Not a fair comparison at all. CVT Civic vs. Mustang GT

[Strokerswild]

Not on sheer speed, but on fun to drive at any speed and situation. Hands down grins per mile is the GTI

No doubt why they're always on Top 10 lists and have been forever.

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[shogun32]

Rode in a Civic on a Lyft ride yesterday, and damn if you can actually put 4 full size adults in the car. at 5'11 I had knee room to spare (finger thickness) behind the driver too.

 

[klink]

I owned a lot of cars in my 60 years and I must say the GTI that I once owned was probably the most fun daily driving experience I've ever had. Damn tempted to take a look at the new ones.

 

[Genxer]

I worked at a VW dealer back in ‘84-‘85 when the GTIs were still the Rabbit. So nimble and fun.

 

[Hack]

I guess I need to try a GTI one of these days. I've always had two knocks on them that kept me from even trying one.
1. Too expensive for what you get. If I had to choose a Mustang GT or a GTI, there's no way I would buy the GTI. To me a GTI should be $10k to $15K less than a Mustang GT base price. I think this goes to my priorities as well. I believe the GTI has a nicer interior than a Mustang, but that doesn't influence my decision on what to buy in the least. Of course if two cars are otherwise identical I would prefer the one with a better interior. But I'd rather have a less expensive, higher performing car with a lower quality interior vs a better interior with less performance. I would never option a premium interior on any car, unless it was a package with something else I had to have.
2. They seem like a girl's car to me. Low power and front wheel drive aren't much fun compared to RWD. But if you are a more timid person, they definitely are easier to drive. If the GTI made 450 HP I would be more interested in one.

 

[shogun32]

They seem like a girl's car to me. Low power and front wheel drive aren't much fun compared to RWD. But if you are a more timid person, they definitely are easier to drive.

and yet you own an '86? Talk abut low power and cheap interior. All of the GTI now come with the special front diff. Would I pay for an 'R' which runs 40K and up? No. But for 30k the S trim are priced within spitting distance of the base Ecoboost and it's a much more useful car than any Mustang, and it's playfulness soundly beats the Eco Mustang.

 

[Hack]

and yet you own an '86? Talk abut low power and cheap interior. All of the GTI now come with the special front diff. Would I pay for an 'R' which runs 40K and up? No. But for 30k the S trim are priced within spitting distance of the base Ecoboost and it's a much more useful car than any Mustang, and it's playfulness soundly beats the Eco Mustang.

Did you know that the GR86 weighs 300 lbs less than the GTI and makes similar power? I'm sure you realize that the weight part of power to weight ratio makes a difference, and not just in a straight line. Flat fours also have a lot lower CoG than straight 4s. The GTI has 59% of the weight on the front tires. The 86 is 53%. Much better.

The 86 is rear wheel drive, which means a lot to me. It's a good car for winter and bad weather when I can't use the power of my GT anyway. It's actually fun to slide around in, whereas front wheel drive cars are somewhat annoying and boring to me.

And if you make a mistake with the 86, the car can spin out on you, which makes it interesting to drive. If you give the GTI too much power, it continues in a nice straight line. YAWN.

The touch points on the 86 are surprisingly nice for the price. The steering wheel leather alone makes me completely despise touching my Mustang steering wheel. I agree the dash especially is cheap looking to me, but like I said, luxury interior is something I don't care about.

Even the used GTIs around me are about $35K with a quick search. Maybe I could find one for less, but they cost more than I would want to pay for a front wheel drive hatch.

I'm not saying the Toybarus are great or amazing. I like mine, but I'm a little odd. I love, love loved my 944 and I finally found something similar. Of course it would be better with a flat 6 or at least a transaxle in it, but that will probably never happen. But I do think the 86 is a lot better than a FWD hatch if you're going to pick which to spend $30K on.

 

[ice445]

I guess I need to try a GTI one of these days. I've always had two knocks on them that kept me from even trying one.
1. Too expensive for what you get. If I had to choose a Mustang GT or a GTI, there's no way I would buy the GTI. To me a GTI should be $10k to $15K less than a Mustang GT base price. I think this goes to my priorities as well. I believe the GTI has a nicer interior than a Mustang, but that doesn't influence my decision on what to buy in the least. Of course if two cars are otherwise identical I would prefer the one with a better interior. But I'd rather have a less expensive, higher performing car with a lower quality interior vs a better interior with less performance. I would never option a premium interior on any car, unless it was a package with something else I had to have.
2. They seem like a girl's car to me. Low power and front wheel drive aren't much fun compared to RWD. But if you are a more timid person, they definitely are easier to drive. If the GTI made 450 HP I would be more interested in one.

