This thread is not Volvo related, I just wanted to share my latest VW experience with you all. Hope you dont mind. And no, Im not thinking about buying anything else but a Volvo...
So.... I go over to my parents house this afternoon for a typical sunday visit. To my shock and horror I find my fathers XC90 missing in the garage, and in its place, a 2006 VW Jetta 2.0T with the DSG 6 speed transmission. Paniced, starting to break out in a sweat I think, OH NO! Did they trade the beast in for THIS?! But no, it's simply a service loaner from the dealer. Thank God! My dads XC90 is having work done to the steering rack, again... And they ran out of the regular Volvo S60 T5 loaners they usually have.
As I walk into the garage I look down at the little car and think, Yuk, never again!! You see, I use to be the very proud owner of a '97 Passat GLX, which was my first new car. My parents "bought" it for me after I graduated from HS. (Hey, I worked for it! I was top 10% of my class!) Shortly after HS I got a job and finished paying for the car myself. The car was a complete and utter lemon. Which is 90% of the cars VW makes I think. THOUSANDS of dollars were spent just keeping the beast on the road. Every problem you could think of, I had. And then some. But, I loved it very much. And it showed.
So what do I do after I say hello to my parents?! Grab the keys and check out the Jetta of course!
First thing I notice is the wonderful textures of EVERYTHING inside the Jetta. I hate to admit it. But its beautiful. Odd styling and a little cheap feeling here and there, but still beautiful looking and feeling. The stereo absolutely sucks. Even for the upgraded Premium package it has. Its trash. Rattles behind EVERY door panel!! Which speaks a *LOT* about the build quality and attention to fine detail. Id never put up with rattles in any car. Especially one with less than 2.5K on the clock.
Once on the road, (and the awful radio off) I felt as if I was "king of the world" The power delivery is AMAZING from this albeit, very noisy & twitchy little 4cyl 2.0L FSI Turbo (Fuel Stratified Injection, which directly injects the fuel into the cylinder at higher pressure, kinda like a diesel so the engine can use higher compression and run cooler and more efficient) it makes 200hp 207FtLbs and uses 25 MPG City 31 MPG Hwy.
The transmission is the thing that makes me want to write this thread! It's called DSG. Direct Shift Gearbox. A $1,075 option. Kinda like BMW's SMG tranny. It basically uses two clutches instead of a torque converter. The clutches handle the even and odd gears and reverse. There is NO delay between shifts, thanks to the two clutches one working the even and the other clutch working odd gears. The next higher gear is somehow always engaged, so there is no shift felt at all ...from what I understand. And when you put the pedal to the metal, OH MY GOD!~ Hang the heck on! The car disengages drive EVERY TIME you come to a stop (I hate that feeling) BUT when you floor it, the car will rev up, then engage the transmission a second later. So it's as if you're peeling out in a manual tranny car. Or neutral dropping an automatic that is revving. Only smoother. This will make who ever is in ear shot turn and look at you as if you're an a$$h0le on the road because you're peeling out with the Anti-Slip Regulation off. But oh, is it so smooth and QUICK! Blink, and it seems as if you're at 60MPH. Each and every shift point is not felt. It's just a constant propultion. It's like "buttah" The only thing I *HATE* is the disengagement felt when stopped. And when you accelerate slowly from a stop, it feels as if you're about to stall out a manual transmission car when going up an incline. You can feel a delay while the transmission re-engages when you start to accelerate from a stop.
However, the suspension! Oy! Gotta love it!!! Firm, flat and controlled, not obtrusive, not harsh. Just how I wish my 850 would handle sometimes...
The steering is Electro Mechanical. There's no typical power steering pump. The steering is dead on. I love it!
All for the nice price of $27,434. I really dont think it's bad for what the car has, which is a LOT. BUT... I'd NEVER buy one. All of that wonderful technology is almost guaranteed to fail. That is, if it's anything like my two Passats, and all of my friends VW's and all of the reliability reviews associated with VW. I'd fear too much for the reliability of everything in the car. Ive been burned one too many times with the Passats, and all the other VWs I bought for fun. This 850 I now own has been a sweet dream compared to the VW nightmare I use to live. And I like this forum a lot more! Hope you all had a great weekend!
