Did I make a mistake buying another edition 30

[SurreyED30]

Hi all

I'm having a bit of a downer with my eddy, I thought buying another one would be amazing as it still is my favourite car but it just doesn't feel the same as my first. I know my old one was quite well spec'd modifying wise but this one just doesn't put the smile on my face that I thought it would when I was looking for a eddy again.

Driving the car is great, it's fast, handles well, brakes aren't amazing but there Oem brakes trying to stop approx 300hp so can't expect more but compared to the civic I had before I feel like the civic was actually a lot more fun to drive as it could be chucked into any corner at speed and it would stick like sh*t and fly out the bend with no fuss. Power was around 80hp less but the gearing and handling even in Oem form is so much better than the golf. I know the golf is a lot heavier (300+kg) but it feels like a boring road car and not a hot hatch if that makes sense? I know the car isn't designed for B road/fast road hoons so maybe that's were I'm going wrong and now I'm not used to the car as I've been hammering a scream machine around the county roads for 2 years? I know the civic and the golf are 2 completely different cars and are designed for different purposes but I feel like the golf is a boring car which lacks character ? Maybe I want the wrong sort of enjoyment that golf doesn't offer 

I want to book a few track days after Xmas so I'm hoping that will make me enjoy the car more and try and get it spec'd to a decent set up so that I can enjoy B road blasts as well as track days.

Probably just a dull moment with the golf but I'm sure a few of you have thought of selling up for a more 'fun' light hot hatch or even something rear wheel drive to enjoy on track/b roads. Even though I want to track the golf I have in the back of my mind is this the sort of car I want to track as it's such a nice clean car to be abusing on track? Will I be wasting my money on suspension/brakes and still not enjoy it, bad times for me at the mo... 

[pudding]

Most car enthusiasts go through waves of boredom mate.  Some cars we regret moving on, and some we definitely don't regret 

Was your Civic a Type R?  I can see why you miss it. The short gearing and the gear shift are superb    I definitely agree with you the Golf's gearing is too tall.  If / when I fit an LSD to mine, I'll also be fitting a shorter final drive.  I don't care about top speed, I want acceleration!

The trouble with most fast VAGs is they are sometimes too competent at what they do, to the point of being boring.  They do nothing badly, and nothing exceptionally well.  That is why so many people buy them.  You need to turn the ham sandwich into a beef and horseradish sandwich with all the trimmings.

Every car has 'something' that another car does not have.  No one car ticks everyones boxes but the ED30 is a bloody nice compromise compared to a lot of one dimensional hot hatches out there    Throw some money at it and get the love back 

[AJP]

Pudding's right, it's not just you. I started a similar thread recently:

http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=108568.msg1051404.msg#1051404

I think the best way of looking at the mk5 GTI is as a 'jack of all trades, master of none'. As an all rounder it's excellent, but being a VW can often feel a bit bland.

Obviously we're in a lucky position where we can carry out mods to improve pretty much any aspect of the car we feel needs improving - there are so many options available to us. Some other enthusiasts aren't so lucky, the more niche cars aren't catered for quite as well.

Like Pudding says, it's a case of throwing some money at it. If it feels slow there are hybrid turbos, water-meth and any number of big intercoolers, big downpipes, and fancy intakes to choose from. If it doesn't corner sharply enough there are coilovers, anti-lift kits, uprated engine mounts, TT arms... the list goes on.

It is just a warm hatchback at the end of the day. But you can make it what you want.

[slix]

Maybe it's just a phase.

I love mine to bits one week then hate it the next. Something small like the rattles can make the love turn to hate but then when you get a nice stretch of road to drive on it feels refined yet still goes like stink.

The only thing that puts me off jap cars is the interiors and materials used in it.

Maybe get a 2nd car that you can throw about and have some fun in. I'm looking at getting a subaru legacy twin turbo wagon just for that reason.

[pudding]

/\  That exactly!  The damn rattles bake my swede    I keep saying to the girlfriend, "Can you hear that bloody racket?" whilst I'm thumping the heater vent panel.  She never notices it, but it drives me mad     

So anyway, weekend just gone I stripped the top heater panel and vents apart, reassembled them with some butyl strip and now it's silent.  The gf says I drive the car differently because of it!  Much calmer     The car just feels more solid and therefore nicer to drive with no rattles.  Little things eh? 

