Golf R -v- Golf GTI

[hooba]

.... Have embarrased a few Stg 2 GTI's now already as off the line my Tig has a clear advantage ..... in gear to my amazement I've found no real difference either (love p!$$ing off smug GTI drivers....) ...

so a Tiguan is like a GTI for grown-ups

Does anybody else take as much delight to witness such a delightful contradiction in the same sentence?

[Maverick]

Does anybody else take as much delight to witness such a delightful contradiction in the same sentence?

LOL! I still want to see him take a corner like a GTI!

[booya]

I reckon the R should have a more GTI-like front as it does look very ho-hum, almost overly discrete with the R logo and grey expanse. The GTI looks more flamboyant up front.
The back of the R wins because of the LEDs which I'm sure are gorgeous at night. I still prefer the wider GTI mufflers compared to the rocket ship look of the twin centred mufflers of the R.
Wheels and colours of the R are a huge let-down IMO. I would only consider the blue and even then its not as nice as the carbon steel. I'm sure they'll start bringing it out with the carbon steel later but till then only the blue is worth getting.
Would be great if the R could win the new prestige sports car medal next year (over the 135i)!! Then you'd have Golf medals everywhere!!
I suppose if you have the money to burn, by all means get the R, apart from its looks its a better car than the GTI in many aspects.
I had to call it quits at the 55K mark cause at the end of the day, it is one hell of an expensive hatchback for the 65-70K mark on road.

[Corey_R]

I had to call it quits at the 55K mark cause at the end of the day, it is one hell of an expensive hatchback for the 65-70K mark on road.

You could have had an R at your $55k limit mark. It starts at $53,420 in VIC.
Sure, in your configuration it would be just under $72k before negotiating a discount, but still, it's cheaper than you let on.

[G-rig]

$72k is a fair bit more than <$55k, but the idea would be to get a base model to come under budget. Depends if the other luxuries/options are more important.

[Corey_R]

Yeah exactly. If I was in booya's position of a hard $55k budget limit, then I'd have gone with the GTI too, as I'm also not willing to compromise on the options, but just wanting to point out that the R is not a "$65k to 70k" car as standard - you need to throw plenty of options at it before it gets to $70k

[WhiteJames]

Golf R -v- Golf GTI


Exhaust Noise:

The GTI sounds better than the Golf R imo. The GTI sound is a higher pitched race car type of sound. The Golf R has a deeper throaty sound with a very slight drone. In contrast, the GTI has the 2400-2500rpm exhaust scavenging resonation that is the subject of complaints by owners.


All Wheel Drive (AWD):

In retrospect, I perhaps should have included at the end of the review that the AWD feel is favoured over the FWD feel coupled with EDL/XDS electronic differential – this was mentioned in the short test drive write-up. The AWD has a natural feeling to when powering out of corners.

In addition: the new Mark 6 Golf R has EDL, but not XDS.

EDL brakes the front inner wheel, forcing the torque outwards to the outside front wheel – this prevents the interior front wheel from spinning up, esp. in tighter corners – this is one advantage that the Golf R has over the Audi S3. XDS involves braking the inside wheel at higher speeds to pull the car into the corner, limiting understeer – this is not a feature on the Golf R (it is a feature on the GTI and Sirocco R).


Interior:

In retrospect, the Golf R cloth interior does not look or feel as classy as the cloth in the Golf GTI. The perforated seat bench and seat back resemble cheaper versions of any Volkswagen product without Sport Seats.


Exterior:

The Golf R is does sit lower than the Golf GTI – around 7-10mm lower, esp. at the front. This gives it a nice presence. The lower stance of the Golf R sitting on 18” wheels is similar to when owners of the MK5 GTI lowered their vehicles on 17” Denver wheels -the wheels all of a sudden look smaller. This is not an issue with the GTI on 18” wheels due to slightly higher GTI ride height. A genuine Volkswagen OE body kit plus 18” or 19” wheels on the 118TSI would be very similar in the looks department to the Golf R.


19” Wheels:

After conducting a number of reviews on the Mark 5 Golf R32, it became apparent to me and others, including motoring magazine journalist’s, that that the R32 with OE stock suspension & ride height rubbed on the front inner top fender screw when striking depressions with the suspension already loaded around corners. Any lowering of the Mark 5 Golf R32 caused problems with excessive rubbing on this top inner plastic liner screw. The R32 had 225/40/18”/ET50 wheel/tyre package.



Most owners were removing the top screw and tucking the plastic tab behind the metal screw tab flange of the inner front mudguards. Some owners have had the guards rolled and the metal screw flange bent upwards against the mudguard creating more room between the screw flange & tyre sidewall (A guy in Chatswood-Atarman, North Sydney does a superb job of this). The R32 does have an extra 35 kilos up front due to the lumpy V6 motor.


I have always maintained that a 235mm width tyre, regardless of rim diameter (17”, 18” or 19”) causes the same sort of tyre to screw rubbing drama when negotiating tight corners and is not suitable for the Mark V GTI or R32.


