Took a ride with a buddy of mine tonight as he is shopping for a new car...he and his wife have pretty much decided on a V6 Passat wagon...kids etc, he wants a wagon.

Took a test drive with him and the car seems really nice! Peppy engine, pretty quiet and the funkiest neon looking dash at night I've ever seen! Not a bad car for a growing family.

Anyways regarding the GTI VR6. While he was talking $$ with the sales gut I jumped in all the VW's in the showroom...Passat Sedan, Turbo Bug (Please....felt like I was in Pee Wee's playhouse or something ), Jetta and the VR6 GTI...I dunno what it was but the minute I sat behing the wheel of the GTI I felt tingles....just seemed like everything felt right and natural..awesome leather and all the controls seemed to match up perfectly with my body reach...granted it is only a 12v V6 but I bet it will move right along pretty well.


Anyways I have zero knowledge of this car other than sitting in one tonight...have test driven a Jetta 1.8T...didnt really care for it...the VR6 just felt so different from the Jetta....it also screamed out to me, Drive me hard

Oh well..know its Max board but someone must have driven one of these before....

(btw...it is not a good thing to be looking a new cars when one is mightly pissed at Nissan lol )

 

when i bought my 96 civic ex...
It impressed me at the time but the price ($19,900) was out of reach at the time...
Then again, i WAS comparing it to a stock civic...
I beleive they run 15.60 in stock form?
I hear that V6 isn't very good though...lots of problems.

 

I am a long time VW driver and really like the VR6. Its quite tunable, but also costs alot of $$$ to anything worthwhile. That being said, stock to stock, a 5 speed 5g max will outrun a VR6 quite easily.

I had my VR6 tuned nicely:
http://homestead.juno.com/madmax2k/files/jettadyno.BMP

The above run was with 9 psi of boost (with a Vortech) and a 25 shot of NOS.

[Edited by madmax2k on 11-03-2000 at 07:31 AM]

 

I had a 1996 VW GTI VR6 that I bought new in 96. It was a FUN car. I loved it, but I frequently had little quarky things go wrong. The AC was always building up mildew and flooding the interior with water. That was very annoying. I had fun with it until the 24K mile bumper to bumper warranty was up, then it was time to sell... I would never own a used VW, or one that is not under full bumper to bumper warranty. Other than that, I loved it.

 

Yep..the 2/24 warranty STINKS

 

GTI can also come with 1.8T. As we know, chipping is easy.
Spend $$ on bigger turbo + exhaust and it's brutal.
I've known a few GTI (VR6) owners that didn't even bother to replace their chip going in for service. The Garrett chip (probably others) responds like OEM to their diag tool, but if they take it for a drive it's readily apparent.

2yr b2b sucks, but 10 year drivetrain is nice. Chip makes that moot I guess
What I really hate is that if you're the 2nd buyer, 10yr is cut to 5yrs.
Also, the VW extended warranty is fairly inexpensive, so it's 6/10 if buying it when new.

At that point though, the price is creeping up to a....
Maxima!

 

Very true about the 1.8T. But, the engine isnt as silky smooth as the VR6.....as if that matters when youre at WOT!!! A chip alone will take a 1.8 T past VR6 power levels.

 

But the powertrain has a 10 year 100,000 mile warranty.

 

[/I][/QUOTE]
But the powertrain has a 10 year 100,000 mile warranty. [/I][/QUOTE]

Yes, but all the problems I had, as far as the AC, etc.. Would not have been covered. I was already taking it in every 1-2 months to have the problem fixed, along with other problems like the ABS light that wanted to stay on etc.... The powertrain warranty would have done me no good.

 

How about a VR6 in the Corrado SLC? My buddy has one with just an intake and it feels just as fast if not faster than my Max? Perception of speed and acceleration can be funny though. I'll have to run him one of these days and see what happens, I doubt either of us will pull hard on the other. What are typical 1/4 times for those things? and how well does it keep pulling past 100mph compared with the Max?

 

A VR6 in a Corrado with an intake will put down about 160-165 wheel hp. But they are lighter than a Max. Typically, Corrado VR6's with a good driver turn low to mid 15's at about 91-92 mph. They also have a good top end pull. I think out on the highway it would be a respectable race, but in your 5 speed Max, you will win. Ive raced a few friends VR6's some which were heavily modded (ported head, big valves, cams, header, exhaust, intake, chip) and havent lost yet.

 

it could go either way stock but once he start adding chips and other mods you can forget it unless you get a sc, my bro has a g60 turbo ,15-20psi ,pully and chip and the 2kmax can't keep up.

 

I like the Audi 2.8 V6 (5 valves per cylinder) better than the VR6. The Passat uses the Audi engine, while the Jetta uses the older VR6. The 1.8T with the smooth VW stick kicks ***. You can chip it from 150 to 225 HP for about $300. The Passat has an awesome front suspension. Torque steer is less of a problem on it than the Max.

 

Quote:

Originally posted by madmax2k

A VR6 in a Corrado with an intake will put down about 160-165 wheel hp. But they are lighter than a Max. Typically, Corrado VR6's with a good driver turn low to mid 15's at about 91-92 mph. They also have a good top end pull. I think out on the highway it would be a respectable race, but in your 5 speed Max, you will win. Ive raced a few friends VR6's some which were heavily modded (ported head, big valves, cams, header, exhaust, intake, chip) and havent lost yet.

