mrtheedge2u2

Hi All

Some advice needed.... am in the position of choosing between a 1991 clio
16v in mint condiction and a 1995 Golf GTI in good condition.

Can anyone give me some opinions on which is the best.... will only keep the car for between 6 months and a year,

Thanks
Ian

andyt1981

i had the clio 16valve a few years ago and loved it

never driven a golf gti but i would recommend getting the clio

hectic

driven both, Golf was a much more solid car and performed much better overall

davedipster

I had a mid 90's clio and it was very unreliable.

mrtheedge2u2

ok.... I am looking at the Clio tomorrow.... can you kindly tell me what I should look out for.....

finchyboy

Mid 90's golfs ie mark 3 golf are under powered for the weight of the car and don't handle very well. It is renowned by people into golf as the point where volkswagon really lost the plot after the legendary mark 1 and mark 2.The 2.0 8v is truly awfull with only 115bhp to power then lardy mark 3 it could hardly be called a hot hatch in 95 now it couldn't pull the dick of a chocolate mouse !!

delcbr

i know the clio16v one with bonnet buldge handles very well much much better than my reno 5 turbo.i reckon its handling is overlooked due to its brother the williams.same acceleration up to 90 mph as a sta nrd 5turbo
the gearboxes are weak on the clio 16v listen out for any noises and make sure all gears engage including reverse thats how my pals gearbox started to go he couldnt get it into 2nd followed by another 1 until he couldnt get any lol

feel the plastic scoop bit on the bonnet after youve taken it for a test drive to see ift its roasting hot you couldnt touch it on my pals car and the paint on the bonnet turned whiteish from red with the heat.

open the bonnet and youl see theres next to no space in the engine bay thats french cars for u mate so think about changing the cambelt as iam sure its an engine out job. basically its a typical french car.
they look lowered as standard but to me didint feel quick.

the golf i dont really know about apart from its slow but the 16 valver is a flyer it has a more powerful 2 litre 16v engine than the corrado 2litre 16v i know that for sure.

also i rtemember reading somewhere that after 70k miles thats when french cars start becoming unreliable lol.
if u want reliable buy japanese.

finchyboy

You could argue the 16v is actually worse then the 8v due extreme lack of low down and mid range torque !!

CrisPDuk

Motoring journalists rave about the Clio 16V and it's big brother the Williams to this day

I've owned Golfs of one form or another for practically my whole driving life, and I wouldn't own a Mk3 even if it were free

If that's of any help

mrtheedge2u2

Yes.... the clio did handle like a go-kart....

What I should of added was that the car will need to be able to get me, the misses and new baby around... just for a year (max). The clio was quite small......

Could I live with the golf just for a year, or is it really that bad????

delcbr

now that u mention the missus and baby iam thinking the golf would be a better bet due to reliability reasons and is more spacious is it the 5 dr if so just go for the golf.

MooseRacer

If you're talking about the Golf then yes you could argue that, but all the performance figures, dyno graphs etc would argue against you.

Cue all the former 8v Gti owners.....

finchyboy

Yes the 16v golf looks o.k on a dyno sheet but do you really want to constantly rev the **** off a 12 year old car !!

CrisPDuk

I'm not saying the Mk3 is a bad car as such Mrtheedge, but they definitely weren't as well screwed together as the Mk2s, they were heavier, and the chassis was so dull it made the Mk3 Astra look good

As to the 16V vs 8V debate, I can't speak for the Mk3 Golf, but the Mk2 8V is definitely the better everyday commuter car, its more relaxed, the ride is slightly smoother and it's fuel economy is far better

But, if you're in the right mood, on a nice flowing A or B road the 16V is definitely the car you want

CrisPDuk

My Scoob is over twelve years old and doesn't seem to object to brushing the limiter on the odd occasion

My Honda CB550 is nearly thirty, and that still gets revved to 11k+ on a regular basis

pwhittle

the 16v mk3 isn't bad at all. Quick enough to be fun, reasonable handling, much better than 8v, but high insurance. Personaly I wouldn't put my kids in a small French car.

pwhittle

it was different with mk2, though I liked my 16v more than my 8v.
The 2l mk3 16v was much torquer - IIRC more torque right throught thr rev range than the 8v.
Besides, it's hardly like revving a v-tech is it?!

ScoobyJawa

No contest - Clio. The golf mk3 gti was a lard *** piece of crap

MooseRacer

That about sums it up

mozzaITA

Ill be honest with you, i own a williams and yes it handles well but i wouldnt totally dismiss a mrk 3 16v golf, years ago a friend of mine had one which was lowered and it handled superbly!!

People think that only the french can make a good handling cars..... Always gets me!!

pwhittle

i tested a Williams years ago wanting to buy one, but the driving position we terrible. It was clearly designed for people who'd already been in a hideous side impact accident in a flimsy French car, and thus were rather out of allignment.
shame, as it handled brilliantly. scared the saleman sliding it round a wet roundabout

mrtheedge2u2

And now for the golf....... I am viewing one this evening...... can anyone advise on "must look out for" things when viewing.....

Thanks
Ian

hades

Clio - good performance, very good handling, built like a small french hatch with typical renault driving position.
Golf - particularly in 8v form, not a hot or even really warm hatch. Dull handling, dull but solid interior and build, not as reliable as the reputation suggests (but still llikely to be more reliable than the Renault).
For driving pleasure - the Clio every time. For carting kids around, build quality, and better chance of reliability, the Golf. Neither would really be my choice though.

finchyboy

I nice late model mark 2 golf is honestly a far better car in almost every respect when compared to the mark 3

CrisPDuk

Editted for accuracy

mrtheedge2u2

Well, I saw and bought the Golf GTI yesterday.... not a great performance car by any stretch of the imagination, but it is tidy and I am sure it will last the 6 months or so I want it to.