Is the Golf R a practical family car?

[DCD]

Hi everyone.
Greetings from NZ! So I'm looking at trading my car and the Golf R's and Gti's have caught my eye. I have a couple of questions that I was hoping the folks on here would be good enough to try and help me out with.

1) I'm looking at the golf because I want to get into a bigger car. I currently drive a 135i and I love it! However small boot and 2 door inconvenience don't make for a good family car. Looking forward to getting married in the near future and starting a family and thus I need something with 4 doors and a real boot! How well does a Golf suit for carting a kid and all the junk thats associated with them around? Would it handle 2 young ones?
I've been looking around and I'd prefer not to drive a huge car and an SUV isn't an option for me. What I came up with was Golf, Mazdaspeed 3 MPS, Subaru WRX sti or legacy wagon. A4 is nice but the price is too high if you want one with any sort of performance, which brings me to my 2nd question.

2) Performance. As I mentioned I currently drive a 135i. Its a great car and performance is pretty sharp. My 2 previous cars were an Evo 8 and the last Sti sedan, so I like my performance cars. How does a Golf R stack up? Looking at the numbers I know that it's not as fast and I did have a very quick test drive in one (trying to organise a longer one with some open road driving) and came away very impressed. Sure outright pace is down, but it's a very nice, stable feeling car. It had an absence of body roll and was very very smooth. I'm not sold on DSG (my 135 is the only manual one in NZ or so I believe!), but it was actually very nice and the shift speed impressed me.
I've read about various tunes, I believe APR is a popular company and I know they have a branch here in Auckland. It sounds like a APR stage 1 tune would be make the car very quick, any opinions on tweaking up a Golf R, or are they too new?

Any help would be appreciated guys I've been lurking for a while and it looks like a fun and friendly forum!

[pologti18t]

Suggestion:

Buy a new car WHEN the baby pops out.

[team_v]

The golf hatch isn't a practical family car.
It will do but everything feels small and squashy with more than 2 people in the car.
I had the opportunity to sit behind the driver of the Golf R at the advanced driver training day and it was quite cramped.


The Skoda Octavia VRS would be the ideal choice, can also be chipped up to higher power output.
The golf wagon might be an option or the passat.
Alternatively the Tiguan also provides an increase in space over the Golf with the 4Mo system from the Golf R.

[Prodigy]

When i was deciding on my new car it was basically between the Golf R and a 2nd hand 135i.

I loved the 135i and still do but at the end of the day one of the underlying factors for me was that the 135i was only a 2 door. I have 2 youngish kids and the thought of them having to clamber in and out the back every time i dropped them to school would of eventually annoyed me. (Trying to put a baby in and out of a capsule would be even worse!!)

I test drove a couple of 135i's prior to ordering the R and i agree that they are faster, certainly in a straight line but then again the Golf R is no slouch. Having previously owned 2 WRX's i wasn't wanting to go backwards in performance.

[DCD]

Well thanks for the suggestion pologti!

I'm not looking at trading immediately, since I do have a bit of time. Still I like to make informed decisions about these things, so there is no harm in trying to find out a bit more about the available options is there?

team_V thanks for the insight. I didn't load the car up I only went out with my partner, but it felt plenty roomy to me, but thats probably compared to the 135! I guess I should mention that we are both pretty small (Asian, shes 5"2 and 50kg's flat soaking wet!) and friends tend to be small too. I might try and get a couple of my buddies who are into cars and take them down to pile into one, or maybe next time my family is in town I'll get them along. Thanks for the tips on the Skoda, I'd never though about it I'll look into that car. Tiguan? Will also have to look into that.

Prodigy - sounds like you were in exactly the same scenario as me! I don't mind dropping a little performance but I shudder at the thought of changing to something like say a Corolla wagon or even say a Euro accord. Nice cars, but just don't get my pulse racing.
Unfortunately anything high performance and large just costs the earth.

Another more minor reason for wanting to trade is I feel like I need a slightly bigger car. My lady used to have a 4 door lift back Fiat Bravo that was on it's last legs and she flicked it and got a Mazda 2. It's a great car for her and perfect for the city, but now practicality in our cars is a thing of the past.
I do a bit of freelance photography on the side and it's just started picking up. If I go somewhere with my colleague and we both load up all our gear and also have to give a model or something a lift the 135 struggles. It's something I can work around, but since a bigger car will be a necessity in the next year or two, I thought I'd start looking now and possible get around the issue early.

[Corey_R]

1) I'm looking at the golf because I want to get into a bigger car. I currently drive a 135i and I love it! However small boot and 2 door inconvenience don't make for a good family car. Looking forward to getting married in the near future and starting a family and thus I need something with 4 doors and a real boot! How well does a Golf suit for carting a kid and all the junk thats associated with them around? Would it handle 2 young ones?

The golf hatch isn't a practical family car.
It will do but everything feels small and squashy with more than 2 people in the car.
I had the opportunity to sit behind the driver of the Golf R at the advanced driver training day and it was quite cramped.

