(first posted 2/4/2016) Another double feature is up from R&T’s 40th anniversary issue, these two road tests are of cars that couldn’t be more different one from another.
First off, it’s the Jag:
But given its popularity (at least compared with the XJ-6), the GTI’s test will probably appeal to more of you:
I’ve owned a lot of Volkswagens and loved them all…an 80 Scirocco, 86 GTI, 88 GTI 16V, 90 Corrado, 93 Fox and currently a restored 81 Scirocco S…My favorite was the GTI 16V…Wite with black trim, teardrop wheels, great seats….It looked great, sounded great and drove even better. my first car with A/C and power steering it was comfortable too.
Really sweet !!
Since a few years the current Scirocco isn’t available anymore on our market. But the model is still being sold in other countries and it did get an update last year. What do you “Original Scirocco Owners” think of the current gen ?
I think they look good. Over here they replaced the 2d Golf R32 in the lineup. The only thing that bugs (hehehe) me is that every time I see one, I think the badge should be sitting within the grille.
It’s a shame the US never received the modern Scirocco, but considering we do have the GTI and the Beetle 2.0 turbo models, that doesn’t really leave much room for it in reality. I actually find the Beetle to be oddly appealing, and my father does too, as he bought a Launch Edition turbo bug identical to the one below:
Well, well, well…cjiguy-senior bought himself a snappy set of wheels ! It has been a while since a saw a Beetle A5, it’s almost a niche within a niche. With that lower roof line it looks so much better than the old New Beetle, if you know what I mean.
If I may ask, you old is your dad ? Older folks often prefer a taller car (like the Golf-based Sportsvan below), instead of a lower one.
Dad is 64. When he told me he was shopping around and wanted something comfortable, I thought a Passat might be a good fit, so off to the VW dealer he went. Imagine my surprise when he came home in that! Did I mention he’s 6 foot 5?
Great. Your dad thought outside the box. Quite literally, in this case.
Ugly. Euro side Impact regs and side airbags have made it flabby around the hips.Reminds me of MOPARs 70s “Fuselage style” cars.
You’ve shared a photo of this beautiful car before, glad to see you still have it. This car has timeless good looks. I wanted one when these were new, but couldn’t afford it. Now, I haven’t seen one on the street in years.
Wow. That ’81 is beautiful!!
I wanted that GTI 16V so bad I could taste it-I briefly had use of one as a demo when I was selling VW, as well as a short time with Scirroco 16V. Most of the time I drove 8V GTIs. In 90 percent of all driving situations, the 8V was better. More torque down low, and quieter. That 16V was raucous, not Quad 4 raucous, but it was no Integra.
What I really wanted was the Jetta Trophy, Canada’s version of the GLI 16V Jetta, but alas I had to settle for a used base model, which at least had alloys and a sunroof.
I hear that a lot about the lack of torque in the 16V engines. Seems hard to believe, having my ’86 8V Jetta for 25 years and working for VW dealers for a long time, but I have never driven a 16V VW. Seems that you really have to keep the RPM’s up for the 16V really get on the power curve. Mk2 8V’s are non interference motors so a broken belt doesn’t destroy the engine, and also get better MPG and are easier to work on. 8V’s do seem to be more durable, (305k miles and counting). 16V’s also require 92 octane gas, 8V’s only need 87 octane regular. The close ratio gearbox 16V’s come with is annoying on the freeway with the high RPM’s.
I had a 1990 GLi during the early 2ks. The power came on hard in the high RPMs, sort of like a vtec engine. The 2.0 liter 16v engine was not made for very long, so it had many problems and was difficult for mechanics to work on. At least that was my experience.
Since owning the GLi I’ve mostly driven 6 cylinder Toyotas which make much more power, and are supposedly much faster to 60 mph. The GLi felt much faster than the numbers would have you believe. First and second gear were super torquey- if I recall correctly, it’s 0-30 mph times were far more impressive than 0-60.
