Is our improved, do-it-all GTI really capable of doing it all?

Lots of things look great on paper, but there’s a reason the idiom is famous. We’ve written plenty about why we think our Mk7 Volkswagen Golf GTI is the perfect solution to the question “What if you only had one car but still wanted to go on track?”

Now, however, it was time to see if paper matched reality.

It …

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guys, there's this thing called a roof rack you could try ;)

also lol at you calling a GTI "huge." I DD a Mk7 and have never once considered it to be a large car.  That said, a Gen1 Montero hood fits inside by millimeters (along with four wheels/tires)

Can it rallycross?

Idk, this thing is gigantic compared to a Miata--definitely a significantly larger size than a Mk1 Rabbit.

Here's an interesting comparison, and the reason we refer to it as a minivan:

1984 Dodge Caravan Dimensions:

175.9" L x 69.6" W x 64.2" H

Tom Suddard said:

1984 Dodge Caravan Dimensions:

175.9" L x 69.6" W x 64.2" H

 

Comparing it to a vehicle 33 years older doesn't seem fair, and the length is the biggest factor there. 

With the seats down, there is a good bit of room. The hatch area isn't exactly cavernous with the seats up, I can't really say it compares to a minivan.

I think you're on the right track with your mods. The #1 handling improvement that I did to my Mk6 was a set of camber plates. They were also the worst thing I did to the car as far as NVH goes. That style of camber plate shouldn't be as noisy as most of the others though. 

I would highly recommend that if you're going to go with aftermarket sway bars that you replace them in pairs. 034 is really fond of their 25.4mm RSBs but in my experience they make the car handle strangely.  

Honestly, I would stop where you are now as far as the suspension goes. Any further gains are going to came at a high cost to daily drivability. I'd concentrate on better front brakes. Is this a PP car with the 345mm rotors? If not, that's a fairly cheap upgrade and is actually beneficial. 

Tom Suddard said:

Idk, this thing is gigantic compared to a Miata--definitely a significantly larger size than a Mk1 Rabbit.

Here's an interesting comparison, and the reason we refer to it as a minivan:

1984 Dodge Caravan Dimensions:

175.9" L x 69.6" W x 64.2" H

 

I mean, sure. But then again a 154" x 68" current-generation Miata is gigantic compared to a....... 

MG Midget: 137" x 54"

--

BTW;  1st gen Golf GTI: 156" x 65" 

So if the current Miata is the size of a GTI, is the current Miata just a convertible old minivan? :D

incidentally, while reading this I was standing out front and my huge GTI is parked next to my other vehicle lol...

In reply to Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) :

But the article references modern car size (compared to not modern cars). Seems relevant.

It's not likely to be a surprise to anyone on this forum that cars have, indeed become much larger than they used to be. (Exception - current MX5!) 

Mine got 5th at Adams Motorsports Park's time-attack last Friday.

The brakes were good for about a lap and a half on a green-white-checker run. The intercooler was good for about two and a half laps.

It really didn't like banked corners, kept skipping and hopping.

In reply to Nathan JansenvanDoorn :

I said fair, not relevant. As you noted, everybody here knows cars have generally gotten bigger, but I guess that I sometimes forget that the article or magazine may not be read by huge nerds like us.


 

While it's obviously a lot larger car, it's still quite small.  My son and I totally filled the hatch of my '19 R with our ski stuff for a 2 day trip.  My wife could fit in the car, but not her stuff.  For what it is, it's a great street car that's very usable.  But it takes a lot of work to make it a decent track car, which then detracts from its street car qualities.  Plus it's not a hauler. 

Since I have a fun car, that fills in the fun car duties, I sold my '19 R and picked up a Land Cruiser.  It does stuff the R couldn't do, hauls way more stuff, people and the dog, etc. 

For an only car, it's really hard to beat a hot hatch like the GTi tho...

My GTI has been a great do it all car. It's modded pretty minimally (still on stock shocks and springs) and can still do a sub 2:15 at VIR with relative ease. My stuff on it is documented in the builds forum.