Stock GTI vs ED30

[GNJ_Motorsport]

Not a race thread 

Basically, I am considering changing my Astra VXR for something VAG. I have always loved the Mk5. The problem is money. Me and the GF are saving up to get on the property ladder which i'm sure you will all agree is more important than a car. Makes no sense at the moment to blow a load of cash on an S3! My Vxr would sell for about £10.5k so that will be my strict budget to get something VAG thats fast. The vxr is 300bhp so I want something that is in that kind of power range.

Now with my company I can obviously mod the car pretty cheaply, so what kind of power could I get out of a standard GTI without blowing a huge amount? I'm thinking intake, turbo back exhaust and a remap along with a few bits. The ED30's that I have looked at are too dear really for a decent spec 1.

Or is it a pointless step do you think?

[RedRobin]

.
I'm sure you already know that modding is a slippery slope!

I run a Mk5 GTI K03 (not Ed30) Revo2 plus Milltek TBE, Forge Twintake, plus quite a few handling mods including brakes and Quaife. On a realistic (JKM) Dyno-Dynamics I plot 260bhp max. To get 300bhp you'd have to go Stage2+ on a GTI (not Ed30) and quite honestly you would then need the Quaife, good suspension setup and big brake kit as well.

It's all a question of achieving a good balance with the car and not all about bhp - Power is useless without traction in my opinion.

[rich83]

For £10.5k youd struggle to end up with a 300bhp GTI be it a 200PS version or an Edition 30 unless you can get every single mod for free!

[animal]

For £10.5k youd struggle to end up with a 300bhp GTI be it a 200PS version or an Edition 30 unless you can get every single mod for free!

I agree, with the budget, you might be able to find a decent GTI but you might be pushing it to hit 300bhp and stay within budget. With the ED30, i think you'd stuggle to find a decent car in the first place, and stay within budget. If you can find a good Ed30 for £10k, the extra £500 will be enough to remap it to almost 300bhp but wont leave much in the pot for anything else - trade discount or not.

[Janner_Sy]

the only way of hitting 300hp+ in the K03 2--ps is with the k04 turbo conversion from the Ed30/S3.

FWIW i know my car @ stage 2+ could keep up with a stage 2 Nurburgring edition VXR with IC, intake and exhaust.  He reckoned he had 296hp, and i had around 270-280hp.

stage 1 GTI 240Hp
stage 2 GTI 260hp
stage 2+ GTI 280hp
Stage 3 (K04 Converted GTI) 330-360hp

Stage 1 Ed30 280-300hp
stage 2 Ed30 300-330hp
stage 2+ 330-360Hp

If your tuning, you need the ed30 really, the extra buying  cost will be cancelled out by the tunability.  Also better residuals

[GNJ_Motorsport]

Thats all great info thanks. The £10.5k would be for the car not the mods as well. I'd probably get Forge Twintercooler, ITG maxogen or Forge twintake, a TBE of some description and a map on the engine side of things. I would also get big brakes and coilovers on there. Coilovers being the 1st mod definitely as I think the standard GTI sits way too high.

I might just sell the VXR and save a bit more up and spend about £12.5-13k on an ED30. As said the extra cash for the car would be offset because it would need less mods to get to the straight line performance of the VXR. Gonna have to have a think about it. I also looked at the R32.

[gazon69]

paid £8.5k for my golf gti with leather, satnav and a few other toys. I'm currently running stage 2+ giac software on mine which made 285bhp and 330ftlb torque. here's wot I paid for mods
£1050 milltek ed30 tb exhaust
£330 autotek hpfp
£400 giac remap
£200 evoms intake (second hand) £300 new
£100 neuspeed t.I.p. £200 new
now it needs an updated clutch at £900 fitted
and some larger stoppers. around £350 for s3-r32's
all in all that amounts to £11880 . just over 1k more than your willing to spend. if you can live without the stoppers and not slip the clutch I suppose you could be within you limits. all I can is mine goes like f@@k now.
got my forge twintercooler now aswell so that's got to be fitted and also just bought updated engine mounts. also gonna throw a water meth kit on and when clutch is fitted get it dyno'd again see what the old gal makes then

[animal]

Thats all great info thanks. The £10.5k would be for the car not the mods as well. I'd probably get Forge Twintercooler, ITG maxogen or Forge twintake, a TBE of some description and a map on the engine side of things. I would also get big brakes and coilovers on there. Coilovers being the 1st mod definitely as I think the standard GTI sits way too high.

I might just sell the VXR and save a bit more up and spend about £12.5-13k on an ED30. As said the extra cash for the car would be offset because it would need less mods to get to the straight line performance of the VXR. Gonna have to have a think about it. I also looked at the R32.

R32 = Money pit. Not a car to be driving if youre trying to save. Tax is now £445 for post March '06 models.

[gazon69]

redrobin. how do you find the quaife. cheers Gaz.

[Homer]

HI mate, I have recently bought a KO3 standard GTI, I am very happy with it but sometimes I wish I had bought a ED30 which I could have gotten for a little more money. Its more tuneable and a stage 1 remap can get it to the power your VXR had with the bonus that the ED30 will handle better, no offence. You wont ever realistically get over 300BHP with a standard GTI. I say save a bit more and get the ED30. In fact there is a guy on the forum selling a cracker of a one for a couple grand more than 10K I believe.

[Saint Steve]

Ed30 dsg stage 1 will be quicker then a stage 2 VXR.
YouTube has a manual ed30 stage 2 against the same tuned VXR and left it well behind.

With dsg ,you don't have to worry about a clutch replacement, with a manual remapped, you will.

Buy an ED30 DSG, cheapest way to get near 300bhp without major modification .

[Homer]

In relation to the R32, I looked at this also before getting the GTI, the tax and amount you would end up spending on fuel would hit you hard if your trying to save so I would say that it would not be advisable IMO.

[RedRobin]

redrobin. how do you find the quaife. cheers Gaz.

....Superb! I'm a 'slow-in > fast-out' style of driver and the Quaife allows me to get on the power much earlier in a corner and it also inspires confidence.

[Sunglasses Ron]

the only way of hitting 300hp+ in the K03 2--ps is with the k04 turbo conversion from the Ed30/S3.

FWIW i know my car @ stage 2+ could keep up with a stage 2 Nurburgring edition VXR with IC, intake and exhaust.  He reckoned he had 296hp, and i had around 270-280hp.

stage 1 GTI 240Hp
stage 2 GTI 260hp
stage 2+ GTI 280hp
Stage 3 (K04 Converted GTI) 330-360hp

Stage 1 Ed30 280-300hp
stage 2 Ed30 300-330hp
stage 2+ 330-360Hp

If your tuning, you need the ed30 really, the extra buying  cost will be cancelled out by the tunability.  Also better residuals

What Sy said... 

[GNJ_Motorsport]

Some good replies. The R32 is a money pit yes with the tax etc. Fuel is similar to my VXR, maybe slightly worse but not massive. Its just a case of wanting the actual car to cost no more than I sell the VXR for, mods are bought over time.

I think i'll have a good think about it and either just stick with the VXR or go for an ED30.