so i drove my friends 20th anniversary edition GTI this weekend for the first time. it was essentially the first time driving another manual transmission since learning how to drive stick (on my 8). it was somewhat vindicating, since I thought I was a crappy shifter, but apparently I havent gotten used to the short catch range on the clutch of the 8, since I was smooth as hell on the GTI.

Also a nice little foray into the world of torque and that sweet little turbo psst.

made me really appreciate the genius of the tachometer/digital spedometer set-up we have. I take that all knowing single glance for granted, and rarely paid attention to my speed in the GTI. We were driving around pretty hard, but still, my friend kept telling me to upshift, I was like "what do you mean? I'm not even redlining it?" I also shifted in to Neutral more than once, thinking I had it in 4th or 6th gear. Learning on a short throw makes shifting on a VW feel like a boxing match.

was a little too nervous in his car to really whip it around the corners and see how it compared to the 8.

our mutual friend describes the GTI as "a little go-kart," i'm not sure what he says about my 8.

 

A good friend of mine also has a 2003 20th Anniversary VW GTI. He put a high quality programmable chip in it. That's all the mods he has on it so far. He wants to put a bigger intercooler on it eventually.

I drive it on occasion and its a fun ride. Very very different though. You sit upright in a non-sport coupe interior in great Recaro seats. The 6M transmission is not as smooth as the RX8. I haven't really tossed it around corners so I can't really comment on the handling, but the ride makes the 8 feel like a plush Cadillac. The suspension travel on the 8 is much larger and more compliant than the GTI.