Impulse bought a 300 hp Golf GTI Mk5 today
Discussion
Wasn't looking for one, didn't properly go through it and just did a 10 minute drive. Man maths concluded that if it breaks down it can just stay in the garage and I'll still get half of its worth if I sell it. Dealer said his phone was blowing up because of the relatively low price but I sent him a message first so I got to see it first. It's a manual, of course.
It has thrice the power of the car it replaces (Volvo C30 1.6 diesel). Just wanted something with power and handling this summer, my 4 series is a 420i and TBH when I'm flooring it it's plenty fast to make the tires squeel in the forest roads and this felt much much faster. Never owned something with 300 hp so I'm very excited, felt bonkers fast to me. Brakes felt underwhelming, don't know if they're all like that or they need replacing. Timing belt done a year ago.
Also got my first child on the way this summer so I figured a 4 door is a must so that we can all do trips together. A coupe is not going to work with a child seat (putting it in and taking it out).
I don't know what I've gotten myself in to. 90k miles so should be some years worth of car left, I pray.

It has thrice the power of the car it replaces (Volvo C30 1.6 diesel). Just wanted something with power and handling this summer, my 4 series is a 420i and TBH when I'm flooring it it's plenty fast to make the tires squeel in the forest roads and this felt much much faster. Never owned something with 300 hp so I'm very excited, felt bonkers fast to me. Brakes felt underwhelming, don't know if they're all like that or they need replacing. Timing belt done a year ago.
Also got my first child on the way this summer so I figured a 4 door is a must so that we can all do trips together. A coupe is not going to work with a child seat (putting it in and taking it out).
I don't know what I've gotten myself in to. 90k miles so should be some years worth of car left, I pray.
bigandclever said:
Definitely had work, it's got a ProSport boost gauge tucked into the top left of the dash (being a left-hooker). Looks great.
I'm sorry I'm not able to answer all. I thought it only had chip tuning but I questioned the 300 hp claim myself as a 100 hp increase sounds too much for this type of tuning. Maybe I'll need to get it do a Dyno some day. Maybe I'll find out about the updates if I look after modifications. Anyway, this car also has a boost gauge, strange if someone put that in only for a chip tune, no? See picture, top left corner. drivingnirvana said:
bigandclever said:
Definitely had work, it's got a ProSport boost gauge tucked into the top left of the dash (being a left-hooker). Looks great.
I'm sorry I'm not able to answer all. I thought it only had chip tuning but I questioned the 300 hp claim myself as a 100 hp increase sounds too much for this type of tuning. Maybe I'll need to get it do a Dyno some day. Maybe I'll find out about the updates if I look after modifications. Anyway, this car also has a boost gauge, strange if someone put that in only for a chip tune, no? See picture, top left corner.
Seems like the previous owner looked after it anyway - are they the original mats in the boot?Chunkychucky said:
Is it the angle of the photo, or is the rear passenger door off-colour?
I thought that too.I liked the US TV commercials:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWMpHc77qNI
Me too, but not quite. Upgraded my girlfriends Fiat 500 Pop to a 300 HP mk5, RR graph from RTech who did the work last year. So we now have 630hp on the drive with them both at Stage 2.
The Mk5 has a Cobra exhaust, RAM Air intake and I'm not sure what else....
It turns out my girlfried doesn't like driving it, can't work out when to change gear as it's "too noisy" etc. I love driving it so now she drives my car more often than not and I get the manual.
Needs better brakes, and I need to do the cambelt, tensioner and water pump at some stage in the near future.
A few minor rust spots to sort out too. Leather interior that looks about 20,000 miles old. Some of the switchgear could do with replacing to tidy it up, but other than that I love it.

The Mk5 has a Cobra exhaust, RAM Air intake and I'm not sure what else....
It turns out my girlfried doesn't like driving it, can't work out when to change gear as it's "too noisy" etc. I love driving it so now she drives my car more often than not and I get the manual.
Needs better brakes, and I need to do the cambelt, tensioner and water pump at some stage in the near future.
A few minor rust spots to sort out too. Leather interior that looks about 20,000 miles old. Some of the switchgear could do with replacing to tidy it up, but other than that I love it.
the-norseman said:
Show us some under bonnet pics. its either a stock GTI thats had Stage 1 tune on it and is producing no where near 300 or its had the K04 and then will probably be producing 310 ish.
The ED30/Cupra/R32 brakes are a good cheapish upgrade.
ED30 brakes are standard GTI.The ED30/Cupra/R32 brakes are a good cheapish upgrade.
Yorkshire_Biker said:
Me too, but not quite. Upgraded my girlfriends Fiat 500 Pop to a 300 HP mk5, RR graph from RTech who did the work last year. So we now have 630hp on the drive with them both at Stage 2.
The Mk5 has a Cobra exhaust, RAM Air intake and I'm not sure what else....
It turns out my girlfried doesn't like driving it, can't work out when to change gear as it's "too noisy" etc. I love driving it so now she drives my car more often than not and I get the manual.
Needs better brakes, and I need to do the cambelt, tensioner and water pump at some stage in the near future.
A few minor rust spots to sort out too. Leather interior that looks about 20,000 miles old. Some of the switchgear could do with replacing to tidy it up, but other than that I love it.

If you post the graph I bet people smarter than me could tell you likely spec.The Mk5 has a Cobra exhaust, RAM Air intake and I'm not sure what else....
It turns out my girlfried doesn't like driving it, can't work out when to change gear as it's "too noisy" etc. I love driving it so now she drives my car more often than not and I get the manual.
Needs better brakes, and I need to do the cambelt, tensioner and water pump at some stage in the near future.
A few minor rust spots to sort out too. Leather interior that looks about 20,000 miles old. Some of the switchgear could do with replacing to tidy it up, but other than that I love it.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff




