi R8" to which my reply was, after I picked myself up off the floor was "yes, yes I am"!!!
As I rolled up the The Radisson Hotel there she was in all her royal blue spectacle! The tell tale badge on the wing that let you know it was the 5.2l V10 520bhp beast glistening in the winter sunlight! 

This is the much anticipated Audi R8!!!  The car all the big car magazines were fighting over to get the 1st test drive!

The car is amazing to drive, as we pulled out slowly onto the carriage way, made sure the car was in a straight line as I did not want to fishtail out of control in the 1st 5 minutes, and gunned it!!!  No feeling can describe it, the G-Forces pushed my stomach beyond my spine!!  I just about had enough power left in my hands to reach the flappy paddles to change gear!  The Gearbox is amazing, we had the 6speed semi-auto flappy paddle gear box and when your open the throttle the gear change is unbeatable!  The noise and the sound of the gear changes is indescribable!!!  As soon as you sit in this car and feel the bucket seat suck you in, there is an instant smile on your face! 

Absolutely everything is in the right position in this car, from the red starter button on the steering wheel to the stereo and the air con! The R8 does share some chassis components, the flappy paddel gear box, and the revised V10 engine with its sister car the Lamborghini Gallardo, on which were still waiting on that phone call to go test!!!

This is a mid-engined, 4wd sports car, that also come in a diesel via the V12 TDI 500bhp unit with 738lb-ft of torque and it does 23miles to the gallon!!!  Not bad for an oil burner!!!

I only had half an hour with this car! Which was no where near enough!  All we can say is that it seems a very easy to live with sports car, compared to a lot of horror stories you do hear about old Ferraris or old Lambos.

Hopefully in 15-20 years or so, if the prices come down enough and petrol isn't €300 a liter, then we will have one, but for now, €150,000 is a tad out of our price range!

Gary










              

Audi A6 2.0TDI 140bhp 2004-2011

Class:        Executive

Rivals:       Mercedes E Class, BMW 5series, Lexus GS, Volvo V70,

Variants:   Saloon, Avant, Allroad, S6, RS6

Engines:    Petrol 2.0l, 2.4l, 2.8l, 3.2l, 4.2 V8

                Diesel 2.0tdi, 2.7tdi, 3.0tdi

Gearbox:  6 speed manual, 6 speed automatic, 7 speed CVT Tiptronic

Awards:   World Car of the Year 2005

Ever since I started this blog I have been dying to feature this car.  The car we tested was the 2010 A6 S-Line Avant 3.0TDI V6 Quattro 7 Speed Tiptronic and my word what a car!  We had the perfect drive from Frankfurt, through Luxembourg and into the Lorraine Region of France on which we had German Motorway Driving, tight and twisty mountain passes as well as City Driving and the car handled beautifully on each.

Now if your thinking that after 3 car reviews we have gone all Top Gear already, don't forget this car has been around since 2004 and the Irish model to go for is the 2.0TDI Avant.  Our Rental Car is the last in the current line for the C6 chassis as a new model on the new C7 chassis to set for launch in 2011.

Now I'm not a huge fan of the Quattro system, in the A4 I found it takes a lot of horsepower to drive and will sometimes just give you a twitch when your really leaning into a corner as the rear wheels receive more power to keep you straight, especially in any car less than 200bhp! But, in the 225bhp 3.0TDI V6 version, its a different animal!  To drive, the car feels very similar to the 333bhp S4, you can push hard along the autobahn or just for cruising from A to B. The cabin is unreal, the Multi-Media Interface (MMI) is spot on, every button is exactly where it should be without having to stretch for it.  There is more than enough space in the rear for 3 6ft plus passengers.  The Tiptronic gearbox is smooth in auto-mode, but in sports mode is useless at cruising speed, but floor it and it comes into its own!  Its a big car without feeling cumbersome on the road.

All Variants of the A6 come with a 5 star rating from the Euro Ncap Crash Tests.

When looking at a car to buy 2nd hand, we recommend you go for the 2.0TDI 6 speed manual.  At 140bhp its no slouch.  Like with any Audi, check for signs of clocking, you can contact your local Audi Dealer for help on this aspect.  When looking at the engine bay, make sure there are no signs of any major oil leaks and no excessive smoke from the exhausts!  In some rare examples, the dual-mass Flywheel can cause problems so if you feel any strange vibration through the car on the test drive you may as well leave it there because this is a very expensive problem to fix.

Up to 2008, this car is €614 to tax and after its only €302 per year to tax.  A standard service should be running at about €150 including oil.  You're looking at about 55mpg mixed driving.

There is no doubt that there are some bargains to be picked up in the UK, but make sure and check the VRT before you import as it can be extortionate.  You are looking at somewhere between €5,000 for a 04 model, all the way up to €60,000 for a new model!!!! On average for a nice clean 05/06 car with a good service history you should only be paying about €8,000 to €10,000

Here at Allparts, we want this car! 

Gary