Tremendous utility, sleeper styling, Germanic good looks, surprising top-end acceleration, tossable handling, huge aftermarket, the red badge of courage that reads "GTI"

Young kids like trying to steal it, initial insurance was very high (then again, I was very young)

The '86 GTI is the favorite car of my fleet (96 Probe GT, 99 Maxima SE). It feels direct and hard-wired, an extension of me to the road. I know intuitively what this car is going to do at every circumstance. It's built exactly the way I want it -- OZ wheels, lowered performance suspension, Momo steering wheel and shift knob, Zender front spoiler, Leistritz exhaust and various engine mods. It makes a very sporty sound, yet remains totally utilitarian. The best thing about it is my wife hates it (she likes her Maxima). My Probe GT is a very nice car and absolutely gorgeous, but I prefer driving the Vee Dub. It has European headlights and just looks so butch. I've had several young guys ask me if I'd sell it to them, but this was my first new car and it still looks new, so selling it is out of the question. I haven't had any problems with the car, warranty-wise or service-wise. I am not a maniac when it comes to maintenance, but I take care of it, and the car (149,000 miles) has taken care of me. It continues to have sharp response, gets great gas mileage and runs excellent. It has just been such a great car, and I look forward to keeping it. I've driven the new Turbo and was mightily impressed, but not enough to buy. Maybe the VR6.

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1988 Honda Civic DX (wife's old car) 1994 Probe GT; 1996 Probe GT

DRIVING!, interior comforts, tricks, toys and gadgets.

wish the suspension was just a bit tighter.

This car is a sleeper. Gone are the days when you felt like you were Vanilla Ice when you pulled up in a hot car. To the average viewer you drive nothing more than a mere hatchback VW. This is nice because it separates the us from the thems. First clue should be those beautiful 17" alloys. If that's not enough one peak inside and you'll realize that this isn't the German Civic. Walk around back when it’s running, notice the grunt, maybe the VR6 logo? Hell yes, it's a GTI. Finally VW got it right when they built this one. It doesn't look like Golf with a cheap body kit. The MK IV's lines are timeless. Interior appointments are better rival that of many other cars I've owned (many of this little car's expensive German cousins.) Driving doesn't get much more fun than this. Horsepower is great, but throw all of that torque into its gearbox and small or large car this thing scoots! I've always loved GTI's but VW has finally gotten it right!

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Dodge Neon ACR - compare? right.
Acura Integra GSR - not even close
Audi 1.8tt - someone at Audi should've worked a deal to get that VR6 under it's hood, then maybe it be close.
BMW 318TI - it's like the difference between a 914 and a 911

Recaro seats
Build quality

No torque whatsoever compared to real sports hatches.
Still only 5 speed (where's the 6th cog guys?)
Very uninspiring suspension set up
Dull looks
Australia spec Vs European standard (did we get the cheap model or what?)

Thankfully this is a company car & I didn't pay for it, because if I did, I would be really disappointed. Realistically, if I had been parting with my own hard earned $$$ I would not have bought it.

I grabbed this car because my company brought in a automatic only policy & this car (4 months old when I got it) was spare. Given my time again, I would have taken a new auto anything (& I hate autos).

I gave up my Peugeot 306 GTi 6 months early for this & I miss it every day. The Golf is slow, and has the handling of a normal hatch. The looks are very unsporty considering that this is the sports model & there is very little to differentiate this model from the outside. I have had a base model Golf next to me in traffic & they are virtually as fast & look the same. The base spec wheels are dull as (I have replaced them with better 17in ones). I have also replaced the seat covering with leather, which is a worthwhile investment & upgrade the sound system.

The Peugeot rocks (thankfully, it's still in the fleet & I grab it for the occasional weekend). When they say engineered to be enjoyed, they mean it. Before you buy the Golf, drive a Peugeot, you won't be able to take the smile off your face (and guaranteed you won't buy the Golf). It's no wonder that European Car mag voted it the hottest hatch of all time. Sorry to all you Golf supporters on this page!

Perhaps, in fairness, you would like this car if the looks appeal, and you are after a nice to drive, comfortable and well equipped car.

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1998 Peugeot 306 GTi6
1996 Peugeot 306 Xsi
1999 BMW 323i

Very upscale car for the price. Perfect balance of sporty-ness and European sophistication. Very safe for a compact car! So many standard features, it's really in a class of its own.

Expensive car when compared to the competition. Would be nice if VW offered different option packages to keep prices lower. Not everyone needs so many features.

I would recommend this car as the only real "alternative" to all other sporty cars in this price range. Hatchback design results in great utility. Quick rant: Reviewers need to at least pass grammar school spelling and be able to write something informative before submitting a review.

