Is it just me or does the Mk5 look better than the Mk6??

[Norbreck21a]

For me the biggest problem with the MK6 is that it's so similar to the MK5. Take the headlights / taillights and bumpers away, then it's pretty much just a MK5.5. Not to say that's not good, I absolutley love my MK5, it's just that my local dealer has been trying to get me out of my MK5 and into a MK6 for some time now (as they do), and to that end they twice ended up giving me a weeks loan of a GTD and a TSI 160.

Now whilst it would be stupid to say that the MK6 isn't a little better or the quality of the interiors hasn't improved, it certainly has, but after a day or so of drving it, it just felt like I was in my MK5 (just a little better and quieter). Maybe the MK5 is a hard act to follow, don't know. What I do know, is that if I'm going to be parting with £15-£20K on a new car, I don't want it to be 80% exactly the same as the one I've been driving for 4½ years. I want it to excite me all over again with little styling tricks and new things to find out all over again.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[RedRobin]

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The Mk5 GTI was always going to be a difficult act to follow and so many folks have called the Mk6 the Mk5.5. Most people will like the extra bling on the interior but I don't.

There's no point criticising the price levels because all new cars are more expensive than their previous versions. Just as there's no point in comparing the price of a new car with a used one which originally cost a lot more. We're discussing the Mk5 vs Mk6.

[berg]

i would trade up to a Mk 6 but would have to be the R not the Gti! Am sure the Mk 6 is a slightly better car than the mk 5 but is it slightly worse than the Ed30 then?Does anyone know if the Mk7 will be 4WD like the R/S3? That would tempt me!

[Snoopy]

I moved to the mk6 and i don't regret it. The mk5 to me looked too nissan, it had too many rounded curves and looks tall and narrow. Which is what the designers tried to reduce in the design of the mk6 imo, Its why the fog lights the exhaust, the side crease etc etc are were they are. I think the mk6 fits more the golf look than the rounded mk5 did but thats just my opinion and unlike my mk5 when i look back at the mk6 i always smile as to me it has a more meen look than our cute rounded cuddly mk5.
What threads like this always remind me of is 1984. When the mk2 came out and everyone kept saying it looks like the mk1 but its softer, quieter, more refined, and slower. Mk1 owners kept putting the mk2 down even after the mk2 finished its run i remember the coments, i even made some of them back in the late 80s and 90s myself. Its just history repeating itself.

[stealthwolf]

IMO the mk5 was a leap forward in design from the mk4. From mk5 to mk6, the leap is smaller. When the first mk6 Golf came out, I was impressed by the design. Then I saw it across the VW range and it no longer became unique. I do like the rear of the mk6 GTI but the front design (especially the grille) isn't much different from the standard mk6 Golf, whereas I feel a lot more effort went into differentiating the mk5 GTI face from the mk5 Golf.

[winrya]

Vw made a bit of a mk4 mistake with the mk6. Sure it was a hard act to follow but what they did was refine it and thus made it duller. Mk5 won awards here there and everywhere, the mk6 was a let down as it got the recipe wrong. I really like the wheels with the black inserts and the interior is lovely, looks wise it does nothing at all for me.  Evo got it right when they said it's lost it edge and sharpness, competent but lacking the excitement of the mk5

[Janner_Sy]

The reason they loved the mk5 was because the mk4 was so crap.  Had the mk4 been alot better, would the mk5 have won so many awards???  maybe not.

With alot of the reviews and group tests i find them laughable.  Ie comparing the mk6 GTI (207ps) with meganne RS250 cups, Focus RS, Seat leon cupra R etc.  behave its not even in the same league.  I think the GTI is woefully underpowered, and dare i say it slightly over rated .  
The ed30 is more like it, but if anything id say that the Cupra's 240Hp should be the minimum output of all the VAGs hot hatches.  

I find most of the reviews biased to the point of it looks like they have already chosen the golf sometimes before they even start the test.  

However i do prefer the look of the Mk5 in comparison to the Mk6.  However im also not the biggest fan of the GTI anyway.  For me it looks to similar to many other VW golfs from all directions until you can see the GTI badge itself.  however some of the subtle mods guys have done make a huge difference

[BeezerDiesel]

There are nice and not so nice styling points of both versions of the Golf GTI (the mk6 looks a lot better with the LED tail lights), however once the family nose of the mk6 gets onto all the other VW cars (see new Passat, Jetta, Eos, Caddy etc etc) and you see them become more common on the roads, the mk5 will start to look much more dated.
Comparing the ED30 to the mk6 GTI is a bit of a non starter until there's an anniversary version of the mk6 available in a couple of years.
Can't see a mk7 GTI coming with 4WD in standard form either, that's where the R model comes in and I doubt that will change unless VW change their full marketing strategy shortly.
The normal GTI is always marketed as the general all rounder, not the quickest, not the best handling, not the sportiest nor the flashiest of hot hatches, but the best balance of everything. That's why the GTI appeal is so enduring to the general public at large rather than just to petrol heads on forums. Other hot hatches are very much niche cars.