Mk2 as a day-to-day car advice - 8v vs 16v ?

[Mad Ax]

Hi all,

I signed up here a few years back when I was thinking of buying a Mk2 8v from a mate.  A price was agreed and hands shaken, but unfortunately things changed for my mate and the deal fell through, and I ended up with something entirely different (a Primera GT, which I'll confess I loved to bits until the clutch exploded a year ago).

Anyway, long story short, I'm currently driving an FTO GPX MIVEC, which gets me around 30mpg on my daily countryside commute of 50 miles.  The MPG isn't cripping me too hard but the insurance is - this year's renewal came in at £600 despite having secure parking, immobiliser, full NCB, no points or claims history, etc...

So I'm considering selling or swapping the FTO for the Mk2 GTI that I wanted several years back.  The FTO should be worth upwards of £1500, which I reckon should get me a pretty good GTI.  Looking on autotrader / classifieds I think I could probably get a reasonable car for a grand and spend the change having any little rust bubbles fixed up.

What I'm really here to ask is:

Is there an insurance difference between the 8v and 16v models?

Is there an MPG difference between the two cars?

How big is the performance difference?

Is one considered any more reliable than the other, or are they much the same?

Any other advice that anyone has would be gratefully appreciated


And (hopefully this doesn't break any forum rules but please let me know or edit if it does) if anyone fancies a nice piece of rare Japanese automotive history and wants to get rid of a tidy Mk2 GTI in exchange, drop me a line


Thanks in advance

[mk2bal]

16v is juicier on fuel, more on insurance, costs a bit more to buy, but is uncomparable in performance and is worth every extra cost incurred (well with a 2.0 16v it is). I'm off now, that should be enough to get the 8v's going!!! Do a search this does come up quite often

[dragonfly]

If you look after a GTi it will run and run. As above insurance is more on a 16v, even a 8v for a youngster can be expensive.

[Wayne]

Both are good choices but check insurance 1st.

[Mad Ax]

Cheers for the info guys.  I wish I were a youngster, if I was still early 20s then I wouldn't mind paying so much money to insure the FTO, but I'm 31 with full NCB and nothing on my history    I've just got a quote on an 8v and it's a tiny bit lower than I expected, so I'm confident I can operate it within budget.

Just stuck picked up the FTO from the MOT shop (clean sheet apart from wipers, brake pads and bulbs ) and put 12 months tax on it so can hopefully find myself a buyer if I decide this is the right path.  Will break my heart to see the FTO go, but I'm sure a Mk2 will provide just as good a driving experience on the twisty B-roads that I'm forced to drive every day

Thanks again!

[mk2bal]

5mins in a decent mk2 will rid you of your jap thoughts. Especially if you do it up with a few choice mods..

[Mitching]

16v (139bhp) gives 27bhp more than the 8v (112bhp)
Both weigh just under a tonne (about 950kg)
From experience and the countless 8v Vs. 16v arguments, it seems the 8v delivers the torque lower down, whereas the 16v should be kept above 4k revs to meet its full potential.
As said, insurance will be more, and when buying the car sometimes a decent 16v can be twice as much as a decent 8v.

[emery1990]

Buy on the shell mate, if I was too buy again I'd get an 8v then swap the engine, as they go for much cheaper, decent 16vs can be 2k+. I found it cheaper to buy a 2.0l conversion with the chassis sorted then a mint 16v. But if staying standard and not wanting to swap engines id go with a 16v.

[walchy01]

Had both 8v and 16v, will never go back to an 8V ever,mine seems quick in low and high gears thou, only use mine around 100 miles a month as it is the 3rd car

Fuel costs....fill up cost around £50 and i get 220 to 250 miles to the tank, seems to spill out MPG at around 23/24 when i use it around town on short journeys around 5 miles.....

insurance is a bargain at just £117 on a limited 1500 miles per year policy with a guarenteed insurance value...

Good luck mate, you'll enjoy every minute of it, just sorting out getting rid of the X5 to start using this as my daily as i love it

Walchy

[rob.043]

I would vote for a late spec 8v GTi with the digifant electronic injection. You should be easily getting high 30's in mpg with one of them, if not over 40 depending on driving conditions. The best available form any of the standard engines.

I may be out of place saying its more reliable than the other GTi's (16v and early 8v) with their mechanical injection, but I hear its easier to set up. and more reliable.

If you search the forum, you will find loads of buying advice specific to the mk2. There are loads around in various specs, with various modifications, I would try to find one that looks like its been enthusiast owned. There are loads of people out there spending money on them and selling them on shortly thereafter, and if you find the right one it may be worth spending your entire budget on a car with a long list of new parts and a bit of a restoration story, coming from a careful owner. This can be cheaper than doing loads of work yourself, although this not expensive and relatively easy for the spanner wielding owner. The wealth of information on this forum alone is amazing.....

Buy one.