RE: Shed of the Week: Volkswagen Golf GTI (Mk4)
Discussion
Murphy16 said:
He's had to replace near enough EVERYTHING to do with the engine and fueling, every time I see him (couple of times a week) there's something wrong with it. Fuel injectors, coils, fuel pump, everything has needed doing over the last year or so. I really like it, It still feels well made and high quality inside, and I do prefer older cars. My best mate has an A4 with the same engine and is also encountering the same issues.
The 1.8 20V turbo is getting long in the tooth now, parts will need replacing. It's a good engine but in my experience is reaching a point in its life where everything will need replacing or upgrading soonish so I'd budget that in when buying one.
Its an interesting point. Whenever a SOTW comes up with the .1.8T engine people rave about how bomb proof they are, but the experience of many, including mine is that bits frequently go wrong and need replacing! Seems to be an engine that is strong enough to withstand a lot of tuning, but is high maintenance at the same time!!The 1.8 20V turbo is getting long in the tooth now, parts will need replacing. It's a good engine but in my experience is reaching a point in its life where everything will need replacing or upgrading soonish so I'd budget that in when buying one.
I took my Passat 1.8T to 130,000 miles and got rid when engine management lights and other sensors kept failing. I think the MAF sensor was one that went and strangely when it was replaced, it never felt as perky afterwards. One thing I did always feel was that the car performed very strongly for what was a fairly substantial saloon with only 150BHP. Kept several 320ds honest.
The Mazda 6 I replaced with was absolutely exempolary. The Passat and my early Audi A3 put me off VAG tbh.
rastapasta said:
eskidavies said:
Elesmart said:
Good shed, but practically the same car as last week albeit a much nicer one.
There's a flat 6 and a V8 in shed budget in the classifieds this week....
https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...
https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...
That legacy is only about a 15. -20 min drive from me hmmmm There's a flat 6 and a V8 in shed budget in the classifieds this week....
https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...
https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...
Edited by eskidavies on Saturday 9th March 18:02
In two minds about this one. I had one of these about 20 years ago (how has time gone that fast!?), had it remapped, and although it was a pleasant enough car to cover a few miles in, it was really, really dull. While I had it, I happened to hire a Focus 1.6 for a work trip and it really hammered home how stodgy the Golf felt. The focus was just alive, always felt on tip toes and ready to change direction. The Golf roughly went where it was pointed in a slightly baggy way. The Recaro seats felt good. The gearbox felt awful. The engine was good. Pretty economical, a bit flat in standard form but felt pretty potent after a remap but god the noise was just so boring. Just sounds like a vacuum. I had a number of problems too. Window regulators, boot lock, wiper motors front and rear, water pump and a couple of sensors. Not brilliantly reliable but it did feel like a quality motor in terms of fit and finish. Everything felt solid and well put together and I remember everyone being very impressed with the panel gaps at a time when most cars were all over the place. Seems stupid talking about some of this now as all cars are generally pretty well put together and have decent quality materials these days but that simply wasn't the case back then. Oh, and the blue/red dials were special too! And it had a central sunvisor! Something that I've never seen in another car since but it was really useful.
So I don't look back massively fondly but at the same time, you don't often get very much for this kind of money and a MK4 Golf can still look very smart even today. I still see quite a lot of MK4's in daily use and they never look like a 20 year old design and genuinely look quite smart. Most mainstream cars this sort of age look like the last breaths of life are being wrung out of them. Could think of worse things ways to splurge this kind of money, just don't go into it thinking you're getting a 'real' GTi. More at home on M-roads than B-roads but that's not necessarily such a bad thing.
So I don't look back massively fondly but at the same time, you don't often get very much for this kind of money and a MK4 Golf can still look very smart even today. I still see quite a lot of MK4's in daily use and they never look like a 20 year old design and genuinely look quite smart. Most mainstream cars this sort of age look like the last breaths of life are being wrung out of them. Could think of worse things ways to splurge this kind of money, just don't go into it thinking you're getting a 'real' GTi. More at home on M-roads than B-roads but that's not necessarily such a bad thing.
strangehighways said:
Will we ever see such detailed road tests again? This is SUPERB.
viciousj377o said:
Anyone saying they don't handle can't drive, controversial i'm sure and I am awaiting all the hate comments, but with a decent set of rubber there is just endless grip despite the body roll. I could and did hustle these down B roads with much gusto in standard form, my remapped 1.8t massively upsetting local barry boys in their 'hot hatches' in the process. Good feedback through the wheel, a tail end that could be moved around with a dab or otherwise of throttle... Bodyroll being completely eliminated on my VRS when I fitted bilsteins and uprated ARB... then again that was also running 280bhp so it was a very good sleeper.
