Cruising in my GTI

Thanks to the wonderful thieves who made off with my ‘98 Chevy Tahoe a month ago, I found myself car shopping. With the rising gas prices too, it was a perfect time to switch from big to small. Therefore, after researching several models and test driving a few, I finally picked up this really nice 2004 Volkswagen GTI VR6 fully loaded. I was actually leaning toward a brand new vehicle, but with this 2004 sitting on the lot with only 10,000 miles on it, leather seats, monsoon sound, sunroof, 6-speed manual, and VR6 engine, I just couldn’t pass up the deal, and so far I’m not regretting that decision one bit. It’s still a little costly on gas since it wants premium, but with the gas mileage that I’m getting (mid to high 20’s so far with my mix of city and highway driving) it’s significantly better than the boat of a truck I used to have (and soooo much easier to park in the city… although it’d be even easier if people didn’t keep parking their SUV’s in the “small car” spots in the parking garages). Performance of the car is outstanding at 200 horses under the hood, and interior space for such a small vehicle is surprising very good. The ride, too, feels like a bigger car than it is. It has the right mix of sporty and luxurious for me, and I’m actually really enjoying driving again.

I also drove a Mini Cooper S at the same dealership, liking the idea of an interesting small car, but I really was rather unimpressed with that car. A little too cramped, a little too overdone with the exaggerated internals, and not as peppy as the above GTI. Maybe I’m just not hip enough, but my vision of the Cooper S was rather squashed (although they still look really cool in “The Italian Job”).

Although I’ll still miss my Tahoe, this is a good fun change. Now just to keep this out of the hands of thieves…

3 Responses to “Cruising in my GTI”

  1. Sorry to hear about your Tahoe. But hey, you moved up in the world with a newer car. ;)

    And it’s black. Nothing nicer than a clean black car. Good luck with it. :)

    Bruce said this on September 7th, 2005 at 8:07 am

  2. And as you know, I like it has the buttwarmers too!! How can you go wrong :D . You turning in the cooper was fun (and a bit scary). It sure hugged the corner though. I am sure your driving stick like a pro again.
    Just think, you get to come out back this weekend, and open up that baby up on the open road.

    Cheri said this on September 12th, 2005 at 3:23 pm

  3. […] I used to have an SUV (Tahoe, stolen back in July), so I used to always park in the big boy spots in the parking garages, but since I’ve upgraded to a compact car, it’s nice to be able to park in those “Small Car Only” or compact car parking slots. However, my definition, and apparantly other people’s definition of “Small Car” differ by quite a bit, as you can see here (take by my camera phone, hence the lower quality) the Ford Explorer, and GMC Envoy parked in “Small Car Only” slots (and the SUV’s line up the small car slots through the garage). Seems these days that anything smaller than an Expedition or Suburban is considered a small car (although I did see a suburban once think he was a small car). […]

    Silent Corner » Blog Archive » Small Car Only said this on October 17th, 2005 at 10:19 am