2010 Volkswagen GTI: How Does It Sound?

I wish my a4 2.0T had the honkus (or one that works for a longitudinal engine). The engine itself is better than the one in the vw's, but it is too quiet.

I love the way my MKVI sounds...with the windows up.
Try rolling them down and laying on the accelerator in a tunnel...I hear the waste-gate points at the firewall, and since it's blowing off boost all the time (for long term durability?!) the predominant sounds is that the car is leaking, at least to my ears.
Also no waste-gate whistle on lift-off/shifting, if you like that sort of turbo sound hooliganism.

Sounds fantastic. I remember driving my friends MkV... I liked the feeling of turbocharger induced torque combo'd with the smooth honkus rasp of the FSI 2.0T.

sounds like my sisters 08 GTI. I hate that car and this one seems no different. For anyone familiar with honda (k or b series) or toyota ( 2zzgte) performance 4 bangers, the gti engine is complete garbage. It sounds like a diesel, has languid throttle response, and in the real word doesn't meet its epa fuel econ ratings. O yea and it burns a quart of oil every 1500 miles. All of this in a "state of the art" 21st century 4 cylinder. Its a prime example of how turbos+ direct injection+carbon legislation such the "fun factor" out of sporty engines today. It has good midrange torque, but with a power band that falls off after 5000 and a rubbery shifter, the mk5/6 gti does not encourage fast driving. also, the brakes are mushy, the suspension is soft, and the driving position is way too high to be considered sporty. the only sporty feature is the "dtm style" flat bottom steering wheel, which is way out of place in this mini econo pseudo-SUV.

Two problems....flip flops while driving....not real cool and do you always leave your foot on the clutch between shifts?

@bodyblue: Agreed that flip flops can be a hinderance. Not normally something I wear for driving but was in a rush to get some video of the car this morning. (shrug) It's California and summer. Foot on clutch: What, doesn't everybody ride the clutch in their manual transmission car? No, I don't. Foot was just covering the clutch for the successive shift nature of the video only. -- Brent

For the 2011 GTI, VW has removed the honkus.

Why?

If you have a good ear you might find one common tone between Gti, Audi S4 and Lambo, except for the same smell of the new interior these cars have similar sound; the only difference - Gti is the quietest among them. I speak from my own experience, so don't take it as a fact.

to ihearts2k: wow! "the gti engine is complete garbage", I think before this engine was awarded the title of "International Engine of the Year" in its class since 2005 and for the next four years after, the judges should have asked your opinion before making their decision.

throw the Bentley Continental GT into the mix as well... i have an exhaust on my GTI and it sounds similar to that W12 Twin Turbo.

to f1ndler: by complete garbage, i mean that the engine is completely unexciting in that its sound and feel do not inspire spirited driving in a way that a "sporty" car like the gti should.

One of the more popular mods for this car, over at VWVortex at least, is the surgical removal of the "honkus". Me included. After a while it gets quite annoying, and some say robs a bit of engine response. With this thing removed I can now hear more genuine mechanical sounds, as it ought to be.

ihearts2k - You see, some of us are a bit more mature. We don't want our drivers seat on the ground, we don't want the fillings rattled out of our head, and we're tired of the noise in the land of 8k RPM. Been there, done that. With a few modifications this car does quite well.

Manual GTI doesn't do the upshift *brab* that DSG does?

ihearts2k: with a username like that, i guess we cant expect you to be open minded can we?

we get it, you are a honda/jdm fanboy. i'm a big hondaphile too: in my perfect world, i drive my mkV gti daily and i have a slammed, clean ef or eg hatch with a type r motor in it.

but i, and many others, dont live in that world, so i only have the former.

the engine is not complete garbage. its quite the opposite. i could sit here and talk about how awful the civic si's throttle response is with the drive by wire programming, or how it has ZERO torque bascially everywhere. but it does its honda thing very well, the same way the power delivery of the 2.0t is very vw. nothing wrong with staying true to your roots.

diesels sound like diesel. you just need to get used to how a diret injected engine sounds.

for all their high rpm n/a prowress...i wonder why so many honda modders ruin their supposed superior engines by just adding huge laggy turbos to them? maybe vw was on to something ;)

i know its a free country, but do your best to not sound biased. seriously, what are you contributing by posting your overtly opinionated thoughts?

"@bodyblue: Agreed that flip flops can be a hinderance. Not normally something I wear for driving but was in a rush to get some video of the car this morning. (shrug) It's California and summer. Foot on clutch: What, doesn't everybody ride the clutch in their manual transmission car? No, I don't. Foot was just covering the clutch for the successive shift nature of the video only. -- Brent "

Fair enough! Thanks for the answer.........Just a hangover from being screamed at by my dad when learning to drive manual cars "GET YOUR FREAKING FOOT OFF OF THE CLUTCH AND HAND OFF OF THE SHIFTER WHEN NOT SHIFTING"......even though that was 30 years ago, it still rings true.

Interesting, after reading some of the comments, perhaps I don't need the honkus after all. :)

I do not have much experience with the vw 2.0T (that was also in earlier audis). The current 2.0T in the audi a4 is a gem. Tons of torque, not much lag, quiet and wonderful mpg's with the manual.

There are some true car maniacs on this forum:) Why there is a problem driving a car wearing flip-flops, keeping your foot on a clutch or hand on a shifter? To me, it's called LA city driving. Sometimes, I even eat while drive, no one banned this yet. The only time when my left foot is not on clutch is when I'm on a freeway, if there is no traffic.