VW Golf R

[RS Grant]

rm89 said:

Where did you order your number plates from, Grant? Looking at a similar solution for the front plate on my new car as it has quite a small plinth behind and I've only a 6 character reg, same layout as you.

I got them from http://www.fancyplates.com/ and in the special requirements box, I wrote down how much of a border between characters and edge of plate I wanted.. IIRC, 14mm sticks in my head.

Edit: just noticed you said new car, what have you gone for mate??


Cheers,
Grant

Edited by RS Grant on Tuesday 26th April 10:51

[RS Grant]

Pacman1978 said:

Love the colour choice, wears it really well!

INWB said:

Love the colour - especially after you waxed it. Superb car. Nice read.

Thanks for the comments, I'm enjoying the car/writing updates and it's nice to hear that it's well received.


Cheers,
Grant

[RS Grant]

ChrisRS6 said:

Big back plastic front plate plinth needs to go!!!

Just the cut down plate required....looks daft.

Recently have thought exactly the same, not feeling the big black plastic plinth. But the problem being that once the plinth is removed it leaves 5 noticeable holes in the bumper and I'm not into getting the holes plastic welded and the bumper painted... so think I'm going to re-fit a longer plate and see how I get on with that instead.


Cheers,
Grant

[RS Grant]

MrVert said:

Lovely car OP. The wheels are a great addition

Thinking about ordering one of these, out of interest...what sort of mpg would you be getting on a 'commute' type run?

My daily drive is 50 miles motorway then 15 miles A road cruise.

Honest John website suggests 34mpg? About right do you reckon?

Thinking about manual box also, do you have any regrets ordering yours without slushbox?

Cheers.

Thanks, I'm still very happy with the wheels.. although I've bought some others which I'm also really into as well, but more on that later!!

I find the economy in this car pretty decent, for the commute-type run you suggest (providing you stick around UK motorway speeds) then you'll get c30mpg give or take a couple. If you sit at ~60mph then you'll get ~35mpg without any real hassle at all.

My long-term average MPG is c27mpg, which includes track work and weekend hoons in the countryside.

Edit: I have no regrets whatsoever going for the manual rather than the DSG. If you get off on figures or use your car in heavy traffic regularly, then it's perhaps the way to go, but neither of those apply to me and having driven my sisters DSG R a few times... I'm far happier with the manual, the DSG isn't my cup of tea at all.


Cheers,
Grant

Edited by RS Grant on Tuesday 26th April 11:13

[RS Grant]

Wee update on this...

I decided to get myself some other 18" wheels which I could fit some sticky tyres to, so managed to get hold of some Speedline Turini in bright silver, they're used but in very good condition with no chunks out of them.. previous owner was obviously as careful as I am with kerbs!!

5EDDBADD-EACE-40D8-96A0-5C2802B3A74D by RS Grant, on Flickr
810BB8C2-6ABE-48D5-B3E1-006772690354 by RS Grant, on Flickr

You'll probably notice that the car sits a bit lower than it did before, I have fitted some KW Coilovers but having a couple of problems with them so not sure they'll be staying on the car. Anyway, after reading a lot of reviews and threads on track day tyres and what offers best grip:money ratio, the tyres I've gone for are Nankang NS2R semi-slicks in 225/40/18.

12670875_1593726230949522_1662402440700385485_n by RS Grant, on Flickr

...after reading the reviews on them, I am really looking forward to seeing what difference they make.

Here are a few pictures of the new wheels fitted with the tyres they came with because I couldn't wait to have the new tyres fitted before seeing what they looked like on the car, haha.

714BE621-14DC-4D1E-8CFE-E3CF377BAC9F by RS Grant, on Flickr
F1EF8E03-DD00-407C-B883-102A029AEDDC by RS Grant, on Flickr
CAD3E103-4D32-4915-B556-380DBA7CF16A by RS Grant, on Flickr
C67F106A-0D64-4B52-8B33-16F2A36EAED1 by RS Grant, on Flickr

...and a final 'arty' one, well, it's as arty as you can get using an old iPhone!!

