As strange as it may sound, these are the two cars I am looking at for my next purchase. Still can't decide if I want a larger car or not.

Anyway, anyone ever race a GTI? I am leaning towards the Maxima, but the new VW's have a 6-speed and a 200 hp V6 (and a slight weight advantage) The Jetta VR6 and 1.8T also have the same engine, so a race with them would be similar.

 

By the way, looking at a 2002 SE w/6-speed and LSD, and yes, I know they are in different price ranges and categories.

 

The new Road and Track has 10 cars for under $25,000. The WRX, GTI, Altima, etc are in it. The new GTI has 201 hp I believe. Supposed to be a fast car that handles well. Depends what you want. More room, great VQ engine, or more sporty, nice VR6 engine. Different categories.

 

GTI VR6 and a 5spd Max are close races. I would take a 6spd Max over the new GTI even. But depends on what you want? The Max is a lot bigger and is more of a slick car. The GTI is a lil racer hatch back. If I was under 25 I would go with the GTI.

PS Insurance is killer on a VR6 as well! Be sure to get quotes beforehand.

 

That is what I have heard about insurance. I just turned 25, so maybe it is time to get a "Grown-up" sports sedan. How much insurance is everyone paying per year on a New SE?

 

Well maybe i can shed some light here...i have a Jetta VR6 and a max. They are both very nice cars, but the Jetta justs feels better put together and more solid, and the torque of the VR6 simply feels great. The max has more in terms of numbers, but the Jetta feels nice. It's really up to you, go drive both, and see which you like better....BTW...VW service is about as bad as it comes

 

It depends on what you want / need @ this point in your life.

I absolutely love the GTI! I have yet to find one that I can beat ... but then again .. I only race the ones that appear to be more than moderately modded ... but da-yammm!!! They're fast!

But ... I'm now 28 .. so .. I thought I needed something that'll last more than a few years and provide me with extra space if I ever needed it.

Jetta ... blah ... too small for anything really ... if the choice is b/w Jetta & Max ... definately go Max ... or even consider the new Alti is $$ is an issue ...

Good luck!

 

If you like racing and speed go with the new golf VR6, its not big but its fast. If you like to mod cars(turbos,chips,etc) then go with the GTI 1.8T or the WRX,(the WRX has more performence then the 1.8T) if you like a big car and want to invest more money then go with the new 2002 maxima 6sp and then you'll get a sporty car with enough space and performence.

 

Is your Max a 5spd or Auto?

I've beaten all the Jetta VR6 I've come across. Tied a modded GTI VR6(Garrett chip and custom intake) which is a friend of mine....we have run against one another about 10times and no one pulls ahead. And didn't even bother against another one of my friends who has a GTI VR6 turbo (that is one fast car!).

 

Look at it this way,One is a Nissan and the others are Volkswagan..if you are planning on keeping the car for more than 4 or 5 years, the nissan will EASILY give you 300,000 miles of service or more.A volkswagon on the other hand I wouldnt count on it. Im not saying the V.W.s are a p.o.s.,Im just saying I would way rather put my money into a Nissan.I know from experience...I did valet parking for almost 2 years, and have owned 3 nissans.On the other hand if you trade your cars in every couple years, long term dosent really matter , go for performance!!!!

 

I actually was looking at both the 2002 GTI or a 2002 Maxima SE. I wouldn't do the Jetta, no offense but a few too many girls own them for my taste. I settled on the Maxima. I went with Nissan because of my good history with their cars and the fact that it was a much more comfortable car for me. I had a 85 Maxima that I sold with 130K miles on it and I still regret selling it. That car ran strong and is probably still going today. Also, my height was an issue and that pushed me towards the Max.

Have you driven either car yet? drive them both and I think you'll have a good idea of what you want coughMAXIMAcough. Hehe. Just kidding around, the VW is a fun ride and the Max is more luxurious AND performs great.

Hope this helps.

Matt

 

I am waiting for both cars to arrive. The Nissan dealer told me that the 6-speed Maxima should be arriving soon. They did not have any 5-speed altimas to test, so I went out in a $29,000 (way too expensive for an) altima. IT was nice, but I want the Manual. The GTI with 6-speed and new 201HP VR6 is set to arrive in the spring. Both cars will get a hard beating before a decision is made.

 

is manual VR6 Jetta faster or auto maxima

 

It would be close could go either way. But I would say the Jetta Vr6 5spd.

A new 2K2 auto would beat a 5spd VR6 Jetta IMO.

 

I would be against any Volkswagen because of reliability issues. All U.S. market VW's are made in Mexico....I know a few people who owned VW"s those things fall apart, plus there're so many of them, the resale value will sink. Have to think of the maintenance costs-compare those. VW no longer offers their 10 yr wtty as far as I know. If you want a v6 and a stick, try Solara instead, they're close to Maximas in performance.

 

Nooooo...i got a 10 year warranty on my VW. Its holding up well untill now. About the SOlara, it is supposedly a worse hadling car than the Camry(up untill 2000, not sure of now)

 

As far as VW's made in Mexico, it depends on the model. Are you saying quality is not in automobiles made in Mexico? Aren't several GM cars and trucks made in Mexico? OK, point taken.

