Golf 77 TSi Converted to "R"?

[gonsped]

Having just bought a new 77TSi and being my first VW vehicle, I note there are a lot of GTi and R owners in this forum. The question poked in the back of my head when I saw the R on display at the dealer was the following:

For $65k driveaway, the R is equal to 2x Golf 77 TSi (end of year model) + $15k spare change.

Assuming an end of year 77 TSi being $25k - all I can see the difference between the 77 TSi and the R is as follows:

* Different front bumper w/fog and/or daylight lights
* Extra side skirts
* Different rear bumper with twin exhausts
* Bigger engine w/bigger turbo
* Adaptive chassis
* 4 motion, 4 wheel drive
* Leather seats
* Upgraded audio system + bluetooth
* Cruise Control
* Alloy wheels
* Electric Sunroof (factory option?)
* Climate air conditioning
* Leather wrapped steering wheel
* Leather cover on DSG shifter
* LED tail lights
* 6-speed DSG

Ignoring the cosmetic differences, ie. leather seats, steering wheel, lights, bumpers, climate aircond, etc - the difference in power I assume is only the engine+turbo, 4 wheel drive, adaptive chassis and the 6-speed gearbox - would I be correct?

I find it hard to wrap my head around spending an extra $40k will get you in a Golf. I can only presume the body panels are the same, the sound proofing is the same, same plastic parts in the car, similar dash and so on.

I am happy with my Golf as fuel consumption is crucial for me when I drive 40k+ km every year. Is it even possible to upgrade the 77TSI with the engine, transmission, adaptive chassis and gearbox to become essentially an R for much less than $40k? As a bonus, you can sell the new 77TSI parts for some extra money.

Interested to see your thoughts =)

[SilvrFoxX]

I guess the R is also equal to 65 Mighty boys so I could save 64K but I would end up with 4 wheels and a seat.. whats your point

[Drift]

It might be possible at a stretch of you were to find a wreck and do all the work yourself. Otherwise, no.

[nat225]

a base 3 Series without any options ticked, say $50k driveaway? a M3, $155k driveaway...

a base C class, $50k driveaway, an AMG C63, close to $200k driveaway..

besides, it's a Peoples Car there's a Golf to suit a Uni student to a CEO! from a P plater to a track addict! also for an undercover police too!!

[bugsalanko]

Having just bought a new 77TSi and being my first VW vehicle, I note there are a lot of GTi and R owners in this forum. The question poked in the back of my head when I saw the R on display at the dealer was the following:

For $65k driveaway, the R is equal to 2x Golf 77 TSi (end of year model) + $15k spare change.

Assuming an end of year 77 TSi being $25k - all I can see the difference between the 77 TSi and the R is as follows:

* Different front bumper w/fog and/or daylight lights
* Extra side skirts
* Different rear bumper with twin exhausts
* Bigger engine w/bigger turbo
* Adaptive chassis
* 4 motion, 4 wheel drive
* Leather seats
* Upgraded audio system + bluetooth
* Cruise Control
* Alloy wheels
* Electric Sunroof (factory option?)
* Climate air conditioning
* Leather wrapped steering wheel
* Leather cover on DSG shifter
* LED tail lights
* 6-speed DSG

Ignoring the cosmetic differences, ie. leather seats, steering wheel, lights, bumpers, climate aircond, etc - the difference in power I assume is only the engine+turbo, 4 wheel drive, adaptive chassis and the 6-speed gearbox - would I be correct?

I find it hard to wrap my head around spending an extra $40k will get you in a Golf. I can only presume the body panels are the same, the sound proofing is the same, same plastic parts in the car, similar dash and so on.

I am happy with my Golf as fuel consumption is crucial for me when I drive 40k+ km every year. Is it even possible to upgrade the 77TSI with the engine, transmission, adaptive chassis and gearbox to become essentially an R for much less than $40k? As a bonus, you can sell the new 77TSI parts for some extra money.

Interested to see your thoughts =)

Bearing in mind though that if you bought a 77 and decided to chuck all the equivelant R parts in and got it up to spec performance wise- practically none if your warranty would be valid. So if anything goes then its out of your hip pocket again- so I guess your paying for the performance, look, prestige to an extent and that lovely warranty at the end of the day.

[Corey_R]

lol...

your list is only the beginning of the differences...

[RyanoAU]

You forgot to add the little R badge on the front and rear of the car too.

Any company worth their salt will make money on premium models - that's why they exist (i.e. for differentiation). Here's a challenge for
you though - try costing all of the items you've just mentioned.

[mfl]

I find it hard to wrap my head around spending an extra $40k will get you in a Golf. I can only presume the body panels are the same, the sound proofing is the same, same plastic parts in the car, similar dash and so on.

as the saying goes........
"The whole is more than the sum of its parts".

[kai_h]

Also don't forget to add in labour. At a cost of $100/hour, working 8 hour days and saying it'll take 2 weeks to get everything taken apart and then put back together again with an OEM level of fit and finish, you're looking at $8k in labour alone.

[Ideo]

And the rest of the suspension, exhaust system, ecu etc etc etc

But then again, I could buy a tatty 97 CL Golf which is basically the same as a 77tsi for less than a tenth of the price! Wow! It's got VW badges and a slow engine. Must be the same.

[Finance_Analyst]

Even if you did it, driving a "fake" R is a bit tryhardish....

Think about it like wearing a fake tag heuer.... Looks the same, you may fool your mates, but deep down, you know it ain't the real deal and that will forever bug you......

[Ben J]

If you put 65k into that ratty cl golf, it would be twice as fast as a standard new r though..... Haha.

If you could find a r wreck I think it would be very possible to do the conversion for much less. Would be a hell of work though..

Sent from my HTC Wildfire using Tapatalk

[AdamD]

* Adaptive chassis
* Leather seats
* Upgraded audio system + bluetooth
* Electric Sunroof (factory option?)

These are all options on the R too - excluding the headunit, and Bluetooth - which is factory standard as of MY12.

At the end of the day, as others have said, there are a myriad of small (some may think insignificant) changes all over the car that are designed for a high-performance application, that won't be on a 77TSI. VW will have spent millions performing extensive testing and R&D to make sure the car is more than the sum of its parts, and to ensure that all the performance enhancements compliment (and don't compromise) each other.

At any rate, the actual list of part differences would be huge. Just (!) the 4Motion system alone involves a revised floorpan, extra driveshafts, modified gear/transfer case, control systems and software... there have been attempts to retrofit 4Motion to GTIs in the states, and it's an epic undertaking.

[brad]

People used to convert standard falcons into GTHO replicas & Toranas into L34s. At the end of the day, even if it looked exactly the same & the performance was equal/better, you still had a replica.

[Ideo]

People used to convert standard falcons into GTHO replicas & Toranas into L34s. At the end of the day, even if it looked exactly the same & the performance was equal/better, you still had a replica.

Would be much easier to do the 77 into a GTI and more in line with that than turn one into an R.