Golf R Observations and Questions

[cameronp]

the honda jazz the previous model, the cvt makes that rev-matching sounds as well

That means it's obviously a sports car. They should have called it the Honda Jazz Sport!

[Mr_Bob]

Yeah, i wouldn't get it if it didn't make that rev-matching sound.

I've double clutched since i was on my Ls (12yrs now)
no issues rev matching on downshift

[dave_r]

On the way to work each day I change gear an average of 98 times. That adds up to 49 seconds. So in an entire week we're talking 8 minutes. Across a year we're talking 7 hours! Over 5 years, the time saved to and from work by optioning the DSG has like paid for itself!

LOL, you need a hobby or something.

PS I love launch control and the Golf R very cool..

Me too but I must remember not to use it again in front of a large police station

[REXman]

I don't know about that G-rig.
To get to 100kph, the guy there changes gear twice and that gives him a 6.4, 6.3 and 6.6 second run in the manual. In the DSG it was 5.7 seconds each time. So he's an average of 0.73333 slower in the manual. Lets assume that I'm not as talented a manual driver as he is and say 1 second slower for two shifts or 0.5 seconds slower each gear change.
On the way to work each day I change gear an average of 98 times. That adds up to 49 seconds. So in an entire week we're talking 8 minutes. Across a year we're talking 7 hours! Over 5 years, the time saved to and from work by optioning the DSG has like paid for itself!

*cough*

LMAO. You are the rain main!!

[Man In Black (MIB)]

After nearly 1,300kms in my massively impressive new R I thought I'd share some observations (according to the book only 200km to go before it's officially run in - but I'm waiting for 7,500kms as this one's a keeper).

Cornering, I fair dinkum got neck strain during a tight cornering manoeuvre round a roundabout this morning. Ok now but when I thought about how it happened the pain became exquisite. It reminded me of when Jeremy Clarkson tested the new Nissin GTR on a track in Japan and injured his neck while cornering.

Engine is still very tight but fuel economy is slowly picking up with every tank. I have only just red lined it for the first time during a run from the lights yesterday and the sound was fantastic. Although it’s the same engine as my previous Mk-5 GTI it sounds SO much better. More booming ROAR. The dealer told me it has a butterfly valve in the exhaust, which may account for it. The service supervisor at the dealership also said it has a tube in the engine bay which allows the engine sound into the cabin too for that extra boom.

Starting it in the morning (and watching the needles go all the way over and back again - gee that's nice) is interesting as you can feel the pressure on your ears when standing at the back of the car from the extra turbo boost compared to my old GTI.

The ACC is magic and a must have! Drove to Sydney for the day recently with the car fully loaded with the family. On comfort mode it rode over all the known bumps far better than my V6 Passat. I'm very very happy with that option.

I would say that the R is really a super-GTI. Reading comments about the MK-5 GTI vs. the Mk-5 R32 I would say the R has more of that “puppy dog enthusiasm” that Jeremy Clarkson described the Mk-5 GTI as having compared to the R32’s more GT like qualities. Which is great if you’re coming from a Mk-5 GTI. So the title of GTI-R would be quite appropriate (having driven the Mk6 GTI as well).

A few of issues though, (actually more observations that issues) the multi-function display always shows my speed warning page on start up when I actually left it on, and want, the oil temp page. The doors cannot be programmed to all unlock. You have to press the button twice. Finally, during tight concerning it's easy for the right side of your left palm to press the left change button on the steering wheel controls, so if you have a CD playing it will go back to the beginning, or if the radio is playing it will change stations. I can of course easily live with these things as the car is fantastic!!

I can't wait for when it’s fully run in to take it for a track day. Should be astounding. I have done a 1.15 in my GTI at Wakefiled Park so I’m expecting big things from the R.

[HPSOV]

After nearly 1,300kms in my massively impressive new R I thought I'd share some observations (according to the book only 200km to go before it's officially run in - but I'm waiting for 7,500kms as this one's a keeper).

I made it to 250km before starting to give it some and thought I was doing well!

The ACC is magic and a must have! Drove to Sydney for the day recently with the car fully loaded with the family. On comfort mode it rode over all the known bumps far better than my V6 Passat. I'm very very happy with that option.

Agreed!

A few of issues though, (actually more observations that issues) the multi-function display always shows my speed warning page on start up when I actually left it on, and want, the oil temp page. The doors cannot be programmed to all unlock. You have to press the button twice.

I leave mine on the current speed page and it always starts up on the same page. When I picked the car up the button on the key would only unlock the drivers door, but after digging through the menu's (and see page 30 of the manual) I have changed it so it unlocks all doors with one press.

I can't wait for when it’s fully run in to take it for a track day. Should be astounding. I have done a 1.15 in my GTI at Wakefiled Park so I’m expecting big things from the R.

Are you doing any mods prior to tracking? I put my MY08 WRX on the track at Wakefield and cooked the brakes (needed new pads and machined discs). Will I need to upgrade the R's pads prior to a track day?

[Corey_R]

A few of issues though, (actually more observations that issues) the multi-function display always shows my speed warning page on start up when I actually left it on, and want, the oil temp page. The doors cannot be programmed to all unlock. You have to press the button twice.

I leave mine on the current speed page and it always starts up on the same page. When I picked the car up the button on the key would only unlock the drivers door, but after digging through the menu's (and see page 30 of the manual) I have changed it so it unlocks all doors with one press.

