That's my personal favorite generation of GTi. They were still fairly simple, analog cars with a sweet, responsive, NA engine.
And remember how people were disappointed with the next generation? A heavier, larger Golf with the same engine carried over, and softer suspension. They tried to fix the problem with the first VR6, but most still preferred the Golf GTi 16v above.
What surprised me in the ad, was that they said the Golf used high tensile (strength) steel in its structure. I had read that the Mercedes 190 and even the 1982 GM Camaro & Firebird also used some high strength steel. It was originally used because after the fuel crisis, designers wanted to cut weight and maintain strength.
I have a friend in Germany who was partly responsible in 2014 for me buying a 2015 Golf R, still with us. He runs the RING in Germany in his 2019 Golf GTi TRS and loves it. You might want to take a look at his web page and perhaps contact him directly. <https://www.youtube.com/user/TheMaody66>
-Rod
glowell222 wrote: ↑Mar 04, 2021 7:53 PM
I had a 2012 Golf TDI, one of the EPAgate victims. (Still waiting for anyone at EPA to be held accountable for not catching on to this at all).
It was a great car. It handled fantastic, clutch and shift action was just superb, got great fuel mileage, was hackable so I could turn off all of the stupid USA nags and nannies, was reliable, and was not ostentatious. I thought about and test drove the GTI, but it was too "boy racer" for me, trying too hard and I didn't like the interior: no choice in interior color or materials. It handled exactly like the TDI, a bit better with low profile tires, TDI had a better ride. GTI had more power, but so what? I wasn't driving on the Nürburgring, and the TDI got up to 80 mph about as well as anything else out there.
I had one of those EPAgate cars, a Jetta TDI Sportwagen. Bought it new for $32k, drove it for 7 years, then sent it back to the factory in exchange for a $26k check. Took that money, and bought a slightly used E90, which is now worth half what I paid. What I should have done was used that money for two more well sorted E28's, which would have held their value or appreciated at today's prices. Oh well....
I have one of those Wagens. A 2014 I bought for $11k with 45k miles from a VW dealership in Salinas. Had the DSG serviced and lifted it on Tiguan springs and a GTI rear sway bar. Love it and even though fuel mileage is down due to the tuning it still gets 37-38+ on the highway. Now has 70k miles...a fantastic car especially at altitude!
I admit I am looking for another Golf. Mine was the 2012 model and was not able to be "fixed", and VDOT told me I may not be allowed to register it again if I kept it. Willing to chance it now, though, since nobody really seems to care at this point.
I owned a 2015 Golf (Mk7) manual for 3 years and now it's my wife's car. It is really good as far as new cars get, I chose it over buying a used E46. It had the same IRS and practically the same motor as the GTI just detuned/smaller. I went with the Golf because it was $8k (30%) less and I liked how the 5 speed felt better than the 6 speed, but I'm not particular about power so I'd generally recommend the GTI to other people. The Golf/GTI has brake torque vectoring (the performance pack added in-diff torque vectoring but I've never driven it so I can't comment). If you've never felt brake torque vectoring, it, its awesome. It rotates the car on power like RWD does. The only problem is apparently it's bad for the track because you can overheat your brakes, but if you're track driving I don't know why you'd get a GTI for it.
I drove a 2019 Civic Si and the civic had a better engine note and a slicker shifter, but everything else about how the car drove was inferior to my 2015 Golf, despite being 30hp more powerful and 100 lbs lighter. You cannot go wrong with a Mk7(as long as it's not diesel).
One caveat- If you're looking at an automatic GTI, I'd check out the Chevrolet Bolt. If you can stand the seats, I actually think the Bolt is more fun to drive than a two-pedal GTI, and it is much better if you have a long commute. Less money on gas = More money for your BMW's!
There is a younger guy where I work that picked one of these up a few months ago. He's half my age or less but shares that desire for simplicity and manual everything. The 535 is a large barge by comparison.