As I've aged, I've become so much more appreciative of cabin quiet and I really like our Golf in this regard. Even with the Wolfsburg's lower sidewall tires, it's quiet. Too, at 80 MPH, its motor is spinning at a very modest (and quiet) ~ 2300 RPM.

Earlier this year I drove my Mom's MY 2000 CR-V on a 1,300 road trip and the interior noise at Interstate speed was deafening. It was so loud that we could hardly hear the music I brought along. If I turned up the volume, it only competed with the road noise and made the overall racket even worse. (I can't knock her CR-V in any other way though. It's been a fine little car in every other regard.)

 

I like those. If I were going BMW, I'd probably go with a 335i manual sedan with the Msport package. Yes, I've considered it! My friends that have gone to the dark side (aka BMW) say you never go back. However, I watch them rack up repair and maintenance bills also. Just not sure I'm that type of guy. Even the ones that don't have major problems seem to get hit with oil leaks, carbon build up, etc. They just aren't cheap cars to put miles on I don't think.

 

Same here and it's my number one grips about ALL Honda's. Even my father in-laws Acura TSX is louder inside than your average cheap rental Malibu. My Dad has a 2017 CR-V and it's the quietest Honda I've been in. They've gone into using a noise cancelling system through the vehicles speakers. It is tolerable for overall noise inside. However, it's still like a rock concert of road noise compared to my Lincoln.

I have to say that the Golf is pretty amazing though. Without looking up test numbers, I'd say it's quieter than the average mid-size car which is impressive given it's diminutive size.

 

yah, ive read about engine issues on those bimmers.. but gotta pay to play.

 

IMO BMW's are fine cars. They are maintenance intensive if one skimps on that it will be much more costly in the long run. BMW = Break My Wallet. ;-)

 

yah they are great cars if you get the M series. the crappy cheapo 3 and 5 series most wannabies lease are kinda garbagy.. even camrys drive better vs some of them.

 

Funny you mention the Camry. I have felt that same thing along with many others, BMW has lost their way. They've tried to capture some of that Camry market. Doing so has lost them some of their BMWness. Yes the M is needed for any BMW in opinion.

 

yah i hate toyota cars but even so respect the camry and how it drives for a normal person normal car. boring everyday car but compliant and well made. just works well for normal person.

 

9 Hour trip done with no problems. Seats are comfy, power is adequate. Road noise is low. It was even able to slice and dice at a high rate of speed. Overall, I'm impressed.

I haven't mentioned the mpg calculator and how it lies before. The closest it's ever been to actual was about 3 mpg optimistic.

Hit an all time ridiculousness on this trip. From tank to tank it read 41.2 mpg. Actual with calculator...36.4. I'm not overly displeased with the 36.4. It's not great, but not terrible.

What I am not OK with is being lied to by the dash reading. That was on a 400+ mile tank so it had plenty of time to come to a reasonable calculation. 5 mpg off is into the intentional category. Think of how many people out there never do the math and just believe the dash.

 

sounds good GAFIT! sounds like time to get the stanGT youve always wanted. :D

considering my GTI shows 25.9-26.5mpg on the obd, trip counter shows 250miles for a 10 gal fill nearly each time, my gauge seems to be pretty accurate. with my driving i will never see anything above 26.5mpg no more. lol

ive only filled the R like 6-7 times or so, so dont know for certain how accurate that car is yet but she shows 27-29mpg on the obd and seems i can go near 300 miles before a 10+ gallon fill so probably pretty accurate too. the R has a larger tank than the GTI.

wat i dont like is the fuel gauge. thing drops at an insane rate early on then settles.. i always reset the trip counter as backup to gauge about how many miles i have left before a fill. this is on both GTI and R.

 

Next two tanks...

Read 34 - actual 31 (was impressed with this since it was mostly city with lots of stop light grand prix)
Read 36 - actual 33 (not bad considering the extreme highway congestion followed with speeds well in excess of what most Fit's ever see)

Seems to be back to it's normal optimism.

 

Just some miscellaneous thoughts now that we are back home and the car has 1200 more miles...

Cruise control - one of the best I've used. Maintains speed perfectly and is very overt when it takes over the throttle.

High Speed Comfort - amazing for a small car! At speeds that I would not even consider maintaining in the Fit, the Golf is still quiet and composed. I didn't try running it up to really high speeds, but it's very capable at speeds well beyond what most people would attempt.

