Volkswagen GTI

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: batmang

Originally posted by: Excelsior
Well I can tell you already that you will get a bunch of nods for the Mazda 3 (not without justification) and probably a lot of VW bashers will ring in as well.

However, I like my VW, the GTI is still built in Germany (TMK), and the 2.0T engine is pretty nice. I get excellent mileage with Passat 1.8T.

Also, if you ever feel the urge, you could upgrade the ECU and increase your HP and torque considerably.

the gti 1.8t's were not built in germany, mine was from brazil and alot were built in mexico. the better one to have is from brazil, better build reassurance. (its true... stat's prove it!)

the newer gti's with the 2.0t engine are currently being produced in germany. but that doesnt meant 100% of the gti's will have no flaws, all factorys will have their lemons unfortunately.

i myself have a 2003 1.8t. i've had it for about a year and i dont have any complaints. its a fun car drive since it has a turbo. it gets up there quick, it can pass without hesitation, the turbo spools very quick due to the turbo being very small. because it is small, its also efficient. decent gas mileage, i recommend 91 octane but you can get away with 89. i just wouldnt recommend it.

dont forget about the vr6 gti as well. very solid motor. will last longer than the 1.8t motor mainly due to it being naturally aspirated. vr6's will easily go over 100k+ as long as they are maintained properly. vr6's do require a minimum of 91 octane though.

here is a pic of my 1.8t:
gti picture

i <3 my 1.8t

Ahh, my bad. I thought that just the regular Golfs were produced in Brazil or Mexico.

Oh well..the 1.9t is sweet, isn't it.

And I run 87 on mine with zero issues.

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: batmang
-gti has the dsg transmission (which has paddle shifters), which makes it more fun to drive.
-did i mention it has paddle shifters?!!
-you can get checkered seats!

eh, I like having a normal manual trans... never liked paddles.. unless I was in an indy car. and checkered seats are ugly

but yeah, most likely the GTI will be more fun to drive. The extra power is nice. I'm still not sold on german long term reliablity. The engines are fine and dandy, it's just the rest of the car. Altho, with ford's influence in my mazda 3, it's hard to say much about that too.. heh.

RWD is so much more fun though... it's hard to drive my car around after autocrossing w/ a RWD car.