RE: Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk5: Spotted

[anonymous-user]

Jimmy Recard said:

I looked at and drove a few a couple of years ago. I didn’t really see anything that set them apart from an Astra at under half the price, so that’s what I bought and still have.

The Golf did have slightly better handling, but it didn’t bother me when the Astra was so much cheaper, seems more robust from what I’ve read and IMO looks much nicer

Oh what Pistonheads has become......

[Ahbefive]

SuperchargedVR6 said:

The MK2 ST is pretty good but the old 5 cylinder ones are horrible things. As for the Megane.....granite suspension, plastic panels, plastic windows, orange wheels and pig ugly styling. Niiiiiiice!

Typical PH stupid comparisons - a track car vs a road car. Fit a set of Ohlins DFV coilovers to a MK5 with some more track focused geometry and it will more than hold it's own against the flimsy and over rated French offerings.

The mk2 Focus STs are all 5cylinder. It seems you don't know much (anything) about them then so didn't know that they are better than a Golf and don't seem to rust.

It seems you don't know much about the Megane R26 either as they don't have granite suspension, plastic windows or orange wheels.

Then you say spend £3k on a £5k Golf and it may handle almost as well as a standard £5k Megane but still won't have an LSD and will be much heavier. Laughable.

It's better to have an opinion on something that you actually know something about or keep quiet rather than open your mouth and make yourself sound silly.

[zedx19]

SuperchargedVR6 said:

The MK2 ST is pretty good but the old 5 cylinder ones are horrible things. As for the Megane.....granite suspension, plastic panels, plastic windows, orange wheels and pig ugly styling. Niiiiiiice!

Typical PH stupid comparisons - a track car vs a road car. Fit a set of Ohlins DFV coilovers to a MK5 with some more track focused geometry and it will more than hold it's own against the flimsy and over rated French offerings.

What on earth are you on about?

[trilla]

I had a 57 plate 5 door manual as my first car, I loved it. Put 25k miles on it and sold for a Mk6 GTI with DSG.

[ManOpener]

Ahbefive said:

A decent daily but a Focus ST is far more interesting to drive

The Focus has a far more interesting engine (though at the cost of faintly ridiculous MPG for the performance) but I wouldn't say the overall driving experience in the Focus is better. They might not rust as much, but they do crack liners- their own Achilles heel.

[andrewparker]

Ahbefive said:

The mk2 Focus STs are all 5cylinder. It seems you don't know much (anything) about them then so didn't know that they are better than a Golf and don't seem to rust.

Better than the Golf? According to a Ford fanatic?

[kayzee]

old No 1 said:

Got one thats for sale

Its a 05 metallic blue 3 door with full heated leather 18' BBS RS reps (the polished lips need a refurb)
Mapped full stainless system twintercooler done 186k

£1500

Ive driven plenty of fast stuff but this thing flies, almost TOO fast as it wants to go and go. Its been ours since 140k and had all the servicing done right by a good indy cam belt head gasket etc and just keeps going only reason to sell is other half is pregnant so 3 door car is gone be a pain so leased a Skoda 245 hatch as she loves this engine so much...

I'd say of the Mk 2,3,4 and 5 I've driven only the 2 and 5 are remembered fondly lol

My boy is 16 months old now and been in a 3 door the whole time, not a problem only thing I wouldn't mind is a bigger boot lol.

[carparkno1]

kayzee said:

old No 1 said:

Got one thats for sale

Its a 05 metallic blue 3 door with full heated leather 18' BBS RS reps (the polished lips need a refurb)
Mapped full stainless system twintercooler done 186k

£1500

Ive driven plenty of fast stuff but this thing flies, almost TOO fast as it wants to go and go. Its been ours since 140k and had all the servicing done right by a good indy cam belt head gasket etc and just keeps going only reason to sell is other half is pregnant so 3 door car is gone be a pain so leased a Skoda 245 hatch as she loves this engine so much...

I'd say of the Mk 2,3,4 and 5 I've driven only the 2 and 5 are remembered fondly lol

My boy is 16 months old now and been in a 3 door the whole time, not a problem only thing I wouldn't mind is a bigger boot lol.

I put earlier in the thread that mine was for sale and it was removed by the mods. I see they are on top form here lol

[HJMS123]

old No 1 said:

Got one thats for sale

Its a 05 metallic blue 3 door with full heated leather 18' BBS RS reps (the polished lips need a refurb)
Mapped full stainless system twintercooler done 186k

£1500

Ive driven plenty of fast stuff but this thing flies, almost TOO fast as it wants to go and go. Its been ours since 140k and had all the servicing done right by a good indy cam belt head gasket etc and just keeps going only
reason to sell is other half is pregnant so 3 door car is gone be a pain so leased a Skoda 245 hatch as she loves this engine so much...

I'd say of the Mk 2,3,4 and 5 I've driven only the 2 and 5 are remembered fondly lol

In that case she's going to be disappointed

[Ahbefive]

andrewparker said:

Better than the Golf? According to a Ford fanatic?

Yes better than a Golf. Better engine, better noise, nicer seats, more playful handling, less rusty.

A Ford fanatic? You obviously don't know me. I have a Volvo a Renault and a Ford and have owned BMWs,VWs, Subarus, etc etc. If owning 1 Ford makes me a fanatic in your eyes then I think you need to look up the definition.

[andrewparker]

Ahbefive said:

A Ford fanatic? You obviously don't know me.

I remember the FRS thread.... you got all confrontational in that one too....

[Ahbefive]

andrewparker said:

I remember the FRS thread.... you got all confrontational in that one too....

Confrontational? You didn't spot the obvious troll in those threads then? Thats how they got to 20pages.

