First MKV Jetta sighting

A web site stated that weight. I had a hard time believing that
number. I think my 67 Beetle weighed about 1700 lbs, The 84 GTI I
guess was about 2,000 lbs. While my father in law's 914 feels fairly
solid I could not imagine it being that heavy. Both the 914 and the
944 have quite nice handling. The 914 is pretty amazing to me. A car
of that vintage certainly felt better than my GTI.

Nate Nagel > wrote:

>2900 lbs? maybe if the driver and passenger both weight 500 lbs. each
>but it would require a hydraulic press to get 'em both in there
>
>but yeah... 914 isn't lightning quick nor is the 944 but that's not what
>they're all about... handling is a good thing...
>
>nate
>
>(actually still own one of each, although the 914 hasn't turned a wheel
>in years)
>
wrote:
>
>> When was the last time you drove a 914? Even with the slightly bigger
>> 4 they are not particularly fast. 80-95 hp in a 2900 lb car.It makes a
>> 944 seem fast. Not every car is a new car. Did you know that Porsche
>> has been building cars since 1938. They even built tractors. One was
>> on Ebay a few years ago. That tractor is faster than my tractor. I
>> think it had a top speed twice as fast as my John Deere.
>>
>> "Steven Grauman" > wrote:
>>
>>
>>><<Yea, my sister has a 325xi wagen. She would take the babyseat out of
>>>it and go race it at Limerock. It was pretty funny when the MomMobile
>>>scorched some dude in a Porsche>>
>>>
>>>Huh? Even an early Boxster 2.5 should post better track numbers than
>>>any 325. And even a 330i with the sport package would have a hard time
>>>besting the newer Boxster 2.7's times.
>>
>>
>>
>> Jim B.


Jim B.

<<When was the last time you drove a 914?>>

About a year ago, my buddy's girlfriend has a 914/4 with the 2.0 litre
VW motor. Never driven a 914/6 but rode shotgun in one once. No, they
aren't fast in a straight line, but great handling, considering the age
of the vehicle. I'd bet that with new tires the 914/6 could keep pretty
close to a new 325xi in slamlom testing.

<<Did you know that Porsche
has been building cars since 1938. >

Yupp. But there was no specificity as to *which* Porsche this 325 was
racing or what kind of race it was. A brand new 325xi is faster than a
2002 Ti too, not much of a race though.

I think it's a typo, a 914 IIRC is actually closer to 1900 lbs. I know
I can pick the front end up and swing it around to get it into a pole
barn without lots of backing and filling

BTW I have accepted the fact that I will never get to fixing it up (just
doesn't make economic sense to pay someone, and I don't have the skills
to fix the body right by myself) so offers are being entertained (see
..sig for pics)

nate

wrote:

> A web site stated that weight. I had a hard time believing that
> number. I think my 67 Beetle weighed about 1700 lbs, The 84 GTI I
> guess was about 2,000 lbs. While my father in law's 914 feels fairly
> solid I could not imagine it being that heavy. Both the 914 and the
> 944 have quite nice handling. The 914 is pretty amazing to me. A car
> of that vintage certainly felt better than my GTI.
>
> Nate Nagel > wrote:
>
>
>>2900 lbs? maybe if the driver and passenger both weight 500 lbs. each
>>but it would require a hydraulic press to get 'em both in there
>>
>>but yeah... 914 isn't lightning quick nor is the 944 but that's not what
>>they're all about... handling is a good thing...
>>
>>nate
>>
>>(actually still own one of each, although the 914 hasn't turned a wheel
>>in years)
>>
wrote:
>>
>>
>>>When was the last time you drove a 914? Even with the slightly bigger
>>>4 they are not particularly fast. 80-95 hp in a 2900 lb car.It makes a
>>>944 seem fast. Not every car is a new car. Did you know that Porsche
>>>has been building cars since 1938. They even built tractors. One was
>>>on Ebay a few years ago. That tractor is faster than my tractor. I
>>>think it had a top speed twice as fast as my John Deere.
>>>
>>>"Steven Grauman" > wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>><<Yea, my sister has a 325xi wagen. She would take the babyseat out of
>>>>it and go race it at Limerock. It was pretty funny when the MomMobile
>>>>scorched some dude in a Porsche>>
>>>>
>>>>Huh? Even an early Boxster 2.5 should post better track numbers than
>>>>any 325. And even a 330i with the sport package would have a hard time
>>>>besting the newer Boxster 2.7's times.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Jim B.
>
>
>
> Jim B.