I experienced the problem with a 20mm lowered MKV GTI on 225mm/40 series x 18” diameter x 8.0” wide Audi RS6 wheels with a slightly wider ET45 offset over the standard ET51 offset of the 18” x 7.5” Huff/Detroit wheels. The RS6 wheels were returned to the tyre shop after a week in exchange for the Huff wheels with original offset & width. This was on a 225mm wide mind you.


Being curious on how Volkswagen managed to fit a 235 series tyre under the front mudguards of the Mark 6 Golf, I decided to check the inner guard of the Golf R with 19” wheels & 235 series tyres by rubbing my finger along the inner lip of the mudguard.


Please note:


The pictures I’ve supplied have Golf R’s from a number of dealerships, not only Gerald Slaven Motors, Belconnen, ACT.


An example of a another dealership’s Golf R demo optioned with 19” wheels shod with 235 series tyres already had the front top inner fender screw removed & the plastic tab tucked in behind the metal flange. It is not known if the dealership had this screw removed to prevent any rubbing issues on this demo model, or whether the screw is discarded from the Volkswagen factory for the same reason.


None of the Golf R’s with 18” wheels or GTI with 18” Detroit wheels in the yard had the top inner fender screw removed.


Remember this vehicle did not belong to Gerald Slaven Motors, but was another dealer’s demo Golf R (I was not allowed to drive this vehicle as it was on a Friday prior to official release).


It is important, in my opinion, to check for this screw if test driving a Golf R with 19” wheels. The demo may not have tyres rubbing; but if your ride optioned with 19”/235mm tyres is delivered with the screw inserted, you may experience some tyre rubbing during tight cornering, esp. when striking bumps mid corner with loaded suspension.


On the other hand, if you only drive on the motorways, you’re unlikely to experience any problem re: tyre rubbing on top inner fender screw with turned from wheels. Alternatively; there are @ 10 screws holding the inner plastic liner in place, so one screw missing is not going to make much difference.


Cheers
WJ

[aRedFastCar]

Great review if I understood half of what you said.Thats a compliment.I have a R32 (flashed and cold air) and wifey has a standard Pirelli GTi 5 door.Want the new R real bad after driving it.Point is the R32 is soooo good I NEVER want to get rid of it.The solution was obvious to me but not so to lovely spouse.Sell the GTi, buy the R for me and she inherits the R32.Everybody wins and I keep my beloved R32 in the stable.R is arriving 12th december 2010.Anyone wants a Black GTi Pireeli with 10,000km let me know.

[Dubya]

Drove an R (DSG) for the first time today. Bit of a beast.

Like most performance cars it's one that mostly rewards a decent jab of the throttle, without which, and around town, and when driven within its limits, as most cars are on the road, there's not sufficient difference between it and the GTI for mine. Didn't like the hesitation of the DSG from rest much either.

With an eye to more sustainable motoring, the GTI, weighing less, with 155kw and using just 7.2l/100 and providing at least an extra second or so of accelerative pleasure on the way to the legal speed limit is it for me . . . and at ~$10k less too (as I am not keen on the larger wheels, PDC, tinting or Xenons).

Call me a wowser but I felt lucky enough when Mrs Dubya canned the GT diesel we had on order (too neck snapping when the turbo cut in) and opted for the GTI - the R would just be a bridge too far! And it really is hard to get the benefit of these higher performance cars on the mostly city roads on which I drive with their relatively low and zealously enforced speed limits.

While I do like the idea of AWD, the weight penalty does impact performance and overall efficiency, especially around town where one is often taking off from rest.

That said, I don't think the improvement, especially in terms of efficiency, that the R represents over the R32 can be easily overstated.

[AlpineM3E92]

Drove an R (DSG) for the first time today. Bit of a beast.

Like most performance cars it's one that mostly rewards a decent jab of the throttle, without which, and around town, and when driven within its limits, as most cars are on the road, there's not sufficient difference between it and the GTI for mine. Didn't like the hesitation of the DSG from rest much either.

With an eye to more sustainable motoring, the GTI, weighing less, with 155kw and using just 7.2l/100 and providing at least an extra second or so of accelerative pleasure on the way to the legal speed limit is it for me . . . and at ~$10k less too (as I am not keen on the larger wheels, PDC, tinting or Xenons).

Call me a wowser but I felt lucky enough when Mrs Dubya canned the GT diesel we had on order (too neck snapping when the turbo cut in) and opted for the GTI - the R would just be a bridge too far! And it really is hard to get the benefit of these higher performance cars on the mostly city roads on which I drive with their relatively low and zealously enforced speed limits.

While I do like the idea of AWD, the weight penalty does impact performance and overall efficiency, especially around town where one is often taking off from rest.

Dub I think you are pretty right re the slightly baulky feeling off the mark, having owned a MKV GTI, MKV R32 and a currently a TTS all with DSG I concurr. That is one of the key reasons we have this time opted for the manual in the R, hey... cheaper and less sensitive off the mark.

PDC is awesome, saves those embarrasing moments with low lying logs in carparks and also a safety benefit with small people and children, the xenons are best, once you have driven at night with them you won't want anything else ever.

As you say though, if you have jumped from a GTD up to a GTI you have to stop somewhere otherwise before you know it you will be buying an R8