As AJP said, there are a ton of parts out there to make these cars handle and go like the clappers 

[SurreyED30]

Thanks guys I'm obviously not the only one

Most car enthusiasts go through waves of boredom mate.  Some cars we regret moving on, and some we definitely don't regret 

Was your Civic a Type R?  I can see why you miss it. The short gearing and the gear shift are superb    I definitely agree with you the Golf's gearing is too tall.  If / when I fit an LSD to mine, I'll also be fitting a shorter final drive.  I don't care about top speed, I want acceleration!

The trouble with most fast VAGs is they are sometimes too competent at what they do, to the point of being boring.  They do nothing badly, and nothing exceptionally well.  That is why so many people buy them.  You need to turn the ham sandwich into a beef and horseradish sandwich with all the trimmings.

Every car has 'something' that another car does not have.  No one car ticks everyones boxes but the ED30 is a bloody nice compromise compared to a lot of one dimensional hot hatches out there    Throw some money at it and get the love back 

yeah it was a fully stripped type R with Recaro bucket seats and a short shift kit, even shorter gears! the short gearing and the high rev limit was so addictive and no matter how much of a beating the car got it took it and didn't miss a beat once! im the same with regards to craving acceleration and getting the buzz from screaming from corner to corner etc and not just rely on torque to pull down a long road, thats just boring! everyone seems to slate the Honda's, me including until i bought one for a daily run around, but they are so fun to drive and in fact i didnt have a single issue with mine and its definitely the most fun ive ever had in a car both driving or as a passenger

Pudding's right, it's not just you. I started a similar thread recently:

http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=108568.msg1051404.msg#1051404

I think the best way of looking at the mk5 GTI is as a 'jack of all trades, master of none'. As an all rounder it's excellent, but being a VW can often feel a bit bland.

Obviously we're in a lucky position where we can carry out mods to improve pretty much any aspect of the car we feel needs improving - there are so many options available to us. Some other enthusiasts aren't so lucky, the more niche cars aren't catered for quite as well.

Like Pudding says, it's a case of throwing some money at it. If it feels slow there are hybrid turbos, water-meth and any number of big intercoolers, big downpipes, and fancy intakes to choose from. If it doesn't corner sharply enough there are coilovers, anti-lift kits, uprated engine mounts, TT arms... the list goes on.

It is just a warm hatchback at the end of the day. But you can make it what you want.

it does feel a touch bland mate I agree with you, perhaps spending a little cash on some suspension and braking upgrades will help with the sunday morning hooning's. like pudding said maybe a shorter final drive and some gearbox work will help the acceleration and not so much long arse gears.

Maybe it's just a phase.

I love mine to bits one week then hate it the next. Something small like the rattles can make the love turn to hate but then when you get a nice stretch of road to drive on it feels refined yet still goes like stink.

The only thing that puts me off jap cars is the interiors and materials used in it.

Maybe get a 2nd car that you can throw about and have some fun in. I'm looking at getting a subaru legacy twin turbo wagon just for that reason.

the interior was very plastic in the type R so i removed the lot and got used to hearing every single noise possible but it kind of gave it a good feel to the car both handling and also in your mind your think im in a stripped light weight car lets have some fun, probably does aid to the hooning round the lanes. Ive always wanted a DC5 JRSC integra or a s2000 for building for track/ B roads, there just an itch i get from time to time (monthly). Ive thought about a second car but financially it isnt good for me at the mo as ive only had my first house a while and my drive is getting done in less than 8 weeks so theres thousands gone already

/\  That exactly!  The damn rattles bake my swede    I keep saying to the girlfriend, "Can you hear that bloody racket?" whilst I'm thumping the heater vent panel.  She never notices it, but it drives me mad     

So anyway, weekend just gone I stripped the top heater panel and vents apart, reassembled them with some butyl strip and now it's silent.  The gf says I drive the car differently because of it!  Much calmer     The car just feels more solid and therefore nicer to drive with no rattles.  Little things eh? 

As AJP said, there are a ton of parts out there to make these cars handle and go like the clappers 

luckily i dont ave any rattles but ive caught the front splitter every so slight on a speed bump and now I cant look at the car without looking at the mark its left

[AJP]

I personally find the gearing spot on. Might be the fact I'm on a k03, it'll pretty much boost and take off whenever I boot it. In fact if the gearing was any shorter I'd be spinning up in 3rd on some roads.

I reckon if you're after a more focused drive you should look at doing uprated engine mounts, shocks and springs (VWR kit or Bilstein etc) or coilovers, anti lift, stiffer roll bars.

