GTI vs. Mondeo....

[Ronan]

Well lads I thought I'd give some feedback as I've now got 3500 miles on my 08 VW GTI.

In summary? I'd rather be driving my 1996 mondeo 2.5 V6 (which I left behind in Ireland).

The GTI is nice, but its kind of soul-less. I have been spoilt by the sonorous V6 in these cars, and I miss ragging it to the red-line and listening to the tone change as the secondaries open. In terms of handling, I think the GTI may have the edge over a well sorted CDW27 platform, but thats only because the V6 in our cars makes it a little nose heavy.

Braking in the GTI is nothing special, however the steering does load up nicely at speed.

So if I could drive my 1996 2.5V6 Mondeo with 140,000 miles for work every day, I think I'd take it over the GTI. If Ford sold the Focus ST here, I would have bought that instead of the VW

Has anyone else driven a GTI? What are your thoughts?

 

[Lt_hailBob]

They sold a focus ST in 05-07. Ithad the 2.3L duratec 4 banger. Youcan find them on carmax for 10k.

 

[rouar]

Have you driven a Contour SE or SVT?

 

[Ronan]

The Focus ST in Europe is a 2.5 Turbo with 225hp, its nothing like the SVT Focus sold here. Having said that, I would love to have a spin in the US SVT Focus, it looks like a fun ride.

Do a search on youtube for the ST Focus, its a pretty sweet car

I haven't driven a Contour, but the Mondeo was pretty much the same. My old Mondy (see sig) was modified so it put out 209 hp and 191 lb/ft and it weighed almost 3002lbs even so it really shifted

 

[DopePope]

The Focus ST in Europe is a 2.5 Turbo with 225hp, its nothing like the SVT Focus sold here. Having said that, I would love to have a spin in the US SVT Focus, it looks like a fun ride.

Do a search on youtube for the ST Focus, its a pretty sweet car

I haven't driven a Contour, but the Mondeo was pretty much the same. My old Mondy (see sig) was modified so it put out 209 hp and 191 lb/ft and it weighed almost 3002lbs even so it really shifted

bhp or whp?

 

[ChattavegasSE]

Wow really? Cuz I'm still in love with the MK5 GTI I never bought. I honestly like it better than the R32 of the same year. I woul actually be driving a 2007 white GTI if the VW dealer would have given what I needed on my trade-in. I'd hardly consider the GTI to be soulless. It's a very well balanced chassis; with power and handling working together. IE: no awful push in the corners, grips as much as the engine needs.

However, compared to my current Mazdaspeed 6, the GTI is a far behind in every category. The GTI has loads of power when and where you want it, but my MS6 has way more power and torque still anytime you want. The GTI runs on rails, my MS6 (although larger and heavier) can still keep pace thanks to its AWD.

One thing I have always loved about VW's is their almost indestructable and silky smooth gearboxes. My '01 Golf had 92k miles when I traded it in and I could still bang the gears and chirp the tires like it was brand new. The GTI shifts just the same. Not so in my Mazda. Until I replaced the rear engine mount, 1-2 shift sounded like the motor falls out. Very sketchy shifting, pops out of gear unless you slam it in. Hell, I could float gears in my Golf like a big rig! :crazy:

 

[Ronan]

I was considering the MS6 too, but I didn't even drive one, (I am half sorry I didn't) because the new one was just launched in Europe, and it looks sezy as heck. The current model all of a sudden looked out-dated compared to the new one, and that kinda put me off. The other selling point of the GTI was the DSG which I think is great, and its not perfect! You can really tell its a manual gearbox the way it clunks between gears when you play around with it.

I think I need to find a good empty road for the car, so far I've only been commuting in it!

 

[ChattavegasSE]

Yeah it'll really shine on an empty back road. I drove an R32 that comes with the DSG and honestly I enjoyed it more in the standard automatic mode. The manual/Sport mode was too much to think about lol!

The next generation Mazda 6 is a whole new animal, and the reason why the MS6 was limited to a 2-year model run. I have heard rumors of a MK2 MS6 in a couple years, but the rumored twin-turbo v6 and other amenities make the car sound like it'll bring over $40k on the sticker. I'm not holding my breath.