Hey everyone. Just got my Alltrack about a month ago. Sadly it's an auto, but it is a DSG auto and I'm pretty impressed. I'm looking to do some mild upgrades (like the APR or Neuspeed power mods) but nothing too crazy (suggestions welcome). I've owned an 87 Golf, a 98 Jetta (my wifes technically), my wife is in a 5 speed 1.8l 13 Jetta, and I'm still putting back together my 91 GTI that started as an 8v but is getting the 16v from my wife's old 87 GTI (with the addition of cams and other goodies). An Alltrack was in my future plans, but after dealing with a bunch of nickel and dime stuff from my 01 Subi I decided it was time to make the leap and get into a dub again. On a side note I promised my wife I'd part ways with my GTI in exchange for letting me get the Alltrack so if anyone is looking or knows someone looking for a solid MK2 GTI feel free to hit me up. It won't be up and running again for a few months, but it'll be here.
Welcome to the VW Golf Alltrack Forum, please post an introduction
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Hello all! I just purchased my first VW, 2017 Alltrack S with the DSG. I'm still 'learning' how best to exploit the DSG's capabilities. Frankly, it's been kind of a love / hate thing so far. To the point, I hate that you must come to a complete stop, otherwise the DSG stays in second gear. This is especially annoying when on a slight up hill grade; the engine just boggs when trying to accelerate, of course. To address this, I have been simply bumping the shifter to 'S' sport mode until I'm through the turn and on my way again. Then I bump the shifter again to return to 'D' or normal mode. Question: Does this practice fall within the design intent of the DSG?
I have had my 2017 Alltrak for a week now, and it is everything I have come to expect from VW.
My previous VW was a 2013 Jetta TDI that I bought new in 2012, but sold back to the company last year after the dieselgate scandal. I loved it, but VW offered me more than I had paid for it new, and it didn't look like it would have been easy to live with it after it was "fixed', so I let it go.
I had been making do with my ten year old Ford truck, until some jerk paying more attention to his cell phone than to his driving ran into the back of me at over 40 mph while I was stopped in traffic.
I am glad to be back in a VW: the power, smoothness, great build quality, etc. I have the night blue with the DSG: too soon to say what mileage I am getting.
Craig
My previous VW was a 2013 Jetta TDI that I bought new in 2012, but sold back to the company last year after the dieselgate scandal. I loved it, but VW offered me more than I had paid for it new, and it didn't look like it would have been easy to live with it after it was "fixed', so I let it go.
I had been making do with my ten year old Ford truck, until some jerk paying more attention to his cell phone than to his driving ran into the back of me at over 40 mph while I was stopped in traffic.
I am glad to be back in a VW: the power, smoothness, great build quality, etc. I have the night blue with the DSG: too soon to say what mileage I am getting.
Craig
Just bought my 2nd new car 2017 VW Golf Alltrack SEL Silver I got it for a pretty good price $8250 off list. Only have a little over 1000mi on it. I've owned VW's and Audi since about 1974. My last car 1999.5 Mk4 Jetta GLS I've owned it for 15yrs time for a change it's been a great car but at 265kmi it was time.
A reminder for oil change has been displaying the last few days says something like 29 days til oil change. Not sure what that's about as it has so few miles on it. Probably oil change after break in period (I'm assuming).
There's probably something in owners manual about it but at 432 pages it's quite a lot to consume and the way it's written it's got me turning pages back and forth very daunting to say the least. I still don't know all the features yet.haha
I'm kind of disappointed in the feel of it, the steering feels vague and the suspension too. I'm coming from a car that has H&R springs and Koni yellow shocks which handles very nice and tight.
It seems the newer cars (this car) have mostly let electronics taken over electric assisted power steering witch I'm sure is the reason for the vague steering feel it's just something I'll have to get used to (and I am) but it's a far cry from feeling connected like my Jetta.
Overall I really like the Alltrack and glad I bought it (no regrets) I can't wait for purpose built shocks/springs for this car everything I've seen people doing is using springs and shocks meant for GTI's?Golf R's or some other variant of the Golf but nothing so far MADE for the Alltrack...I hope that changes.
My dream would be a coil over type system that would go from zero lowering to 2.5" that way car could sit low for summer and raised for winter.
Anyway...hi to everyone!
A reminder for oil change has been displaying the last few days says something like 29 days til oil change. Not sure what that's about as it has so few miles on it. Probably oil change after break in period (I'm assuming).
There's probably something in owners manual about it but at 432 pages it's quite a lot to consume and the way it's written it's got me turning pages back and forth very daunting to say the least. I still don't know all the features yet.haha
I'm kind of disappointed in the feel of it, the steering feels vague and the suspension too. I'm coming from a car that has H&R springs and Koni yellow shocks which handles very nice and tight.
