New VW Rabbit

[BigWillieLL66]

My brother got one of these, black, manual. Amazingly quick little car. I've driven a few times. It's a 150 HP 5 cylinder, 2.5 liter. The thing hauls, especially with the transmission they have it mated to.

He keeps telling me to get one too. I'm half convinced to get one. However the 4 door version goes for around $18,000 vs the $14,000 that he's paying for his 2 door. I got to see a blue one yesterday. Very nice looking car.

We also test drove the new GTI yesterday, automatic with paddle shifters. That's a damn fast car. Didn't like the paddle shifters though. The turbo was nice though. The car needs a boost gauge though.

[toymachine566]

any pics?

i didnt know they were still making rabbits........but then again i'm not that knowledgeable on VW as it is :)

[BigWillieLL66]

They actually just started making them. I guess they are replacing the Golf. Very sharp looking hatchback.

If you talk to my brother he'll tell you how he's the first one in the country to get a new Rabbit, at least according to the dealership he purchased it from. They won't start showing up in numbers at the dealerships until the middle of July. My brother kept begging the dealership to let them know as soon as he could get one.

I'll see what I can do about pics. I think he's at work now and I'm working the next few days as well, so it might be a few days.

[SuperGLS]

Cool.

It's just a Golf with a new (well old) name.

Here's an old article with picture from TCC:

http://www.thecarconnection.com/Auto_News/Car_Shows/Chicago_Auto_Show/Volkswagen_Shows_2007_Golf.S289.A10001.html

[mrhoaf]

theres nothing in the article that says theyre changing the name back to Rabbit.....

that woulds be cool though.... maybe i should stop at the VW dealer on satruday.....

[BigWillieLL66]

Yeah, it's basically a redesigned Golf with the old Rabbit name. It's got a new engine, transmission and I think it might be a little smaller than the Golf. Oh and it's got the little Rabbit badging on it.

MrHoaf, not sure if they'll have one or not. The dealership that my brother got his from only had two, that's including the one he got, plus the new GTI.

[ghrpdx]

The Scirocco is coming back in 2008 as well!

[Catfish]

"Rabbit" is only the new name of the Golf for the USA.
It's absolutely the same car, only with the "old new" name.

And btw.: the new Scirocco looks bad I think...

[BigWillieLL66]

Haven't seen any pics for the Scirroco.
I'd also heard though that the Polo may be coming to the US in 08 as well.

[only1db]

it looks horrible...just leave it a that...


dude you posted that it had a 5 cylinder...thats a typo...i was like...thats not right...

i dont know 2.5 and only 150...i'm sure there is hidden power in there somewhere...

and its not an automatic...its a smg semi manual gearbox...AUDI, VW, Toyota, and BMW make the best ones on the market and are lightning fast. i still would get a 6spd.

[BigWillieLL66]

My bro's rabbit is a 5 cylinder, 5 speed manual. I don't know what the stats were on the GTI other than the 6 speed auto with the paddle shifters. Sorry about any confusion there.

[obi_one]

rabit and golf 2 diff cars in europe not just name change

[mrhoaf]

just found this article....

http://www.vwvortex.com/artman/publish/volkswagen_news/article_1727.shtml

if this is correct, then they are just changing the name for the US market...


I had a '80 Rabbit diesel a few years back... fun to drive, but with almost 200k on it I had to work on it all summer...

[yahoo1z]

its really cute, and i really want that new GTI.

[BigWillieLL66]

obi_one, I believe the Rabbit was a North American exclusive name.

MrHoaf, yeah it's pretty much just replacing the Golf. Like I said though the engine and transmission are completely different though, at least compared to his old 03 Golf. That thing wasn't very quick and the transmission was geared horribly. The Rabbit has quite a bit of pep and the transmission is geared wonderfully.

Oh and the Vortex is the forum that my bro is on all the time for all his VW stuff.

[slvrsleeper]

I thought I would chime in here and say that I replaced my totalled XD with a silver (still the slvrsleeper after all!) 2003 VW Jetta wagon 1.8T 5 speed. I have already visited VW Vortex and my wife says if she catches me on there again I'm gettin a DIVORCE to go along with my new car! LOL I understood the rabbit thing was just a name change BTW.

[ghrpdx]

With the introduction of the new generation of Golf, it will be named Rabbit in North America. Yes, there are differences from the previous generation, but elsewhere, it will still be named Golf. It's just a name change because VW believes the Rabbit moniker will be more appealing to North America and hopefully spur added sales.

[mrhoaf]

well... I stopped at the dealership today because they had a pretty blue 03WRX wagon sitting out front... and thought I'd check out the new Rabbit if they had any...


4 hours later.... and I am the first in the Fort Walton Beach/Destin area with a 06 Rabbit!!!

It's a 2-door with the 6-spd automatic.... They claim I got it for $300 over invoice, but the car is so new I have no way to verify it...

so far.... I LOVE it!!!

[BigWillieLL66]

Ohhhhh! Blue WRX Wagon! I so want one of those. Besides a hunter green Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 AWD, a blue WRX wagon is my dream car!

MrHoaf, you sound like my bro. He was pestering the local dealerships every week asking them when they were getting them in. The day they got them in is the day he got his Rabbit. The dealership told him he was the first in at least the Northern Atlantic region to have one. I know he was the first one on the Vortex to have one.

