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- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 9 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"This is one fantasticly fun car!"
Pros: Powerful, smooth engine; best transmittion in any car costing less than my house; high level of interior quality, great fit and finish, inside and out. Oh, and it has the coolest steering wheel!
Cons: Styling is a bit boxy, but it's growing on me. I didn't option the 18" wheels because I thought they were quite ugly. Side bolsters on the seat are a bit snug for me. Germans and cupholders?
Summary: My wife and I went to the auto show to look at the new Jetta's and the Audi A3...we never made it past the GTI. We just picked up a Grey one with black leather, DSG and Nav last week, and we love the thing.
My wife was set on a new Jetta (after I bought her a 2003 GLI, she's sold on them). After spending a few minutes behind the wheel of the GTI, she had forgotten all about the Jetta. Besides, with the cost of the GTI being a lower, we were able to get the Nav that we probably would have left off the Jetta. The A3 was the other car on our list, and that was a sweet ride too. But frankly, with the same equipment, the cost of the GTI was much, much lower. The GTI has the same engine, and transmission and underpinnings as the A3.
The Audi's interior was just a hair more elegant, but the difference in back to back comparisons were very favorable for the GTI. The backseat in the GTI will actually hold a human being in it, even with my 6'2" frame in the front. If you want to carry a back seat passenger in the A3, the person in front better be under 5'5". One complaint I had with the GTI was the agressive side bolsters on the seats were a bit narrow for me (I'm not a small guy). The wife loves them. Also worth mentioning is the seat travel. Both the Jetta and GTI have HUGE amounts of seat travel. I'm tall, and the seat went back so far I think Wilt Chamberlain could drive this thing.
There is so much great to say about this car, there is really nothing to compare it too. All I can say is, if you're in the market for a small car, and you want to have a blast behind the wheel, and you don't want to own a plasticy piece of junk...you would be doing yourself a disservice not considering a GTI.
