GTI or OPC

cabla

My sister's boyfriend is going to be buying a new car soon. Now he wants a Golf GTI. However i prefer the Opel astra opc. What do people think..or any suggestions on other cars?

TheBazman

I would prefer the GTI myself - it is more expensive but easier to live with as an everyday car. You also have the option of a 5 door as well as the fantastic DSG gearbox. The OPC would outperform the GTI but I just dont like the interior (just my opinion). I also heard that torque steer can be a problem, but cant confirm as I havent driven one

JoeA3

GTI for me too. I've got mine 3 weeks. Love it. I would also concur its probably the easier car to live with. OPC in my eyes is very OTT, skirts and spoilers, whereas the GTI strikes a better balance on the styling stakes for me. Neither does that 3-letter moniker do it any favours. Everyone is familiar with "GTI" - it has the history/image/heritage, whereas "OPC"???
I've also heard torque steer is quite a problem in the Astra.
Others to consider are the Skoda Octavia vRS, the Leon something-or-other (both have same engine as GTI)

Plug

I heard opel were crap in general anyway by a few people who had them, Im not saying they are crap but thats what I heard. Watched the top gear review of the GTI and even that muppet Jeremy Clarkson liked it!

bazz26

The MkV GTi has received great reviews since it came out almost 2 years ago. The DSG gearbox version is supposed to be sweet.

Afaik the Astra OPC has more power than the GTi but the front wheel drive chassis and steering do not handle the extra power very well. Lots of torque steer from what I read.

I'm not a fan of VWs but in this instance I would go with the GTi.

junkyard

I wouldn't buy either to be honest, VW's are hit and miss and all Opels are rubbish and the price of Opel parts has gone through the roof lately, nearly 600 euros for a primed front bumper cover for a new Vectra......I couldn't believe it.:rolleyes:

Andrewf20

Had a chance to be a passenger in both. Fuel consumption of OPC was a bit scary. Id go with the mags opinions and get the Golf.

On a slightly different note, just eyeballed the car tax figure on the Focus ST - 962euro! No wonder they are rare over here. If the engine cc was fractionally less the car tax bill would be 821 euro. Raw deal methinks.

whippet

I would agree with the GTI!

From what I have read the Leon Cupra (2.0L Turbo) isn't a patch on the GTI, the interior is substandard and even with a little extra power it doesn't handle anything like the GTI

Neither. I would go for a Focus ST.

Those GTIs are everywhere.

HashSlinging

Leon Cupra all the way.

Biro

New Civic type R is what I'd go for. Or the Focus ST. I'd probably pick the GTi over the OPC, but then again the OPC isn't exactly a crock either!
The cupra would want to cost a few grand less before I'd consider it, by all accounts it's not as good as the GTi and the GTi will certainly be more favourable when time comes to sell.
On a similar note, the civic type r previous shape is still very expensive 2nd hand, so it'll hold the value well too!

HashSlinging

Thing is you wont want to sell the cupra, so everyones a winner. But no doubt about the GTI being easier to sell..

MarkN

I know someone with an OPC and the power delivery is a lot more brutal and raw than the GTI. On the roads he has little problem (apart from in the wet) keeping up with my S3.

The GTI feels quite a bit slower (I've driven both) but for everyday driving it's the better car.

It rains A LOT in this country and the GTI is bad enough trying to get the power down, the OPC is worse again.

The GTI just looks the classier car inside and out and for the extra 40 bhp the OPC has, with it being a FWD car I dunno how much use the extra power is.

The only other thing about the GTI is they are EVERYWHERE. Anyone with access to Top Gear and a good credit rating has one these days. They are far too common. Dare I say it, if I was buying again I think I would go for the ST just to have a rarer car. 52 of them in Ireland according to Crimeline the other night!

JoeA3

all that would put me off the ST is the horrendous fuel-economy (20mpg at best I've heard!), and as someone else said earlier the road-tax is nearly double that on the GTI..! If the Green Party get in to government, you will need to emigrate to own one of these, according to todays reports.

But I believe it is a cracking car alright, and I think it looks good (not in that orange though!).

Henry Ford III

JoeA3 wrote:

all that would put me off the ST is the horrendous fuel-economy (20mpg at best I've heard!), and as someone else said earlier the road-tax is nearly double that on the GTI..! If the Green Party get in to government, you will need to emigrate to own one of these, according to todays reports.

But I believe it is a cracking car alright, and I think it looks good (not in that orange though!).

I ran a ST for 10 months. A fantastic car, and I really miss the overtaking performance.

