Look at the power/weight compared to a 'normal' Mk2 GTI. My small-bumper 3-door 8v was only 950kg, a quarter of a tonne lighter than the Rallye, albeit with less horses. There're also 4wd transmission losses to consider.

Also, as mentioned above, the car needs a change up to 3rd during the 0-60mph sprint. Those that could hit 60 in 2nd always 'looked' faster in the stats.

Looks nice from the outside but a shame it was so underwhelming in terms of performance. It also has none of the coolness of the Delta Integrale or the Sierra Cosworth. Though I was quite happy when I spotted one on the road once (and also a mk3 GTi with the 'Rallye' badge!).

A man who knows his VWs!

I am aware that VR or 16v ABF gearing can be substituted into the G60 box in order to deal with the short gearing... something very much on my to do list as I have a VR6 as well that i'd like to put a lower final drive (3.69 iirc) into.

For those worried about reliability, in my experience what tends to kill chargers is people who fail to maintain the drive belt but more crucially the internal belt which links the top/bottom of the charger, if this 6mm belt lets go it's game over. The belt only costs £10 so I replace mine every year regardless of how many/few miles I have done. This combined with regular oil changes as seen my G60 get to 88K and makes marginally over factory boost levels.

I did meet a chap at a VW show who was running a Rallye with a Schrick 268* cam, Jabba chip and 68mm pulley which generates in excess of 200 hp and has done for 40k. In the USA Autotech tuning run a stage 2 which is a remap, smaller pulley (68mm) and 3.5bar fuel pressure regulator and have documented 50k at 195hp where the car performed within 1mpg of stock!

my favourite rallye

When it was new I really wanted one however 160hp in 2012 won't even get you past the oil burners ... how the mighty have fallen

TX.

Probably get shot down in flames for this, but I always preferred the Corrado G60's (not that I have seen one in ages, are there any left?).

wow that looks horrid. Such a shame an ok car has been ruined with a lack of style.

I had one in black 15 years ago!! With a couple of minor tweaks it was an awesome car.
Only car I've written off, gutted!!

Beat me to it. Nasty (in a bad way). Possibly the thinnest rear tyre coupled with the stupidest lowering that I've ever seen.

I had the opportunity to buy a Rallye back in the mid-90s but passed because the Golf Mk2 I had a couple of years earlier was such a turd (had a Delta HFie at the time and ended-up upgrading to an HF4WD, then to an 8v Integrale, then back down to a Delta LX temporarily, then up to a 16v Integrale, then to an 8.32 and now to an Integrale Evo.... I guess when you get the bug...).

I'm mildly surprised that Rallyes are so reasonably cheap but it's not as if they have much of a pedigree.

It just looks broken with styling changes that make it look worse not better. I'm all for modding cars, but making them look crap is just stupid.

Having the bodywork touch or rub the ground just looks dumb.

Having the suspension look like it's broken, well makes the car look like it's broken.

Adding a sill bit of plastic above and over the headlights not only will interfere with the light emitted, but looks out of place and serves no purpose. It's like adding a wart.

The headlights look out of place and appear to be coloured black. Either way they don't follow the lines of the car well and are simply not right.

The rad grill is comical. Why smeg would you want to remove the badge unless you wanted to hide the make of the car. In fact the whole front of the car appears to be an attempt to make a barren featureless slab, which really would just be a barren featureless slab. So pretty pointless and certainly not good looking or styled.

The wiper has to the best bit though :rolf: it just looks fking stupid - period.