Golf R Observations and Questions

[Fab_R]

I've had mine since the beginning of December, have only clocked up 2200 kms but I already agree with all thats pretty much been said, engine loosening up nicely and most noticable is the exhaust noise deepening, i nice rumble is now heard at idle from inside the cabin.

Best thing to date though is the wife drove the car for the first time last week, she never drove any of my WRX's due to them being manual so has never really driven a quick car. She took it steady for the first 10 mins in D mode and even when i told her to give it some stick she was reluctant to and hardly put her foot down. I then introduced her to S mode, after 5 mins she couldn't wipe the smile off her face and needed no encouragement to floor it whenever she could, i think i have unleashed the hoon inside her.

Nice one Darren...

I have to keep my wife out of mine...she loves the S mode too much!
Even resorts to calling it the "beast" lol
Mind you she was used to the mk5 GTI with stage 1 which was no slouch.
She says its totally in another league the R

[Ideo]

I leant my 60 year old mother my S3 when I went overseas for a few months.

She went a bit silly and kept on racing people in it.

She's not touching the new car.

[SilvrFoxX]

I don't think the comment of "all these things that divided the forum when no one really knew.. " is correct. All of these things (above) were known to me before purchasing the R (except for the R's exhaust of course) because nothing on the R is really new. All these features are in existing Golf's. So whilst opinion will probably always divided, simply because everyone has different requirements and priorities - little was "unknown" to those who seeked out the topics.

Thanks all for the feedback,

Corey, my comments are in relation to what you can read and what is reality.. if you go through this thread prior to everyone who now have taken delivery there was a great deal of to and fro about why the R was one thing or another and post delivery there were some really diverse reactions. Yes sure other Golf's have aspects which are comparable but not all have had a golf before hence the question.

Anyway it has generated the right answers or at least the ones I was interested in, I did like your comments referncing the DSG , that is the only thing that worries me

[Corey_R]

Yeah - and there is always cases like that. Some people speculate, others get out there and actually experience things. Sometimes telling who is who is hard. But yeah, Audi S3 gave people a great over all preview of the R's handling and performance etc. The MK6 Golf GTI has practically the same interior, manual and DSG gearboxes, factory options, including DCC etc. Golf R32 has the same optional recaro seats.

[REXman]

I wanted to strat a new thread but this one should do it.. those who have now had their Golf R for some months now should have run them in nicely now and started to become far more used to the drive, gearbox etc etc.. can we have some reviews posted of those experienbces good and not so

Thanks

I'll give you my take so far.

maybe Pros first.

Build quality has been great, best made car short of a BMW for the coin.
Has put a smile on my face the more I drive it.
Exhaust has gotten louder and now sounds great.
DSG was a great choice in the end, as auto in Sydney with the option for a blast here and there is great.(was skeptical being a proficient manual driver)
I like the factory settings of DSG. Simple to me; D is for fuel economy, S isn't, M is for everything in-between.
Steering wheel is awesome.
The car sounds great in S.
Handling has been such a surprise for a porker, great in the corners and has surprised a few people I have taken for a wrap!
This was a big hitter for me- the insurance.

Cons

Turning circle is terrible.
Launch control is ALMOST a gimmick giving only a 3000rpm take off (soft). I wouldn't call it Launch control, I'd call it Takeoff Control.
DSG has ****ed up more than a few times (not enough for me to completely crack it as it always does it {slip} at lower speed below 60km/h)
Bluetooth mucks around when the iPhone is connected to the MDI sometimes.
Petrol economy is a bit over rated.

I would though, wait, choose and buy it all over again.

I have kept up with my mates GTR (R33) through some twisties - (not straight line though!), and shook up a new MY11 STI, all whilst doing it in the lap of (reasonably) affordable luxury.

Best package on the market you can get for $60 odd grand.

[Bod]

I wanted to strat a new thread but this one should do it.. those who have now had their Golf R for some months now should have run them in nicely now and started to become far more used to the drive, gearbox etc etc.. can we have some reviews posted of those experienbces good and not so

Thanks

Only up to 1500kms, only having had the R a couple of weeks, but thought I'd give some feedback too (and while its a little off topic compare it to my 08 Pirelli which I sold to pick it up - because thats why you change cars right ?).

Engine sounds incredible, every time it kicks in brings a little smile to my face.

DSG is remarkedly improved on my Pirelli. Even in D it starts changing down a little earlier to make better use of the gears under braking, which is nice after the old DSG mapping which was not half as good at it.

ESP & AWD - Wow what can I say about the 4-Motion system. Taking off my Pirelli would often squirrel around, ESP kicking in and limiting the power to keep the car under control. With the R you point it at a corner, push the go-fast-pedal and the car just laps it up and asks for more.

Other than that, having all the bells and whistles, NAV, reversing camera etc in a car, are an absolute pleasure to live with. All round a fantasic car.

If I can tear myself ourt of the drivers seat might even post some updated thoughts in a month or so.

Bod

[dave_r]

Turning circle is terrible.
Petrol economy is a bit over rated.

