Hi,

I'm upgrading from the polo to something more powerful, and preferably fun, no wait, definitely fun!

I have pretty much set my heart on a clio 17/82 as they are very cheap and a lot of fun, but with rising petrol prices and a long daily commute the dreaded diesel word has crossed my mind.

Clios will do 35mpg-ish, similar to what I get with the polo but I know gt tdi's are good for alot more than that, my question is, would I be bored stupid with one? Ride comfort is fairly important but I wouldn't mind doing the main bushes and springs and shocks to improve it a bit.

I am going to try and get a test drive soon but I find it hard to judge until you have got to grips with the car after a week or two's ownership.

Opinions and discussion please..... :-D

Oh and is the 130 comparable?....would prefer not to re-map.

Edited 15 April, 201016 yr by Lyons

Get the 150 then get a remap :p Should be seeing around 185bhp

I had a MK4 GT TDi 130 before I got my Polo and I loved it.

It pulled like a train and was very very reliable. I only had to change a tyre in the year I owned it. Mine had 60mm springs on it too and sat just right.

Don't let high mileage put you off either, because they'll go on for forever.

Power-shmower, 4500rpm redline just makes me feel slightly unwell.....although on the motorway that could be quite nice...

What was the handling like on 60mm?

Edited 15 April, 201016 yr by Lyons

4500rpm redline just makes me feel slightly unwell.....although on the motorway that could be quite nice...

Wouldn't worry about it the torque will make up and youll see yourself out accellrating many petrols the midrange power is what you want from a diesel tho!

Hmmmm, I think I should go for a test drive. Normally I would have not even considered devil juice but times are hard and I need a new car with some poke! Even if it's smokey poke

Hmmmm, I think I should go for a test drive. Normally I would have not even considered devil juice but times are hard and I need a new car with some poke! Even if it's smokey poke

It will feel a little clunky maybe a little noisier (altho newer engines such as PD's and those with common-rail tech are not that bad, have the stereo on a little big louder and you wont hear it)

Don't expect power second you put your foot down wait for the 2k+ revs

Oh my life, I've just seen that they are insurance group 11!!!??? I'm pretty much sold, financially it makes SO much sense!

2minutes later: I think a clio will be more fun

Edited 15 April, 201016 yr by Lyons

Power-shmower, 4500rpm redline just makes me feel slightly unwell.....although on the motorway that could be quite nice...

What was the handling like on 60mm?

It was quite sloppy, but bear in mind that the Golf is a massive tank compared to a Polo.

it's all about the torque in a derv golf, i'm not sure if i could describe it as fun though. they can certainly shift with the right mods / map but the mk4 handling is....... well rubbish in standard form like a 150bhp bathtub.

there are things you can do to firm it up a bit - coilovers / shock + springs, arb's and better bushes from lcr / s3.

best thing to do is get onto ukmkiv's and have a browse, they're o top bunch of blokes and are some serious dervs on there too.

Olly

Out of your choices I'd definitely go for the Clio. With the Clio, you get a fast, decent handling semi reliable car that is unlikely to rust. With a Mk4 Golf, you get a nippy economical boring car, which no matter what anyone says does not handle - the 2 wheel drive platform is shit in the Mk4 Golf - and not exactly topping the scales for reliability. Plus, they rust very well if you don't look after them. I've seen more rusty Mk4 Golfs than Clio 172/182s anyway. You'll get 45 mpg at motorway speeds in the Clio as well, that's good enough surely?

I have a 9N polo, handling doesn't get much worse....Thanks for the comments Olly, I might just get over to that forum, although I fear toby might be right....(thinks about quitting mid-week drinking to spend the money on petrol)

sorry mate but mk4 golf rust - are you serious? iirc they have 10 year warrenty on body.

i agree the clio will be more fun as it's a lighter more nimble car but hey aren't the best build quality and interior always look cheap / plasticy.

it's really down to what you want out of the car.

It's a 12 year warranty, and VW will only do anything about it if you have full VW service history. I'll easily get you some pics of some rotten Mk4s if you want?

haha no disrespect mate, i've been on the ukmkiv's forum for the past year and a half and racked uo over 3000 posts and never seen one complaining of rust other than a couple that have had shoddy repairs or pattern parts fitted.

so with nye on 50,000 members on ukmkiv's none of which complaining about rust and you say it's common?

i've never even seen a rusty mk4, i've welded up more rusty clio's though!

It's a 12 year warranty, and VW will only do anything about it if you have full VW service history. I'll easily get you some pics of some rotten Mk4s if you want?

Betting 80% of these rusty mk4s have had some form of accident and a bad repair resulting in this rust.

I've owned one and they don't handle that great no but as said he owned a 9n polo which isnt going to be any better really

Don't forget Mk4 Golfs are so common and popular in the UK that you will see more rusty ones then alot of other cars due to their sheer numbers along with many being used to get from A to B with people that have no car interests, mistreating it never washing it etc...it will damage

I've got a mk4 gttdi 130 pd engine golf. I love it. Its my practical family car that my partner uses to go to work and back. But its so nice to drive. Smooth comfy reliable. Only had one problem and that was the oil cooler breaking and that was because we didnt do the service when it was required and it made the cooler break down inside!!!

Defo go Golf. Might be a diesel but insurance is cheap. Its so much more reliable. Better built. And cheaper to run. Golf!!!!! :)

i saw a mk4 golf with rust along where the bootlid meets the rear windscreen and i saw it yesterday. i lolled

diesel car might shift in gear but diesels are rubbish for driving properly and wont compare to the clio for driveability.

haha no disrespect mate, i've been on the ukmkiv's forum for the past year and a half and racked uo over 3000 posts and never seen one complaining of rust other than a couple that have had shoddy repairs or pattern parts fitted.

so with nye on 50,000 members on ukmkiv's none of which complaining about rust and you say it's common?

i've never even seen a rusty mk4, i've welded up more rusty clio's though!

Odd then. There's a T plate Mk4 at work with bubbly door bottoms and a hole in the passenger side wing, and a 51 plate Bora which actually had to get a sill welded up to pass an MOT!

clio all the way!!! the golf is dirty d mate!!!! the only good thing going for dirty d's is there fuel econemy (if thats how u spell it?) apart from that theres nothing else good about them! yes produce a lot of tourqe for a second but after that your back to square one!! i have as a company car an audi a3 sline tdi 170 and all the power is at 2k and the thing only revs to 4k! the polo i own wich is 139bhp is faster than the audi and alot funner to drive. you can never debait about buying dirty d compared to a petrol clio 182!!!!!! dddooooooonnnnnttttt doooo ittttt!!! spend the money remappin the clio!!!!!!

maybe it's the non stop rain up your end.

i'm not saying they don't rust - everything does eventually but from my experience it's not common.

Nah it's probably the fact there's salt on the road all year round. My mate has an 05 plate Focus which had to go back to Ford after one of the front wishbones rotted through

Nah it's probably the fact there's salt on the road all year round. My mate has an 05 plate Focus which had to go back to Ford after one of the front wishbones rotted through

shit!! 05 plate!! no way

define fun?

If your a straight line hero then the golf will no doubt be fun, but if you like to play in the twisty bits then don't bother with the golf. My mate had a mk4 gti with coilovers, uprated arb and all that jazz and the best thing i can say about it handling wise is that it was nice to drive.

i seem to remember reading somewhere the 130 bhp engine is more reliable than the 150 version. Also, check that its been run on the correct pd oil,especially if its done high miles.