climb_on

have the chance to pick up a 1989 vw jetta gli for a very cheap price, its also the wolfnsburg edition (recaro seats WHOO!)

only autocross experince i have is in my sts integra

so hoping to get some imput from you veterans who might have some experiences with VW's

the plan is to keep it stock and autocross till i feel completly feel i know the car, then start building it for autocross and track use.

i see plenty of vw's at nationals but how good is the platform is it worth my time. just wanted to beat on something a little older than my 01 integra.

welcoming any suggestions and comments....

ps i know its HONDA-tech but im sure plenty of you guys have owned different cars and autocrossed or tracked them.

thanks again

tronic

I've gone back and forth with VW and Hondas for awhile.. officially gave up on trying to autocross VW's 2 years ago. I ran a 91 GTI 8v and 97 GTI VR6 in STS.
The mac strut/front and torsion beam/rear suspension on VW's is just not as capable as the Civic/Integra's double wishbone. I found it very difficult to set up my VWs to work halfway decent for autox on street tires, and by then you're still at least a couple hundred pounds heaver than a Civic and limited to the same tire sizes. I replaced all 4 unreliable VW's I had at the time with 1 salvage-yard-reject 94 Integra and have never looked back.

I would suggest you buy that cheap 89 GLI Wolfsburg (especially if it's blue), flip it, and buy an old Civic/Integra to beat on. Just my $.02!

climb_on

it is blue

im planning on getting it and fixing regarless cause it just seems like a great deal

just seeing how it faired as a race car

would just like to own a fun car that i could acctually drive to the movies on the weekend....damn thieves but thats a whole nother story

tronic

it's probably a good investment then, if it's a blue 16v GLI with good Recaros and in otherwise OK shape. Those came with dark BBS mesh silver lipped wheels, too. watch out for electrical gremlins and sagging door hinges (stupid VW's).

for an STSable suspension, do something like 450-550lb springs, Konis (there are Corrado and Koni Race struts that are firmer than normal Golf/Jetta struts at about the same price), VR6 front strut mounts, and I'd recommend a Shine rear swaybar and Autotech hollow front sway bar. Lower the car so that the front LCA's are no further past parallel to the ground. ECU chips or piggybacks can extract more out of the 1.8 16v, which is a decent engine as long as the hydraulic lifters still work.
VWvortex.com will be your friend, it's the the Honda-tech.com of the VW/Audi world

climb_on

recaros look great! minor rip only on driver but can easily be fixed,
bbs wheels are still on the car and also look great.

hope fully the guy will come trough for me on a deal of a price and also hopefully a title.

oh and did a i mention that i found it in a junk yard!

realistically speaking how competitve are the older gli's and in what class?

thanks for all the help so far tronic

anyone else feel free to chime in

tronic

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by climb_on &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">realistically speaking how competitve are the older gli's and in what class?</TD></TR></TABLE>
realistically, it'd be hard to beat a Civic, but it'll be better than a lot of cars.
STS, DSP (16v), FSP (8v), SM..

gsrroger

That'd be a really cool car to have, and you could certainly have fun autocrossing it. My old GTI was a lot of fun to autocross, just because everyone would line up to watch the 3 wheeling.

climb_on

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by gsrroger &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That'd be a really cool car to have, and you could certainly have fun autocrossing it. My old GTI was a lot of fun to autocross, just because everyone would line up to watch the 3 wheeling.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

i figure you can never have to many cars

royale10

Sounds like its a helios edition which are somewhat rare... I say buy it and do what you can with it. Mk2 gti's and jettas do handle pretty well with out a lot of money into them.

climb_on

this car i sounding like a better deal all the time

helious edition... have to check that out

i know its a wolfensburg edition but dont know too much about the helious

i think its going to be a fun car to fix up and keep stock and have fun with it

gs or ds?

gsrroger

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by climb_on &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

gs or ds?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Assuming you run with the scca, or a club that uses scca classing, I think the 16V's are still in GS, and the 8V's are in HS.

JOE BD-0

Oh, I'm sorry, I thought that this website was called HONDA-TECH.......

Stinkycheezmonky

First, it's Wolfsburg, not Wolfensburg.

Second, while this is HONDA-TECH, this is also the RR/AX forum, where we support and enjoy a variety of vehicles. We're not so close-minded as to limit ourselves to one make (especially seeing as how VWVortex is so worthless when it comes to supporting track activities). So thank you for the constructive input, which will from here on out be ignored with extreme prejudice.

JOE BD-0

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Stinkycheezmonky &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">First, it's Wolfsburg, not Wolfensburg.

Second, while this is HONDA-TECH, this is also the RR/AX forum, where we support and enjoy a variety of vehicles. We're not so close-minded as to limit ourselves to one make (especially seeing as how VWVortex is so worthless when it comes to supporting track activities). So thank you for the constructive input, which will from here on out be ignored with extreme prejudice. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Your'e absolutely right, "extreme prejudice" seems to be the mindset of most of the twenty-somethings on this website. Good Luck....