steven000e

My brother is about to buy a new car. And he is thinking about the GLI
I dont know much about these cars but
he says that it is faster than my 8 anyday.. which i might beleave since it has a turbo!!

what do you guys know about this VW?
are they worth the money? (he is planning on paying $20000)
whats so special about this engine?

any info you might know... it would be great
thanks

Adamrotor

The 1.8 Turbo is a good engine my bro used to have a 337 anniversary GTI 1.8 T and if your asking about speed they are farely the same. But just because jetta has that engine the car will weight bit more then the GTI I think you can do the math. But overall VW are good cars in my opinion.

Goodluck on the buy.

P.S. My buddy just bought a GLI for 12,500 dont remember the year. Between 02-05

Renesis_8

the VW 1.8L turbo is VERY noisy once the mileage goes up. A small town near my home uses these as taxis, i guess they're fuel efficient being turbed. But they're all noisy as hell, and good luck on VW reliability.
________
GONG BONGS

N10S

I have owned a couple of 1.8T cars including the 337GTI the previous poster mentioned (not that car, but the same model car). I had the 337 fitted with an Oberscheider Stage 2 chip, a full Milltek turbo-back with hi-flow cat, and an aftermarket diverter valve. I also had a short shifter installed as well. It was a great little car, but it was not "faster" than the RX8. Jump-up to a bigger turbo kit and then maybe. Launching any FWD car off the line is a real trick, and when you have a modded 1.8T pushing more power than stock its even more difficult. Suffice it to say, that it was a fun car with ample power, it handled ok, but not in the same class as the RX8, and overall reliability was in question especially with all of the coil-pack issues VW experienced.

MY perspective as a past owner of a modded GTI 1.8T is that it is in the same ballpark power-wise, but not faster, especially not the heavier GLI sedan, and especially not offf the line. That is a nice looking car though, although I was never a GLI fan and always preferred the two door GTI (5 GTI's to be exact, with a turboS beetle, and an R32 thrown in on top for good measure). I have also owned an A4 and two S4's, so I think I am pretty well positioned to give a good reference to the VW/Audi performance game and how it matches-up against the RX8.

Here are two pics one of my past R32, and then another of my past 337. Both were great little cars, but the R32 with fully independent suspension wins the game with the NA 3.2VR6 and much better handling than the trailing arm MkIV platform GTI and GLI.





Btw...20k for the last MKIV GLI (2004 like the one pictured)with the 337 drivetrain (6spd 180hp), Recaro interior, and brake-set treatment would be priced at the high-end for the car, and value would be determined by the miles and condition.

I would prefer to have the original BBS wheels personally, and would also prefer the car "not" to have mods but be in original stock condition. You can buy a 337 or an anniversary edition GTI for around $13-18k and they are really nice little cars and carry a little less weight and have a slightly stiffer chassis than the GLI sedan. The late-model 2.8 VR6 GTI/GLI w/6spd is a nice set-up as well, and with a MIlltek exhaust sounds awesome and is a nice overall package, just no recaros, big brakes, etc... .

Ike

That's the turbo diesel that they're using which might explain why it's noisy TDI VWs are rather common as taxis in places besides the US.

Ike

You brother is a fool if he pays anywhere near 20k for a GLI Jetta. He could get an '07 for about that and it's a much better car. He could also probably get an '06 with less than 25k miles for about 18k.

And yes, if the Jetta your bro is looking at is chipped and has a couple boltons (MANY of them have these mods) it is faster than your RX-8. They get nice gains with basic mods, after that the modability falls of a bit and you need to upgrade lots of things (turbo, fuel, IC) to go faster.

N10S

There is a pretty big performance following for the TDI in europe I understand. Even in stock form the TDI has some pretty nice torque output, so I can only imagine it would run pretty well with a few mods.. .

Ike

Lots of guys chip and mod their TDIs here as well, they're still damn slow but they fool you a little with the gobs of torque down low.

N10S

Plus they get great fuel mileage on top!! Here is a link to a cool site, dedicated to the TDI performance scene. I should get one just for driving back and forth on my trips from Mo to NM. I could probably pay for it just in fuel cost savings!! Sounds like a believable excuse for the wife at the very least!

http://www.racingtdi.com/engine.htm

CarAndDriver

Watch out for reliability.....

steven000e

no no he is looking to spend 20k in a new car.. the VW GLI he is looking at is about 14 something....

but he is also really interested in a RX8 but he thinks the GLI is far better and faster than the 8. so what i am trying to do is getting a perspective of both cars so i can help him make a good decision...

Phade2

faster in terms of what? straight line or lap times? The Jetta's handling is no where near the rx-8's.

Ike

The used Jetta he is looking at is made in Mexico and has had some issues. Though they sorted most of them out by the time 2004 rolled around. Stock for stock it's slower than the RX-8, add a chip, DV, and exhaust and it will most likely be faster than the RX-8. They have nice interiors like most VWs, and they're total chick cars I don't know if a girl exists on the planet that doesn't like the Jetta. Guys with modded VW especially like it when you point that out to them. Tell him to get the Jetta, then after he gets it's put a sorority letters decal in his back window and taunt him endlessly. Heck, maybe owning the Jetta will even help him come out of the closet

9291150

Having owned a Neuspeed chipped 1.8T Passat, I learned they are not worth the trouble for the boost in power. Every little electronic part seemed to go on mine after my first mods, and every one of those little Bosch parts seems to cost $800. Made a decent amount of power once modded, but the turbo lag also got much worse.

Otherwise I still say VW's are a great alternative to all the Accords and Camrys out there.

stanleylee

1.8t is good ,
i own a 03 GTI
it is mod friendly but it is a ff
and it have ALOT understeeling..
and windows always fail. DV always fail

CarAndDriver

My friend has a 03 20th Anniv. GTI and he loves it. His hasn't been too unreliable beyond a water pump failing on him, but I pity him as his car goes out of the 4/50 warranty.

mike1324a

Good buddy of mine has an 05 gli. Its nice but dont believe the faster then the 8 thing cuz its definetly not. We have a 0-60 in low 6s depending on how good u are at driving, they have mid to high 7s and once they get up to a decient speed acceleration wains. But again, nice car but dont take that 20k crap. My friend got his with 20k miles for 18k.