ejv@drutx.UUCP (VaughnEJ) (04/29/85)
----- News saved at Sun, 28-Apr-85 15:55:07 MDT COMMENTS REGARDING THE GTI....... OVERALL PERFORMANCE: EXECELLENT!!!!!! THE GTI IS AN EXTREMELY QUICK AND VERY AGILE CAR. I HAVE DRIVEN MINE UP TO 115MPH AND EXPERIENCED SUPER STATBILITY AND QUIET. THE ONLY SOUND BESIDES LOW ROAD NOISE IS THE HUM OF THE ELECTRONIC FUEL INJECTION PUMP. RELIABILITY: VERY GOOD!!! EXCELLENT STARTING IN VERY COLD WEATHER. REGULAR OIL CHANGES INSURE EASE OF CRANKING FOR THE STARTER. PROBLEMS: FEW THE PERELLI TIRES SEEM TO WEAR PRETTY FAST. FRONT WHEEL ALLIGNMENT IS REQUIRED OFTEN. (EVERY 10-15 K MILES). MINE WORE OUT AT 17000 MILES BECAUSE OF MY NEGLECT. AS FOR THE REAR TIRES, MINE ARE CLOSE TO REPLACEMENT AT ONLY 32000 MILES. COMFORT: SUPER!!! THE DESIGN OF THE FRONT SEATS IS THE BEST. THEY SEEM TO WRAP AROUND YOUR BODY AND THE ADJUSTMENTS ARE SUFFICIENT FOR MY COMFORT. I AM 6 FOOT 6 INCHS TALL. ALL IN ALL THE GTI IS A VERY FINE RIDE AND NOT TO FAR FROM THE PERFORMANCE OF A PORCHE OR OTHER CAR S IN THAT CLASS. MARK WM. CHARLES AT&T ISL, WESTMINSTER, COLORADO
jayj@hpisla.UUCP (Jay Johannes) (05/01/85)
Just need to add a couple of things here. My 83 GTI now has 52K miles on it and I am still in love with it. The car seems to do most things very well. We run some in SCCA national rallye circuit, and have autocrossed the car several times. I am 6'0" and could not get the sunroof because my head hit unless the seat was tilted so far back that I couldn't reach the wheel. We dont need air in ours (white), but the black ones definitely require air. Maintenance. If you rotate, count on new tires every 30k miles. If you dont rotate you can replace the fronts every 15k miles. We lost a fuel pump at 50k miles. The brake pads need replacement for the first time now. The exhaust hangers broke early, so we replaced with NAPA parts. No further problems. The car works very well for quick or normal street driving. It does very well in rallye driving, even up here in the mountains where 4 cyl cars usually cant keep up to rallye speeds. In autocross, it does have the rabbit tendency to lift the inside rear wheel, but it does corner neutral. No sudden oversteer transition. We have had a problem with the driver's seat support breaking at the top. It is probably related to my weight (240), but it has been a problem. I too think the new GTI is even better, and wish I could afford to upgrade. Jay Johannes