[mrhoaf]

the interior lighting is soooooo pimp..... pretty red and blue!

[steelmalu43]

post pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BigWillieLL66]

Yeah the interior lighting is pretty cool. Although I think those red lights shining from the top down onto the center console would drive me nuts after awhile.

I'll try to get some pics tomorrow while he's changing the brakes on my car. I hate doing the routine maintenance stuff. Luckily my brother loves to do it, especially for a case of beer.

[mrhoaf]

my pic are in this thread: http://www.elantraxd.com/forums/showthread.php?p=217471#post217471

[BigWillieLL66]

Yeah I just saw them.

I'll have to get you in contact with my brother on the VW Vortex. He's already replaced the grille with a badgeless one.

[NY2002ElantraGT]

I've had 2 jetta's '91 2 door Vento, it was sick. the other was a '92 4dr gls. I was a member on the Vortex, that is a great forum... almost as good as EC. definately gonna buy a Corrado one day, make it mint! Nice looking BUNNY mrhoaf!

[BigWillieLL66]

I'd love to get my hands on a Corrado. They were sweet cars.
My bro has had a 95 Jetta VR6, an 03 Golf and now he has the 06 Rabbit and he has a 91 Jetta that he's fixing up as a show car.

[mrhoaf]

Yeah I just saw them.

I'll have to get you in contact with my brother on the VW Vortex. He's already replaced the grille with a badgeless one.

this points out something that had crossed my mind.... thanks to the GTI, and of course a wide fan base for VW, there will be plenty of aftermarket options for the Rabbit... though I doubt I'll do much to it...

[slvrsleeper]

this points out something that had crossed my mind.... thanks to the GTI, and of course a wide fan base for VW, there will be plenty of aftermarket options for the Rabbit... though I doubt I'll do much to it...

Thats what they all say bro! I haven't even had my Jetta for a week yet and I'm already looking at a long list of mods. Something about all the relatively cheap turbo upgrades that exist for the MkIV Jetta/Golf just seduced me what can I say?

[ilanpro]

I have already visited VW Vortex and my wife says if she catches me on there again I'm gettin a DIVORCE to go along with my new car! LOL

A little controling ah!!

[BigWillieLL66]

I want! I want! I want!

I just did my usual commute with my bro's car. Wow. I hit 100 in 4th passing a tractor trailer without even realizing it. And the thing rides like it's on rails! If I can afford one, I'm gonna get one. The only thing that will keep me from getting one of these is if I can find a GT Hatchback with ABS cheaper.

Oh and no pics today, the weather is crappy and the car is dirty.

[only1db]

^ you can do the same with the GT...just need a couple of mods...

trust me...you can easily keep up with a couple of mods...turbo being one of them.

[BigWillieLL66]

A turbo would be nice, but I don't make enough in 4 months with all my bills to even come close to affording a turbo.

[GrGaKC]

Well, Jetta and Rabbit/Golf have better handling stock, but there's really more you can do on Elantras than on VW... The problem with new VW cars is that the engine is really not accesible, so for any medium changes/repairs, you'll need to go to the shop. I know, I have a '05 Jetta 1,9 TDI manual... And I like my Elantra more when all is considered. But it's true that the Jetta drives like crazy!

[SuperGLS]

Congrats Jeremy. Let us know how it goes.

Vortex is one of the nicest if not the nicest car forums on the net, it's beautiful.

[BigWillieLL66]

My bro's name on the Vortex is IWantanA2.

[jcr557]

hows the gas mileage on these cars, it says 22/30 on the window sticker, im debating on wheter to get a loan and go get one.

[mrhoaf]

in my 6-spd auto, I've done a little better than that... low 20's around town, 33 hwy (at 75-80mph)

[Ugzz]

slightly off topic, but my grandpa drove NOTHING but rabbits and micro-buses all the way to the end of his life. To loosely quote him "ive been around since the 20's, ive watched the car from the beginning, theres nothing better then the old vw" (though he did have an 80s rabbit, which i guess for him was "newer", cuz he only drove 70's cars lol)

heh, though he loved the rabbit the most, he drove the micro-bus more because it could store more stuff, and most likey cause they were just cool hehe.. (he was one of those crazy pack rat people that filled his vehicle top-bottom with junk, so he always "needed" the space.. hence the micro-buses- heh)

he loved them so much that the only mechanic that could work on the old beasts was over 100 miles away.. if he had a problem he would pay to have the vehicle towed all the way out there! ha

at one point he owned 2 micro buses and a rabbit.. all the standard colors at that, rabbit was light blue and microbuses were yellow hehe, fun fact.. --the microbus he had made about 55hp, when going uphill on the highway you had to get in the right lane and kick the flashers on cuz you couldnt always keep a steady 55mph -lol.


sorry for the off topic post.. but it does say that there are some out ther truely dedicated to the rabbit era.
~Jack Armitage 1918-2005

[OPZ]

hows the gas mileage on these cars, it says 22/30 on the window sticker, im debating on wheter to get a loan and go get one.


My friend bought a 99.5 MK4 golf, and was getting that untill he got a CAI and exhaust off ebay for it. With it now he's averaging about 40mpg each fill up, and low-mid 20's if he's been pushing the mad hell outta the car. Tranny is a 5-speed