Originally Posted by sonoronos
I totally agree with you here. I think the one thing that makes VWs so popular is that there is a really huge aftermarket for them, a big tuning community, etc. All the weaknesses that I'm talking about are definitely for the stock car that I experienced, I'm sure that everything could be tuned out.
Agreed!
Come to think of it, almost every VW enthusiast I know is an aftermarket junkie
Yes and no!
Of the 6 or so VWs I've owned, the only car I felt was worthy of performance mods was the corrado. But I think you're right overall, especially with the modern VAG turbo motors--the 1.8t, 2.0t and the previous S4 motor, 2.7tt. It's so stupidly easy to get more power out of those motors.
Of course, I want to be clear, it is a very COOL car. At the time it was probably considered one of the sportiest of the FWD sports cars when it was released. There was nothing that looked like it at all, come it think of it, it was an awkward time for almost every other automobile out there.
I appreciate the compliment and I like to think if you're on a car forum, you're pretty much a car enthusiast at heart. Though I know that isn't always the case, unfortunately.
I just have my personal biases after having owned both a 1981 VW Rabbit and an A3 Jetta VR6 GLX III from 1995 to 2006. I used to like VW's a lot, but my personal experiences with their reliability and fundamental cost-cutting limitations (ancient rear suspensions for example) soured my opinion of the brand, probably for good. It's only in the last 8 years that the Japanese manufacturers have started putting out some incredible cars (S2000, GT-R, STI, Evo 8+), the Americans too (C6 Corvette Z06). Mercedes, BMW, and Porsche have been putting out world-beaters since the 90's. Unfortunately, VAG for the last 15 years have been cost-cutting to the bone, and so they have been stuck with trying to shoe-horn bigger and bigger engines into what are essentially economy car platforms.
VW is a really odd company and I agree with your comments about the suspension. Luckily, the current VWs actually have a real rear independent suspension! It really does wonders for how the car handles along with the general comfort. I think everyone has stepped up their game in recent years, which is a good thing. It's unfortunate to me that the only people who haven't kept pace to the same level is Ford and Chrysler. Ford was on a bit of a roll for a while with the Ford GT and some very cool SVT cars. But they let the Focus go to hell, IMO. Why can't we have a Focus ST, like in Europe? It would be a continuation of the Focus SVT, which itself was quite a neat car! ANd Chrysler.....those guys just can't quite seem to get it together. Aside from the awesome Viper and the 300, what else is there? The new truck seems like a great leap forward for the brand, but will it be enough? Will the great engineering of the truck be enough to help the company in these rough financial times? IMO, the sebring and Caliber are pretty poor. I'd rather have a Neon SRT4 (the ACR version is fantastic!) than the caliber version. To be honest, the crossfire was the best car chrysler has sold. It's not the fastest, but it's built the best, has the best styling, and has the best streetable performance. I hope chrysler some some cool stuff in the works. They've been riding the coat tails of the 300 long enough! GM seems to be the only domestic making significant strides forward. I'm not much of a sedan guy, especially american sedans, but both the Malibu and CTS are excellent cars! Sorry about the tangent....
The Audi R8 is a big leap forward, in my opinion. If VAG could trickle some of that passion down into the VW line, I think there's a hope in making the "Corrado of tomorrow" into a serious machine.
The problem with VAG cars quite frankly is one thing and one thing only: price. I love the current GTI. It's a dynamic masterpiece in my opinion when it comes to economy performance. It's a better all-rounder IMO, than a mazdaspeed 3, even if it doesn't have the same numbers. Having said that, paying almost 29k for a loaded GTI is absolutely foolish! The R32 is also a very nice vehicle, but at 35k for the version with navigation, they can keep the R32 in europe. It's not even available in the US with a stick---which is the other problem with VAG cars, though mostly VW--available options/features for the US market. The TT has really improved from what I've read and is poised to truely be a cheaper alternative to the R8. However, cheaper is relative. There is rumored to be a 265hp TT-S coming to the US for 2009. That sounds like a recipe for great fun, considering the 200hp version already competes quite favorably to the likes of the 350z/rx-8/boxster--at least from what I've read. But at an estimated price of ~50k, I'm not sure I'd be into it, at all. I'd rather have a Porsche cayman at that price. Or maybe a g37 coupe sport with the manual. VW and Audi have some wonderful products but I fear they will price themselves out of the market.
Now if Audi was smart, they would import the TT- TDI, which is a diesel powered TT. In these economic times, if the fuel economy is that fantastic, I could see some people splurging a bit for fuel economy in a performance chassis. Audi has already proven the performance of a diesel with their R8 racecar in the ALMS series. Odd they use a diesel in an American racing series, but don't bring their production diesel performance car to the states as well. Like everything else this company does, they will be late to the economic performance party in the US.