GTI MK7 en route and new car dilemmas

Meet the new boss

Well, I'd been looking for some time for a car to replace our 2007 GTI MK5. While our current GTI has been amazing fun to drive and own, it's now 10 years old and perhaps it's time to move on to something different.

The $64,000 question was "what?"

When I began the search, I had several criteria for the new car:

• comparable size to the MK5 GTI
• four doors
• manual transmission
• all-wheel drive 
• no more than 2 model years old with CPO warranty available
• price under $30K

So what does that leave to choose from?

• Subaru WRX

Seriously!!! Audi A4 can be had with manual transmission but might be a bit too dear and is a skosh too big. Ditto BMW 3-series, I would have wanted an E90 (up to MY 2011) not a turbo 4-cylinder... but that's too old for warranty. Focus RS is too mental and too pricey. A Golf R would be perfect but is just too expensive as well. Mini Clubman or whatever it's called is just plain ugly. BMW 1- and 2-series only come in two-door or crossover-y configurations.

I really wanted to love the Audi A3 but it is not available with a manual transmission. I looked at a few and drove one. The A3 Quattro model that fit closest to the list criteria is the low-line Komfort model - 2015 examples can be had with low miles for around $30K. But the Komfort model lacks a ton of the convenience and luxury features that should come standard at this price point - no push-button start, paddle shift, backup camera, or navigation, just to name four. 

I could have lived with that, though, if the car had come with a manual. I must be one of the few people left who is not an enthusiast of VAG's dual-clutch DSG transmission. I find it sluggish and uninvolving around town and I don't like how it hunts around either. I'd considered modding the car with an S-Line flat bottom wheel and flappy paddles, but that could load up to $1K onto the price and it's still a DSG. Backup camera can be retrofitted as well but while you're doing that, why not upgrade to the $35K Progressiv or even pricier Technik models? That's a slippery slope to go down, AND STILL NO 6MT.   

WRX interior - the rolling Pachinko parlour

Abandoning the A3 idea, I drove a '15 WRX and other than the explosive power and performance, I was underwhelmed. The interior was simultaneously plain and tacky - drab upholstery (no leather), no sunroof... but a multitude of shouty screens. Do I really need to know at any given moment what percentage of throttle I am applying? It felt like sitting in a rolling Pachinko parlour... very Japanese, but not to my taste.

So criteria started dropping off the list. First was all-wheel drive. Once that was dropped the answer was clear... another GTI. I know, I know, the Focus ST is a strong competitor. But again, I don't like the flashy interior:

Focus ST spaceship control console

Compare to this:

Teutonic efficiency

You can read all over the Internet about how good the MK7 GTI is; I don't have to repeat it for you. My test drive of a local car bore it out - it was niiiiice. 

So the search was on for a MK7 GTI, 4-door 6MT with Technology package. I'd considered searching out a "Performance Pack" car (that includes 10 more horsepower, bigger brakes and trick front differential) but those seem to be harder to find in a 4-door, non-black non-red car. I decided I wanted the Clark cloth upholstery as well, as I'd seen more than one leather car with notable and premature wear-through on the driver's bolster and I didn't want to deal with that. Plus tartan is cool!!

After exhausting local searches (shout out to Jesse of St. James VW who kept in touch with me and tried hard to find me a car), I found a Carbon Steel Grey car in Newmarket, Ontario at Pfaff Volkswagen. Initial contact and conversation was followed by a price drop on the Pfaff website and I thought it was time to move. We negotiated a bit more over the CPO warranty and arrived at a deal; the car is now en route by truck and train and should arrive in about two weeks.   

I'll post more driving impressions MK7 vs MK5 after the new boss arrives. Now the focus will be on getting the MK5 ready for sale. It will certainly make someone a good car at a great price.

PCA Newsletter and Editorial Musings

What a great photo! Taken by Dan Torbiak, this photo graces the cover of the latest edition (January/February 2017) of Red River Ramblings. Plenty to look at in this issue, including reports on the Holiday party and the Porsche Driving Experience at Barber Motorsports Park, and plenty more.