Fuel economy varies between low 20's around town to low 30's on the cruise.

Tax is high, but tbh it's a relatively small consideration.

It's much much cheaper to buy than a GTI. Many thousands of Euro.

It's also rarer, which is good in my view. Standard kit is good. The engine note (5 cylinder) makes it different.

If road tax and fuel economy are your over riding concerns you really shouldn't be buying a high performance car.

Avoid the orange ones. Performance blue is by far the best colour.

JoeA3

Henry Ford III wrote:

If road tax and fuel economy are your over riding concerns you really shouldn't be buying a high performance car.

Avoid the orange ones. Performance blue is by far the best colour.

Agreed, and to be fair road tax and economy wouldn't worry me too much either, hence I have a GTI! I've had the car just a few weeks now and I'm averaging 27-28 around town, 33-34 on the one long trip I did so far.
Its the resale-ability of a very-expensive-to-run Ford that would put me off ever so slightly.

That blue on the ST looks brilliant too.

milltown

The OPC has about 50 gee gees more than the chassis can handle. Torque steer is a big problem. I haven't felt torque steer like it since the corrolla twin cam. It does feel like fun at first but that very quickly turns into the realisation that the car is not really very good at going where you want it to. Even if it does go where it wants to very quickly.

I haven't driven a Golf but for resale alone I'd have it over the Opel.

sneakyST

Henry Ford III wrote:

Performance blue is by far the best colour.

Have to disagree there Henry, red is definitely the best colour followed by white. That order may change though if i change my red one for white.

Answering the OP the OPC is a far better looking car than the Gti but the interior is a disaster. Everyday driving its got to be the Gti but i dont understand why people buy such a good car with an auto/semi box. Whats the point, no fun IMO.
I would be biased for the ST as the noise is just addictive.
There are so many hot hatches now so it all depends what you want from a car.

MarkN

It depends on what type of styling you like, it's hard to say the OPC is better looking.

The OPC has a big kit on it and a big exhaust on the back. The front of it looks quite bland I think. It's an in your face boy racer looking car.

The GTI is more subtle and refined and with the 18s and the right colour setting off the red strip and the calipers etc it looks very classy.

Henry Ford III

sneakyST wrote:

Have to disagree there Henry, red is definitely the best colour followed by white. That order may change though if i change my red one for white.

Answering the OP the OPC is a far better looking car than the Gti but the interior is a disaster. Everyday driving its got to be the Gti but i dont understand why people buy such a good car with an auto/semi box. Whats the point, no fun IMO.
I would be biased for the ST as the noise is just addictive.
There are so many hot hatches now so it all depends what you want from a car.

Personal choice.

My new car is Colorado Red btw

whippet

sneakyST wrote:

the Gti but i dont understand why people buy such a good car with an auto/semi box. Whats the point, no fun IMO.

have you driven the DSG box? if you do you might change your opinion. I was going to go for the manual and then I took the DSG out for a test drive and was never going to even think about the manual after that.

You have a very smooth auto box for when you are plodding down the M50 in the morning and a very very responsive paddle shift (or gear shift) semi auto for when you want a bit of fun !! 0.8 of a second shifting time with virtually no lag ... I can't wait to get it.

sneakyST

whippet wrote:

have you driven the DSG box?

Yes i have and will always prefer to change gear myself the old fashioned way. Just my opinion. I just think its a novelty and then gets boring

MarkN

I drove an R32 with DSG and with the gears left to look after themselves it gave more time for concentrating on driving.........fast!

cabla

Right this is good thanks guys. Well I think then that the OPC is a big no no. So Ill tell him to have a look at the Gti or the St. I agree with the St being the rarer. But someone else said you shouldnt worry about fuel and taxes etc..id probably slightly disagree about the fuel..as its expensive these days.

Does anyone know the fuel consumption on bothe the GTI and the ST?

JoeA3

on the GTI I'm getting about 27-28 mpg on short stop-start journeys. Drove Galway-Dublin last weekend and averaged about 32-33 mpg on that run. I was "stretching its legs" on the new motorway, so I'd say more sedate driving would get you closer to 35mpg.
The ST would be thirstier... low twenties on the short hops, bit closer to 30 on long spins I'd imagine.

drdre

Give me a Gti anyday.If she wants extra power just get i remapped but 200bhp is more than enough for such a car.It looks nicer than the opc.

sneakyST

ST will give you 18-20mpg in town and 30 on a good motorway run but since we dont have any decent motorways...............

ciarsd

sneakyST wrote:

ST will give you 18-20mpg in town and 30 on a good motorway run but since we dont have any decent motorways...............

