- [Alex] So you want a GTI?
The father of the hot hatch which is,
saying a lot, but today we're gonna know
a little bit of history of the GTI
and what you should expect if you plan on getting one.
By the way, I'm Alex from Fitment Industries
and you are watching So You Want.
(trap beat)
(car engine revving)
The Volkswagen Golf was released as an affordable
replacement for the Beetle.
It was aimed at a long range commuter
that could kind of fit a whole family inside.
The Golf was introduced in 1974
and it was an affordable commuter,
it did what it was supposed to do.
It was actually sold as the Rabbit
in the United States until the second
generation came out in 1983.
A second generation featured performance variance,
in which made the birth of the actual car
that we're talking to you about, the GTI.
The Mark 2, not the MK2, which I said one time,
a long time ago, in a land far, far away.
It was a low point in my life, I apologize,
but it is Mark 2, and if you say MK2,
you might as well just light yourself on fire
and just end it there.
Because that's like the most beloved generation
of Golf that ever existed.
Just don't ever say MK2, just don't do it.
Since it was so loved, other manufacturers
decided to have their turn in the industry
at the Hot Hatch Scene as well.
You had the names that nobody can pronounce
until they watch Top Gear, like the Peugeot 205,
the Renault 5 GT Turbo, the Vauxhall Astra in Europe,
and Ford even had it with their Escort XR3i.
Thus the Hot Hatch Race was born, and at the time
Europe was the most popular for Hatchbacks, but that didn't
stop the love for them from spilling over into the US,
which is what our modern day Hot Hatches
look like in terms of the Fiat 500 Abarth
the Mini Cooper S, the Nissan Juke-R
and the WRX and STI Hatches.
Even the Focus ST and the RS Models
were inspired by the Hot Hatch Race,
because everything that United States
can't have they want, they're like the one kid
on the playground that wants the other toys
but then once they have the toys
they don't care about them anymore.
Volkswagen continues to release performance variance
of the GTI in later model years.
Such as those with like the narrow-angled VR6
six cylinder which is notorious for that trumpet
beautiful, beautiful
(kisses)
like noise.
(revs engine)
Over the years the GTI started to get more and more
powerful and eventually became Turbocharged
and then they got a bigger Turbocharger
in the later generations and over time
things just started to get really good for the GTI.
Because the Aftermarket Goodies started to really build up.
Which leads us to the GTI they we all know and love today.
So with a little backstory you can, this is what you can
pretty much expect to in terms of some of the pros.
Some of the cons, some of the peanut butter and jelly,
of GTIs, GTIs are pretty affordable.
Even up to the new ones, actually.
New ones start right about at $21,000 which isn't that bad
at all and you could pick up an older one pretty much
anywhere from a couple of grand to $1,000.
When you're looking into these cars, it's also important
to note that miles are going to play a massive
role on how much you're going to be paying.
Miles per gallon or smiles per gallon are pretty decent.
They average right around 28 to 30 which not bad.
Modifying them is also reasonable due to the massive amount
of aftermarket platform that exists out there, but not just
how big the platform is, but just how diverse it is.
Do you not have any money?
Cool, 'cause there's probably a GTI out there for you.
Don't have any money for mods?
While there's probably performance mods out there
for you, if you've got a GTI.
Do you have a bunch of money?
Sick, because you could probably just build the whole car
with the same exact amount of money as we would with a
cheaper variant and you still have like $10,000 leftover.
You can take yourself on a vacation, maybe find yourself a
nice little uh, tee shirt and some pants
or something like that.
But really way you can pretty much expect that you can get
into these cars and modify them for a really good price and
you don't really have to worry about, I don't know,
like not a lot of anything.
They're very standard, they have everything you could
possibly imagine in terms of a standard platform,
and an aftermarket platform.
There's so many people that own them that you really don't
have a whole lot to worry about.
And if you have seen any GTIs around, you've probably seen
them all rolling around on some sort of rotiform variant
with some coilovers and both of which you can find on our
website fitmentindustries.com.
But some people build them for performance as well and
especially if you get over to the VR6 models,
which is like the creme de la creme,
the upper echelon, like the motor,
like the thing, it's the thing anyway.
GTI owners tend to do suspension mods.
Obviously handling mods with their, they have some strip bar
things that it's probably a good thing to get involved in.
The APR Tuned Exhaust, the basics.
The driving experience of a GTI is
comparable to those of its size.
The managed transmission is pretty plentiful and the dual
clutch transmission is available in the later models,
which actually isn't half bad.
It's a great fit for pretty much any kind of driving
enthusiasts and that would speak to why the GTI is so
popular from the get go.
