ya man!! yesterday during the ItaliaAuto's Ulu Yam drive...had the chance to see this car performs...it was superb...certainly was a good handling car...Chris simply took the car & blow us 156s away...& almost not leaving the Coupe's alone!!!
I want one!!!!!

take it easy, look busy,
never interfere, never volunteer.

I tested the E90 320i in the morning and the new Golf GTI DSG in the afternoon, the contrast between the 2 cars is obvious. The new E90 320i is retailed at RM 268k while the GTI DSG is for sale at RM 225k.

The 320i feels lay back, & relax to drive. However when pushed hard, the coarse engine note is not very inspiring, definitely not what one will expect from an UDM. The drive is boring in short. The frontal view looks aggressive but the rear view is a big let down, kind of anti-climax. Modern BMW interiors are not my favourite, the straight slab design puts me off. Gone is the driver-focus dash.

The GTI DSG that greeted me was in Tornado Red, with huge 18" 2 tone coloured rims. I could feel the adrenalin rush by just looking at it, what a contrast to the 320i. The drive is exactly that: it asked to be driven hard & fast. The DSG gearchange is seamlessly SMOOTH, it's a dream. The exhaust gives out a "blooping" sound everytime I upshift, heaven! The ride is frim but not hard. The gear change in D mode is as smooth as any automatic transmission.

Which one do I prefer? The 320i at that price can not come close to GTI. A 325i will be a better option, but it will set you back at RM 318,000.00, a whopping RM 100k difference from the GTI, it doesn't have the DSG.

The new Golf GTI DSG gets my vote!

Just your vote? How about your money? hehehe

Although elsewhere in the world the 1 series is the natural rival to the Golf, in Malaysia the tax structure sort of blur the boundaries. Interior space wise, I would say the golf is not far off from the E90, except for the boot size. So given the price range, I would say that the golf is an alternative to the 3 series here in Malaysia.

My money has gone to the MCS, hehehe!

I'm probably gonna test drive the Golf GTI DSG next weekend. Never driven a DSG before. Gotta try it I sat in the car today, yummy. lots of continental design to it.must say the interior fittings are very good quality.

Engine compartment is so compact, can hardly see below the engine cover to make out the turbo, TB, manifolds, etc.etc.

Anyone care to explain the concept behind FSI?

great car. suspension is stiff man... cool.

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It's not how fast you drive... It's how you drive fast

FSI = fuel stratification injection

i got a pretty neat ad from VW talking about the FSI advantages. i will briefly type it out.

*new style of fuel injector and pistons, unique combustion chamber.
*airflow to cylinder is controlled by guided inlet tract to increase airspeed and tumble effect.
*geometrically optimised piston crown enchances tumbling effect giving superior mixture formation.
*high pressure fuel system, produces up to 100bar (thats 100 times the atmospheric pressure, 14700 psi) giving finer atomisation of fuel and more efficient combustion. fuel is injected into combustion chamber/cylinder.
*benefits of FSI : lower fuel consumption, lower emission, increased power.

not very sure how FSI is different from Mitsubishis GDI, i only notice the piston design is different. check out this link for more info
http://www.autozine.org/technical_school/engine/petrol1.htm#GDI

I test drove the GTI today. It was incredible. Like BM5 says, it ask to be driven hard and fast! The gear change was real smooth and incredible. It automatically shift to lower gear when u slow down. Impressive.

The bucket seats was incredibly fitting. Just like a karting seat. Unfortunately not in leather. The sales guy was funny ... he said "if leather, you slide around more!" ... therefore fabric! yeah, sure. Why do they have leather bucket seats in M3?

Its very torque-y and have boast 280Nm at 1800rpm!!!

Unfortunately i was running out of time and my drive was muted due to time constraint and slow traffic on the North-South highway.

Although at rm225k (can add another Wald chip for additional rm15k), this car is one car worth buying cause its so much fun to drive and definitely better than the E90 320i.

I want to go back for more test drives! This time all the way up to Genting Highlands!!

Yip Yen

Can test drive all the way to Genting, I also want to follow!

Haha ... thats my dream right now I think if i do that or bring it to Sepang, the sales guy will ask me for a cheque at the end of the trip.

YY