Astra SRi Gone... Hello Polo Gti

[rjastra]

Yes, I defected. Holden's wishy-washy arrival date of the new Astra Sri T lead me to buy a Polo GTi.

Picked it up this afternoon and have already done a run through the Royal National Park.

For a car that has a similar kw/nm quotient as the Astra Sri it goes darn sight harder. Will be interesting to see how it goes with the stage 1 upgrade (150kw, 300Nm - $1400!).

And for $31K on the road it's a bargain.

[Bernard Siong]

u thrashed it already?
arnt you suppose to run it in? and please dont use national park as a testing course for your car....

good choice... personally i like the golf better...

[PaulyJ]

Hey, congratulations on the new purchase.
How you still stay with the club and keep coming to the meets.
Post up some pics of the new ride.

[rjastra]

u thrashed it already?
arnt you suppose to run it in? and please dont use national park as a testing course for your car....

good choice... personally i like the golf better...

Pretty negative post? What's up, did you crash a car in the RNP?

The Golf would have been nice, but there is a 6-8month wait on one and they are at LEAST $13K more expensive.

[Red AH SRI T]

congratulations!

hope u enjoy the car, im getting impatient too but i will wait for the SRi

only 3 months to go!

[btm]

congrats on the purchase!

what colour did you get?

[rjastra]

congrats on the purchase!

what colour did you get?

Silver of course (just like the SRI) :)

I couldn't wait any longer for the new SRiT. I also wondered at what price point they were going to set it at. It would have to be in the $35K range for it to be worthwhile to me. Any further rumours on what it will cost?
Kinda like having a car that hasn't required a huge outlay to get.

Anyway. The Polo GTi is great (BFYB <30K in 2006 maybe!), and I would have no hesitation buying another Astra in the future. The one i just sold was the least troublesome car I have ever owned. Certainly it exceeded expectations (which is always good!).

So, if anyone sees a Silver astra SRI (akx98c) floating round the dealers then it is mine :)

[JohnBu]

awesome buy... yeah great car for the $$$...

love the VW quality also..

it should be faster than the SRi, purely due to the reduced weight, plus the turbo is a bonus, i know those 1.8 can mod for awesome power...

personally i would that the polo gti than a 4 door golf gti... but i loooooove the golf R32 (or a 3 door golf gti)..

these days you dont need to run engines in.. done from the factory..

[rjastra]

these days you dont need to run engines in.. done from the factory..

I am running it in. Which means:

1. Engine is fully warmed up before any large throttle opening happen. So, gentle cruising for a few kms. This does not mean letting it idle to warm up. Worse thing ever for a new car is unwanted idling. Start car, put seat belt on and drive away...

2. Use full throttle only once car is underway. No harsh, full throttle starts.

3. varying throttle, gears on a regular basis. Large throttle openings and varying speeds is good for initial running in. Use full rev range. Beds the rings in nicely.

4. No lugging of engine!

The most important running in happens in the first 100-200km. Get it right and the car will use minimal oil and produce max power later in its life.

[blueraven]

i am ordering my polo gti in a week or two..just have to sort a few things out first :D

cant wait!! :D:D i took one for a test drive and was VERY impressed... with the apr upgrade it should as quick if not quicker that the golf gti for 15k less :D

[blackSRi]

Hey JRAstra - you doing cool-downs after running it?

I've decided to not get a PoloGTi - they look like shopping trollies - shame.

Yes, next car for me will be an EVO VII from Japan. Buying one at Tokyo auction and compliancing it in Q'land and transporting it to Perth.
Don't care what colour - only care about age and km on odo, and ext/int condition (and manual trans).
It will be on the market after I get it - private sale. I do low km's.

Hey Blueraven, who did you do your test drive with?

[bill142]

I contemplated the Polo GTI, but it was just too small. I was going to get the TDI Golf for a while but worked out the Astra CDX just made better value for the money. However the Polo GTI does look like a good little pocket rocket.

[Bernard Siong]

Pretty negative post? What's up, did you crash a car in the RNP?

The Golf would have been nice, but there is a 6-8month wait on one and they are at LEAST $13K more expensive.

nope i havent
just too many other punks i've read have.... theres many motor bike riders and also bicycle riders, i'd hate to see them get hurt because of an intialD wanna b driver...

[blueraven]

volkswagen in osborne park has a silver one on demo is anyone in perth wants to drive one... they have a golf gti on demo too :D

[BassyAstra]

Ahh not good to hear RJPOLO.

[blackSRi]

volkswagen in osborne park has a silver one on demo is anyone in perth wants to drive one... they have a golf gti on demo too :D
Bastards - told me they don't or wouldn't have any to try - late Dec '05 - maybe that's cos I was a fleet customer and they couldn't hit me up for top $$.... ahh well, EVO city now - yay! I love built-in water spray unit....

[rjastra]

just too many other punks i've read have.... theres many motor bike riders and also bicycle riders, i'd hate to see them get hurt because of an intialD wanna b driver...

Wait up!! I ride a motorbike (ZX6R). Have been driving for 20 yrs. Have attended numerous defensive and advanced driving/riding courses. Haven't had a major accident EVER and you are implying I am a "wanna b driver"?