It seems the newer cars (this car) have mostly let electronics taken over electric assisted power steering witch I'm sure is the reason for the vague steering feel it's just something I'll have to get used to (and I am) but it's a far cry from feeling connected like my Jetta.
Overall I really like the Alltrack and glad I bought it (no regrets) I can't wait for purpose built shocks/springs for this car everything I've seen people doing is using springs and shocks meant for GTI's?Golf R's or some other variant of the Golf but nothing so far MADE for the Alltrack...I hope that changes.
My dream would be a coil over type system that would go from zero lowering to 2.5" that way car could sit low for summer and raised for winter.
Anyway...hi to everyone!
jethauler...I drove mine in D exclusively but got tired of the low shift points when starting out so like you I'm trying to teach myself to put into S until around 3k rpm in 3rd then put it back into D when going slow or at a stop. There might be a way to change shift points in VCOM or whatever it's called.
I don't like the fact that it shifts so early when starting from stop either...shifting at or below 2k rpm seems a little early to me.
I don't like the fact that it shifts so early when starting from stop either...shifting at or below 2k rpm seems a little early to me.
Hello! I recently purchased a 2017 SE Alltrack through the CPO program at a local dealership. It was a loaner, with <5K miles and nary a scratch on it. I feel good about the price and even better having the combined 4 years of warranty coverage. I looked at many different brands and vehicles, narrowing my choices along the way and, in the end, this VW ticked all the boxes for me. So far I love the car and am looking forward to using it to launch all my adventures out here in the Pacific Northwest.
George
George
Hello! I recently purchased a 2017 SE Alltrack through the CPO program at a local dealership. It was a loaner, with <5K miles and nary a scratch on it. I feel good about the price and even better having the combined 4 years of warranty coverage. I looked at many different brands and vehicles, narrowing my choices along the way and, in the end, this VW ticked all the boxes for me. So far I love the car and am looking forward to using it to launch all my adventures out here in the Pacific Northwest.
George
George
Handles great in the wet, and will easily carry a kayak or bicycle on the roof.
I like it!
Craig
Hello from Sonoma, CA! I have a 2017 Golf Alltrack SE which I bought to replace my Jetta and Kia Sorento. The Alltrack is the perfect choice for me because it has the room of the Sorento and the agility of the Jetta. I couldn't ask for more! The only thing I don't like about this car is the low beam halogen bulb that came with it. I currently have the Lasfit LED bulbs installed, but if anyone has a better idea/suggestion, please do share. Also, does everyone use 87 gasoline or go higher? Choice of oil? What do you think of the Extended Performance Mobil/Castrol?
Congratulations on your new Alltrack! You said you put Lasfit LED bulbs in...I have a better idea, take those leds out toss in the garbage, those are some cheap leds, also after looking at their site and bulbs those are the exact type that are only good for blinding oncoming traffic, lighting up tree tops etc.
As you can probably tell I'm NOT a fan of putting LEDS in light housings made for halogen bulbs. Because they just don't put the light where it's suppose to go...on the road W/O blinding traffic. Only one manufacturer I've seen has a decent LED headlight and that's Philips, problem is there are so many counterfeits on the market you have to find a reliable vendor...NOT the cheapest seller and they're not cheap either at around $200 a set.
Better off buying Philips or Osram quality halogen bulbs they make the best halogen bulbs IMO, put out more light than "standard" (stock) bulbs. Look at HID Planet they carry a wide variety of quality bulbs I'm not necessarily endorsing their site but they do have a good selection and good info.
You could also replace the "complete headlight housings with ballasts and HID's" similar to the VW lighting package on the SEL for $500-up for the pair. Helix and ED's are 2 brands that offer very similar looking headlights
Sorry to be so sarcastic about the LED bulbs but around here they are everywhere blinding everyone in site, it really gets my blood boiling.
As you can probably tell I'm NOT a fan of putting LEDS in light housings made for halogen bulbs. Because they just don't put the light where it's suppose to go...on the road W/O blinding traffic. Only one manufacturer I've seen has a decent LED headlight and that's Philips, problem is there are so many counterfeits on the market you have to find a reliable vendor...NOT the cheapest seller and they're not cheap either at around $200 a set.
Better off buying Philips or Osram quality halogen bulbs they make the best halogen bulbs IMO, put out more light than "standard" (stock) bulbs. Look at HID Planet they carry a wide variety of quality bulbs I'm not necessarily endorsing their site but they do have a good selection and good info.
