Golf GTi vs. Rabbit

[Tyger]

Until recently, I never knew the difference between a Mk 1 VW Golf GTi and the Golf "Rabbit", I always thought the latter was a kinda pet name for a Golf Cabriolet, but read somewhere recently that you guys in the US got the Golf a few years after Europe, but got a bit more power for your patience too.

A Mk 1 Golf with upped power sounds pretty much perfect to me. Here's hoping it's in GT6 (Forza has it, no fair) though I think a lot of folks would like to see the Mk 2 GTi also.

So now i'm off to mod one of my Golfs in GT5 to make it "Rabbitified"

 

[Tornado]

Rabbit was the name that the Mk. I Golf (and, briefly, the Mk. V) was called in America. The GTi was called the Rabbit GTi, and got saddled with ugly front styling that always made me confuse it with a Dodge Omni. Ours made a little less power, too.


The Cabby is a bit more interesting, because it was always a Mk I even as it was sold alongside the Mk II and Mk. III Golf, but after Volkswagen of America changed the name of the Rabbit back to Golf for the Mk II they just changed the name of the Cabby from Rabbit Convertible to Cabriolet rather than Golf Cabriolet.

 

[Tyger]

Ah, tanks for the info, and damn you Forza site for lying to me about the power! (Shakes fist at Forza site then realises he said that "out loud")

 

[homeforsummer]

The power discrepancy could be that the cabrio you've been looking at had the later 1.8 engine, when the original, mid-1970s Golf GTI had a 1.6. All GTIs became 1.8 from 1980, so I'm assuming the model in Forza is a 1.8, whereas the one in GT is definitely the early 1.6.

All Mk2 GTIs were 1.8, the latter ones of those 16v which produced more power again.

 

[YSSMAN]

Oh how I wish they continued using the 1.8L 16V after the MKII model generation here in the US. If I recall correctly, Europe got to carry the engine on for a while, whereas our GTI was saddled with either the run-of-the-mill 1.8L 8V or the 2.7L VR6. Granted, the VR6 wasn't too shabby in the MKIII trim (particularly for the GLI successor, the GLX VR6), but it wasn't nearly as much fun as the old 16V.

I wish there was a way for VW to get back to that old, ridiculously simple setup.