Mustang vs GTI, Concerned with Handling

[LeoYasuo]

I will be getting a new car soon and I've narrowed down my choices between an EcoBoost and a GTI. I'm currently driving a F30 328i for reference.

Since I don't have a family, practicality isn't really a concern other than loading road bike or a Labrador from time to time. EcoBoost is bad on gas, but GTI isn't too much better either. I know Mustang would be quite a bit zippier compared to the GTI but I'm not primarily interested in speed.

It really comes down to handling between the two. Although I've test driven both, they weren't really side by side and I couldn't tell much of a difference afterwards. The BMW I'm currently driving has stiff steering, amazing on center feel, and precise turn-ins, all of which I really enjoy. Mustang in sport mode has heavy steering and it's a plus for me. If anyone has driven both the Mustang and the GTI, how do their steering compare? GTI is front wheel drive, and does it affect handling at higher speeds? Even the EcoBoosts are heavy, will it affect the steering responsiveness and precision?

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[Mustangpursuit]

GTI is better for dog/road bike vs the Mustang., you can throw it in the rear of the GTI hatch and open rear pax doors for your lab to get in.

I have a VW Beetle with a GTI engine and is more nimble and zippier in a city setting and easier to navigate. the Mustang is larger. Steering turn feel is lighter than mustang, but responsive

My VW is Stage 1 tuned both the ECU and DSG, at high speeds it is pretty controllable in FWD. I have yet to experience ill manners by just throwing it around. GTI will be just fine and more practical. Ecoboost bad on gas? my Beetle does 32-33 mpg on highway stock, with tune it makes 30mpg. I see that GTI makes almost same mpg as Mustang ecoboost, but better city mileage vs the Mustang.

 

[xSouthSyde]

I will be getting a new car soon and I've narrowed down my choices between an EcoBoost and a GTI. I'm currently driving a F30 328i for reference.

Since I don't have a family, practicality isn't really a concern other than loading road bike or a Labrador from time to time. EcoBoost is bad on gas, but GTI isn't too much better either. I know Mustang would be quite a bit zippier compared to the GTI but I'm not primarily interested in speed.

It really comes down to handling between the two. Although I've test driven both, they weren't really side by side and I couldn't tell much of a difference afterwards. The BMW I'm currently driving has stiff steering, amazing on center feel, and precise turn-ins, all of which I really enjoy. Mustang in sport mode has heavy steering and it's a plus for me. If anyone has driven both the Mustang and the GTI, how do their steering compare? GTI is front wheel drive, and does it affect handling at higher speeds? Even the EcoBoosts are heavy, will it affect the steering responsiveness and precision?

I’ve just gone from a 15 Golf 7R to a 20 Mustang GT. If this helps you in anyway , the VW has better fuel economy, better interior quality and better transmission(auto v auto).
The Mustang sounds way better, is faster stock v stock and I find it more enjoyable to drive plus I love V8’s(my last one being the E92 M3).
Handling wise I prefer the Mustang because I find it a bit more predictable being RWD, even though my R was AWD, it was heavily FWD biased and I had a bad spin out which had me not trusting the AWD compared to Subaru’s I have previously owned.
I know this isn’t exactly the comparison you were looking for but I hope it gives you some kind of idea.

 

[Grintch]

I have a Mustang GT and a Focus ST. The ST is probably a decent GTI analog.

The Mustang is bigger and heavier. So it needs more room to run. The ST is the better city car and autocrosser. The Mustang is better on a track or on a more open road.

 

[bluebeastsrt]

Pretty much apples to oranges. You say you have test driven both and couldn’t feel much of a difference? I recommend you go and try the test drives again. After that it come down to style over substance. One is more practical and better in bad weather. The other is more sports car.

