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VW Beetle (Original)
by SoadFan There are some cars who pass through this word without turning heads or causing a stir, the original VW Beetle isn't once of those. The slightly rotund shape and cute approachable front on view of the car, made the car more than just something that got you from A to B. The VW Beetle had so much personality that you couldn't fail to love ... it even with all its faults. Our VW Beetle was circa 1966 so truly 'old skool', it had none of your new fangled central locking or immobilisers fitted. It had a 6 volt battery, which was rather inadequate for the cars power needs. This meant a transformer had to be fitted to allow us to fit a modern stereo system into the car, as prior to that the car just had a very basic MW/ LW radio. ********************************************************** Due to the poor 6 volt battery, the lights on the car were very dim. If you wanted to venture out into the countryside on a moonless night, you would have had more chance seeing where you were going, by strapping a couple of torches to the front of the car, rather than relying on the actual headlamps. This was very inconvenient and dangerous. The fuel consumption of the car was ridiculous even though fuel prices at the time were cheaper. The mpg for the car sat at around 24mpg on a good day, which is very poor when compared to todays cars. Even at the time when we owned the car in the mid 80's, that was still considered very poor. This was from a standard petrol engine. ********************************************************* Talking of engines, it was one of the first engines that was made from modern alloy metals. It was air cooled and had a timing chain, which made it more reliable than belt driven engines. The engine was placed at the back of the car where you would normally expect the boot to be and the boot was at the front along with spare tyre. The engine was very noisy and had a very distinctive sound that was more the kind of thing you would have heard from a large engined motorbike. The engine didn't seem to use much oil and ran well, on the whole this made the car very reliable to drive if rather noisy. ********************************************************* The steering was quite light as most of the weight was located towards the rear of the car, there was no power steering, yet the car was easy enough to park. The gear box was very responsive and easy to use. The gears slipped in and out with ease and no obvious crunch or whine. The view from the drivers seat was nice and clear at the front, although the rear tailgate window was small and so rather restrictive. We didn't have electric windows and had to wind these up or down by hand. Leg room in the car was good at the front, both driver and front passenger could stretch out and travel in style ,where as the poor sods in the rear had to make do with what little space was left to them. ********************************************************** The exterior of the car was rather prone to body rust, especially around the large over sized wheel arches. This is something which is common with many of the VW Beetles of this age on not just with this one. The panels used on the cars exterior felt solid and wouldn't flex if you leant against them. The suspension on the car was good and you could even take the car off road as it had more than enough spring to it to cope with road humps and bumps. The cars paint work was not as glossy as the paints that are found on todays cars, but it suited the car at the time. ********************************************************** To sum up the original VW Beetle I have to say that it was a very basic car which had lots of character. It offered a reliable drive with basic comfort for front seat passengers. The fuel consumption was not all that great either. To give the car a rating I feel that it ought to get a 3 star rating, as the poor battery power, which effected the cars head lights was a major issue. There were blind spots for the driver because of the small tailgate window and the design of the car could feel claustrophobic with too many passengers inside it. Read the complete review |
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VW Tiguan
by sax_man_al My sister purchased her Tiguan a few months ago, and I have been out in it many times, and also helped with a lot of the driving on long trips too, so I am in a fairly good place to write a review of it. The model is the Tiguan Sport 2.0 TDI 140 PS 4MOTION, a 6 speed manual, and a starting price of £23,775. This sits above the ... Passat in the price range, but lower than the Phaeton and larger Toureg. Described as a 'compact SUV' it is basically a people carrier with extra ground clearance and four wheel drive. So if you don't need these two things you may as well look at other models like the Passat or Golf. Performance from the 140PS diesel is excellent, 0-60 apparently in 10.5sec, which in the real world means if you put your foot down you'll leave most cars behind. There is also 236lb/ft of torque, which basically gives great in gear accelleration for overtaking, and excellent pulling power when you've got the car full of people/kids/luggage. I really like driving, and I certainly had a smile on my face in this car :-) certainly a pleasing experience for what could have been a boring family carrier! Economy is pretty good too, 45mpg is fairly normal, and on a cruise then 50mpg is also attainable. From the outside the metalic blue paint looks very smart, as do the 18" alloys. As you would expect from a VW all the body panels meet evenly and nice and close together. Inside, the legendary VW quality continues, with excellent quality 'touchy feely' finishes and aluminium trimmings. There are plenty of options and gadgets to keep everyone happy too. CD/MP3 player, electric windows, climate control, see me home headlights, auto lights, auto wipers, and an electronic parking