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Hatchbacks Volkswagen Rabbit Rabbit Reliability...Convince me it's better than a civic!
15 messages, Last post on Jun 15, 2007 at 8:38 AM
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With manual shift car, the Civic is preferable. With the automatic, I give the nod to the Rabbit. I rooad tested these two cars when I was shopping for my daughter's car. The Civic 5 spd auto tranny engage with the weak 128 lb ft 4 cyl engine is no match to the Rabbit's 6 spd Tiptronic trans mated to a 170 lb ft torque 5 cyl engine. Try road testing these two cars and you will see what I mean. If you are buying an automatic car, avoid the weak torque small displacement engine. To my knowledge both these cars has good reliability.
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Replying to: eldaino (Jun 13, 2007 5:18 am)
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Replying to: exzur2071 (Jun 13, 2007 9:50 am) |
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Replying to: canadaguy (Jun 13, 2007 9:58 am) The farthest i've gone on one tank was 365 miles. |
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Replying to: exzur2071 (Jun 13, 2007 9:50 am) having owned both cars for extensive amounts of time, there is more to it than torque. The rabbits torque makes it feel great around town...its one of the reasons why vw markets it as the ultimate city car. This bunny can make a quick getaway. The 06 civic i owned was an auto, but it too was fairly peppy. But like you said it lacks torque when compared to the rabbit. The thing is, they actually accelerate about the same. The rabbit 'FEELS' quicker because of the low end torque, but thats it. Torque is a great way of making you feel like you are going faster when you really are not. Now in some instances the rabbit does have some advantages (ac on with a bunch of people and the civic starts to complain), but for the most part they are equal. the rabbit is a bit heavier than the civic too. Another thing is the rabbits high end power...it does not really have any. The redline is 5800rpms...a full 1000 rpms shorter of the civic. The civic however builds its peak torque and hp high on the rev range, so high end passing power is great. Now this may slightly change once the 08 rabbits come out; they are retuning the ecu and modifying the intake manifold, thus increasing it 20hp and 7lbsft of torque. (up from 150hp and 170lbs of torque respecitvely.) The redline is getting increased to 6300rpms so it should breathe a little better for passing. Again this may result in only slighty different times, and probably just looks better on paper. For the record c&d has clocked the rabbit manual at about 8.3 seconds 0-60 and a civic lx in about 7.7 (manual as well.) the rabbit was a four door, the heavier of the two, and the civic ex (what i had) weighs a bit more than the lx...so the times may be slightly off, but not by much.
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Replying to: eldaino (Jun 14, 2007 8:27 am) My guess would be, if that is true, that the rabbit is probably typically faster getting to, say, 30 mph. The better power at low rpm is real and would lead to better initial accelertion. It feels quicker because it is, at least to some point. If they end up about the same it is because the civic is probably faster at higher revs, so from 30-60 for example it may beat the rabbit. Edmunds tests actually show sgnificantly better times for the rabbit for acceleration from 0 to any speed. To 30, 45, 60, or 75 mph. Rabbit performance data Civic performance data
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Replying to: jeffyscott (Jun 14, 2007 8:54 am) The civic data you state is with the auto, the rabbit is sporting the manual, so that would explain the time difference. Theres lots of data with manual civics getting 0-60 in high 7's. The rabbit is probably quicker 0-30, i totally agree with that. But it does start to die down at higher rpms...thats when the civic is getting started. anywho, both good cars, with similar performance. One does it more luxuriously, one does it with better mileage and more road feel.
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Replying to: eldaino (Jun 15, 2007 6:45 am) Thanks, I did not catch that. I had just assumed that they used the manual as that what they typically test, despite the fact that 90%+ are buying automatics. Before I looked for the data, I had actually expected to see the rabbit be faster 0-30, but the civic beating it from 30-60, or whatever...based on your statement that they were both about the same. So that is actually probably the case. I think that is the reason the rabbit feels quicker is because the quick start is more noticable than being a little quicker at high rpms. |
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If my daughter can drive the stick, I would had bought her the Civic. I just feel the Civic stick is much better the German counterpart. The automatic is a different story. Me and my daughter road tested both cars. It was an easy decision to pick the Rabbit. The whys. - 6 seed automatic Tiptronic engage with a 170 ft lbs torque engine in the universe of 5 sped or 4 speed tied up with weak torque 4 cyl engine. - she likes the interior much better than the other car and the ride too. - the aura of a German car built in Geramny. At one time I read an article about the influence of torque in a torque converter automatic transmission. It's not good for a weak torque engine. You guys meke me do some research. Sorry for the late response. |
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