Volkswagen Golf named Car of the Year

CNN Money ^ | November 13, 2014 | Peter Valdes-Dapena

[C19fan]

You may not think of it as the most exciting car in the world, but the newly redesigned Volkswagen Golf compact car has been named Motor Trend magazine's Car of the Year. The award is for all four available versions of the Golf. That includes the sporty Golf GTI, the diesel-powered Golf TDI, the electric-powered e-Golf and the basic Golf 1.8T. This seventh-generation version of the compact car is lighter and more fuel-efficient but still larger than previous Volkswagen (VLKAF) Golfs.

[CrazyIvan]

Nice to know someone got a good one. It was an extremely fun car to drive but utterly unreliable. It was more British sports car than German!

[cyclotic]

Mine was old and was my first car. I repainted it and did a pretty bad job of it. It was fun and as I recall not terribly bad. I recall a clutch and CV joint as only significant repairs.

Headlight switch caught fire once. That was kind of fun. Oh, and the odometer and gas gauge both broke.

Those were minor things. Switch was about a $20 fix. 35 years later, I still prefer small, nimble cars with manual transmissions. Current car, 2006 Pontiac Vibe. Almost 260,000 miles.

[Nuc 1.1]

Hey FReeper, how has your reliability been with the FR-S?

[cuban leaf]

I’m at 42,000 miles. Leaking tail lights which I fixed with some double sided tape, but that’s it.

[Nuc 1.1]

Good news. I am a big guy getting on in years. And the FR-S fits easly. I am trying to talk my wife into getting one. She is worried about reliability due to Consumer Report write ups. I think one with a Vortec supercharger will be all I need. Faster than me at this point in my life. Thanks for the info.

[oh8eleven]

All I can do is search the Inet.

[cuban leaf]

I drifted once or twice every day on my commute the first few months. I still do it occasionally. Did it this morning. It’s got all the power I need for what I do. I also have the manual six speed. It’s like driving a sixties sports car, but with modern conveniences. I really, REALLY like that car. Where I live, it gets the attention a Ferarri would get in Burbank.

BTW, All the articles that discuss the cars handling characteristics say that you can drastically improve it via good tires. Well, my second set of tires was slapped on about 5k ago. They are Bridgestone Potenza RE-11a. I had heard that the factory tires were slippery, but I have NEVER in my life had such a difference in handling based solely on tires. It’s like a frickin’ slot car.

Keep in mynd I’m in central KY, which is a motorcyclist’s paradise. Most of the twisties around here have a 55 mph speed limit, at which you would kill yourself in most cars. But they are in your face fun in an FRS. Banked S curves, smooth as glass, etc.

[Nuc 1.1]

That was great to read. I live out west in the desert. For me rain is not the problem it would be for many. Summer tires year round. Your tires are very good as you already know. They will be on my short list. I will be moving in the FR-S direction soon enough. Thanks for all the info.