I’m not a fan of the GTI because of the FWD and quality issues, but the plaid seats are awesome.

I’m actually surprised that VW offers such nice base seats since their profit motive is to upsell people to the leather.

I remember that the previous generation Mercedes SL offered similar cloth plaid seats when it originally came out in the late ’80s.

Almost all of the German manufacturers have moved to offering vinyl seats as the base configuration, (I’m guessing the strategy is to shame buyers into checking the leather option box), but I really wish they would go back to the high quality German cloth that used to be standard (and still is back in Europe).

Any idea if the new R?? (R20? what will they call it?) will make a standard optional? My wife has a GTI with DSG, and it’s a great transmission, but still not as involving as a stick.

Neither my GTI nor my wife’s has the plaid interior, but I must admit it’s pretty cool. How can people not love it? And to those that dislike this car because it’s ugly (it is a tad…homely) drive it! In 2006 when they came out my wife and I were looking at a 350z but really weren’t that thrilled with the test drive (fun to drive, but a little…coarse) and the salesman recommended we go down the road to VW. We had looked at a 3 series, G35, RX-8, and a ton of other cars, but only the GTI blew us away. She bought the 2nd one the dealership sold. I got mine a year later and it’s still the best all-around vehicle I’ve driven.

Then I drove a 2008 GTI – and I fell in love – especially with the plaid seats.

This car is a peach – great motor, the DSG is wonderful, and the suspension is perfect – stiff, but not break-my-back stiff.

Check out the old and new GTI in the pics:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Ted.Varias/2008VWGTI

-ted

blankfocus : oh man! you’ve got to be pretty boring not to appreciate the plaid…come on! +1 for nostalgia!!! (full disclosure: i own one too. with plaid of course.)

Same here, I own and love the plaid. Reminds me of the 83 GTI, not to mention being classic german seat pattern (see old benzes without leather, porsches etc).

(full disclosure: i own one too. with plaid of course.)

You were too quick to give in on your argument that the GTI is better than any Ferrari or Aston. If you narrowly define better as more reliable and less expensive to maintain then I think the GTI might be better than any Ferrari or Aston, if only slightly.

It might not be the first competitor that comes to mind, but I think a young person about to drop in the mid-20s on a car should very seriously consider a Solstice Turbo Targa or MX-5 (retractable hardtop in the snow belt) over this or any hot hatch. I rarely see GTIs or WRXes with more than two people or any significant luggage.

I think a young single twenty something worrying that they might need to carry a lot of people or stuff verges on the paranoia that many SUV drivers used to have that they might have to go off-road – and various companies do rent out sedans/trucks/mini-vans for special occasions.

But I’m afraid that buying a VW is even more of a “risky scheme” than buying your average GM vehicle.

The new Honda (non AdBlue) diesels look promising, but I wouldn’t consider one right now because their styling has gone off the deep end – they’re so fugly that one wonders if Chris Bangle is moonlighting over there.

The ‘09 WRX is gonna have 265hp going through AWD.

Sure, the current WRX is a little aesthetically challanged, but I’ll take Subie reliability over VW (non)reliabiliaty.