Mk6 GTI sticker shock

[Pharkus]

Up to you ultimately. For the price they are quoting, apples to apples, you could nab yourself a Pirelli (if there are any left) and mod it like the yellow one on the MkV forums (very nicely done).

End of the day, it'll be your car to live with. Good luck with the puchase and we'll wait for the pics when you do get it. =)

[Lima]

mmm. Sometimes I wonder why people buy a 40K car and add 12-15K of options...

Yeah, much better to do that to a 65K car, haha.

Lucky Audi dealers play ball. Not sure there'll be quite so much joy from VW dealers to start with.

[Lima]

Everything I read says the GTI is a better drivers car than an S3...

Let me remedy that for you, haha.

All IMO, of course ... our S3 is a better drivers car than our Mk5 GTI, simply because it is quicker, and because it can be pushed into corners much harder than the GTI can.

Also, IMO, a GTI in stock trim can be found wanting in terms of dealing with the power at hand. It doesn't take much to find the limits of adhesion, much less one with an aftermarket tune. Sure, this can add to the driving experience, by needing to modulate throttle inputs to remain within those limits. But there's no such problems with the S3.

The GTI does have a smoother feeling engine and it does feel more urgent below 3000rpm.

The S3 has a more compliant ride around town and better suspension and steering feel when you start to get serious. (Note, our GTI has aftermarket 18" alloys, but I would still make the same claim when remembering what the GTI was like with its standard 17" wheels.)

Naturally, it depends on how you yourself define drivers car, but I know if a twisty road beckons there's only one car from our garage I would prefer to take, and as good as it is, it won't be the GTI. But, for an extra 20K+ the S3 should damn well be better, too!

[T Go]

...soooooo back on topic....

is ACC an option or standard?

Luxury tax only gets heaped on cars above $55k right?
So if you don't option it up like a crazy man/woman, you shouldn't run into this....

[nyc863]

Naturally, it depends on how you yourself define drivers car, but I know if a twisty road beckons there's only one car from our garage I would prefer to take, and as good as it is, it won't be the GTI. But, for an extra 20K+ the S3 should damn well be better, too!

glad you like your S3, but the relationship between driving fun and extra cost is definitely nearly random. I know Clarkson has a huge ego and loves the sound of his own metaphors, but he didn't like the woolly nature of the S3, preferring "any other car" for the money, whereas he just rated the latest MX-5 21 stars out of 5 saying it was as much fun as a ferrari.
That is my kind of drivers car definition .. I'll see your taillights disappear but I suspect my preferred car will be more entertaining. I owned an RS6 and it was monstrous, as it should for the premium, but dull. The only Audis I can get excited about now is the old RS4 and the R8.

Guess I need to go drive the Mk6 GTI before I stick up for it too much, though. But I like the euro reviews. They say all the right things.

example:

I could go on for paragraphs about the way this GTI rides as well as it handles or how its new electronic limited-slip differential saw me tear through corners quicker than I’ve ever done, even behind the wheel of more expensive sports cars. But none of that is necessary.All you need to know is that at this moment and without a doubt, the new GTI is the definitive performance hatch, certainly not the beefiest, but by far the most rewarding to drive

[nyc863]

...soooooo back on topic....

is ACC an option or standard?

Luxury tax only gets heaped on cars above $55k right?
So if you don't option it up like a crazy man/woman, you shouldn't run into this....

ACC is an option. I think it would be silly to get a GTI without it though.

Luxury tax: yes, hold back on the options to escape paying it.

[Lima]

glad you like your S3, but the relationship between driving fun and extra cost is definitely nearly random. I know Clarkson has a huge ego and loves the sound of his own metaphors, but he didn't like the woolly nature of the S3, preferring "any other car" for the money, whereas he just rated the latest MX-5 21 stars out of 5 saying it was as much fun as a ferrari.
That is my kind of drivers car definition .. I'll see your taillights disappear but I suspect my preferred car will be more entertaining. I owned an RS6 and it was monstrous, as it should for the premium, but dull. The only Audis I can get excited about now is the old RS4 and the R8.

Guess I need to go drive the Mk6 GTI before I stick up for it too much, though. But I like the euro reviews. They say all the right things.

Yep, I'm with you there and definitely understand it's not all about outright pace. I drove a MINI Cooper S for 5 years, which was rapid enough, sure, but there's plenty of faster cars out there. Not many are as fun to drive though.

For me, that's still the point, I find the S3 more fun than our GTI. But, I do understand the dollar per entertainment value and, for me, the only time the S3 really cuts the mustard for its extra cost is when you're on a mountain pass having a red hot go. Then the extra money makes sense, all other times, not so much.

And as much as I am loving the S3, there's plenty of times I miss the MINI. However, as an overall package, I know I've made the right choice.

If the Mk6 GTI was available when I was doing the deal on the S3, I would have given that a serious look, don't worry about that.

Haha, apologies for the rambling, I just wanted to put forward one opposing view about the S3 v GTI.



Cheers
Liam

[walbjj]

wow, unless ur dead set on buying a new car, why would u let urself get raped like that.
as mentioned, plenty of r32, pirelli gtis and standard gti avail. in fact, there is a 400hp apr mk5 gti fs in qld from harding performance i believe, and thats $50k out the door, even less without some of the stuff.

i would never buy a car brand new again. the amount u lose straight off the bat is eye watering. sure, i dont have the satisfaction of owning a new car, but ive been there, that feeling passes when i see tens of thousands of dollars evaporate literally straight away

[dodgey]

I don't think that price is that far off the first year (2005) MkV GTI price, maybe a touch higher in parts.

We are talking full retail pricing here, right, rather than negotiated pricing (which would be minimal in the first year anyway)

[Pharkus]

LCT applies to the excess (excl GST) at 33% over the LCT threshhold of $57,180 last I checked. You will want to make sure of that yourself.

Pretty sure you can't dodge it by adding options up to the limit then adding the options after you have bought the car.