need more power

[New Duncan]

i think its the 125bah model because i find it abut flat but my last car was 320SE BMW which had a straight 6 in it so maybe expecting too much i paid £3500 on a 1999 model so i didn't get a bad deal really like i sad before its a great car just a bit idle i will try post a picture.

==============================

The 20 valve 1.8 N/A

[wave]

i am amazed vw made such a car 

[New Duncan]

Just hold on a minute. The 20 valve 1.8 non turbo is as quick as the 320se and a lot more agile.

The BMW 320 is a heavy slug, makes a decent growl, uses loads of petrol,  - but no real clout at all. It does not have M tech suspension, nor limited slip differential. Has a nice badge OK

Look here I drive the 325CI with Alpina mods, I know what the ordinary 320 can do   .  not that much.

You've got a nice Golf there, as quick as the 320 and loads less at the Pumps.

[Ivor Mk4 Turbo]

Nail on the head, Duncan!  He's right - I'd have your Golf over a 320 anyday!  (Which model year were you talking, BTW?).  I spent 8 days knocking about in my mate's E46 325 Coupe while he was away - It's an absolute tank in comparrison!  :grin:  My Golf was a joy to climb back into (even with no boost)!  Pedal feel, agility, eagerness etc.

[wave]

your spot on, the golf is the way forward love it. bmw boat on wheels with a good engine and badge not much else that is why i changed      wave

[New Duncan]

You are wrong Wave,
I supported the 20 valve Golf over your old and tired BMW320, presumably yours at the £3000 level was pretty knackered, otherwise you would not have changed for another car at £3999. The old 320 was a bit of a slug, but would go on for a very long time, that in itself is a virtue in my opinion.....However

As for the standard E46 325CI if properly maintained , it will easily surpass the standard Golf 1.8 turbo 180, as you well know Ivor.  They are both entirely different cars, the driving experience of both is excellent. The M tech suspension in the coupe is only bettered by the likes of the Boxster. Yet the steering and agility of the Golf is difficult to beat at the price. As for longevity, the 2494 dohc vanos M52tu and M54 straight sixes in the Beemers will go on for 180k delivering 192 - 212 bhp all of the time, that is a fact to be weighed and measured, Ivor.

Wave you wrote this in a previous post:

i am amazed vw made such a car   

Would you like to explain exactly what you meant ?

I should not have passed any comment on this thread.

[Ivor Mk4 Turbo]

As for the standard E46 325CI if properly maintained , it will easily surpass the standard Golf 1.8 turbo 180, as you well know Ivor.

Don't think I've ever conceded that point, nor will I ever!!! :wink:  Having worked for BMW for 3 years, (driven everything bar the Z8), I think I can comment on them.  There wouldn't be much between the two cars in a straight line drag (0-100/0-60 etc), but the 180 Golf would just edge it, IMO.

From EVO:-

E46 325 ci :-  192 bhp; 1485 kg;  129.3 bhp/ton

Mk4 Golf 180 :-  180 bhp;  1236 kg;  145.6 bhp/ton

They are both entirely different cars, the driving experience of both is excellent.

Correct.

The M tech suspension in the coupe is only bettered by the likes of the Boxster.

Debatable, IMO.  Could be down to driver, but I remember hanging onto the rear bumper of an E46 M3 through the corners of Oulton Park when I was there in my 306 GTi-6.

Yet the steering and agility of the Golf is difficult to beat at the price.

The Clio 172 & the Pug 306 Rallye/GTi-6 are in a different league to the Mk4 handling wise, but obviously you have to factor in the reliability issues with those two! 

[New Duncan]

We are on the same wave length Ivor, but we may not agree  . I'm a newbie to Golf, but hey,  at least I'm bright enough to have discovered the joys of the Golf in general, the Mk4 turbo in particular.

 ....... That other guy touched a nerve, when he kept on knocking a very good value Golf 20v.

on the debatable points:

Indeed I'm a little biased towards the 325CI.  BTW - which BMW Dealership were you / are you at ?  My bias is totally due to reliability and refinement (hush if you like) - don't get me wrong, the Golf turbo is a revelation at the price, particularly when some Finance company driver or other corporate chump has taken the heat 1st 

I've never had the pleasure of the 306 gti 6 / Rallye.  You probably worked out by now - that - I'm a grey beard. I did the 309 1.9 gti way back in 1991, which was brilliant on corners, Pug steering geometry is ground breaking for the money, only let down by the course 1905cc PSA unit.  I did the 405MI 16 ( same plant as T16 205) in it's day, superb braking and traction from a 4 pot front wheel drive in 1992. I have also driven my own moded Saab 900 hard turbo S16 to 148 in 1988 before the ban ! (I had to take my foot off the gas) and I can tell you, it was a death trap if some numb scull had pulled out of the middle lane without looking !!! The Saab's front wheels lift off the ground at 140, so no real steering - bizzare and worrying.

Ivor, I'm getting old maybe - I find the 325CI a tad more secure at a ton 20 than my dearest MK4 Turbo, the heavy Beemer does not hop about, the feel, more akin to a plane on the runway after landing ! The noise - deep and almost non existent.  Ok Ok - as soon as I hit the suburbs, dump the Beemer and into the  Golf 1.8t, which wins hands down.

My wife will look up and then suddeny "yell in my shell-like" when she sees the postion of the dial, otherwise she just doesn't know

All change:

I'm amazed you could hang onto an M3 at Outon Park. the M3 E46 For the last two years has had 348bhp, the E36 M3 evo 315 bhp or more if set-up. How did you do it ? the race bred BM cars have 245 / 280 rear 18" slicks - Well I don't know how you do it ?

