Is there a real "Rabbit GTI"?

my friend and I got into a debate:
in the US they build the rabbit GTI in the years 82-83 but due to air pollution regulation the engines was weaker than the "real GTI".
so…. there was a real amrican GTI just weaker?

gti specs are the same for european and u.s?
what engine codes was in use in the u.s market?

thanks!

Not sure on any specs.
The Rabbit was built near Westmoreland, Pennsylvania.
However all Cabriolets were made by the Karmann factory in Osnabruck.



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The Rabbit GTI was avialable for 1983-84 in the US, and carried 90-92hp from the 1.8L (I may be wrong, but if memory serves me correctly it was a JH engine…).

They were built in the Westmoreland, PA plant near the end of the plants life with VWoA, and it was highly praised on this side of the pond by many major automotive publications. The interior is hideous IMO, and displays the peak VWoA's "Americanization" of the Rabbit (it was a former Chrysler plant, after all). Just think; red or blue velour everywhere.


Anyways, back to the OP's question:
It's a "real" GTI as far as VW-was concerned, but it was ganked with emissions.
Us Canadians had a Series 1 GTI available for a very short time (1978-80, I believe). However, it was just a trim package and had no performance upgrades from the standard petrol Rabbit.


Sorry for the long response.

Well after driving an 81Westy Diesel for 20 years.

Chrysler Plant?  I know that it didn't have machinery in the building, and nothing but a Dirt floor at first, but that could explain the VW connection to the Chrysler/Dodge Omni/Horizon, which was also one of the first that I had seen that was factory turbo'ed.  

Here is a thread on the interesting things.
Some Mk1 history tidbits I wasn't aware of... | VW Vortex - Volkswagen Forum

Some of it was written as a first hand account.

I will tell you that over the 20 years that I drove my "Mericanized" Golf, I didn't have a lot of flaky electrical issues with it.

I will tell you that the 81 had a different fuse panel why? Probably due to the NTSB DOT and a few other lettered government agencies, as well as Union folks.

It had a different alternator, Motorola vs Bosch, and Plugged in versus Wire/nutted.  Don't get me wrong. I like both, and understand them both.  Maybe not to the extent as Rub, but I can hold my own.

I remember also reading about the "new GTI" in Road and Track the suspension was beefier, and the sway or roll bars were introduced.  The horsepower was also about twice as much as my Diesel…. well it wouldn't take too much to get above that as it was in the rating of my MG's and Sprites.  

I will not speak of interiors as there is a vast difference in markets, and I suspect that some marketers had their say on the subject.  

That is why you have so many different variations of Cabriolets than we got, ie: Genesis, Christmas…

And then there again is the "Wolfsburg" which over here we thought of it as an end of the year model, that had a few upgrades….

You say Golf, I say Rabbit. and where did the mk1 moniker come from as I thought it was originally an A1

I will tell you that Electrically the Golf was a different critter than the Rabbit…  I guess the biggest difference for me was the Diesel over Gas, and well I actually didn't mind them, and the lack of Maintenance that they did require.

The Genesis and Rolling Stones versions were developed with the pop groups of the same name.
These coincided with yours they were making at that time.
I believe that some purchasers were given tickets to those concerts and received the keys to their cars there.


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thank you for the answers! but-
did VW US or global VW regestered the rabbit as a geunine GTI even with the 90HP engine?

the GTI spec was there
but the power didn't….so…did they?

I know that looking at the window sticker at the Stealership back in the day The Label on it said
Rabbit GTI.

But then again that was a few years ago.