mk5's eh??? that they up'd the displacement and left it with a k03s turbo yeah thats an improvement when the audi and seat got the same engine but with a better turbo. If anything the mk5 was a bit of a con, just paying for the badge
It's always been like that. S3 having more power then the MK4? Different maps on engines etc. It's all marketing hype, it's not a con it's a marketing technique which works.
The MK5 is a far more refined car then the MK4, still with faults appearing but seems a much more planted car on the road and seems to be built better inside, not massively impressed with interior build quality on the MK4.
The MK3 build quality was very good, yes there were rust issues but look at the era and the other cars. Everything feels solid on mine.
My 1.6 has been ragged non stop for the last past two years and I've never serviced it and bodged absolutely everything up on the engine as I've always planned on swapping it with something bigger so wanted to spend no money on it. Everywhere else on the car has been maintained but I've had zilch engine faults other then a coil.