Golf 1.8t and rattley question.

[silverback mike]

Strange question this I know.
I have just bought a V reg Golf GTI 1.8 turbo for my wife. Must admit, after the last one (s reg which was a bit of a lemon) I had to bite my tongue a bit, but my wife simply loves them.

Right now, I am very impressed. It has none of the rattles the last one did, has a spec like nothing I have had before, seemingly winter and summer pack (?)
It also goes a lot better than the last one, so maybe the turbo was a bit knackered on the old one.

The only thing I have noticed is that on idle there is a rattly noise. Once the revs are raised a little it goes.
I know the Alfa 156's suffer from a similar problem which is fixed by changing the tensioner, so I will be changing the cambelt/tensioner as a matter or course, however, is this a common noise that could be something else?
It doesn't sound too drastic, and it is only because I am a bit fussy.

Also, why does the car have a red "I" on it. The last one had a completely silver "GTI" moniker.

Thanks for the help in advance.
Mike.

:backtolikinggolfs:

[julianhj]

Can't answer the mechanical question, but the colour of the 'I' relates to the state of tune, the red one being the more powerful of the two. I couldn't tell you the bhp of the different models though.

[iguana]

Red I = turbo, silver GTI= the gutless non turbo version that was too slow to even deserve a gti badge in reality.

Early GTi Turbos 150bhp, chipped (depending on yr & if fly by wire or throttle cable) over 200 bhp is pos.

[silverback mike]

Thanks folks.
I will be looking into the possibility of a chip to pep it up a bit later on.

Iguana - have you still got that mental 3 series?

[iguana]

silverback mike said:

Iguana - have you still got that mental 3 series?

Alas I don't- couldnt afford to keep it in rear tyres

[brakepad]

My 99/T Golf 1.8T came as new with a silver GTI badge on the back, and I've seen many turbo variants with both red and silver 'I's. I was informed by a VW dealership that the red 'I' indicates that it was assembled in South Africa, whereas a silver 'I' indicates assembly in Germany.

If you're considering chipping it I can strongly recommend it. I had an AMD remap about a year ago which breathed new life into my Golf (now 197bhp/212lbft according to their dyno) and persuaded me to keep it for another 18months.

With the rattle, is it defintely coming from the engine? Mine does a similar thing at low revs but I'm fairly sure it's the top deck of the rear bumper resonating. Not had any rattly engine problems so I hope it's not too serious.

[silverback mike]

Rattle seems to have gone. Maybe the new tensioner fitted when the cambelt was replaced has done the trick, ah well, if it aint broke, don't fix it.

[miniman]

iguana said:

Red I = turbo, silver GTI= the gutless non turbo version that was too slow to even deserve a gti badge in reality.

Not always - we had a GT-silver-I on our fleet which was the 1.8T. The guy who had it was gutted, for some reason.

[silverback mike]

My wifes older turbo had a silver 'i'. That was on an S plate.

[edc]

The badges are just stuck on randomly by dealers.

You do know that they are just stick on so any Tom, Dick or Harry can change them ...