5 Different Tuned GTis

[andykram]

This article is on the Auotobild website in Germany and might be of interest to everybody. Now I suspect that not many of you will be able to understand the German but you can scroll through the pictured to see the 5 different takes on the car. All the engines are around 250-260 bhp and they all just use parts off the VW shelf e.g. leather seats and DSG for the interiors. The differences come in the wheels, dampers and so on which is how they can rank them 5 down to 1. The word "Platz" is the word for place so you can see what order they're in.

Personally I don't like any of them - prefer the Monza Shadows to the after market jobbies on these but each to his own I suppose.

http://www.autobild.de/artikel/fuenf-getunte-vw-golf-gti-im-vergleich_967814.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+autobild-news+%28AUTO+BILD+-+Tests+und+News+zum+Thema+Auto%29

[boardlord]

I need that carbon rear diffuser... Anyone seen it for sale anywhere?

[R32UK]

I need that carbon rear diffuser... Anyone seen it for sale anywhere?

Cant remember the name of the place but try the MK5 board and a search for Carbon stuff.... the was this one place that did all things mk5 and carbon


Like the look of that matt black one

[Ben Lessani]

Those brakes look dwarfed!

and the tyre is coming off the rim here http://www.autobild.de/artikel/fuenf-getunte-vw-golf-gti-im-vergleich_967814.html?bild=40&now=45#mmg

[andykram]

I must admit I like that carbon diffuser too - would go well on my carbon grey car methinks.

[mac7]

These are my kind of GTI - uprated for performance. The best suspension set up is the H&R -30mm springs with ACC dampers, used on the gloss black Wetteraur car and the black with silver stripe McChip car. The worst the H&R -50mm springs and standard dampers. The KW coilovers on the Oettinger car were good on track but too hard for road use. Still not as good as the ACC equipped cars though...

They also mention that the DSG hindered progress around the track because it's not letting the driver select a lower gear (high revs near redline) before going into the corner and then choosing to change down coming out of the corner when the driver would use the engines torque under full throttle. Glad I'm not the only one who found that. They describe the paddle shift as 'half manual' mode.  That'll please all of us who saved £1300 by having a proper gearbox.

Although I'm guessing most of you aren't into that sort of thing.

Those brakes look dwarfed!

and the tyre is coming off the rim here http://www.autobild.de/artikel/fuenf-getunte-vw-golf-gti-im-vergleich_967814.html?bild=40&now=45#mmg

The tyre isn't coming off the rim - that's how they look whe you're using them for more than going to work or Tescos. The brakes could do with uprating, since these cars are almost as powerful and quick as a Scirocco R.


That does look good.

[Exonian]

Nice find Andykram.

I note they're all 5 doors too, and (I think) none of them had xenons either!

Pretty cool motors and food for thought.

[andykram]

I'm not keen on the black finish of the wheels. Just had another look at them all and I really like the Oettinger wheels (the one that comes 4th) but would always prefer them as an "alloy" rather than the black.
I also still think the 3 door looks sportier than the 5 door.
But most importantly of all, if these tuning houses can tune that engine to 250bhp so easily why couldn't VW do it in the first place? They just make the standard 210 seem a bit stingy to me.

[boardlord]

But most importantly of all, if these tuning houses can tune that engine to 250bhp so easily why couldn't VW do it in the first place? They just make the standard 210 seem a bit stingy to me.

They did it's called the Golf R. If the GTI were more powerful who would buy the 'R'. 

[mac7]

But most importantly of all, if these tuning houses can tune that engine to 250bhp so easily why couldn't VW do it in the first place? They just make the standard 210 seem a bit stingy to me.

VW's GTI has always been about more than just raw power. With every version, particularly the turbo engines, they could have given it more power. But things like long term reliability, good old emissions and economy suffer - the GTI is after all a mass-market model. It is a very 'balanced' car too - sometimes power corrupts, especially with front wheel drive.

From a marketing perspective it would have made the R cars a bit redundant. And it leaves the door open for a more powerful run-out special edition GTI in the future.

Sometimes though I've wondered whether VW does it on purpose to help maintain the healthy demand for aftermarket engine and suspension tuners which arose during the 1980's. The Germans like to modify their cars far more than the Brits.