First off - hello!
Having most recently run the gamut of super-saloons/estates (03 RS6 Avant, E39 M5 saloon, 06 335i touring) I've come full circle back to a golf. My first ever car was a Mk1 1.1 Golf, which I modified the living daylights out of to the point it was like driving a Scalextric!
Anyway, last two years have been driving a BMW 335i M Sport Touring with Quaife LSD and AP brakes, and what a fantastic car it was too. However, having come to the end of my two year finance deal I didn't want to pay the money to own outright, and thanks to putting down a full deposit originally I was able to sell the car for enough money (with a little added) to spend 10k on something to own outright.
I considered a lot of different cars!!! My biggest passion is mountain biking and so I needed something which was able to fit a couple of mountain bikes in the back, but which would also be very good to drive on the fantastic roads around the areas I typically ride ( Snowdonia, Alps, Scotland, dartmoor etc.)
Also living in central London and suffering with mild rsi, ideally I wanted something with an automatic box which would still be half decent when I wanted to take control myself - something the sports auto in the 335i coped with admirably.
Anyway, after lots of research I was turned on to the Mk5 Golf Gti DSG, which just about fell into my price range. Long story short, and thanks to the timing of Christmas and the powers of a quick cash sale, I picked up a mint 68k mile Gti DSG in black with full leather, FVWSH (recent belts) and 18's for bang on budget!
My first drive was a seven-hour epic through nightmare Christmas traffic down to Plymouth, and stepped out of the car feeling remarkably fresh. I was then lucky enough to have a couple of brilliant drives across Dartmoor which really showed me what this car is capable of, but also highlighted areas where I could see room for some *cough* improvements
Anyway, back in London now, so time to put plans into action!
So, questions:
> the car currently doesn't have any nav, which is very important considering where I generally go mountain biking, plus fairly regular trips driving to the Alps. Has anybody used these guys before? seems very reasonable:
http://www.oemretrofits.co.uk/ £600 fitted at your home.
> Does the nav headunit have a phono-style aux in so I can connect my ipod. I *have* to have ipod in the car
> towards the end of my journey home last night, I was stationary in traffic and noticed a slight clunking when turning the steering wheel. Basically sitting stationary, turning the wheel left and right just a little (+/- 30 degrees each way) makes slight clunk from under the engine bay area which I can also just about feel through the steering. seems to be more noticeable when the car is fully warmed.
> does anybody else get a slight draught / wind noise from the drivers window / door? am I just too used to Audi/BMW build quality or do I need a new seal?
> tonight my right hand side dipped beam went - also displays a warning light / message in the dashboard. Guessing this is just a bulb? Without having to delve into the manual can anybody tell me off the top of the head which bulb I need, but also recommend any particularly good bulbs for the std halogen lights? I think the previous owner had fitted bulbs which are whiter than normal. I will almost certainly upgraded to xenon oem units in the near future... Will they be plug and play or is anything else needed?
> planning on getting a stage 1 remap (missing the midrange poke of the 335!) - can anybody recommend a good specialist who does this in or around London, preferably South. Was planning to go with the Revo option, unless anyone wants to tell me different?
> dialling out understeer...I had a 2002 WRX Impreza from new, which absolutely understeered like a pig. I was able to pretty much solve that by fitting some Eibach springs on the std. dampers, plus uprated rear ARB. I'm assuming that would also be a good solution for the golf? I'm very comfortable with oversteer and in fact actually like a mobile rear end, so I'm assuming that will also help instigate a little lift-off oversteer? How much do the springs impact ride quality? I seem to remember it actually made the Impreza feel *better*, if anything. Which spring / ARB solution is generally regarded as 'best'?
> anyone found any negatives with the DSG remap?
Sorry for so many questions!!!
thanks in advance
Ed