And for your information the vast majority of bike accidents on these types of roads (RNP OPH) are the motorbiker riders fault. NOt usually another car.
And I stress "these types of roads".Ones where motorcyclist take certain liberties with speed (and yes I have ridden both these roads numerous times)

[JohnBu]

I am running it in. Which means:

1. Engine is fully warmed up before any large throttle opening happen. So, gentle cruising for a few kms. This does not mean letting it idle to warm up. Worse thing ever for a new car is unwanted idling. Start car, put seat belt on and drive away...

2. Use full throttle only once car is underway. No harsh, full throttle starts.

3. varying throttle, gears on a regular basis. Large throttle openings and varying speeds is good for initial running in. Use full rev range. Beds the rings in nicely.

4. No lugging of engine!

The most important running in happens in the first 100-200km. Get it right and the car will use minimal oil and produce max power later in its life.

that sounds perfect..... alot of ppl drive under 2500rpm/80kmh which is a big no-no

[Bernard Siong]

Wait up!! I ride a motorbike (ZX6R). Have been driving for 20 yrs. Have attended numerous defensive and advanced driving/riding courses. Haven't had a major accident EVER and you are implying I am a "wanna b driver"?

And for your information the vast majority of bike accidents on these types of roads (RNP OPH) are the motorbiker riders fault. NOt usually another car.
And I stress "these types of roads".Ones where motorcyclist take certain liberties with speed (and yes I have ridden both these roads numerous times)

my mums never had a major accident... she didnt go driving school. shes just responsible. doesnt take her car on the streets and fangs it around corners then comes to tell people online how great the car is...
bottom line speeding is illegal on the streets..... go wakefield or wsid mate then post times.. im sure u should be fast with all the driving school you got :)

[rjastra]

my mums never had a major accident... she didnt go driving school. shes just responsible. doesnt take her car on the streets and fangs it around corners then comes to tell people online how great the car is...
bottom line speeding is illegal on the streets..... go wakefield or wsid mate then post times.. im sure u should be fast with all the driving school you got :)

Mate. pull ya head in :) I never once mentioned i exceeded the speed limit through the RNP. You just ASSUMED. I never mentioned I thrashed the car.

Makes me wonder if you aren't projecting your behaviour onto me?

From one of your previous postings....


lol should have just got a 1.8 astra

like buying a vtec honda and it never sees the red line

even my mum thrashes her car haha

Hypocrite is the word.... go look it up.

[Degen-Astra]

Keep it on topic gentlemen.

Nice purchase RJ!! This was one car I was looking at late last year, trying to convince my sister in law to get one! :)
I dare say there would be a lot more tune-ability options for the GTi than there will ever be for the Astra. Although I could be wrong once the VXR comes out of the Holden stable.

But I am sure it is an imense pleasure to drive. Happy GTI-ing! :P

[Bernard Siong]

cbf
enjoy ur car

[pred8r]

Congrats :)

How about some piccies? :)

[SSS_Hoon]

the polo that is what i was lookin at, after being in my gf golf gti.

31k drive away is a bargain, although i wasnt happy on the performance figures of it though, apparently they handle nearly the same as the golf gti though so that is a bonus.

you can get the apr flash which say 150odd kw at the fly though so would be looking at around the 120wheel mark i would say.

only thing is they dont have the dsg gearbox manual only which is a shame.


SSS_Hoon

[180HOA]

only thing is they dont have the dsg gearbox manual only which is a shame.

SSS_Hoon

My folks have a golf with the DSG, and while it's an absolutely brilliant thing on the move, if I were getting a GTi, I'd go for the manual... The DSG has a weird sensation at take off that I can't get used to. It's like what it would feel like if you were driving a manual, but a second person was operating the clutch - which means that if you tramp it from a standstill, you tend to get a lot of revs and not much motion until the tranny wakes up and lets the clutch out... It's not a problem once its on the move because the changes are so quick, though.

[SSS_Hoon]

My folks have a golf with the DSG, and while it's an absolutely brilliant thing on the move, if I were getting a GTi, I'd go for the manual... The DSG has a weird sensation at take off that I can't get used to. It's like what it would feel like if you were driving a manual, but a second person was operating the clutch - which means that if you tramp it from a standstill, you tend to get a lot of revs and not much motion until the tranny wakes up and lets the clutch out... It's not a problem once its on the move because the changes are so quick, though.

its due to the fact that it has a electric throttle instead of a cable, and that when your foot is on the brake for longer then 3 seconds i think it is, the throttle is off, i have found that if you are stopped at the lights and they are red, if you take your foot of the brake about 3 secs before they go green for you then your all good, there is still that little delay but its not as bad.


SSS_Hoon

[180HOA]

I think it's more to do with an electronically controlled clutch than the throttle, there's no perceptible delay in engine revs, the delay is in the transmission engaging. But you're right about taking your foot off the brake for a few sseconds and the tranny engages properly and she'll go fine. But say you're waiting for a break to turn onto a fast moving road... you can't take your foot off the brake until there's a gap cos the car will creep forward as the clutch is released; and when you do get a gap you can't always afford to wait a few seconds for the thing to engage the gear properly.

It's unfortunate cos the DSG is a ripper when it's on the move, but the takeoff would be enough to make me opt for the manual.

[rjastra]

I took the Polo for a day trip yesterday... Up the Oxley Highway and Thunderbolts Way. 800km later and the engine and brakes now feel much better.