 

[sk47]

Hello; I looked at the GTI around a year ago. ( before the virus restrictions anyway.)Best I can recall I found the ride a bit harsh compared to the Mustang GT I test drove. I do not have an opinion about handling as I did not push either car hard.
The one thing that became a negative about the GTI was when I discovered VW has gone back to the engine timing belts. Not sure if this is still true but such was what I was told a year or so ago. I bought my second wife a Honda which had the timing belt back in the mid 1980's. We split and she took the Honda. I did all the work on our cars back then and reminded her the belt would have to be replaced soon when she left. Some time later she called telling me how the engine was ruined in her car. The belt had broken. By then we were divorced so it was not my problem.
I guess it depends on how you look at having an expensive replacement procedure due at around 90,000 to some number of miles or 8 to 10 years down the road.
I avoided cars with belts, such as Honda and Toyota, for a long time and was able to do so by owning Nissan Sentras. My first Sentra SE-R 1991 had over 150,000 miles when I sold it and the second owner had well over 200,000 miles last time I saw the car. My current Sentra SE is a 2001 bought new and now has 133,000 miles and is right at 20 years old. (I am retired so do not put the miles on a car anymore) It has the 2 liter SE-R engine and transmission package. Both Sentras used chains and do not need to be replaced at any schedule. If I had a belt engine I would have had at least four expensive belt replacements by now.

 

[Idaho2018GTPremium]

A 2018 GTI traps 98.4 mph per MotorTrend. An Ecoboost Mustang traps about 98 mph as well. What that means is the two cars accelerate at almost exactly the same pace, despite the hp difference. The High performance Ecoboost (330 hp) traps 102 mph, so that is an advantage over the GTI.

The Mustang Ecoboost clobbered the GTI in the MotorTrend figure 8 testing. I can't really comment on the handling feel between the two cars, but I previously owned a Mazdaspeed3 for many years and the convenience of the hatchback was phenomenal.

For what its worth, a Civic Type R will outperform them both in every metric.

Read these two articles for a direct comparison:

https://www.motortrend.com/cars/vol...18 Volkswagen,DOHC 16-valv ... 13 more rows

https://www.motortrend.com/cars/ford/mustang/2016/2016-ford-mustang-ecoboost-first-test-review/

 

[D K]

I have a 2015 GTI Autobahn, and have to say, for a daily - its a great car. No problems, just fast enough to be fun and virtually no torque steer.
It's my first fwd car and I was expecting much worse. Mine has Fender audio which is very loud.

It has a similar transmission as the Focus in that it has 2 final drives.
All in all, a great car.

 

[shogun32]

I owned both a '19 GTI Rabbit (S, 6MT) and '19 EB (101A, PP1, 6MT) with a bunch of suspension mods thrown at it or a full year, switching between them one day to the next. Stock for Stock the GTI is considerably 'funner' to drive. It's feels lighter and more nimble and you can chuck it into a corner and power out the other side. No, it didn't have the ultimate grip limit the Mustang had and lost even more once I fixed the Mustang with the Steeda parts catalog. But the Mustang was still an exercise in hustling a "bigish" car.

As far as cargo and utility be it carrying stuff or people the comparison is so lopsided in favor of the GTi isn't not funny. A couple grand in chassis and Suspension mods for the GTI and that would have been unstoppable.

But in the end I sold both 4-bangers and stuck with the v8 cars.
The VW responded quite well to a Stage1 tune but was not necessary. The Ford absolutely requires a proper tune (eg. Unleashed Tuning) for the engine to not be an embarrassment. If you go Mustang you HAVE to fix the chassis/IRS and diff if you want to push the car.

 

[WildHorse]

It really comes down to handling between the two.

Two vastly different approaches to handling in these cars. So It boils down to preference.

 

[LeoYasuo]

I owned both a '19 GTI Rabbit (S, 6MT) and '19 EB (101A, PP1, 6MT) with a bunch of suspension mods thrown at it or a full year, switching between them one day to the next. Stock for Stock the GTI is considerably 'funner' to drive. It's feels lighter and more nimble and you can chuck it into a corner and power out the other side. No, it didn't have the ultimate grip limit the Mustang had and lost even more once I fixed the Mustang with the Steeda parts catalog. But the Mustang was still an exercise in hustling a "bigish" car.

