Newest and Oldest - 2015 Volkswagen Golf GTI Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

Newest and Oldest - 2015 Volkswagen Golf GTI Long-Term Road Test

The original GTI debuted for 1983, more than three decades on, how does our 2015 Volkswagen Golf GTI compare to the original hot hatch?

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bankerdanny

I think the 1980 Scirocco S (which shared GTI powertrain that was already available in Europe) was the first hot hatch in the US.

It's actually pretty remarkable that the difference in length is only 13" and 800 lbs.

Spec's for older cars can be hard to find, but best as I can tell, the 1975 Honda Civic Wagon (as a stand in for the sedan that wasn't sold in the US then) had a length/width/WB/weight of 160"/59.3"/89.9"/1,985lbs

The 2015 Civic sedan is 179.4/69/105.1/2,754, so 19" longer, but as with the VW, about 800lbs heavier, which is pretty impressive for both considering all the extra equipment and the much larger wheels and tires.

tlg3

I'm interested in reading about highway cruising and in particular - road and wind noise at highway speeds. The GTI's stablemate, the A3, is pretty quiet on the highway, as referenced in a recent Edmunds test - how does the GTI stack up?

kirkhilles1

Now compare the repair and maintenance costs. I bet that '83 was a fairly affordable car to drive with simple components and an actual bumper that caused $0 damage if you lightly bumped anything. Of course, if it was anything like our 80's cars, it probably felt like it was going to fall apart on the highway.

kyfdx

kirkhilles1 said:

Now compare the repair and maintenance costs. I bet that '83 was a fairly affordable car to drive with simple components and an actual bumper that caused $0 damage if you lightly bumped anything. Of course, if it was anything like our 80's cars, it probably felt like it was going to fall apart on the highway.

My experience with maintaining early '80s VWs was anything but affordable.. I think that's why the Japanese brands took off and VW slipped..

But, I do miss those small, lightweight hatchbacks from that era.. I drove an '82 Accord hatch for 12 years... No power steering or A/C...

stever

When I hear "VW Rabbit" I'm always a bit relieved that I switched from my Bugs in the late 70s to Datsun. The first Rabbit I ever saw was at a trailhead - it belonged to the trip leader and it was broken down. Again.

darthbimmer

Man, it was fun back in the 80s when small cars were only 2000 lbs. When a buddy of mine wanted to parallel park in a space that was too tight even for his diminutive Civic hatchback, he'd pull the nose in and we'd get out and lift the rear to swing it into place. I remember in high school when a jackass parked his roadster in a handicapped space 8 of us guys picked it up and left it leaning against the brick wall at a 45 degree angle. It was gone 2 hours later when we came back in from practice... not sure how he got it down.

texases

I had a (remarkably) reliable '83 GTI, from new, for 12 years. No significant problems, that entire time.

@bankerdanny - the '80 Scirocco S was just a trim pack with Recaro seats, no special engine. It definitely was not the Euro GTI engine.