BTW - the newer 2002 standard 325CI Coupe is 212 bhp. Mine is 192 but has manifold and throttle bore mods which improve accelleration to 6.9 or 7 dead for 0 - 100 klms.

Getting your pocket rocket fixed at last - Huh:

I hope your Hall sensor fix goes to plan - keep us in the frame - one learns by experience, glad you have a good and trusty technician - some of the franchised ones have a 'lot to be desired' these days. I'd like to know what your silver bullet can do 0 - 62 mph/ 100 klms with that extra 60 horses of boost that you have - Have you done any proper tests yet ?

A side issue, same engine:-

Those damn Cupra 1.8' turbos - why are they so quick ? are there more remapped ones around than Mk4, or are Cupra drivers more crazy  ?
 

[jono_h]

 I had a 330 sport coupe at the beginning of the year, and now run around in a 1.8T (having had a company car briefly in the middle).

 The BMW is the nicest car I have ever driven - and the one thing that I think really makes the difference - rear wheel drive.

 But it's just an opinion!

[Ivor Mk4 Turbo]

We are on the same wave length Ivor, but we may not agree  . I'm a newbie to Golf, but hey,  at least I'm bright enough to have discovered the joys of the Golf in general, the Mk4 turbo in particular.

 ....... That other guy touched a nerve, when he kept on knocking a very good value Golf 20v.

Yep, have to agree to disagree!  (Probably just me picking flies, TBH).  

on the debatable points:

Indeed I'm a little biased towards the 325CI.  BTW - which BMW Dealership were you / are you at ?  My bias is totally due to reliability and refinement (hush if you like) - don't get me wrong, the Golf turbo is a revelation at the price, particularly when some Finance company driver or other corporate chump has taken the heat 1st  

I've never had the pleasure of the 306 gti 6 / Rallye.  You probably worked out by now - that - I'm a grey beard. I did the 309 1.9 gti way back in 1991, which was brilliant on corners, Pug steering geometry is ground breaking for the money, only let down by the course 1905cc PSA unit.  I did the 405MI 16 ( same plant as T16 205) in it's day, superb braking and traction from a 4 pot front wheel drive in 1992. I have also driven my own moded Saab 900 hard turbo S16 to 148 in 1988 before the ban ! (I had to take my foot off the gas) and I can tell you, it was a death trap if some numb scull had pulled out of the middle lane without looking !!! The Saab's front wheels lift off the ground at 140, so no real steering - bizzare and worrying.

I was at Sytner, Solihull.  Yeah, the 325 ci was very nice cruiser indeed.  When you're driving, it gives you that nice prestige feeling, too.  I went to Colchester the other week - It didn't miss a beat, felt very solid on the Motorways etc, & I enjoyed the cruise control.  Also had a nice low seating position.

My 1st ever car was an '89 309 GTi back in '97 (when I was a 20 year old whipper-snapper) - What a nail that was!  Gotta start somewhere, though!  Then I naturally moved onto the 205's/306's/Clio's etc.

Ivor, I'm getting old maybe - I find the 325CI a tad more secure at a ton 20 than my dearest MK4 Turbo, the heavy Beemer does not hop about, the feel, more akin to a plane on the runway after landing ! The noise - deep and almost non existent.  Ok Ok - as soon as I hit the suburbs, dump the Beemer and into the  Golf 1.8t, which wins hands down.

My wife will look up and then suddeny "yell in my shell-like" when she sees the postion of the dial, otherwise she just doesn't know

All change:

I'm amazed you could hang onto an M3 at Outon Park. the M3 E46 For the last two years has had 348bhp, the E36 M3 evo 315 bhp or more if set-up. How did you do it ? the race bred BM cars have 245 / 280 rear 18" slicks - Well I don't know how you do it ?

It was only for about half a lap, obviously he had the legs on the straights (343 horses vs about 180 (a 'de-cat', exhaust, uprated brakes, some weight stripping, & a few other little bits helped a lot, too)), but it was wet & his 'back-end' was looking a bit 'twitchy' through some of the twisties.  I was a little surprised myself, as i know how good the M3 is.  Like I said before, could just be down to driver, but I got the impression he was trying, though. (Or was he just playing, LOL??).

I remember reading an article from a well known car magazine, a few years ago, which actually recorded the 306 GTi-6 as having a faster cornering speed than an E36 M3!  (This was well before the E46, but still tells you that the 306 is/was a very capable car (especially considering it's a FWD hatch!).

BTW - the newer 2002 standard 325CI Coupe is 212 bhp. Mine is 192 but has manifold and throttle bore mods which improve accelleration to 6.9 or 7 dead for 0 - 100 klms.

Getting your pocket rocket fixed at last - Huh:

I hope your Hall sensor fix goes to plan - keep us in the frame - one learns by experience, glad you have a good and trusty technician - some of the franchised ones have a 'lot to be desired' these days. I'd like to know what your silver bullet can do 0 - 62 mph/ 100 klms with that extra 60 horses of boost that you have - Have you done any proper tests yet ?

Cheers, mate.  I hope it all goes well, too.  It's booked in tomorrow & will hopefully be as sweet as it was before!  I know what you're saying about main dealers - They care too much about quantity/targets/bonus's etc, & not enough about quality.  Not the techs fault, though (well, most of the time, anyway).

I haven't done any proper tests with a 'G-Tech' or the likes, but I estimate the 0-60 to be around the 6.5 second mark.

A side issue, same engine:-

Those damn Cupra 1.8' turbos - why are they so quick ? are there more remapped ones around than Mk4, or are Cupra drivers more crazy   ?
 

The Cupra's are 180 standard, whereas the Cupra R is 225.  The Cupra's (like the 180 Golfs) can be mapped to 235ish bhp, & the 'R's' to about 265ish!!!