Comparing the Golf GTI and a BRZ/FRS

[atomicalex]

Maybe ask those of us who actually own both vehicles?

[Yoshoobaroo]

Originally Posted by atomicalex

Maybe ask those of us who actually own both vehicles?

NOBODY'S ASKING YOU




but seriously please share

[atomicalex]

Originally Posted by Yoshoobaroo

but seriously please share

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...1&postcount=10

[Pat]

Well said my B5 brethren.

[atomicalex]

Originally Posted by Pat

Well said my B5 brethren.

Are there more of us?!? Longitudinal cranks FTW!!!!

[Pat]

You bet. gietl, KSpider and tobin are all guys from AudiWorld.

[mnuttall]

Originally Posted by atomicalex

Are there more of us?!? Longitudinal cranks FTW!!!!

B7 A4 Avant here. I'm on vortex as well, under a different username.

[Yoshoobaroo]

Mark1 TT here

[atomicalex]

Originally Posted by Yoshoobaroo

Glorified NB here

FTFY...

[Yoshoobaroo]

Originally Posted by atomicalex

FTFY...

Pshh. The mark 1 TT isn't anywhere close to the sports car the NB is!

It's a mark IV golf with a fancy dress on, I'm not making myself any illusions.

[TorontoNat]

Originally Posted by jamison884

I'm looking for opinions, because I continue to see so much praise for the twins, calling them the best enthusiast cars within that price range (high $20's). For a lightweight RWD coupe, it doesn't have much competition at that price, but when you expand your options a bit to other types of cars, I feel it struggles...a lot.

I currently own two cars, both are stock and have 6MT transmissions; I'm about to sell my Scion FRS. The one and only time I tried to track the FRS, three laps in the engine died (rod knock, blown up connecting rod, warranty denied and Toyota claims the oil never made it to the bearing). Despite Toyota LITERALLY marketing the Toyota 86 as "track proven," I had to spend about $7k to buy a used engine and have it installed.

During those three very enjoyable laps, I felt the FRS was just as quick (on a relatively short and twisty road course) as the multiple times I tracked by BMW 335i M-Sport. The FRS is just a really nice lightweight and agile car that carries the speed better than a heavy understeering BMW. THe FRS is clearly a car that thrives on using momentum.

While the FRS was sitting dead, I went ahead and sold my really cheap commuter (2007 Honda Civic) and test drove a new Miata first, which was great, and then a Golf GTI just to see if everything I heard about them was true. In my opinion, the GTI was a better value and more fun than the Miata, and I proceeded to test drive the Miata a second time just to verify this.

1. I bought the 2013 Scion FRS used at ~25k miles around two years ago for $17k (from a dealership, as it was the best option available at the time versus private sellers).

2. I bought the 2017 Golf GTI SE new for $26k (after all fees/registration/tax/4th year of prepaid maintenance/wheel and tire insurance), which was a great deal in my opinion, taking advantage of the 2018 models arriving. For comparison, my exact configuration on the VW site for the 2018 model is $32,120, and that doesn't include all of the fees, tax, the 4th year of maintenance, and tire/wheel insurance.

Both are great vehicles for enthusiasts. and I can't fault anyone for owning either or these, or the Miata I test drove.

But this is where it gets confusing to me. Based purely on my own experiences, the GTI has so much more going for it. It's orders of magnitude more refined when it comes to comfort, build materials, and technology, has amazing balance and turn-in (virtually no understeer), and the brakes are stronger (the SE uses Golf R brakes if I recall correctly), Then the clutch is smoother, the gear shifts are much smoother and less clunky, it only weighs about 250 pounds more than an FRS, and it's simply faster with a bit more HP and a ton more torque. Then I can also fit four full-sized adults comfortably and have plenty of storage.

Am I missing something here? Besides wishing the GTI was RWD for multiple reasons, it beats the FRS in every other category (for my dollar). It's obviously not a direct comparison due to which wheels are being driven, but at a high level evaluation of simply selecting a "fun car," the GTI wins it for me.

Take everything the GTI already is, and send the power to the rear wheels, and I'd buy the shit out of that car tomorrow.

RWD FTW...... Everytime.

[mrderp]

Originally Posted by Yoshoobaroo

It's the best thing we get until someone has the balls to build a RWD hot hatch.

BMW does build them. They don't offer the 1 series hatchback in north america to my chagrin.
Think of the M240 with the inline 6 and 340hp to the rear wheel and a honest to goodness hatch.

[Yoshoobaroo]

Originally Posted by mrderp

BMW does build them. They don't offer the 1 series hatchback in north america to my chagrin.

Think of the M240 with the inline 6 and 340hp to the rear wheel and a honest to goodness hatch.

Eh. I've driven a 116d m sport 3door hatch, good effort for sure, but I have 2 chief complaints: it suffers, like all 1 series, from weight of the 3 series. It's not nimble enough to feel like a hot hatch. It weighs 300 lbs more than the equivalent golf. My second complaint is that it's only slightly lighter than the 3series, so who not just do that? I got a 335i coupe instead of a 135i, it's a better car overall and the 1 series didn't have any advantage over it imo.

[Sapphireho]

I had a 1978 EURO GTI (round headlight) when I was a kid. I autocrossed it for years. It was a fun little box to throw around. Stock it was about 110HP and 1750 lbs. I think the GTIs today are about 3200+lbs?


I don't know how much I raised the HP with a big valve ported and polished head, header and exhaust, and a 7 lb flywheel, and a few other bits, but I could take it up to about 12000 RPM. I stripped it down to under 1600lbs. It was fun embarrassing muscle cars at lights.


Very different cars: apples and aardvarks.