I think the only modern car that's good as a base model is the Ford Focus. My mate has a black 1.6 mk4. Looks suspisciously similar to my black R32 at a first glance Hired a Fiat Stilo the other day - Drive one of these then go back to the Golf. You'll love it!
anyone know if you can put the 150pd tdi engine in a mk2??? that would solve all my problems, miss the handling of the mk2, but can't do with any thing under 45mpg. < sobering thought was the pics of a mk2 and a mk4 that were driven into each other as part of a crash test, the mk2 was unrecognisable!!>