Educate me on VW's

[s_morrison57]

I think I've missed some real good, performance wise, cars from VW over the last decade or so. Good handling , higher hp models, does such a car exist?
I'm thinking about something I could use and then give it to my son when he's old enough in a couple of years.
Finn

[widebody911]

Are you talking water-cooled or air-cooled?

The GTI sounds like it might be a good candidate.

[speeder]

If it's the "last decade or so", he would be missing the air-cooled models by about 25 years.

[javadog]

'04 Golf R32.

JR

[skinnerd]

Any year GTI or the new Golf R?

[HardDrive]

I had a 1.8L Turbo Beetle back in the day. I loved that car. Until it turned over 40k. Then it was monthly trips to the steelership for $800.

[jzdu]

I drove a 2008 GTI for 5 years. Great balance of sportiness and usability. Sold it with 72,000 miles. Only one unscheduled dealer visit. Great car, I regret selling it

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

I had a 1.8L Turbo Beetle back in the day. I loved that car. Until it turned over 40k. Then it was monthly trips to the steelership for $800.

I dated a girl with a convertible beetle, we took it on a few weekend trips and I drove. Nice driving little car, but the top uses up most of the trunk (room for a 12 pack of soda).

Wife wants one so we test drove a few hardtops, again cool little car, kinda tall for my taste. There is this glue they use to assemble the interior at the factory, they smell like crayons, salesman said they all smell like that.

Originally Posted by javadog

'04 Golf R32.

JR

[Steve Carlton]

High performance VW for a teenage boy?

[cockerpunk]

i had a mk6 GTI that was a great car. its only flaw was FWD.

you really want to get an 08+ GTI, before that the 2.0T had some issues. since switching engines though, the GTI has been really reliable.

[Laneco]

An R32?

Bazinga!!!

angela

[javadog]

[dienstuhr]

I've enjoyed my GTI MkV for 5+ years now. Will be off warranty in June.

[matt711]

How about a Corrado? Pretty unique little car and decent performance too. A friend of mine had one, I think it was a 1993 or 94. They can't be very expensive these days.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I think JR is the winner with the R32. There's also the GTi and GLI, which I would consider as sporty but probably not "good performance cars". You'll find better performance over at Audi with the S4, S6, and S8. Some versions of the A4, A6, and TT would also fit the bill for being sporty. The nice thing about Audi is Quattro AWD, which eliminates the torque steer that you find in the VW GTi and GLI. Any of them with the 1.8t, 2.0t, or 2.7t can make significantly more power with an ECU flash or other upgrades.

[porsche4life]

How about a Corrado? Pretty unique little car and decent performance too. A friend of mine had one, I think it was a 1993 or 94. They can't be very expensive these days.

No.... Just no.....


They are cheap to buy.... Not cheap to own.

[nostatic]

fwiw I had an '07 GTI with DSG that was a hoot on the track, even with "only" FWD. The weight of the rear hatch made it so you could get the rear end to step out and the sport mode was pretty incredible when pushed.

[Nostril Cheese]

Audi S4.

[cockerpunk]

Originally Posted by matt711

How about a Corrado? Pretty unique little car and decent performance too. A friend of mine had one, I think it was a 1993 or 94. They can't be very expensive these days.

its basically a FWD 944 .... cheap to buy expensive to own.

[porsche4life]

Originally Posted by cockerpunk

its basically a FWD 944 .... cheap to buy expensive to own.

More expensive than a 944... Fun to drive no doubt, but mine about bled me to death. My 944 has been far less needy.