 

exactly. Well, its not a Nissan paint and glass..but VW A/C compressors, trannys, stuck throttles on full speed, and the whole damn car.
There was a program on TV, the showed a highway chase, state troopers tried to help a poor woman to stop her 2nd gen Jetta with accelerator stuck in full throttle on hwy, and her brakes and clutch go out on her at the same time (fabricated?)Guess if you want to drive smthg like that..

 

I had a Scirocco (my first car) that did that to me. It was scary but I just pushed in the clutch and shut it down. I loved that car for some reason..no power steering, handled so well, lots of mods etc..

I've also owned a VR6 Corrado, GTI VR6, and New Beetle 2.0. Had a Taurus SHO 5spd for a while too. The Max is quite a change from the VW family and the best car I have owned so far...

 

well thats an isloated incident, there are lemmons in every car model and brand

 

When I was looking to purchase a car, I looked that the 2k Max, Golf GTI VR6 and the Jetta VR6. The Jetta's I looked at seemed to have interior rattles right off the lot. The Golf was real nice, but I needed a 4 door (I didn't but my wife did ) On the window sticker it stated that the Jetta was made in Mexico, and on the Golf it said made in Germany.

I know the beetle and jetta are made in mexico, the golf in Germany (at least for the 2k model year it was). Not sure about the Passat.

--Ray

 

well, having roughly a $20K budget, I picked Maxima GXE over Jetta...its a personal choice..to me it seems like its a college girlie car, it is targeted toward young women 18-28. Maxima is sort of more masculine, bigger, more powerful.

 

I walked all over a GTI VR6 5-speed today....It was VERY sad for him....

 

Did the GTI know that you were racing him? What type of mods do you have? Are you really that fast in the 1/4 without any mods? I do not have a family yet, so this could be my last chance to get a small car (excluding my mid-life crisis when I need a useless sports car as a third car that has no practicality). I would never get the Jetta, I too think that it is not as masculine, but from what I heard, the GTI is just a lot of fun to drive, and with the more powerful engine coming out, it may even be more fun. I figure performance is about identical on the two cars (Maxima vs. GTI) stock. Again, it will just come down to wanting a large or small car.

 

Oh he was racing...he was trying to "shoot the gap" and I didn't let him. No my car is not stock.....my 1/4 mile is on NOS.....but the bottle was off when I raced the GTI. stock for stock the max will pull on a GTI in the 1/4....my buddy Neal (Nealoc187) on the org is bone stock and he raced his friend with a lightly modded GTI VR6...and they were DEAD even....mind you this was a 96 5-speed maxima....NOT a 2002....if you are trying to decide between the 2002 max and the GTI.....go with the max....MUCH more car for your $$$...plus VW customer service sucks even more than Nissan's.

 

I once raced one.
it was chipped and it had exhaust.
Well it whooped the crap out of me.
brokenmotor also raced him in his fast 5 speed (andi's old max)
and still lost

 

Ya I really like the GTI VR6 very good car. I would never own one out of warranty though. Most of the fastest ones are total sleepers. Keeping the A3 15" rims on, no p-slo (p-flo), swiss cheese the air box with K&N, chip, debadge etc.. Very quick car for sure! Just don't like that boy racer hot hatch look anymore myself.

 

I don't know about that. I also had a Jetta that had a sticky WOT issue. If I remember correctly it had something to do with a vacuum.
Even though I have some cool friends with VW's and wouldn't mind being a member of their VW club, i'll never own another VW as they are IMO one of the trashiest cars made.
If you decide to purchase a VW plan on dealing with, broken door handles, broken gauge clusters, broken switches, faulty electrical systems, O2 sensors that need replacing every 10,000 miles, stripped out windshield wipers and mechanisms, etc..
I've owned and driven an 83 Audi 5000, 83 Jetta, 86 Golf, and a 96 Jetta GLS for many miles and can tell you without hesitation. If I never own or drive another VW product again it will be too soon.
I like my 2kGXE (50,000 miles)so much that I'm suprised that I haven't laid down $$$ on a 2k2 SE. But then again, why would I when I have so many more miles to enjoy with my 2k.

 

One year ago when my 3 co-workers and I were buying new cars, we narrowed it down to the 2000 Max SE and VW GTI VR6. Finally I got the Max and they got 3 GTIs. Last week we got to get together during lunch and talked about our cars. One guy said his car's window dropped off twice at 3K and 5K miles. The other guy said his car's door seal fall to the ground several times. And the third one's car is sitting at Dealers fixing the clutch. They all claimed that they would never get a VW anymore.

And my Max? Not a single problem yet.

 

What kind of insurance difference is there between the two cars? Have you raced them yet?

 

Well, don't know about the insurance difference. I am paying $600 for half a year(I am 24 male single). I once raced with one of them. He
beated me on street. We were pretty even on high way and I won by half a car.

 

<Personal Opinion>
2 ways to look at this ....

25 and last chance to get a small sporty car ... go GTI

25 and want to get a KICK *** sports sedan before getting married so the car is part of the package and you don't end up trading in the GTI on a mini van or 4cyl accord because the GTI is toooooo small.

If you are in ANYTHING that has clients or co workers in your ride go MAX.
</Personal Opinion>