You'll undoubtedly lose some refinement. Rattles will get worse, and if you don't have any now you soon might. But it's all a compromise.

I can't remember your engine spec, but one mod that worked surprisingly well for me on my k03 car (apart from the usual downpipe etc) was the Loba pump. The power delivery feels much stronger now. I don't think these engines are built as high rev, high drama screamers like a Type R. But you can go some way towards waking them up and making them a bit more exciting.

[pudding]

I remember driving an EP3 Type R waaaaay back in 2001ish when it first came out.  I was blown away by the gearshift and the lovely short gear ratios.  To this day it still makes the Golf's shift feel like stirring boiled eggs with a fork.  But then VW's answer to that is DSG I guess    If you want a super slick and super tactile shift, it's gotta be a Type R or S2000.

Back to VWs...... one of the best things I ever did to my old Corrado VR6 was fitting a shorter final drive.  It makes the car feel lighter, sharper throttle response, everything!  The gearbox is the single most over looked performance modification      Just need to figure out what final drive ratio I currently have and then look at other models of VAG with the same gearbox and do some swapping.  My aim is get into 3000rpm as quickly as possible.  K04 cars are too laggy below 3000.

Yeah my bumper has been clouted on things so often, it needs replacing really.  It's on the standard suspension as well!!

[unzippy]

Did you pick it up recently?

Could it be more related to the season?
My Ed is useless above 2k revs in these conditions.

I can imagine buying it now would put some people off if they hadn't got to enjoy it in the dry, grip filled summer?

[SurreyED30]

I personally find the gearing spot on. Might be the fact I'm on a k03, it'll pretty much boost and take off whenever I boot it. In fact if the gearing was any shorter I'd be spinning up in 3rd on some roads.

I reckon if you're after a more focused drive you should look at doing uprated engine mounts, shocks and springs (VWR kit or Bilstein etc) or coilovers, anti lift, stiffer roll bars.

You'll undoubtedly lose some refinement. Rattles will get worse, and if you don't have any now you soon might. But it's all a compromise.

I can't remember your engine spec, but one mod that worked surprisingly well for me on my k03 car (apart from the usual downpipe etc) was the Loba pump. The power delivery feels much stronger now. I don't think these engines are built as high rev, high drama screamers like a Type R. But you can go some way towards waking them up and making them a bit more exciting.

Mine spins up to 4th gear at the moment with the damp conditions, i'll have to think whether its worth pilling thousands into the car first then see if i go with more modifying or not. A decent set of pads and some semi slicks will be bought for next years track days then ill go from there.

I spent around £7,300 on my first eddy with suspension/brakes/tuning/handware/mounts and chassis upgrades and i sold the car for a fraction over what i paid for it in standard form, the cost to refit parts and have the hassle of selling the used performance parts put me off braking the car. It is a slippery slope with tuning but you have to think of its a waste of money in theory, buy a £10,000 car spend £7,000 on it, might as well buy a better set up newer car for £15,000 and buy some top branded semi slicks, rather than tune a 10 year old car lol, lots to think about.

I remember driving an EP3 Type R waaaaay back in 2001ish when it first came out.  I was blown away by the gearshift and the lovely short gear ratios.  To this day it still makes the Golf's shift feel like stirring boiled eggs with a fork.  But then VW's answer to that is DSG I guess    If you want a super slick and super tactile shift, it's gotta be a Type R or S2000.

Back to VWs...... one of the best things I ever did to my old Corrado VR6 was fitting a shorter final drive.  It makes the car feel lighter, sharper throttle response, everything!  The gearbox is the single most over looked performance modification      Just need to figure out what final drive ratio I currently have and then look at other models of VAG with the same gearbox and do some swapping.  My aim is get into 3000rpm as quickly as possible.  K04 cars are too laggy below 3000.

Yeah my bumper has been clouted on things so often, it needs replacing really.  It's on the standard suspension as well!!

The thing with the other lighter cars is all you would need is to strip it right back and buy a decent set of discs and pads and some semi slicks and you can have fun for ages and it costs sod all. theres no point in building a 350+hp car and pretend to my self that i will be an animal on track. An experianced track driver in a 200 HP car will piss all over a newb in a 400HP car. I wont be pilling cash into tuning for more power but maybe into the suspension/chassis/brakes/tyres. parts are very expensive for the VAG scene so ill see how far i decide to go with it lol.

Did you pick it up recently?

Could it be more related to the season?
My Ed is useless above 2k revs in these conditions.