Here's my old VW picture album for fun: Nathans Passats
The two Passats I use to own before the 850.
So.... I go over to my parents house this afternoon for a typical sunday visit. To my shock and horror I find my fathers XC90 missing in the garage, and in its place, a 2006 VW Jetta 2.0T with the DSG 6 speed transmission. Paniced, starting to break out in a sweat I think, OH NO! Did they trade the beast in for THIS?! But no, it's simply a service loaner from the dealer. Thank God! My dads XC90 is having work done to the steering rack, again... And they ran out of the regular Volvo S60 T5 loaners they usually have.
As I walk into the garage I look down at the little car and think, Yuk, never again!! You see, I use to be the very proud owner of a '97 Passat GLX, which was my first new car. My parents "bought" it for me after I graduated from HS. (Hey, I worked for it! I was top 10% of my class!) Shortly after HS I got a job and finished paying for the car myself. The car was a complete and utter lemon. Which is 90% of the cars VW makes I think. THOUSANDS of dollars were spent just keeping the beast on the road. Every problem you could think of, I had. And then some. But, I loved it very much. And it showed.
So what do I do after I say hello to my parents?! Grab the keys and check out the Jetta of course!
First thing I notice is the wonderful textures of EVERYTHING inside the Jetta. I hate to admit it. But its beautiful. Odd styling and a little cheap feeling here and there, but still beautiful looking and feeling. The stereo absolutely sucks. Even for the upgraded Premium package it has. Its trash. Rattles behind EVERY door panel!! Which speaks a *LOT* about the build quality and attention to fine detail. Id never put up with rattles in any car. Especially one with less than 2.5K on the clock.
Once on the road, (and the awful radio off) I felt as if I was "king of the world" The power delivery is AMAZING from this albeit, very noisy & twitchy little 4cyl 2.0L FSI Turbo (Fuel Stratified Injection, which directly injects the fuel into the cylinder at higher pressure, kinda like a diesel so the engine can use higher compression and run cooler and more efficient) it makes 200hp 207FtLbs and uses 25 MPG City 31 MPG Hwy.
The transmission is the thing that makes me want to write this thread! It's called DSG. Direct Shift Gearbox. A $1,075 option. Kinda like BMW's SMG tranny. It basically uses two clutches instead of a torque converter. The clutches handle the even and odd gears and reverse. There is NO delay between shifts, thanks to the two clutches one working the even and the other clutch working odd gears. The next higher gear is somehow always engaged, so there is no shift felt at all ...from what I understand. And when you put the pedal to the metal, OH MY GOD!~ Hang the heck on! The car disengages drive EVERY TIME you come to a stop (I hate that feeling) BUT when you floor it, the car will rev up, then engage the transmission a second later. So it's as if you're peeling out in a manual tranny car. Or neutral dropping an automatic that is revving. Only smoother. This will make who ever is in ear shot turn and look at you as if you're an a$$h0le on the road because you're peeling out with the Anti-Slip Regulation off. But oh, is it so smooth and QUICK! Blink, and it seems as if you're at 60MPH. Each and every shift point is not felt. It's just a constant propultion. It's like "buttah" The only thing I *HATE* is the disengagement felt when stopped. And when you accelerate slowly from a stop, it feels as if you're about to stall out a manual transmission car when going up an incline. You can feel a delay while the transmission re-engages when you start to accelerate from a stop.
However, the suspension! Oy! Gotta love it!!! Firm, flat and controlled, not obtrusive, not harsh. Just how I wish my 850 would handle sometimes...
The steering is Electro Mechanical. There's no typical power steering pump. The steering is dead on. I love it!
All for the nice price of $27,434. I really dont think it's bad for what the car has, which is a LOT. BUT... I'd NEVER buy one. All of that wonderful technology is almost guaranteed to fail. That is, if it's anything like my two Passats, and all of my friends VW's and all of the reliability reviews associated with VW. I'd fear too much for the reliability of everything in the car. Ive been burned one too many times with the Passats, and all the other VWs I bought for fun. This 850 I now own has been a sweet dream compared to the VW nightmare I use to live. And I like this forum a lot more! Hope you all had a great weekend!
Here's my old VW picture album for fun: Nathans Passats
The two Passats I use to own before the 850.