decided on a mk3 16v

[AudiA8Quattro]

16v engines are expensive to fix
8v is a solid well proven engine.

The 16v is JUST as proven a unit as the 8v 

[AudiA8Quattro]

The 16v engine looks mostly like this, but has a common fuel rail instead of the k-jet system.

[carl]

What do you mean by making sure the engine is good? Are there any common faults with regards to the engines?

what i ment was look out for thrashed examples
and make sure they have lots of service history
then you should be ok

[GLC GTI]

I don' think they make a 4 door 16V .

:shocked:My car doesn't exist then, how did I get to work? What was I cleaning yesterday? And why I'm I being such a knob? Oh yeah I'm Welsh!

[Overseer]

16v engines are expensive to fix
8v is a solid well proven engine.

The 16v is JUST as proven a unit as the 8v 

indeed...  expensive repairs compared to 8v is rubbish..

and visually outside they are kind of similar (see below) and yeah there is a 4 door 16v as poster before shows..  a mate of mine used to have one too.  3 Doors are actually rarer and desirablility between 3/4 door is debatable.  also i think 4 door valvers are very common in dragon green for some reason.

(so ignore any thing BigDaveC said about valvers before....)


- 16v has obviously a much bigger engine under the bonnet with 16V in big letters on it. 8v looks like half the engine is missing..

- the 16v (and vr6) are already lower than the 8v gti stock.. but as mr '6 said.. additional lowering may suit you..

- the rear of the car will have a red 16v badge under the golf gti badge

- the grille _may_ have a red 16v badge.. some people add the gti badge too. mine came without the red one and i paid a fiver for it at a stealership

-  the V5C _will_ list "golf gti 16v" not "golf gti" for valver.

- the rev counter red lines not at 5000 (8v) but at 7200 in a valver.

- as with the vr6 the 16v comes with ABS and that EDL anti-slip system that stops ya wheelspinning when pulling off (its not very good on loose ground though so be careful stomping).. its active under 25 mph. i assume this was to try and tame the beast.. but i still skid pulling away on slippy roads sometimes..

my advice.. as already stated.. look for good history, servicing etc etc.. and if you're patient you may be able to find a spec'd up one with leather, air-con, sunoof  etc (like i've got  )


For me the car comes into is own on the motorway (as a GTI should).. so if you're going to test drive one try to get it on an open road to get a feel.