You could also replace the "complete headlight housings with ballasts and HID's" similar to the VW lighting package on the SEL for $500-up for the pair. Helix and ED's are 2 brands that offer very similar looking headlights
Sorry to be so sarcastic about the LED bulbs but around here they are everywhere blinding everyone in site, it really gets my blood boiling.
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Leds are not the cause for you being blinded by stay light beam. Now if someone did not install them correctly that could be the cause, or they have a headlight out of alignment. But a led bulb installed in a stock headlight bucket that is aimed correctly is not going to shine in your face. Thats not how reflectors that are built into the head lights work.
Sorry, you are wrong most aftermarket LED's headlight bulbs sold to put into stock halogen housings the led itself is in the wrong physical spot inside the housing and that causes the light to scatter no matter what.
Do some research. The only people that say hey work GREAT are people selling them and people buying them that either don't care about light scatter or they think just because they fit they're good to go. Just look at some of the installation instructions on youtube, some have a (feature haha) that after you install you have the ability to twist the bulb and lock it down for the best light output and beam pattern...it doesn't go away (the scatter) it just moves it. Like I said before the only "name brand" that has addressed this issue is Philips.
Please show me some pictures of aftermarket LED bulbs installed that don't have light scatter, pictures that show light up against a wall or some other surface like that. You'll see a lot of extra light above and around the main beam.
If what you say is true then just about every car I see running these types of bulbs has "installed them wrong", you can see them coming from a mile away lighting up the trees and everything else in front of them. Funny thing is more often than not light output on the road (where it should be) isn't very good.
A friend of mine put cheap led's in his Volvo, I discussed this issue with him, he went out and bought another cheap brand same thing only problem is in his mind he's "OK" with the light scatter, doesn't care...apparently neither do you, because it's a fact aftermarket led bulbs just don't work properly in most/all in
stock headlight housings. Maybe someone else can chime in here and see how many people are bothered by these improper fitting led's. Not to mention that in most states they are illegal, not DOT approved.
Do some research. The only people that say hey work GREAT are people selling them and people buying them that either don't care about light scatter or they think just because they fit they're good to go. Just look at some of the installation instructions on youtube, some have a (feature haha) that after you install you have the ability to twist the bulb and lock it down for the best light output and beam pattern...it doesn't go away (the scatter) it just moves it. Like I said before the only "name brand" that has addressed this issue is Philips.
Please show me some pictures of aftermarket LED bulbs installed that don't have light scatter, pictures that show light up against a wall or some other surface like that. You'll see a lot of extra light above and around the main beam.
If what you say is true then just about every car I see running these types of bulbs has "installed them wrong", you can see them coming from a mile away lighting up the trees and everything else in front of them. Funny thing is more often than not light output on the road (where it should be) isn't very good.
A friend of mine put cheap led's in his Volvo, I discussed this issue with him, he went out and bought another cheap brand same thing only problem is in his mind he's "OK" with the light scatter, doesn't care...apparently neither do you, because it's a fact aftermarket led bulbs just don't work properly in most/all in
stock headlight housings. Maybe someone else can chime in here and see how many people are bothered by these improper fitting led's. Not to mention that in most states they are illegal, not DOT approved.
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I have installed a few sets of aftermarket leds and 10-15 sets of hid light kits and hundreds of halogen bulbs in cars and trucks in 20 years of working service shops. I can tell you for sure the led bulbs fit into a stock head light bucket way better than an hid ever thought about. And like I said in my post. As long as they are installed correctly the light beam will be the same. And most of the lights you see in your face are way more likely to be a hid and not a led. Just due to the facts hids have been around for many years and leds are still relitivy new to the market. And hid lights use a high power ballist and leds do not.
Neither LED or HID bulbs should never be put into reflector type headlight housings, they (the reflectors) are designed around the halogen bulb. Due to the placement of the filament in the bulb, if that placement (where the actual light emits from bulb) is moved as little as 1mm it fore or aft (in the reflector housing) scatters the light, same principle as the focus of a camera lens.
There were a few early HID systems that used a reflector housing early Mini Coopers used a reflector with HID bulbs but it was designed as a system not an afterthought.
You said "led bulbs fit into a stock head light bucket way better than an hid ever thought about." So, just because they fit doesn't mean they put the light in the right place...
they don't. Not unless the emitter (led) is in the exact location of where the halogen bulb emits light from. If that is not happening the light emitting from the led gets scattered.
What do you mean "if they're installed correctly"? If the led is seated into housing wouldn't that suffice? or is there something else going on there?
