MK GTi vs Ed30 - performance potential differences.

[damoegan]

Personaly, I would go for the ED30 and just a stage 1 map.... Oh, hang on, thats what I did do 

[rich83]

See responses on Club GTI....

[RedRobin]

Really I'm thinking is it better to keep the £2k plus to mod a standard GTi? I mean are they really worlds apart in terms of performance anyway?

Depends on how you drive as the k03 (smaller turbo) is spooled up earlier in the rev range and has more low down grunt than a k04 car. At mid to high revs when the k04 is fully spooled, it'll keep pulling till the red line whereas the k03 will run out of puff by 5.5k.

....I agree.

Driving my modded K03 and a modded K04 back-to-back I found my K03's earlier get-up-and-go surprisingly more evident - I didn't expect it and must say that I rather like the slightly sportier feel, especially as I don't often rev over about 5.5k and use my gears accordingly. I don't need that extra licence-losing potential. I prefer the plainer interior style of the GTI to the Ed30 too.

Which is 'best' is entirely down to the individual's preferences and the only way to decide is to test drive both.

[seiko]

I have a stage 2+ gti and think its great. My brother in-law had a stage 2+ ed30 which was also great. Both were pretty evenly matched up to around 100mph then the ed30 would steadily start to pull away. Thing is how fast do you wanna go and what are you wanting to use the car for. Personally if i had my time with one or the other again i would have gone ed30 stage1 . Plenty enough for road use imho. I do have to say though when i was at inters this year, i slaughtered a stage 2 ed30 down the strip. So who knows. I personally think dynos are a lottery. Its what the cars feel like on the road and mine feels damn quick. An example of the dyno lottey mine ran 303hp on stattlers dyno.

only had my ed30 the weekend drove it 250 miles home and well impresses with the car with revo stage 1 remap, I have my mk5 golf gti stage 1 up for sale now, but still drive both until it sells, the gti does feel to have a little more low down grunt, but the ed30 pulls like a train and a lot faster, sold my skyline r32 grt to buy this car and don’t regret it,
But as stated in previous posts, depends what you want from the car, the gti with a remap is a belter, both good cars

[JMP]

I drove a stage 1 GTI for 3 years. then I had a Leon Cupra stage 1 and now Im driving again a GTI but at stage 2. GTIs both were DSG boxes, thats basicly the reason I went GTI again after k04 Cupra. I do miss the awesome 3rd gear pull of the Cupra. But the GTI accelerates quicker from 0-60mph due to the DSG box and its quite rare when I really would need more then 250 horses. Im still wondering should I get the k04 kit for my GTI, but considering the daily driving it gets used for, I might miss the low-end grunt vs the extra high end pull available in the illegal speeds. Its not an easy choice, reason says k03 but heart says k04. I dont know what I will do.. Anyway Im pretty happy with the car right now.

[baderlfc]

Thanks for all the inputs guys, lots of useful info to mull over in there..

1 thing that concerns me is people saying the K04 turbo's take a while to spool up... do they lack bottom end grunt?

I don't want to have to bollock the car everywhere and constantly be at high revs on my day to day drive just to get the power on..

My current car (BMW E46 325) lacks low end torque and only really comes into it's own at 3-3.5k revs plus so I was hoping in moving to a turbo charged car I'd be able to get some low end grunt! (and I don't want a diesel!)

[Saint Steve]

When people say the K03 spools up faster, its only by around 300-400 difference.

Not a big margain in the grand scheme of things.

[baderlfc]

I think the sensible answer is to test drive a standard GTi and an Edition 30 and go from there...

[Tamiyoman]

MY last car was a K03s 1.8T and current K04 Ed30 and I personally dont notice any difference when pootling along, only notice when you floor it from low revs and the boost hits about 300rpm later than the smaller K03s, whats more noticeable is the K04 keeps pushing until 6500rpm whereas the K03s ran out of steam at around 5200rpm.

Most of the roads i drive are De-restricted (60) A roads and the K04 helps get past the wagons doing 40 (It's CLEARLY obvious those chaps are paid hourly as they drive at 40mph in a 60mph with clear roads,  ) and easy to get by agriculturals doing 30 too.

Like the guy said, try both and see what you prefer, i think i will know the outcome 

[berg]

dont forget to consider the R32.

All three MK5 cars are very good - I have only driven my ED30 but got that as opinion suggested it was the best all rounder out of the three, but it is horses for courses, the Gti will be better in some respects for certain people because they dont like the styling of the ED30, dont want to pay the premium or prefer the 0-40 grunt of the k03 and the R32 will be preferred by some people due to traction, soundtrack, 6 pot etc.

[baderlfc]

I drive a BMW 6 pot now and have driven mk4 and mk5 R32s and neither compare to the BMW straight 6 in terms of smoothness or sound IMO.. also as I've said the only thing I don't like about my 325 is that it lacks low down torque meaning it doesn't get going until 3k revs or more, the R32 suffers the same problem like any other big NA engine.

And then there's the fuel economy... I know the GTi's/Ed30's don't exactly sip fuel but 6 pots guzzle around town big time!!

Also I prefer the styling of the GTi and Ed30 over the R32, only positive on the R32 as far as I'm concerned is the 4WD system.. And if I wanted that I'd save my pennies and get an S3.

I am slightly concerned about going from RWD which I absolutely love to a more powerful car with FWD.. sounds like it's asking for trouble but i've been assured the Golf MK5 GTi's don't handle like the FWD cars I've driven!

Just wish I could find some MK5's nearby to test drive!!!

[jamma]

I drive a BMW 6 pot now and have driven mk4 and mk5 R32s and neither compare to the BMW straight 6 in terms of smoothness or sound IMO.. also as I've said the only thing I don't like about my 325 is that it lacks low down torque meaning it doesn't get going until 3k revs or more, the R32 suffers the same problem like any other big NA engine.

And then there's the fuel economy... I know the GTi's/Ed30's don't exactly sip fuel but 6 pots guzzle around town big time!!

Also I prefer the styling of the GTi and Ed30 over the R32, only positive on the R32 as far as I'm concerned is the 4WD system.. And if I wanted that I'd save my pennies and get an S3.

I am slightly concerned about going from RWD which I absolutely love to a more powerful car with FWD.. sounds like it's asking for trouble but i've been assured the Golf MK5 GTi's don't handle like the FWD cars I've driven!

Just wish I could find some MK5's nearby to test drive!!!

I reckon you will get the gti lot saying gti's are best and the Ed30 lot saying theirs are best   


Where do you live, there is bound to be someone that lives near you with one?


I noticed Ed30 have half and half leather which I dont like , I prefer full leather like in the Gti. Saying that maybe they come with full leather too , not sure.

[bacillus]

I noticed Ed30 have half and half leather which I dont like , I prefer full leather like in the Gti. Saying that maybe they come with full leather too , not sure.

One of the hallmarks of an ed30 was the half leather, half fabric seats.

[baderlfc]

I like the half leather and red stitching on the interior etc.. but the main reason that would make me pay the substantial premium Ed30 owners want for their car's is the engine!

I live in cwmbran, south wales.. 20mins from cardiff if anyones nearby????

[jamma]

I noticed Ed30 have half and half leather which I dont like , I prefer full leather like in the Gti. Saying that maybe they come with full leather too , not sure.

One of the hallmarks of an ed30 was the half leather, half fabric seats.

So they dont do full leather?  thats a good reason for me not to get an ED30