VW Golf Variant vs Nissan Wingroad: Worlds apart

Golf Variant

What you need to know:

  • I wouldn’t blame the reader for making that assumption because used cars are exactly that: someone else’s hand-me-downs.
  • From where he is sitting, he sees two five-seat, five-door estate cars of approximately similar size with sub 2.0 litre four cylinder engines and FWD.
  • Our weekly conversations about how fastidiously Germans build cars and how Nissan had to find a rich French lover to avoid bankruptcy court should help put things in perspective for him, poor soul.

Hi Baraza,
I don’t want this to sound like a petition (they’ve become too cliché), but reading your column of November 15, 2017, I felt dismayed that someone dared compare a VW Golf Variant with a Nissan Wingroad. I expected you to dismiss him as a joker. 

I own a Volkswagen Golf Variant 2010. I put it to you that the two cars are worlds apart in terms of production cost, comfort, performance, handling, the engineering behind them, etc.

I wish that reader knew that the VW Golf Variant comes with 12 airbags, 10 speakers, a sub-woofer, climatronic AC, 12 wiper speeds, a high-compression forced induction mill, 7-speed DSG gearbox with 3 modes drive, manual, and sports.

I won’t mention the orthopaedic seats, or the 240kph top speed, but that reader (he was careful to hide his name) ought to show some respect. I invite you for a test drive in my car; after that, look for a Nissan Wingroad and do the same, then give your verdict.
James W. Wambugu

Hello, Other Jim,
The correspondence for this column is typically repetitive but once in a while an unhinged gem crosses the firewall – such as when one compares a Wingroad to a Golf Variant. Sure, they’re roughly the same shape but...

Nissan Wingroad

I wouldn’t blame the reader for making that assumption because used cars are exactly that: someone else’s hand-me-downs. From where he is sitting, he sees two five-seat, five-door estate cars of approximately similar size with sub 2.0 litre four cylinder engines and FWD and can’t help but wonder why one costs more than the other because to his eye, they are two sides of the same coin.

Our weekly conversations about how fastidiously Germans build cars and how Nissan had to find a rich French lover to avoid bankruptcy court should help put things in perspective for him, poor soul.

Your Golf, which you have to admit is over– specced (12 airbags? 12 wiper speeds? 7-speed gearbox and two clutches? What is this, a poor man’s Bugatti Veyron?) is definitely the superior product, but as is typical with cars that are a) German and b) “fully loaded”, the depreciation curve is steep. And we know every single Kenyan is a car salesman because all they ask about is resale value (ugh! Enough already!).

When it comes to losing money on a car, perhaps the Wingroad is the better bet, seeing how they can be had for next to nothing initially, they can be sold for the same next-to-nothing amount once the owner gets sick of it two days after buying it. That car can sap the will to live out of you; they really ought to ban such anodyne stuff....

Now I’m curious about that over-engineered mini-Veyron of yours. I’ve been in heavyweight Volkswagen products before, such as a V10 Touareg but really, 12 wiper speeds? I have to see that for myself...

***

I say get rid of Mazda’s i-Stop feature

Mazda’s i-Stop works a little differently in that the engine cut-off has to be at very precise points of piston travel and the pulse timing of the direct injection optimised to work in tandem with that cutoff.


Greetings, petrolheads!
We had an unabashedly Mazda-philic back-and-forth last week that ended with a Damocles’ sword in the form of an errant i-Stop feature that needed resolution, and while I still await the brave mechanic who will step into the breach and come forth with a credible solution, I might yet have an elaboration on my initial quick-fix, get-rid-of-it proposal.

I stand by my words: just get rid of the i-Stop feature. Deactivating it is as simple as pressing a switch on the dashboard, but keeping it subdued seems convoluted, depending on which particular model of Mazda you are driving since the forums mention highly choreographed acts involving parking brakes and foot pressure on the pedals and we really don’t need to go into that since you will only find yourself sliding down the potentially fatal slope of frustration and/or distracted driving.

The forums claim you cannot permanently disable the i-Stop function in a Mazda since it will keep coming back like the Terminator every time you restart the engine, and the i-Stop’s role in life is to restart the engine anyway. That i-Stop is starting to sound like Skynet – some kind of virulent artificial intelligence that just resiliently recreates itself with every attempt to shut it down.

A Chinese finger puzzle whose attempts at solution results in a Chinese fire drill. To make matters worse, the claim was the i-Stop was throwing angry bright lights over how unproductive it had become, so it cannot be used against itself. I think I lost my train of thought here...

There is a hardened Mazda disciple in my 80,000-strong online forum who only lived for the day all his birthdays would come at once and that day was last Wednesday when the Mazda brand received high praise on these pages.

The man was happy and he paid the devil his due in the form of a handy tip to banish the i-Stop robot into the depths of fuel economy hell for good, a tip that sounded credible but might need verifying – though getting volunteers might not be exactly simple.

There is a second, smaller battery — besides the primary accumulator — somewhere in the vicinity of the passenger foot well (or thereabouts), he said, and this is the one responsible for the start-stop engine cutout in traffic. He says the i-Stop can be stopped permanently, in a manner of speaking, by getting rid of this secondary battery.

Like I said, the man sounds like he knows what he is talking about but what we are yet to clarify is what else this battery powers besides the fuel-saving technology. What if it acts as CMOS/Real Time Clock/NVRAM support for the computers — ECU, TCM et al — and their various settings and/or programming? (Pardon the IT acronyms; they’re a hang-up I still have from a past life).

Removing the battery could throw them out of whack, wiping their memories and necessitating a reprogram, or worse, brick your vehicle and turn it into a three-thousand pound paperweight.

