Whack the anti-roll bar from the Mark IV R32 on it and it will transform the cornering.

I have owned both the Mk IV Golf GT TDI 150 and the Mk IV Golf GT TDI 130bhp version.

Out of the two I actually prefer the way the 130 drives!

I prefered the way the turbo kicks in on the 130, it seemed to have more of a turbo spike to it and a smoother delivery, the 150 gave one hell of a bang, then felt flat to me, sorry if I am not describing it very well 😉

I had the electric window motor go on the 150, seems it can be a known problem looking online, was also advised to swap the water pump plastic impellier blades to a metal version, when doing the cambelt, as they can go too.

Did not notice any real difference in fuel eco between the two and for overtaking there both have more than enough punch to overtake safely.

Did 170k in the 150bhp and my 130bhp is on 100k with only the elec window motor being an issue so far, not the best handling car out there in its standard form and you will need to watch your right foot on tight roundabouts in the wet with the 150, apart from that, its all good.

Check its history and online MOT records to ensure it hasn’t miraculously done 2k in a year one year 😉

I found all Toyo tyres apart from the R888 semi slick to have very flexy sidewalls but then again i don’t know how your car is set-up, a lotus elise is a very different proposition to a 28yr old Golf chassis wise so what i say will prob have no bearing on your car

Fair point – the Elise fronts are very low profile, but quite narrow, only 195 (the idea being to keep the steering feeling pin-sharp with a smaller copntact patch than big wide rubber). Had a look for the Exalto PE2s and they seem to be in very short supply these days, no doubt even more so by the time the Turanzas are due replacement… A lot of people seem to be going to the PS3 from the PE2 instead, more research required, new thread – “What tyres for Mk IV Golf…”

the police used to be a pain the arse as they did not agree that semi-slicks were suitable road tyres

That’s why I’ve not bothered with AO48s…!

I had a GTi PD150 for about 3 years as a company car, I’d back up some of the other posts in that the handling isn’t the most involving in the world and power delivery is a bit on/off.

In terms of problems, if the car has climate control (which I think was standard), then there can be issues with the cooling fans. The car has two fans which have low and high speed settings, there are often issues with the low speed resistor causing the fan to run at high speed and can fail.

I will be in Sheffield at the end of this month with VAG diagnostics equipment, I’ll be available on Sunday afternoon for about an hour if you want it looking at from a diagnostics point of view?

It’ll confirm the mileage on the ecu as well as the clocks and tell you whether the sensors in and around the car are functioning correctly, and advise you which ones are creamed.

If you want an iPod kit that works with the standard head unit, I may also be able to help with that – that’s another story for another day though.

drop me a line if you want, happy to help gratis.
jtonthebike@gmail.com

jt

I say vag diagnostics equipment, it’s my laptop + VCDS, not exactly professional but will help me swap ecu on an A6.

I’d take jontawn up on his offer if you do buy the car, a man wi a plan and knowledge like that is handy indeed!.

Wow thanks jonTawn, that’s amazingly kind of you.

I’ll need to talk to my mate and find out when’s he available but I may well be in touch, thanks 🙂

PS Liking that Mk 2 GTi but you can tell your mate from me I don’t like the colour of his Exige – gotta be one of the Isotope colours, green or orange, especially on a rocket ship like the S…! 😉 Is he on Scottish Elises – tell him to look out for me on there, same username, although Elgin’s a bit further north than where you two are I suspect. Unfortunately my plan to trade in for an Exige was scuppered due to affordability (i.e. the missus didn’t buy the justification…).

Just make sure you use the correct grade PD oil . The handbook will tell you its 50501 ,or 50502. The cams push on the injectors , sort of, and this needs a special oil. ( I know the cams dont but Im not going into how a pd engine works )
Great little cars . Personally I would never spend £££’s making a nice car into a race sledge . Too many speed cameras, too many potholes.
Just buy it , service it ( cambelt + waterpump ) and enjoy it .

I love that Mk2 too.

I saw a 1990 16v on the classifieds here a while back and had to talk myself out of it.

Yellow is a bit garish ain’t it? – not my style but then again if he offered me the car i’d not turn it down, I doubt he’s on any forums as that’s not his thing, kinda private person and always away working. He’s single/divorced so i guess it’s easy for him to justify his toys, sounds like you need to work on the old “But i really neeeeed it” mantra, how can any sane person especially a loving wife not be moved by such a plea?.

Cheers for the comments regarding my wee golf, i’m ashamed to say it’s only been washed a couple of times since it’s been back on the road (april this year), the 28yr old plastics are a pain to keep blacked up but i refuse to pay £500 for new arch trims….how much for a piece of friggin plastic!, so at the moment it’s covered in the usual road muck and grime as it hasn’t even been washed since i took it to Star Performance (VW specialists) in Kirkcaldy for a rolling road session back in July, when i can be arsed it does clean up like mint but it takes a good 6 hours solid work, and that’s 6hrs i could be driving or out on the bike or doing something productive. It was built to get driven in all conditions, summer winter rain or shine as a daily driver so I’m not fussed if it’s gets filthy as i’m so not a carpark poser polisher – i dislike show cars that don’t get used as they should and folk who spend ages polishing wheels etc.. wtf is that all about? – they must have some form of insecurity/inferiority complex or perhaps just feel the need to impress upon others all the time to validate their existence….there is some strange folk out there.

However i do like a clean bike, but that’s so i can maintain it correctly and i know everything is working as it should….so that’s being sensible in my book 🙂