VW Golf GTI 16V Owners Review

VW Golf MK2 GTI 1.8 16V Owner's Review

Having owned my Golf GTI 16V for nearly 10 months and completed most of the key jobs that needing sorting I'm now in a position to be able to give a review of driving and owning a MK2 Golf GTI.


VW Golf MK2 GTI 1.8 16V Owner's Review

The 16V version of the MK2 Golf GTI is only visually identified by a couple of 16V badges outside the car - one on the front grille and one on the tailgate but these are the only clues that the car is any different to the standard 8V version.





VW Golf MK2 GTI 1.8 16V Original Sales Brochure

The most remarkable things to me over the past 10 months have been the reliability of the car and the virtually complete lack of rust around the car. My GTI was built in 1989 so is now 25 years old and over my ownership has never broken down or failed to start other than from flat battery.

 

When driving the car the steering is perfectly balanced and has great feel to it, being nimble when needed and stiff enough when on the motorway.

 

The main reason for the 16V is the performance and the car doesn't disappoint. The engine is very free revving and still accelerates to the redline at 7000rpm. The one noticeable feature is that the acceleration is very even across the rev range with no sudden surge as you'd get from a turbo or some other performance cars. This can be disconcerting at times but the power is there if you need it.