So, the i-Stop sword of Damocles still hangs above us but the string got a little bit thicker. If the reader is seeing this, consider whether the gamble is worth taking. Unfortunately, the i-Stop system is a bit more elaborate than other electronic-based setups which can be shut by simply pulling a fuse. And with that, on to this week’s Car Clinic...

***

Peugeot 206

Your remarks on Peugeots have me living in fear
Hi Baraza,
I am an avid reader of your column and appreciate the good work you do. I drive a 2007 Peugeot 206 XS (I don’t know what that XS means, but I guess it’s the model), which is still in good condition.

I once read an article where you described Peugeots as having a reputation for fickleness and I quote: “Great cars to look at, great cars to drive, great cars for placing bets on unreliability”.

My questions:
First, does this apply to all models of Peugeots or just to some? Second, would you kindly review the 206 generally, in terms of its performance and shortcomings. I have not experienced any major mechanical issue with my 206 but after reading your articles about Peugeots, I am living in fear.
Jack

Hi Jack,
I also did an article on corporate culture and how the mindset of one company is reflective across most of its products, and this applies to Peugeot as well. Great cars... briefly.
Then they break your heart. It would be safe to assume that it applies to all its cars, including the “borrowed” ones such as the 4007 I mentioned earlier, which is just a Mitsubishi Outlander with a touch of make-up; and the donor car thus suffers the ignominy of being that ugly rarity: the crippled unicorn that is an unreliable Japanese car. See? The problem is infectious and can jump species.
I have driven a few 206s in my time, including a janker diesel (may I never encounter its like again) and the insane GTi whose first gear wails like a banshee all the way to 69km/h and is an absolute hoot to understeer in.
That is Peugeot for you: exact same car (206) with two different engines. One sounds and feels like a muffled jackhammer while the other one revs itself into the stratosphere like a Type R Honda... or a chainsaw.
Doing close to 70km/h in first gear is the preserve of Ferrari, not Eurohatch plastics. I loved the few minutes I spent in that GTi.
Long story short: the Peugeot 206 review. Performance: the sporty version is all that and a bag of French chips fries whatevers. The economical version will make you think of buying a stool and a rope.
Shortcomings: it is a Peugeot.
One day the doors will jam themselves shut and refuse to let you in, then the alarm will go off and make you look like a twoccer, then the AC will set fire to the interior via an electrical short, just before the trim starts falling off. It is a Peugeot.

***

Volkswagen Tiguan

Should I replace my Tiguan’s gearbox?

Dear Baraza,
I bought a 2010 Volkswagen Tiguan five days ago from a show room in Mombasa; it had arrived about two days earlier from Japan. As it was being driven to Nairobi, half-way through the journey it developed a gearbox problem. Upon diagnosis, it was found that the ATF was far much less than the required levels, and the engine has less power when picking.
My mechanic has advised me to replace the gearbox. I need to make a decision soon, let me have your take, please.

I’m sorry but I can’t really help. This is not one of those issues easily solved by remote control. Perhaps your transmission just needs a flush and a top-up, or maybe you do need a whole new gearbox. I really can’t tell how serious the issue is by e-mail.

***

How do I keep hot engine air out of passenger compartment?

Dear Baraza,
I drive a Subaru Legacy B4. My question is, why would hot air from the engine blow into the passenger compartment via the ventilation? Is there a way to check and seal such inlets? (To avoid the hot air flowing in I usually keep the ventilation in “circulation” mode).

Despite this, there is slight seepage from the engine to the passenger compartment. Secondly, all engine fluid levels are okay and so is the temperature gauge. The vehicle is regularly serviced every 5,000 kilometres. Therefore, is the engine heat up in order? I have looked up the Internet, and there is mention of a thermostat. Should I be concerned? Many thanks for your regular informative column.
Upin Vasani

Hi Vasani,
Quick question: is your vehicle turbocharged? If yes, then let your surprise run free of its moorings upon your psyche and wonder no more: that is par for the course. Boosted Subarus in particular can get quite toasty up front under extended engine operation; it is normal.

***

I need an SUV that’s reliable, comfy and can handle long distances

Dear Baraza, 
I currently drive a Harrier 2003 model (yeah, it’s old but still excellent). I would like you to help me choose between a Kia Sportage 2017, a Rav 4 2017 and a BMW X3 (or any other cross SUV comparable) in terms reliability, comfort, long distance (drives often from Kampala to Kericho). My budget is Sh4 million to Sh5.2 million.CK.

Hi Charlie,
With that kind of money at hand, forget getting an X3, which I presume is a 2017 car, given that the other two have been specified as such. In fact, scratch the RAV4 as well.

Given how Toyota has been pricing its models recently, you would be lucky to drive out in a Corolla for that kind of cheese. That leaves the Kia Sportage. Once upon a time they sold Kias in Kenya. I don’t know if they still do.

Working on the assumption that you could access a bit more money, let’s look at the three cars objectively. You’ll find the best comfort over a long distance in a powerful German car (the new X3 is very good at this, as I found out last year) but then again, the Asian vehicles are not exactly junk either.

They are all available in roomy body shells that all look and feel the same, powered by engines of similar outputs, capacities and cylinder counts and lately, it is getting really difficult to tell these cars apart, especially when cross-continental partnerships yield things like the Mitsubishi Outlander which is also a Peugeot 4007.

Thank goodness you mentioned reliability so we can keep those two eggs out of this discussion. In all fairness, the Toyota is least likely to give you a headache.

Toyota is also the only company that bothered to make a rally version of their jacked-up family runabout in response to a question nobody asked, and if they believe that much in their product, who are we to gainsay that faith?

I didn’t see any Sportage or X3 rally versions on the Internet (or the roads) when the latest versions of these vehicles came out, so until then, in Toyota we trust. For the rest, remember this: image is everything...