As far as cargo and utility be it carrying stuff or people the comparison is so lopsided in favor of the GTi isn't not funny. A couple grand in chassis and Suspension mods for the GTI and that would have been unstoppable.

But in the end I sold both 4-bangers and stuck with the v8 cars.
The VW responded quite well to a Stage1 tune but was not necessary. The Ford absolutely requires a proper tune (eg. Unleashed Tuning) for the engine to not be an embarrassment. If you go Mustang you HAVE to fix the chassis/IRS and diff if you want to push the car.

You are the person just right for this comparison! Which one would you rather drive for daily commutes? Advantages?

 

[shogun32]

day to day commuting the GTI. great visibility, unassuming look and a better packaged "solution" than the Ford. 6 speed trans if lovely to work and even in lousy stop-n-go traffic less annoying going 10ft stop, 10 more feet kind of nonsense. Much shorter door throw because the doors are shorter, MUCH better paint quality, and turns much tighter in grocery shop parking lots. I've always had a soft spot for the hatchbacks (my previous fav was a Mazda Protege5).

I'll be buying another GTI in a couple of years as the Gen8 finds it's legs.

 

[Idaho2018GTPremium]

day to day commuting the GTI. great visibility, unassuming look and a better packaged "solution" than the Ford. 6 speed trans if lovely to work and even in lousy stop-n-go traffic less annoying going 10ft stop, 10 more feet kind of nonsense. Much shorter door throw because the doors are shorter, MUCH better paint quality, and turns much tighter in grocery shop parking lots. I've always had a soft spot for the hatchbacks (my previous fav was a Mazda Protege5).

I'll be buying another GTI in a couple of years as the Gen8 finds it's legs.

That sort of reminds me of my Mazdaspeed3, although the performance potential of the Speed3 was a bit higher than the GTI. That said, I used to be in a cover band and played all over the Metro area I lived in at the time. I could load the following into my Speed3: Half stack Marshall speaker cab (4x12s), full size Marshall 100W amp head, two guitars (in their cases), two gig bags full of chords, pedals, amp footswitch, etc., half of a PA system including a powered 12" stage speaker and a full size Yamaha mixing board, two guitar mic stands, vocal mic stand, a case with my staple guitar effects pedals (delay, wah, chorus, and a vocal pedal that did a lot of neat tricks), and my "backup" amp which was simply a Boss GT-6 effects processor that had amp cloning within it (so I could plug it directly into the PA system). It was amazing how much I could put in there.

 

[EmCel]

I had a GTI from 2012 to 2018. Fun little car and never had a problem with it until it hit 167k miles. I drive a lot so ... anyway then I got the mustang gt before my current one. The handling difference between the gti and mustang is totally different imo. I felt more comfortable in the vw vs the mustang. It took me a while to get used to the mustang and I love it. I don't drive crazy in it and I know my limits. Hatchbacks are cute and all but not for me anymore. I was going back and forth between a R and a gt. I made the right choice tho

 

[SheepDog]

I will be getting a new car soon and I've narrowed down my choices between an EcoBoost and a GTI. I'm currently driving a F30 328i for reference.

Since I don't have a family, practicality isn't really a concern other than loading road bike or a Labrador from time to time. EcoBoost is bad on gas, but GTI isn't too much better either. I know Mustang would be quite a bit zippier compared to the GTI but I'm not primarily interested in speed.

It really comes down to handling between the two. Although I've test driven both, they weren't really side by side and I couldn't tell much of a difference afterwards. The BMW I'm currently driving has stiff steering, amazing on center feel, and precise turn-ins, all of which I really enjoy. Mustang in sport mode has heavy steering and it's a plus for me. If anyone has driven both the Mustang and the GTI, how do their steering compare? GTI is front wheel drive, and does it affect handling at higher speeds? Even the EcoBoosts are heavy, will it affect the steering responsiveness and precision?

I think if your stuck on a 4 banger, take a look at the Veloster N. It'll smoke the GTI or the EB Mustang, is functional, is available with an manual or Dual clutch trans, and the price is comparable. I don't think anyone would disagree on the Mustang looking better than any of them.

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