2010 Volkswagen Golf & GTI, Impressions.

VW drops the Rabbit nameplate and gives us the new generation Golf and GTI. There has been a slight price increase on these two cars but honestly I could care less. These two cars are worth it. These cars are of very high quality. Just the other day I decided to take a gander at the new GTI. Some say the new GTI/Golf looks uglier than your Grandma's bunions. I think the GTI/Golf looks very mean (Which is a good thing). It seems like VW is stepping away from their happy-go-lucky styling and designing more aggressive looking cars. The new GTI's interior is amazing. Good materials used throughout the car. It has a redesigned big chunky race-like steering wheel, sport seats, new instrument cluster. Lets stop right there. There are only two things I don't like about the GTI. One is that new instrument cluster. They changed the color from blue to white. Horrible!!! That blue cluster was very cool to see lit up at night. Please VW change it back to blue! The second thing about the GTI/Golf I don't like are the crummy cup holders. They are just a hole! Give me those little "fingers" like the Tiguan has to hold my drink in place. The GTI gets a new type of differential lock for improved handling. I'm guessing the suspension has been tweaked to. Tweaked, not to be confused with Tweeted.

Of course you can get the new GTI with VW's DSG transmission. Which apparently can shift faster than the speed of light.

The Golf has the same aggressive looks as the GTI but the big news is what's under the hood. For 2010 the the Golf comes with VW's TDI diesel engine. I think the MPG is around 30/40. Which is better than some hybrids. Unlike a hybrid you can drive a real car, with real power, and real practicality.

Would I buy the new GTI or the Golf? Absolutely not! Why? I tell you why. There is speculation that the R20 will be headed for US shores. The R20 is the replacement for the R30. The R20 will have the same 2.0L Turbocharged engine as the GTI but the power is pumped up to 250HP or so. Even better than that, the R20 comes with AWD for your cornering pleasure.

If the R20 fails to come over here the GTI will be my next vehicle. That is unless Alfa Romeo (Fiat) brings over the 147 hatch back.

Volkswagen of America

Ford Recall

Ford is recalling a bunch of vehicles that have a nasty little habit of catching on fire. This, my friends, is not new. I can remember several years back of this same type of recall. People have had their house burn down because of the Ford that was parked in the garage. This type of "problem" upsets me because it is life threatening. How would you like to be woken up by your significant other in the middle of the night telling you, "I'm sorry to wake you, but the van is on fire."?

If you have one of these recalled vehicles please sell it and get a nice German car. (preferably a VW) In all seriousness this recall is very important, don't delay, get it fixed by your local Ford dealer. It's free.

Recall Information - Ford

Ford Extends Largest-Ever Recall By 4.5 Million Vehicles - Wide Open Throttle - Motor Trend Magazine

Properly Adjusted Mirrors

Believe it or not but you probably have your mirrors adjusted incorrectly (On your car). I'll admit it, I did too. The majority of people have their mirrors angled so that half of their car is showing in the mirror. Or they have their mirrors angled so they can see their pretty face. Well people do need to put on their makeup or shave while driving, right? The correct way is to line up your side mirrors with your re-view mirror. There should be very little over lapping field of view when the sides mirrors are compared to the center mirror. This will help shrink your blind spots down significantly. Motorcyclists will be grateful.

Please check out this link. It even has pictures. Everybody likes pictures!

Linquist.net- How to properly adjust your mirrors