Wow - that's some consumption. My friends M3 CS is averaging about 18mpg currently.

Still though, got to pay for something different and the ST is nice and different!

MarkN

I never saw more than 440-460kms out of a full tank in the GTI unless heading out of Dublin for a few days etc

Plug

GTI can be remapped to an extra 41HP, thats more powerful than that big thirsty ST.

sneakyST

Plug wrote:

GTI can be remapped to an extra 41HP, thats more powerful than that big thirsty ST.

The ST can be remapped to 265bhp/405nm torque with map only. An exhaust and induction kit will take it to 285bhp/427nm (285 ECU remap)

There are also engine upgrades which can give you up to 330bhp/521nm torque

bazz26

I know the ST is a rare site on Irish roads compared to the GTi but there does seem to be a good few 1.4/1.6 litre Focus going around with ST type body kits and big alloy wheels which Ford seem to supply either as a factory or aftermarket option. Imo this deminises the ST and is like all those BMW 316i/318i with M badges or 1.6 Subaru Impreza with WRX rear wings.

sneakyST

yep i have seen a focus 1.6 with ST alloys but the body kits are not the same

JoeA3

yes Bazz, there are souped-up 1.4's with silly bodykits or "ST-lookalikes" as some dealers claim, but you'd want to be Stevie Wonder to confuse a real ST from one of these. Same goes for the Golf, there's plenty of lads driving around in wheezy 1.4 Golfs, on bad boy wheels

Henry Ford III

I agree. The 1.4 & 1.6 Focuses with bodykits are along way from looking like a proper ST.

God I miss that car:(

MarkN

What did you replace it with Henry?

Henry Ford III

A 1.6 Focus. Needs must.

p.s. It's a 3 door Zetec Connection, and it's a good car, but it's a little lacking in dynamic qualities compared to the ST.

el diablo

the Golf GTi every time. please do not buy the Opel. it's a very easy decision to make..;)

mrbungle

MarkN wrote:

I never saw more than 440-460kms out of a full tank in the GTI unless heading out of Dublin for a few days etc

I was getting around 600-615kms per tank and then got it service and started to get 650-670kms per tank !!

My journey is country dirt roads to main road to M1 to work and we don't drive slow up around Louth hey !!

ando

Personally I think the Opel is the best looking out of the current lot. Blue especially! GTI is nice and makes the most sense, but oh my god its far FAR to common now, driving home last night 3 passed me by within 2 mins!! After spending so much money on a car you want to feel special and unique but I don’t think id get that in a GTI.... to many hairdressers drive them! IMO the ST looks very plastically and bulky, not smooth or natural look but I would say is the best handling car, would be the most fun to drive, especially after a remap if you went down that road. Id say the new Civic type R is really a lot of fun to drive but oh my god its so ugly at the back... New Cupra doesn’t really do it for me either...

Personally if I had the money, it would be the Audi S3. Really impressed by it, looks, performance and its so rare aswell but the money needed for that is stupid!!

If I had to buy the GTI it would have to be in white with red trim around the grill and the old GTI style rotary phone alloys.

But i'd still take an orange ST every time. They are seriously cool.

Everyone concerned about fuel consumption shouldn't be buying cars like these.

JoeA3

mrbungle wrote:

I was getting around 600-615kms per tank and then got it service and started to get 650-670kms per tank !!

My journey is country dirt roads to main road to M1 to work and we don't drive slow up around Louth hey !!

wow, I struggled to get that from a tank in my 1.6 Audi! I've barely managed 500 kms in the GTI to a tank, but most of my journeys are short stop-start.

omega man

The Astra opc is a howl to drive, very raw but getting all that power down in wet conditions is a problem. The GTI will be reliable and has more than enough power and looks the part (a lot on the roads though) but i went for the octavia RS over the GTI for a few reasons, VW dealers been one! With the family and all that i also prefered the bigger RS and it came with far more standard kit than the GTI and for a few grand less too. To answer the question, i would go for the OPC purely for originality.

RobAMerc

bazz26 wrote:

I know the ST is a rare site on Irish roads

Funny you should say that, on Saturday comming up the N7 I overtook two ST's both blue near Naas - I was a bit shocked - was actually going to hang about for the first (06 reg) one to catch the second (07)(as that one was going a fair bit slower) to see the reactions.

Before someone says it - I was not confusing the 1.4, kitted model - these were both bona fide ST's