GTI's used to be a lot cheaper, I got my 2017 Sport in 2019 for like $20K otd with 40K miles. For that price it was unbeatable at everything. The Sport was well equipped (tech, heated seats, performance pack, etc), and drove great. Interior quality definitely gave an edge to the GTI, but not by a massive margin or anything. It was a nice place to be though. The low power thing was easily solved with a downpipe and tune if you weren't concerned about warranty, the EA888 is pretty stout. 300WHP with those basic mods was basically a given. Stock wasn't too bad though, I ran a 14 sec 1/4 mile with mine. Not great, but fun enough to hoon without huge risk of getting in trouble.

I do agree though that once you drive something that has more potential, the safety and predictability of a FWD hatch kind of loses its luster. I far prefer this car where you know opening it up is like letting the demon out of the cage, and if you mess up you might swap ends. Makes actually getting on it more special, versus just flat footing everywhere without a care in the world. But I suppose it's all about preference.

 

[Hack]

GTI's used to be a lot cheaper, I got my 2017 Sport in 2019 for like $20K otd with 40K miles. For that price it was unbeatable at everything. The Sport was well equipped (tech, heated seats, performance pack, etc), and drove great. Interior quality definitely gave an edge to the GTI, but not by a massive margin or anything. It was a nice place to be though. The low power thing was easily solved with a downpipe and tune if you weren't concerned about warranty, the EA888 is pretty stout. 300WHP with those basic mods was basically a given. Stock wasn't too bad though, I ran a 14 sec 1/4 mile with mine. Not great, but fun enough to hoon without huge risk of getting in trouble.

I do agree though that once you drive something that has more potential, the safety and predictability of a FWD hatch kind of loses its luster. I far prefer this car where you know opening it up is like letting the demon out of the cage, and if you mess up you might swap ends. Makes actually getting on it more special, versus just flat footing everywhere without a care in the world. But I suppose it's all about preference.

I bought a 2018 Fiesta ST CPO with 500 miles on it in 2020 for $18K. I know the GTI is better than the Fiesta, but a basically brand new Fiesta ST was less expensive. It sounds like you got a good deal on that GTI, though. I'm sure it was a better car than the Fiesta ST.

That was when I thought I could be happy with a front wheel drive car for winter and most of my commuting. I did like the Fiesta ST quite a bit, but the GR86 feels like a big upgrade in the fun to drive aspect and when it comes time to turn corners. Ergonomics are a lot better and the GR86 shifter is really good.

 

[Davez17GT]

Funny, you all are telling my the Mustang is a big pig. Well, to me it is my tiny car. I feel like I can toss it around easily. My daily drivers are not on the small size. I am not a small car fan. FWD has its purpose. Having worked at a dealership in the early 2000's, I have driven lots of cars. Still one of the most impressive drives was when the SVT Lightning came out. It went gang busters in a straight line. Had brakes to match. And could turn as good as a Cobra mustang. And tow your boat.......

 

[IPOGT]

GTI's used to be a lot cheaper, I got my 2017 Sport in 2019 for like $20K otd with 40K miles. For that price it was unbeatable at everything. The Sport was well equipped (tech, heated seats, performance pack, etc), and drove great. Interior quality definitely gave an edge to the GTI, but not by a massive margin or anything. It was a nice place to be though. The low power thing was easily solved with a downpipe and tune if you weren't concerned about warranty, the EA888 is pretty stout. 300WHP with those basic mods was basically a given. Stock wasn't too bad though, I ran a 14 sec 1/4 mile with mine. Not great, but fun enough to hoon without huge risk of getting in trouble.

I do agree though that once you drive something that has more potential, the safety and predictability of a FWD hatch kind of loses its luster. I far prefer this car where you know opening it up is like letting the demon out of the cage, and if you mess up you might swap ends. Makes actually getting on it more special, versus just flat footing everywhere without a care in the world. But I suppose it's all about preference.

Almost every single GTI I see is usually driven by an asinine overly aggressive driver. Another odd feature is that I’ve noticed is that the drivers head usually bobs around with the car as it’s moving. No thanks. To me that’s just a FWD $box.

 

[shogun32]

Almost every single GTI I see is usually driven by an asinine overly aggressive driver. Another odd feature is that I’ve noticed that the drivers head usually bobs around with the car as it’s moving. No thanks.

and Mustangs aren't? I think "our" track record is a touch more eggregious.

 

[Strokerswild]

and Mustangs aren't? I think "our" track record is a touch more eggregious.

Yeah, I've seen far fewer crash videos involving overexuberant GTI drivers....

 

[klink]

In all my years, I've never even seen anybody driving a GTI acting like a fool.

 

[IPOGT]

Yeah, I've seen far fewer crash videos involving overexuberant GTI drivers....

That’s simply because they have a different M.O. They cut in and out of traffic and cause OTHERS to crash.

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