one of my buddies is car shopping and he's tryin to decide between the 1.8t or the vr6 2.8. he doesn't know much about either so i tried to do some research for him. i found that the specs are pretty close but i wanted to hear what vw forums had to say. however, this led me to a website containing a ton of idiots with opinions-- nobody could throw out any real numbers like ppl do on here
so as far as hp, maintenance, potential, build, etc...., which car would be the victor?
Tell him if he was smart he would walk away.
lol. well besides the obvious, he's pretty set on getting one jetta or the other. so uh, anything?.... c'mon, i know you vets on here can at least spit some numbers for comparison. the friggin guys on v-dub forums that drove these things could only sat stuff like, "i'd go with the vr6 because of the exhaust note..." or "i got the 1.8t just because i love boost...". you guys can do better than that, right?
VW is what I do, I'm a Volkswagen technician at a dealership for a living.... walk away is the best advise you can give him
damn. are they just difficult to work on, do they break often, are they just a money pit? gimme somethin! i cant just tell him 'the tech said walk away,' ya know?
yaris? i dont think he wants a sex change with the car he gets. lol
my buddy just bought a 87 jetta with a 1.8 8v and has nothing but problems wont start right all 4 brake lines went, and tonight it started leakin oil and found out that the engine is cracked... and i was looking for parts and such for it (like replacement parts) and everything is expansive as hell. with that all said his jetta is old so.... but he said if he had to pick he'd get a vr6.
I have a mkIII Golf (93 TDI). I LOVE the thing to death right now..
BUT
-Almost everything interior wise in non functional...
-Suspension is toast on all 4 corners
-The diesel can smell like poo at times.
My Cav
I give up...
i'm buying a VW those people love trees, so they should love eachother too... "Andy"
if your getting a jetta it might as well be a sex change
1989 Turbo Trans Am #82, 2007 Cobalt SS G85
if he wants to listen to a turbo and worry about all the problems with boosting cars get the 1.8t. if he wants the best sounding v6 ever then tell him to get the vr6. personally...i would get the vr6
Well I guess I am one of the lucky ones. I have a 2002 1.8t and haven't had any problems with it. One thing you must do it keep up with the maintenance (not cheap).
Now IMO if your going to mod one out the VR6 would be a better option if you plan on spending money on a turbo or supercharger. If you don't plan to turbo or supercharge it then stick with the 1.8t.
When looking for one just make sure all the scheduled maintenance has been done and spend the extra cash on at the very least a powertrain warranty.
1.8t 5 speed trannies = fragile.
My Cav
I give up...
i'm buying a VW those people love trees, so they should love eachother too... "Andy"
Short Hand wrote:1.8t 5 speed trannies = fragile.
Never heard of the trannies being fragile, but have heard the stock clutch is POS. The Auto trans is fragile thoe.
Hi,
I've been owner of a Golf VR6 in the 4 years ago. The most fun I've had with a car except for the 2 head gaskets in 7 months and the many many electrical problems. Loved the sound of this engine with a cold air intake though.
Before selling it, I had two options:
Sell it
or
Go back to school to get a degree in electrics/electronics.
I had a buddy who owned them all and lemme guess you made a trip to the VORTEX?-
vr6 corado, He needed two door handels to start... 600$ thats just taste a whats to come. He sold it after small but costly engine @!#$ went wrong.
Had a 2.0.. slow as piss and not impressive in any category- sold that
Got a 1.8t- Constant maintence, and small things that add up. He just sold it becuase there money pits and he is having a kid.
Honestly Dubs are nice... but I never heard of someone not having a damn problem with them,
" Aint nothin' but a Peanut!"
Definately go with VR6, if they insist on getting @$$ raped with a VW. The 1.8T is unreliable, more maintenance hungry, turbo is a PITA to change, and it probably will have to be changed soon.
Currently #4 in Ecotec Forced Induction horsepower ratings. 505.8 WHP 414WTQ!!!
Currently 3rd quickest Ecotec on the .org - 10.949 @ 131.50 MPH!!!
Short Hand wrote:1.8t 5 speed trannies = fragile.
not true, the clutch barely holds stock power but the trannys pretty solid
Couple of friends of mine have VWs, one with a 1.8T, the other with a VR6 (both are MKIV).
1.8T - Kind of "eh" in stock form, ECU reflashes can net a halfway decent gain. Getting to the turbo sucks, the inlet pipe is a PITA, the exhaust is restrictive as hell, and all in all, it needs some breathing room to really note a difference over stock. Trans/clutch have held up pretty fine to a decent amount of abuse. So far for mods, the car has:
Intake
Turbo-back exhaust from 42 Draft Designs
Diverter Valve and N75 "Race" Valve
ECU Reflash from Unitronix (Stage 1+)
VR6 - Friends 2nd VR6, first was a mk3 jetta with the 12v VR. Exhaust note was AMAZING with his old Remus muffler and piping. Tourque was plenty, and car just picked up and went. Motor and trans was bulletproof, but everything else seemed to break. All the little stuff, on top of the rust starting on the floorpan forced him to sell his car. Now, he has a VR6 24v, which is still a nice car in its stock form, but he has already broken the drive axle in the car.
Aside from that, don't know really what else to tell you. We have replaced a ton of stuff with aftermarket parts in both cars, but that was never really due to stuff breaking that wasn't their fault.
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IGOTBANNED.NET
OceanStateDubs.com
thats handy info. thanks guys. now i don't have to say 'the tech said walk away'
all other info is def invited!
personally I wouldn't tell him anything about the cars, I'd tell him to do some research on his own and come up with his own opinion instead of being a sheep
PsychoticPirate (vidgod) wrote:Short Hand wrote:1.8t 5 speed trannies = fragile.
Never heard of the trannies being fragile, but have heard the stock clutch is POS. The Auto trans is fragile thoe.
My friend has a '01 Jetta with the 1.8t The clutch went psycho one day and somehow managed to drag the transmission along with it. $1500 right there. Now he's getting two coolant CEL's and one lean CEL. It's falling apart literally.
coolant faults ftw
Get used to it
The temp sensors are junk, the coolant flanges are junk, the water pumps are plastic, the thermostats are common problems, malfunction in cooling system faults can be caused by not having a perfect 50/50 mix of coolant and water, coolant has a tendency to migrate from the bottle through the sensor wiring to the back of the instrument cluster to were it drips down on the driver.
Coolant issues are very common. And the vr6 has the cack pipe acrost the front of the block from the thermostat to the water pump that sucks balls.
