MKV models in March?

A local dealer is telling people that he is expecting MKV Golfs in March, with the GTI and an MKV Jetta following sometime between late June and November. He also says that VW is confirming that the next Passat will be released as an early 2006 model, sometime around next summer and that the 2.0T powered models will be the first to arrive. Other specs are unknown, says the dealer, except that 4Motion will be offered and that at some point 1 or 2 different versions of the 3.2 VR6 will debut. According to him, the Jetta and Passat will both be moving up-scale, with the Jetta set to try and take on the BMW 3-Series and the Passat set to try and take the 5-Series, although neither model should see a large increase in base price. Seeing as the UK publication CAR picked the

1-series in a comparison over the Golf 2 months ago, I'm having a hard time believeing that the MKV Golf chassis could really breed a car capable of taking on the 3-series. Also, it would be another case (a la' Pheaton) of the VW division stepping on Audi's toes. The A3 is starting to seem extremely redundant to me, but even more so the S3. The S3, TT and GTi will be so much the same car I'm a little confused as to why they'd invest any money on new versions of all three. Steve Grauman
Reply to
Steve Grauman
Loading thread data ...

Reply to
Rob Guenther

Correct there. Marketing claims are common - real results are less so. Take the small sport-compact segment. That Golf or Sentra just isn't a WRX or Boxter or M3 or... yet they try to make us believe it is.

Reply to
Joseph Oberlander

I'm willing to believe that the new Golf will be able to match the WRX''s handling capability, with the GTi spec suspension and the 4Motion option avaliable in Europe. The new Golf's suspension is said to be vastly improved, and a 53/47 weight distribution makes it among the best balanced FWD cars I've ever heard of. However, in standard trim it was incapable of besting the RWD

1-series for handling, and the GTi suspension would need to be QUITE good to help it match a 3-series. But I guess you never know, VW worked miracles with the MKIV platform in the R32. Steve Grauman
Reply to
Steve Grauman

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.