# Golf GTI - Finally drove one



## Robert A (May 18, 2003)

Santa Monica VW has two GTIs now. I suppose every dealer in the country must have them by now because we're here on the west coast.

Anyway, the one I drove was a medium metallic grey, with black leather interior, and a six speed manual transmission. I drove it at night, and the dash was lovely, the xenon's were bright, and the steering feel at speed (it's servotronic, so it's heavily boosted at slow speeds) was first rate.

All the reviews on this car have been spot-on with respect to the qualtiy, the engine, and the handling on the car. The car is especially fun at speed on the freeway because it feels very lively, yet stable and connected to the road. It also corners very well.

The one downside, and it is a big one, is the front wheel drive. FWD essentially kills the car for me, because whenever you accelerate into a corner, or simply accelerate in a straight line, you're aware that the car is not evenly balanced, and no amount of suspension engineering can cure it. I also found that the manual transmission made the car an effort to drive in traffic, which I owe to the shift linkage being longer with an FWD car. I drive a manual 530i, and have no problems in traffic. I wish that VW/Audi would finally invest in RWD technology to cure problems inherent in FWD platforms, because the car is otherwise so great. 

I won't comment on how it stacks up against any BMW except to say that the car is very good looking and worthy of consideration given its price point.


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## SmoothCruise (Jul 23, 2005)

Robert A said:


> Santa Monica VW has two GTIs now. I suppose every dealer in the country must have them by now because we're here on the west coast.
> 
> Anyway, the one I drove was a medium metallic grey, with black leather interior, and a six speed manual transmission. I drove it at night, and the dash was lovely, the xenon's were bright, and the steering feel at speed (it's servotronic, so it's heavily boosted at slow speeds) was first rate.
> 
> ...


Now what about those Golf R32s? I thought they were awd. Have you driven one of those? I'm curious how they handle too. I think they look sweet.


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## Robert A (May 18, 2003)

They haven't introduced one for the new Mark V platform, but I suspect AWD still suffers from the same front weight bias of FWD.



SmoothCruise said:


> Now what about those Golf R32s? I thought they were awd. Have you driven one of those? I'm curious how they handle too. I think they look sweet.


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## LA525iT (Oct 27, 2003)

FWD manual cars can be engineered to be easy to drive in traffic. FWD Honda products, for example, have far superior manual transmissions than BMWs.


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## brkf (May 26, 2003)

LA525iT said:


> FWD manual cars can be engineered to be easy to drive in traffic. FWD Honda products, for example, have far superior manual transmissions than BMWs.


I'm scheduled to drive the GTI DSG tonight. I'll try to report back later in the evening.

I'm looking forward to driving the car but after sitting one Sunday, I am worried the car sits too high and the driver definitely sits too high for my liking.


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## Chris90 (Apr 7, 2003)

blueguydotcom said:


> I'm scheduled to drive the GTI DSG tonight. I'll try to report back later in the evening.
> 
> I'm looking forward to driving the car but after sitting one Sunday, I am worried the car sits too high and the driver definitely sits too high for my liking.


Invest in a set of springs. Fixing the seat's not so easy though.

The US version sure looks like it's jacked up.


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## Chris90 (Apr 7, 2003)

Robert A said:


> They haven't introduced one for the new Mark V platform, but I suspect AWD still suffers from the same front weight bias of FWD.


It should be better, but the VR6 and awd are going to take away some of the light-weight benefit of the GTI.


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## brkf (May 26, 2003)

Dawg90 said:


> Invest in a set of springs. Fixing the seat's not so easy though.
> 
> The US version sure looks like it's jacked up.


Still no drive. Tha damned car still wasn't PDI'ed. Time to check with a different dealer.


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## piku (Mar 26, 2003)

Blueguy,
At which dealer in San Diego were you scheduled to drive the DSG GTI?
A couple of days ago a saw a red 6 speed GTI at City VW. They had a white DSG package 1, but they had just sold it. The car definitely sits too high. VW Corporate said that the US GTI is 1/2 inch higher then the European one. I don't know, to me it looked very high. Another thing I didn't like was the black cladding in the rear bumper. It takes half the bumper. It's too much of it. I did not get to drive the car so I can't comment on that.


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## James (Jun 30, 2004)

Dawg90 said:


> The US version sure looks like it's jacked up.


It is, about 1", to meet US bumper height regulations


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## brkf (May 26, 2003)

piku said:


> Blueguy,
> At which dealer in San Diego were you scheduled to drive the DSG GTI?
> A couple of days ago a saw a red 6 speed GTI at City VW. They had a white DSG package 1, but they had just sold it. The car definitely sits too high. VW Corporate said that the US GTI is 1/2 inch higher then the European one. I don't know, to me it looked very high. Another thing I didn't like was the black cladding in the rear bumper. It takes half the bumper. It's too much of it. I did not get to drive the car so I can't comment on that.


Drew VW. They called last night to say the DSG was available, finally, for a test drive. I missed my chance as I was out to dinner. I'd like to try tonight but it appears that won't shape up either. Bummer. Maybe Saturday.

And man does the car sit high. It's a big damn vehicle. The pics don't convey how freaking huge it is.


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## brkf (May 26, 2003)

Drove one: 18 inch summer tiresm package 1 and DSG. Underwhelming, to say the least. The power was nice, DSG quick but the car was too soft going into corners. It also felt a tad numb to me. 

Damn. BMW appears to be getting my business again when my ZHP's lease is up and I don't even dig on the e90 that much.


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## Chris90 (Apr 7, 2003)

blueguydotcom said:


> Drove one: 18 inch summer tiresm package 1 and DSG. Underwhelming, to say the least. The power was nice, DSG quick but the car was too soft going into corners. It also felt a tad numb to me.
> 
> Damn. BMW appears to be getting my business again when my ZHP's lease is up and I don't even dig on the e90 that much.


How's it compare to the A3?


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## brkf (May 26, 2003)

Dawg90 said:


> How's it compare to the A3?


You know the A3 i liked more. It was lower - or seemed to be. I felt more connected to the road in the A3, which is odd given how everyone else likes the GTI so much. I also found the seating position - much lower - in the A3 appealed to me more.

I gotta say after driving any of them I always slide into my e46 and think, "This is how a car should feel."


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## racerdave (Sep 15, 2003)

Car and Driver had a small blurb saying the springs on the new GTI were lengthened to meet US bumper height requirements. They also mentioned how it dulled the responses of the car in comparison to the Euro GTI.


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## wwb4 (Dec 29, 2005)

racerdave said:


> Car and Driver had a small blurb saying the springs on the new GTI were lengthened to meet US bumper height requirements. They also mentioned how it dulled the responses of the car in comparison to the Euro GTI.


We get a lot of "dulled" versions of Euro version cars. :dunno:


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## racerdave (Sep 15, 2003)

wwb4 said:


> We get a lot of "dulled" versions of Euro version cars. :dunno:


Amen to that... Japanese cars as well.


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## xspeedy (Apr 10, 2003)

VW seems to make too many dumb mistakes like this. Why wasn't the bumper designed to be at the proper height for US consumption to begin with?


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## Credulus (Sep 16, 2005)

awww crap so they screwed it up? looks like it rides way to high from all the pictures I saw? I was toying with the idea of leasing one to have some fun with but from the picturs the old GTI has it beart. i guess that can be fixed with some springs...


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## Chris90 (Apr 7, 2003)

Springs are like $200 - what can you order on a BMW that costs $200? 

Still, just one more sign that VW is f-ed up.


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