for those who could have afford a R32, why did you choose your Gti/Ed30?

[jackc]

Over the last 4 years I went from Mk5 GTI (2.5 years) to ED30 (1 year) to now my R32 (6 months and counting). If I'm honest I found the ED30 to be lacking a bit in character over the normal GTI, hence why I didn't keep it very long. The GTI had better low down urge than the ED30, and made a better noise on full chat. The ED30 was a very fast car, especially once past 10k miles, and I've no doubt that once re-mapped an awesome tool. It just didn't give me the same special feeling that I had with the GTI. The R32 I find to be simply awesome - bags of character and the noise is to die for. Yes, the ED30 felt lighter but the R32 is more planted and far more capable round corners.

I'll be very interested to see what the new R20 will be like as on paper it looks like it could have the best of all worlds.

BTW, economy-wise not much in it. I do a daily 80 mile commute - both the GTI and ED30 averaged 29mpg and the R32 is returning 26mpg. The £400 a year tax will hurt though but then for every enjoyable thing in life there is always a downside

[celica]

jackc, good reply.
i can only assume you preferred the k03 turbo in the gti as opposed to the k04 in the Ed30, which meant the gti spooled up quicker lower down?

[SO8]

I was going to look at the R32 and could have got one for what I paid for my Ed 30 DSG .... Why :

Tax
Petrol (had V6 4motion so knew roughly what to expect : on my route with my style of driving it would have been 20-22mpg as opposed to 28-30mpg)
4wd too good to enjoy - if that makes sense : on V6 4motion it was so good it almost makes the car boring
Image compared to GTi
Looks (don't like exhausts)
Smaller boot
Can't remap

[Jkctr]

I was going to look at the R32 and could have got one for what I paid for my Ed 30 DSG .... Why :

Tax
Petrol (had V6 4motion so knew roughly what to expect : on my route with my style of driving it would have been 20-22mpg as opposed to 28-30mpg)
4wd too good to enjoy - if that makes sense : on V6 4motion it was so good it almost makes the car boring
Image compared to GTi
Looks (don't like exhausts)
Smaller boot
Can't remap

I can understand everyone of those, except the exhaust look  Thats usually the one thing the GTI'ers want lol

[RedRobin]

I was going to look at the R32 and could have got one for what I paid for my Ed 30 DSG .... Why :

Tax
Petrol (had V6 4motion so knew roughly what to expect : on my route with my style of driving it would have been 20-22mpg as opposed to 28-30mpg)
4wd too good to enjoy - if that makes sense : on V6 4motion it was so good it almost makes the car boring
Image compared to GTi
Looks (don't like exhausts)
Smaller boot
Can't remap

I can understand everyone of those, except the exhaust look  Thats usually the one thing the GTI'ers want lol

....@Jules - I hate the R32 exhaust configuration - It's neither one thing nor the other. I even turned down (politely!) a free Milly for my GTI with that R32 pipe layout.

....@SO8 - I find 4WD a bit boring too. The trouble is that you have to drive in license losing territory to get the equivalent feedback fun and if a 4WD lets go, it happens BIG TIME !! Smaller height in boot space would also be a limitation for me sometimes. But I love the V6 exhaust music, especially on a Milly!

[Jkctr]

Its my favourite part of the car 

If i got a gti i had intended to keep enough for R32 bumper and exhaust!

At least you had the option of being different though mate, would be boring if everyone got the R32 end 

[RedRobin]

Its my favourite part of the car 

If i got a gti i had intended to keep enough for R32 bumper and exhaust!

At least you had the option of being different though mate, would be boring if everyone got the R32 end 

....Yes, I much prefer the R32 rear bumper - The GTI oem one is like a Ford Ka!!

[ifti]

I opted for an ED30 over an R32 mainly due to 95% of the models being £400 tax a year and also general fuel consumption.

I think its important to put your car choice into your personal perspective. Everyone is different and require different things from their car.

For example - I use my ED30 to get to work and back which is just shy of a 40 mile round trip. Which IMO is not far enough to warrant an oil burner and yet far enough to make me forget about anything too thirsty.

When it comes down to it, it just depends on how much you are willing to fork out in running costs. To some people, its worth every penny.

100% exactly the same here. All down to the Tax and Fuel cost.
I also use my ED30 daily to commute to work - about 40 miles a day, so wanted somet that was a little cheaper to run, and the ED30 gets me through a week nicely with 1 tank of fuel.

[bobotheclown]

Had the choice of GTI/ED30/R32.

R32: I wasn't a big fan of the zorst sound being on all the time and people hearing you coming down the road before they saw you.

ED30: Was not a big fan of the interlagos cloth, started to get a headache after a few minutes. If the ED30 had a leather option then I would have probably gone for that bt the dealer informed me that it wasn't an option available.

GTI: Went for this option as the power was enough for me (previous car was a saxo diesel) and it came with leather as standard.

[Jkctr]

The noise is far from on all the time  When in 6th driving round town (DSG) its practically silent!