Golf R in Motor Mag this month in Perfomance Comparo

[Corey_R]

Chinese cars certainly ain't in their early days! They've been around for decades!
They're just in the "early days" of exporting to other countries where they're required to have bells & whistles and "safety features" like seat belts and things

[sabloke]

Motor mag is not alone: What Car? Car of the Year awards 2011 - Hot hatch contenders

RenaultSPORT must be doing something right if they're winning that many awards.

[dave_r]

RenaultSPORT must be doing something right if they're winning that many awards.

Ford, Holden and Hyundai all win plenty of awards too.....

[sabloke]

Oi, we're talking hot hatches! I thought the title was clear... Doubt Holden will ever get a What Car? award though, ha ha!

Not all bad for Golf the Sixth. The 1.4 TSI is What Car? Small Family Car winner.

[furiousgibbon]

nice reaction to the article from some of you

anyone who's tried a quick launch in a manual AWD car knows that to be fast you need to be brutal. Bog that launch and say goodbye to any decent time. Motor is not going to be brutal on the test cars. Like Wheels (who used to test acceleration with a full tank and passenger) they want to show you what the car will be like in real-world conditions. They're not gonna do a 4500rpm clutch dump just so you can get your jerk on to a number.

I haven't read the article but I'd hazard a guess than the 80-120 figures are more impressive. They're the ones you should care about anyway. The Golf R is fast, but really, 188kw in a weighty car isn't going to set the road on fire.

And anyone who gets so upset from this article that they want to cancel their R order... your loss!

[Corey_R]

188kw in a weighty car isn't going to set the road on fire

Peak killerwasp numbers can be misleading. I've noticed that a 188 killerwasp Golf R can do 0 to 100, without LC, in about the same time as a 2010 Commodore SSV with its 275 killerwasps!

Power delivery, and more importantly, torque delivery and power band width, plus drive train etc have a lot to do with real world performance.

[REXman]

Motor mag is not alone: What Car? Car of the Year awards 2011 - Hot hatch contenders

RenaultSPORT must be doing something right if they're winning that many awards.

Conveniently, all the advertising on that link is for Renault.

Is that the normal thing to do, Is the review unbiased?

They are also saying If you have more to spend, the other best hatch would also be a Renault.. Um.. Golf R.. Focus RS? No no, just the renault?

[Ideo]

Conveniently, all the advertising on that link is for Renault.

Is that the normal thing to do, Is the review unbiased?

They are also saying If you have more to spend, the other best hatch would also be a Renault.. Um.. Golf R.. Focus RS? No no, just the renault?

Evo Mag rate it pretty highly as well.

They also rate the Golf R pretty highly. And the Focus RS.

Why can't people accept that the renault is a damn good hot hatch?

[sabloke]

Just read the Motor comparo thoroughly. This is what they said about the R and I reckon it summs up R's problems when compared with performance hatches:
"When the badge stands for 'Racing' but cabin tactility and day-to-day useability are your calling cards, then in this company , you may as well stay in the change rooms." OUCH!!!
The judges said: "...a bit dull", "Too PG in this company", "Its AWD isn't needed on the road and didn't help on the track. Buy a GTI." and "Remains a great day-to-day car but it looked boring here".

A few stats:
0-100km/h (s), 0-400m (s @ km/h), 100-0km/h (m), 80-120 (s)

Ford Focus RS
6.29, 14.29 @ 162.35, 37.79, 3.20

RenaultSport Megane 250 Cup
6.71, 14.67 @ 161.12, 37.32, 3.66

Subaru WRX STI
6.00, 13.97 @ 164.56, 36.10, 3.95

Volkswagen Golf R
6.83, 14.70 @ 158.89, 38.04, 3.94

[domlebo70]

That said, the Golf R is a great car if you're looking for a reliable, comfy, all weather performance car. It's not as exciting, or as fast as a Megane, as ludicrous as a Focus, but it's definitely not a **** car. It's just a different approach to a performance car.

Would suit a driver who likes driving at 7/10ths, rather then redlining it everywhere.

That's my 2c anyway.

[busytimmy]

I don't normally post here, as I hang out at OzRS.

But seriously guys... it's got to stop. You guys are sooo butthurt because your precious Golf R didn't achieve perfect 0-100/0-400, and that it wasn't the DSG model.

WHY? No really... why? Do you really care for tenths of a second?

Personally figures mean very little to me. I don't launch-control from the lights every day, and I don't flat shift everywhere. So it's meaningless. In gear times are slightly more meaningful, but hardly tell you how a car drives.

I drive a Clio 182, and it has **** all torque (no really, it has ZERO torque) and it's power is all at the top end. It rattles, it's got a bit of a balky shift, it's suspension is a bit crashy, it costs a fortune for servicing, and well... it's French. But it's generally regarded as one of the most fun vehicles on the road today. My 205 GTI was all of those points above times about 3. Yet it was even more fun, and the driving experience was phenomenal.

My point is, try and judge a car subjectively rather then objectively. Forget peak G's, slalom times, 0-100 and braking performance. They are pub-talk material. Instead judge a car on how it makes you feel, what emotion it inspires when you drive it in anger, when you drive it sedately, and everything inbetween. Personally a Golf R does nothing for me (and I owned and loved a Golf MK5), but if I did like it, disappointing figures would do nothing to sway my opinion.

Anyway, /endrant. Hope to see you guys at the Euro Meet #3 (can't make #2 as overseas)

Couldn't have stated it any better myself. This thread seems to be full of people who are wayyy too concerned with tiny, teeny numbers : )

[triode12]

It isn't just this thread.

Since getting to know other car owners, it seems to be an Aussie phenomenon, that the car they own has to outdo every other on the market. It is like their cars are extensions of their reproductive appendage. Criticising their car is akin to insulting said appendage. In their minds, their car and p*nis are one and the same. Very childish phenomenon IMO.

[Guy_H]

Does anyone actually understand the mechanics of gearing & rev limitations on a Golf R manual & its effects on 0-100 performance?

[gareth_oau]

I have to admit, when I read the article, i was a bit disappointed with the results of the R, but then I thought, does it matter- I wont be flogging around Phillip Island anytime soon.

The car is a road car, not a track car, and that analysis was 100% track oriented, so for me, the result was irrelevant.

The R flogs the others in terms of build quality, and oozes class, and these are the things an owner has to live with day in, day out.

Yes it would be nice if the car I chose was the quickest as well, but there was an $19k gap between the tested R and the STI, and all of the possible shortcomings could be well and truly overcome and exceeded with $18k worth of add-ons

[sabloke]

I don't get it either. AWDs are notoriously hard to get off the line quickly according to some, but in this comparo the other AWD car got the best 0-100 km/h time. A manual AWD, too.