Remember the consumer reports (I think?) review...

"Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell." (oppisitelock)
08/05/2014 at 11:22 • Filed to: None

That slammed the new GTI. Tiff Needel on fifth gear also gave it a less than complimentary review too. Being that he seems to be a pretty excellent driver and has experience in a huge amount of cars, there might be something to this.

That said his complaints mostly show up in the type of driving the average gti driver will never experience. He basically says that the electronic systems cant be deactivated and that they ruin fun. This was shown when he entered a corner quickly and the car basically slammed on the brakes.

I'd like to know if these systems ruin fun on a back road, as opposed to a track thrash that he gave the car. Especially since most people will never track their car.

DISCUSSION (22)

Jagvar > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
08/05/2014 at 11:24

Mr. Needel needs to sit pretty and wait for the new Golf R.

Brian Silvestro > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
08/05/2014 at 11:25

Well he loved the Fiesta ST!

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Brian Silvestro
08/05/2014 at 11:26

He seems to like pretty much every hot hatch more than the GTI.

Quattro-luvr, Powered by Datsun & Stinger > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
08/05/2014 at 11:27

My biggest complaint about my Mk6 is tire grip under acceleration. Even with treadwear 300 tires it's a struggle and I have no engine mods. But boy in the corners I have enough grip to make the front air damn scrape the ground.

Vicente Esteve > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
08/05/2014 at 11:29

Yeah, I heard about that. Still, that has been a GTI bad point from some time.

Brian Silvestro > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
08/05/2014 at 11:30

It can't be that bad...can it?

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Quattro-luvr, Powered by Datsun & Stinger
08/05/2014 at 11:31

Hot hatches are getting pretty powerful these days. Maybe that's why the new gti has so much electronic intervention.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Brian Silvestro
08/05/2014 at 11:33

I think it's basically because he tests cars on their top end track potential whereas the gti is more a fast but comfortable DD. More raw cars like the ford STs are probably more interesting on the track.

Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
08/05/2014 at 11:34

I drove one, it was great on normal roads! I guess I didn't push it hard enough to hate it haha

Brian Silvestro > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
08/05/2014 at 11:35

Yeah you're probably right.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur
08/05/2014 at 11:35

I dont think many of us would drive one hard enough to hate it for the things he did haha.

N51fanatic > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
08/05/2014 at 11:39

Well, Subaru took a step back with the pre face lifted last gen WRX, peraps its VW's turn.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > N51fanatic
08/05/2014 at 11:47

Maybe. To be honest though it just seems to be moving more into the executive car market (3 series, c class IS) as it has been for some time now. Those are the type of drivers i tend to see owning them. Hence it being pretty comfortable with a nice interior.

KirkyV > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
08/05/2014 at 11:52

As ever, if we're talking hot hatches in that size-class, I'd have a Megane. But then, I've always been a fun over practicality sort of guy—though a little practicality is always nice. I think it's mainly down to my preferring the old-fashioned Peugeot philosophy toward hot hatches - edginess and agility, that can be experienced at reasonable speeds - over what VAG have been doing since the Mark 2 Golf GTI—that is, performance, but with a greater focus on stability and 'refinement'.

I'd have a Fiesta ST over either, though. Superminis are a little more my speed, and it's seemingly the best of the current bunch.

GTI MkVII > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
08/05/2014 at 11:55

But on the flip side, Clarkson and Harris both gave it tons of praise. It really depends on how and where the car is being tested. It isn't a track-ready racer, so why test it as such?

Jeff-God-of-Biscuits > Quattro-luvr, Powered by Datsun & Stinger
08/05/2014 at 11:57

That's kind of like saying that you can hustle a Harley fast enough to make the pegs drag, isn't it? I mean, if they had stiff enough suspension or proper clearance, things wouldn't scrape. Is your Golf lowered?

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > KirkyV
08/05/2014 at 12:02

I'd have a Fiesta ST or a Focus ST estate if I needed room. Been in a diesel Fiesta and even that felt tight and agile.

L I don't like the way Renault builds their cars and after working on 4 or 5 I don't have a lot of nice things to say about them to be honest. Never driven an RS but other than the Twingo all the Renaults I've driven or rode in were comfortable but very very numb with middling build quality. I assume the RS is a lot better but my brain wouldnt let me consider one after my experience with Renault.

The GTI is more a rival to executive saloons than a hot hatch in my opinion.

KirkyV > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
08/05/2014 at 12:31

The Fiesta's just an all-around superb car, in any guise. Ford design all their mainstream cars - well, the Focus and Fiesta, at least - to be fun to drive throughout the range; most other manufacturers only bother with the actual performance models. Part of the reason why I like eighties/nineties Peugeot so much is that they did the same... And then the 206 came along, and it all went rather wrong.

I don't have much experience with Renault, personally, but from what I understand the RS models are built in a completely different factory from their more pedestrian cars, and to a different standard of quality.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > KirkyV
08/05/2014 at 12:38

I like everything about the Fiesta except the dash. I juts out a little too much and makes the car feel a lot smaller than it is. Other than that it's hard to fault and I'd certainly consider one when they're cheaper. In fact a diesel one might be my girlfriends next car.

Oh god the 206 *shudders*. At least the new 208 looks pretty nice, hopefully they're getting back on track.

The RS cars do look better and a Twingo 133 would be a welcome replacement for my Panda. But our 2004 megane was just so completely awful even though I know the other cars are different, I just really struggle to move past it. God I hated that car.

Quattro-luvr, Powered by Datsun & Stinger > Jeff-God-of-Biscuits
08/05/2014 at 13:24

But of course. 1" via VW Driver Gear springs. However my old tires didn't grip enough to make the suspension compress hard.

My point being that the factory torque in the motor is greater than the grip of tires, even aftermarket ones. The only tires I think that wouldn't slip is something in the 100 treadwear category. Then I'll be buying tires every 6 months.

George Costanza > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
08/05/2014 at 16:58

I think people like consumer reports and others who found it boring were coming off the high of the Ford FiST and Focus ST. They were cheaper and more fun even though I believe they had electric steering as well. GTI basically became a german saloon more than a hot hatch. And its priced like a german saloon. 5K above its price range in my opinion.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > George Costanza
08/05/2014 at 17:14

I agree. The GTI occupies a different class now and in my opinion is more a rival to a nicely specced 3 series than other hot hatches.