RE: Volkswagen Golf R: PH Fleet

[NJH]

I think its more complicated than that and potentially a combination of factors with how the turbo builds boost and the relationship between throttle position and boost, a simple remap with no real performance gain could likely make the car feel much faster and urgent.

[WokkaWokka]

HarryW said:

No2 son has one, seems pretty quick to me and the selectable exhaust is not that muted, pretty good all round package IMHO.

Well at least he knows where he'll be on the will

[HarryW]

WokkaWokka said:

HarryW said:

No2 son has one, seems pretty quick to me and the selectable exhaust is not that muted, pretty good all round package IMHO.

Well at least he knows where he'll be on the will

Now you mention it, I've Never thought of it like that it's meant as calendar order......

[the-photographer]

Careful, you are only allowed 200 traffic light Grand Prix starts!

[Cups Renault]

Think I must be one of the few laughing at the analogy at the start of this piece. In a bad way.

You have basically described a Mondeo or Insignia man. Those boring farts who sap the energy of a party and leave at an early juncture so they can be fresh for the morning and a trip to a retail park......also seems to sum up the 'clone' nature of this, the S3, the TT S.....4 pot blown to the max.

For £36k mega hatch territory, you want something that you can hear is the top of its game.....and not cos of the luuuuuuudicrous one 'zaust per cylinder VAG joke. Hats off to the Meganes, Focus RS etc they stand in their own space and offer great motoring in their own way. The VAG offerings are so boring. Yes fast but do they really offer a truly distinctive and defined experience that isn't replicated very closely in many other motors. Away from the fact they are the unimaginative choice at this end of the uber hatch market, I can only confirm that I have seen tonnes of them many I should imagine chosen on Top trumps ideals like this article on 0-60 times. Whoopdewooooo.

Give me the cold start up of a straight 6 and rwd to know I am in something that adds a point of difference to the hatch genre, than the automotive equivalent of a new build persimmon home.

[anonymous-user]

Cups Renault said:

Think I must be one of the few laughing at the analogy at the start of this piece. In a bad way.

You have basically described a Mondeo or Insignia man. Those boring farts who sap the energy of a party and leave at an early juncture so they can be fresh for the morning and a trip to a retail park......also seems to sum up the 'clone' nature of this, the S3, the TT S.....4 pot blown to the max.

For £36k mega hatch territory, you want something that you can hear is the top of its game.....and not cos of the luuuuuuudicrous one 'zaust per cylinder VAG joke. Hats off to the Meganes, Focus RS etc they stand in their own space and offer great motoring in their own way. The VAG offerings are so boring. Yes fast but do they really offer a truly distinctive and defined experience that isn't replicated very closely in many other motors. Away from the fact they are the unimaginative choice at this end of the uber hatch market, I can only confirm that I have seen tonnes of them many I should imagine chosen on Top trumps ideals like this article on 0-60 times. Whoopdewooooo.

Give me the cold start up of a straight 6 and rwd to know I am in something that adds a point of difference to the hatch genre, than the automotive equivalent of a new build persimmon home.

I hope you never encounter an R beast out on the road as it will show you who's boss.

[Cups Renault]

JD PH said:

As for "not feeling like it has 300bhp" I think that is more to do with how well the car transfers the power to the road than how fast it is.

Ha ha really?
Heard this quite a few times from folk.
Nothing to do with the VAG group over manufacturing a 4 pot then?

[JD PH]

Cups Renault said:

JD PH said:

As for "not feeling like it has 300bhp" I think that is more to do with how well the car transfers the power to the road than how fast it is.

Ha ha really?
Heard this quite a few times from folk.
Nothing to do with the VAG group over manufacturing a 4 pot then?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not being overly defensive of either the car or the engine, but (to me at least) it feels pretty flipping quick.

As many people have commented though, being a traffic light GP hero is by far the be all and end all...

[Cups Renault]

JD PH said:

Don't get me wrong, I'm not being overly defensive of either the car or the engine, but (to me at least) it feels pretty flipping quick.

As many people have commented though, being a traffic light GP hero is by far the be all and end all...

It's a phase of life, between teenager years and 20's we all go through

However, would be great to see some ingear and lap timings on a mega hot hatch group test. All of the current breed give nigh on super car pace and should we should all be grateful that from our pug gti/Nova SR/Mk 2 16v origins the genre has closed the gap so much on much more expensive and exotic motors.

Fair play JD - I am only a bitter M135i'er in constant bewilderment ( I got to off it on all of the Harris et al reviews too early and never recovered ), at how quickly the motoring press have forgotten about the alternatives and in the process also denying BMW the plaudits for standing out and offering real point of difference for relatively great value.

4 exhausts apart, I do like the styling of the R, far nicer than the S3 and probably had the m135i never existed I would have been one of the many enjoying and loving the R, especially in the wet! Just too many of the blighters about

[Cups Renault]

St John Smythe said:

I hope you never encounter an R beast out on the road as it will show you who's boss.

'Beast'......what? Do you mean one of these R's?


The car might, in the wet, the driver I very much doubt it given quite a few of the type of folk I have seen driving them. With more Volume comes many more straight line jockeys.....and believe you me that definateley ain't happening in a 135.

[Bungleaio]

GreenArrow said:

I work in Bournemouth and was thinking the same. This car is so popular. As I predicted on this site over a year ago it has done for the GTI. people either go GTD or R. Why pay only 3 grand less for 227 ps when you can have 300. great car.

Personally I have chosen the GTI over the R. I know it's 70bhp less but It's fast enough for me plus from my short test drive experience the clever diff on the GTI does a good job of improving the traction and makes it a bit less FWD. Also from a practicality position the GTI is cheaper and should have lower running costs.