Yeah, it seems to come up with the Speed Warning by default if you have one set, so just don't set one! You should be able to tell what speed you're doing by how much smoke is coming of your ty... er I mean the sound of your engine

In relation to the doors unlock, it can be adjusted in the MFD. Maybe HPSOV can remind me where the option is, but from memory it's under the convenience menu.

[Man In Black (MIB)]

Are you doing any mods prior to tracking? I put my MY08 WRX on the track at Wakefield and cooked the brakes (needed new pads and machined discs). Will I need to upgrade the R's pads prior to a track day?

Didn't need to do any mods to my GTI for the two track days I did, nor any rectification work. I don't expect to do any for the R either as VW have pretty much set them up for track days.

I do recall Motor magazine citing the brakes of the WRX as a real weakness for track days in their 2009 'Bang For Your Buck' competition. I think they said it did approx 5 hard laps before running out of puff.

Will go back into the car's menu to see if I haven't done it properly. Thanks for the advice.

[Fab_R]

Now having had a few days of very wet & greasy conditions in Melbourne (don't be surprised its Melbourne lol) I have really punted my R hard in slippery bends and corners/curves to see how it reacts.

Well I know its has been well documented about the traction of the new 4motion system but I could not get this thing unsettled, loose traction or even under or oversteer whatsoever.
It behaved as if it were totally dry with traction well and truly beyond comprehension.

That being said, I have never owned a AWD car so perhaps i should not be that surprised, or should I?

I'm stoked (blown away) regardless!

[Moz]

Don't mean to sound pushy - particularly as a noob here. Has anyone got any advice from my questions in post #52?
I'm due a 2nd test drive tomorrow morning and Im really curious about owners experience with:
1. off the line delay, is it lag or is it slow throttle-by-wire response?
2. does it cut power when you use the brake?

Other than those 2 points, I can't really find any fault with this car, it's stunning.

[Corey_R]

1. I think that there are a few things to mention here because it really depends what you're referring to and what your interpretation of other peoples comments are.

First there is DSG "hestitation delay". This has been an ongoing complaint since the launch of the DSG in 2003, but VW think that they have all but eliminated it in the recent DSG update for the Golf R. Basically, when you are at a complete standstill, when you put your foot on the accelerator, the car then has to do what a traditional manual driver would do - put it in gear, let out the clutch and feed in the accelerator. There are ways around this even on the older DSG's. Tapping the accelerator engages 1st gear for 2 seconds so it's ready to go before you take your foot off the brake. Using launch control also helps. But the delay with the Golf R is much less, so this is less of an issue. This never bothered me on my test drive of the R, but then I was previous a DSG GTI owner anyway.

The next thing which people talk about with the Golf R is turbo lag. The Golf R uses the larger K04 turbo which gives it 330Nm @ 2400-5200rpm instead of the smaller K03 of the GTI which gives it 280Nm @ 1700-5200rpm.

However, it you are truly in a rush to get off the line, you'll be using launch control, in which case the "turbo lag" is really not an issue. Same goes for if you're driving spiritedly through your favourite corners - you'll be in S or an appropriate gear and the revs will be above this anyway. So the turbo lag really only comes into play when you're pottering along in D, and the revs are really low, and you go to put your foot down (but not far enough to enable kick-down).

Finally, whatever it is that you're talking about, it's not "slow throttle-by-wire response".

2. Yes, it will, but not immediately. I haven't timed it myself, but others here have mentioned that it gives you between 1 and 2 seconds of being able to have the foot on the brake and the accelerator at the same time. There was a link to an article about this (it didn't just use the Golf though) where they took cars with "brake overrides" and did all the traditional two footed things like heel-toe etc. They found brake overrides didn't prevent them from doing anything that they felt a driver would have any legitimate reason to do.

[HPSOV]

1. off the line delay, is it lag or is it slow throttle-by-wire response?

For a normal start I am seeing no delay off the line, press the accelerator and I'm moving. The only exception to this is the hill hold function. On an uphill start the hill hold appears to just hold you for a set time after releasing the brake, regardless of what you do with the throttle. If you get on the throttle within this time the car lurches indicating power is being sent to the wheels, but the brake is still applied so you go nowhere. When it finally does release the brake you are off with a jolt. I haven't set myself up on a hill to try it over and over, however there have been a couple of occasions when it has done what I've described and a couple when it has set off quite smoothly.... more km's required to fully suss that one out.
There is a lot of turbo lag evident in this car, however I dont think that would be what you are describing.

[HPSOV]

I couldn't resist the urge and I gave launch control a go. I think I was a little hesitant on flooring it after releasing the brake, and I was trying to change gear by 5000rpm each time.

[Moz]

Coreying/HPSOV, thanks so much for the replies.

Good/bad news about the DSG. Good I wasn't imagining it but bad it was still there. At least it can be mitigated by altering driving style so I'm OK with that. I thought it may have a been a slow throttle like in some cars, where the ECU will dictate the max throttle opening rate irrespective of what the pedal does as when I floored it, it just seemed to sit there. No revs really, just a pause and then the spectacular launch even at low revs, hence, I wasn't convinced it was turbo lag.
Normal driving for me is pretty much full throttle acceleration, I don't potter up to the limit. I'm impatient, I turboed my old Hayabusa ferchistsake

I'll make a point of trying out the brake/accelerator thing tomorrow. Sounds like it should be OK though.

Thanks again.

[Prodigy]

I couldn't resist the urge and I gave launch control a go. I think I was a little hesitant on flooring it after releasing the brake, and I was trying to change gear by 5000rpm each time.

Seems a little way of some of the 0-100 km/h times i've seen quoted but as you mentioned it doesn't sound like you launched it 100%.

What iphone app did you use?