Given the bad experience I had with a VW Jetta eons ago, there's probably no way I'd ever get a GTI. But I have to admit, the car has appealed to me since it first came out in the early 1980s iirc, and the latest generation seems compelling as well.
The GTI's closest competitor at Honda is probably the Civic Si. But the GTI beats the Si on several important points, I think, including styling inside and out, power, acceleration, handling, and even mpg. Honda needs to put a DI Earth Dreams engine in the Si stat.
Imho a better competitor for the GTI is the Accord Sport manual. Believe it or not, they are rated the same for mpg by the epa at 28 combined. They are also rated the same for safety by the IIHS. For acceleration the GTI will beat the Sport by a few tenths of a second to 60. That's because the Sport has 182 lbs of torque compared to a massive 258 for the VW. For cargo room, believe it or not, the GTI wins with a huge 22.8 feet compared to 15.8 in the Accord trunk. And that's with the seats up. With the seats down the GTI has 52.7 feet of cargo, which is similar to a Fit iirc. In terms of interior room, believe it or not, they are similar too, with the GTI actually beating the Accord for headroom. For legroom the rear seat of the Accord is better, and the Accord is better for hip room as well. The stereo of the GTI is better, because it has 8 speakers compared to the 4 for the Accord.
Now for reliability, quality, and durability I'd take Honda any day. And I prefer made in Ohio over made in Mexico.
The base Sport has an msrp of $23,715 compared to $24,995 for the GTI. In terms of street price right now it's possible to get c. $3000 off an Accord, while $1000 off a GTI might be a challenge given that it's just been introduced. And so the real world difference in price is not 1k but c. 4k.
Also, the Sport has a backup camera standard, which now that I've gotten used to I find hard to live without. You have to get an expensive option package or higher trim level to get the back up camera on the GTI.
One last thing that the GTI beats the Sport at not surprisingly is turning radius—c. 35 ft compared to 39.
I know this is really an apples to oranges comparison. But does anyone else have any thoughts about it?
At the age of 50 I have no real need for a sports car. When it comes time to replace by 2008 EXL 5MT I'm more likely to go for an Accord Hybrid.
Still, on some points that GTI seems strangely compelling.
The GTI's closest competitor at Honda is probably the Civic Si. But the GTI beats the Si on several important points, I think, including styling inside and out, power, acceleration, handling, and even mpg. Honda needs to put a DI Earth Dreams engine in the Si stat.
Imho a better competitor for the GTI is the Accord Sport manual. Believe it or not, they are rated the same for mpg by the epa at 28 combined. They are also rated the same for safety by the IIHS. For acceleration the GTI will beat the Sport by a few tenths of a second to 60. That's because the Sport has 182 lbs of torque compared to a massive 258 for the VW. For cargo room, believe it or not, the GTI wins with a huge 22.8 feet compared to 15.8 in the Accord trunk. And that's with the seats up. With the seats down the GTI has 52.7 feet of cargo, which is similar to a Fit iirc. In terms of interior room, believe it or not, they are similar too, with the GTI actually beating the Accord for headroom. For legroom the rear seat of the Accord is better, and the Accord is better for hip room as well. The stereo of the GTI is better, because it has 8 speakers compared to the 4 for the Accord.
Now for reliability, quality, and durability I'd take Honda any day. And I prefer made in Ohio over made in Mexico.
The base Sport has an msrp of $23,715 compared to $24,995 for the GTI. In terms of street price right now it's possible to get c. $3000 off an Accord, while $1000 off a GTI might be a challenge given that it's just been introduced. And so the real world difference in price is not 1k but c. 4k.
Also, the Sport has a backup camera standard, which now that I've gotten used to I find hard to live without. You have to get an expensive option package or higher trim level to get the back up camera on the GTI.
One last thing that the GTI beats the Sport at not surprisingly is turning radius—c. 35 ft compared to 39.
I know this is really an apples to oranges comparison. But does anyone else have any thoughts about it?
At the age of 50 I have no real need for a sports car. When it comes time to replace by 2008 EXL 5MT I'm more likely to go for an Accord Hybrid.
Still, on some points that GTI seems strangely compelling.
