[benjaminh]

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.

 

[benjaminh]

Another admittedly apples to oranges comparison would be the Accord EX 6 MT vs the GTI.

These two have an almost identical msrp: $24,880 for the Accord compared to $24,995 for the GTI.

In terms of performance, I think the EX is very close to the Sport. The tires are slightly smaller, it has 4 fewer hp, and doesn't have the spoiler, but imho in real world driving you'd probably have trouble telling the difference.

And by the time you get to an EX Accord there are few desirable things that aren't standard on the GTI, like a moonroof, pushbutton start, lanewatch, powerseat (although that's on the Sport too, isn't it?), etc.

It's very hard to find an EX 6MT, but if you can they make an appealing "luxury sport" Accord imho.

 

[benjaminh]

I dumped a 2013 Passat TDI to get my Accord and consider the loss I had to take to be worth it! The turbo of the Passat blew at only 19kmi. It took VW 4 days to get my car to the shop and 2 weeks to fix it. They put the same part no. turbo back on it insuring that another break down was soon to come. I have found out that pretty much all Passat TDI's have the same break down at about the same mileage and VW just sticks another defective turbo on them and sends them down the street! Madness!:screwy:

The high dollar radio in the Passat was a piece of junk! It would take several minutes after shifting into reverse for the rear view camera to come on and all the other radio functions were just as slow! They weren't going to offer a fix. They just don't care. Madness!:headbash:

And the car was developing rattles and throwing error codes.:thumbsdow

I doubt the GTI owner experience would be much different but if madness is what you desire then VW madness can be yours - just count me out!:wave:

You have cured me of wanting a GTI!

Many thanks.++++

I'll go back to planning my next Accord....

 

[benjaminh]

I see VW hasn't changed much since 2003...

Or 1987.

What WiredTouring wrote was a real shock to me. The TDI is their signature product. And they can't get it right?! Plus problems with parts, etc. What a nightmare. I'm so glad I own a Honda. It reminds me how I swore when I got rid of my Jetta: "Never again."

 

[benjaminh]

What is going to happen to your current accord?

I'm glad I ordered just what I wanted back in the Fall of 2007, because I still actually like the car quite a bit. And somehow it's a slight thrill knowing that it's probably one of the rarest Accords ever made. Who ever heard of an EXL Navi with a manual. My dealer had to be dragged into ordering it, and just a year and a half later Honda deleted the model.

Anyway, I really don't need a new car. Got new tires 15k miles ago that have another 40k of life in em. Plus I'm still 30k miles from the first tune up. As you can tell, my desire for the GTI was premature and delusional. But when the time comes (probably in 3 years or so) I'll just give her to whatever Honda dealer gives me the best deal at the time....