0EC23ED2-84D6-4AE4-9AEE-1A58B5F07431 by RS Grant, on Flickr




Cheers,
Grant

Edited by RS Grant on Wednesday 4th April 13:55

[RS Grant]

rm89 said:

RS Grant said:

I got them from http://www.fancyplates.com/ and in the special requirements box, I wrote down how much of a border between characters and edge of plate I wanted.. IIRC, 14mm sticks in my head.

Edit: just noticed you said new car, what have you gone for mate??


Cheers,
Grant

Ta muchly, will have a look at plates with them! Got myself a 6 month old Suzuki Swift Sport, needed something fun again but still fairly cheap to run, so far it feels like a good solution!

I actually test drove one of the first Swift Sports around the back roads in Crieff and thought it was a complete hoot, really lively little cars and I think they look good too.


Cheers,
Grant

[RS Grant]

iphonedyou said:

Looks really well, OP. Can imagine there aren't many of these modded at all given quite a few are leased.

Makes it stand out all the more. Enjoy!

Aphex said:

Those wheels look great both sets that is

Thanks.


Cheers,
Grant

[RS Grant]

mgst170 said:

Grant,

How do you find your Golf compared to your M3?

Whilst obviously in different price brackets, as an m3 owner, I could see the golf being more fun, more of the time - based on effectively chuck-ability and traction up here in sunny Scotland.

Would appreciate your views!

Cheers,

Andy

Hi Andy,

You're right, they are different cars but I actually got asked the same question yesterday by a friend who has an E92 M3 and a car to buzz to work and back, but is thinking of getting a one-car-does-all solution.. so you're not alone in considering the R as an ///M replacement. I took a look at your garage and assume you're talking about the F80 M3?? ...which I'll base my comments on.


Engine:

Performance (assuming a dry/warm road!) as standard isn't anywhere near as sharp as the M3 is, however, with a basic map/tuning box you should see c360-370bhp and the performance will be pretty impressive and far closer to the BMW. I plan to have a run against the Golf and LCI F80 at some point to see exactly what the difference actually is.

Economy for both is c27mpg average in the Golf and c25mpg average in the M3, however, it's not driven on track/taken out for mountain hoons as much as the Golf is, so would assume a drop of a few mpg if it saw the exact same useage.


Sound:

From what I've read, to some degree they're both fake.. the Golf certainly is and I'm almost certain that I read that the BMW is as well.

That said, I like the sound that the 'soundaktor' gizmo makes in the Golf, sure it's masking a quiet/flat sounding 4 pot turbo with a slightly warbly 5 pot-esque note but it reminds me of the old TTRS which I loved the sound of. I find that the exhaust makes little or no fuss even with the electric valves open in 'Race' or 'Individual' modes.

The BMW sound is both good and bad, I really like the induction howl that you get on full bore acceleration and even in Sport+ the exhaust is never intrusive... just the occasional crackle from the exhaust when lifting off. However, on cold start, the sound of the exhaust is absolutely unacceptable.. it sounds like someone has stolen the backboxes overnight?!


Build Quality:

In my opinion, the Golf very narrowly trumps the BMW here. There are a couple of small creaks from either a seat base/rear door in the M3, which has done c5k miles and no issues in the Golf which has done c7k miles. While the quality of fit might be a marginally different, the quality of materials used are very similar.


Handling/Grip:

Need to say that the Golf doesn't have adaptive dampers whereas they are standard on the M3. However, regardless of M1 or M2 button being pushed, the M3 is always in Comfort Steering and Comfort Suspension. The 'sportier' settings just make the car less driveable and enjoyable IMO.

On a local back road with lumps and bumps I'd probably take the Golf over the M3, that's not because I find the M3 bad (you can make serious progress if you want to in the dry) but because I think the Golf has a fantastic ability to soak up the imperfections on the road and still remain composed enough to offer reasonable feedback along with enjoyment and grip... it reminds me of my Impreza UK Turbos from many, many years ago which really put a smile on my face on a run in the countryside and like the Subarus, having the ability to lean on the 4WD system in the Golf is a huge bonus in Scotland, when summer can turn into winter over the brow of a hill!!


