2019 Volkswagen Alltrack: The Oppositelock Short Term Review

"Tripper" (tripe46) 10/03/2019 at 12:30 • Filed to: None

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Almost 3 months ago I bought a 2019 Volkswagen Golf Alltrack SE with a six speed manual transmission. It’s powered by a turbocharged 1.8l variant of the EA888 and that power is sent wherever the Haldex AWD system decides (Mostly to the front wheels).

Best pic of the car when I first got it

This vehicle was bought for the purpose of having a safe and convenient vehicle for my child, without sacrificing my driving soul in the process. A slightly used RRS had been my planned “Dad whip” for years, but after owning the S3 I decided that I need the third pedal. This made the decision relatively easy for me because I wanted a brand new, fast, wagon, with 3 pedals. After you subtract “fast”, t he options are:

VW Golf Alltrack
VW Golf Sportwagen

The sportwagen is the same car, lowered without the plastic cladding and a different set of options. The only way you can get the GSW with 3 pedals , the 1.8 engine (as opposed to the 1.4), and the Haldex AWD is with the base model. That means cloth seats, poop headlights/lighting in general, and no sunroof.

The Alltrack however can be had with a manual in any trim, and even the base Alltrack is AWD with vinyl seats . I however was only looking at the SE and SEL trims mainly because of the lighting package and the upgraded wheels, but also because of the sunroof! I am a “slicktop” guy I don’t like a sunroof. However the sunroof on the GSW/Alltrack is pretty much the entire roof, and when the salesman rolled it back on the test drive...My little girl quietly utters from the back seat “whooooooooooooawooooooooowwwwwwwwweee”, as she looked up at the sky. The SE and SEL come with the added bonus of those enhanced driver nannies...You know auto braking, and lane keep assist... I hate that kind of stuff appreciate it when the baby is with me.

This car was relatively difficult to buy...First because of me. I was getting a green one with the tan interior or nothing! I will almost never sacrifice on a new car, because it’s a new car...I should be able to get whatever I want. So dealer number one went looking for a green one, and said they’d call me when they had ANY stick shift all track for me to drive. He never called but did send me an email asking “what he need to do to get me down to the dealer”...Fuck off guy.

Here I paused my search for a few days and called Jalopnik’s Patrick George and he recommended that I drive one before I proceed. So I found another dealer with one further away, and scheduled the drive.

Dealer number two really helped with my decision, but I didn’t buy from them. They helped because they had a green one albeit automatic, parked right next to the grey one they had for me to drive. In pictures I hated the grey and absolutely loved the green. In real life I thought damn the grey is nice! And the green, while dirty looked more blue and just didn’t do it for me the way I thought it would. Anyway this dealer offered me $1000 for trade on my 2001 Ranger 5 speed manual 3l V6 with 71000 miles! I said no thanks to the trade and they printed their offers and showed me the door!? I never said no thanks to buying the Alltrack...I was super disappointed but I wasn’t going to turn around and buy from someone who was just like “ Ok, peace.”

It’s worth stopping here to say that every dealer that I have spoken to thus far (4 in total) have all tried to sell me a Tiguan either over the phone, when I got there, or both...

Finally I called dealer number three. I asked if they had the car (i dentical to the one that I drove at the previous dealer) , told them I was coming to drive it and drove it. Then bought it, out the door in less than two hours!

Flush kit installed

Exterior 7/10

I like a wagon. This one borders on boring, but I have always liked the understated but sharp lines of most recent VW/Audi’s. I would have given it an 8, but there is one angle where it kind of looks like a CUV/Minivan.

Best pic of the car as it is today

Interior 6/10

The interior is really nice as it is on pretty much any newer European car. It looks every bit as nice as my S3 inside, however the seats are garbage. They’re like fat people computer chairs. My mother bought a 2019 GTI SE with the sport seats, and that is what I’m talking about! I have been scouring forums for a set of GTI seats ever since.

Not me or my car

Acceleration 5/10

It’s a little peppy, but nothing that will ignite your senses. Blows the doors off of my wife’ s forester, but that is not saying much. However I’m planing to have it tuned in the very near future so the rating for this category will be higher for the long term review. APR+ gives the car another 70hp and keeps the ridiculous 6 year factory warranty.