But that is just grip isn't it? You can make any car grip well if you stick decent tyres on it but it wouldn't mean it 'handles' well as such. I'd say handling normally refers to a much broader range of attributes such as turn in, damping, balance, feedback etc, and the Golf is pretty poor in standard form in just about all those criteria. They just felt soggy and poorly damped to me. Safe and predictable (understeer basically) and reasonably comfortable but I'd never say they handled well. Gad-Westy said:
strangehighways said:
Will we ever see such detailed road tests again? This is SUPERB.
Audi did very well in another mag’s hot hatch test too around that time
I'm not a hater per se but I recognize this as a bland and uninteresting car. It has been adorned with some GTi car mats and red paint and a badge on the back but it might as well be a poverty spec grannies runabout judging from the interior. VW really didn't do anything to make the damn inside remotely special, something that is instantly forgetful and a dull place to be. Looks like they saw a load of fanboys coming...
Shame on them.
Shame on them.
alorotom said:
Too many doors for a GTi in my eyes
Too many doors?? Two doors are a pita for a family car , folding seats for rear passengers , never too easy fitting a child seat and the length of the doors being another downside re opening room in car parks ect. The only reason some were three door could only be purely down to cost when new..I had one of these as my recovery car after i lost money with my prelude write off.
Ok, not quick and not really a gti, but ignoring that it was a good car! Solid, reliable, comfy, practical, abs honestly fast enough for the real world. Also it looked good, and was dirt cheap even 6 years ago. Mine had the recaro seats which were really nice.
I sold it to a guy who remapped it to 200 bhp and said the thing really came alive. I bought a seat Leon cupra R just a few years younger so essentially the same car, so it couldn't have been that bad!
Ok, not quick and not really a gti, but ignoring that it was a good car! Solid, reliable, comfy, practical, abs honestly fast enough for the real world. Also it looked good, and was dirt cheap even 6 years ago. Mine had the recaro seats which were really nice.
I sold it to a guy who remapped it to 200 bhp and said the thing really came alive. I bought a seat Leon cupra R just a few years younger so essentially the same car, so it couldn't have been that bad!
Oilchange said:
I'm not a hater per se but I recognize this as a bland and uninteresting car. It has been adorned with some GTi car mats and red paint and a badge on the back but it might as well be a poverty spec grannies runabout judging from the interior. VW really didn't do anything to make the damn inside remotely special, something that is instantly forgetful and a dull place to be. Looks like they saw a load of fanboys coming...
Shame on them.
That’s no way to judge a car though.Shame on them.
Look at ford pumas , clio 1*2’s awesome handling but bland boring interiors.
egor110 said:
Oilchange said:
I'm not a hater per se but I recognize this as a bland and uninteresting car. It has been adorned with some GTi car mats and red paint and a badge on the back but it might as well be a poverty spec grannies runabout judging from the interior. VW really didn't do anything to make the damn inside remotely special, something that is instantly forgetful and a dull place to be. Looks like they saw a load of fanboys coming...
Shame on them.
That’s no way to judge a car though.Shame on them.
Look at ford pumas , clio 1*2’s awesome handling but bland boring interiors.
Blackpuddin said:
Also, we're not talking about standard GTIs here, we're talking about this GTI, a car with a sensible remap giving it a good power output and a sensible suspension mod that you would think would give it good handling.
Yep, looks a reasonable 5-door hatch with 330i performance for £1500 Nothing is going to be perfect at this money
Icehanger said:
Wansn’t the Mk4 2.0Gti the first badge engineered car as in Europe it was just badged 2.0?
And in the UK. We brought one in 2002 and had to ask for the GTI badge to be added. Didn't make the car any quicker or handle any better. It was a great car for us for 15 years though, should not have sold it. s m said:
mrbarnett said:
s m said:
Edited by mrbarnett on Friday 8th March 15:58
The truth was that 15”ers were best for comfort and 16” better than 17” for performance in the test they ran
Thanks!
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