If you take your halogen bulb put it next to your chosen led counterpart and measure from the mounting base to the emitter...if that distance is the same as a halogen bulb that's good and if the lf the led emits light in the right direction back to the reflector it might work. But most I've seen don't meet those 2 qualifiers, hence the scattered (wasted light) we ALL see at night as you're driving down the road. I'm all for new better lighting IF it's done right but so far from what I see on a nightly basis it's just another thoughtless person blinding everyone in sight.
Just one more thing about what you said "And hid lights use a high power ballist and leds do not." So, that's how HID's work the ballast is needed to ignite the gases in the HID, you forgot to mention that in newer cars there's a very good chance you get error codes using leds and have to add resistor or some other counter measure to trick your electrical system to think it doesn't have a lighting problem. It's generally not just plug and play. BTW, I've been around the automotive scene for awhile myself so I'm not new to this either. I know what proper lighting is what works and what doesn't. I'll stick with my stock HID's (which are much too costly) that came with my Alltrack and if I didn't have that I'd retrofit one of the aftermarket headlights I mentioned on my previous post but first I'd try just upgrading the halogen bulb.
There were a few early HID systems that used a reflector housing early Mini Coopers used a reflector with HID bulbs but it was designed as a system not an afterthought.
You said "led bulbs fit into a stock head light bucket way better than an hid ever thought about." So, just because they fit doesn't mean they put the light in the right place...
they don't. Not unless the emitter (led) is in the exact location of where the halogen bulb emits light from. If that is not happening the light emitting from the led gets scattered.
What do you mean "if they're installed correctly"? If the led is seated into housing wouldn't that suffice? or is there something else going on there?
If you take your halogen bulb put it next to your chosen led counterpart and measure from the mounting base to the emitter...if that distance is the same as a halogen bulb that's good and if the lf the led emits light in the right direction back to the reflector it might work. But most I've seen don't meet those 2 qualifiers, hence the scattered (wasted light) we ALL see at night as you're driving down the road. I'm all for new better lighting IF it's done right but so far from what I see on a nightly basis it's just another thoughtless person blinding everyone in sight.
Just one more thing about what you said "And hid lights use a high power ballist and leds do not." So, that's how HID's work the ballast is needed to ignite the gases in the HID, you forgot to mention that in newer cars there's a very good chance you get error codes using leds and have to add resistor or some other counter measure to trick your electrical system to think it doesn't have a lighting problem. It's generally not just plug and play. BTW, I've been around the automotive scene for awhile myself so I'm not new to this either. I know what proper lighting is what works and what doesn't. I'll stick with my stock HID's (which are much too costly) that came with my Alltrack and if I didn't have that I'd retrofit one of the aftermarket headlights I mentioned on my previous post but first I'd try just upgrading the halogen bulb.
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So from my experience the led is in the exact location as a halogen bulb, led bulbs are designed to be used with reflectors same as all heading light bulbs that how they get focus. if there was no reflectors to focus the beam you would get scatter and flood light affect.
I have seen countless bulbs installed incorrectly and installed at a angle cause the person could not the bulb guilds into the correct location. Resulting in a bulb tilting up or down most often.
Error codes do happen in some cars that have resistance reading to notify the driver a light is out. The 2 sets of leds i have installed did not cause error codes in the lighting.
HID's using ballast yes they do and some of those ballast people buy are way higher power rating then any standard 55watt system. Making brighter lights.
If you look at most newer cars you will see you cant hardly see the real bulb due to the main center reflector to bounce the light beams back into the bucket then out to the road. changing the temp color and power rating is no likely going to change the beam focus till you start getting into some major high power light systems which would melt most new light buckets. I really wish I could find the picture i took of the wife's accord where it had one led and one halogen bulb shining on the garage door and both where focused in the exact same location. These are my opinions of the lights. I am not a expert or claim to be, but telling you my personal finding.
I have seen countless bulbs installed incorrectly and installed at a angle cause the person could not the bulb guilds into the correct location. Resulting in a bulb tilting up or down most often.
Error codes do happen in some cars that have resistance reading to notify the driver a light is out. The 2 sets of leds i have installed did not cause error codes in the lighting.
HID's using ballast yes they do and some of those ballast people buy are way higher power rating then any standard 55watt system. Making brighter lights.
If you look at most newer cars you will see you cant hardly see the real bulb due to the main center reflector to bounce the light beams back into the bucket then out to the road. changing the temp color and power rating is no likely going to change the beam focus till you start getting into some major high power light systems which would melt most new light buckets. I really wish I could find the picture i took of the wife's accord where it had one led and one halogen bulb shining on the garage door and both where focused in the exact same location. These are my opinions of the lights. I am not a expert or claim to be, but telling you my personal finding.
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