- Doors and Seats
4 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
2.8i, 6 cyl.
- Engine Power
150kW, 270Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (95) 8.5L/100KM
- Manufacturer
4WD
- Transmission
Manual
- Warranty
3 Yr, 100000 KMs
- Ancap Safety
NA
2002 Volkswagen Bora V6 4Motion Sport review
The 2002 Volkswagen Bora Sport was a car that was unknown within the car enthusiast game. Most people thought that it was a Golf sedan, and those that knew what the Bora was just assumed that it was the 2.0 or 2.3 model. The only things that gave away this car's sporty potential were the dual rear-exit exhaust and 17-inch alloy wheels. I certainly did enjoy making some people in their Commodores and Falcons scratch their heads as I blew away from them at the lights.
- Great engine and drivetrain combination
- The noise the VR6 made
- Comfort and sportiness wrapped up in one package
- The car was black, which was a pain to keep clean
- Fuel efficiency
- The fact that I don’t have it
I bought this car as a replacement for my first car, a 2002 Subaru Impreza RX (review coming soon). A family friend of ours was selling it, and I had always lusted after it when I was a young boy after my dad brought it home from work one day. I got the car with 114,000km on it and enjoyed it for two years, putting another 76,000km on it during my ownership.
Reading reviews about this car from when it was new, the common theme was that it was a thinking man's WRX of the same time. I wholeheartedly agree with that description. It wasn’t as fast as the WRX and others of the same performance of that time, but it was still a hoot and could do it in complete and utter comfort.
The engine in the Bora was one of the smoothest power plants I have ever driven. A 2.8-litre VR6 that was one of Volkswagen’s best-ever engine configurations. Now, this engine was available in a number of VW cars of that same era, but not with a manual gearbox and 4Motion all-wheel-drive system. With 150kW and 280Nm, it was, and still is, quite powerful by today’s standards. It also made an awesome noise under hard acceleration.
It was one of VW’s best-spec’d cars of the time with full leather trim and heated seats. Auto lights and wipers were also standard with the vehicle, and it also had cruise control and a sunroof. It was to my understanding that it also had Bluetooth as standard as well, but I’ll never know as the original owner replaced the head unit with an aftermarket one with navigation, and upgraded speakers, amp and subwoofer that I thoroughly enjoyed during my ownership. The original owner, whom our family is still in contact with, also spec'd it with the optional Oettinger bodykit.
Speaking of the original owner, there is a bit of history about him and the Volkswagen Bora. This car was his second Bora V6 that he owned after the first one was stolen. He loved it so much, he bought another one immediately afterwards. The first car was found a few months later, with everything stripped from it other than the engine, which was destroyed after the crims drove it hard without any oil in it.
The car was a pleasure to own over the two years, and never gave me any trouble, with the only thing going wrong being a shattered windscreen after a rock got flung up by a truck. It Is also great for tall people to own and drive (I’m 6ft 5in).
I do regret getting rid of this car, as I traded it in on a demo’ Skoda Octavia RS for way too cheap. Now that I think about it, I should have just kept it as a second car.