Realistically, an adult sitting in the back of a Golf and saying that "it was cramped so it isn't a family car" isn't a good measure. (Though for what it's worth, I'm 5'10" and my 6'4" friends have never complained about space in the rear whilst sitting behind me in my MKV Golf GTI).
But I mean, DCD is about to get married, then on the assumption that his wife falls pregnant and has a baby 12 months after that, children don't become "adult sized" until they're 12 to 16. How many people keep their cars for 14 to 18 years?

The same thing with a 2/3 door car vs 4/5 door car. When you place a baby in their rocker chair at home, how many people stand 50cm to the side of it, lean down and stretch out to place them in the seat? How many people lean down directly in front of the seat and place them in it that way? So why when it comes to cars do people take the difficult option of leaning across from the side? In my experience, people who are not obese or not exccessively tall should have no issue putting a child into their baby capsual in the rear of a 2/3 door Golf due to the "easy access" seats which slide and lean forward, and then return to their original position - all with simple lift of a lever.

The next complaint people have is in a 2/3 door car you'd have to get out to let the children in the back out. Well in a 4/5 door car you have the child locks on the rear doors anyway. So at what age is a child "old enough" to disable the child locks? 5 years? More? So assuming 5 years is old enough (lol), will you still have the car in 7 years for this to become an issue anyway?

So whether you get a 2/3 door Golf, or 4/5 door Golf, I believe both are practical enough to 1 or 2 children and the associated stuff you need to transport with you, and friends and associates with them and children seem content with them too.

2) Performance. As I mentioned I currently drive a 135i. Its a great car and performance is pretty sharp. My 2 previous cars were an Evo 8 and the last Sti sedan, so I like my performance cars. How does a Golf R stack up? Looking at the numbers I know that it's not as fast and I did have a very quick test drive in one (trying to organise a longer one with some open road driving) and came away very impressed. Sure outright pace is down, but it's a very nice, stable feeling car. It had an absence of body roll and was very very smooth. I'm not sold on DSG (my 135 is the only manual one in NZ or so I believe!), but it was actually very nice and the shift speed impressed me.
I've read about various tunes, I believe APR is a popular company and I know they have a branch here in Auckland. It sounds like a APR stage 1 tune would be make the car very quick, any opinions on tweaking up a Golf R, or are they too new?

A member with a stock standard Golf R DSG put the APR Stage 1 tune on his car (240kW & 435Nm). At 1500km on the clock he did a few 0 to 100 runs (launching from 3000rpm, as he's still "breaking in" the car). He did a 4.68 second and a 4.88 second run (in the other direction, this time launching at only 2500rpm). This was measured with a GTech Performance Meter and verified with pictures.

Guy_H who owns the local APR distributor for Australia and New Zealand has also been posting in a thread on this forum detailing the first Golf R Stage 3 build in the world, which will equate to ~315kW and ~515Nm. It has recently been in Sydney for the "Motor Tuner Challenge". Hopefully the outcomes of that will be available soon.


Anyway - the conclusion is that whilst there may be higher performing cars available (for greater cost of course) and there are obviously many many larger cars available, if you are happy with the price and features and size of the Golf, it should serve you well. If you still own the car when your children start reaching their teenager years and are looking for more space - then by then it'll have served you well for much longer than most people hold onto new cars anyway

[team_v]

It will show its failings quite early on imho, you won't have to wait until they are 14 years old.

Try fitting a pram/walker etc in the boot and some other stuff for a day away and a kid or 2 in the back seat (with or without a child seat) and you will soon see just how cramped it will feel.


The Skoda Octavia VRS would be the best bet for family sportyness in a resonably cheap price range.



I reccomend seeing how 4 people fit int eh car and taking some average stuff with you to see how it all fits i.e. cooler box, pram, ususal day/weekend away stuff.
That is the only way you will be able to tell if it is family friendly enough for you.

[Corey_R]

I reccomend seeing how 4 people fit int eh car and taking some average stuff with you to see how it all fits i.e. cooler box, pram, ususal day/weekend away stuff.
That is the only way you will be able to tell if it is family friendly enough for you.

Very true.
FWIW, there are photos and things of the Golf with prams etc in the boot of it on these forums (I know one of the members has put some in one of the ISOFIX threads around the place). There looked like plenty of space for 1 pram... you'd have a tough time with 2 prams though!

[cameronp]

It is worth remembering that in Britain, the Golf is marketed as a family car. I've travelled in the back seat of a Golf for a few hours and not felt particularly uncomfortable; I'm 5'11 and was sitting behind a six-foot-lots driver. Obviously carrying multiple prams or going on camping holidays with a couple of older kids will be pushing the Golf's boot space a little.

[shakespeare]

All good points above, I'll share my experiences.

