Be Excellent To Each Other

Does that mean they plug into the ECU?



The only thing this will do is worry you. I've got one in my Tomcat, and I wish I hadn't


It's on the top left there. The one below it is oil pressure (far more important), and is currently wired up backward
To the right are ammeters for the two batteries.

I think some of the Golf owners would disagree, especially the ones with 200BHP TDi's

That would only end badly.....

GazChap, the John Coffey of the car world.

Get a 360 VW Golf.

Don't try to wipe your arse with it then.

Then they disagree wrong.

[edit]Is that the Mk5 (which isn't labelled a 'sport', IIRC)? They still take 8.2 seconds (according to the book) to get to 60. That seems to be pretty slow when you consider how much grunt they should have.
[editedit]Mind you, modern Golf's are always bigger than I think they are.

*shrugs* - they don't have a "needle" as such like a normal speedo, just a series of lights around the rim.


It's on the top left there. The one below it is oil pressure (far more important)[/quote]
Not too worried about oil pressure (well, when it's not leaking I'm not) but the oil temperature is important because that tells me when it's safe to put my clog on up to full boost.

Oh right - they'll probably still be a simple 'wire in, wire to sender' unit*. Knowing where to put the sender would be the hard bit.


Obviously the answer should be "always", you need more oil cooling**.

*you might need to earth them separately, too.
**except it's probably a problem if it's cold, not hot, right?

So is my MX-5 not "sporty" then, even though it is, by all commonly agreed defintions, a sports car?

My oil temperature gauge only worries me when it randomly spikes off the top, which it only does when it's cold but has been sat in the sun all day. But I "have" to wait until it hits 80C before I'm allowed full throttle or more than 3.5k rpm or so.

Given it replaces the useless instant MPG meter that lesser 3 serieses have, I prefer it.

Yup Previously I've been using the stock water temperature gauge as a rough guide but, if the oil temp. gauge is actually working and is accurate, it actually takes a great deal longer for the oil to heat up enough.

It's not badged 'sport' though, is it?
And why would you think it wasn't?

[edit]If the answer is "it's a diesel' I'm going to be rather surprised

The old 1.8 had a 'sport' model. It added a gear to the box so did at least nod to performance.

I've just watched a video of Chris Harris over at Evo drinking a bottle of coke while taking the new 911 Turbo to 100mph in <8secs. That's sporty.

http://imgsrv.gocomics.com/dim/?fh=8edd ... 6618e6ce9b

Also just read something about a Veyron owner who has discovered it's cheaper to trailer his Veyron to his favourite roads and fly in by private jet to use it. Apparently, the Veyron costs €42000 for a routine service, €40000 for a set of tyres and every fourth set need a special alignment that costs another €40000. I imagine the fuel bill is pretty fucking epic as well.

I think markg may have done what I did, and misread "Mk5" as "Mx5" the first time I read it.

I think he was more referring to the fact his MX-5 'only' does about 8-8.5s 0-60.

See, that still annoys me (although nowhere near as much), as I'd argue that the addition of an extra gear makes it no more "sporty" than the rest of the (already very "sporty") MX-5 range.
I guess it's just a case of quantifying the word "sport", which isn't really possible.

Take my Mundano, for example, which is (ridiculously) called a 'Titanium X Sport'. One of the main differences the X Sport has over the X is front and rear diffusers. I asked the nice salesman three questions about them:
"Do they increase downforce?" (No)
"Do they actually slow the car down?" (Yes - the rear one does)
"Can I have mine without the rear one?" (Yes)

The other differences are:
Leather seats with red stitching. The wife doesn't like leather, so we didn't have those. They weigh a little more than the standard seats.
Twin exhaust pipes (whoo!)
18" wheels (makes a miniscule amount of difference, I suppose)
Sport suspension (what does that even mean?)
Bi-Xenon headlights (that'll increase my roadholding!)
Alloy pedals (I wasn't aware of this one. I'll have to look in mine to see if I have them. Either way, so?)
Leather steering wheel and gear shift with red stitching (Didn't have this again, due to the wife. Also: WHOO!)

