Long term review on the Volkswagen Golf 1.4 TSI Mk 6

The 6th generation Mk6 Golf 1.4 TSI stands out among its peers for a number of reasons, not least of which its ground-breaking dual charged direction injection powerplant coupled with the world's first 7-speed DSG for front-wheel drive cars.

Oh, did I mention that my missus has one? Yes, and how I envy her. She gets to enjoy one of, if not the most technologically advanced cars of its class, on a daily basis! And I have to make do with a 18 year old BMW that likes to throw tantrums like a supermodel! No offence meant to supermodels though. :)

She has been enjoying the drive since November 2011, and I have not heard a single complaint from her yet. For me, being a slightly fussy person when it comes to cars, I find the occasional interior creaks annoying when going over rutted tarmac. But when I bring up the matter, she will say, "Creaks? I don't hear anything. It's probably your imagination." "Hah!" I thought. I have well and truly spoilt her.

The Mk6 Golf is truly a class-leading car. I have owned 2 Toyota Corollas, 1 Honda Civic, 1 Toyota Wish, 1 Toyota Innova and 1 BMW 525i before the Golf, and nothing comes close. From the solid "thunk" of the door closing, to the whisper-quiet interior, to the brilliantly flat torque curve of the engine, to the seamless and effortless gearchanges, the Mk6 Golf stands head and shoulders above its C-segment competitors. Bad roads hardly ruffle its feathers, and slow traffic is despatched with consumate ease. Steering feedback is excellent, light when you want it to, and full of feel when you need it most. Roll is well controlled, thanks to well sorted dampers and anti-roll bars, without compromising comfort. Hats off to VW's engineers.

Oh wait, I'm not done yet. Did I mentioned how beautifully the engine mates to the gearbox? Ah, that is surely one of the wonders of modern automotive engineering. Here you have a little powerplant displacing just 1.4 litres, but with a little help from a supercharger and a turbocharger, produces a torque curve flatter than the Kansas plain from just 1500rpm - 4500rpm. And its not just flat, but there's 240NM of it. That's as much as a Honda Accord 2.4 can must at just 4300rpm or thereabouts. Hang on, there's more - did anybody tell VW's engineers to stop counting? What on earth are they doing squeezing 7...yes, that's right, 7 gears into a DSG gearbox? With 2 final drives? You got to be kidding me! The genius of VW is how the gearbox makes full use of that expanse of torque to deliver a drive that is unmatched by any other gasoline car. At 120kmh, the engine is just trickling over at 2400rpm. Huh? That's like a diesel, you say. Yes, but it can also scream to 7000rpm if you want. And that's way better than any diesel engine. You would also not believe the powerplant is just 4-cylinders. From the way it idles, you would think it's a V6, it is just so quiet and stable. The best part of the DSG gearbox is this - even if you keep the the car in "D" and step on the brakes, you will feel nary a tinge of vibration. This is so unlike the conventional torque converter gearboxes, where keeping it in "D" will result in some vibration that is felt, no matter how faint.

A great driving position is easily reached, despite my 5'11" frame. And my 5'8" son still has enough leg room at the back to sit comfortably. All this from just a wheelbase of 2575mm. Amazing.

The car is not without its problems, though, but so far, touch wood, it has not resurfaced. The DSG had juddering problems after about 3 months of use, and a software glitch 8 months down the road caused the car to disengage drive. A subsequent software upgrade and a clutch change put those issues to rest.

A larger boot would certainly help during the annual Chinese New Year pilgrimage, but surprisingly, storage can be found in unusual places - like under the front chairs! And limited storage usually brings out the creative creature in me :)

Where else can you find a car that accelerates from 0-100kmh in 8 seconds, yet still return an average daily drive mileage of 10-12km/litre? You drive at 140kmh and yet enjoy your favourite music; you push on to 160kmh and the car remains stable as a rock...

I could go on and on, but you get the picture. No wonder the Mk6 is a hard act to follow. I've got to go now, my wife needs the keys to the Golf...I bet she's going to take the longest route to the nearest supermarket...

Wrong gearbox

Well, whadaya know, I actually bought the wrong gearbox! this unit I had would only fit an m20 or m40 block, but mine was the M50. First of all, the engine is mounted slightly more canted by 10% to the right (from the driver's perspective), requiring a mod to the gearbox mount. secondly, the tip of the shaft is of a smaller diameter, requiring another mod to fit.

I thought about for a while, and then decided I didn't like the feeling of modding it, so I put it up for sale...fortunately, I managed to sell it off two days ago.

And I also managed to find the right gearbox, a ZF S5D-320Z taken from a e36 328i. Still need the rear diff though. Once I get that I'll be able to start sometime the third week of Dec. Fingers crossed!

Nothing like Manual

I managed to procure a ZF manual gearbox set from a forumer...seems it came off a M20B25. I tried googling the part number 10484011112 but came up empty.

the set came with pedals, gearshift, flywheel, longshaft, mounting bracket and a couple other items:

Will install this once the fog in my head clears...

