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Comments
Civic SI's cornering, is awesome, BTW. I have two friends with those and boy oh boy do they take turns nicely. But if you're looking to go more adult, obviously the Jetta's got it all over the Civic coupe. And freeway/about town punchiness with the 1.8T is above reproach.
But,
I would take a base Beetle/Jetta/Golf over any Civic, anytime.
A base Passat over an Accord.
If the Civic Si is anything like my 96 Integra GS-R, it must be great to shift, and fun to just point and go. I miss that - but I don't miss having to rev the car to go anywhere, don't miss the interior, don't miss the insurance cost, and don't miss the looks you get in the car.
I think that the Civic Si and Jetta GLS are totally different cars. Probably a better idea to compare a Civic Si and a GTI. Both have two doors.
Truly, they are targeted to two different audiences. Civics are targeted to younger people who want to mod their cars out. Jettas are marketed to those who want a ride that's sporty but also a little classy too.
i may have to get the windows tinted though...
I thought about getting the tinted taillamps and/or the spoiler, but I don't like how either make the back end of the car look. The same with the clear bumper lights, or the smoked fender lights. I like it the way it is right now.
tinting isn't a mod anyway....it is a protection. makes it so your leather won't fade and crack as easily. also makes it a little harder for the cops to see what you are drinking in the car
I am going to, however, change the badges on my car. I am taking off the "1.8T" thing on the right rear corner of the car, and putting on the "20V TURBO" badge in its place. I saw it on the Vortex and I thought it looked pretty good. We shall see when I finally do it.
debadging and/or rebadging seems a little too close to the "Type R" Accords and "Turbo" BMW's.....;)
you know what is really cool? to get a sticker that goes across the top of your windshield or back window that says "VOLKSWAGEN" or "FARFIGNUGEN" (excuse my misspelling) - those are GREAT
Also, it was not one badge, it's two different ones. The TURBO is separate from the "20V" badge. They do have the "turbo" badge for the VWs (it's in cursive writing, and black or silver), but I don't like it. I like the capital letter one I got better.
While we are on the subject, anyone know how to remove the badges without hurting the paint?? I would like to know. I know Vortex would know, but I thought I would ask here first.
"That's like taping "Rolex" to a Timex."
I think it would be more like using Rolex numeric font on a Timex.
http://homepage.mac.com/msandlin/Jetta/PhotoAlbum14.html
I can't believe how much better the car handles with 17" wheels and better tires. It's definitely a lot better.
Enjoy the pics. :^)
I'm planning on getting H&R springs with Bilstein shocks as soon as I can save up enough. :^)
justin:
It isn't necessary to recalibrate the speedo because I have lower profile tires on these rims. The overall diameter of the wheel + tire has not changed.
The jetta definitely has more heft to it, bit it isn't because of price. It is because of weight, it weights about 400-500 lbs. more than my civic. One thing I really like about the jetta was that the steering had weight to it. The civics steering is way to light for a car that turns so quickly.
Blueguydotcom:
Yeah, I have to admit, the Si, is fun. It is a lot different from all other civics of that model. I think it is a lot closer to an Integra in terms of handling, acceleration and feel. I think that Integra has better steering though.
Justin:
The jetta was definitely more grown up than the civic. I am 30 now and single, but I got the civic right on the for front of gas going over $2 gal. I live in Michigan and they force us to use the reformulated gas in the summer, which supposedly cost more, plus we have tons of tax on our gas, I believe the highest in the country. My 11.9 gal tank was saving my wallet a lot the past two summers since I was avg. 31 mpg. Insurance would be about $100 less every 6 months too for the jetta. The car does handle great though.
Vocus:
The car is extremely light, but that doesn't bother me, it gets good crash test ratings. What bothers me more is the steering it extemely light. Way too light in my opinion. Honda in trying to fix this problem, made the steering ratio way too small, meaning you have to turn the steering wheel a lot to get from lock to lock. If they made is larger (ie.less input, more output) and just gave it less power assist this would make for great feel for the road.
8u6hfd:
This may sound crazy, but I promise you, my Si is faster than your Jetta getting up to speed from a stand still. The problem is, you have to rev the engine almost to redline, 8000, in order to do it. Because of this, on the freeway, when I am cruising at say 80 mph, that is about 4350 rpms. that means that at 80 mph, if I tap on the gas, the engine is in its torque curve. And if I down shifted at that speed, I would be pushed back in the seat with the torque as the tach jumps to say 6000 rpms. The down side is that as an american, it sometimes feels weird revving the snot out of an engine. I know it can take it, and I know that it was designed to take it, but you better believe that I have never and would never miss an oil change or service maintanence if my engine has to cruise at 4350 rpms.
