Super fantastic
Just been for the major test drive in my newly bought (last of series) 1997 Gti 2 litre and have had a truly fantastic experience. For those that have the patience read on...!
Bought said car well under budget on the principle that, ok the service book is missing and the seller was a bit unsure about the provenance (timing belt, servicing etc) and the car had been parked under a tree for a couple of months it looked less than promising I thought it worth a look at none the less. After some discussion we took it for a drive. First problem, cold start. Not good, but I brought a power pack with me and after some effort got it started.
Obviously with this sort of vehicle one takes it cautiously... I took some time weighing up the exact condition of the GTi.... 2L 8V standard 5 door.... all the panels looked good (not an obvious crash damage in sight - it 'sat' right) the disks were ok., a bit of rust as one would expect from a vehicle left standing. Bodywork ok apart from the usual dinks and scratches one would expect from a car of this age - to me this was encouraging as nothing had been 'covered up'. When we got the engine started up there was the expected few puffs of blue smoke one would expect with an engine left standing, after that it went into perfect tickover. A touch on the accelerator gave a satisfying bbbbrmm note one expects from a GTi.
At this time I was starting to come to the conclusion that this is an 'original' and was definately getting excited about owning it. No paperwork, history etc but something feels right about the car. The first tentative drive and I'm totaly impressed with the gearbox - it's like new; positive, no slack whatsoever, every gear exactly where you expect to find it, bang on!
We go forward
a few hundred yards and this feels like a roadworthy car!
Well to cut a long story short - I bought the car, put it through the mot, installed 4 new tyres (sailed thru the mot by the way) spent some considerable effort cleaning it up (the glass is the most difficult to get smear free) and got ready for the first true test drive.
I decided that the best route was down the A3 this afternoon. After the usual traumatic urban drive out of London I got onto the dual carriageway and cautiously 'opened' her up -again the distinctive bbbbrmm note was very satisfying to hear, a slight flatspot between 25-28k revs changing up from 3rd (needs looking into) but after that 4th to 5th and it's cruising like the breeze.
Took a turn off to take a quick pit stop to see if anything untoward was going on under the bonnet and as I lifted the lid heard the fan click on... everything was in place and nothing untoward - excellent so far. Carried on the run, turning round to come back up into town. Noted that the digital readout said I was acheiving 37.5 mpg which pretty much aligned with the fuel guage and 25quidsworth I had stuck in.... totally remarkable considering the urban driving conditions and the fact I had booted it a fair few times! Excellent. Enjoyable. What more can I say?
Beautiful car... chose the mk3 for 2 reasons - I can hear the mk1's (and some of the 2's) sucking their teeth and cursing - ABS and PAS........... say no more................
Everything works on this car apart from the cigarette lighter and I'm so under budget I'm seriously considering adding the stainless steel exhaust and luxury fury dice!
cheers
doubledub
