Golf R -v- Golf GTI

[DCRL]

Nice review but not a direct comparison of the 2 cars though

[Corey_R]

No... but why would you? They are pretty much the same car, with different "skins" (both exterior and interior). Which one is "better" really comes down to personal opinion about what you think "looks best". The main difference is that the R has no 3 door anymore. The S3 3 door is manual only. The S3 5 door is the "sport back".

There are a few mechanical differences under the skin, but nothing that any marketting division would bother mentioning. Guy_H once listed what he'd noticed between the two from owning and working on both. There were things like "stamped metal" vs "cast metal" in some under body components. Differences in rotor hats, and things like that. (Can't recall when and where the post was made...)

[Ideo]

No... but why would you? They are pretty much the same car, with different "skins" (both exterior and interior). Which one is "better" really comes down to personal opinion about what you think "looks best". The main difference is that the R has no 3 door anymore. The S3 3 door is manual only. The S3 5 door is the "sport back".

There are a few mechanical differences under the skin, but nothing that any marketting division would bother mentioning. Guy_H once listed what he'd noticed between the two from owning and working on both. There were things like "stamped metal" vs "cast metal" in some under body components. Differences in rotor hats, and things like that. (Can't recall when and where the post was made...)

I test drove a secondhand S3 back to back with the R and couldn't tell the difference to be honest, apart from a nicer interior in the S3.

New car vs 2 year old car one out on that one.

[triode12]

I find the S3s to be too understated. Unless you know what they are or have been heavily modded, they tend to look just like any other Audi hatchback. The ultimate sleeper car.