£2k VR6 mk3 or V6 4motion mk4

[IceBoy]

Hi All,

It was a sad day over the weekend. A collector offered me strong money for my Mk1 GTI Sportline cabrio. I had the car for 16+ years and it was only used once year for shows etc.

Anyway, I have some spare cash and am thinking about the above cars. Two main questions:

Which one and why?
Is it depreciation proof?

I'm leaning towards the 4motion as we now live in the country and this could prove valuable in snow/wintery conditions?

So which one would you?......this would be my 4th car! LOL Used approx 2,000 miles a year.

I would need to be a long-term keeper and absolutely mint!.....hence depreciation proof and maybe even appreciate!

[kambites]

Up the budget a bit and find a nice Corrado VR6.

Sorry, not very helpful I know but neither Golf appeals in the slightest.

[Maracus]

Budget creep and an S3 MK1. I know it's not a 6 cylinder.

Plus a set of winter rubber.

[IceBoy]

Maracus said:

Budget creep and an S3 MK1. I know it's not a 6 cylinder.

Plus a set of winter rubber.

Never thought of that, good shout.....I have a mk2 GTI 8v big bump on the fleet, which I have had for 15 years, so automatically thought another golf.

Corrados seem to be 4k+ for a mint car these days.

IceBoy

[Nors]

Maracus said:

Budget creep and an S3 MK1. I know it's not a 6 cylinder.

+1 and won't mug your bank account at the pumps quite so much whilst being quicker too.

[Maracus]

Nors said:

Maracus said:

Budget creep and an S3 MK1. I know it's not a 6 cylinder.

+1 and won't mug your bank account at the pumps quite so much whilst being quicker too.

I ran mine for a year, ~34/35 on a motorway commute.

[IceBoy]

Please select your choice!
IceBoy

[wjb]

Out of those two I'd go Mk4 4motion.

[J4CKO]

A mate of mine went to see a 4 motion at a dealer friend of his and I tagged along, he really wanted the Golf but came away nonplussed and decided to have a rethink, dealer mate said he had just had an S3 come in, not prepped and a bit more expensive but he could try that, turns out it had a mild remap to 240 bhp and the front brakes had been upgraded, car was mint and he did the deal there and then, the S3 was just so much quicker, 4 motion was nice but a bit lazy and not what he wanted when it came down to it.

[speedtwelve]

Haven't driven a 4motion, but did own a Golf VR6 & Corrado VR6 simultaneously. The steering and chassis on the Golf were dreadfully slow-witted, a hot-hatch it wasn't. The Corrado was a better performance car in every way.

The VR6 engine does sound good; not as torquey as you'd imagine though. It does need to be revved a bit.

[rallycross]

Having owned a few of both (a few years back) I'd be putting my £2k into a nice clean 4motion over a VR6.
4motion is good value at the moment.
VR6 old and will feel very old.
The 4motion is a smooth comfy cruiser and the 4wd makes a big improvement to how they drive compared to any other Mk4.
Its not a sporty car, the steering lacks feel and the suspension is soft but it makes a nice barge that is refined, quick, capable.

I took both my 4motion and Golf VR6 hi-line on track, neither of them are what I could call track cars, the VR6 was fairly useless, nose heavy, soft, and would cook its brakes far too quickly. The 4motion was surprisingly capable, the 4wd makes a huge difference, it was still soft and the steering is overly light but it was quite a capable effort.
I am not a fan of the mk3 or mk4 Golf's having owned most versions, but today would definitely take a 4motion over an old mk3 VR6 (these do not compare well to the Corrado VR6 I had that was a superb drivers car).

[Rude-boy]

In the real World there was little between my Mk3 16v and the Vr6 Mk3 of a friend.

The Vr6 is better on the straights, but anything more than a kink and the 16v would have it covered and more. Big fat v6 lump up front = much understeer.

[TheJimi]

I'm not convinced either car will be depreciation proof, tbh, even if you get a mint example.

To answer the question though, if I had to choose between those, it would be the 4 motion.

[Motorrad]

The 4motion is the better car objectively.

Personally I wouldn't buy either. A MKIII 16V GTi Golf is a better car if you have to have a VW.

A Leon Cupra is an even better car if you can let go of the VW badge.

Budget creep- buy a TT

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/a...

[caelite]

I asked about the 4motion a few months ago in a thread (ended up buying something FAR less sensible even though I still kind of need 4WD), the verdict in there was that they handle like st. Cannot speak from personal experience though

[Motorrad]

caelite said:

I asked about the 4motion a few months ago in a thread (ended up buying something FAR less sensible even though I still kind of need 4WD), the verdict in there was that they handle like st. Cannot speak from personal experience though

It's unfair to say they 'handle like st' (know you are just reporting that btw). They are safe, predictable and secure. Just not exciting in any way. The TT is better but still suffers from having a lackluster chassis. Not much steering feel, over servoed brakes and lots of understeer but none of them are 'st'.

Try something that lurches between understeer and snap oversteer like a Chevrolet Cobalt for a new definition of 'st'.

[V8forweekends]

rallycross said:

Having owned a few of both (a few years back) I'd be putting my £2k into a nice clean 4motion over a VR6.
4motion is good value at the moment.
VR6 old and will feel very old.
The 4motion is a smooth comfy cruiser and the 4wd makes a big improvement to how they drive compared to any other Mk4.
Its not a sporty car, the steering lacks feel and the suspension is soft but it makes a nice barge that is refined, quick, capable.

I took both my 4motion and Golf VR6 hi-line on track, neither of them are what I could call track cars, the VR6 was fairly useless, nose heavy, soft, and would cook its brakes far too quickly. The 4motion was surprisingly capable, the 4wd makes a huge difference, it was still soft and the steering is overly light but it was quite a capable effort.
I am not a fan of the mk3 or mk4 Golf's having owned most versions, but today would definitely take a 4motion over an old mk3 VR6 (these do not compare well to the Corrado VR6 I had that was a superb drivers car).

Agree with all this but would add, VR6 can be a lot of fun but you need to rev the nuts off it. It sounds nice and revs to 7k but it feels wierd to have to rev a V6 so much.

[V8forweekends]

In standard tune, Corrado VR6 had more power than Golf (and Passat and Sharan) versions.

[Ved]

MK4. Had one for a couple of years and really liked it. It's a great cruiser but make sure the alternator is sound as it's an expensive pig to replace due to its position. I added some R32 rollbars which made it much more fun to drive but it's all about the smooth engine and comfort. It's not a hot hatch, although it's much better than any GTI of the same vintage (and I've had all three of them).

[rallycross]

Just had a look at prices and 4 motions are surprising low these days ( a friend is planning selling his Bora 4 motion in a couple of weeks that he's owned for 10 years plus when he said he was hoping to get more than £750 I was shocked).
A good example of a 4 motion with a set of decent uprated springs and quality shocks would make a good cheap winter runner.