The 5th gear gearing made the car really want to be pushed on the freeway. You had a good amount of torque on tap without downshifts. I routinely hit over 100 mph for short periods on freeways (which is likely in equal parts due to being young and dumb).
I also spent some time with an 8v mk2 Jetta. That was a very average car. The only way it was better than the 16v was reliability wise. The GLi Recaro seats and BBS wheels were also a big part of its appeal.
Wow…25 years with your ’86 Jetta….that’s great. I’m a bit behind you, but have only owned VWs for the last 41 years..with only 3 cars. All of them 8v, 5 speed. Never owned aircooled; though my Dad had a ’59 Beetle back in the day.
My current ’00 Golf replaced an ’86 GTi 8v which replaced a ’78 Scirocco. Don’t think the 16V was out when I bought the ’86. My car was all manual, including steering, even though the car was pretty light, it was a handful when I broke my scapula, collarbone, and 2 ribs, with those “wide” 60 series tires. I owned the ’86 till I bought my current one, it also had close ratio transmission; I escaped the “self machining” issue that could lunch the case, though I did have to replace a fluid soaked clutch. It ate alternator brushes (pulsing headlights) with integral voltage regulator. Also created a lot of foam dust under the seats which I reupholstered more than once (and again when the seatback release cable broke inside). I LOVED the upright driving position of the A1-A3s, consider my A4 to be a sell-out, including the low center stack radio and climate controls, but it’s OK…finally got power steering (duh….it was standard) though could have lived without the power window regulator and power lock problems…should have kept it manual (that’s part of the sell-out).
Changed the timing belt on my ’86 even without supporting the engine (my ’00 has a mount that the timing belt surrounds). Yes, the ’86 1.8 litre felt much peppier than my ’00 2 litre (heavier car) but the Scirocco felt better than the other 2…only 2000 pounds despite less HP. Don’t care for the 2nd-3rd gear gap in the ’00’s transaxle.
I miss both cars, but realize that I’m too old now for a Scirocco, would love a modern version of the A2 Golf…but can’t buy any Golf (just a GTi, and I’m no longer really the target audience, but trying to avoid crossover “replacement” for hatchback…unfortunately I’m a “2 box” person). Unfortunately…will likely be an automatic…I’m in denial, but no one else in my family can drive my car, which is OK as long as I stay healthy but…not guaranteed…don’t want to give up my fun.
Still have it, 31 years now. Its needing some work, tires, rear brakes, front wheel bearing, AC not cold, been over 100k since timing belt was done, fuse box needs cleaning or replacing causing fuel pump relay issues, CV joints a little rattly on sharp turns. I’ve been putting off repairs lately, don’t drive a lot these days. Bought a 2013 Mazda 3 in May 2021 and parked the Jetta since then. Really enjoy the Mazda, still trying to appreciate its body style, its slowly growing on me. Everything works well on the Mazda and it came with new tires and battery. Nice to have more power, modern brakes and safety equipment.
I like the styling of the X40 XJ6 and the motor was really quite an improvement. According to my research on the Jaguar enthusiast forums this motor is quite reliable and long lived. The next generation of the XJ, the X300 series is supposed to be the best incarnation of the brand. I’d like to get one, but like most of the forum members a new Jaguar will always be beyond my reach.
The cutaway profiles that R&T used to run were absolute things of beauty.
Volkswagen had the Golf GTI, Opel had the Kadett GSi and Ford offered the Escort XR3i back then.
But there was one that outclassed them all, the Peugeot 309 GTI. The 309 was meant to be a Talbot, and the GTI-edition was always in the shadow of its little brother 205 GTI. But in the late eighties/early nineties this was the best of its hot hatch class, the 309 GTI 16. It had the same 1.9 liter 16v engine as the Peugeot 405 Mi16 and the Citroën BX GTI 16v. The filthy-edition was good for 160 hp.
I loved my 8v 86 GTi., best car i ever owned. I bought it in fall of 86, after finishing college. I watched as the base MSRP rose from $9190 to $93xx to $96xx to $9890 for mine in Oct. An 87 started over $10k.