See? Gash.

Also, it has the "racing pack" which includes an insane clutch (which might as well be a button marked 'clutch in / clutch out') and a limited slip front diff. These make it more sporty, in my head, but aren't included as standard (or actually called 'sport' at all).

The speed thing was more of a joke about the fact that my Mudano (as detailed above) is also badged 'sport'*.

*except it isn't - such is my dislike for this sort of thing that I had the debaged version. Bafflingly, this cost extra

Sports suspension is usually stiffer to offer better handling, obviously decreasing the ride comfort.

I feel you've missed a point somewhere

[edit]And, curiously, it's actually far better than that - it stiffens up if you corner at high speeds or brake / accelerate hard. It works quite well (once you get out of the habit of braking hard for a speed bump). When you're going above a certain speed it hunkers down a little, too. Quite why they didn't call it something like 'adaptive suspension' is beyond me.

Probably, yeah. I'm in the unusual (for me) position of having to skimread this forum at the moment.

I have made an edit that no-one will see as it's at the bottom of the last page, if that helps

I see what you mean - you think that 'sport' suspension is a misnomer as it doesn't increase performance (as in power, torque, etc)?

No, it just doesn't actually 'mean' anything - much like a sport badge on a car. If it was called "Sports" or "Sporty" (heh) it would be better.

Some are badged up as GP Sports, some aren't. Mine wasn't but I added a rear badge and the logbook etc confirms its the GT Sport model.

Additionally there are different models of the TDi GT Sport knocking around. Mines the standard 140BHP but there are 200 BHP versions out there

Yes they aren't the quickest, but when I get into other cars they literally feel like tin cans compared to a Golf. There's quite a lot of car to shift! Also I've averaged just over 50 MPG since I got it so it has its upsides!

Heh - I told them to leave mine off. You are the anti-Grim...!


Granted, but, you know, 'sport' doesn't say 'MPG' in my head.

How much does it weigh? Like I've said, I always thinks of Golfs as small, like they used to be.

1265kg, apparently.

Oh. That's not a lot, really.

That's surprisingly pretty light actually, the one I had in Italy gave the impression of being much heavier. Hell, my Civic Type-R was hardly any lighter than that, and felt skimped-on.

Apparently not:



As mine has a heavy diesel engine, I'm guessing it's higher up that scale than lower down.

That's assuming chinnyhill's motah is the 1.4 TDi GT Sport, which is the only one on the Facts and figures I can see that has 140bhp (actually 138).

I'm surprised it's that light as well, to be honest. My car is 1,440kg which (as I understand it) is pretty heavy for the type.

It's a diesel! Can you imagine just how "sport" a 1.4 diesel would be?

I have a 2 litre TDi.

Really, for a Golf? My clio is a 1.6 and it's only 1100Kg, and it's not a huge amount smaller.

I got a front badge but it doesn't fit. Obviously the Ebay listing was incorrect as its obviously for a MK4 but I can't be arsed returning it to Lithuania!

1.6 tons!? Jesus, that's more than my van weighs!

Golfs really aren't small any more. Neither are Polos for that matter. I bet a new Polo is bigger and heavier than the original Golf.

1,281kg for the 2.0 TDi GT Sport then, according to Parkers.

Craster: My mental image of a Golf is of a car that's small, but not that small, and loaded with toys that add on weight. I wasn't expecting a 2-tonner or anything, but I would have expected at least 1.4 or 1.5 tons.

Aha! He comes around to my way of thinking!

And there he goes again.




Aside: I've just had a sudden thought - what does TDi stand for?

[edit]The Internet suggests it stands for Turbo Diesel Injection, as I feared. Oh dear oh dear.

I think a 2 litre TDi would probably put your V6 Mondeo to shame, or be close anyway. The torque on those things is unreal.

