Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site aesat.UUCP
Path: utzoo!aesat!hal
From: hal@aesat.UUCP (Hal Patnaik)
Newsgroups: net.auto
Subject: '85 Golf information
Message-ID: <204@aesat.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 17-Aug-84 10:14:30 EDT
Article-I.D.: aesat.204
Posted: Fri Aug 17 10:14:30 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 17-Aug-84 11:13:58 EDT
Organization: AES Data Inc., Mississauga Ont., Canada
Lines: 74

I am very interested in buying an '85  Golf  when  it  comes  out
(preferably  a  GTi).   However,  information on the car has been
scarce.  The following is the  culmination  of  several  "months"
(:->) of in depth research.

I've seen several articles in different car magazines (ie Car and
Driver,  Road  and  Track,  Motortrend, etc.), and I also read an
article in Business week which even had some colour pictures.

So, here goes:

1)   All   Golf's   will   be   manufactured   in   Westmoreland,
     Pennslyvania

1)   The cars (supposedly) will begin to be made at  the  end  of
     this month (August)

1)   The cars have been available in Germany for a few months and
     according to VW, they have already sold over 265,000 of them
     in Europe.

1)   The car is bigger all around, and more rounded.  Legroom has
     increased  dramatically  in the rear, and the car features a
     more ergonomic dash layout, and better front seats.  I think
     the  car  is  much  better  looking  than  previous  models,
     however, it still looks very much like a rabbit.

1)   As far as the engine is concerned,  the  diesel  and  turbo-
     diesel   engines   are  unchanged,  making  54,  and  68  hp
     respectively.  The '85 gasoline engine is a modified version
     of last years 1.8L 90-hp GTi engine making 80-hp, and as for
     the GTi itself, I have heard of two conflicting reports:   a
     4-valve  per  cyliner  engine  making  145-hp,  and  a  high
     compression version of last years engine making  about  100-
     hp.  The most reliable version, (and the latest) is the high
     compression engine, with the 4-valve jobbie going  into  the
     new  Scirocco.  However, I aint gonna complain if VW decides
     to put the 4-valve engine in the GTi as well.

1)   The GTi gets 4 wheel disc brakes with ventilated  rotors  in
     front,  all  other  golfs  get front discs, and drums in the
     back.  There has  been  some  talk  of  adding  anti-locking
     brakes  to the GTi, but I don't see this as happening all to
     quickly because of various legal issues.

1)   Again, to several conflicting reports, a variety of  options
     have been added to the list:

     - power sunroof           -  rear seat headrests  
     - power windows           -  power door locks  
     - analog digital instrumentation (oh no!)

So that about sums it up, the car is not expected  to  jump  more
than  about  5%  in price, so it is still a good buy, now that VW
has fixed most of their reliability problems,  although  VW  will
have  a  lot  of  trouble trying to convince the buying public to
spend ~10G (Cdn) for a dolled up rabbit, when there are  lots  of
other  cars  to  choose  from  with  fierce  competition from the
Japanese (and the Koreans here in Canada).

As I have not yet seen a car (I cannot bring myself to order  one
without  seeing  it first) I cannot say for sure what is going to
happen.  The above information is the closest  to  what  the  car
will  actually be like in North America as far as I can tell from
my forays into the local library (and my Volkswagen dealer).

If anyone knows anything else about the car  (or  if  any  of  my
information is outdated or wrong ) please mail me and I will post 
a summary to the net.

Thanx,		

Hal Patnaik