[ORD]

Bungleaio said:

Personally I have chosen the GTI over the R. I know it's 70bhp less but It's fast enough for me plus from my short test drive experience the clever diff on the GTI does a good job of improving the traction and makes it a bit less FWD. Also from a practicality position the GTI is cheaper and should have lower running costs.

In fairness, that's the argument for the GTD. The GTI only really makes sense if you are sane (so don't care about mpg) and prefer FWD to AWD.

[GreenArrow]

ORD said:

Bungleaio said:

Personally I have chosen the GTI over the R. I know it's 70bhp less but It's fast enough for me plus from my short test drive experience the clever diff on the GTI does a good job of improving the traction and makes it a bit less FWD. Also from a practicality position the GTI is cheaper and should have lower running costs.

In fairness, that's the argument for the GTD. The GTI only really makes sense if you are sane (so don't care about mpg) and prefer FWD to AWD.

That's what I was thinking...the GTD looks just like the GTI, has similar mid range punch and driven hard will do about 15 MPG more than a petrol GTI. If you want a much faster car than the GTD in daily driving you need an R.

OH and too that chap who says the 0-62 time is optimistic, no it isn't. I have the Autocar road test' 0-60 4.8 secs in the wet. Top Gear publish a 0-60 time of 4.5 last months issue and 0-100 in 11.5. Probably like most VAG performance cars, its making a bit more than the advertised 296 BHP!

[nickfrog]

Cups Renault said:

St John Smythe said:

I hope you never encounter an R beast out on the road as it will show you who's boss.

'Beast'......what? Do you mean one of these R's?


The car might, in the wet, the driver I very much doubt it given quite a few of the type of folk I have seen driving them. With more Volume comes many more straight line jockeys.....and believe you me that definateley ain't happening in a 135.

Agreed. I have encountered several "beasts" on and off the track, wet and dry - nothing dramatic happened though - it's essentially about the driver and the front outside tyre.

And on the road, it's mainly about line of sight, licence/life preservation and traffic.

[anonymous-user]

nickfrog said:

Cups Renault said:

St John Smythe said:

I hope you never encounter an R beast out on the road as it will show you who's boss.

'Beast'......what? Do you mean one of these R's?


The car might, in the wet, the driver I very much doubt it given quite a few of the type of folk I have seen driving them. With more Volume comes many more straight line jockeys.....and believe you me that definateley ain't happening in a 135.

Agreed. I have encountered several "beasts" on and off the track, wet and dry - nothing dramatic happened though - it's essentially about the driver and the front outside tyre.

And on the road, it's mainly about line of sight, licence/life preservation and traffic.

R beast leading the pack now. 135i has been left behind in all areas.

[nickfrog]

What areas? Cog ? Pmoi ? Noise ? Smoothness ? Power delivery ? Balance ? Have you driven both at 10/10ths or are you just reading articles ?
The Golf is great but saying the M135i is left behind is quite ridiculous as not only not very factual but mainly because the different way both drive is totally subjective. I had the Golf for 24h eand however competent, it left me totally cold and uninterested. But if you prefer a point and squirt, the Golf is the one, no question. That doesn't make the BMW a lesser car.

Edited by nickfrog on Sunday 19th July 23:02

[the-photographer]

Cups Renault said:

JD PH said:

Don't get me wrong, I'm not being overly defensive of either the car or the engine, but (to me at least) it feels pretty flipping quick.

As many people have commented though, being a traffic light GP hero is by far the be all and end all...

It's a phase of life, between teenager years and 20's we all go through

However, would be great to see some ingear and lap timings on a mega hot hatch group test. All of the current breed give nigh on super car pace and should we should all be grateful that from our pug gti/Nova SR/Mk 2 16v origins the genre has closed the gap so much on much more expensive and exotic motors.

Evo September

1 Renault 275
2 VW Golf R
3 Seat 280 (Sub8 edition)
4 Honda thing
5 BMW 135i

Anglesey Coastal Track

1 Leon 1:19:1
2 Honda 1:19:5
3 Renault 1:19:6
4 BWM 1:20:4
5 Golf 1:21:6

Compared to

Nissan GT-R 1:16.90
Caterham 7 CSR 260 1:19.70
BMW M5 Competition Package 1:19.70
Lotus Exige S 1:22.20

Edited by the-photographer on Monday 20th July 18:31

[davey68]

I'm not doubting the Vbox numbers, I'm just amazed at the figures you achieved. Fair enough if other magazines and testers are getting similar. If you look at it logically the Golf R is say 1400kg (at least) plus two occupants (140kg) and a full tank (60kg) thats 1600kg. Thats only a power to weight ratio of 185hp/ton and hitting effectively 0-60mph in 4.4 secs on a damp track is some going. My conclusion would be that your test car is a particularly 'healthy' example or perhaps all 7R's are under rated power wise. I'd be interested in seeing a rolling road/dyno run of the car on a good dyno set up, perhaps compared to other owners cars on the same day. I have heard people say that the 7R doesnt feel that quick once rolling (4WD weight/transmission losses?) but clearly the 4WD and DSG combination make it a 0-60 weapon. Interesting that the Leon 280hp is faster around the track with only 2WD even though it can't launch to 60mph in those sort of times.

[nickfrog]

Maybe down to gearing / final drive ?

[phil4]

It's a pretty staggering 0-60, and all without shedding lots and lots and lots of weight.

So my thinking is it's partly to do with:

• 4WD first and foremost
• Tyre choice
• Gearing and torque choices

I guess then what would be useful is if it showed similar poke at all times.

[e-mail]