05-27-2015, 04:24 PM
One Month Update
Current Mileage: 957mi
Mostly because I'm bored, but now that I've had the car for a month I think I've figured out all the ins and outs and what-have-yous.
"Car-Net" is mostly a big gimmick. You can unlock the doors from the app/website, but as far as I can tell you cannot re-lock them, and if someone opens the door, it will not automatically re-lock, unless I'm doing something wrong. You can make the car honk/flash the lights remotely, but it takes forever for the signal to get from your phone, to space, then into the car. Also, you can flash the lights from the key, so I don't really get the point. If you can't roll up the windows or lock the doors I'm not even sure what the point of remote vehicle control is.
The "vehicle health report" is just a quick overview of like five categories, I guess we'll see if that proves to be useful once things start to break in the future. The boundary and speed alerts are cool if you have other people driving your car. If someone drives this car I'm probably with them, so it's not super useful for me. Lastly "destinations" only applies to vehicles with Nav, but it is kinda cool that you can pre-load the car with destinations from the computer instead of pecking them in through the terrible in-car interface.
So, basically it's a bunch of useless gimmicks wrapped around one core desirable feature, which is the automatic crash response and emergency roadside service. I'll probably continue the service after the free trial just for those benefits. I really like the idea of the car automatically contacting help in an accident, not to mention if I'm unlucky enough to witness an accident or emergency situation in front of me I can hit the big red button and immediately get help.
![[Image: JBxDjQQ.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/JBxDjQQ.jpg)
Now for the car itself.
I have adjusted to getting out of it and it doesn't seem as cumbersome as when I first got it. I kinda swivel out and grab the left side of the steering wheel with my right arm to stand up out of the car without putting my full weight on the seat bolster. Its impossible to avoid it entirely so I guess we'll see how that foam holds up over the coming years.
The dog has also acclimated. I think she just doesn't know where her back feet are supposed to go because she's a huge clumsy brute, and the actual flat part of the rear door sill is very narrow so she ends up trying to stand on the vertical part where she has no traction. I've gotten used to letting her throw her front paws and torso on the seat, then giving her rear paws a boost.
Not quite as simple as I was hoping, but better than having to move the seat every single time. She also derives more joy from having a window to stick her head out of than I ever have or ever will from anything in my life, so that's nice.
My singular complaint isn't really the car's fault. The only feature I really coveted from the autobahn package was the power driver's seat, but I wasn't going to pay for the rest of the stuff I didn't need. I don't regret that decision, but I am really missing the ability to adjust the level of the front of the seat. I'm just ever so slightly too tall, so if my legs are comfortable I'm sitting in the back seat and my arms are overextended, if my arms are comfortable my thigh hovers about an inch off the front of the seat. One guy on VWVortex put a 1" shim under the seat rails with new grade 8 bolts and said it made all the difference in the world. I'm contemplating doing that, or possibly taking the seat out and looking at how its put together to see if it'd be possible to shim the actual seat cushion against the frame for cleaner/potentially safer result. However I decide to do it I think that'll be the magic ticket to make this car super comfy for me on long drives.
Otherwise, it's perfect. The motor is a peach. The transmission is from the future. The interior quality puts pre-2010 VWs (and most other cars) to shame. The stereo quality is phenomenal for a car at this price point. Cargo capacity is excellent, on Saturday morning we slid a mostly assembled 4-burner+sideburner propane grill in it with zero issues.
The next 43 miles are going to be killer, I just wanna sink my foot into the carpet and let it run. (Speaking of which I found some seemingly trustworthy stock dyno figures from a Mustang dyno, the non-PP cars put down 204hp/258ft-lbs. So that's closer to 230hp and a "lot of fuckin' torque" at the flywheel.)
Current Mileage: 957mi
Mostly because I'm bored, but now that I've had the car for a month I think I've figured out all the ins and outs and what-have-yous.
"Car-Net" is mostly a big gimmick. You can unlock the doors from the app/website, but as far as I can tell you cannot re-lock them, and if someone opens the door, it will not automatically re-lock, unless I'm doing something wrong. You can make the car honk/flash the lights remotely, but it takes forever for the signal to get from your phone, to space, then into the car. Also, you can flash the lights from the key, so I don't really get the point. If you can't roll up the windows or lock the doors I'm not even sure what the point of remote vehicle control is.
The "vehicle health report" is just a quick overview of like five categories, I guess we'll see if that proves to be useful once things start to break in the future. The boundary and speed alerts are cool if you have other people driving your car. If someone drives this car I'm probably with them, so it's not super useful for me. Lastly "destinations" only applies to vehicles with Nav, but it is kinda cool that you can pre-load the car with destinations from the computer instead of pecking them in through the terrible in-car interface.
So, basically it's a bunch of useless gimmicks wrapped around one core desirable feature, which is the automatic crash response and emergency roadside service. I'll probably continue the service after the free trial just for those benefits. I really like the idea of the car automatically contacting help in an accident, not to mention if I'm unlucky enough to witness an accident or emergency situation in front of me I can hit the big red button and immediately get help.
Now for the car itself.
I have adjusted to getting out of it and it doesn't seem as cumbersome as when I first got it. I kinda swivel out and grab the left side of the steering wheel with my right arm to stand up out of the car without putting my full weight on the seat bolster. Its impossible to avoid it entirely so I guess we'll see how that foam holds up over the coming years.
The dog has also acclimated. I think she just doesn't know where her back feet are supposed to go because she's a huge clumsy brute, and the actual flat part of the rear door sill is very narrow so she ends up trying to stand on the vertical part where she has no traction. I've gotten used to letting her throw her front paws and torso on the seat, then giving her rear paws a boost.
Not quite as simple as I was hoping, but better than having to move the seat every single time. She also derives more joy from having a window to stick her head out of than I ever have or ever will from anything in my life, so that's nice.
My singular complaint isn't really the car's fault. The only feature I really coveted from the autobahn package was the power driver's seat, but I wasn't going to pay for the rest of the stuff I didn't need. I don't regret that decision, but I am really missing the ability to adjust the level of the front of the seat. I'm just ever so slightly too tall, so if my legs are comfortable I'm sitting in the back seat and my arms are overextended, if my arms are comfortable my thigh hovers about an inch off the front of the seat. One guy on VWVortex put a 1" shim under the seat rails with new grade 8 bolts and said it made all the difference in the world. I'm contemplating doing that, or possibly taking the seat out and looking at how its put together to see if it'd be possible to shim the actual seat cushion against the frame for cleaner/potentially safer result. However I decide to do it I think that'll be the magic ticket to make this car super comfy for me on long drives.
Otherwise, it's perfect. The motor is a peach. The transmission is from the future. The interior quality puts pre-2010 VWs (and most other cars) to shame. The stereo quality is phenomenal for a car at this price point. Cargo capacity is excellent, on Saturday morning we slid a mostly assembled 4-burner+sideburner propane grill in it with zero issues.
The next 43 miles are going to be killer, I just wanna sink my foot into the carpet and let it run. (Speaking of which I found some seemingly trustworthy stock dyno figures from a Mustang dyno, the non-PP cars put down 204hp/258ft-lbs. So that's closer to 230hp and a "lot of fuckin' torque" at the flywheel.)
Now: 07 Porsche Cayman S | 18 VW Tiguan
Then: 18 VW GTI Autobahn | 95 BMW M3 | 15 VW GTI SE | 12 Kia Optima SX | 2009 VW GTI | 00 BMW 540i Sport | 90 Mazda Miata | 94 Yamaha FZR600R | 1993 Suzuki GS500E | 2003 BMW 325i | 95 Saab 900S