The first snow came early last fall—in October. The salt trucks came out spreading their corrosive discharge on the highways of Maine. I took my beloved ’04 off the road and brought out my winter ride, an ’05 with fat snow tires. The two cars are almost identical, with the same custom grilles, the same extra coat of paint on the rocker panels, and the same 1.8T motor. But the ’04 has a manual six speed and the ’05 has a five speed automatic.
So I’ve been driving this thing all winter. I grudgingly have to admit that this is a great car despite the slushbox. It has been completely reliable. It always got me there and back through the snow. And though not as fun to drive as the ’04, it won me over. I love this car. On the interstate it excels. The cruise control is superb. You can let go of the steering wheel at 75 mph and it won’t wobble or wander. On a twisty two-lane road you can put your foot into it and the shifts are smooth and smart. This is a fast car. But… in slow moving traffic, it’s terrible.
The Tiptronic transmission is a brilliantly conceived piece of technology. This is the smartest automatic I’ve ever driven. It really is amazing how smoothly it shifts. You can be diving into a corner and throw the shifter over to the right and downshift manually, twice, and the car never loses traction. It is a triumph of automotive engineering.
The tragedy? Lugging. This car drops into high gear and all of a sudden your rpms are down around 1500. Or 1200. This is what I call milque toast mode. This works if you feather the gas pedal and keep it feathered. If you give it the gas, it’ll downshift for you and get you up into the boost zone but as soon as you take your foot off the gas you’ll be back in milque toast mode.
I don’t like cruising at 1500 rpm and 2000 rpm is just barely tolerable. If the 1.8T could talk, it would probably say that it’s happier spinning in the 2200 to 2500 range.
It was a warm sunny day today in Maine. The thermometer cracked 60ºF for the first time this year. I pulled the cover off the ’04 and and she started up as if I had driven her yesterday. The ’04 is faster, quieter, handles better, and gets better gas mileage—24 mpg as opposed to 19 for the Tiptronic.
But I have to say that they are both great cars. Using all three modes of the Tiptronic, I can keep the revs where I want them. Pulling out of my dirt road onto the main road there is an uphill flowing into a long sweeping curve. I know that the Tiptronic won’t know how to handle it so I always shift into manual and keep it in third until I round the curve. I keep my hand on the shifter most of the time. Sport Mode, Manual Mode, and Drive. They get me where I need to go.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by obaka
Bookmarks