Being very sad, I recently went out and had a play in the new Golf GTI and the Civic Type R, thought I'd do a mini RT and get people's opinions.

I thought the Golf drove like it was quite heavy, didn't feel like it had a lot of torque and most definetly didn't feel like 200BHP. Turn in was good, acceleration was brisk but not fast, and the interior quality was pretty poor considering the leather and Sat-Nav made it a

Maybe you should try a Mini Cooper S and Clio 182?

Slightly puzzled by how it didnt accelerate in top... one car mag comparing the Type R and Golf GTI seemed to indicate it had quite good acceleration in 6th... something like 8 seconds 50-70... hardly the figure for a car that does not accelerate?

probably wouldn't feel toquey as even when on cam it only produces about 140 lbft, were you going by feel alone or where you comparing speedo movement during your acceleration tests?? the CTR i expect would feel quicker due to it being lower, stiffer and having firmer seats etc

some cars can be quite decieving at times, to me mine doesn't feel that quick anymore but it kills all my mates cars.

CTR would not only feel quicker, it IS quicker.

I was going by the ass-dyno

Even the dealer said it was an economy gear when I got back and told him!

I must be honest I didn't time it but it was disappointing for what some car mags are calling the best hot hatch in the world (Golf).

Yeah, CTR was better, but low down pull was pretty poor. On cam it was pretty brutal - they've removed the 'step' that used to be there too so it's a lot more usable - revs rise at same speed but road speed increases much quicker.

Ultimately though, the CTR is going to be more exciting given its peaky nature... if its driving thrills you want, then having a tacho glued to 6k+ rpm is not only not a problem, it may be positively desirable

Wouldn't want to drive 100 miles a day in it though like I do now!

For commuting torque is king!

civic is 200bhp 145lbft@5900rpm 6.6 and 146mph weighing 1204Kg

golf is 200bhp 206lbft@1800rpm 7.2 and 146mph can't find the weight :(

thats for the manual golf, the quikest is the DSG which knocks the 0-60 down to 6.9 so between the DSG and the CTR isn't that big off the line and i wouldn't be surprised to see the golf quicker in gear due to shed loads more torque and it having pull below 6k

It felt heavy to drive.

Mostly it didn't feel like a hot hatch and it didn't feel special.

Very disappointed to read this about the Golf.Top gear/Clarkson said very torquey,fast and exciting.It's whats going in the vRS III so I thought a new golf gti would give a good idea of what to look forward to from skoda

Oh well.CTR still seems to be the performance hatch bargain to beat.Seems to be head and shoulders above all of the other hot hatches when it comes to pricing.

ALL of them are too expensive really,cooper s,leon,alfas,golf, audi.

Very disappointed to read this about the Golf.Top gear/Clarkson said very torquey,fast and exciting.It's whats going in the vRS III so I thought a new golf gti would give a good idea of what to look forward to from skoda

But then again, the 1.8T is not exactly known to be the most charasmatic powerplant either....

Oh well.CTR still seems to be the performance hatch bargain to beat.Seems to be head and shoulders above all of the other hot hatches when it comes to pricing.

Clio 182, about

Pricing can make a lot of difference. Here (in NL) the GTI is only 2k euros more expensive than the CTR, and that's a CTR without aircon! Cooper S, Leon FR, Ibiza Cupra and 147 2.0 are all cheaper. I'd still have the CTR...

I agree with Paul, though, 1200kg isn't lightweight either. The Clio is more akin to the 106 Rallye type of cars, but I've seen it fall apart at the seams at our Amsterdam auto exhibition, so you can see where they saved the weight...

civic is 200bhp 145lbft@5900rpm 6.6 and 146mph weighing 1204Kg

golf is 200bhp 206lbft@1800rpm 7.2 and 146mph can't find the weight :(

thats for the manual golf' date=' the quikest is the DSG which knocks the 0-60 down to 6.9 so between the DSG and the CTR isn't that big off the line and i wouldn't be surprised to see the golf quicker in gear due to shed loads more torque and it having pull below 6k[/quote']

Golf weight is 1336kg

CTR 30-70=6.5

GTI 30-70=7.1

The GTI is considerably quicker though when comparing in gear times for the same gear. So catch the CTR in the wrong gear and you'll be away.