We clearly need a race. For pinks. Dude.

Clearly the R32 is the choice of champions, though.

[edit]Also, my Tomcat has nearly twice the torque of my Mundano (which is a V5). It's not about to beat anything in a race, though - you could get out and run faster

The torque on a 1.6TDi is pretty impressive. In a Fiesta anyway

Now I'm annoyed about the 'TDi' badge.
Today gets worse.

My sister had a 1.8 diesel fiesta. Non-turbo. It was shit.

That's not a shock. Diesels really need a turbo before they'll even move.
I had a the 'pleasure' of driving a 1.6 NA diesel Focus - Jesus fucking Christ. Ford don't even make that one any more.

Tell me about it. My first car was a 2.5 NA diesel Sierra. Ford had decided not to make a diesel engine yet so chose a French one (Peugeot), designed in the 50s.

It wasn't very fast but got good MPG.

I refer to mine as a T5

As in the Volvo engine?

IIRC VW make a non turbo diesel Golf. 0-60 is something like 18 seconds.

Presumably its aimed at the Eastern European market or something.

It is the Volvo engine. Ford have tinkered with it and the turbo runs at a higher pressure and it redlines further up, but it's still the same engine.

It's still a good engine now, but when it first came out it was brilliant. My mate's dad had a Volvo T5 - talk about a stealth rocket.

Well. I don't think I've ever seen a used vehicle salesman less interested in selling something. I'll try to cut a long and frustrating encounter short.

My car was undervalued by several hundred pounds (£2000) because of the inevitable scratches you get on any car that's used, and the various optional extras (integrated handsfree kit, CD changer) didn't counterbalance this.

The £250 deposit to have the car brought from the other dealer (in Middlesbrough) is in fact a £250 EXTRA CHARGE. When I asked, the car is brought by some cunt driving it down. So I get to pay £250 so they can put extra mileage on the car before I even receive it. Not on the back of a truck. They advertise a super-duper HPI check on the car. But not a feature, no, this is MANDATORY (company policy I think) and also £49.99. I asked what made this check £30 better than a £3.50 text or £19.99 online check. They changed the subject.

Finally, they'll tax it for me. Because there's no tax on it, and this also is an additional charge.

Add all these together and my balance after trade-in has risen from £5,300 to nearly £6,000. When I balked at this, the salesman (who couldn't go any lower) brought in the 'sales manager' he'd spent at least 20 minutes of the last half hour or so consulting on this that and the other.

The manager asked how much I'd hoped to spend, and I said £5,000 after the trade in. He came out with the classic "my mother would love a deal like that but I couldn't even that for her". I said that they'd given a poor value for my car (I had been offered £2,300 on the weekend elsewhere which was generous but had been made generous to try and make a sale). I further explained I'd been mislead when I called yesterday about the delivery charge being a deposit and not an additional charge. And the £50 HPI check (for £50, I want to know how many times the previous owner farted into the seats, and how many of those were curry farts).

He offered to waive the delivery charge, and the HPI check, but with the additional tax disc we were still over the fucking sticker price! I said I would go higher than £5,000 but not £900 higher!

After a few more minutes of this the sales manager abruptly stood up while saying "Well, thank you for coming in today", shaking my hand and leaving. I told the salesman the car wasn't worth that much, that there was a 04 reg with just over 40,000 miles for about £200 less on their dealer network, and did a 55 reg really balance out 25,000 extra miles for more money? He said that some dealers put an artificially high price on their cars so they can then let you haggle down to what they'd originally intended to sell it for, and then you'd be chuffed because you thought you'd gotten a deal. Quite the opposite here, eh, mate? Rather than get a bit less of £5,900, your dealership is getting all of nothing. Astonished by all this, I thanked him for his time and left.

Jesus fuck. After so much haggling, we hadn't even gotten back down to the sticker price. I am dumbfounded.

Oh, christ, if it's that engine you should have no trouble beating Chinny I didn't realise they'd put it in the Mondeo!