In 1983, a Rabbit GTI really had no US competition. It was $7990. In 84 it was $8350. It was a bargain! The mk2 85 was $8990. It had $600 of refinement.
By 1987, there was competition. Acura integra was nice. So,at $12500 to $13000, the GTi was pricey. And not as smooth, or spry 4000 rpm
When it came out in fall 1982, a Rabbit GTI was faster than the hottest Camaro,
the Crossfire TBI 305.
It didn’t last as the L69 came out and that was the end of that.
I owned an X300 Jag for about a year, and was really impressed with it. It was a short wheelbase, non-sunroof car, kind of stripped down compared to most US-market Jags. Very reliable, solidly constructed, had about 140k miles on it, and aside from some clunking noises in the rear suspension (worn bushings, I imagine) it was very quiet.
The bad news is, it looked pretty big on the outside, but had just about NO rear legroom, and the huge transmission tunnel cut into front seat room too. Comfy front seats but tight fit.
My favorite thing about the whole car was opening the hood and gazing at that shiny, polished valve cover that looked like it was 6 feet long…made me think of a WWII era fighter plane engine. I’d buy one today if I could find a long wheelbase one in a good color…but then I’d have to get rid of my Volvo V90 and I really like that car too…
For a couple of years in the ’90s, I had the pleasure of owning an ’88 LWB XJ6 very similar to the one in the story, same color, only mine had the classic Jag Leaper on that long, reverse-hinged hood. I loved the classic long, low, and wide look of the XJs. It was basically a weekend pleasure cruiser or night-on-the-town car, but we also took it on a couple of long road trips from Ohio to Miami Beach and New Orleans. It was very smooth and loved to run, and I enjoyed the torquey pull from that straight six as it effortlessly ate up the highway miles. In fact, I had to be careful to keep a close eye on my speed or use the cruise control because it was so smooth and quiet I’d end up going faster than I realized. All in all, she was a classy, quirky British beauty that got a lot of compliments and started quite a few conversations with strangers wherever we went. After a couple of years, the expense of maintenance was wearing a little thin and I was ready to move on to something else, so I sold it. When it comes to maintenance, nothing is cheap on a Jaguar.
For as much flak as the XJ40 Jags seem to get, I still think they’re attractive cars. Quite an expressive design for the mid 80’s also, when everything seemed to be either all sharp angles and straight lines, or early jellybean aero.
It simply had the misfortune to be preceded by one of the most beautiful sedan designs ever, and followed by a much more retro interpretation of the theme.
I have to agree. A few blocks from me, on a route I drive regularly, is one of this generation Jaguar…For Sale! I glance at it and, remembering the looks of my late uncle’s early XJ6, have to think that is is a car that is trying hard but not succeeding in equalling the style of its predecessor.
I am also reminded of the reliability of that old XJ6 (which now has a Chevrolet engine and air conditioning that works, thanks to his brother who took it off his hands) and drive on, not looking any further at it. As if to reinforce that Jaguar reputation, it hasn’t moved from that parking space for a week.
I’m shocked that the GTI cost more than an Acura Integra RS. I test drove an ’86 GTI 16V to replace my 1985 Jetta GL, and found it to be quite a step down from the German-assembled car in subjective quality. Later, I had a friend with an early 5-door Integra, and I would have thought it was from a much higher order of cars than any GTI. The FX16 seemed more like a GTI competitor, although it had hard plastic in places where the VW had vinyl coated cardboard. The Acura felt more like a competitor for an Audi 80 or BMW 325.
When these were new the salesman for our small company had one. It looked great and the interior was wonderful, especially the leather. Once a group of us went for lunch and I ended up in the back seat. I have fairly long legs, but even a short person would have trouble fitting. It had remarkably poor legroom for a car of this size.
I had an XJ6 and became known as ‘John the Jag’ amongst my lady friends. It fulfilled every wish a young man wants from a car. Even as it emptied my wallet.