How about a 318i Compact BMW? driving the right set of wheels and dropping down in price quite nicely. Or is it just a choice of which VAG brand

How about a 318i Compact BMW? driving the right set of wheels and dropping down in price quite nicely. Or is it just a choice of which VAG brand

3-series Compact... are you making assumptions about the OP's sexual preferences?

No not the dreaded BMW ! Everyone has one. Plus, the Compact looks rubbish. The Punto needs a new head gasket now too so it's probably worth £3.50. We'll look at some of the suggestions and soon as neither of us can afford to be off the road.

3-series Compact... are you making assumptions about the OP's sexual preferences?

No, just about the potential owner's sex! Semi-seriously, almost every 3-series Compact I've ever seen has been being driven by a woman!

I'm guessing that budget must be coming into it if he's trying to square a fabia up against a golf. If true, the Anniversary still goes for silly money and he'd be better off getting a bog standard 150bhp 1.8t gti and then have it mapped to 225bhp if he's craving speed.

Who maps the standard 150s to 225?? AGUs go to about 195 without other mods and the DBW models a little more, although the response of the cabled AGU is loads better IMHO.

Either way, I'd pick the Golf. I have very fond memories of my '99 AGU 1.8T GTi.

Who maps the standard 150s to 225?? AGUs go to about 195 without other mods and the DBW models a little more, although the response of the cabled AGU is loads better IMHO.

Either way, I'd pick the Golf. I have very fond memories of my '99 AGU 1.8T GTi.

I'm sure my brother has/had a dyno printout from when his (150bhp) Elegance was remapped to around 220-225bhp

well the answer is simple.....Golf GTi all the way....

My wife and I had a similar dilemma recently - she liked the golf and I the Fabia. At the end of the day it came down to what you get for your money! We agreed a budget of no more than 7.5k. We really liked the Anniversary edition (Golf) but couldnt see past the value for money the Fabia offered in comparison! We eventually settled on a low mile, mint '05 Fab well below our budget,

Unless you find an absolutely mint Anniversary (150 diesel) being sold by someone who loves cars and drives only 9k max a year yet has no idea of the 'premium' these cars hold your mate is barking up the wrong tree - even 'standard' 150's hold their value really well unless someone is in such desperate need to get rid quick!

My mate had one (150 Gt tdi) until recently. He drove my Fab. and couldnt really tell much difference between the two and was impressed by the lay out and build quality. Surely with such a (low) budget it can only be the Fabia (or the Bora 150 Sport/130 Highline variant) as a potential option?

Who maps the standard 150s to 225?? AGUs go to about 195 without other mods and the DBW models a little more, although the response of the cabled AGU is loads better IMHO.

Either way, I'd pick the Golf. I have very fond memories of my '99 AGU 1.8T GTi.

I thought I saw these figures quoted on the jkm website with reference to the revo software. You can take a look if you're interested, there's some chance I may have misread / misremembered but i remember being suitably impressed at the time.