Topic: I test-drove a 2008 VW City Golf today, first time

[Mitlov]

  Another honorable mention is the IS-F. 

Every review I have read says it's likely the best manu-matic tranny in ALL of autodom...

From Automobile Magazine, which tends to find more fault in cars--all cars--than your typical Car & Driver or Motor Trend review.

The IS-F is available exclusively with an automatic transmission, and Lexus wisely eschewed the slow-witted, jerky six-speed in the V-6-powered IS in favor of the eight-speed automatic from the LS460. It has been reprogrammed to include a paddle-shifted manual mode that keeps the torque converter locked up in all gears but first. The locked converter eliminates a major portion of the slip that is inherent in automatic transmissions, and it stays locked even during shifts, which are practically instantaneous. Gear changes aren't nearly as smooth as they would otherwise be, but the locked converter's direct connection between the engine and the wheels makes you forget that you're driving a car with a conventional automatic, which isn't a bad thing.

Unfortunately, the transmission uses the same curiously spaced gears as it does in the LS460. To wit, first, second, and third are so far apart that you're constantly wishing for another couple of gears in between, especially on slow, twisty roads. Conversely, the higher gears are so closely spaced that half of them seem superfluous. Case in point: when you are cruising at 50 mph in eighth gear, you need to pull the left gearshift paddle six times to downshift to your optimum passing gear. This confuses the transmission and results in no additional forward progress for what seems like an eternity.

The solution is to drive in the normal automatic mode, which allows the transmission to perform a magnificent eighth-to-second downshift at the nudge of your right foot. In automatic mode, though, there is no permanently locked torque converter and no lightning-quick shifts.

http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/lexus/0710_2008_lexus_is-f/index.html

[sirAQUAMAN64]

Does anyone here know what the [now] City Golf sold for back in - what, 2005? - when it was the ONLY Golf?

The CD Buyer's Guide for '06MY http://www.canadiandriver.com/overviews/2006/volkswagen/golf-gti.php

I would sample the Saturn Astra when it arrives late this month/early next. The main criticism against it of short gearing for the highway won't matter to you if it's being driven as a city car.

[SteelyDon]

Thanks, Aquaman.

[PlanB]

BAD: No arm rest. For some, this is a deal-breaker.  After market arm rests are available out there, somewhere.

Someone may have already mentioned this, but a center arm rest is now an option ($389.00).