The MK6 GTD is awesome by the way, I'd happily swap my GTI for one. I saw 60mpg on the way up to Waitrose this afternoon!
If you haven't already Andrew (not seen it myself), can we expect a mini review of the MK6 GTD? I'd be interested for one
I've been very impressed with it indeed. Initially I was shocked at how short the gearing is. I drive a BMW 320d regularly but as it is an auto you never get caught off guard. With the GTD I constantly found myself in the wrong gear and with no power, particularly in 4th when I'd find myself having to change down to 3rd, only to find I still wasn't in the right part of the rev range and have to change to 2nd! Once I accustomed myself to it I found I could hustle is down a road very effectively. I'm very keen to try a DSG car which would negate this.
The MK6 interior has also been a very pleasant surprise. It's a total cut above the MK5 and feels like a Golf should in my opinion. It may be a placebo effect but I'm also convinced the driving position is better, even though the seats are the same.
Another thing to note is the electro-mechanical steering which adjusts its weight according to speed. Although I found it never really weights up enough at low speeds the lightness is really refreshing. The steering is also far more direct and sharp than the GTI, and the ride is more compliant.
We're planning on using the car for our trip to my parents next week so it will be interesting to see what MPG it achieves. So far I've been unable to provoke it into doing anything less than 36MPG and I'm heading towards a 500-mile tank.
So all-in-all I like it a lot and I've already found myself looking into the cost of ownership and whether one would make more sense than my aging GTI.