Probably typed a little more than I planned to and you were looking for, but I got a bit carried away with myself!! Hopefully you get a better idea about what the Golf is all about; it's going to be a step down from the M3 in certain areas, but in other areas, I think you'll get more enjoyment from it. It's worth mentioning that the M3 has a manual gearbox rather than DCT, which I personally felt unsettled the car a bit when trying to make progress on anything other than dry, warm, smooth tarmac.


Cheers,
Grant

[RS Grant]

Kompressor89 said:

Hi Grant,

Nice car, picking up on what you mentioned about the KW coilovers, just wondered what problems you're experiencing?

Only asking because I've just took delivery of a 7R and already fitted a set of KW V3's to it......just keen to know of any potential issues?

Regards,
Matt.

Matt, the KW are driving me crazy.. worth mentioning that mine are the V1 coilovers, they were from the Owners Club and had only done a handful of miles before I bought them. I got them fitted at the height they were set to by the previous owner, then aligned and slowly the front left started to knock badly over bumps/right hand turns.

- I swapped to the 18" Speedline wheels with no joy.
- Then I re-adjusted the height on both front struts, no joy either at the highest setting or the lowest setting.
- So I set the height in the middle (roughly) of the range of adjustment and now the left hand side seems to have stopped knocking for the time being, but the right hand side is slightly knocking over bumps now.

I will re-set the height to make sure it's identical to the left side (it was done by counting threads on the strut before) and see if that cures the issue?!

In the meantime, I've ordered a set of Koni Adjustable Shocks and H&R Springs in case this issue with the KWs can't be sorted.


Cheers,
Grant

[RS Grant]

mgst170 said:

Thanks for the detailed reply Grant, and yes it's a f80 I have - all be it pre LCI.

On the active sound part, yip, BM has it. Luckily as I have the HK stereo I have unplugged the active sound amp in the boot.

The part about feeling like a classic Impreza is key, as that's what I miss compared to my Evo. Granted an evo has a hard ride, but the faster it went, it just seemed to flow.

The m3 simply wants to kill me and yes I'm sure folks will say drivers fault. Mine is DCT and even in the softest gear change mode can break traction easily when damp on widish open throttle.

Not necessarily looking to change to an R, maybe a B9 RS4... But we shall see.


Thanks again

Good tip about the active sound amp, will do a bit of reading about that since our M3 has HK as well.

Yeah, I'm not sure what difference having the DCC option makes on the Golf, but the standard dampers coped well.. I don't feel quite as connected as I did in a classic Impreza (due partly to increased build quality/sound deadening) but the way it deals with a back road is very similar indeed.

Haha aye if I see an M3/M4 slithering around off a roundabout/out a junction then I don't automatically think it's someone being a tool, it could easily be someone just trying to get home from work or going for messages.

B9 RS4 is a good shout, all weather ability, good build, passive-aggressive looks and a lot more characterful engine than an R.


Cheers,
Grant

[RS Grant]

problemchild1976 said:

the black numberplate mount looks terrible on such an amazing car...... is that OEM? non removable without leaving holes?

save the weight and take it off and put a self adhesive plate on

lovely though but needs RS3 style pipes

JJ

Yep, that hunk of black plastic is standard and if it's removed then there are 5 reasonable sized holes left behind.. which I don't think I could live with, so as I mention above, I think I'm going to live with a longer plate instead.

RS3 tailpipes are exactly what I'd fit if I put an exhaust on this car, the four small ovals isn't something I'm too mad keen on but they're less offensive than they were when I first got the car, haha.


Cheers,
Grant

[RS Grant]

Harvey Mushman00 said:

Great looking car OP and a very good historical report of ownership, good honest evaluation of everything.

I have to pick you up on one thing though, I think they sound quite good, how much does the sound differ from inside to outside, I have chased a couple of these on "spirited drives" and one in particular sounded great, exhaust looked standard but I could be wrong, the grip it had in the wet was incredible, coming of roundabouts it was epic, it handed me my arse, don't mind admitting it.

