Bring me away from the dark side

[BlueIX]

So I sold my ix a couple months ago and have been on the search for a vert. Well recently I got the idea that my daily a Toyota Tundra is a gas guzzler and that I should consider a diesel as the second car. Well that thought brought me over to VW and while looking at the 90's diesel options (a little sparse) I turned to looking at models with gas engines. Now I'm considering an MK2 Jetta or Golf as well the Corrado. Not sure if I'll actually follow through with this thought but feel free to give me you opinions/comments.

I will say this, my 2nd car was an MK2 Jetta and it had its fair share of problems but I do like the look.

[der affe]

i love the markII VW's and had an 85 GLI slicktop i built before getting into BMWs.Ithink of the my E30 as a better built rear wheel Jetta in terms of styling. if you have no fear of learning CIS (it is really not that hard) they are fun cars.

i would stay away from corrados though as the corrado specific parts can be costly. if you do get one, you are looking at supercharger replacements with the 1.8 g-60 cars unless you turbo it or cnvert to a lystrom charger.

digifant injection is ok, but does not lend itself to performance mods well

[gtdragon980]

Oh no, lol, don't do it! I almost went down that path, and I am soooo glad I turned away!! I have two friends with vw's and they are seriously shitboxes. Reliability is poor, they drive like crap (stock), and it is realllllly slow...TURN AWAY NAOO!

[Raxe]

They're a vastly inferior car to BMW's in all aspects, heck they're not even cheaper to fix. What's the draw?

[mbonanni]

stick with the vert idea, or any other e30. lol

[Brezzi]

dude fwd? I'd rather drive my auto rwd e30 than a 5speed fwd jetta any day.. get a vert they're sweet and if you do wana go diesel there are bmw alternatives as well

[maniacmatt]

I actually just went down that road. I sold my IX and bought a mkIV Golf TDI to daily drive.

To be honest I found that with modifying my IS and the fact that my IX was 24 years old and needed almost constant attention it was too much for me. I spent all my free time working on my cars and was starting not to enjoy them anymore. Now I have one car to work on and enjoy and one that I just get in and go. I also have spare time now.

So far I couldn't be happier with the TDI. It costs me the same as my IX to fill up even with diesel being $0.20/litre more expensive and I can go almost twice as far on a tank of fuel.

Only complaints with the car. The smell, diesel definately has an "odour". I am getting used to it but at first it was wierd. Also the diesel takes longer to warm up than a gas engine. Probably takes 6-8 minutes of driving to get heat and 10 or so to get it up to full operating temperature. Also it won't get warm idling so no use starting the car and going back inside while it warms up.

[dude8383]

^Bingo. A Golf TDI would be awesome, wouldn't require too much attention and would still be a hoot to drive.

I helped my friend build a couple, you remember Mike right? They don't drive quite the same but a diesel's torque will still but make you smile.

[phenobarb1]

I've been thinking for a while now that it would be a fun project to drop a TDI into an old MK2. In that light body I figure it would probably be pushing close to 60 mpg, and the acceleration wouldn't be too shabby either.

[BlueIX]

I wouldn't have thought that they cost as much as an e30 to maintain but I did have an ix and those parts aren't cheap.

I wasn't really looking for power, just like the look of them. Maybe I should just shift my search from verts to non ix hardtops.

[warmseth]

I own a 90 IS and recently thought I'd sell it and buy an R32. I owned the R32 for about four hours before I put it on Craigslist and sold it. Keeping the E30. It's just too f-ing fun to drive. That said, I also own a MKvi golf TDI that the wife drives and I love it too, just not for spirited driving. It drives well enough for a fwd, but it's an unbelievable road trip car and commuter with 35-45 mpg.

[HarryPotter]

The only VW I'd ever buy again is a vr6 swapped mk2, or something with a TDI in it.

[MAXELHOFF]

Diesel Lifestyle

2003 TDI Jetta-drove to NYC and back from Atlanta. 5 speed, heated seats. 50 MPG!!! Nice car. Only complaint is terrible turning radius.

[warmseth]

^I think the mk5 and 6 are better. I used to have an 03 gti and my '10 TDI golf is better for sure.

[EndreM]

324td



I actually want one.

Would be the perfect winter beater