E30 vs Golf GTI mk2 - Discuss!

[slinky2000]

thay are pretty cool alright!"

[JohnnyThunders]

There has recently appeared a matt black mk2 in plymouth. The owner gives me evils whenever I drive past him.

Maybe I should top driving past his house 20 times at 4 in the morning....

That made me lol, like that other baby in the Simpsons, maggies Nemesis.

[hubble]

everytime I see a nice mk2 I really want one but then I look at my e30 and realise I don't want a mk2 anymore, lol

lol. I know what you mean

[hubble]

G40, the most overlooked under-rated 'hot hatch' ever!

Awesome little cars.

Agreed. Loved the G40's too. Stealth hot hatch. Very discreet cars.

[Ziggy]

A polo 'coupe' was my first car - only a 1043cc jobbie, but the G40 was the dream... still fancy one someday

[tailoutcharlie]

how have i missed this thread...my two cents

love mk2's, imo superior to mk1 golfs especially the rallye

heres the two ive owned


great cars to chuck around but for me the driving posotion and comfort suck compared to E30, i love the low down grunt of the six, something my golfs never had. final factor though

REAR WHEEL DRIVE IS BETTER!

[JohnnyThunders]

Tailout' is the 2nd one an Oak green ltd edition, with leathers?

[tailoutcharlie]

Tailout' is the 2nd one an Oak green ltd edition, with leathers?

I wish

it is oak green, but no leather, had elec windows and pas, plus larger factory speakers.

bought it for 2.5k but the syncro into second was pissing me off so much i sold it for3K
and bought a 325touring...

nuff said


ps, mate just bought an MOT'd mk2 16v with rust for £40, im gonna kill him

[steerfromtherear]

Probably the most innapropriate use of white walls ever.

Lol @ Munky's nemesis.
Munky that green mk1 would have easily been as much of a task/cost to look the way it does as the white mk2 was. It is surprisingly expensive to make a mk1 look like nothing has been done to it.

I love Golfs and had been desperate to own a cool mk1 for as long as I could remember. I bought this 2 months ago


and after 3 weeks I couldn't wait to get rid. I loved the way it looked and wanted to keep it for occasional sunny days but live with it every day i could not. Straight back to e30 life

[alan1272]

Probably the most innapropriate use of white walls ever.

they did tend to polarise opinion, but it's just a bit of fun
they're gone now, swapping them for a set of polished le castallets when i goes back on the road:)

[steerfromtherear]

I got some 14" polished le castallets in very tidy condition for sale if you know anyone?

[orangecurry]

The 16v's are great but the 8v is slow and very overrated. Possibly even going to the extent of not deserving a gti badge.

it depends - VW changed the fuel injection system in the 8v around 1988 IIRC, at the same time as doing a facelift - this made the car stupidly slower. (you can tell the facelift model as it has no quarterlight front windows).

My C-reg 8v (C560HGN) was fast, but my post-facelift 8v (can't remember the reg) was not.

According to the DVLA, C560HGN hasn't been licensed since 2002 , but my H-reg mk2 16V and my N-reg mk3 16v are still going strong for somebody

[orangecurry]

There has recently appeared a matt black mk2 in plymouth. The owner gives me evils whenever I drive past him.

Maybe I should top driving past his house 20 times at 4 in the morning....

[saqi]

e30 all day long

[greentouring]

I owned a red MK1 Golf with a full Zender kit; it was a 'dog' and broke down every other day......I must have bought the only shitty one out there. However, that said, I love the shape of the Mk1 Golf and the Mk 2 yet never experienced VW GTIness as mine was a 'Driver.' Off topic, I always fancied a Renault 5 Turbo, as they were mini-pocket rockets, or so I was told...............I guess my E30 is the first decent car I have owned, so I'm VERY happy with her, even if her 1600i power plant doesn't roar flames.

[munky30]

There has recently appeared a matt black mk2 in plymouth. The owner gives me evils whenever I drive past him.

Maybe I should top driving past his house 20 times at 4 in the morning....

[Andyboy]

The Mark 2 Golf GTi was (and is) a superb weapon. It really was the car of it's generation and made everything else (Escrot, Ashtray) look like Turds.
Ignore anyone who says the Mark 1 was better - believe me it wasn't, I had both and the Mark 2 didn't seem to lose any of it's real world 'go'. Handling was better too thanks to a longer wheelbase and wider track. The Golf's steering is a lot sharper than the E30's.
Build quality wasn't as good showroom wise as an E30 but long term they've proved to be much better. No way does the Golf rot as badly as an E30.
Just adding a Koni kit makes then really fantastic to drive - this same chassis was used by Seat until very recently.
Earlier cars used Bosck K Jetronic, later ones use Digifant which was VW's own electronic system. It's a good system and can be remapped to give very good results. A good mod on the 1800 8v was to fit a 1600 GTi cam.

[tristan325]

This has to have been one of my favourite cars ever












Then I let the wife drive it one day

[tristan325]

I agree with Andy about the mark 2 being better than the mark 1. A much more complete car.

[appletree]

my mates just bought a black 16ver took me out in it the other day and although he wasnt pushing as its done 150k and needs a cam belt it did sound very nice and went ok, hes bought it as a project to restor and is going to make it back to being mint.

