3 Door vs 5 Door

**leahcim2211** · 21-12-2016, 08:27 AM

Hey guys

New to the forum as I am currently looking to pick up a 9n3. I am coming from a 2 door coupe and most of the Polo's here in NZ are 5 door models which is what I thought I wanted but most of the ones I was looking at have sold but there is 3 door model that ticks all the boxes for me. I was wondering if anyone out there has owned a 3 door and a 5 door or used both and can say how important it was/is for them. The main reason I would go for the 5 door is for ease of getting into the back but thats about all and 95% of my driving is either just myself or 1 other.

**h100vw** · 21-12-2016, 09:13 AM

Originally Posted by leahcim2211

Hey guys

New to the forum as I am currently looking to pick up a 9n3. I am coming from a 2 door coupe and most of the Polo's here in NZ are 5 door models which is what I thought I wanted but most of the ones I was looking at have sold but there is 3 door model that ticks all the boxes for me. I was wondering if anyone out there has owned a 3 door and a 5 door or used both and can say how important it was/is for them. The main reason I would go for the 5 door is for ease of getting into the back but thats about all and 95% of my driving is either just myself or 1 other.

I have a 3 door GTI and an 8L S3. I honestly laugh when I read people think it's an inconvenience to not have back doors?

Get the 3 door, they look better for a start, less electrics to go wrong.

Unless you have passengers that aren't able bodied I can't see where you'd have problems.

My wife and I had 2 kids under 5 and a Corrado.

Gavin

PS if it's too slow, hit me up for a tune

**sambb** · 21-12-2016, 09:42 AM

what gav said. My kids are 6 and 3 and they just jump in the back and buckle themselves up. It was only difficult when my youngest needed to be lifted in and out of the car seat and buckled up with the longer coupe door not giving much room against other parked cars - but they grow up quick.
The only advantage of a 4 door would be if you want to compete in it as a street registered car. eg. In NSW for instance you can't legally fit 1 piece bucket seats in a 2 door even if they are adr approved because the rear occupants need to be able to have full access to the front doors to escape the car if they have to. You can't even have a bucket for just the driver - they need access to either door. And then I don't believe you can safely fit one of those 4 point harnesses that anchors to your rear seats seat beltpoints if you have a folding front seat because the folding seat isn't designed to take the downward pressure one of those harnesses will put on the seat back in a crash. So if you have a 4 door you can go ahead and bucket it and harness up without having to engineer the thing as a two seater. In a two seater you are more or less stuck with standard unless you engineer it.

**sambb** · 21-12-2016, 09:50 AM

what gav said. My kids are 6 and 3 and they just jump in the back and buckle themselves up. It was only difficult when my youngest needed to be lifted in and out of the car seat and buckled up with the longer coupe door not giving much room against other parked cars - but they grow up quick.
The only advantage of a 4 door would be if you want to compete in it as a street registered car. eg. In NSW for instance you can't legally fit 1 piece bucket seats in a 2 door even if they are adr approved because the rear occupants need to be able to have full access to the front doors to escape the car if they have to. You can't even have a bucket for just the driver - they need access to either door. And then I don't believe you can safely fit one of those 4 point harnesses that anchors to your rear seats seat beltpoints if you have a folding front seat because the folding seat isn't designed to take the downward pressure one of those harnesses will put on the seat back in a crash. So if you have a 4 door you can go ahead and bucket it and harness up without having to engineer the thing as a two seater. In a two door you are more or less stuck with standard unless you engineer it.

**leahcim2211** · 21-12-2016, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by h100vw

I have a 3 door GTI and an 8L S3. I honestly laugh when I read people think it's an inconvenience to not have back doors?

Get the 3 door, they look better for a start, less electrics to go wrong.

Unless you have passengers that aren't able bodied I can't see where you'd have problems.

My wife and I had 2 kids under 5 and a Corrado.

Gavin

PS if it's too slow, hit me up for a tune

Cheers for the reply. All my passengers are abled bodies so yea shouldn't be an issue and I'm well used it it owning a 2 door coupe for the last 4 years. Will defiantly look at the 2 door one as it's everything I'll looking for as well as the colour I would ideally like but can't find at the moment.

I am looking to tune it at some point as everything g I have read says it's well worth doing just probably not straight away. Also I'm down in little old NZ

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

**sambb** · 21-12-2016, 10:08 AM

not sure about the age of car cut off but in NZ don't you guys have a law where you may be able to go catless?

**hardy_bm** · 21-12-2016, 10:50 AM

I've got a 3 door (which I'm trying to sell due to a Wolfsburg joining the family). I like the big single door. Rear access is pretty good because the front seat comes a long way forward.

**h100vw** · 21-12-2016, 10:54 AM

Originally Posted by hardy_bm

I've got a 3 door (which I'm trying to sell due to a Wolfsburg joining the family). I like the big single door. Rear access is pretty good because the front seat comes a long way forward.

We should probably also point out that there are no 4 door GTIs in Australia, because they are just wrong

New Zealand is only airfreight away.