I'm guessing you are a VW fanboi? Some of us love several/all brands of car and aren't tied to one marque.

I was merely commenting on a posters distinct lack of knowledge on the subject that he was talking about. Did I say anything incorrect or that has upset you?

[andrewparker]

Ahbefive said:

andrewparker said:

I remember the FRS thread.... you got all confrontational in that one too....

Confrontational? You didn't spot the obvious troll in those threads then? Thats how they got to 20pages.

I'm guessing you are a VW fanboi? Some of us love several/all brands of car and aren't tied to one marque.

I was merely commenting on a posters distinct lack of knowledge on the subject that he was talking about. Did I say anything incorrect or that has upset you?

There are many better ways to say; "It's better to have an opinion on something that you actually know something about or keep quiet rather than open your mouth and make yourself sound silly".

[carparkno1]

Ahbefive said:

andrewparker said:

Better than the Golf? According to a Ford fanatic?

Yes better than a Golf. Better engine, better noise, nicer seats, more playful handling, less rusty.

A Ford fanatic? You obviously don't know me. I have a Volvo a Renault and a Ford and have owned BMWs,VWs, Subarus, etc etc. If owning 1 Ford makes me a fanatic in your eyes then I think you need to look up the definition.

The 2.5 is a heavy lump and has terrible mpg, the seats are objective - i'll take heated leather in my daily every time. My 2006 gti doesn't have any rust but others do. I'd take the golf interior in a heartbeat, plus the wheels are better and it's considerably more refined.

It depends, do you want a hatch that does it all and does it all well, or one that is hyper-focused on some things at the expense of others? The ST is great fun, but day to day the Gti beats it for me, and I have had 3 Focus on my drive over the last decade so I am not biased either way.

[Ahbefive]

carparkno1 said:

The 2.5 is a heavy lump and has terrible mpg, the seats are objective - i'll take heated leather in my daily every time. My 2006 gti doesn't have any rust but others do. I'd take the golf interior in a heartbeat, plus the wheels are better and it's considerably more refined.

It depends, do you want a hatch that does it all and does it all well, or one that is hyper-focused on some things at the expense of others? The ST is great fun, but day to day the Gti beats it for me, and I have had 3 Focus on my drive over the last decade so I am not biased either way.

The 2.5 does 28mpg average no problem, hardly that juicy. The heated leather Recaros are better than the ones in a Golf for certain, very comfy.
Wheels are better? Really? ok if you prefer the VWs. Focus for me is easily as refined as the old Golf and imo the Focus has the better interior.

Like you say hourse for courses, they are similar cars at a similar budget but one is pretty bland and the other has a bit of character.

I was only commenting on the poster with all the wrong facts really rather than trying to get into a VW vs Ford debate.

[andrewparker]

I always thought you sat way too high in the Focus, particularly compared to the Golf. Either way, I think finding really good examples of either car is probably not that easy these days.

[Jimmy Recard]

ruprechtmonkeyboy said:

Oh what Pistonheads has become......

Huh? It reflects badly on Pistonheads because I think a Focus or Astra is better than a Golf?

I'll say it again - I think the mk2 Focus and Astra H are better than the mk 5 Golf.

[ManOpener]

Ahbefive said:

The 2.5 does 28mpg average no problem

You might, might get a 28mpg average if you do a lot of motorway miles and don't actually use the performance on tap that regularly, but I think circa 24-25 is probably a more realistic average. High teens if you press on. Four of us drove up to North Wales for two days, doing the Evo Triangle and various other great roads before returning through the Brecon Beacons. The ST averaged 21mpg.

Not that you buy a hot hatch for the economy anyway, but given the performance on tap (IE in standard form not much more than a Golf) the ST never fared that well.

Ahbefive said:

The heated leather Recaros are better than the ones in a Golf for certain, very comfy.

Horses for courses, but as another poster said I always found the ST seating position quite high. That said I never particularly liked the GTI seats, the Recaros in the Leon FR and Cupra are much nicer than both.

Ahbefive said:

Focus for me is easily as refined as the old Golf and imo the Focus has the better interior.

So I never drove a Mk5 on the 18" wheels, only ever 17", which might account for this, but I felt the Golf was more refined, more compliant and better damped. The MK2 Focus interior is preferable to the plastic fantastic mess in the MK3, but I wouldn't say it's a nicer place to be.

I don't really get the fuss you've made about rust on the Mk5. Yes some cars do suffer and they really shouldn't, but VW goodwill has been pretty generous and it's not as if competitors don't suffer from their own common and pretty serious issues. Cylinder lines cracking in the ST, gearbox fragility in the VXR, electrical gremlins in the Megane.

Personally if I could live with 3 doors I'd buy an FN2 Civic.

[Ahbefive]

Having owned an ST for 20k miles, an S60R with a very similar engine but in a much heavier car and a friend driving his to, round and back from the Nurburgring last year they average way over 21mpg and like I said more like 28mpg. Your mates must be broken. Even my 1660kg awd Volvo averages 27mpg with the 2.5 engine.

Your other points seems quite subjective so I guess we just have different opinions about those. Imo the CTR is a massively inferior car.

Edited by Ahbefive on Wednesday 21st February 07:22

[ManOpener]

Ahbefive said:

Having owned an ST for 20k miles, an S60R with a very similar engine but in a much heavier car and a friend driving his to, round and back from the Nurburgring last year they average way over 21mpg and like I said more like 28mpg.

Honest John's "Real MPG" suggests around 26 average https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/ford/focus-st...

Ahbefive said:

Imo the CTR is a massively inferior car.

Again, it's all pretty subjective, but in my view the FN2 much more enjoyable to drive than the ST. Probably not as good an all-rounder, but definitely the more fun car.