In the dry......

Thank you, I'm trying to be as accurate and non-biased as I can with it.. after all, there's a lot of chat about the Golf R (mostly bad in General Gassing! ) on here but very few owners threads, regardless of how the car is financed or who's name is on the logbook.

I've not heard what my car sounds like from the outside apart from it being on a rolling road recently, but it certainly wasn't making enough noise to cancel out the noise of the fans or rollers themselves. But inside, the only noise I can really hear is the induction note created by the 'soundaktor' gizmo... that may change if I fitted an aftermarket exhaust, but they're not cheap to do properly (I'd want to retain the exhaust valves) and I'm still trying to get my suspension sorted out at the moment anyway.

Grip in wet or dry conditions seems extremely good and if it's a DSG car then they are running 12-second quarter mile times as standard.. with a basic map, air filter and de-cat downpipe they are running into high 11-second quarter miles, which I find really impressive and I suspect is part of the reason they're unpopular with some of the 'anti-R' brigade.


Cheers,
Grant

[RS Grant]

Strictly speaking, this modification wasn't required.. it's meant to give you a decent gain over the standard set up and even aftermarket intake pipes like the Forge piece which I had fitted previously. So anyway, I bought into the Turbo Technics marketing speel and ordered their intake pipe from Awesome GTI, details are here.

When it arrived, my first impressions were good, the pipe looked good quality and the billet aluminium adapter was very well finished.

A4F2C9B4-BEBF-4353-8A01-2581F3676E1B by RS Grant, on Flickr
86819C5C-7B05-431F-A369-9A78E432372C by RS Grant, on Flickr

The difference between the standard plastic turbo elbow and the billet adapter is massive, the standard elbow looks very restrictive when you get it off and can take a proper look at it.

IMG_4661 by RS Grant, on Flickr

Is there a difference in power? Hmmm, not enough for the ar$e dyno to register really.. but does seem to spool a bit quicker, which I'm sure is genuine rather than just the placebo effect of fitting new bits.


Cheers,
Grant

Edited by RS Grant on Wednesday 4th April 14:42

[RS Grant]

I've de-bricked the front end of the car because running a short numberplate and having the black plastic brick showing on each side has always bugged me.

Removing it was something that I'd thought about doing for a while, so decided to give it a go and see what happened... worst case, if it looked gash or went wrong then it would be easily returned to standard.

Drilled out the 'rivets' (there are 5 of them) holding the plate holder on to the bumper, leaving:

57459A14-39B5-4289-9837-B382980B09D6 by RS Grant, on Flickr

...then discovered that the numberplate tape I thought I had, was AWOL, so had to pop out in the car to get some more. This definitely might be in my head, but I'm sure the car got a lot more looks without a front plate, haha. I think cars look far better without a front numberplate fitted, a lot more 'clean' looking.

F45F0037-BEF5-4BDD-80B5-B85664B44E34 by RS Grant, on Flickr

...then 4 (slightly cut down) rubber grommets with some Tornado Red paint and some time in my make shift 'oven' to bake them, haha. With a bit of fiddling and a tight timescale, the finish on the grommets post-fitting wasn't as good as I'd have liked but still good enough to hold up to inspection from >a couple of feet away.

DC4E552F-73EE-4B72-AF6E-06AE4276A055 by RS Grant, on Flickr

Overall, I'm happy and I think it's a big improvement on the set up before.


Cheers,
Grant

Edited by RS Grant on Wednesday 4th April 18:25

[RS Grant]

ManicMunky said:

That looks really good!

Bungleaio said:

I agree, looks great without the plinth.

Thanks.

problemchild1976 said:

way way way better - well done.

i think i would have gone for something a little flusher like maybe those kitchen cabinet hole covers (for unused shelf holes - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hinge-Bracket-Supplies-Ki... - they do various sizes) or maybe even some plastic repair material.

maybe countersink the holes ever so slighlty

add the flexible "filler" or the hole cover and then paint ever so lightly (as you probably learnt....little dry dabs is better than drowning them)

JJ

Yea, as I said, on closer inspection they're noticeable so I think there will be further development on this solution at some point.