I can imagine buying it now would put some people off if they hadn't got to enjoy it in the dry, grip filled summer?

I bought it in august but its my second edition30 so i experianced my first one for 18 months in all weathers.

[ducman77]

I think some well thought out tuning mods might ease your pain

My wife drives a bog standard Mk5 GTI. For four years I was driving a Clio 182 while she was driving the golf.

The Clio was similar to the Honda in that it is super light, and has a high revving VTEC style N/A motor. Unlike the Honda though it was made of cheese and had serious reliability issues.

Every time I would get in my wife's car over those years I would marvel at how refined and lovely it was. Eventually, so much so, that I traded the Clio against a MK5 GTI of my own.

Like you though, after a while I was missing the manic nature of the Clio. So I started modifiying my MK 5.....

To date I have done;
Stage 1 map
Full custom 3in TBE
Ramair oversize induction
Engine and Gearbox mounts
Dogbone and Dogbone insert
All 4 Discs and pads and a thorough brake fluid flush

I had reason to drive my wife's car for a few days recently. Mate, the difference is night and day

Even with just the basic mods noted above my car is SOOOO much more involving and rewarding to drive than the basic model.

I appreciate yours is an Edition 30 (so it's already much better than a standard GTI out of the box) and that you have lots of modifying experience. But I still think if you invest in a few choice mods the car will come alive and you'll love it again just like the Honda

[Paradox1]

I think beisde the power mods, even the suspension upgrades can make a major difference.

My last car had no power, so was more of a cruiser. Suspension broke so i fitted coilovers and got its all aligned etc. it made it much more fun and involving to the point when id take to longer road just to hit some bed. makes a huge difference if done correctly

[pudding]

Speaking of suspension, last night was a reminder that mine needs some attention in that area.   Apart from the Whiteline ALK, it's standard.

I was following a current shape Focus ST (with a Mountune badge on it, so not standard) round a corner well known for being slippery.  He flew round it.  Mine understeered and squirmed all over the place.  I don't think it's tyres as all manner of decent rubber does the same thing on that corner, so either the Focus has epic suspension, or one of them 'e diff' type stability control thingies.  Or it might just be 107K old standard dampers 

I was in the same boat as SurreyED30 because my list of jobs is ever growing, but I've decided to hang onto it and address the shortcomings!

[Paradox1]

Speaking of suspension, last night was a reminder that mine needs some attention in that area.   Apart from the Whiteline ALK, it's standard.

I was following a current shape Focus ST (with a Mountune badge on it, so not standard) round a corner well known for being slippery.  He flew round it.  Mine understeered and squirmed all over the place.  I don't think it's tyres as all manner of decent rubber does the same thing on that corner, so either the Focus has epic suspension, or one of them 'e diff' type stability control thingies.  Or it might just be 107K old standard dampers 

I was in the same boat as SurreyED30 because my list of jobs is ever growing, but I've decided to hang onto it and address the shortcomings!

I think the current Focus ST are 4wd arent they so that may be why.

How does the WALK make a difference to standard. Im not suprised you had trouble as the stock suspension can be a bit floaty if you know what I mean. Decent set of coilovers and alignment would make a difference, maybe even lowering springs

[AJP]

Speaking of suspension, last night was a reminder that mine needs some attention in that area.   Apart from the Whiteline ALK, it's standard.

I was following a current shape Focus ST (with a Mountune badge on it, so not standard) round a corner well known for being slippery.  He flew round it.  Mine understeered and squirmed all over the place.  I don't think it's tyres as all manner of decent rubber does the same thing on that corner, so either the Focus has epic suspension, or one of them 'e diff' type stability control thingies.  Or it might just be 107K old standard dampers 

I was in the same boat as SurreyED30 because my list of jobs is ever growing, but I've decided to hang onto it and address the shortcomings!

I think the current Focus ST are 4wd arent they so that may be why.

How does the WALK make a difference to standard. Im not suprised you had trouble as the stock suspension can be a bit floaty if you know what I mean. Decent set of coilovers and alignment would make a difference, maybe even lowering springs

They're still fwd rather than awd, but believe me they go round corners rather well. They've got what Ford call 'torque vectoring' whatever that is. And they're 250bhp out of the box.

I had one behind me a few weeks ago, I wasn't exactly pulling away (I'm stage 2 at around 270bhp) and as we approached a familiar bend I fully expected to increase the gap, but if anything he caught up a bit.

Quick cars.