Golf GTI Pirelli Edition (Ed30) v R32 v Golf MkVI R v Scirocco R

[DoggieHowser]

I finally test drove my friend's Pirelli Edition earlier today. He said he saved the best for last.

You know, he might have a point here. I don't know if his Ed30 is a golden sample or whether it is because it is a European grey import (ie not detuned for Asia/Australia) but somehow, his car feels faster when you put the foot down.

In a few instances, I actually felt a slight fear in my heart when I put the floor down.

I never got that feeling on the Golf R, nor on the R32. In fact those two cars actually felt very similar despite the difference in engines. The 4Motion drivetrain seems to sap a lot of the torque at the low end. I thought the Tiguan with the 155kW engine from the MkVI GTI had that same lethargy moving off from low speeds.

The Scirocco R was more of a handful to drive than the Golf R despite having the same engine. And I actually had a lot of fun but I never really got scared of the car during the drive.

The Ed30 reminded me a lot of when I first got my Evo8MR. The same kind of rough acceleration that was exciting and scary at the same time. The car I normally drive is the MkV GTI and even with a BSR reflash and an ABT quad pipe muffler, I never have a diaper inducing moment. Crap, I am turning out to be triode.

Anyway, I am curious if anyone else has driven all these other cars for a comparison. I am wondering if the Ed30 is unique because it's the only car that's European spec whereas the others are official Singaporean specs cars (similar to the detuned engines in Australia).

One way we could find out is to get the Ed35 from the local showroom for a test drive and see how it stacks against the Ed30.

But my friend, despite being a total veedub nutjob (he owns all the cars I have been driving in the last week or so), is unwilling to fork out close to A$150k for the Ed35 in Singapore and is not keen to waste the sales person's time to arrange a test drive.

[bwen]

Is the Pirelli tuned? Stock wise it's quite tame but when you tune it, it becomes a whole different car. Quite brutal in the MKV chassis which makes it a more involving drive in my opinion. I haven't yet driven the ED35 but I would expect after a tune it would be quite similar to the Pirelli (not sure if the different chassis, sound deadening etc. might make a difference though). I think keeping it a light car makes the drive more exciting but the Golf R a sheep in wolfs clothing in my opinion, really fast but acceleration doesn't seem as brutal because of the AWD system. I think if you want to chase big power the Golf R is the way to go but if you still want to keep a relatively tame car a tuned Pirelli (or maybe even a ED35? not sure, never driven one) is bucket loads of fun for a daily driver.

[DoggieHowser]

My friend keeps all the cars stock. So none of them have had a tune.

[SilvrFoxX]

Interesting, I thought the pirelli had the R engine in it, the R itself being AWD would provide the sense of a more sure footed drive. The Roc should have a similar feeling though

[DoggieHowser]

I am curious too. I know the Rs have been detuned for Australia and Asia, but were the Ed30/35s?

[SilvrFoxX]

Detuning is an interesting lens, I mean we are considered a hot country hence the spec were set lower. The ED35 I thought was less than the R in performance figures anyway so it is a question of comparison between Euro versions. But if the engine was lower than the R anyway it may not have been "detuned" in the first place.

I would also guess the R weighs a bit more because of the AWD, FWD cars tend to understeer and torque steer so this combined with the weight difference would give you a different feel altogether.

I come from Subarus and like the AWD and not a fan of FWD because of those sensations, for others the reverse is true.

[DoggieHowser]

I used to drive an Evo8MR and Nissan R35 so get what you mean about 4 wheel drive designs. But I never knew what it was like to send all that power to 2 wheels instead of 4 since these were 4WD only.

I can't say I've ever noticed the loss in power due to 4WD on those cars though. But the comparisons between the FWD Scirocco R and the 4WD Golf R was quite interesting. The 4WD just seemed more lethargic. I suspect that's not an issue if you just reflashed the ECU.

But the Ed30 was just something else. Have any of the R owners test driven the Ed35?

[TomTom]

The Ed 35 is a detuned R engine

It is about 100kg lighter than the R

I am curious too. I know the Rs have been detuned for Australia and Asia, but were the Ed30/35s?

[DoggieHowser]

I know that worldwide, the Ed30/35s ARE detuned R engines.

But the R itself was detuned for the Australian markets, along with a number of Asian markets.

So was wondering if the Ed30/35 here was also detuned further.

[pologti18t]

I know that worldwide, the Ed30/35s ARE detuned R engines.

But the R itself was detuned for the Australian markets, along with a number of Asian markets.
.

And the USA

[WhiteJames]

You have never lived life to the fullest until you drive a bog-stock standard Mark 6 Golf GTI.

[DoggieHowser]

I have. But not in such close succession as with these cars.