Interesting, so it would be a good match-up then. He won't go from the line with me b/c he's convinced that my extra tq will give me an early lead and he really doesn't like to beat his car like that. (he's afraid it's gonna blow it up? says the VR6 has a tendancy to blow head gaskets before 100k?) So most likely we'll go from a roll, I'd guess that he'll jump in front until my VQ winds up and really starts making full power. Then I'd expect to slowly walk him up to say 120mph when the Max stops pulling as hard. Hopefully by that point I'll have pulled ahead and his VR6 isn't accelerating any faster than me.

 

I actually considered trading my 96' Max for a Jetta VR6 but decided on a 2K Max SE - no regrets. But that little Jetta was a NICE car - small - but nice. Had plenty of power and "felt" quick even with an automatic. I drove the BMW 328i back to back with the Jetta and for $10,000 less or even same price I would take the Jetta in a heartbeat. BMW was nice but not nearly as quick as the Max OR Jetta.

My 2-cents

 

Heck... a worked over G60 is a different animal than a stock VR6. A stock G60 doesnt stand a chance against a VR6 or a 2k Maxima.

 

:vampire:
the VR6 is consider a pretty good car for that class. Well still the Maxima is better than the VR6. Come on! the VW GTI is like European Civic. well....

 

I comparison shopped the Maxima against a Passat V6 wagon.
We were in a 98 Outback at the time. Your friend should let the wife drive both the VW and the Maxima, as opposed to him making her mind up for her. Thats what I did, and my wife chose the Maxima, both for more space, less claustrophobic interior, less exterior wind noise,and smoother ride. AND we are finding that with our two teen kids and all their gear, we have just as much room in our Maxima as we had in the Outback..and the Outback is way bigger than any V-Dub. In fact rear seat room in the Max beats the Outback
We still havent gone on a skii trip all geared up, but with a set of racks, I'm sure we will be OK. I've seen Maxima's with bike carriers on the trunk, canoes on the roof etc..

Sport Utes suck. I figure I can do everything with my Max that fits with my lifestyle that I could have done with the OUtback..and pack the kids too!!!!

 

1.8T when I drove it....hated the clutch, felt like it just fell to the floor when I stepped on it and the clutch itself felt too far over to the right...like I had to contort my left foot to find the clutch...

Pickup was pretty brisk but I did notice an unbelievable amount of wind noise on the highway.

The GTI VR6 felt like a fighter cockpit to me...had shorter gates than the 5spd Max. Nice black leather interior, controls were all easily within reach and I love the little jack on the side of the seat to adjust it

Only thing I did not like was the visiblity to the rear due to the 3 huge headrests on the back seat....suppose those come off....I dunno.....I'm tempted...

I will agree that the VQ is probably the quietest smoothest six I've ever heard or seen......but.....as much as I love the engine, I dunno it is enough to win me over....

Hey I'm a single guy with a cat as my only dependent....been unattached for about 6 months (figures she loved the Max....no wonder I think the car has evil spirits in it.... ) what do I need 4 doors for? heh...

Money.....who needs it? Sure glad I sold my Ciena stock for 17 bucks a share a year ago.....could have bought a Boxster if I held on to it ...doh!

[Edited by jnm2kse on 11-03-2000 at 06:04 PM]

 

I almost bought a Passat wagon. I thought that the GLS or GLX (whatever, I don't remember) wagon looked good in BLACK. That car is quick. I would have bought the Passat too, but the dealer took to long to come up with a deal. And they ran out of food, which is required for me to purchase a car at a dealer. So when I, went to lunch, I passed by a nissan dealer, made a U-turn and stopped in. My lucky day, the salesperson need 3 more sales to get quota, so I was out of the dealer in 2 hours with my brand new 2000 Nissan Maxima GLE.

 

Let's remember why the VR6 is such an "acclaimed" engine.
It's not for its power, though it's respectable. There is a Euro version with 24v, putting out 204HP in 2.8l. US should see it in the Jetta GT sometime in 2001. (Chipped 1.8T _still_ makes more power)

The reason it's so innovative is because of its compact size. They're cramming that thing in the same space that they're using for the 2.0l 8v(!)

2 of them are being welded together for a W12 engine(!!)
3 of them are being welded together for a W18 engine(!!!)
Practically add the output up.

egads, can any other "respectable" 6 cylinder even think of such an application? Giant-killer? Nope. Versatile? Heck yeah.

Also, not interchangeable with Audi 2.8 30v. east-west vs north-south. Also Audi doesn't want 24v VR6 cannibalizing 2.8 30v sales. Unless Jetta GT is artificially priced high, where's the incentive to spend $$$K to get the A4 FWD?

 

I've been reading quite a bit on the the GTI's and it seems that most of the Car rags love the 1.8T vs the VR6(potential maybe?) Off the line I guess the 6 is a bit quicker but midranges I read that the 1.8T has better speeds (30-50 or something like that).

Don't you think the 6 would be smoother though?

I'm telling you, when my friend took off in the Passat wagon with me in the back, I was glued to the back seat...felt very smooth and powerful..although I see that the Passat V6 is different than the GTI's.

And the dash.....if you guys havent seen the Passat or GTI dash at night...man...it is awesome!! Well if you like blue and red.....