I write an editorial piece for each issue of Ramblings, and I think that just for fun I'll also reprint my editorial here on the blog. So here goes with Jan/Feb's deep thoughts:

Service above self
That’s the motto of a well-known international service club but it’s something we should remember when thinking about our cars as well. To wit: when is the last time your Porsche was treated to a full comprehensive service?

When we drive our cars only seasonally (as many owners of sports or vintage Porsches do) it’s easy to let regular maintenance slip. After all, we have a limited amount of time to drive in the summer, who wants to waste it with the car idle in a repair shop or sitting in the garage?

The issue was brought into sharp focus for me over the Christmas break. I’d wanted to get a whiteboard for the garage to keep track of oil and filter changes on our vehicles, and finally got out to Walmart to pick one up. Then came the fun part - going back through my records to write up the date, mileage of the latest service for each of the machines.

The GTI was easy - the massive engine repair bill incurred in October was still fresh in mind, and oil and filter were changed at the time as well. Recorded.

The Ducati 848 had benefited from a service (including oil and filter change) at the dealership in early 2016, just after purchase at Christmas 2015. Recorded.

The Yamaha R1's oil and filter had been changed by me in the summer of 2015 and it had done only a couple thousand kilometers since then. Recorded.   

Then things started to get a bit sketchy...

The Ducati 900SS/SP hadn’t been ridden regularly since 2014 or so, but the last oil and filter change I’d recorded was in 2013. Time to put that right in the Spring, even if I’m not going to be putting many miles on - the idea being that if I wanted to ride it on a weekend, I could do so without feeling I was compromising mechanical wear on a sumpfull of elderly oil.

When I went through the Porsche’s records I was in for a bit of a shock. The last I’d changed the oil and filter was in [date redacted] in Andy’s garage! Granted, the car’s not done too much mileage in the interim but it will definitely be due in the Spring. A major service and some repairs will be in order as well, since the blowers are now all completely non-functional after the regular use the car received in October and November.  

So with that resolved I’ll eagerly await springtime (and save my shekels for the inevitable expense of the upcoming oil changes and service). However, I guess I needn’t be too hard on myself given the relatively low mileage elapsed between services and the fact I only use top-brand full synthetic oil - ELF suggests that full-synthetic oil should go 7,500 to 10,000 miles (!) between changes and that’s far far in excess of my current interval - in fact the R1 and 848 only have about 10,000 miles total on their clocks since new!

However, I do heartily recommend the whiteboard method for those with multiple vehicles to maintain. It does help focus one on maintenance needs and I have to imagine it will be extremely satisfying to finally write up Spring maintenance on the board!

Winter tires!

Radar RW-5+

So, for the first time in nearly 30 years of driving (and that includes 30 Manitoba winters), I've gotten winter tires for my car. I hadn't intended to do so, since I'd been contemplating selling the car and getting something different, but my hand was forced. One freezing cold night after playing hockey, I ended up with a flat tire on the GTI that couldn't be repaired (that was another first - I'd never had to change a flat before either!) and a decision loomed... replace one Continental from the car's original set (dating back to 2007!) or take the opportunity to replace all four tires with winters.

After pricing out new winter tires and steel wheels from VW ($1,150) and a new set of Goodyears (on "sale" at the local tire place, $1,100) I hit up the local free classifieds... I found a few used sets of winters but nothing compelling. Then I saw an ad from a discount tire shop promoting brand new winter tires, size 225/45R17, for $89.95 each (!) The inner Scotsman was intrigued...

Turns out these are the "Radar RW-5+" winter tire. If you aren't familiar with the brand (I wasn't), they are made by Omni United, a Singapore-based manufacturer. I couldn't find any online reviews of the tire (it was only launched in late 2015) but I figured any winter tires would be better than my 10-year-old Contis, and for only about $500 installed...!

So I headed out to the tire shop last week and they spooned a new set of rubber onto my VW's Denver 17" alloys. The old set of Contis went in the trash and the tire guy said "you musta been slidin' around pretty good!"

The difference in handling on the new tires was immediately noticeable, especially in acceleration from a stop. The new rubber grips really well on ice and through snow, and is quiet on the pavement as well. Now we're in a warmish spell and the tires haven't yet been severely tested, but I'm very pleased so far.

The only downside is that I've now been spoiled, and will have to have winter tires for every future car as well!