This is a really broad one but I'm interested in why, for instance, Golf 5 doors sound so full when you close them unlike Seat Mk2 that feels cheap and hollow next to it. I don't believe it to be some radical quality difference in metal panels but Golf has that nice, reassuring thump when you close the doors.
Sound insulation differences between Golf and Seat
- Thread starter Frostensen
- Start date
Well obviously, yes, however I was referring to practical differences. What is it that makes Golf feel fuller sounding and to seem safer.
I believe there were probably differences in the construction of the mk2 Leon and mk5 Golf. I remember reading some years ago that VW over-engineered the mk5 Golf which also meant it took longer to build a mk5 Golf on the production line compared to its predecessor (the mk4). Because of the longer build time, VW made very little profit per car. High production costs was one of the (main?) reasons the mk5 had a short model life (5 years) compared to the ‘usual’ 8 year model life cycle for most VW models. Its replacement - the mk6, which although it was essentially a heavily facelifted mk5, took less time to build so production costs were lower, increasing VW’s profit per car.
I owned both a mk5 and mk6 Golf and there were noticeable differences in the construction of the doors between the two models. The mk5 doors had bolt on door skins so they were easy to remove and replace if they were damaged; the mk6’s door construction was more conventional with the door skin welded to the inner door (the same as on most modern cars), which was cheaper to build, but if damaged would usually involve replacing the whole door.
Back to the differences between the mk5 Golf and mk2 Leon doors; screenshots of the parts diagrams of the front doors of both a 2007 Golf and Leon show the differences and you can see the mk5 Golf’s separate door skin - item no1 on the diagram. From the diagrams, it looks as if the Golf also had an additional door seal (item no27) attached to the actual door that isn’t shown on Leon diagram - the Leon looks to just have a seal around the door opening on the car bodyshell. The additional seal would certainly have an impact of the door sound when closing it.
I’ve also provided links to the diagrams below.
2007 Mk2 Leon front door parts diagram; https://seat.7zap.com/en/e/leon+leon+4/le/2007-456/8/831-831000/
2007 Mk5 Golf front door parts diagram; https://volkswagen.7zap.com/en/rdw/golf+variant+4motion/golf/2007-474/8/831-831010/
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