LOL at these 2. I keep forgetting how rubbish the turning circle really is when my last XR6T was able to do u-turns easily and the R needs a 7 point turn! Maybe we need a rally style handbrake

I have no idea what the quoted economy figures are but I'm sure they're b/s! I find the moment I'm sitting in traffic, 13-14L/100 no worries. If I get outta bed at the right time and I don't get any stop/start traffic then mid 10's are easily done even with a few squirts. So that's my excuse to sleeping in past 830 and going to work after 9 lol

[Corey_R]

Only up to 1500kms, only having had the R a couple of weeks, but thought I'd give some feedback too (and while its a little off topic compare it to my 08 Pirelli which I sold to pick it up - because thats why you change cars right ?).

Actually - it's not a bad comparison since the GTI Pirelli is about the closest car from the VW stable to the R, being it's an "MKV R without AWD!".

LOL at these 2. I keep forgetting how rubbish the turning circle really is when my last XR6T was able to do u-turns easily and the R needs a 7 point turn! Maybe we need a rally style handbrake

Coming from previous FWD cars, I haven't noticed the R having a bad turning circle. The first time I did a U turn I gave myself HEAPS of room because of all the comments of the bad turning circle, and found it was close enough to the same as my last several cars!

I have no idea what the quoted economy figures are but I'm sure they're b/s! I find the moment I'm sitting in traffic, 13-14L/100 no worries. If I get outta bed at the right time and I don't get any stop/start traffic then mid 10's are easily done even with a few squirts. So that's my excuse to sleeping in past 830 and going to work after 9 lol

I'm able to meet the "urban" figure of 11.9 in Urban driving. If I'm on "long trips" at <80km/h I can even meet the combined of 8.7. But on the freeway at 110km/h, there is no way I'm getting anywhere near the 6.8 in the spec! (But then I'm sure that the extra-urban isn't rated at 110km/h)

[m3103]

I have kept up with my mates GTR (R33) through some twisties - (not straight line though!), and shook up a new MY11 STI, all whilst doing it in the lap of (reasonably) affordable luxury.

Best package on the market you can get for $60 odd grand.

Couple grand more on mods and you could be leaving those GTR's and STI's behind with no effort at all i reckon....

[SilvrFoxX]

I'll give you my take so far.

maybe Pros first.

Build quality has been great, best made car short of a BMW for the coin.
Has put a smile on my face the more I drive it.
Exhaust has gotten louder and now sounds great.
DSG was a great choice in the end, as auto in Sydney with the option for a blast here and there is great.(was skeptical being a proficient manual driver)
I like the factory settings of DSG. Simple to me; D is for fuel economy, S isn't, M is for everything in-between.
Steering wheel is awesome.
The car sounds great in S.
Handling has been such a surprise for a porker, great in the corners and has surprised a few people I have taken for a wrap!
This was a big hitter for me- the insurance.

Cons

Turning circle is terrible.
Launch control is ALMOST a gimmick giving only a 3000rpm take off (soft). I wouldn't call it Launch control, I'd call it Takeoff Control.
DSG has ****ed up more than a few times (not enough for me to completely crack it as it always does it {slip} at lower speed below 60km/h)
Bluetooth mucks around when the iPhone is connected to the MDI sometimes.
Petrol economy is a bit over rated.

I would though, wait, choose and buy it all over again.

I have kept up with my mates GTR (R33) through some twisties - (not straight line though!), and shook up a new MY11 STI, all whilst doing it in the lap of (reasonably) affordable luxury.

Best package on the market you can get for $60 odd grand.

Some great feedback here.. just a quick question.. you have insurance in the pros list.. is it that good

[Pepe]

Anyone else noticed that the Golf R has been removed from the current VW ad running? "The Germans have a word for it" There used to be one at the start of the ad... now, it's not there.

[Fab_R]

Couple grand more on mods and you could be leaving those GTR's and STI's behind with no effort at all i reckon....

Oh my, dont go there with REXman lol...

[AusBob]

Anyone else noticed that the Golf R has been removed from the current VW ad running? "The Germans have a word for it" There used to be one at the start of the ad... now, it's not there.

Somebody mentioned in another thread that VW are backing off advertising due to difficulty supplying Polo GTI and Golf R... I noticed the Golf R being cut from that ad too

[dave_r]

Coming from previous FWD cars, I haven't noticed the R having a bad turning circle. The first time I did a U turn I gave myself HEAPS of room because of all the comments of the bad turning circle, and found it was close enough to the same as my last several cars!

The Polo could do 2 turns in the same space! Only problem really is that I keep bloody forgetting when I go to do a u-bolt!

I'm able to meet the "urban" figure of 11.9 in Urban driving. If I'm on "long trips" at <80km/h I can even meet the combined of 8.7. But on the freeway at 110km/h, there is no way I'm getting anywhere near the 6.8 in the spec! (But then I'm sure that the extra-urban isn't rated at 110km/h)

I've got my average down to about 12 since picking up the car. If I try really hard I can do 9.5-10 to/from work but its just so boring lol

Somebody mentioned in another thread that VW are backing off advertising due to difficulty supplying Polo GTI and Golf R... I noticed the Golf R being cut from that ad too

Last time I saw it a few days ago it still had a blue 5dr in the middle of the ad? Though wouldn't be surprised, sales guy was saying they are now telling customers 10-12mths. Insane!

[SilvrFoxX]

Anyone else noticed that the Golf R has been removed from the current VW ad running? "The Germans have a word for it" There used to be one at the start of the ad... now, it's not there.

lol yes I saw it wasn't there when telling my wife to watch last night and made the same comment that why advertise when you cant supply