Hotbits

Decided to get a set of hotbits adjustables (high low, soft hard) after thinking about the long run cost of shock replacement and car ride height. The Eibachs were good, but the car was still tilted to the right, due to dem zilly jermans explicitly designing the weight distribution for left-hand drive models.

Result? Works like a charm :-). i finally have the ride i want. the units have a 40-click damping adjustment, i'm current on 13 at the rear and 15, 16 at the front.

here's the rear:

and here's the front:

Ultimate Driving Machine

I've finally decided to part with the Rolla, after enjoying the thrills and spills for the past 4 years...I guess age is catching up and I now prefer the peace and quiet of the E34. An E34 did you say? That's a far cry from the Rolla! Well, for starters, the E34 was considered one of the most elegant shapes of its time, and even today, it still commands a loyal throng of devotees.

Well, my particular E34 was purchased in July 2006, and it was literally stock standard. How I got into the E34 is somewhat interesting. It was my fellow colleague, Yoga, who also happened to be the chap who sold me the Rolla, who got me interested. Mr Yoga had a particularly engaging way of sharing his automotive exploits that had one spellbound. Well, ok, spellbound is perhaps too strong a word. However, he related one incident that had me hooked - an E34, the M20B25, kept up with a turbocharged Nissan Skyline to his utter chagrin, all the way to Port Dickson. Of course the Skyline had superior acceleration, but at speeds exceeding 160kmh, the Bimmer tailed the Skyline easily and caused Mr Yoga to salivate at the backseat, wondering what could have been if the Bimmer was turbocharged itself. He went on to relate how the Bimmer sliced through corners like hot knife through butter; how it would draw up agonizingly close to the Skyline on long, sweeping corners, and how turbo lag meant the Skyline driver had to feather the throttle through the apex, allowing the E34 to nudge menacingly up his ASS...

Well, all said and done, I'm now enjoying this ride...well, I really have to, after spending a small fortune on maintenance...LOL. There isn't a whole lot of flashy performance gadgets that can be found for the E34, unlike the Rolla. But I can testify that this car CAN outcorner the Rolla by virtue of its 50:50 front:rear weight balance, and FR layout.

Since it is an auto, i initially missed the manual shifting action of the 6-speeder, but now, I can enjoy some level of serenity inside the car...It is definitely quieter, less NVH, and overall a more stable platform for cruising. Oh, and the driving position is also better suited to my 5'11" frame.

Of course, there are drawbacks, and one of them would be fuel consumption. Compared to the Rolla, the E34 can only muster approximately 8-9km per litre for my daily drive to work. I can't really complain because it weighs 1550kg, and has only about 270NM of torque.

270NM, you say? I thought the manual had it at 250NM. What gives? Aha, this is where I invested in a little bit of tuning in the form of a copper lead frame with a piece of lithographed silicon die, some gold wires and coated with black plastic mould. Well this little lump of thingamajig also contains some nifty ignition timing and fueling maps that allow a 1.5 tonne behemoth to run a little leaner while producing a little more grunt at the same time. How much? Well, I have not actually dyno'ed it yet, but the boast is +22BHP at 6000rpm and 20lb-ft at 4000rpm, 500 rpm lower than before... sweet.

Overengineered German Tank

I have managed to acquire another over-engineered car, this time it is a E34 1995 BMW 525i. Now, the story behind this is a little different from the Rolla. It had never crossed my mind to get this car, until a few colleagues started relating stories of how this car easily touched 200kmh; how it stayed with a certain Jap turbocharged car with ease on the highway; and how it managed to leave the rear passenger sleeping soundly while blasting past unsuspecting drivers at 230kmh.

And so, the story goes, I should consider replacing the rolla with one of these German tanks, a kind of 'upgrade', if you will. After all, resale values of these specimens are nothing much to shout at, and it wont be much of an outlay to get one, assuming I dispose of the Rolla for a fair price.

However, at that time, which is somewhere around June 2006, I was already contemplating selling off my wife's car, a 95 Civic sedan, with a brand new one, the FD1, that was just launched a couple of months prior to June 2006. In fact, I had already placed a booking for one, and was already looking forward to getting it in August.

What got me thinking was this - if I was to get the new car, I'd be paying a tidy sum every month for the next 5 years. Why don't I keep the Rolla, after all, it is already paid up, and then get one of these beemers for less than half the price of the new Civic? That thought struck a chord with the accountant within me, and so, by August 2006, i had already found myself a unit, a dark blue 95 525i single vanos automatic, with a nicely maintained interior and drivetrain. It had a grey interior, 3-spoke steering, and 15"BBS basket weave rims.

Being my first BM, I had done some research as to the likely maintenance costs, especially the major items. It turns out I decided to spend a little more on preventive maintenance, just to avoid any embarrassing breakdowns, particularly when my other half would be using it more frequently.

My trusty Rolla

Ever since I laid eyes on Toyota's AE101 sedan way back in 1992, I have been wanting to have one for myself. I was 24 that year, and had just started working, having completed my marketing studies. I still remember the time when a friend of mine actually bought one, a 1.6 SEG manual for RM68k. That was a lot of money in those days. The unit he had was a greenish grey sort of colour, with silver wheel caps over steel rims that looked almost like they were aluminium rims.

