zero77

O.K, decided I'm going to be sensible and buy a golf for a bit of motorway driving, I'll be keeping this as well as getting a sports car in the summer.

I've got around £7-£8k to spend so should I go for a TDI or GTI, and what variants are the 'ones' to go for.

Simon S3

If it`s for motorway driving a Golf TDI PD130 will be just the ticket. Don`t expect tight handling.

A 115 bhp PD TDI is a pretty safe but too, I`m not sure what you`ll get for your cash though.

zero77

I would probably need a 130BHP version as I've driven one and the power is just about enough, I'm not sure I'll get one for that price though.

Simon S3

Hmmmm, you might be right. I think you`ll need about 10 grand for a 130bhp car. A 115bhp car may well be your best bet, they are easily chipped though so the performance gap to the 130 will be small.

zero77

I may consider the 1.8 Turbo, I'm not too fussy about MPH.

zero77

Should I consider any other car at this price bracket which is as good value as the golf?

Flat 4x4

zero77

I think you've answered you own questions really:-
£7-8k and motorway driving ?

- Has to be the TDI - at that price (as mentioned above), the 130 is out of range and the 115 is going to be very leggy. I'd buy the 110 and set aside £400 for a Jabba remap to 140/150 bhp and a lot of mid range (and outside-lane-on-the-motorway) torque.

I have a 1.8T petrol in my Skoda (220bhp), but I'd still get the TDI for your price range and needs.

zero77

I'm not going to do 1000's of motorway miles a week, so I may consider a 1.8 Turbo and have it chipped ot around 200BHP... Power is more of a priority than fuel economy. Just found a Mk4 Golf Forum so I'll do some snooping around.

Thanks for the advice...

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I have driven a few MK4 Golfs and its the TDi every time, havent driven a chipped example of either but found even the 100 bhp PD engined Golf to be punchy, in fact more so than the 150 Petrol, the 150 was faster but didnt feel it, all the PD engines regardless of BHP make similar torque (Around 230 llbs ft) in standard tune and thats what you feel most of the time. None of them handle very well, very frustrating throwing one about as you expect it to deliver and it doesent and there is nothing technique wise you can do about it.

Flat 4x4

zero77

Have a look at the parallel thread on the 130TDI tuning, which mentions Jabba.

Then spend your money on a 18 month old Skoda Fabia TDI (VW100PD) and visit Jabba for 140bhp and 230lb/ft.

briskoda.net.

Do not under-estimate what is happening with Skoda....

ex-webby

I know this is perhaps out of your determined price range, but I have just bought a TDI GTI 150bhp. Awesome car around the lanes and very quick too.

Simon de Banke, also has the TDI GTI and the petrol GTI. He states the TDI GTI is quicker. I have been in his TDI GTI with him driving, and it surely can move. The difference between the TDI 130 and 150 is quite sunstantial in the handling department!



HTH

Regards,
Shaun.

worley

I based my recent purchase - Bora 150 PD Tdi on some of the opinions from Scoobynet.

I'll complete a proper write-up after 5k miles, but so far it has been an extremely capable car, bags of torque, reasonable handling from the sports suspension and fine build quality.

May I suggest that you go for any PD engine and get it tuned. Jabba sport seems to be the favoured mod at the moment.

Nik

zero77

Cheers Chaps,

I'm looking at the turbo and the tdi's, the turbos seem to be more affordable but after reading a few threads on the golf forum it appears the tdi is the one to go for and bags more torque once it's had a re-map.

The downside is the 130 is still out of my price range.

zero77

Oh, I just couldn't do with a skoda, I remember many years ago when I smashed up my STi-1 and the repairing garage gave me the most underpowered 'pink' skoda to drive around in for three weeks. I still think there are pictures of me in it floating about on the internet somewhere

Simon S3

How about a Bora? They can be bought a lot cheaper than a similar Golf.

If you don`t mind the image they might be worth a punt.

zero77

Simon,

I'm afraid it's the image thing, however the V6 4 motion, um....

Simon S3

If you`re still looking....
http://www.audi-sport.net/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=1,10,15,105,200,900,1000&Board=ma rket&Number=37678&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fp art=1

Don`t know if it`s clicky, but it`s on the audi-sport.net website if you`re interested.

CraigH

I Why not get something like an older 5 series - get a 540 if you're not worried about MPG.

Or an A6 - get a V6 for that cash

Seems a strange choice to go for a golf, if you want a motorway car, not worried about MPG and just want power.

NACRO

If you must have a Golf (I'd buy a newish 1.8T 'tavia for 6K and have it remapped)then get a petrol 1.8T. There are lots about unlike the diesels which should give you a fighting chance of getting a good low mileage car and a good deal. The difference in purchase price between the petrol and diesel buys an awfully large amount of fuel. You will have to complete many tens of thousands of miles before you start saving money. That said the diesel will be easier to resell and hold its value better.

Anyone know which is the quicker car 0-60, 0-100 etc etc, a reampped PD150 or a remapped 150 Petrol?

mike16v

I have a 1.8T (for 3 weeks now!) and my girlfriends bro has a GTI TDI 150 with an upsolute chip. Mine is about to receive an APR chip.

I have been in a chipped petrol Golf and it was quick. The TDI throws you into the seat cos of the torque (close on 280lb/ft!!) I can't compare mine vs the GTI TDI until i get mine chipped and have some fun

Like you, I was limited to £7k to £8k... I got my 1 owner, FVWSH, 62k miles, 99 S GTI 1.8T for £7k with 2 years RAC warranty. This was at a garage in Manchester (I had to travel to get the car I wanted )

www.aidanpiers.com Try them - they will source a car for you...

I wanted a TDI, but I just couldn't get one for the money. The GTI Turbo also has the Recaro interior which my girlfriends brother is very jealous of

APR chip is £530
REVO chip is £586
Upsolute chip is £305
Jabba remap is £425

All will offer 195+BHP and 200-235lb/ft on a 1.8T petrol

They will all be fairly similar, but APR and REVO offer serial port tuning so your ECU doesn't have to be opened. Upsolute are starting to offer that service now. Jabba are a customised map for your car.

Cheers
Mike

civictyper

Zero77

Not wanting to throw a spanner in the works but after last nights 5th Gear I wouldn't touch anything from the VAG group.

Really interesting show about rear end shunts/whiplash and surprisingly the Golf came off terribly. May well not be the deciding factor over a purchasing descision but has definately changed my opinion of the group.

Cheers

Type-r