
Volkswagen once dropped a 650 PS Bentley W12 into a one-off Golf GTI concept, just to show it could.
Lead trim: 1.4 FSI (90 PS) · up to 247 hp
Volkswagen Golf Mk51K · 2003–2009
- 0spots by members
- Unclaimednobody has spotted one yet
- 0sets it belongs to
Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Volkswagen Golf Mk5 yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactVolkswagen once dropped a 650 PS Bentley W12 into a one-off Golf GTI concept, just to show it could.
The fifth-generation Golf (Typ 1K) on the Group A5 (PQ35) platform debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show in October 2003 and went on sale in Europe for the 2004 model year, as a three- or five-door hatchback (August 2003–2008) and a five-door estate (2007–2009). It was sold as the Rabbit in the United States and Canada, with the GTI marketed under its own name. Drag coefficient is 0.32. The range brought the TSI "twincharger" 1.4 (a supercharger that hands over to a turbocharger at high revs) and a Pumpe-Düse TDI; the GTI, catalogued separately, used the 200 PS 2.0 TFSI. The R32 arrived in September 2005 with a 250 PS 3.2 VR6 and Haldex four-wheel drive. Volkswagen also showed a one-off GTI W12-650 concept at Wörthersee in May 2007, a mid-engined car with the Bentley Continental GT's 6.0 L W12 (650 PS). The Mk6 replaced the Mk5 in 2009.
Collectors Spotted in the Volkswagen Golf Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Volkswagen Golf yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
9 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.4 FSI (90 PS) | 2003–2006 | 1.4 L Inline-4 | 89 hp | 96 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| 1.4 TSI (122 PS) | 2007–2008 | 1.4 L Inline-4 | 120 hp | 148 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| 1.4 TSI twincharger GT (170 PS) | 2005–2007 | 1.4 L Inline-4 | 168 hp | 177 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| 1.6 FSI (115 PS) | 2003–2007 | 1.6 L Inline-4 | 113 hp | 114 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| 1.9 TDI (105 PS) | 2003–2008 | 1.9 L Inline-4 | 104 hp | 184 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| 2.0 FSI (150 PS) | 2004–2008 | 2.0 L Inline-4 | 148 hp | 148 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| 2.0 TDI (140 PS) | 2003–2008 | 2.0 L Inline-4 | 138 hp | 236 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| 2.0 TDI DPF (170 PS) | 2006–2008 | 2.0 L Inline-4 | 168 hp | 258 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| R32 3.2 VR6 (250 PS) | 2005–2008 | 3.2 L V6 | 247 hp | 236 lb-ft | — | 4WD | — | — |
Owning one
An estimate, for the 1.4 FSI (90 PS) trim: fuel on its EPA figure and a dated national price, upkeep on a per-mile average for the kind of car it is.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs





The Mk8 moved even the headlight switch onto a touch panel; for the 2024 facelift VW put physical steering-wheel buttons back after customer feedback.

Volkswagen once dropped a 650 PS Bentley W12 into a one-off Golf GTI concept, just to show it could.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger bought one of these Golfs in 1999, sold it after becoming Pope Benedict XVI, and it later fetched about $244,000 on eBay.

This Golf became the first Volkswagen to win European Car of the Year, in 1992.

VW built a Golf too fast for its own lineup: the 210 PS G60 Limited outran everything below the Mk4 R32 and sold mostly to VAG executives.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.

Japan was a minor market for the Swift: when it passed 2 million sales in 2011, about 39% were in India and 27% in Europe, against roughly 15% at home.

To adapt the Horizon for America, Chrysler bought nearly 100 Volkswagen Rabbits purely to reverse engineer them.

The Mk3 Focus RS's AWD system could send 100 percent of engine power to the rear wheels alone — built not in Ford's home country, but at the Saarlouis plant in Germany.

In June 2003, a Mégane II became the subject of the first ever live televised crash test with a real human driver at the wheel instead of a dummy — filmed by Top Gear.

This Wagon R redesigned its rear doors specifically to kill off the D-pillar — bigger doors with built-in quarter glass solved what earlier generations needed a whole extra pillar for.

The BX was the UK's best-selling diesel car for four years from 1987, and 2,315,739 were built in all.

Six months before Suzuki retired the Fronte name for good, the CN11S's 796cc version was already being built in China under a completely different name: the Anchi 6330.

Built to use up Chrysler-Simca's parts bin, it took its engine and gearbox straight from the front-wheel-drive Simca 1100 but mounted them amidships instead.