We were in church one night, and after service, a number of us crowded around the car and peered inside the windscreen trying to get a good look at the dashboard. Being the nice guy that he was (and still is), SC (the owner) decided to let a few of us have a go at driving it. Then it came to my turn...wow, I remember the excitement I felt, sitting in it for the first time, and admiring the curvature of the centre console, how it angled towards the driver. Firing it up for the first time, I noticed how silent the car was, and almost devoid of any vibration. So, this is how liquid filled engine mounts perform, I thought. Impressive. I slotted in into first gear, and off I went, gingerly out of the church compound, aware that it was a brand new car, costing 5 times my annual pay at that time!

As I entered the road outside, I accelerated away slowly until I was out of sight of the owner...then I depressed the fun pedal more aggressively...well, the acceleration certainly wasn't as rapid as I'd hope for it to be, but nevertheless, it was much better than the 120Y that I was using (my mom's car). "Let's see, where shall I take her next?", I thought to myself as I hustled along a fairly quiet stretch. I decided to drive from Kampar Road, up to the intersection with Gopeng road, and then head back to church along Gopeng road.

My, my, what a quiet and serene ride the car had, soaking up road blisters and undulation with disdain. Boy, how am I ever going to get one, I wondered as I neared the last turn that would take me back to church.

Fast forward 13 years later, I finally got my hands on one. This time, it wasn't a stock unit, but one loaded with petrolhead goodies. It sported a 6-speed manual gearbox with viscous LSD, a 4-throttle, twin-cam, 20valve 4AGE "blacktop" fully balanced engine with race bearings, TRD metal gasket, shaved head, adjustable cam pulleys, lightened TRD flywheel and clutch, HKS open pod air intake, Apexi N1 straight-flow exhaust, adjustable fuel pressure regulator, brake cylinder brace, twinpot front calipers with steel-braided brake hoses, custom-made coilovers and genuine Work rims. It also has a full AE101 JDM Wagon interior and a genuine Nardi 3-spoke steering wheel.

Today, after 3 years of ownership, the car is now fitted with the following parts to complete the package: 3-point TRD strut brace, 2-point Tom's lower arm brace, front and rear TRD sway bars, Tien Superstreet coilovers (EDFC capable), VVT exhaust pulley and Arospeed adjustable exhaust pulley, and race foam (side sills). A 4-2-1 HKS header also replaced the stock unit but I decided to sacrifice some power to gain back some peace and quiet by swapping the Apexi N1 exhaust with the stock Levin Blacktop's. I have also fitted Pirelli P6 195/55/15 tires which have an excellent balance between comfort, noise and grip. For better stopping power, all-round Green Stuff brake pads were fitted. Apart from performance mods, I have also applied vibration dampeners (shaped like a three-prong tuning fork) to all side panels, plus another layer of Sikadamp to the front doors.

The car feels extremely taut, responds almost instantaneously to steering input, and exhibits very little roll when pushed hard into corners. Throttle response is also excellent, and the engine revs freely to 8,000 rpm! There is a distinct surge of torque from 3-4000 rpm and the engine note hardens from 5-6000 rpm (where peak torque occurs at 5500 rpm) before rushing to 8000 in an intoxicating 4-throttle shriek of adrenalin!

There was this one time I was passed by a 350Z on the NKVE while cruising at 110km/h...and I decided to give chase. I downshifted from 6th to 5th and got up to 140kmh, right behind his tail. With his superior torque and power, he dropped a gear (my guess) and accelerated away....however, he only got to about 5 car lengths before I caught up with him at 160kmh on 4th doing 6000rpm or thereabouts. He mashed his throttle again and started pulling away, and I went up to 180kmh on 5th, trailing him with a distance of about 5 car lengths. It was that way for about 5km until he decided to slow down and let me pass...:-)

One bothersome niggle is a notchiness when shifting up or down to 3rd early morning, but dissapears after about 10 mins of driving. My mechanic (the ever reliable and clever Ah Nga of Kajang) says the synchromesh is likely at fault and can be replaced. And it also appears that my piston rings are worn out, after seeing the exhaust spew white smoke during a recent dyno. Despite that, it still managed a respectable 131bhp at 7500rpm and 145NM at 5500rpm. Mind you, these are on-wheel figures, so on engine (assuming a 15% loss factor) the engine is still cranking 154bhp and 170NM!! And this is with our fuel, which is about 94 octane (not RON). In Japan, where they use 100 octane, the published figures are 165bhp and 160NM.

The other amazing thing about this car is the economy. Even with really aggressive driving on a weekly basis, it still returns an amazing 11km/lit! With a saner right foot, you can easily get 13km/lit on a highway cruise between 120km/h - 130km/h.

So, in a nutshell, my rolla has given me lots of adrenalin highs and i'd be hard pressed to find the same excitement with any other new car of the same class. Of course, one could always plonk in a 7AGE for better torque and run closer to that 350Z the next time it comes around...:-)