--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

Steven Grauman wrote:
>
> The 3.2 will be a bit late for U.S. customers but only by a few months
> from what I hear. As far as size goes, I know the A4 isn't getting any
> bigger, but the A6 may be SLIGHTLY larger than before.

According to the reviews I've read, the new A6 is significantly larger
in almost every dimension, notably width.

--
Mike Smith

On 30 Mar 2005 17:48:00 -0800, "Steven Grauman" >
wrote:

><<Yea, my sister has a 325xi wagen. She would take the babyseat out of
>it and go race it at Limerock. It was pretty funny when the MomMobile
>scorched some dude in a Porsche>>
>
>Huh? Even an early Boxster 2.5 should post better track numbers than
>any 325. And even a 330i with the sport package would have a hard time
>besting the newer Boxster 2.7's times.

**Sure, but stop comparing cars and start comparing drivers.
Perhaps that guy didn't have the cajones to trust his car when
braking/shifting for a fast corner or he can't heel-toe so well. Or
maybe he can't hit the lines right so his exits are slow. He could've
been a bit shaky because that same weekend, someone else crashed their
Porsche.

My sister is pretty serious about it when she's out there. She and
hubby often do those weekend Skip Barber courses at Limerock as well
as a lot of professional instruction.

kaboomie

On 30 Mar 2005 17:59:32 -0800, "Steven Grauman" >
wrote:

<boom wrote>
>>Also, have you ever seen/driven the new Golf?>
>
>I saw
>the Golf at my dealer, it was there "visiting" for some promo thing VW
>was doing for 2 days. They were giving people drives but I didn't get
>one. It's not horrible, but not fantastic, although the interior is
>STELLAR. It's also like 50% more rigid than my MKIV which is good. I
>hate the rims though, I wish VW would put BBS sets on the GTI and GLI.

**This lends to what I read either here or on one of the forums: The
best place to view the new Jetta/Golf is from the driver's seat.
Agreed on the BBS.

><<Really, you like the 3? I've been seeing them around more and more.
>The 3s are very nice looking. I would shoot for the bigger engine with
>a manual.>>
>
>It's a really great car for the money, although I prefer the 1.8T to
>Mazda's 2.3 litre naturally aspirated four. If a Mazdaspeed version
>with higher output (maybe aided by a lower pressure turbo) came out I'd
>like it even more. The Mazdaspeed 6 is going to use the same 2.3 litre
>motor, but with direct injection (a la Audi's FSI system) and a turbo.
>I wouldn't be surprised to see FSI find it's way into the N/A version
>of the 2.3 as well, which would boost low and mid range torque output
>and make the engine a little more desireable.

**Why are they going to put the 2.3 in the Mazdaspeed 6 when there's a
V6 available for the 6? I went to the website today and poked around a
bit. They have a model there called the Mazda 3 SP23. It looked
awesome.

Also, I wanted to thank you for answering all my questions. If you do
anymore test drives or see the A3, for instance, please post about it.
I like hearing about the aesthetics and the technical aspects of the
new cars.

kaboomie

<<Why are they going to put the 2.3 in the Mazdaspeed 6 when there's a
V6 available for the 6?>>

I'm not sure, to be honest. But I do know that the 3.0 V6 they're using
is related to the 2.5 and 3.0 litre Ford Duratec V6s which I think are
being fased out in favor of the newer 3.0 in the Five Hundred. Maybe
Ford is planing to replace that motor in the 6 as well, and doesn't
want to invest in performance tuning for the MazdaSpeed variant. The
2.3 is a much newer motor, and the MazdaSpeed version adds
direct-injection and a turbo system that helped them yield 280 ft. lbs
of torque, that's more than the bi-turbo 2.7 V6 in the B5 S4 made and a
considerable amount more than any variant of the 1.8t was making.

> Perhaps this is how former BMW 5-series enthusiasts feel?

EXACTLY. My E-class purchase is a direct result of the crappy styling on
the 5 and nothing more.

<<EXACTLY. My E-class purchase is a direct result of the crappy
styling on
the 5 and nothing more>>

An uncle of mine recently purchsed an E500. I sat in it and toyed with
the controls and stereo but didn't actually drive it or get a ride,
very nice though. I have, however, ridden in a last-gen E55 and while
it was fast, it didn't feel quite as balanced as the slower 540i I had
driven (also an older one, a 1998 - E36?). How does the new E stack up
to the 5er in terms of balance and driving performance?