gravelexpress

Hi,
I have had this car for about 3 years now and have spent a fortune on it - including replacing engine etc..

It is my Main car - ( the impreza type R i imported hardly comes out of the garage and is totally impractical)


The old golf is really getting on a bit - but I am unsure with what to replace her with:

all golfs after the mk2 are out of the equation being weighty and rubbish performance bar the expensive tdi`s


Im thinking -

"quick hatch" so im looking at

Seat Ibiza up to 1999 Cupra 8v & 16v

maybe

Cit Saxo VTR or VTS

possibly

Polo Gti


any opinions from other owners appreciated - main concern would be reliability and expense of consumable parts

budget between 3k - 4.5 k

Dracoro

Corrado VR6 although not the cheapest. But it would be the best

gravelexpress

yes i agree - a dream car for me when i was younger.

but also v thirsty, exp parts because their as common as rocking horse s&$t

hawki

And you think a polo gti is quicker than 1.8 turbo - one of the best engines for tuning potential with stock internals - 374 BHP last time at Jabba

simple chip to 200+bhp...

allywrx

Agree, early mk4 Golf 20v turbo engines can take crazy power with stock internals, more so than the TT or S3 etc as they have stonger block and crank.
But doubt very much if a good one of those will be available on the budget mentioned
The Seat Cupra up to 99 mentioned is basically just a mk3 Golf anyway.
The Saxo vts is quite a fun little car though, but it's the only Citroen I would ever consider.

I personally would just buy a really late, mint mk2 16v.
What does age matter if the condition is good enough, plus think of all the spare cash you would have for beer!

gravelexpress

I wish I could find a minter . i always shied away from the valver as I thought the running gear was much more complex hence expensive.

I like running an old car - its just that at 118000 miles everthing seemes to be deteriorating rapidly LOL

Andrew Dixon

You could just about afford a complete 1.8 20v turbo engine conversion into your Mk2 for that sort of money. There's plenty of experienced companies out there now who can do a great drive-in drive-out job ...!

Andrew Dixon

... alternatively try www.volkswizard.co.uk for a mint Mk2 16v.

On-The-Wagon

Can I have the Type R ? Please ?

gravelexpress

well you cant have it - but it is up for sale v shortly. PM me if you want details

gravelexpress

Andrew - can you supply some details - not for a turbo conv. but for reputable bored engines?

allywrx

The valver running gear is practically the same as the 8v and is no more complex at all.
Give T.S.R a ring 01278453036
They do complete engines p/x for your old engine and you can get almost any spec from 1900/2000cc 8v or 16v to 3.2 vr6.
They will be able to sort you out with ANY VW queries.

wide

I had mk2 8v and found it cheap as chips to run parts are so available so much that Im contemplating selling the scoob to go for another one and once you replaced all the bushes the car will feel new again and far cheaper than spendin 3/4k on a diff model, mine had done 160000 and would still take me anywhere without complaint. Got to be one of the best cars ever made

Andrew Dixon

As allywrx said, TSR do a complete range of engine conversions. As with most tuners, I have heard both good and bad stories about them.

Midland VW are also gaining an excellent reputation amongst the VW community at the moment. C&R Enterprises have been around for ages, and again have a very good reputation. Also try Awesome GTI Store (dodgy name - great reputation) and DubSport who service my own Mk2 GTI.

Another alternative might be the 9A 2 litre 16v engine, which is a very popular (and cheap) conversion. Check out Gary Bocking's road/track assault weapon car over at GVK Motorsport.

The Club GTI forums are worth a look too if you can negotiate around the nonsense!

Andrew.

gravelexpress

Hi Andrew,
Im on the Club Gti forum`s username: Scoober

The forum is great - esp. the technical section

I found a company called http://www.bigboystoys-uk.com/

any knowledge of them

Andrew Dixon

Cool. I'll keep an eye out for you - my username is AndrewD.

Had a quick scout in the 'Quality retailers & Supplies' forum and found two threads on the company in question.

Big Boys Toys - poor!!

Big boys toys? Bullpoo!

allywrx

Agree on Big Boys Toys.

red_dog104

My Golf GTi Mk2 has done 129k miles and it's fantastic!! I've had it for 4 months and bought it via someone on SN. Needs the fan belt sorting (still slipping even after being tightened up!!) and a new clutch but it really is the dogs b*llox!! I will keep hold of it for as long as I can. Really wish I'd have bought one before!!!! I know you wanna get rid of yours but in all honesty, parts are so cheap and if the body work is good, it's prob worth spending a few more quid on!! Keep it!!

allywrx

Agree
Keep it...
Keep it...
Keep it...

You know you want to
As wide mentioned, some new bushes and it will feel like new again.

Andrew Dixon

Think I'd go with the 'keep it' option too. Mine's just ticked past 140k having put 50k on it in the last 2 years. People are constantly amazed to find out it's 13 years old too!

Somewhere like C&R will happily take your car in a and prepare a 'hit list' of things to do to get it back to feeling fresh and new again.

My advice would be new (poly?) bushes all round, new shift linkage bushes, wishbones, ball joints, top mounts, bump stops - and maybe springs & dampers if you need them. Get a good 4-wheel alignment and it'll feel fantastic again.

As much as I loved my £20k Scooby, my £2k GTI still gives me about 80% of the fun for a fraction of the cost.

A

gravelexpress

AndrewD thats a minter I would love a late valver.

Unfortunately I had my Hit list done yesterday - an MOT fail !

Not many fails but unfortunately the worrying ones were -

A corroded sill ? god knows how this is a fail

A corroded part of the rear chassis - which I cant even find

and worst - corroded power steering pipes - I asked if they were leaking he said no! so they are still serviceable - how is this a fail?

Yeah I had quite a few jobs in mind that included rebushing and gear linkages but this was about all it needed. I feel a bit gutted as the power steering pipes will be vw back order for god knows how much? the tosser couldnt even show me where the rear corrosion was

allywrx

I think a car fails on corrosion if it is within 30cm of a load bearing point (which includes suspension/steering mounting points, seat/seatbelt mounting points etc.) or if it could cause injury to a passer by (raggeg, rusty wheel arch for example)

Reckon he failed the pipes because they "could" burst or leak soon.

Wouldn't go to VW for parts if I was you, get pipes from a scrappy or a independent such as Euro Car Parts or German, French and Swedish

Ciaran

iTrader: (16)

a 16v i loved mine and must say i was able to leave an 8v round corners although it has just as much through the gears!

gravelexpress

always thought valvers had more at top end. I think I may have to look for something quick - the exhaust is blowing at the manifold end - poor golfy