CTR

30-50mph in 3rd/4th/5th gears - 4.2/5.4/7.3

50-70mph in 3rd/4th/5th gears - 4.1/5.8/7.8

GTI

30-50mph in 3rd/4th/5th gears - 3.1/4.27/6.3

50-70mph in 3rd/4th/5th gears - 3.53/4.65/6.15

It's a turbo up on the CTR so you'd expect more.

I was disappointed.

I agree with Paul, though, 1200kg isn't lightweight either. The Clio is more akin to the 106 Rallye type of cars, but I've seen it fall apart at the seams at our Amsterdam auto exhibition, so you can see where they saved the weight...

Even the Clio weighs 1100 kg. There are few brand new cars nowadays that weigh less than a ton. The Suzuki Ignis Sport is one... as is the Sportka, but the latter is based on a model thats probably getting on for ten years old.

EddyH, to be honest, the Fabia vRS probably beats the Octavia vRS in all the ingear tests, but that doesnt mean its actually quicker...

Even the Clio weighs 1100 kg. There are few brand new cars nowadays that weigh less than a ton. The Suzuki Ignis Sport is one... as is the Sportka' date=' but the latter is based on a model thats probably getting on for ten years old.

EddyH, to be honest, the Fabia vRS probably beats the Octavia vRS in all the ingear tests, but that doesnt mean its actually quicker...[/quote']

I know, just saying if they were in the same gear the CTR would be off the boil. I know, I used to have one. Ended up keeping it 'on the boil' most of time and was rewarded with average mpg in the teens.

Even the Clio weighs 1100 kg. There are few brand new cars nowadays that weigh less than a ton. The Suzuki Ignis Sport is one... as is the Sportka' date=' but the latter is based on a model thats probably getting on for ten years old.

EddyH, to be honest, the Fabia vRS probably beats the Octavia vRS in all the ingear tests, but that doesnt mean its actually quicker...[/quote']

I took the 182 Clio with the cup suspension pack out for a spin last weekend. Very impressed with the handling however, not as quick in a straight line as i was expecting. Think i have become too used to the huge low down grunt my revod furby vrs delivers. Fabia in gear felt quicker. Whether it is or not, i am not sure....... When i jump into a petrol these days i have to force myself not to change up and rev past 4000 revs!!!

Wouldn't want to drive the 182 every day due to the go-kart like ride and interior quality issues. Must be getting old! For track day fun it woudn't disappoint and it is excellent value in comparison to competition

Nick C

The 182 sounds like a little racer, and you've gotta drive it like that to get the performance The Furby is probably the most opposite you can get, it's effortless performance but hardly any revving involved

This is a classic case of perception......we've been bombarded by the car rags that the new GTi is very good and yet when people drive it they are not so impressed.

It's been built up so high that people feel that it's going to be a earth moving experience.

It is agreed though that the GTi interior doesn't have the same feel of quality of the previous version.....cost cutting....makes you wonder how much it would have been if they hadn't done that. :eek:

I was very impressed when I drove it, true it doesn't seem that quick, but it is deceptivley fast, and the handling is amazing, you can really chuck it around, V.expensive though, for about the same money you could get a 911 C2 or a boxster.......Know which one I'd rather have

I do think the DSG 'box is a work of genius though.........funny to think it's been around for 20 years and only just found it's way into VAG's road cars......

Golf weight is 1336kg

CTR 30-70=6.5

GTI 30-70=7.1

The GTI is considerably quicker though when comparing in gear times for the same gear. So catch the CTR in the wrong gear and you'll be away.

CTR

30-50mph in 3rd/4th/5th gears - 4.2/5.4/7.3

50-70mph in 3rd/4th/5th gears - 4.1/5.8/7.8

GTI

30-50mph in 3rd/4th/5th gears - 3.1/4.27/6.3

50-70mph in 3rd/4th/5th gears - 3.53/4.65/6.15

Nice bunch of stats, where you getting them from Eddy? Find quite difficult to find car's in-gear figures on the net...

Steve

Nice bunch of stats' date=' where you getting them from Eddy? Find quite difficult to find car's in-gear figures on the net...

Steve[/quote']

Those were from whatcar.com but they don't have that data for all cars.