You guys, thanks for all your comments. They were great. I just have one thing to say that I have notice that I found funny.
Reading about you guys talk about modded cars and all is funny to me. Being the owner of a Civic, you can imagine all the stories I have heard from the people who actually do all the modding and slamming of cars. I personally believe that is a car was meant to be 2 inches off the ground it would have come from the dealership that way. And I don't buy into the idea of buying a $17k car and putting $5k worth of mods to make it go slightly faster. One of the reasons I looked at the Jetta is because VW finally put some power in them with the 1.8t and I have alway love the looks. I would have gotten one in 1999 when I bought my Civic, but I make it a point not to buy first year cars.
i miss my Civic steering. it was easier to use in a parking lot and in city traffic. i thought it tightened up fine for highway cruising. i had a 2001 coupe though - could be different than the 2000 Si.
If you look at the performance numbers of the Jetta 1.8T, they are similar to the B16C Si (0-60 & 1/4 mile). The difference is in the passing acceleration times, such as 30-50, 50-70, etc. where the test does not allow you to downshift.
the other day, (at band camp) I was in traffic, and I pushed the "turbo boost" button and my car like jumped OVER all of these other cars.
I paid $16,500 otd, I got a good deal though. Of course no dealer extras.
Justin:
0-60 times are posted as the same now, but then the 180 hp came out it was .2 sec slower. I was wondering about that too. My car is definitley a 7.2 sec car. I didn't push the Jetta since the dealer was in the car too and it was new. I did push my car when I test drove it, but them promptly asked for another color. The slalom times are better on the Si and the .82g's is better too I believe. Like someone said though, that might change on the Jetta with a rear sway bar.
8u6hfd:
Man that is a tough name to type. You are right though, I would have to give the Jetta the nod for 30-50 but I think 50-70 might be close. The civic is spinning at about 3250 rpms at 50 mph which is close to the non-vtec lobes peak torque if you look at a dyno slip. What you have to remember is that weight is a big factor in acceleration at speed.
Vocus:
I took a comparison of Edmunds specs and the turning radius on the Si is 3 ft. smaller than the Jetta, but I that is because the Si's steering is much quicker even though the turning ratio isn't.
Sarah:
I liked the heavier feel of the Jetta's steering than the light feel of the Si. In Michigan, every little bump jars the steering wheel. Even my girlfriends cavalier doesn't jar when I hit bumps in it.
hard to really compare them - I would say if you really like your Civic Si, you probably wouldn't be a good fit with a VW Jetta. two completely different animals. you might try the new Tiburon (it looks AWESOME to me) or maybe a Celica or RSX.
If i was just camparing two cars for the sake of it, I would compare the GTI to the Si, I am looking at it as a real world comparison. I own the Si, and I am planning on buying the GLS. So I have to compare the two and I wanted to get some feed back.
Vocus:
I had to laugh out loud when I read your cavalier comment. It is true, the entire interior of the car shakes when you hit a bump, I didn't think a dashboard could move up and down that much without coming off. I do have to say, that my Civic is much tighter than the Cavalier. I didn't really hit anything big in the jetta test drive so I can't say how the tight the overall car is, but it did feel solid. My suspension is a bit on the taught side too, so I feel just about everything. Handling normally comes at a price, and believe me, I pay for it.
sorry about going off on a tangent, just wanted to comment on the modding talk that has been going on. Oh, by the way, I like big wheels, hell, I am from Detroit now!
now, go pick up your Jetta and don't look back!!
I had a '99 Si... which was stolen from me about six months ago. Since then I've been casually looking for a replacement (I'm fortunate in that I have no pressing need to get a car), and I've been looking at VWs quite a bit.
Justin, you are correct: these are two different animals. But, I want something different now... as mseals pointed out, revving then engine like I stole it did get tiring after a while. Not to mention the high insurance rates of civics (most likely due to their theft rates).
As for me, I'm still deciding if getting a German car (in particular, VW) is worth it for me. Personally, I don't mind paying a decent amount for a car upfront.... it's the ongoing (maintenance & repair) that I don't want to have to worry about (thus my tendency to stick with Japanese cars).
Did anyone else see the article in auto.com that said that VW is shutting it's Mexico plant down for a few days due to weak U.S. demand?