New Rabbit vs Old Rabbit

So, what does everyone think? Personally, I haven't driven a new Rabbit, but something tells me that it's not as much fun to drive and is probably slower than the old one.

Not slower by any means.

I am in the rare position to sample all of the above.

Ken Courtland has a couple of clean competitive early GTIs (A1, A2) and I know for certain that the new Rabbit will walk away in a straight line from his A1 car. The fact his A1 is so light would even up the turns.

I guess the thing to remember is that the new car is BIGGER, heavier, AND has more power. They really got the drivers position down well, I am very comfortable in the manual Rabbit. While I am not much of a fan of the 2.5L 5cyl (I call it the John Deere engine) the engine pulls quite well. If you were to install the steering wheel from a GTI, a set of light alloys and some gumballs on it the Rabbit would stun more than a few people.

Other than they are both fwd VW's, not much.

The new rabbit.. Its a fun car, even the autostick isnt too bad... though it does seems to get a little confused in hard cornering. the fit and finish is excellent, interior well set up..the g/f absolutely loves it (its hers, not mine, id of gone with the gti, but thats another story..) And plenty of cargo room with seats folded down. Im not sure the nitrogen filled tires are quite necessary though....compared to whats available, we found it the best value for the $$$.

I really would love to buy the new Rabbit - we have a pet Rabbit, my wife loves the car's name and badge, and we're in the market for a hatchback. I'm just too upset about the fuel economy ratings of the 2.5l. 21/29? That's pretty bad for an "economy" car.

I suppose it's more a driver's car than the competition, or is it? I found the Fit very much a driver's car.

I do like the plaid seats for the GTi though, and the new Jetta diesel wagon gets ~40 mpg.

BTW the new diesel demo car we have has been getting a real 42mpg in heavy city mix driving (the route is usually down 496 to Cedar north to Saginaw back to the dealership. Erich knows it is the bumpiest, worst traveled route in Lansing but they do it to show how tight the Jetta is)

It's a fun little car.

I dunno,

Old Rabbit:

New Rabbit:

I'd say the new Rabbit is cuter.

I have owned at least 24 A1 rabbits and I currently have 2 in the stable.

In late 2006 when the new rabbit came out my wife talked me into buying her one. We got the first one off the lot. 5spd, 4 door 16" alloys.

The motor sounds pretty cool but the early 150hp ones drive like a diesel. all low end torque and asthmatic above 4000rpm. the IRS feels good around town. Interior cloth is terrible. It pilled up like an old polyester blanket in 6000 miles. Cabin noise on the freeeway is terrible, you really have to shout to be heard at 70mph, i blame that mostly on the continental tires. The cars are VERY thirsty too. we averaged 15-17mpg in town. I have no idea why an air conditioned glove box and console are standard equipment, that is just dumb....oh yeah and the aircon is horrible. On a 90 degree day with the AC on full blast it was humid and 80 degrees inside. Dealer could find nothing wrong, it was a common complaint on VW forums. The cars feel heavy and sluggish. It was reliable though. the only problem we had was the seat heater burned through the cover, my jacket, shirt and a bit of my skin one december morning dealer fixed that one right away.

They have none of the fun tossability of the old rabbits. If you compare the two cars side by side they are polar opposites. Small, light, inexpensive, simple, peppy, economical and fun for the A1 and Large, heavy, bloated, complex, expensive and thirsty for the A5.

I traded the 2006 rabbit in on a 2001 GTI with a 1.8T and am super happy about it. 25-27mpg city, much more fun to drive.

The weight bias seems pretty off on the A5's as well. I took it in to the dealership to have the alignment checked as it had completly cooked through the front tires in less than 10k miles. It was in spec I was told. the tech ( a friend of mine) told me that the rear suspension toes in under compression, I guess that would explain the mind boggling understeer

So, which would you rather drive every day?

When I heard the Rabbit name plate was coming back, I really hoped they had federalized the Polo and were going to sell it here I saw one on dealer lot outside the US and thought it was pretty cool. IIRC it is much closer to the original Rabbit in terms size and mass.

