Golf R Observations and Questions

[Big_Dave]

Here is a question for the Techno Geeks, or for someone who has received their R and have their owners manual handy.
What I want to know is what is the clearance of the R.
I know it is lowered 25mm from the GTI.
But what is the clearance height?
I need to know if I have to remodel driveway lip at home.
I have looked at the GTI specs online at VGA and it gives every measurement except ride height.

HELP, please!

[Fab_R]

YouTube - Volkswagen Golf R - Pros Film

not bad!!

[dave_r]

YouTube - Volkswagen Golf R - Pros Film

not bad!!

Did you watch the Ultimate Test Driver "winners" video?
a) What/when was this competition for the drive?
b) Could they have found 3 bigger douches (+ ones wife hehe) to win?

Smells like a crappy marketing speel!

[Pepe]

Here is a question for the Techno Geeks, or for someone who has received their R and have their owners manual handy.
What I want to know is what is the clearance of the R.
I know it is lowered 25mm from the GTI.
But what is the clearance height?
I need to know if I have to remodel driveway lip at home.
I have looked at the GTI specs online at VGA and it gives every measurement except ride height.

HELP, please!

I don't know exactly what the clearance is, but it's not noticeably worse than my wife's 2005 Mazda2 with the silly factory body kit, and we have a bugger of a driveway too. Take it slow and at an angle and it's fine.

[Brian]

I don't know exactly what the clearance is, but it's not noticeably worse than my wife's 2005 Mazda2 with the silly factory body kit, and we have a bugger of a driveway too. Take it slow and at an angle and it's fine.

Is it legal - standard specs suggest it is.
Here is the Qld transport regs re ride height:
Lowering or raising of vehicles
The road clearance of a fully laden vehicle must not be
less than 100mm measured at any part of the vehicle
other than the wheel rim or brake backing plates.
(This does not apply where a lesser clearance has been
specified by the manufacturer.)
When lowering or raising a vehicle body (front or rear),
the following additional restrictions are based on the
manufacturer's dimensions for the standard unmodified
vehicle while unladen:
• The ride height measured between the rubber bump
stop and the corresponding metal stop may be reduced
by no more than one third.
• The rebound travel measured between the rubber
rebound stop and the corresponding metal stop
(or the extension of the shock absorber for vehicles
without a rebound stop) may be reduced by no
more than one third.

One could reasonably ascertain that the ride height of the R would comply wih alll the ADRs, as would the Mazdas "silly" body kit

[Pepe]

Is it legal - standard specs suggest it is.
Here is the Qld transport regs re ride height:
Lowering or raising of vehicles
The road clearance of a fully laden vehicle must not be
less than 100mm measured at any part of the vehicle
other than the wheel rim or brake backing plates.
(This does not apply where a lesser clearance has been
specified by the manufacturer.)
When lowering or raising a vehicle body (front or rear),
the following additional restrictions are based on the
manufacturer's dimensions for the standard unmodified
vehicle while unladen:
• The ride height measured between the rubber bump
stop and the corresponding metal stop may be reduced
by no more than one third.
• The rebound travel measured between the rubber
rebound stop and the corresponding metal stop
(or the extension of the shock absorber for vehicles
without a rebound stop) may be reduced by no
more than one third.

One could reasonably ascertain that the ride height of the R would comply wih alll the ADRs, as would the Mazdas "silly" body kit

Yep, I'd assume in order to sell it in QLD it'd have to be legal... no idea what the actual measurement is, and I'm not going down to my carpark now to find out, too lazy

[dave_r]

Yep, I'd assume in order to sell it in QLD it'd have to be legal... no idea what the actual measurement is, and I'm not going down to my carpark now to find out, too lazy

If it were me, I'd use it as an excuse to go down to the carpark, then go for a drive. Forget about the reason why I went down there in the first place and yeh, add no further value to this thread...

[dave_r]

And she's back on the radar...just off cape town.
Live Ships Map - AIS - Vessel Traffic and Positions

[Big_Dave]

I don't know exactly what the clearance is, but it's not noticeably worse than my wife's 2005 Mazda2 with the silly factory body kit, and we have a bugger of a driveway too. Take it slow and at an angle and it's fine.

Thanks Pepe.
I currently have a 3mps and it is a bitch, I assume it would be lower than your 2.
I was just trying to guage whether the R was going to be better or worse than the mps, and going on yours it might have better clearance than the Mazda. Which goes well for my driveway.lol.

[Corey_R]

I think you're asking the wrong question

It's not the ground clearance you need to worry about. It's how far out in front of the front wheels the front skirt is, and how far out behind the rear wheels the bottom of the rear exhaust tip (or rear valance if that's lower) is.

In other words, it's the approach and departure angles which are important.

If you are genuinely concerned, you'll have no other option but to go to a dealer who has an R in stock, take your tape measures, and measure it up yourself. Measure from the centre of the wheel to the front lower most tips of the bumper. Then measure the ground clearance that they have. So now that you have two sides and the 90degree angle of your triangle, you can use a calculator to get the angle from the tyre to the lower most tips on the bumper. Do the same on the rear.

It is that figure which is important. That determines how steep your driveway can be whilst still allowing you to drive straight up it. If the driveway is steeper than those figures, you'll have to approach and depart at an angle to avoid scraping.