I think I may have found the ultimate cross country weapon

Having briefly owned one of those, I can confirm the dashes / interiors were a lot more appalling than that found in a Mk6 Golf...

-- JackH

Accompanied by the sound of a chisel on slate snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.co.uk, managed to produce the following words of wisdom

The plastics seem of equally crap quality though.

Mk6 Golf?

Unless you've got both cars side by side, I suspect that's a little unfair given the last time I saw a Stanza in the flesh was something like 10 years ago.

And no, I'm not defending the Golf either - wouldn't have one myself, as I think VW have lost their way with the current range.

Nope... had I had more funds / desire to *really* get in debt when I bought the current Passat I'd have looked a bit harder for an equivalent aged A4 TDI, and that's probably what I'd have next if I were sticking to VAG stuff.

-- JackH

I've seen the future... oh, and f*ck off pedant :-P

-- JackH

The place where I got the Passat from had a Mk1 Focus in the other week which I had a good nose around as well as the Mk4 Golf next to it... the Focus had a really quite manky, cheap looking interior by comparison.

-- JackH

*raises hand* Me, sir, me. I regret having bought one. I'm used to driving cheapo french stuff, so the passat was supposed to be a slightly upmarket treat, with ladlings of lovely germanic reliability to waft me along on clouds of smug invulnerability. Things did not work out that way. I had as many minor mechanical problems and switchgear related issues as any of my froggy stuff has, but with the added bonus of being comparatively uncomfortable and crap to drive. The last straw was £700 to replace a clutch. £700??!!?? I could buy an entire replacement frogmobile for that.

I wouldn't have one again, and I wouldn't recommend one to anyone who has a passing interest in driving. Good engine though..

No mileage mentioned in the ad, so it's probably starship ;)

You'd need peril-sensitive sunglasses ;)

One could always respray it

Only because it's stuck in an overweight barge and running low boost. Turn the boost up and put it in something lighter and it's an amazing engine for only a 1.8. I thought all modern I4 engines sounded boring?

That's the way things are these days, though - look at the replacement clutch prices for a MkIII Mondeo which also has a dual-mass flywheel.

So let me get this straight. Ditch the donk's home and re-engineer lots of bits and it becomes an amazing engine?

Some do manage to sound interesting.

Well, yes, possibly. Although that just makes me more smug about the lack of potentially expensive replacement parts in my elderly frogmobiles.

Hmmmm.

They're not that bad - obviously, the LPT setup makes them feel much stronger than they are, but the performance figures also look pretty respectable for a 'cooking' model.

Most do. Some don't.

Accompanied by the sound of a chisel on slate snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.co.uk, managed to produce the following words of wisdom

Mk4 Golf and Mk1 Focus both came out around the same time, VW obviously spent all their money on soft touch plastics and the like, Ford spent theirs on making the Focus drive, ride and handle well.

The Mk4 Golf was a large step forwards when it comes to car interiors, but pretty lousy to drive. The Focus went the other way, but it shows how right the Focus is when it drives so much nicer than the Mk5 Golf, never mind the Mk4.

Besides, the "runner" we use for going to get cars is a 52 plate Focus Zetec TDCi Estate with leather so it's not horrible at all. STD and all that shit.

When running a decent amount of boost it's an amazing engine. The main problem is it's mainly stuck in overweight barges and you don't get the full benifit from it. Who said anything about re-engineering lots of bits?

You just need the right standard turbo and a quick remap.

The one I posted is an SE

Yes, and?

It's not marketed as a 'sporty' model, is what I'm getting at.

But they're more than adequately rapid for most tastes.

(0-60 is around 8 secs, ISTR)