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2000 Jeep Cherokee... enough said.

Acceleration, Very fun to drive...worthy of the GTI Badge!!..Comfortable recaro seats and in reverse you can actually see!!(not like a corrado)

Parts that usually go cost a lot of $$!Head gasket (replaced 2 times)..expensive to modify other than chip exhaust

All the cars named above are good cars but I dunno its hard to explain the feel you have behind a roaring 16v eng...I just love taking S turns in it the recaro seats keep you snug and the suspension is great(not for racing but just to beat on it)I would definatly recommend it under the condition that you are sure the person your buying it from changed the oil all the time and actually took car of it...when I bought mine I had no idea about cars so when I bought it I had to do a lot of work on it and because of the expense I was forced to buy the Bentley(which is good to have)book and do most of the work myself....The inside of my engine is pretty much shot to sh*t but I can still beat civics!!

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88 rx7 turbo...1990 corrado g60...95 jetta gls..and 1990 corvette..

The power is definitely felt across the rpm range. Nice interior and stock 16" alloys. After the 1000mile break in period, the exhaust sounds a little more intimidating. Great handling. Ride is still comfortable at 120mph (have yet to go over that limit, but Atlanta highways are well equipped for higher speeds). Styling is excellent. Car remains unique. I'm usually the only GTI in most parking lots. Autodimming rear-view mirror a-la Benz. Nice sounds system (includes 200wt amp). Like the manual crank for vertical seat adjustment. Expansive room(60/40 split fold down rear seats). Pretty engine cover.

Have yet to find any major weaknesses. Had one small electrical problem with the horn. Bent connector caused a beep with every slight turn of the steering wheel (fixed under warrenty). Heavy in turns, but still grips the road.

I've demolished crx's, one idiot in a saturn coupe (i only had to reach 2nd gear switching at 2000rpm from the stop light), beaten camaro's, kept up with a suped 92-95 Acura Legend coupe while I had 3 extra people in the car plus 8 pieces of luggage in my trunk (allowed 110mph--way below my max of 120). For the amount of money(about $22g's) you get a nice stock sports car with even better suspension for the '01, wrapped up in a luxury look alike on the inside (on the outside, still looks threatening). And oh yeah, gas mileage is excellent for this VR6 (25-27mpg on the highway). Recommend this to anyone.

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None

The power is definitely felt across the rpm range. Nice interior and stock 16" alloys. After the 1000mile break in period, the exhaust sounds a little more intimidating. Great handling. Ride is still comfortable at 120mph (have yet to go over that limit, but Atlanta highways are well equipped for higher speeds). Styling is excellent. Car remains unique. I'm usually the only GTI in most parking lots. Autodimming rear-view mirror a-la Benz. Nice sounds system (includes 200wt amp). Like the manual crank for vertical seat adjustment. Expansive room(60/40 split fold down rear seats). Pretty engine cover.

Have yet to find any major weaknesses. Had one small electrical problem with the horn. Bent connector caused a beep with every slight turn of the steering wheel (fixed under warrenty). Heavy in turns, but still grips the road.

I've demolished crx's, one idiot in a saturn coupe (i only had to reach 2nd gear switching at 2000rpm from the stop light), beaten camaro's, kept up with a suped 92-95 Acura Legend coupe while I had 3 extra people in the car plus 8 pieces of luggage in my trunk (allowed 110mph--way below my max of 120). For the amount of money(about $22g's) you get a nice stock sports car with even better suspension for the '01, wrapped up in a luxury look alike on the inside (on the outside, still looks threatening). And oh yeah, gas mileage is excellent for this VR6 (25-27mpg on the highway).

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None

High quality interior, ride, seats, 17" wheels, fun engine.
The interior is much higher in quality then the rentals that I had before picking this car up. No rough edges, nice quality rubber and textured plastic. The materials are of much better qulaity then Honda at this price range. For a car with 17" wheels (man, they are nice)this car rides very well. The traction control comes in pretty often but doesn't feel like it impedes my line. The engine is pretty interesting, I had a VR6 before which seemed to have more linear power, but then again, I do not have the same amount of miles under my belt with the 1.8T. I gotta say, with the 17" Monte Carlo VW wheels, this silver Gti is something to see.

The brakes are to grabby at the beginning of the brake pedal travel. Put your foot on the brake and the car shifts it's weight to the front in an exaggereated motion. The stock Panasonic sound system (not the Monsoon) is really ordinary. It's FM reception is weak. With the arm rest in a lowered position, the parking brake is an uncomfortable reach, over, then under.