Seats - no problems even for long trips

Luggage space - I would rate this in the poor category. It has the least room of any car I've owned. Where the Fit has extra room under the rear seats, the Golf has none. The only space available is what you see and it's not much. Our one large suitcase basically took the entire cargo area and there's not a lot of room left after that. We actually left stuff behind on the return trip for lack of anywhere to put it. We had it loaded to the point that our Son had just enough room to squeeze in and get his seat belt on and we had probably 30% less than what would Fit in the Fit. Probably had 70% less than would Fit in my Lincoln.

Overall, it's a great driving car, and holds people quite well. Just not a good vehicle if you're looking at storage capability.

 

We actually carry our suitcases to Dealerships when we vehicle shop and capacity is an important aspect on our Excel sheets. We knew we'd be ceding some luggage space when we narrowed our search to the Mazda3 Hatch or Golf over a replacement Sportwagen, but it's worked out fine. On one trip we flattened a back seat to provide extra space and it worked well.

The Golf's luggage area floor can be lowered to gain another ~2 CuFt, but we've not experimented with the feature yet.

 

GAFIT- time for roof rack and box! :D

so are you going to sell the lincoln and get a stanGT? :)

 

Alco, good idea on the luggage test at the dealer!

Our luggage fits OK. It was the black Friday shopping that put it over the edge. We already have the rear cargo area dropped to the lower setting. Our big suitcase will only fit in the back on it's side if the floor is lowered.

Kenchan, So funny you said that about the roof rack and box! I saw one on the drive home and said the same thing to the wife.

I'm going to try to cool my jets on the car shopping. Son turns 7 next September. That would be a much better time to get a Mustang because he will then be able to ride in the front. I'm thinking it would be a pain for me to have to open the door for him to crawl out of the rear.

We'll just wait and see what I come up with. Other problem is I really prefer 4-door cars. Just not a 2-door fan overall. I wish the Chargers were better assembled. I like the overall theme and looks, but the overall quality/fit & finish is just so poor.

 

haha :D im sure those roof rack boxes have the capacity of like 3 big suitcases so should solve the luggage issue for those cross country trips.

yah, 2 doors + kids is okay if they can get in/out and buckle on their own. should be no issue for your son. it can be a mess in the rain trying to buckle them up when they are toddlers with the passenger door open.

so i take it you're a muscle car guy? for play i prefer 2 doors but unfortunately they dont sell STI's and Golf-R's in 2 door config so got the 4 doors. its okay though, i learned to like them as they are. im more a boxy hatch or luxury coupe kinda guy, but lately all the coupes are so huge im leaning more towards performance hatches and small lux sedans like the S3/RS3's.

 

oh, and AWD. all my future cars will be AWD.

 

I guess I mostly like sleepers. One friend had an e63 sedan at the same time another had an sl55. I loved the e63, but thought the sl55 was a waste of a good motor.

Overall I like cars that can do it all. Take the kids to school and then put a smile on your face on the way home.

Unlimited budget I like the Cayenne Turbo S, Charger Hellcat, Panamera Turbo S, or the new Jeep TrackHawk.

Rarely snows where I live so I'm OK with rear drive provided it has a very good limited slip diff. I would probably be more into AWD if I ever owned one that would spin and not get pissy about it. The two that I've owned were great up until they lost traction and then they were a mess.

I've heard the STI's can spin and not get unruly.

Speaking of spinning...our Golf is a mess if trying to have fun. This past week I got to get on it more. It just spins the one tire and the traction control cuts the fun and doesn't allow much forward progress. For any performance driving, the GTI with limited slip would be mandatory.

 

My MK6 GTI doesn't have a LSD like the MK7 PP has. What it does have is an electronic XDS thing that will brake the spinning wheel to transfer power to the other side as needed. It's not ideal, but it does help. My GTI has enough power & torque to easily spin the wheels leaving a stop if not careful. If I want to play I turn off the traction nanny.

My MINI had a real LSD & that was great.

 

Our Golf has what VW calls an EDL (electronic differential lock) which is supposed to mimic a real LSD. It doesn't work at all.

Seems that a lot of manufactures have gone to electronics instead of mechanical things for a lot of car stuff. I haven't found any of them to work as well.

I've owned one front drive car with an LSD and it was fantastic. Have a Quaife diff to install in the Fit. Should be fun!