StandardShift.com

And I love it.

My Rabbit, that is.
See original post:
http://www.standardshift.com/forum/view ... 32&t=20156

I love how practical it is. I carried some 10' 2x4 in it, along with pickets to build a fence. High speed stability is great. I've cruised at 90mph. Solid. Extremely comfortable. Smooth shifting. Nice low end torque. It has been very reliable. 2.5 is allegedly, most reliable VW engine in recent times.

Dislike:
Dull engine. REV HANG.

Overall, it is probably my most favorite car i've owned for every day driving.

interesting perspective on the highly misunderstood (even by me) golf/rabbit. i never really considered mine very cargorific, but eye'm apparently using it wrong - time to clean him out and fold those rear seats. if yours has that much room, mine will have even more; with the seats up the hatch area doesn't hold too much and the back seats aren't that big. also disagree about the engine being dull, but the '07s may have had less power (forget if it was the '07s or '08s that got more power) - my '12 jetta with it's 6 speed auto felt quick and the engine was anything but dull. it could be the tranny that is the problem and what is dull too.

If it's the same manual, or related to that in the '11 Jetta, it has 3 overdrives which hide power pretty effectively.

It's probably a lot more like the 5MT that was in my 2008 Rabbit, which, on paper, had an overdrive or two...but in reality its ultra-short final drive meant it ran out of gears by the time I got to 25mph and I wanted ten more gears if they must be so short and so closely-spaced. Power was plentiful and ready on tap without a downshift in every gear at any speed - but all the 2.5's copious torque was wasted and it buzzed around like a ricer kid who thinks he's awesome for keeping his Civic in 3rd gear at 90mph. (Slight hyperbole may have been used in the preceding sentence...just slight.)

I found mine amazingly spacious for a compact car that could almost be parked entirely in the trunk of most cars I've ever owned (which tend to be very large), but certainly not cargorific by my thoroughly inflated standards either.

The best cure I found for rev hang was to ignore it, shove the shifter as if it owed me money, dump the clutch as if Scotty just beamed my leg out, and keep RPM under 1200 (well, until I was going over 25mph that is) where a little rev hang is tough to notice.

If I owned one now I'd definitely invest in tuning out rev hang (and maybe some taller gears).

Maybe its because of the other cars that i've owned that I find it less exciting. Speaking of which, I've toyed with the idea of getting an E46. Not sure if I can make the swap since this rabbit is the closest we have to a "truck". How does the I6-2.5 compare to the VW 2.5? I've never driven one but looking for comparisons

I remember my 08 Rabbit I bought new and had for a few years. I also had a bit of a love and hate relationship with it. Man, that seems like such a long time ago that I had it.

RomPirate wrote:Maybe its because of the other cars that i've owned that I find it less exciting. Speaking of which, I've toyed with the idea of getting an E46. Not sure if I can make the swap since this rabbit is the closest we have to a "truck". How does the I6-2.5 compare to the VW 2.5? I've never driven one but looking for comparisons

I hear you about the exciting thing. thing is, you end up compromising in some way to get a more fun car. rabbit/golf is more comfortable, roomy, well-rounded etc. than most "fun" cars. as for the ancient yet well-respected bmw 2.5 litre I6, i haven't looked up the numbers in years (and too lazy to look them up now, but a quick wiki search would pull them up), but the numbers are very similar from what i remember, and both engines have a unique sound to them. the BMW I6 sound is nicer - more refined and with that classic I6 sound. the VW 2.5 has a nice growly sound to it, and i liked mine overall (despite the mediocre MPGs). both engines are old designs, but the BMW I6 dates back further in time (i think the VW 2.5 is from the early 2000s - don't confuse it with the older audi 5 bangers - while the bmw engine is (originally) from the 80s. for the older BMWs, the 2.5 was good, i'd say up to the e46, but the 3 series (let alone the 5 series) got too heavy after that. the 2.8, while dogged by many for some reason (too lazy to look up; can't remember why), was better suited to even the older 3 series in my opinion.

AHTOXA wrote:I remember my 08 Rabbit I bought new and had for a few years. I also had a bit of a love and hate relationship with it. Man, that seems like such a long time ago that I had it.

i remember your grey rabbit getting hit and dented every time you turned around. my grey '12 jetta was also a dent and ding magnet. also remember you blowing off that mercedes in the WV mountains

potownrob wrote:

AHTOXA wrote:I remember my 08 Rabbit I bought new and had for a few years. I also had a bit of a love and hate relationship with it. Man, that seems like such a long time ago that I had it.

i remember your grey rabbit getting hit and dented every time you turned around. my grey '12 jetta was also a dent and ding magnet. also remember you blowing off that mercedes in the WV mountains

I don't remember blowing off a Mercedes but I definitely remember all the misfortunes that car endured.

On a somewhat related note, I drove a new GTI the other day and I have to say... meh. It wasn't as good as I expected, but I am not quite sure what I expected. The clutch and shifter were GREAT, however. I almost expected a rev-hanging mess, but there was no such thing. It took me mere minutes to feel like I have been driving this car for years. It was precise, smooth and felt great. But the rest of it was somewhat underwhelming, especially given that I'd be paying 30+ grand for it. The power was just so-so, but I am kind of spoiled by the ecoboost, which are gutsy motors even in the heavy trucks and punch way above their weight (or displacement). Again, I am spoiled by the largest cabin of pretty much anything you can buy, but the space in the back was lackluster and I am certain that it cannot be my camping vehicle to haul two big dogs plus gear for two people - no way. I'd have to get a large roof box to do that and then all the economical benefits are out the window.

For 30K+ I feel like there are better options out there.

AHTOXA wrote: I don't remember blowing off a Mercedes but I definitely remember all the misfortunes that car endured.

well, it was more like caught her off guard then she didn't try to keep up. eye took a loss on my jetta, not just due to the legendary vw depreciation, but also due to hitting icebergs too many times during the winters i had the car.

On a somewhat related note, I drove a new GTI the other day and I have to say... meh. It wasn't as good as I expected, but I am not quite sure what I expected. The clutch and shifter were GREAT, however. I almost expected a rev-hanging mess, but there was no such thing. It took me mere minutes to feel like I have been driving this car for years. It was precise, smooth and felt great. But the rest of it was somewhat underwhelming, especially given that I'd be paying 30+ grand for it. The power was just so-so, but I am kind of spoiled by the ecoboost, which are gutsy motors even in the heavy trucks and punch way above their weight (or displacement). Again, I am spoiled by the largest cabin of pretty much anything you can buy, but the space in the back was lackluster and I am certain that it cannot be my camping vehicle to haul two big dogs plus gear for two people - no way. I'd have to get a large roof box to do that and then all the economical benefits are out the window.

For 30K+ I feel like there are better options out there.

your chariot awaits...

Oh heck no. No more CUVs

Is that one of those that come out of China or Poland?

AHTOXA wrote:Oh heck no. No more CUVs

Thats a wagon not a cuv

potownrob wrote:

AHTOXA wrote:Oh heck no. No more CUVs

Thats a wagon not a cuv

It is kind of sexy, if a bit pretentious.

potownrob wrote:Thats a wagon not a cuv

What is the difference?

Not in theory, but in practice...