2. 211hp - if true - doesn't sound much better than 197hp and so not as good as an Ed30
3. The GTI-R will overshadow it - again if it is really coming out
2: The 211PS fits in with VW reducing there CO2 figures for the mk6 golf over the mk5's. If its a version of the engine i think it is it will put out less than 154g/km so reduces the GTIs tax band and gives people an option of a decent power output with lower tax and co2 output or a full fat 270PS 4WD GTI-R (201g/km).
Makes good sence to me for them to do both rather than limit themselfs with the current Ed30 engine or using the older GTI engine that are ~190g/km and maybe putting some new buyers off in the future years due to the rising cost/scales of road tax price the goverments only going to keep upping them in the coming years not just here but also other places.
3: The R32 does not currently over shaddow the GTI. Granted we are talking about an S3 in Golf cloths but again some would say it does not overshadow the GTI either. It all depends on your priority's. Power is not everything.
I understand what you are saying but this is a GTI after all... the last time VW went 'green' with the GTI was when they produced the Mk3 and we all know how that ended up. At the end of the day, if its low emissions you want, then buy a GT with a TSI engine in it. I know GTIs are also meant to be practical, but surely not at the expense of performance.
....None of us want the performance of a future GTI to be compromised - Most of us want quite the opposite!! But unfortunately the car manufacturing climate of today is different from in the day of the Mk3 - Governments throughout Europe and the World are pressurising and legislating the car manufacturers to go 'green'. That's all very well as long as there remains a choice of performance cars
as well as those sewing-machines on castor wheels.
What particularly annoys me is that 'Dust-to-Dust' isn't taken into account when assessing the eco-friendliness of cars - That would give far more realistic data and a more truthful picture of how eco-friendly a car is. The fecking Toyota Pious is about 86th in the DtoD list!
Technology, and car design, never stands still and continues to evolve - All that's happening is that it's as usual doing so subject to a number of conditions and factors. The ideal is to produce a car with both real performance and eco-friendliness and still be fun to drive with a decent exhaust sound! I hate silent cars!