brake. Now that takes a bit of getting used to, but if you don't like hill starts then you will probably find it very helpful. My sister got the panoramic sunroof too which is brilliant, it makes sitting in the back a pleasure, and adds to the sense of space. On the safety side it comes with the usual myriad of air bags, ABS and also ESP (Electronic Stabilisation Programme) which includes EDL (Electronic Differential Lock) and ASR (Traction Control). These gadgets basically help reduce the likelyhood of you sliding and losing traction and ending up needing the airbags! The seats seem fairly firm at first, but they are very comfortable, even after several hours I didn't have any problems. My dad who has a bad back also found it very good too, and was even happy in the back which is a minor mirracle! There is plenty of boot space, swallowing luggage for a long family holiday, or giving two dogs plenty of space on a day trip out. There are also roof rails, which make adding a roof rack for bikes/kayaks/roof box an easy operation further increasing the carrying capacity. The only negative point about this vehicle was the tyres it came with. These were very sporty tyres, and therefore don't have much grip when it comes to any form of mud or snow. Being a 4 wheel drive this is a bit stupid, and the ABS, traction contol was always kicking in. Suffice to say that when the first sprinkling of snow appeared the car went to the garage for some winter tyres. These have been a revalation! Suddenly the ABS/traction control hardly ever kicks in, and the car stops better, and doesn't slip anywhere near as much! I'm sure a lot of people won't care about that, but if you need to stay mobile and live out in the sticks then changing the tyres is pretty much essential! Overall however the Tiguan is a great vehicle, and I would be very tempted by it if I needed a four wheel drive people carrier type vehicle. Read the complete review |
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VW Passat SE Estate 1.9SE TDI
by Randal I've had a few Passats over the years, preferring the estate versions because there is so much more room inside. Where I really find that they come into their own is the room available for the rear seat occupants. Here, it is almost like VW have cut the car in half right behind the driver's seat and then added an additional 6" ... wide bung into the car and welded it all back up again. The result is that there is a lot of legroom for the rear seat occupants, even when the front seat people have their seats fully back and you can easily get 3 adults abreast across the back seat. So looking at this particular model, I have a 2004 diesel VW Passat 1.9 TDI 130. Having previously only had the 110 bhp versions, I was quite shocked to note how much of a power difference the extra 20 bhp made to this 130 bhp model - fast and responsive with good acceleration throughout the range. Economy wise you do take a hit. Whereas with the 110 versions I easily could get well over 50 mpg, the 130 version would get me into the high 40s, and possibly just over 50 mpg on a long run if I was gentle. But still, very good for such a large car. Interior wise I've got a full leather fit, the first time I've ever had this from VW and I've got to admit that the quality is good and the finish is excellent. Comfortable and practical, the car is a joy to drive over long distances and for long durations. Fittings wise the stereo and combined 6 CD player give a great sound quality. Easy and logical operational control with an 8 speaker sound system means it will satisfy the most demanding of music connoisseurs. The car also has air conditioning which seems to have little impact on the overall fuel economy. I know at times in the coldest setting, I've had to turn it up because it got a little too cold for me and at the other end of the scale it will quickly warm the entire cabin area. Controls are all within easy reach of the driver and there are loads of pockets and storage spaces around the car for someone to put their little trinkets etc. In addition, it also has the computer display which will give the mpg, journey time thus far etc and more importantly how many miles you have remaining in your fuel tank - particularly important when you have run low on fuel, which normally gives you about a 50 mile range when the low level light comes on. OK, to balance, what are the negative points? A minor point but the computer LED display sits between the clocks and is a red display, whilst the lighting for the clocks etc and all the dials and controls is in blue. Slight colour clash for what is a classy and well laid out display. The drinks holder for 2 drinks for the front seat occupants now sits by the handbrake lever between the seats. Not a bad position, but when you have the armrest as I have with the top panel slid forward, it kind of blocks the rearmost of these 2 drinks holder. Again, a minor issue, but can be annoying. When you fold the rear seats down, you have to remove each of the 3 rear headrests in order to fold the seats flat. Equally, with the rear seats flat, you can't put the front seats fully back. Finally, servicing costs. Well it is a VW and they are not particularly cheap. Mine has been set up for the long life service meaning about 20k miles between servicings, so it has saved me some money. But when you are paying something like £90+ just for an oil change, it can get very expensive. But overall, VWs are very reliable and so far I've not really had any problems with it after 100k miles. They are designed to be load luggers and the cavernous estate will swallow up massive loads, particularly if you fold the rear seats down, and you also have the standard roof rails on top should you require more storage space. In summary, the Passat is a great roomy family car. Plenty of space for passengers and load lugging and gives excellent mpg in return. Read the complete review |
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