8v or 16v?

[Horney]

I've had 3 x 8v MKII GTIs a 2.0 16v Passat and a 2.0 16v Corrado.

I agree the 8v's are a better car to drive round town. It's not that they have better low down torque or any of that gumph. It's simply that the power delivery is very different to the 16v engines. While the 16's are quicker on paper and real life they feel slower when pottering around in the lower rev range, they only feel quick when you open the taps and run them up to the red bit on your rev counter. The 8v's just feel like they pull consistantly from tick over to 5K which gives the impression of better town driving. I do find the valavers feel more of a hassle to drive on the way to work but are far more rewarding when hitting a B road and the rev limiter.

nick

[JC]

1.6 Auto - FTW 

[jammac]

8V 

[byebye]

i do a 60 mile round trip 5 days a week in my 8v through twisty's and i agree its easier to drive and gives the all important smile factor, my best mate has a 16v and i leave him at traffic lights everytime..he works in the same place as me and won't take his 16v it drinks too much fuel and its up and down the gear box alot. 

so bothe brill iconic cars..but my vote goes to the 8v 

[danny_p]

off the lights  syncros allways win 

in 2wd it dosen't really make any differance 8 or 16v it's more about driveing both cars can easaly breack traction in 1st.   once out of 1st the 16v should zip off.

fuel economy wise if the 16v is drinking there is something wrong  normaly an injector or two, but there are slow 16v's and slow 8v's   

R5GTT  is an awsome car tho  massive amount of fun had one when at uni  it never ran for more than 2 weeks at a time tho,  that thing religously blew up 

[Neaty]

put it this way, I don't want to own another 8v again. Of course the G60 engined Mk2's are exempt from the rule 

[Dolly]

when i was looking for my second mk2 i definatly wanted a gti i found you can find alot more 8v's around. the odd 16v i did see, seemed over priced, scene tax? in the end got a very very good condtion 8v for £500 and loved it. then i put a g60

just saying the price swayed me in the end. i got an ABF in my seat ibiza and its a fine engine to use as a daily, and can also take some abuse on track days, whilst returning around 30-35mpg average, 40 on motorways.

[danny_p]

like ABF's  a lot.   

only problem is WANT MORE PONY NOW .  i think boosted abf's will be better

[sidecarphil]

don't buy a 5 turbo is the only advice i can add as i have had only one golf GTi and it is my current one

But compared to the loads of XR3i's of the same era i have had it has much better power though i think the handling is better on the ford , but try finding one that isn't rotten!!!!

[kittie]

I've pondered this topic greatly, and I think you should sack it and get a proper tomcat 


Got one on our drive if you can trailor 

I've had 2x16v and 1x8v, 3xR5 turbos and my son (he's a VW technician) currently has a T16 Tomcat which is quick, looks great but rarely goes for more than a week without something breaking, spares are very difficult & expensive to come by, keep away unless you have very deep pockets, a garage, RAC membership, loads of spare time, are good with spanners and you can walk/bus to work.

Oh trust me, I know, my other half's needs head, rad, water pump, intercooler.... allsorts