Interesting GTI review

[hooba]

Baruth's car reviews are always interesting, here he sums up the GTI quite nicely.

Volkswagen 2.0T Intramural League, Second Place: GTI DSG Four-Door | The Truth About Cars

[Corey_R]

hehe... so he likes the GTI more than the R....
No surprise there. Standard Golf R's are too porky and boring - the GTI would definitely be more fun to drive.

And he likes the new GLI more than the GTI...

Cool. I hope they decide to bring the GLI to Australia this time...

[team_v]

hehe... so he likes the GTI more than the R....
No surprise there. Standard Golf R's are too porky and boring - the GTI would definitely be more fun to drive.

And he likes the new GLI more than the GTI...

Cool. I hope they decide to bring the GLI to Australia this time...

I would tend to agree with this.
The GTI is definitely more chuckable, the R would be a lot more refined at the same speeds through corners which means you have to push the R a lot harder to get that same exhilirating drive.

Once modified though it becomes a different ball game.

[triode12]

hehe... so he likes the GTI more than the R....
No surprise there. Standard Golf R's are too porky and boring - the GTI would definitely be more fun to drive.
And he likes the new GLI more than the GTI...

...

[Slaps Corey on the back of the head!]
Where is the real Corey and what have you done with him?

[Ideo]

hehe... so he likes the GTI more than the R....
No surprise there. Standard Golf R's are too porky and boring - the GTI would definitely be more fun to drive.

And he likes the new GLI more than the GTI...

Cool. I hope they decide to bring the GLI to Australia this time...

You're wrong.

[kaanage]

And he likes the new GLI more than the GTI...

Cool. I hope they decide to bring the GLI to Australia this time...

This is why

Enough griping. I come to praise the GLI, not bury it. Start with the suspension. It’s measurably softer than that of the GTI, but the same excellence in damping is there. If anything, the GLI was even more competent through the “whomp” zone I detailed in the GTI test, controlling the body nicely even though I really jammed it through that secion when driving the manual-transmission car.

Hear me now and believe me later: you want a relatively soft suspension in a road car. Suspension absorbs bumps and controls the body. That’s its purpose. Stiff suspension, particularly suspension that is stiff in “jounce”, decreases the car’s ability to stay in contact with the road. The same goes for roll stiffness. A little of it is nice, because we don’t want to heel over so far that the car won’t steer correctly, but in general we want the car to comply with the road’s demands. Stiff suspension feels fast, but outside a racetrack it’s rarely the quickest way to get anywhere. Just keep the car from hitting the bumpstops or stroking the shocks all the way to their extension point, and leave the rest to me.

from the GLI review
Of course this assessment will instantly kill all credibility of these reviews with the lower, stiffer crowd that permeates this forum

[Ideo]

That, and it is an American review, and we all know they prefer land yachts that wallow rather than something that handles

I haven't driven a GLI and am unlikely to ever do so. So, I wouldn't know. But I prefer to base my own opinions on things I can actually test for myself, rather than slavishly following what a review says - and that goes for both positive and negative reviews.

As for the lower stiffer crowd - maybe they are the ones that do some track work so are prepared to make the compromise.

[kaanage]

Just to further reduce the credibility (since most of the low stiff crowd love MASSIVE wheels) there's also this

Unfortunately, “competent” is as far as you get. The biggest issue is the monster wheel syndrome that affects so many modern sporting cars. Never for a moment is it possible to forget the boat anchors attached to all four corners of the Turbo. They take effort to steer, accelerate, and stop. (Brake fade, by the way, shows up early, even on the street.) This is the skidpad-g-number school of handling. I bet it kicks all sorts of ass on a long, sharply curved freeway ramp.

Get it off the ramp and into some fast left-right transitions, however, and the Beetle just can’t muster up any desire. The steering feels slow and the ultimate grip available isn’t well-telegraphed back through the wheel. It’s easy to fall behind the road and start having to play catch-up, which only makes the unhurried response from the helm that much more frustrating.

from the Turbo Beetle review

Most of the low, stiff crowd here seem to be more about posing than track - these reviews are actually dead right on the points I've quoted but then I don't have any credibility on this site either .

[Ideo]

I actually kind of agree - there is an issue with some cars being over tyred.

As for posing rather than track - I prefer not to make character judgements about people I've never met online because it generally makes you look like a bit of an arrogant douche.

[kaanage]

an arrogant douche.

c'est moi!

[DoggieHowser]

I don't think it's big wheels per se.

It is true that with a lower aspect tyre and larger rims even with the same compound the pliancy suffers.

But even on the same rims, I prefer the softer Yokohama A048 semi slicks to the equivalent Bridgestones on my Evo. Ditto with the Dunlop Sports vs Bridgestones on my GTR.

It just gives me a bit more feedback on the level of grip left as I corner.

But some of my friends prefer the harder compounds. They prefer to have a binary type of grip which holds true but can suddenly snap off if you aren't familiar with the limits.

I think it's just what you are more comfortable with. On an unfamiliar car and track, I'd probably prefer the former.

[kaanage]

The issue with the Monster wheels is increased mass with the extra alloy, steel and rubber needed for the wider rim/tyre (it needs to be wider to provide the air volume necessary to maintain the load rating).

This leads to increased inertia which hurts both suspension control (linear inertia) and the other aspects mentioned in the Beetle review (due to the rotational inertia). The fact that almost all of the additional mass is added near the outer circumference increases the rotational inertia more than if it was distributed evenly across the radius.

[Ideo]

The issue with the Monster wheels is increased mass with the extra alloy, steel and rubber needed for the wider rim/tyre (it needs to be wider to provide the air volume necessary to maintain the load rating).

This leads to increased inertia which hurts both suspension control (linear inertia) and the other aspects mentioned in the Beetle review (due to the rotational inertia). The fact that almost all of the additional mass is added near the outer circumference increases the rotational inertia more than if it was distributed evenly across the radius.

Fair points.

I used to run a BMW 318is. It came with 17 inch alloys (fake M3 look)

I took them off and replaced them with standard 15 inch alloys.

Handled much sweeter and tidier as a result of that.

[MkVIGTI]

Standard Golf R's are too porky and boring - the GTI would definitely be more fun to drive.

And this is the Euro spec with 199kw.