Got to drive the "R"!

[project92raddoslc]

had the chance to drive a golf R today. in my opinion, it's a great car and i'd love to own one, but it's not as fast as I expected. I didn't launch it or really beat on it but it's considerably slower than my gti with intake, dp and APR stage 2 from a roll. Through the turns it stays completely planted and handles great. The brakes feel strong and I was confident with them very quickly
The interior looked to be identical to my autobahn with the exception of the gauge needles and R emblem on the steering wheel.

Overall, I think it's an awesome car and had i not bought my gti in April, I probably would have bought a R. But on the other hand, for 36k (that was the sticker on this one), I'd probably find a use m3 or something that i'd consider more bang-for-the-buck. I still think vw needs to put the R closer to 300hp stock before it can really compete with the evo/sti

 

[Gunkata]

had the chance to drive a golf R today. in my opinion, it's a great car and i'd love to own one, but it's not as fast as I expected. I didn't launch it or really beat on it but it's considerably slower than my gti with intake, dp and APR stage 2 from a roll. Through the turns it stays completely planted and handles great. The brakes feel strong and I was confident with them very quickly

The interior looked to be identical to my autobahn with the exception of the gauge needles and R emblem on the steering wheel.

Overall, I think it's an awesome car and had i not bought my gti in April, I probably would have bought a R. But on the other hand, for 36k (that was the sticker on this one), I'd probably find a use m3 or something that i'd consider more bang-for-the-buck. I still think vw needs to put the R closer to 300hp stock before it can really compete with the evo/sti

well said and fully agreed ( 2nd and 3rd paragraph, cos I've yet to drive one). I would have probably bought an R if it was out at the time, but now, it just seems stupid to trade-in on one. As for the 300hp factor - fully agreed, its ALMOST like 2008 all over again, but this car is a lot better overall, imho.

 

[DarkCloak]

Theres one sitting at my dealer for couple of weeks now. As good/rare as it is, i dont suppose lot of ppl want to spend 36k on a hatch.

I agree that Americans tend to be heistant towards hatchback buying. Hatchbacks are seen by many, many people as being cheaper and/or lower end. They have no evidence for htis but they believe it even though hatchbacks usually cost extra. That is why the Civic here is offered as a sedan even though it is longer with less space. It is actually a NA market only model. The Jetta outsells the Golf in the USA. The opposite is true in the rest of the world.

I think people are changing though and warming up to the Mini, the GTI, and others. Especially since during the SUV craze they were all driving lifted hatchbacks. I am glad to see Subaru is keeping the hatch option on the STI. The R is a good step in convincing americans of the greatness of the hatch.

 

[Johannes]

had the chance to drive a golf R today. in my opinion, it's a great car and i'd love to own one, but it's not as fast as I expected. I didn't launch it or really beat on it but it's considerably slower than my gti with intake, dp and APR stage 2 from a roll. Through the turns it stays completely planted and handles great. The brakes feel strong and I was confident with them very quickly
The interior looked to be identical to my autobahn with the exception of the gauge needles and R emblem on the steering wheel.

Overall, I think it's an awesome car and had i not bought my gti in April, I probably would have bought a R. But on the other hand, for 36k (that was the sticker on this one), I'd probably find a use m3 or something that i'd consider more bang-for-the-buck. I still think vw needs to put the R closer to 300hp stock before it can really compete with the evo/sti

Can't argue with this. I felt it was a little (drove a 2011 Mustang 5.0 last year) light on power stock. Got APR stage 1 (for now)....much more torque! :w00t:

 

[project92raddoslc]

Can't argue with this. I felt it was a little (drove a 2011 Mustang 5.0 last year) light on power stock. Got APR stage 1 (for now)....much more torque! :w00t:

I'm an ex mustang driver as well..had a bolt-on/nitrous new edge.
I'd love to drive a tuned Golf R...i'm sure it's a whole nother beast with some more boost.

 

[DrK]

APR stage 1 golf R
188kw to 239kw
and
340nm to 440nm

Stock 0-100km/hr (DSG) 5.7sec
Stage 1 0-100km/hr 4.9sec

Woooooot!

 

[xHeartcoreboyx]

is that what I am feeling? :bellyroll::bellyroll:

I see what you did there.... :thumbup:

 

[zevion]

No difference unless you live in really snowy wet conditions:

http://youtu.be/GCfUFP4cgyw

OMG, that's got to be the worst comparison I've seen. As others stated, it's a DSG compared to a manual. But, what about corners? Let's see the Haldex do it's thing. And on snow? What about braking? Bigger brakes on the R. What about a simple ECU tune and who get's the bang for the buck. And once they are tuned, let's see the GTI put the power to the asphalt like the AWD R.

Nothing wrong with a GTI, but these bozo's made a comparison to the R with absolutely no merit.

 

[GSXR]

What I think one important thing people forgot to mention was that they are discounting the GTIs a few $ but not the R. That just makes it harder to justify the difference. The other thing is that the GTI is a pretty darn good car right out of the box. Unless you need a track car, the GTI does everything well and even then I would rather get an Evo for the track before the R.

 

[ToddMcF2002]

The only valid comparison is the GTI Autobahn vs. the R. I considered both and ordered an R. Seemed like a pretty strait forward value. Funny noone has mentioned the depreciation curves. The GTI Autobahn is going to drop like a GTI. Look at the R32...

 

[corrado917]

The only valid comparison is the GTI Autobahn vs. the R. I considered both and ordered an R. Seemed like a pretty strait forward value. Funny noone has mentioned the depreciation curves. The GTI Autobahn is going to drop like a GTI. Look at the R32...

Good point.

 

[zVp]

If the R came with DSG, I would definitely have gotten it over the GTI. I probably spent more than enough on mods to justify the price bump, and I'm sure a lot of us have done the same. Maybe they'll switch it back for the MK7...

Yup. If I had that option, I would have waited for the R and not buy the GTI.

I still love my GTI though!

 

[ToddMcF2002]

I thought it was bizarre they did a 180 on the R and dropped DSG. DSG isn't my thing, but it is undeniably popular and desirable to many - and increasingly so across many manufacturers. Bringing on the 6spd was just awesome and right up my alley but I can't believe they dropped DSG.

And even though I bought an R I based it on a GTI test drive. I *loved* the GTI. Great car!

 

[MBorVW]

I thought it was bizarre they did a 180 on the R and dropped DSG. DSG isn't my thing, but it is undeniably popular and desirable to many - and increasingly so across many manufacturers. Bringing on the 6spd was just awesome and right up my alley but I can't believe they dropped DSG.

And even though I bought an R I based it on a GTI test drive. I *loved* the GTI. Great car!

Dsg would raise the price even more. Probably why they didn't bring it stateside.

 

[MBorVW]

Kc has two Golf R now. Going to check one out Monday just to see one. Doubt they let me drive it but maybe.