(G) Stilo Abarth or Golf Gti-Turbo

Hi, my first of hopefully many posts on here.

I have just sold my 2001 Golf GTi-Turbo 150 Bhp and am looking to buy a new car. I have whittled it down to either a Stilo Abarth, or another Golf GTi-Turbo. I am looking to buy used as i am not prepared to get suckered in with huge depreciation (and i cant afford to buy new ). My budget will be
£11,000 if i go for the Golf, but i know i won't need to spend as much on the Stilo, therefore more could go towards customising the car.

I have checked out the performances of both cars and they seem to be very similar, although i've been told the abarth's 5 cylinder does sound nicer. I know the build quality is not as good in the stilo compared to golf but the stilo looks so much nicer.

So the question is, what are the pros and cons of the stilo? and has anyone tried both and can compare?

I will test drive the stilo, but i feel people who regularly drive them could help me alot more than an hours drive!

Thankyou, Nathan

Welcome DJ, I have an 04 Stilo JTD 155bhp. I expect the build is the same as the Abarth and I cant find fault with build quality. I did have a Golf 1.6 before my 2 Stilo's and build seemed very much the same. For the money you are talking about you should expect lots of toys and spec and plenty of change too.

The Abarth boys will be on soon and they will certainly be able to help.

Once more, welcome.

Thats great news. So they are reliable? To be honest i am more than likely going to choose the fiat as i have had VW's since i started driving and the common problems that have happened on all are starting to annoy me. Things like windows suddenly falling into the doors, ignition coil problems, over-revving problems.

Thankyou again!

Welcome to the forum mate!

I was in a similar situation about 6 months back, and as you can see from the sig i went for the Abarth!

The company i work for has a few golf GTI's as pool cars and Ive been able to take extended drives in them (200miles+). after 6 months i can definitely say i prefer the abarth.

Firstly the engine in the stilo is superb, pulls like a train from low down and sounds awesome at top revs. yes, it does drink a bit but if you down mash the loud pedal that much it returns 30odd mpg. The stilo also looks ten times better than the golf, especially the interior. for me, the golf was just too dull and common.

as for the performamce, similar figures but very different characteristics. i found the golf to be quickish, but horrible sounding. The turbo whistle was cool but it doesnt compare to the 5 pot warble!

Finally, reliability... I havent had any problems as yet, Its been in for a steering recall and was fixed and back with me in two days. apart from that, its been ok fingers crossed!

get an abarth in black or techno grey and they look superb! also make sure you get the leather interior as it just finishes the car off. I personally dont have sat nav cos ive got the manual and i dont really miss it. 2nd hand you'll have more choice with the selespeed and will get more kit, but i found the upshifts to be too slow for my liking, although there's plenty on here who will disagree!!!

bottom line is get the abarth!!!

Go for golf V GTI SMG, its better than Stilo Abarth.

What model was your 01. golf gti turbo? Never heared of such engine.

its also £20,000 +

bit of a difference between a 10k stilo and a brand new golf...

and the engine is a 1.8 4cylinder 20v turbo. thats what they put in some of the GTi's the other s were 2.0 8valve motors which were sh!t...

This is all great thanks.

My car was an 2001 (Y) 1.8 20v Turbo (Golf Gti-Turbo) 150bhp. They also made 2 Gti's - a 1.8 20v producing 115bhp. later they made a 2.0 producing 125bhp.

I think i am swaying towards the stilo. Hey, maybe a change will do me good!

Hiya mate.

Are we talking about the New Golf MK5 GTi 2.0 T ?

If so there's a major difference in the prices.

I am looking at buying the Golf at the moment and remaping the car with a new full exhuast system on it and it will give you nearly 300bhp.

Second hand the golf is still hard to get fully equiped for under 18K and I'd be a little sceptical about buying one under that price.

The build quality in the Golf is first class, the Stilo's a little sloppy in places but is very stylish and different to anything else out there. If you intend to do the stilo up a bit, including the interior then maybe some of the niggles will be overcome, like the flimsy centre console sides and the naff door card bottoms. Both easily altered with a bit of imagination.

The Golf GTi seats are very firm and supportive whereas the Stilos are very comfy and a little softer. You are held in place better with the shape of the VW's seats but if you are a big person they may feel a bit too cramped around your body, I felt they were just right and i'm medium build.
I never get out of the Stilo feeling uncomfortable and that's also helped by the selespeed box making things so much more pleasurable, journeys are never tiring, the golf also has the DSG box so that would make that comparison pretty even although to get a MK5 GTi with the DSG box it's gonna cost around 20K.


The Stilo Abarth does sound amazing, and that's worth the price alone
But to get over 200bhp from it is gonna cost a lot of money. A remap will only get you an extra 15bhp but combind with a CDA that pushes it up to 20BHP, also a full performance exhaust seems very hard to get hold of as supersprint no longer do the full system.

If it's an older golf you are talking about then I have no clue about the quality of that so ingnore all comments above

I love my Stilo and it is a fantastic car for the price, there's nothing that can compare to this car on that budget.
If you have 11k to spend, think seriously about going into a dealers and buying a new one, you never know, they may knock a lot off at the moment and you get the 3 years peace of mind with a warranty.

When I got my Abarth Selespeed I added leather, sky window, 17's and Alarm which came to over 18K and I got it for just over 13K and that came with sat nav 7inch screen as standard.

I hope this has been some help and not too confusing, I know I have confused myself

This is all a great help thankyou. I am talking about another mk4 golf as i think the mk5 is still way out of my price range. Still not sure about buying a new stilo as the depreciation will hit me hard and i wont be able to afford to personalise it. Gonna go to the fiat dealers and try and get a test drive.

Thankyou everyone for your help