Something like you've linked would be great and far more flush-fitting, providing they've got enough of a lip on the back to get into the bumper and secure it. I also considered getting some of the actual numberplate plinth fixings and seeing what they'd look like painted and fitted in the bumper.


Cheers,
Grant

[RS Grant]

• Long Post Warning

As some of you know I've been having suspension issues with the Golf for the past few months.. and finally things seem to be 'fixed' with the car.

Originally I took the car on track with the standard suspension and it wasn't quite good enough, too much roll and not stiff enough but it's not a track car so not much of a surprise there. So I spied a set of almost new KW V1 Coilovers for sale and bought them, happy in the knowledge that while I wouldn't get the adjustability of the V2/V3 versions, they'd be a marked improvement over the standard shocks and springs on the car.

So they arrived, I arranged to have them fitted by the local garage I use for all my car work/MOTs and booked the car in for alignment afterwards.. was cutting it a wee bit fine since I had a track evening booked but what could go wrong, right?? ...wrong.

Had the coilovers fitted, set to medium height which gave a nice drop without looking ridiculous and remaining useable on the road. Pulled out of the garage and heard a wee creak/very light knock over big dips/bumps, which I assumed was a characteristic of the coilovers (I've heard that certain coilovers will make a little noise) so just accepted that I'd have to live with it and took the car through to get aligned, which happened without any issues too.

Arrived at the track and prepared for the open pit session starting, everything was fine.. light went green and we all started to stream out onto the track, but going round the first corner there was a knocking noise coming from the front of the car under lateral load, which by the end of the lap had me pretty worried, crawled round for the second lap and went into the paddock, jacked the car up, checked all bolts were tight and there wasn't anything obviously wrong. Great. Now I'm starting to think that the coilovers are shagged?! Anyway, went out for another couple of laps but no change so called a halt to the evening, 4 laps at 30-40% pace was not value for money or enjoyable.

Car went back to the garage, who stripped and rebuilt the front suspension numerous times, ordered new top mounts which made no difference, car had c5k miles on it at the time so top mounts were practically new anyway... still no joy, so talked to the lad I got the suspension from who said they were fine on his car but was happy to help send them back to KW for inspection under warranty.

In the meantime, I bought some new suspension for the car, Koni Top Adjustable Shocks and H&R Springs:

53123177-FE4B-4809-9D9F-E06368F7CE27 by RS Grant, on Flickr
81700C0E-299E-4CB7-AA04-3A78114C2931 by RS Grant, on Flickr

After the issues with the coilovers and the fact that even when they weren't knocking I felt the V1s were a bit soft and not quite up to track work. I couldn't justify the extra expense for some fully adjustable coilovers for the car so decided to go old skool with some adjustable shocks and springs instead.

Got told I had to wait 7-10 business days for delivery as they were a brand new kit and coming from Koni direct, which was fine, my next track night wasn't for 2 months... fast forward just over 6 weeks and a stload of email traffic between me, the supplier and the manufacturer; then they finally arrive. So the process starts again, getting them fitted the day before the track night, alignment done on the day of the track night.

At the same time, I wanted to change the oil in the car it's been just over a year I've had it so even though it's only done 7k miles it was due for a change. I went with some Castrol 5w40 Fully Synthetic along with a fresh VW filter and (plastic?!) sump plug, always been a fan of Castrol and this is VW-spec stuff too.

96B7A0D2-17F4-4BC6-864B-A644B3CABDDB by RS Grant, on Flickr

Get a call on Tuesday, car's ready for collection but because I was through in Edinburgh there wasn't any chance of collecting it before he closed and so agreed that I'd collect it in the morning.. which I did, took it out of the garage and within 20-30m I realised it was worse than before, the small creak/knock from before had become a heavy thud/bang over bumps, I was FUMING.

