Golf-Civic Comparaison over the years

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Hamzah

Hamzah

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Stumbled upon this article on speedhunters sorry if its a repost...

http://speedhunters.com/archive/2009/04/06/photo-roll-gt-gt-air-ride-golf.aspx

I have a theory I'd like to run past you lot.... please bear with me, as I'm working out my thoughts as I write this... it's a bit of an experimental premise and needs some feedback from you.

Here's the thought: The Honda Civic and the Volkswagen Golf have had somewhat parallel histories and comparable positions within certain factions of car mod culture. Both started out life as small FF cars, in 1972 and 1974 respectively, and each developed some big followings over the years in different parts of the world. However, the parallel pathways have become more divergent in recent years.

It seems to me, that the following for the Golf has never really diminished, whereas momentum behind Honda and the Civic has stalled out in the past period of time. From an outsider's viewpoint, the VW Golf scene appears to be quite strong: from Mk1s to Mk5s this is a pretty devoted international community.

Perhaps one reason for this, is that VW has done a great job in making sure that the spirit of the original Golf lives on in each successive model.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like interest in Honda Civics is not what it once was. Although this scene has always been very North America centric, the general trend for Japanaese modded cars in this region has moved away from FF towards AWD and FR.

I'd also have to question, exactly how much of the spirit of the Honda Civics that we all loved back in the '80s and 90s lives on in the current model.

John Renna's photos of this fantastic Air Ride equipped Golf, has got me thinking about the parallels and differences between the scenes surrounding the Golf and the Civic.... Nice car huh?

So what do you think? Has VW done a better job in staying true to the spirit of the Golf than Honda has done with the Civic? Have the rise of Drifting, Time Attack and VIP Style interrupted interest in front drive cars inside the North American Japanese car scene?

:R
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i think both cars are far from what it was before.

both fat "compact" now.

at least, golf isn't ugly.
 
The GTI (past 2 gen) have the plaid seats, red line on grill and the basic heart of the GTI.

The civic..I've never owned one, but it is no way near as much of a cult car as the Golf. I am incredibly biased though.

GTI_5generations.jpg
 
The MK3s were the only hick-up in VW Golf line-up but even then, they were available with "fabled VR6" engine in GTI trim. Civic have been in a hick-up from 2001 up to when the K series engine were made available in the Civics.
 
Tomcat88 said:
Forgive me if i am wrong but world sales favor the civic.
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Faux! Je suis presque 100% certain que la Golf c'est mieu vendu à traver le monde que la Civic.

La Golf est top seller en europe depuis très très très longtemps.

Honda n'est même pas dans le top 5 des constructeur mondiaux.
 
les civics c'etaient une mode , rien de plus
le In c'etait le "tuning" (lire acheter un civic mettre plein de bebelles dessus pour etre identique a celui du voisin) maintenant c'est out that's it

les VW c'est plue un genre de passion par un groupe qui tient fort malgre certains modeles moin aimer que d'autres

les gens ont rarement achete plus de 1 civic de suite mais plusieurs dubbers en sont a leur 4, 5 6 eme VW de suite
 
Alain95i4 said:
les civics c'etaient une mode , rien de plus
le In c'etait le "tuning" (lire acheter un civic mettre plein de bebelles dessus pour etre identique a celui du voisin) maintenant c'est out that's it

les VW c'est plue un genre de passion par un groupe qui tient fort malgre certains modeles moin aimer que d'autres

les gens ont rarement achete plus de 1 civic de suite mais plusieurs dubbers en sont a leur 4, 5 6 eme VW de suite
Click to expand...

Sad but truth. QFT
 
Les golf ont gardé une meilleure qualité de finition/matériaux ces dernières années et un style plus aboutit, de meilleurs sièges je trouve, honda ca demeure cher (quoi qu'elle a baissé à 16k) mais on se retrouve dans une compacte avec des matériaux bon marché, des sièges pas tellement enveloppant ou réglables etc. Les allemands essayent plus de faire de la conduite une expérience agréable meme sur les petites motorisations je trouve, alors que les civic modernes réservent ca aux si/sir. Cependant les motorisations VW de base (5 cylindres) sont à la ramasse par rapport à l'europe. Mais on peut en dire autant de la civic us vs civic euro, qui est beaucoup plus décalée, tout en étant plus luxueuse, plus spacieuse (et plus chere).

Mais de la à dire que VW c'est une passion... en Europe les Golf IV TDI reprogrammées sont un embleme de tuning de mauvais gout au meme titre que les civic hatchback des 90's ici. Y'a des vrais passionnés de civic et de golf, comme y'a des ricers (en majorité) aussi qui les achètent.

Et plein de monde a acheté plusieurs civic ou integra de suite. Mais anyway moi j'aime varier les plaisirs, et changer de marque/modèle c'est le mieux je trouve, tu te trouve pas toujours avec le meme feeling de conduite, l'attention aux détails est portée ailleurs, etc.
 
You can also see it with the weekly julep meets and constant cruises and car shows in the Vw communities. Way more passion and love for the car.

Dubbing... It's a lifestyle
 
As a former honda fanboy, I have to say that I'm extremely unimpressed with the direction honda has taken over the past decade. Evan if they elaborated on the 2000 model, it would have been acceptable, but they dident. What VW did with the mk4-mk5's was keep it a golf. a better golf.
I cant say honda did the same. they built something else.
 
La golf 4 était quand meme une bourgeoise assez lourde et loin de l'esprit original je trouve. Je l'aime bien (bien finie, pas laide/sobre, démocratisation du tdi au Canada) mais elle a pas plus l'esprit original qu'une honda de l'époque. surtout que la civic hatchback se vend toujours ailleurs, meme si elle est grosse. La fit aurait remplacé les civic si elle avait pas autant un look de monospace. En plus elle coute juste 1k de moins que la civic 2010.
 
my EG was one of the best fwd handling cars ive owned (but also one of the slowest lol) Though even at the time, it never had soul like a golf GTI it was still very fun and extremely reliable for the beating it went through. Today i find the civic has completely detached itself from its history whereas the GTI has done the complete opposite
 
Damnit erased my post!!

Anyway, what I was saying was that if you really want a Honda with some persona theses days you go with an S2000 or even a Fit to an extend...that's if you want something different.
 
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