Am I Being Too Picky?

[mookie 0]

Bit of backstory: Been a MK2 Golf lover/owner for a while, and had my most recent Golf, an 8V 1.8 GTi I had taken to 2.0L, rear ended and written off. After ages of looking for a canny 3-door 16v GTi to replace it, I had my interest turned to a Corrado by some of the awesome looking beasts on this very forum.

 

Back to reality: Now I'm finding the hunt for a Corrado I like, as fruitless as the Golf search. A VR6, or rather one I would be happy with condition/mileage wise, is over my budget. A G60 would be too costly to run/maintain for me (I have a long daily drive coming up within a few months when we move house). I would however be dead chuffed with a valver.

 

And here is my "Am I being too picky?" question.

 

I cannot find a 2.0L 16v within a sensible, do-able driving distance - in fact there are precious few out there for sale full stop. There are however a couple of 1.8 versions within an hour or two. But in the back of my mind, I worry that I would just have a nagging feeling of wishing I'd waited for a 2.0L. Is this justified? Is there enough of a difference between the two to justify prolonging the wait? I would love to be able to bide my time and wait it out for one to come up, but I'm driving round the courtesy car at the moment (have been for 3 weeks) and I need to make a decision fairly soon.

 

I've done as much research as possible, and read a few posts here and on Ed38, as far as I can tell the torque is the only 'stat' difference I can see between the two - BHP is the same? But in terms of the driving experience, I was hoping someone might be able to put into words how it 'feels' difference wise? I've read comments that the 1.8 feels 'buzzier', but can anyone explain that? I'm not looking for turbo charged, uber speed. But at the same time I don't want to be driving a sporty looking car that feels a bit... slow. I like the nippy, torquey feel of my 8v Golf for example.

 

As a side note, I'm pretty competent with a set of spanners - I did a full strip and refit with a ported head and Audi block on the Golf - so I'd be more than happy to attempt anything to improve performance short of sticking a totally different engine in it.

 

Thanks in advance.

[mr_ed 0]

As a comparison for you (im currently looking for a VR6 myself) I have driven my mates 1.8 16V Corrado and honestly feel that my Scirocco GTX (1.8i DX engine) would keep up quite comfortably, while the Corrado is a more comfortable drive and probablly has a higher top end, the Rocco feels nippier and faster than the 1.8 16V at lower revs

 

but thats just my opinion

[ben_wooduk 0]

Sounds like my search mate. Wait for a 2.0 16v, i've had two C's now and both took me over a year to find. you'll never be happy if you rush it! I dont think you can be too picky, wait for the right one!

Just buy yourself a decent 2.0 valver when you find it fit some KR cams, More than enough poke for me. I was supposed to be buying a VR6 but i'm chuffed to death with my valver so im keeping it! :D

[mookie 0]

I must admit, I can't really complain as the insurance company have given me an '07 plate GTi to drive about in... but I doubt they'll let me keep for much longer! Living semi-rural means a car is an essential - I just hope what I want comes up soonish.