So I took it back, investigations started again. Eventually decided that the ARB links didn't look long enough, the ARB was coming into contact with the driveshaft on suspension compression.. so given that I didn't want to miss another track event and had no other suspension options apart from putting standard back on (which I was REALLY not keen on!) the decision was made to drop the subframe and take the ARB out completely.

9911B6DF-C5B0-41F3-9800-9365088293BF by RS Grant, on Flickr

Thought process was, if it was bad then I'd come off and burn another track session (which I was faced with anyway?!) but if it was decent enough then it'll be left as-is and see how I get on over the coming weeks while I do a bit more suspension research and see if there are adjustable ARB links available for the 7R.

FBF26798-286D-405A-8AF9-849FB39C12F8 by RS Grant, on Flickr

Then off to get it's alignment done, again...

E48500A9-AE05-4F79-B10D-19030EA653F3 by RS Grant, on Flickr
EA009798-5BD7-46F7-8156-530740253B8C by RS Grant, on Flickr

...and after that, straight up to Knockhill for the track night.

538FECDA-FAE7-4D8B-896C-D3590502230A by RS Grant, on Flickr
09D66FBE-5DEB-431F-8960-04C0A0E5EA5B by RS Grant, on Flickr
173C716E-115E-4EA3-ADFE-7D20F2B1B7D5 by RS Grant, on Flickr

Best lap time:

7AD5392B-8AD1-440A-9BE9-5CEBDAB72A0D by RS Grant, on Flickr

Car went well, very well actually.. brakes are now needing replaced, even back pads are on their limit!! The handling didn't seem to be comical or loose in any way, grip levels were high (despite being pretty damp/wet at times) and body roll wasn't noticeable either.. apparently the rear wheel was off the ground coming round the hairpin!! It was pretty quiet last night so not sure how many photos will have been taken, if any pop up then I'll stick them on here though.


Cheers,
Grant

Edited by RS Grant on Wednesday 4th April 18:30

[RS Grant]

axel1990chp said:

How are you finding the front brake assist? Extremely annoying I find, edges the breaks in the most unnecessary conditions, ie cars turning off the road with more than enough time to clear, and it will howl at you and give you a nudge. Dangerous at times I find.

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

I've had mine just over a year.

Twice I've had the red chevrons up, but no action with the brakes.

Then yesterday the brakes groaned twice in one day. How weird is that (there was nothing in front of me on either occasion)

Yep, I've had the red chevrons appear and it bleep at me on a few occasions over the past year or so, but only once have the brakes started to apply themselves. Seems to be caught out by a car entering, then stopping in a central turning box between the carriageways on most/all of the occasions it's appeared with me.


Cheers,
Grant

[RS Grant]

nickfrog said:

RS Grant said:

Bit of a faff

Grant, sorry to hear about all the issues you had. By contrast, I just bought an outgoing Megane RS Cup. Fitted PFC pads and NS2R tyres. Went on track. The end.

Haha, I passed one of those quite a few times last night.

To be fair, I think it's well known that the Megane is a far more focused car out of the box.. must be a good laugh with the wee bits you've fitted, did yours come with the Ohlins suspension option too?

What colour did you go for?? I like the look of the previous Megane RS, there's a lad on here with a red one that I think looks fantastic.


Cheers,
Grant

[RS Grant]

axel1990chp said:

Grant you taking the tuning to extremes? Personally on 374/389lbs myself, running manual I'm apprehensive to go any further!

Nope, there'll be no extreme tuning happening with mine.. yours is making impressive figures for a car running a manual box, assuming that you're not burning through standard clutches at a rate of knots?! Mine is currently c360bhp and 330lbft because I had the fear about getting stung for an uprated clutch soon after collecting it!!

...your torque figure gives me hope.


Cheers,
Grant

[RS Grant]

nickfrog said:

RS Grant said:

Haha, I passed one of those quite a few times last night.

Down to your skill level, no doubt.

Absolutely no doubt about it.

Megane looks fantastic, could do with being a bit closer to terra firma for me but looks great as-is.


Cheers,
Grant