I'm married with 2 kids (7 and 9 yrs old) I have currently a Mazda 6 MPS (soon to be Golf R) and my Wife has a Jetta 147TSI.

I decided on the R because it offered performance, quality, AWD, 4 doors pretty much everything the Mazda had except the bigger boot. For family use we will continue to use the Jetta to go places as this has a 500+ litre boot (compared to Golf R's 250ish litres) and the new Jetta will most likely replace the current one (apparently boot size is the same).

The big thing to consider when having babies/small children is will the pram and associated baby paraphenalia fit into the boot, the hatch of the Golf scores big points for it's accessability, however the boot space of sedan means you fit more in, but have a narrower opening restricting some types of prams (FYI we had a Mazda 6 hatch when the kids were babies big boot and big opening)

The cabin space of the Jetta/Golf is smallish if you were fitting 3 adults in the rear, but with kids you will have no problems. The rear doors is very useful when they are older, at school I use the "kiss and drive" sometimes which means the kids get themselves in and out of the car whilst you sit there, very handy when you're busy/raining etc (FYI we turned off our kiddie locks when they were around 5 years old and could follow instructions not to open the doors)

The Skoda Octavia would be handy being a wagon or hatch, but internally it's the same size as the Golf and is a Mk V driveline. Have you considered Passat R36 wagon, or Volvo V70 wagon T6 both of these have performance, awd, quality etc and will be entering run out mode as new models are on the way, you might be able to get a good deal!

Good hunting for the right car mate

[DCD]

Lots of good advice on here!

I would be looking at a 5 door golf if I went for one. The convenience of the 2 extra doors would be a must for me. Interesting what you said about the seats in the Golf Coreying, the base of the 135 seats do not move forward, the back rest part simply flips forward when you pull a lever, so getting in and out, or trying to work through that space with a child would be a nightmare.

The performance after an APR tune sounds quite remarkable.

Yeah the big problem isn't so much the kids themselves I believe, but the gear associated with them. I have a young niece it might be a good idea to borrow the pram one day and have a look at how that fits in a golf. I guess the trade off here is trying to get as practical a car as possible while still keeping it as small as possible!

I had a look at the Tiguan, the only model available in NZ is a 103kW diesel, so I don't think that will push my performance buttons. The styling is really my thing either (somewhat against owning a SUV even if it's a small one), although team_v it looks like you have done great things with yours! Cool car!

shakespeare makes a couple of good points. I'm thinking that a golf would be fine for 1 child and whatever else you needed to take for them, but for 2 it probably won't cut it. However I think if we were to have 2 kids, then it would really be up to my partner to change her car, since I would most likely be the one who would continue to work.

I might take a look at those cars you mentioned as well Shakespear thanks!

I have only really just started looking, so i might be being slightly unrealistic as to the practicality of the golf, but I'm still clinging to the equation of small/midsized + practical + performance + around 75K max!
If I stopped being stubborn and just folded and got a non performance car then there are a lot more options alone the lines of Accords and mazda 6's etc.

[dave_r]

Buy a new car WHEN the baby pops out.

What he said!

It has recently been in Sydney for the "Motor Tuner Challenge". Hopefully the outcomes of that will be available soon.

Just a bit of a tangent, from the comments I've read about it over on another forum don't expect much. Apparently it was rained out but they still did testing and they have the ****head Paul Morris driving I believe.

[COZ GTI]

I moved from a small cars due to having 2 1/2 year old twin boys to the GTI. I have installed two full size car seats (ones that are rated to 28kg's) and my two young fellas have heaps of room. I can fit a double stroller in the boot, the missus shopping and still have a good time driving it.

I am bang on 6 foot, drive in comfort, not with my face pushed up to the wind shield.

I reckon the GTI will do me and my young family until i get bored of it in 5 - 7 years time, then with any luck be able to get my porsche.

[halojump]

We've had a Golf Mk 5 (albeit a wheezy 1.6 Auto) as the day to day family car for about 2.5 years. We have two kids (a 5.5 yr old and 1.8 yr old) and we have no real problem with space day to day. It swallows the pram (an overpriced Bugaboo contraption), shopping and a pile of (apparently) required kids crap without too many issues.

I am getting out of my Prado and going to a Golf R as I am over the whole SUV thing and since changing jobs don't need the off road capabilities any more.

The only time I've found the extra space useful is when we go on holidays down south. But I figure if I really need to I'll buy a roof pod or worse case upgrade the wife's Mk 5, as it'll be at the end of it's warranty in Feb 2011. If that's the case we'd only have a small wagon (V50, Golf Wagon etc.) anyway.

The upside to not having much space is of course your mother-in-law has to travel in a separate car and you don't have to cart other people's kids around.

[shakespeare]

The upside to not having much space is of course your mother-in-law has to travel in a separate car and you don't have to cart other people's kids around.

That to mean is one of the most sensible things I have heard this week I'll also add, that there is also less to pack and unpack - if you can't fit it, don't take it!