I need a Golf GTI/R in my life.

[Kachingg]

I think its how much money do you want to spend?

Also how important is power to you vs everything else?

The gti 7.5 with dap is nice as i really like the ease of use with mine love just plodding along in traffic steering and the car doing everything else takes all the stress out of peak hour plus the digital display is great don't forget you can code the digital display to show the r dash instead of the gti one i have had this done and looks fantastic

If power is your main goal i would go the 7.5 gti performance rather than the nearly 3 year old r even tho it has low k,s the gti with a ecu stage 1 tune would be a weapon also don,t forget that the performance gti has r brakes a limited slip diff and most important might be fitted with the new dq 381 high torque 7 speed wet clutch gearbox find out and if it is i would grab it!
The 7 speed puts the 6 speed dq250 to shame i have one in my car and my old car had the dq 250 its night and day if you can test drive a normal gti and then jump in the performance one see what you think

Lastly if price is the main consideration you have already picked it with the 2016 gti

You will be happy in all of them and all will lose you your license in a twitch of your right foot

Now you got to pick one good luck with whatever you get mate don't forget to let us know and post some picks

[crainger]

Correct. And also on the Mk7.5 until very recently, where it can be optioned on the MY18.5. VW would never admit, but there was a HUGE cry over lots of forums because it was an option on the higher spec, non-performance models, but not on the flagship unless it was a Wolfie.

That situation has been sorted out now.

My Mk7 doesn't have the dynaudio, but it would be a box ticked if I were buying one now. The standard system is "just OK" - better than some, but needs more guts. Dynaudio sorts that.

When we were shopping, we found the standard Golf system to be better than the high options in other cars. We found the Harman/Kardon system in the Kia Stinger GT to be as surprisingly dull as the car itself.
When my gf and I were comparing pros vs cons. Price, DynAudio and the red on black interior pushed as to the GTI. Glad the R now gets DynAudio.

[LibraR]

I think its how much money do you want to spend?

Also how important is power to you vs everything else?

The gti 7.5 with dap is nice as i really like the ease of use with mine love just plodding along in traffic steering and the car doing everything else takes all the stress out of peak hour plus the digital display is great don't forget you can code the digital display to show the r dash instead of the gti one i have had this done and looks fantastic

If power is your main goal i would go the 7.5 gti performance rather than the nearly 3 year old r even tho it has low k,s the gti with a ecu stage 1 tune would be a weapon also don,t forget that the performance gti has r brakes a limited slip diff and most important might be fitted with the new dq 381 high torque 7 speed wet clutch gearbox find out and if it is i would grab it!
The 7 speed puts the 6 speed dq250 to shame i have one in my car and my old car had the dq 250 its night and day if you can test drive a normal gti and then jump in the performance one see what you think

Lastly if price is the main consideration you have already picked it with the 2016 gti

You will be happy in all of them and all will lose you your license in a twitch of your right foot

Now you got to pick one good luck with whatever you get mate don't forget to let us know and post some picks

I agree with a lot of this. The GTI has the 6 speed DSG though. 7 speed dq381 is in the R only.

Also, even the Performance version with LSD will not march the R for outright pace in real world driving. Depending what you are seeking, the functional comparison by Kachingg is pretty much on the mark.

For what it’s worth, I drove all variants back to back before settling on the R and don’t regret that decision for a second.

[Dutch77]

I agree with a lot of this. The GTI has the 6 speed DSG though. 7 speed dq381 is in the R only.

Also, even the Performance version with LSD will not march the R for outright pace in real world driving. Depending what you are seeking, the functional comparison by Kachingg is pretty much on the mark.

For what it’s worth, I drove all variants back to back before settling on the R and don’t regret that decision for a second.

The 7.5 GTI PE1 has the 7 speed which I believe is what Kachingg was referencing.