Second hand values of golf R

[ftypical]

Has anyone else noticed that the 1-series - both inside and out - has been hit with The Ugly Stick?

The exterior has clearly suffered multiple impacts.

Golf R looks much better, but is ludicrously expensive compared to an S3...

[Crafty_]

The 1 series facelift looks much better than the previous version.

To me, the golf looks far too plain from the front end, the radar thing in the front is ugly. The back looks okay but the 4 exhausts is a bit over the top and look out of place, given the reserved nature of the rest of the car. The bodyshape Is a bit plain too really, pretty much slab sided, one swage line.

Its horses for courses and the current hype appears to be working as they are selling bucket loads, its sort of the iphone of the car world for me though.

[RS Grant]

Crafty_ said:

RS Grant said:

Crafty_ said:

Grant, thanks for the reply. What didn't you like about the 135?

I drove one and thought the engine, auto box and nav interface were outstanding... I was viewing it as a 'do-everything' replacement for my Mondeo ST daily and E46 M3 weekend car at the time.

- Interior quality wasn't fantastic, you could tell that it was the entry level BMW and a couple of irritating interior squeaks and vibrations were apparent on the demonstrator.

- Wasn't a fan of the open diff one bit, although I think I read somewhere that an LSD is optional now? ...which would be the first option I'd tick.

- Being into my cars, I need something which makes you want to look back at your car as you walk away, I just couldn't see it happening with the M135i. It looks like, apart from some awkward looking alloys and twin exhausts, the same as any other M-Sport in the range... so it was a bit toooo much of a sleeper for me.

- Then the more I looked at it, the more I couldn't get on with the goggle eye headlights either.

- It wasn't super cheap, IIRC around £350 a month if I remember correctly, but given my reservations it wasn't a gamble which I was willing to take... had the deal/contribution been replicated on the M235i then I might well have pulled the trigger and worst case, fitted a Quaife LSD.


Cheers,
Grant

Yes, you can get a Quaife LSD from Birds and an M performance one too (both 135 and 235). Not cheap mind.
I haven't driven one hard enough on roads for the diff to be an issue, were you getting it spinning the inside wheel up?

The LCI (you'll have to ignore the horrendous colour and floor reflections, but http://f20.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10... is an improvement in my eyes. The babybmw lot are all getting a bit het up about where the boot badge should go As you see the headlights are gone and it looks a bit more "family BMW" now.

I'm not going PCP/whatever, so the costs to me are mostly decimation of savings. Still finding it hard to justify, but it'd be the same for the golf or whatever else.
The only thing I can see is a 2010-12 S3, which would be less but I'm dubious about the brand and I seem to remember the write ups were lukewarm when it came out.

I'd rather import a Quaife LSD from outside the UK, pay for the supplier to fly to the UK and put him up in a 5* hotel so he could deliver it to me by hand than give Birds/Iver Performance Cars a single penny of my money... haha, but that's for a different thread/different day.

Yes, I was able to get the inside rear wheel spinning on my test drive. My dad has a 635d and that just cemented the fact that a powerful RWD requires more than an open diff for the combination of my driving style and Scottish roads.

The LCI front end is a huge improvement, although I think I preferred the pre-LCI tail lights, haha BMW can't win can they?! ...seriously though, if that car was around the same level as a Golf R was in October last year, then I might well have considered it as an alternative.

Hmmm, a previous generation S3. Is that the 265bhp version?? If so a friend had a 2009 S3 which had been mapped and it was a punchy performer, but it wasn't a sharp driving implement... far more suited to a straight line drag than a twisty section of road.


Cheers,
Grant

[Crafty_]

Birds not your favourite then

If I really was going to start that sort of thing I have locals who can fit a diff. Thats a point actually, I wonder if wavetrac do one for it.. M performance one apparently lets you keep warranty intact.

I'm the opposite end of the country from you, nevertheless the big draw (for me) to the Golf was 4wd. Unfortunately the negatives outweigh the positives.

Yeah thats the S3, what you say is pretty much what I remember from the reviews. Certainly that generation RS3 was not to the liking of Mr Harris. Similar or a little newer age S4s are around too, but I feel the bork factor is high.

[ilduce]

ftypical said:

Golf R looks much better, but is ludicrously expensive compared to an S3...

How so? They're both 4wd and the same power and 4 seats. I specced an S3 up to the level of my R and it came out at £33500. I only added the metallic paint and any extras that were standard on the R- cruise, auto mirrors, auto wipers etc.

[ftypical]

I could spec an S3 as I wanted it for less than a equivalent Golf R. Given the (apparent) market positioning of both brands, this appears to suggest the Golf is overpriced.

[silentbrown]

ftypical said:

I could spec an S3 as I wanted it for less than a equivalent Golf R. Given the (apparent) market positioning of both brands, this appears to suggest the Golf is overpriced.

It's down to the options: If you want leather the S3 is cheaper. If you prefer adaptive cruise (?why?) the R edges it. Even then, "Ludicrously overpriced" is over-egging it a bit, as Golfs are hardly measnt to be bargain basement.