VW is only re-launching the Golf as a Rabbit due to the horrible track record of the 90's Golf's/ Now their trying the re-kindle the reputation that the early (70;s rabbits) had.
My experience with the Rabbit was very poor. I had the last year of the Rabbit, an 84, and put more $ into that car than I ever did either of my 3 series BMW's! Yet it still leaked oil, broke many of its interior and exterior components and was overall a bad experience!!! I am forever burned by that bad experience, and will never invest in a VW/Audi product!!
Oh yeah, and the Rabbit was equipped with a 1.7 in the gas models. I even went as far as to upgrade the motor to a 1.8 Fox motor with very low mileage...but still, even that motor started burning oil etc.
Vw is trying desperately to appeal to the mid 20 crowd who wants to differentiate themselves from the Honda/Acua crowd. IMHO, I think it may actually work. When I was a VW guy, i loved differentiating myself from the Honda crowd...too bad my VW performed much worse than the Honda equivalent.
Th only Rabitt that was really worthwhile, was the early-late 70's models. These were built in West Germany with many local components from all over Europe. As of the early 80;s, VW decided it would be more cost effective to relocate most of it's building and assembling for the N.A, market out of Mexico. As a result the quality suffered, and continues today.
IMHO, if you want a tough VW that will performa as trouble free as the pre 80's models, get one shipped outta Europe...you'll notice much beter overall quality, and reliability over the N.A. equivalents.