Braking 7/10

It stops well . It also brakes for you which I tested with a cardboard box on my street. It’s worth mentioning that I did this with my seat belt off and the car launched me into the windshield when it stopped to avoid killing the box I setup...Dash cam audio *smack* “Ack, you fucki n’ dumb no seat belt wearing idiot”

Ride 9 /10

Super smooth and quiet. Amazing highway MPG (I’m getting 36). It is a really comfortable car. Like all German cars but particularly VAG/BMW everything is in the right spot, buttons are labeled using logic, all of the windows are one touch...the little things. For a beige mobile, this is a really nice ride.

Handling 8/10*

This car drives just like it’s non-wagon counterpart, really well. There are two really hard up hand right turns approaching my neighborhood. I always whip around them...no tires noise, minimal body roll, and even a little steering feedback. The rear end get’s a little squirmy around soft fast turns. I’m planning on fitting this car with the stock suspension from the Golf R to stiffen everything up without going overboard.
*as far as non-performance cars go

Gearbox 8/10

It’s a manual so that automatically get’s you 8 points in my book. What I now know as the “ clutch delay valve” is present on a lot of cars, however I have only ever noticed it on VAG manuals. It’s an awful feeling, so the first mod I did was to remove it and bleed the clutch. It’s much better now, but it’s nothing special. Even the outfit tuning my car said that I would be looking at a clutch far sooner than I think. I’ll go with a single mass unit and a lighter flywheel. That should also deal with the rev hang.

Audio 10/10

My car did not come with the “Fender” audio system. However I added the OEM amp and sub (amplifies the speakers too). It now sounds as good as almost any aftermarket system I have installed.

Toys 10/10

This car came with almost all of the bells and whistles, car play all that jazz. Then I bought a Ross-Tech cable and customized all kinds of other stuff:

If the windows are down the will now close automatically if they sense rain.
Windows will go up and down with the key fob
I can use the key fob to lock and unlock the car with the ignition running
I have coded out the amber LED’s in the front headlights
I coded in a “gauge sweep” when your first start the car

Value 10/10

The sticker on this car was just a hair over 34k. It had been sitting on the lot since February, I bought in July. So I knew there would be a little wiggle room, but this is the second best deal that I’ve made. I walked with it for $26500 and the 500 was only because I pre- purchased 4 annual alignments. Apparently its $500 for an alignment on cars with those lane keep sensors...

Worth Mentioning

M ODZ

If you read the whole thing you saw that I mentioned a few mods that I have planned. I’m generally a no mod or very conservative mod guy, I’m not sure what it is about this VW but I want to change a lot on it and make it fast.

Thus far I have just slapped on some oem parts (splash guards, custom sun shade. etc). Obviously I’ve removed the CDV. I also had it tinted and pulled off all of the rear badges. I threw some wheel spacers on to flush up the wheels with the fenders. Next it’s getting tuned, after that a set of wheels (Forgestar F14's are currently leading the pack). I’ve bought up all of the cheap parts I need for the Golf R suspension. I still need the springs, and bushing kit.

This car is not my daily driver

I always thought of a dad car meeting two needs, baby taxi and daily driver...However my 1975 BMW is so fucking good that I drive it every day. It’s nearly been a year since I sealed the deal on it and I will go into greater detail about how it’s the greatest car in existence when I review it next month. So the Alltrack is baby taxi and road trips without the dogs.

Who was cut to get this car?

Teddy Redson, my second beloved ranger. I sold him for a screaming deal to my FIL. I offered it to him for $4000 and he gave me $4500 because he felt it was too good a deal, haha. I mention this because I have missed Teddy’s bouncy slow pickup fun, but I have not missed having a pickup. We’ve got the Alltrack and my Wife’s forester, both with roof racks. I do a lot of my own work on my house and “farm” and I have had no issue using either car to get all of the materials needed.

Stapleface-Now Hyphenated! > Tripper 10/03/2019 at 12:47

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Nice quick review.  If you had to do it over again, would you still choose the same thing?  

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Tripper 10/03/2019 at 13:09

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I like these, VW finally makes an OPPO Spec car only to discontinue it after two or three year model run.

Tripper > Stapleface-Now Hyphenated! 10/03/2019 at 13:25

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Yep. When the pics of the Alltrack started to surface, well b efore the thought of fatherhood even occurred to me I thought “I’ll probably have one of those when I’m a parent”.

There really aren’t any other options. I drove and briefly considered a new Allroad, but it’s not that much bigger/nicer for being double the price and no stick. I found a few interesting 3 s eries wagons, but they were all really expensive or really beat and I hate the electronic steering box in the F chassis 3 series.