John, what happens when you take a 5 year VW down your Cedar Street test route?

joshx99 wrote: So, which would you rather drive every day?

Here in Cali, I think I'd rather drive the original A1 Rabbit. It was a fun car. If it rained more, I might change my mind to an A2 GTI or A3 Golf with ABS.

Type Q wrote: John, what happens when you take a 5 year VW down your Cedar Street test route?

They short out the door module interface and break the timing belt.

joshx99 wrote: So, which would you rather drive every day?

The E30

Old rabbits are great and with the climate of the Pacific northwest I have had no problem daily driving them for the last 18 years.

The crap gas mileage of the A5 was enough to make me stop driving it. we tended to take my old rabbits everywhere in town and leave the new car at home.

I've driven several A1 Rabbits, gas an diesel, but nothing newer so you are getting a very uninformed opinion. That said, to me the "old" versus "new" is a comparison similar to what you would have if you compared a late '70s Ford Fiesta to a '05 Ford Focus. That is, same company but worlds apart in philosophy.

VW might hae been better served keeping the Golf name, but then, all those young, gullible customers wouldn't be so easily convinced that the latest Golf was world's better than the older model.

slefain wrote: I dunno, Old Rabbit: New Rabbit: I'd say the new Rabbit is cuter.

COOK! Whar's my Hossenfeffer?

I haven't driven an early Rabbit, but I have driven a Mk II GTi and I have an 07 Jetta 2.5, which is the same as the Rabbit with some obvious differences. They are totally different cars. One thing I like about the new Rabbit/Jetta is frankly the looks and the interior, its quite comfortable and upmarket in appearance. The Rabbit is not an economy car, though, I think its wrong to think of it that way even if it is marketed that way. The Jetta is definitely not and economy car. It is a somewhat economical car, but not an economy car per se. My mileage stinks but I drive hard and love AC. My Jetta is quite a cruiser, though. I love it.

joshx99 wrote: So, which would you rather drive every day?

The old one. I put more than 100k miles on a $700 Rabbit GTI when I was in college and it was a blast. Awesome seats and very light on its feet. It had some annoyances, but was durable, easy to fix and always got me where I needed to go. Even when I sold it with a hard 230k miles traveled, the engine used very little oil and the head had never been off.

I stopped liking VWs after 1992 when they started making the same kind of cars everybody else makes: heavy and unfun.

I work as a VW tech & currently own both an '83 & '92 GTI. I've actually owned 2 different '83 GTi's, both favorite cars because they're so light & resposive & communicate a lot to the driver with a somewhat harsh chassis & no power steering. The Mk2's where only slightly heavier, but with (I think) better chassis dynamics & more predictable handling (more stable). I am a very big fan of both the first 2 generations. Having said that, the 3rd & 4th gen cars didn't excite me much (except for the 337 & 20th aniv. GTI editions). However, the 5th gen Rabbit & Jetta, while very heavy, I find have very good chassis balance & are fun to drive & even a bit tossable. The biggest problems for me are the tire size, & lack of front alignment adjustment with the soft suspension. Great for daily driving, but for track days & auto-X's, the tires are a little over-worked. I did get a chance to race an '06 diesle Jetta at a Detroit SCCA event completely stock with the original Continental all season tires on it (an H-stock car, but I ran it for points in the G-stock street tire class) & with the ESP turned off, the car suprised some people when it finish just 1 or 2 tenths out of the trophies behind the Mini's, Subaru & Cobalt all of which where on sticky performance tires. So they can be very fun. And the new 2.5 liter has great midrange power as well as top end, it has a very flat power & torque curve. And you can get the Rabbit & Jetta with optional 17" wheels with 225 width tires from the factory. I'm thinking of getting a new Rabbit myself.

Kenny!

Get back to work ;)

Shame they didn't keep the 1.8t/5sp as an option on the new Rabbit, make it halfway between the base and GTI. I'd own one.

Or build the new TDI in the Rabbit first as well.

A lot of folks want that option.