I converted the price to US dollars, I may be off. This car strikes the right balance of zoom and utility at the price I needed. Although I have not had the chance to really drive this car "in anger" yet, I think the handling is better then a lot of the earlier critiques may have said. Maybe the 17" wheels are the trick. The Celica had a better race car attitude but...it's a Toyota, for over $700 a month!

I would only recommend it to German car lovers, the rest will be happier in their Hondas, with the 8" exhaust tips. The less these cars appeal to the masses, the better for me. You never feel cheap parking next to a Porsche in a VW, but you do in a Civic.

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92 GTI 16v, 92 gti 8v, 95 gti 8v, 95 passat glx vr6
The 92 gti 16v was a sweet car, in it's element at 140 kmph. The Passat was nice, great engine, bad gear box (5-speed), way too big for me.

I test drove a Subaru RS, which was torquy but had no zing up high, also the rear seat did not fold down. I test drove a 2000 Celica GTS which was great, lots to zing but too much money, the lease was over $700CND!! I told the salesman I will drive a Boxster for that price. Funky car though....

Build quality, looks, handling, high speed cruise ability, easy/light to drive, holds value.

Exspensive in UK, thats why I bought from Denmark and saved £5000.

Paid £13,500 In Denmark (UK Spec). Great family car but with performance of a sports car. Would highly recomend it but the uk price is rediculosly high.
Motorway cruising ability is brilliant, but the car is so quiet, it is easy to find yourself doing 110 plus without realising!

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Golf cabrio- was much heavyer to drive, Slower, Dificalt to get baby in back

Unique styling, particularly the interior, doesn't look like every other car on the road. The utility of the hatchback configuration makes it a great "stuff" hauler. Lots of features and extras for a car in this price range, makes it seem like a more expensive car. The engine and manual transmission both work well, and work well together. I have the 4 cylinder version, which isn't fast by any means, but it is responsive and fun to drive with the stick. Free scheduled maintanence for 2(or is it 3?) years is a nice extra that saves alot of money over the long term. Good tires(Goodyear Eagle LS), not the cheap original equipment tires you find on many new cars. A full size spare too.
Its not a Honda.
I like Hondas but they all kind of look and feel the same, boring. At least the recent models.

The suspension is a little floaty, and the car has a top heavy feeling in turns sometimes. There aren't any performance enhancing features that make the 4 cyl. GTI different from the standard Golf. I think there should be. A tighter suspension would be a good place to start.
But the biggest weakness, and I mean BIGGEST is in the reliability/workmanship area. This is my first new car, but it has been one of the most trouble prone cars I have owned(this is my 5th car). I've had it in the shop twice for a squeaky door panel. It had a defective oxygen sensor which made it run rich, using alot more gas. The dealer told me that this was a known problem and they were having a hard time getting replacement parts from VW. I was lucky, they said I got the last one they had. I have heated leather seats, which are great when they work, but mine have gone out twice in the first year. It's been in the shop a total of 3 days for the heated seats. The latest adventure being an overnighter at the dealer when VW supplied a defective seat cover, which also contains the heating element. The dealer overnighted another seat cover which works, but the leather texture doesn't match the other seats in the car.
The outside drivers side door handle stopped working, and a hinge on the glovebox broke. Sometimes when I turn on the radio the front speakers don't work, but if I turn the radio off then turn it back on they work again. This car is an electrical problem waiting to happen. And finally, in wet, or even damp weather the engine stalls occasionally when I come to a stop. This doesn't happen frequently enough to be a major problem, so I haven't had the dealer address it, yet.

Except for the reliability/workmanship issues I like this car alot. It looks good, but doesn't look like every other car. Its utilitarian, yet sophisticated. Its fun to drive and gets good gas mileage. It does alot of things well, from city driving and parallel parking, to long drives to the coast with a ton of stuff in the cavernous hatchback. But I am very glad I am only leasing. The reliability/workmanship issues with this car scare me. You never know whats going to break next. It has a 2 year bumper-to-bumper warranty which I have used a number of times. But I have a 39 month lease and I am acually worried whats going to happen for the 15 months it isn't warrantied(It does have a 10yr./100,000 mile drivetrain warranty though too). In 6 months I'm gonna have to start praying the doors don't fall off! The problems seemed fluky at first because the car really feels solid.
Bottom line is long term reliability is very suspect, especially considering this car is power everything and VWs are known for their electrical problems. Its a fun, good-looking, and versatile car, but I would hesitate to buy one. I would perhaps lease another one though because I really like the car in almost every other respect.

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Mazda GLC, Honda Civic, Honda Accord, Ford Probe GT