But I mean it's not, it's not like fast, but it's not slow.
It's like a nice middle ground.
Maybe like is the right word for it.
It's like we're like a 30 year old who would tell their son
who's an enthusiast that they have a fast car too.
Most people say they handle pretty much anything pretty well
and just put some good winter tires on it because obviously
winter tires just solve everything.
Apparently winter tires can do anything and everything,
but if you throw a pair of Blizzaks on 'em,
you're pretty much set to go forever.
You never need to, you'd never needed to drive a different
car because winter tires, GTI, boom.
The best thing you could possibly imagine
like ramen with meatballs.
Although we know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder,
you probably have already been out there seeing some GTIs
that aren't that you know, aren't that pretty.
And I mean when you really look at it, some of the GTIs do
really don't have that many creature comforts.
Especially the new ones depending
on what trim level you get.
Speaking of, there's like a billion different trim levels on
these things, all of which don't really make any sense.
So the odds that one can be found on any budget, it's pretty
much just kind of circles back to the whole thing on there's
a lot and they're all different trim levels and you give it.
Pretty much like any difference between two GTIs had a
different trim model and it just scaled like this.
We all know that VW owners are kind of like a cult and it's
just a thing, it's fine, we accept you.
But with that being said, they are one of the largest and
oldest communities out there.
So whether you have an old school Bug or a new CC,
you're probably going to find someone
in the community that knows their shit.
The community itself is a little misunderstood because of
the fact that they're a little creative
and a little out there, just a little.
But the bottom line is that the community is huge and
there are going to be good and not so great people involved
in any community, not just this one.
But that also means that if you ever need help,
more than likely the answers are out there within 10,000
different forums that have Volkswagen involved in them.
GTIs being just, that's the brand.
The great news is is a lot of Volkswagen owners, you pretty
much become friends with them for life and they never just
really kind of seem to change.
This is like the cool kid with a checkered shoes on and the
tight pants and the one cap that not everybody
can pull off but they can pull off.
You know exactly what hat I'm talking about.
The community is both very close knit and difficult to ties,
but that's just how family works, right?
You can buckle up and take out those
check engine lights head on together.
So what are some of the cons?
Well, I mean, in all honesty, the check engine light.
And it's one of those running jokes that
just never seems to go away.
Even though it is a stereotype, these things can have some
annoying and very quirky issues.
This could partially be due to the fact that they're built
pretty affordably and the quality
cannot always be that great.
It's hard to stand out with a GTI too because there's so
many of them, so unless you have some sort of crazy or
unique build, you're going to have to
find something that you can do.
And that's why you see so many GTIs with very, uh, very, uh,
unique, unique styles.
If someone's looking to buy one, it's important to keep in
mind its past, the maintenance has been done.
You have to make sure, because those cars are just have a
tendency that because there's so many of them,
not everybody treated them the same way that you treated
your first car.
Hopefully you treated it nicely.
Would grandma would be proud?
(engine revving)
So after knowing all this,
maybe you still think it's the car for you.
And it very well might be.
These cars are especially great first and second cars
and sometimes they're even great, 10 or 15th cars because so
many people fall in love with them that they never really
want to change and it's a really fun daily.
Throw some winter tires on it,
you can drive it all year round.
Throw a little Blow Off Valve on it,
it's going to sound great.
But the one thing that you have to do.
Look at me in the eyes, look at me.
You're looking at me?
Looking at me, Alex, Alex, You're looking at me.
Okay, now that you're looking here.
Lack of facial hair, I want you to look me in the eyes.
Because every single GTI owner has either thought about
or is going to do this, and it's required.
For you to actually get the vehicle title,
you have to do this, you must install two step.
(loud car engine revving)
It's a thing, straight pipe the exhaust, two step.
Bring it to every car show for two step competition
because that, that's it, that's all you can do.
Because if you're going to go to the DMV and you're going to
like sign over the title, first thing that like the 79,000
year old lady's is going to be like "You a GTI, okay oof
two step too?"
And if you say no, they're not going to title for it,
they'd be like, "oh no, can't do it, please go away, next!"
I have no idea what accent that was and I'm really not
getting good at them anytime soon, so I apologize for that.
Okay, it's weird, there's a whole lot of different things
happening on in this body, look as this pale skin.
What up, half Hispanic all day.
All right, so that is our take on the GTI.
We hope you guys enjoyed.
Drop a comment below if you have a GTI , what you have done
to your car, let us know what you want
to talk about next too.
Wheels, tires, suspension, fitmentindustries.com.
I'm Alex from Fitment Industries.
Don't forget to subscribe and we will see you later.
Peace.
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