3 Differnt Hire Cars in a week. FG, VE and Jetta

[Falcon_Crazy]

The V8s are boring so thought id pen the below.

Spent last week in FNQ and had the opportunity to hire 3 hire cars. Our company has a great deal with Hertz which provided me with cars in Mackay and Townsville. In Cairns, Hertz were fully booked so I opted for Europcar.


Each time I requested a full size car – Hertz offer Aurion on the website and Europcar the Falcon. The result was three different cars


FG XR6 in Mackay with 9,800km

VE Omega in Townsville with 48,000km

VM Jetta Diesel in Cairns with 21,000km


Distance Travelled

In Mackay in clocked up 190km over two days in a mix of highway and stop start driving ( I was undertaking some testing for work).

In townsville, I clocked up the same 190km in a similar mix of driving as I had done in Mackay.

In Cairns, I clocked over 360km which included a 170km return pure highway trip to Innisfail. Balance of Km were stop start in urban stuff in Cairns.


Air Conditioning

I love the hot weather and rarely use the air con in my utes. Air Con was used sparingly in the XR6 and the Omega – only time it was used was when I was on the phone and driving to remove wind noise. I couldn't use the air con in the Jetta because of the foul foot odour smell it emitted – as I was on the phone for 90% of the day, meant I lost a few kilos sweating!


Outside

XR6 – I love the look of the XR6 – the front is very 'fat' in all the right places, and the look form the back is on the hon in my book – always happy following an FG sedan! It was finished in a graphite colour and paint finish was excellent. All plastic panels sharing same paint finish. Would have preferred the lok from the side if it had the 18”, but even the standard wheels suffice.


The poor old Omega – it is dating in a big way. It was silver, the front and rear bumpers noticeably different shades of silver – im yet to see a Commodore have panels and plastic sharing same shade of colour. Even the HSVs show up different. The guards are so big – it looks plain silly on base models and the stubby nose not to my liking.


The Blue Jetta looks dated from the front – I think there are newer looking VW out there. Not a fan of the circular lights at the rear. I really didn't do much for me from any angle.


Inside

I obviously have a preference for the Interior on the FG as Ive spent 50,000km driving one. The seats are great, the driving positin is nice and the switch gear is logical. Ive never opened the owners manual. Whilst I like the blue instrument cluster, I am not however a fan of the blue on the ICC – at night or morning, I find it harder to pick up the buttons. I much prefer the green/white of my BA RTV.


The interior of the Dunnydore is, like the outside, so dated. It looks cheap and not all that different from the previous model which stood out as dated against the BA. Im not a fan of the window switches being in the centre console which is basically 'flat'. The handbrake is a joke – enough said. The gear lever was not aligned with the shift position but it is a hire car!


The green back dash and centre trip computer area was very easy to read at night. The Cruise switchgear is hidden behind the steering wheel.

The seats were not at all comfortable. I know this is the base model so rather than compare to the FG, I will compare to my BA RTV which shared seats with an XT. Having travelled 223,000km in my RTV, I know which I prefer!


The Jetta – where to start. The seats were the most uncomfortable things I have ever sat in – I could not find a comfy position or lumbar position. The radio required a bit of thought and I gave up working out the fader etc – no way I was getting the manual out. It did have auto up and down windows for all 4 – was a lifesaver given I had no air con!


The switchgear was appalling. Cruise control was on the indicator stalk (on left hand side) and, like the dunnydoor, partially obscured by the wheel. The wiper lever (on the right) had a shocking feel to it when moved (Which was often as I I got used to them being on “wrong” side of wheel). The trip computer was red – it was a real distraction. I associate red lights in a dashboard with an issue.


The Drive

Most here know how good the FG is to drive. My XR6 was fitted with the 5spd auto which, is up there, but nothing like the ZF 6 Spd. Im a real fan of the mapping of the FG fly by wire throttle. Some find it too sensitive – I jump between my BA and FG and have no issue. Its always good to get behind the wheel of a sedan compared to my Ute.


The I6 is such a sweet motor and even NA motors are such a joy to drive. Dump the loud pedal and hold on as you are forced into the back of the seat. Im not going to say much only that it was my choice of all three.


The Omega – wow what a let down. Rubbish traction control, a lifeless engine and shocking auto which never new how to kick down. It was like stepping back in time compared to the FG and I would struggle to live with it if I had one as a work car. The engine needs to rev, but offers little. I just could not find a sweet spot in the thing on highway or around town. If this is Australia's number one car, a lot of fellow country men settle for rubbish – a worry!


The Jetta was my first experience with a non 4WD diesel. First thing to note was how loud it wa – seemed very unrefined compared to newer oil burners. Its 6 spd auto in non 'sports' mode took a bit to get used to. There was MASSIVE turbo lag in non sports mode from rest or say, 40km/h booting it to 60km/h. IN sports mode, it held lower gears and kept revs up – much beter car, but the noise was too much for me.


Give me a manual – may have made it better. ON highway or when over 60km/h, this motor did have some kick and I reckon it would be quicker than the Omega – it had some nice pulling power when allowed to rev out.


The auto had some good smarts, decelerating down thru gears when slowing for lights etc BUT when not in sports mode, would nto kick down when foot to the floor – simply hear the turbo wind up and then sometime later, it gets up a bit – not great for trying to get on/through busy roundabouts like there are up at Cairns – so used to instant torque of the I6 (in manual or auto form)


Fuel Use

The Omega and the FG were driven in similar conditions and over similar distance. The Falcon used 12l/100km. The Omega....15l/100km. Thats a significant difference if you ask me. The Jetta used 6.0l/100km which is remarkable. Not sure how much more it may have used if I had Air con available and there was 180km of pure highway. I did however give it the boot heaps – I was surprised at the result.


My obvious favourite was the XR6 but I am biased. That said, it kicked backside on engine, fuel use, transmission feel – you name it, it was all over the Omega. The Jetta is not a true competitor, but Euro cars (smaller sedans) are certainly an option for some 'Coon and Dunnydore drivers. It was not a bad package, but for my mind, needed a manual box to make most our of the clacker under the bonnet. It had a huge boot I might ad.


It still staggers me, that those who are not biased to Ford or Holden, would choose the VE over an FG if they drove them back to back.....