New VW Rabbit

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It'll be available with the 2.5L 5cyl initially. A TDI engine will probably be introduced in 08 or 09. The 2-door and 4-door GTI (same car, stiffer suspension) is available with the 2.0T engine.
 
I rented one in Europe on my honeymoon in 2004. They are real nice cars, that one had a 1.4L(think) TDI.

People will bash the reliability but my friend who swears by them gets great service and incredible easy resale till the 120k point. Just a few nags but nice rides.
 
The new 2.5 is a sleeper engine, substantially detuned to only 150hp so as not to steal the thunder from the existing turbos. Even detuned, it's got good torque and wants to run. Word is that the tuners are drooling to see what it can really do.
 
If you want a VW, you better have a lot of money set aside to pay for the maintenance. Take it to a dealer for the "required maintenance" and your wallet will be a lot lighter.

Friend of mine had a "New Beatle" and if he wanted to change the oil, he had to remove both a cover on top of the engine, and another under the engine. Every time he took it in for service, they charged him much more than the job was worth. One time, he had to buy a headlight bulb. Could not just go to the auto parts store, as they used a bulb that could only be purchased at a VW dealer. Although he liked the car, he ended up dumping it for something that was easier on his pocketbook.

Bob

01 GoldWing
02 Continental
03 Marauder
 
Id buy one if they brought it here with a 1.4L TDI.

Who needs so much power in such a small package...

120hp at full temperature and full boost in a 3500 lb car is all that you need!

Scale those specs to the rabbit and see what you get.

JMH
 
yawn all you like... if I want a performance car, Ill buy a vette Z06 and not pretend to be "performance oriented" which means little more than ho-hum performance in the big scheme of things and an excuse for reduced fuel economy as compared to what the vehicle should get.

JMH
 
I wish I could afford a Vette right now.

The Rabbit will have the 2.5L VW engine which has 150hp with 170lbs of Tq. I like the fact that VW puts more Tq in their engines than Honda does. I really like the engine in my Accord, but more Tq would be nice.
 
Listed on the spec pdf file, curb weight of 3000 lbs, pretty beefy. Whole lot heavier than the Rabbits of old. And a 6 qt oil capacity, which is nice!
 
Golf=Rabbit. VW has gone back to the "Rabbit" name to invoke nostaglia. That's all nice and fuzzy if you want to relive your past or whatever. It does look nice and the 5cyl is a nice engine, but the cylinder count reminds me of 1980s Audis. While not shown in the specs, the new turbo-charged and super-charged 1.4(?) is a nice engine. I can see this combined technology taking off on other small displacement engines and VW has somewhat admitted this in a magazine article I read.

I'll take a black GTI with the DSG trans--without the plaid seats. That 2.0T engine is just a monster considering it's a little 4cyl. Or the almighty R32, but VW hasn't made the decision on whether it's coming this way or not.
 
I like the 4-door version of the "new" Rabbit. I may get one in a few years, but my wife will have to have a new car before I buy another one.
frown.gif
 
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