Tripper > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 10/03/2019 at 13:34

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Right!? The FP always says that car companies build an enthusiast car every once in a while then no one buys them. “I do, bro...”

The discontinuation news definitely played a large part in how quickly I decided to buy. I talked to two dealers that “couldn’t guarantee an order” on an Alltrack or GSW even though they’re in production until December of this year.

This was after I talked to Patrick, who definitely could have gotten one ordered for me. However, I would have paid sticker or close to it for an order. So after seeing the green in person and now knowing it would cost me an extra 8k to order, you can keep the green and tan.

Kc1980 > Tripper 10/03/2019 at 14:44

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Dis the flush kit, alter, improve, or hinder handling in any way. Thinking if adding it to my gti. Thanks.

Ve ry nice A lltrac!

Herr Quattro - Has a 4-motion > Tripper 10/03/2019 at 14:56

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Oh! I’ve always had a soft spot for the AllTrack. I was shocked when they said they were discontinuing it. I see these things everywhere in New England, so VW must be eating Subaru for lunch with this thing.

If I had to guess, VW wont be bringing any Mk8 wagon to the states which is a damn shame. Well, it would be if the Mk8 looked good, but that’s a conversation for another time.

Also, I agree the CDV is absolute garbage. My Dad had it on his 2015 GTI, and it was absolute garbage. I *think* VW changed it on the facelifted GTI, but it sounds like they kept it on the Alltrack.

Just a note about the panoramic roof, just be wary of that fucker. The moonroof on the hatch is garbage, and the panoramic roof on the Tiguan is also kinda garbage. Idk about the AllTrack, but I would just be wary of it.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Tripper 10/03/2019 at 15:12

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Alltracks may be the new official car of Vermont. I see atleast 20 a day. There are 5 in my work parking lot alone (2 of them are the 6 speed. Fun fact: 100% of the engineering department’s daily drivers are manuals). I considered looking at one before buying my Corolla but I was underwhelmed by the standard Golf I drove and decided not to.

I guess now that they are going to stop selling these Vermonters are going to have to go back to buying Crosstreks.

Tripper > Herr Quattro - Has a 4-motion 10/03/2019 at 15:22

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Mk 7.5 GTI has the CDV still. My mom bought a 19 GTI SE in a really cool grey/white color a few weeks before I bought the Alltrack. She mentioned that she felt like she was doing something wrong with the clutch. I said “I can fix that for ya”.

I’ve heard plenty of things about that roof. Going to be counting on that 6 year warranty for that thing. I have also seen a few videos on how to clean the gutters that get clogged up and eventually cause the roof to leak.

Tripper > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 10/03/2019 at 15:23

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I miss Vermont. Definitely underwhelming in the power department, I’m very anxious to fix that.

Tripper > Kc1980 10/03/2019 at 15:27

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I’d say its about the same. It feels like it turns in slightly quicker, but I think that is just my imagination. It has been said that it can wear your wheel bearings faster, but I only got the flush kit to see what I need out of an aftermarket wheel so I won’t have them on long.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Tripper 10/03/2019 at 15:38

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It wasn’t power that let me down in the Golf, it was that there was no sense of fun to it. It didn’t have any character.

Tripper > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 10/03/2019 at 15:46

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Oh yea definite beige-mobile. Which is probably why I’ve got such a mod bug for it.

02: “Hey man, we driving!? I’d really like to do some of that ”

M3: “Sup bro? Top up or down? It doesn’t matter everyone thinks your a D Bag either way! Haha, pussy”

Alltrack:

Me:

Alltrack:

Me: ...hey br...

Alltrack: HELLOYESIAMCAR

Me: Ok....

Alltrack: CAR, YES?

Me: I suppose

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Tripper 10/03/2019 at 16:07

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The Corolla is pretty beige when you are just driving around but it really wakes up when you get on it above 3k rpm. I prefer that to the Mini which got really grumpy if you ever let it drop below 2,250 rpm.

Tripper > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 10/03/2019 at 17:28

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Yes I definitely stalled our cooper more times than id like to admit riding too low in gear

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Tripper 10/03/2019 at 17:39

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It’s such a contrast in low speed drivability between the two cars. The Mini would buck and kick anytime you were below 2000rpm meanwhile the Corolla will idle along at 500rpm in 3rd.

B_dol > Tripper 10/03/2019 at 17:45

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Genuinely impressed by the MPG! Averaging 21-25 mpg in the similarly sized BMW.

Little mods are the gateway, but its a lot simpler/cheaper than the real project car.