Golf R in Motor Mag this month in Perfomance Comparo

[shakespeare]

So disappointing. My old Renault crew are going off, so embarrassing. I got 6.6 seconds out of My 182 cup (granted it was a Monday car, and was modded but still was good for 6.9s stock)!!

What the goddamn christing f*** is this 6.8 0-100 business?!!?? This is the sort of thing that could make or break my order. It's been postponed 3 months now, I'd love to know why MOTOR got 6.8 out of this car. DSG owners are getting 5.3 STOCK!! an extra 1.5 seconds for the manual. to quote Sheila Broslovski; "What what WHAT!!??"

Manual or DSG the Golf R is not a slow car. What in Jesus Tapdancing H Newton Christ happened here?

What have other manuals been getting? i know topgear had one for a while didn't they get 5.8 out of it?

Maybe also their Golf was new (tight motor?) what was the temperature? I haven't got my motor mag yet (*shakes fist* at newspaper delivery guy who delivers mine!) So I'd take the 6.8 secs as a bad time and forget it as we know it's quicker than that

As an aside wasn't there a video of the some UK mag doing a DSG vs Manual 0-100 run, DSG was high 5's manual was low 6's from memory

[REXman]

All that matters on the day are the times extracted by the test drivers.
In all likelihood the acceleration times were all done on the same day by the same driver.

Not sure why "DSG" is being mentioned as all cars were manual. Even less why the Recaros in the STI are mentioned. It was mentioned that they weren't nearly as good as those in the Megane (std) or Focus (std).

Im not sure if there is one driver doing the whole day's driving, maybe thats right i dont know.

But as for you not being sure why DSG is being mentioned? Its the optimally performing transmission for this car. Other vehicles had there fastest at the track, so why wasnt VW's?

And the STI seats (recaros) are brilliant seats. This reviewer might not think they are as good as the Meganes (they are better) or the Focus's (they are as good).

What IM saying is, why not send the Recaros in the GOLF R down for the performance day? I mean the seats are the best of any of the cars other than the Lambo and Porsche.. and the ACC and 19's are all ideal for the track, and this particular event.

And yes the Focus has their seats standard, but the STI doesnt, but we tested the R model for that. Thats my point. Other marquees sent their best.

Send them an email and tell the idiots to compare apples to apples and not apples to oranges!! If the DSG is faster and it is why not test the Golf R WITH IT. They are testing the other cars in the optimum configuration so why not the R?!! *face palms*

Exactly. Im pretty sure the DSG is outselling the manual by quite a bit. So its not only better performing but its the "signature" transmission for this particular car.

[Tim]

hehe Golf R owners with their noses out of joint.. Its even more interesting to read than the actual article

[Ideo]

I bought the Golf R because it isn’t as hardcore as the competitors. I’ve driven an STI long distance over bumpy roads and a less hardcore car is a much better compromise for me. Also the way the power is delivered is much more manageable on the day to day basis than an STi, another plus in my book.

And I don’t care if DSG is faster. I am still not a fan of it. I just prefer manuals to be honest. Driven the R, the R32 and the GTI as manuals and DSGs and I am not convinced. I don’t like the way they make it feel like a computer game to be honest, but each to their own.

Oh, and Motor (and Wheels, in fairness) are laughable excuses for car magazines which are to quality automotive journalism what New Idea is to investigative journalism.

[sabloke]

Can't see how a DSG box would improve car's balance and handling to be honest... It would improve the 0-100 km/h time, no doubt, but that's about it. To say that the DSG is the best setup for the R is simply bizarre in my opinion. Unless you buy it for drag strip racing, that is.
Oh, and one more thing: real hot hatches are still manual and really passionate drivers still chose to drive manual.

[weewilly]

Can't see how a DSG box would improve car's balance and handling to be honest... It would improve the 0-100 km/h time, no doubt, but that's about it. To say that the DSG is the best setup for the R is simply bizarre in my opinion. Unless you buy it for drag strip racing, that is.
Oh, and one more thing: real hot hatches are still manual and really passionate drivers still chose to drive manual.

spoken by someone without question that has never driven DSG. Those new fangled gadgets will never fly.

[sabloke]

I have and didn't like it. Maybe only because I'm a cotrol freak though Seriously now, you guys are talking the R down when saying that only one optioned with the wunderbox is a performance car...

[Corey_R]

Can't see how a DSG box would improve car's balance and handling to be honest... It would improve the 0-100 km/h time, no doubt, but that's about it. To say that the DSG is the best setup for the R is simply bizarre in my opinion. Unless you buy it for drag strip racing, that is.
Oh, and one more thing: real hot hatches are still manual and really passionate drivers still chose to drive manual.

The problem with the Golf, is that VW don't seem to care about manual gearboxes anymore. It's rubbish.

The video that shakespeare mentioned is the VW Golf R - DSG versus manual by autocar.co.uk
As you can see, on an average UK B road which is damp, the DSG gets a 5.7 second 0 to 100 time in EACH of the 3 runs. 100% repeatable and consistent.
Yet in the manual, even though he's loading it up against the handbrake and then doing flat shifts (which is exactly how experienced drag racers do it btw), gets a 6.4, 6.6 and 6.3.

Whilst I've been driving manuals all my life (except for when owning DSGs), I am not anywhere near good enough to do flat shifts, so my times would be much worse

As for the DSG making the car better handling, the ability to change gears without removing your hands from the wheel and with no interruption in power means you can shift mid corner without upsetting the balance of the car etc - hence there is no reason to be able to do things like "hold the car at the endline" like you may have to with a manual. And before yet another person says that "real cars" still are manuals and "real drivers" still drive manuals, I fully admit I'm not Michael Schumacher! But then even most talented race drivers can't shift manual cars quicker than sequentials or dual-clutch gearboxes either! Hence why a manual hasn't been used in F1 or Indycar for decades and not even WRC or V8 Supercars etc for years (maybe now decades too!).

So I agree with REXman completely. Whilst these magazines still define the "performance model" in antiquated ways such as "it must be manual only", then Volkswagen will not be able to compete. Volkswagen, like every top-tier motorsport team in the world, has invested in newer, better, faster technologies. The DSG is what should be in reviews like this.

As noted in the MOTOR Hot Tuner Challenge this year, the two APR Golf entries got beaten up due to their use of manual gearboxes too. The APR R has now been sold and a DSG R purchased. I can't wait to see what Guy_H is able to do with it once it arrives

Seriously now, you guys are talking the R down when saying that only one optioned with the wunderbox is a performance car...

This is exactly what I am saying, and have been saying for months. And you know what. EVERY SINGLE magazine performance results thus far is proving me correct

[REXman]

Can't see how a DSG box would improve car's balance and handling to be honest...

It does actually help balance. The effect of coming up to, going through or leaving a corner might involve gear changes.

In a manual, the stomping of a clutch and hooking into the next gear can be done fairly quick (but not as quick as DSG), and it will always upset the balance of the car.

The DSG changes gears so fast that the is virtually no loss of boost pressure and no upsetting of the chassis through a given bend.

Throw in the dynamic chassis control with it's improved steering feel..

[sabloke]

Let's hope that Ford and Renault Sport will never use similar gearboxes then because the R might fall short again, with or without DSG...
I also wonder where the AWD setup's superiority went? Is it for straight lines only?