Ive always read how BMW made the IS to be in the same price range as a 16v GTI to try and get some of the sales and i must say having both cars sat next to each other there are sooo many likenesses, i suppose its partly to do with the technoligy at the time and the styling.

One thing that is loads better on the IS is the motronitc ECU the k jetrotic looks realy untidy with the hoses and pipes alover the place and from what i can see has quite alot of room for potentioal problems as pipes and vacume hoses start to sag and brake up with age. Although with anything if you put some money in it and spend abit of time working through it it shouldnt be a problem

E30 all the way though IMO

[tristan325]

The iS and 16v golf are worlds apart. The golf is well over a second quickr off the mark to 60. Hell A Mk11 Scirocco is a quicker car than an iS.

[oldroydsr4]

^^^^^^^
Agreed a 16v would SLAUGHTER an is.

[Ant]

My oak valve was a minter, now owned by E30Adam's brother ( name forgotten sorry ! )

My mk 1 gti 1800 is now living near to my unit respledant with a VR6 conversion.

I do like golfs, had many mk1s, only the one mk2 but they are great cars

agreed on the driving position though, waaaay too high,

compared to the e30, same as really imho, good german build on both, easy mods and great all rounders.

as always though, RWD wins in the end.

[tristan325]

compared to the e30, same as really imho, good german build on both, easy mods and great all rounders.

as always though, RWD wins in the end.

Yeah e30's and rear wheel drive is great, but I never had a rusty Volkswagen!!! (well except for a mk1 scirocco storm, but that was built by Karmann).

[jaistanley]

I had a peugeot 205 1.9 GTi (some special edition with green carpets and seat inlays instead of red). It was AWESOME fun to drive but I wanted a car with more of a scene so I bought a Golf MK2 16v.

The best bit about the car was the way you could mod it in ANY way you like, and still have change from a pack of chips! I did everything to that car: Corrado dash, steering column, electrics and full seats. I fitted a MK3 ABF (2.0 litre 16v) bottom end with the head from my 1.8 that I had developed. The gearbox and flywheel was 1.8 16v so was nice (the MK3 gearbox WAS w4nk). The brakes were a combination of MK3 master cylinder and early VR6 calipers with drilled G60 disks. I had rallye wheels and proxes tyres. The suspension was a budget Weitec kit that was just right for the road and only cost £200 at a show. Poly bushes helped that car a LOT. Found a donor 16v with a new scorpion exhaust and downpipe which I liberated for £50, sounded really meaty and not boy racer'ey.

The owner VW Sanburns actually became a good friend as I was there so often and would always put interesting parts aside for me and give me a healthy discount cos I was a poor student.

OH MY GOD that car was fast. 180 odd brake, the low end of an 8v with the top end of a 325i. It would have anialated many cars on the zone. When I sold it I missed it for years. Going to a 318iS was painful in the acceleration stakes but I really loved the interior and look of the E30, and the RWD'ness was awesome. On a fast A road the E30 also has quite a bit more grip, if less handling in std form (less agile, more grippy).

A to B, my golf (with me at the helm ) was a serious tool. I upset a lot of other road users by simply going around them sideways (lift off oversteer baby). You could basically aim, shoot, overtake.

I LOVE the MK2 golf. That said: I've been eyeing up a MK1 on our street. Would like to fit a 1.9TDi engine and rag it to work everyday for a pittance!

Jai

[NeilMukerji]

Many have said it, and I'd like to add my voice to theirs: I really like the MkII GTi, but RWD wins as a long term prospect.

[theflop]

MK1 GOLF is twice the car even if you do miss out on valves. I would go BMW over MK2. love the rear wheel drive too much

[ste]

E30 v Mk2 GTI?

Simple - always make sure you have at least one of each. They're both iconic classics. Comparing them is relatively pointless.

Here's one of my first ones - a magazine featured Mk2 valver that I completely bare-shelled myself:

Went from this:



To this:



(You can tell how long ago I had that - it pre-dates everyone having digital cameras, it's a scanned print )

And here's my most recent one:









Mk2s are great fun. If they were RWD I probably wouldn't have ever bought an E30. Glad I did though, as like I say above they both have (fairly different) reasons to love them.

[Rosc0PColtrane]

I rarely see a big bumpered mk2 where the big bumper fits properly. They normally do not sit right on the wings. Whereas the tech 2 fits properly.

[NeilMukerji]

^^
That car was epic and cool - "genuine scrap yard parts" indeed.

[ste]

There's still a part of that car's sump/wishbones/floor outside the Ganja Brasserie in Woking.

[e30bmlover]

im a bmw to the core, although the mk1 gti's are legendary in there own right, mk2's suck balls but i wouldnt have either over my e30.

[E30BeemerLad]

, mk2's suck balls .

Tim, put the bong down

[redrobbie]

I have just driven a MK2 8V GTI, bloody HELL what a car .

oh yeah sorry for the late reply .

[marcp1987]

I own a Mk2 8v GTI with a 1900 engine and high lift cam. Driven Vw's ever since I started driving.

Just bought a 318is to replace it, pick it up on saturday.

I shall notify everyone if I was right... or wrong on sunday