VW Rabbit gets a nod from CR

[The Critic]

If Consumer Reports is right, Volkswagen is well on its way to attaining its dream of outselling Toyota by 2015. In the magazine's June 2008 issue, CR threw a handful of hatchbacks into the ring and the VW Rabbit hopped out the winner. The magazine cited the Rabbit's "very well finished" interior for its class, agility, braking and transmission as reasons to choose it over a growing field of small hatchbacks. CR also expects the Rabbit to have an "above average" reliability record.

The biggest negative the staff found in the VW was "mediocre" fuel economy for a car its size, though many SUV drivers looking to downsize will love seeing its 24 mpg figure. Staffers also complained about the large C-pillars blocking their view and engine lag after stops.

Consumer Reports has routinely praised the Mazda3 as one of its favorite hatches, but in overall scoring, the car now comes in third, slightly behind the Toyota Prius Touring. Rounding out the top five are the Subaru Impreza Outback Sport and the newly redesigned Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe twins. At the bottom of the list are the Dodge Caliber and the Chevrolet HHR.

Source: Autoblog

 

[Pablo]

This so cool!! I can buy a Suburu now!!

 

[deven]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
This so cool!! I can buy a Suburu now!!


Hmmmm......gaywheels.com.........LMAO

 

[Saturn_Fan]

OMG, I went to the gaywheels site and they have a green group you can join called "Homos for Hydrogen". I kid you not.

The site also lists the companies below as being non-gay friendly:

Acura

Honda

Hyundai

Kia

Suzuki

 

[MillerMan]

LOL, I have seen it all now

 

[Shaman]

Coming from a guy with Hard Body and Brute Force in his sig, I have some questions.

 

[rshaw125]

24 mpg is not 'mediocre' its terrible.The rabbit is little dinky car and should do better than that. People are downsizing and expect a significant improvement if they are driving a little car.

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: rshaw125
24 mpg is not 'mediocre' its terrible.The rabbit is little dinky car and should do better than that. People are downsizing and expect a significant improvement if they are driving a little car.


I couldn't agree more. I get this MPG in my pretty hardly beat 1996 Volvo wagon. I have ZERO incentive to hop into $20K+, smaller car, with a spotty reliability history, that gets worse MPG than my current car.

I'm starting to take most of this magazine "reviews" with a huge grain of salt - CR does preach green too. Maybe VW can crow about a more solid, more reliable car....but it ends there.....OTOH some of these little speedsters do suck fuel.

 

[XS650]

Originally Posted By: Shaman
Coming from a guy with Hard Body and Brute Force in his sig, I have some questions.


Not to mention a username of "Saturnfan"

 

[JTK]

I'm sure it does better than 24mpg averaging over a whole tank of gas, on steady highway runs, etc, but even so, WHY an inline 5cyl? That car doesn't need anything more than a fuel stingy 4cyl.

Joel

 

[saaber1]

Originally Posted By: JTK
I'm sure it does better than 24mpg averaging over a whole tank of gas, on steady highway runs, etc, but even so, WHY an inline 5cyl? That car doesn't need anything more than a fuel stingy 4cyl.

Joel


I agree, I drove the golf (mark IV) 1.4L manual in Europe and it was more than enough. Even made the early morning Galway to Dublin run at 150-160kph (around 95-100 mph) with no complaints. MPG was excellent. I drove the rabbit (Mark V. auto) here and it is fine but I would much prefer the 1.4L. I have an inline 5cyl in another car and it is a naturally unbalanced engine IMO. Most inline 5's I have driven I would describe as "gruff".

 

[Saturn_Fan]

Hey, Kawasaki and Nissan named those vehicles.

I assure that my Brute Force 650 V-twin ATV is more than manly.

 

[rshaw125]

Car and Driver only managed 22 mpg when they tested one.

 

[rjundi]

I like Subaru's and noticed the new 2008 Impreza hatchback did well with CR. I noticed many people fault Subaru for poor mileage however with a full time AWD system(not after the fact) it manages 23MPG vs 24MPG(rabbit) in the same type of mileage testing.

I even noticed the new redesigned Matrix with AWD gets slightly less MPG than the Subaru Forester and Impreza hatchback.

 

[MrCritical]

An EVO or STI approaches that kind of city mileage.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: rshaw125
Car and Driver only managed 22 mpg when they tested one.


My wife has been averaging 27 MPG in her 08 rabbit, and it is only at 1800 miles. She does 100% around-town.

On the highway, I do not see the car passing 32 MPG, maybe because it is not broken in, maybe because of its gearing and engine design. Cruise or manual control does not make a difference. We have not done a highway tank, but a few times we have done 5-10 miles at 50-70 MPH... so its a poor basis, but Im not holding my breath.

But around town, you can cruse in 4th at 25 MPH all day long. Our MFD shows in excess of 40 MPG given those conditions, though stoplights drop it quite a bit, of course (the 27 MPG is actually calculated for multiple tanks).

But given the space (I fit in the back seat, I dont even in a camry), and utilitarian design, I dont see 27 MPG around town as bad at all. But again, I dont see it as a highway car either... as my saab gets far better on the highway.

As far as anything reliability goes, only time will tell. The fact that CR has lightened up their circles a bit in a positive way is a good sign, though I dont put a lot of faith in their stuff... We shall see.

JMH

 

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted By: MrCritical, regarding the 22 mpg on the VW
An EVO or STI approaches that kind of city mileage.

My Buick approaches that kind of city mileage.

 

[huffmuds9320]

Originally Posted By: rshaw125
24 mpg is not 'mediocre' its terrible.The rabbit is little dinky car and should do better than that. People are downsizing and expect a significant improvement if they are driving a little car.


Wouldn't that make it a gas guzzler. I think quite a lot of other cars with larger engines do much better than that. On the other hand I'm sure there are other small cars that don't get superb mileage.

 

[rationull]

That's my take on it. The rabbit looks like a great little car and seems like a good value for its price. It's also one of the nicer looking hatches available in the US presently, IMO. VW's engine choice bewilders me a little (especially since the GTI w/ the 2.0T and 200 hp is rated the same now, and was rated better when the Mk5 rabbit first came out). But, I'm sure it's nice having all that torque.

 

[firemachine69]

CR is only good for their 'true' MPG figures.

They're pretty worthless now, based on them making reliability claims of two years running time on a car (Ford Fusion), ignoring past history of a company (VW, haven't made anything right in ages). Actually, it was CR originally complaining that 5-banger was noisy and not very reliable. When you start putting stuff down like the cupholder and seating position over how long your engine will last, you know it's gone down the cr*pper.

If anything, that rag will keep me from buying a Toyota in the future, based on the bit of statistical evidence they present.