Ok,
1 week, 740kms and 1.25 tanks later - here are my first impressions of my TDCi.
1) It's a really really fun car to drive - handles well, goes like 'snad off a shovel', plenty of low-end torque allowing you to drive it around town without 'stirring the box'. Overall the impressions described in the TDCi review in this month's Wheels magazaine are dead on - "not bad". You can go uphill in 3 or 4th no worries (depending on speed of course).
2) Headlights are fantastic - you get broad, even coverage of the road, especially with the fog lights.
3) The standard radio is really good too - house/dance music, pumping off the ipod at vol "28" is more than sufficient to drown out any kind of engine noise
4) Engine noise - as the dealer told me (who also drives a TDCi), you can tell it's a diesel, but with the extra soundproofing introduced into the LT model the in-cabin noise is more than acceptable in city driving.
On the highway there is considerably more noticable road noise & engine noise. But I guess I'm too used to my fairmont ghia i suppose
The black plastic cover on the engine can be popped off - it just sits on pegs on the engine - if you take it off to ooh and ahh at the engine be sure to seat it properly on the engine - otherwise it'll rattle and make the engine sound even noisier.
So far I have only driven it to work once - at 100 I can squeeze out 5.7l/100km. At 110 (the Western hwy) lifts the consumption up to ~6.5l. Next week I'll drive her more conservatively and determine how much range I'll get out of one tank.
Three minor critiques so far:
1) the MP3 auxiliary imput is in a bad spot (in the globebox) makes ipod shuffling difficult.
2) whilst there are numerous compartments scattered throughout the interior, don't expect to be able to use them to store too much of anything (with exception to the glovebox which is quite deep).
I've got CDs hanging off the door bins, I got my e-Tag stuck in the rear compartment (luckily got it out)
3) Manual could do with a little more QA - the Ice warning on the instrument panel is linked to an explanation about the "power-assisted steering" warning. It was not until I reached the end of the manual (before the mainenance section) I discovered the explanation about this indicator. (when the outside temperature is 4-degrees C this ice warning will light up amber, red at 1-degree - it's basically a "be careful, the might be ice on the road" warning, does not affect driving in any way).
4) no interior light or heater vent for the rear seat (no big deal imho).
that's is so far - two thumbs up from me!