Mk7 Golf R Estate
Discussion
Thought I’d put a thread together on my new to me 2015 Golf R
I’ve had the car for about a week now, and loving it so far, although still a few bits and pieces I hope to do with it over the next while
So why a Golf R, and in particular an estate version…? Well, as a family we’ve needed a back-up daily for a while, as the old Nissan Leaf didn’t have the range we needed now that we live in the countryside. Mrs Leins’ SantaFe takes the brunt of the abuse - kids, dogs, shopping, etc - but we needed something for when that was in use and I needed to head off somewhere. My other fun cars don’t really venture out in the winter, and are only two-seaters anyway, so this new car needed to have a decent side of practicality for when the kids needed to travel too
I haven’t had a “performance” daily for about 15 years, that being an E92 335d, so decided it was time to out that right and have something that was both fairly quick, but could also be used year-round. For the bad winter weather we get here I wanted 4WD, and while a hatchback probably would have been fine, an estate would be better for the odd time the dogs needed to jump in. Plus I do like a quick estate car, and missed my previous B5 RS4 even the ouch I didn’t use it too much
Options on the table were an M340i Touring, an Octavia VRS, an RS3 5dr, or the Golf. When budget and a couple of other factors came into it, the VW made the most sense to me. Plus I’ve always fancied the lesser-spotted estate version anyway
I’ve had the car for about a week now, and loving it so far, although still a few bits and pieces I hope to do with it over the next while
So why a Golf R, and in particular an estate version…? Well, as a family we’ve needed a back-up daily for a while, as the old Nissan Leaf didn’t have the range we needed now that we live in the countryside. Mrs Leins’ SantaFe takes the brunt of the abuse - kids, dogs, shopping, etc - but we needed something for when that was in use and I needed to head off somewhere. My other fun cars don’t really venture out in the winter, and are only two-seaters anyway, so this new car needed to have a decent side of practicality for when the kids needed to travel too
I haven’t had a “performance” daily for about 15 years, that being an E92 335d, so decided it was time to out that right and have something that was both fairly quick, but could also be used year-round. For the bad winter weather we get here I wanted 4WD, and while a hatchback probably would have been fine, an estate would be better for the odd time the dogs needed to jump in. Plus I do like a quick estate car, and missed my previous B5 RS4 even the ouch I didn’t use it too much
Options on the table were an M340i Touring, an Octavia VRS, an RS3 5dr, or the Golf. When budget and a couple of other factors came into it, the VW made the most sense to me. Plus I’ve always fancied the lesser-spotted estate version anyway
So this one is a Japanese market import, mainly as they never sold the estate R in Ireland and Brexit makes it hard to import from the UK currently. It’s a Nov 2015, with 89k KMs on the clock. Most available were either white, or this Lapiz Blue that I went for, with black leather and standard 18 Cadiz wheels. The only real options that I know of on it are the reversing camera and DCC to adjust the handling modes - hopefully handy for country roads
Straightaway it was pressed into duty as I had to pick up a load of camping equipment from Dublin and make the journey home to Cork. The boot is really decent:
Initial impressions are that it’s good some real performance, it’s decent to hustle on the windier roads, and the driving position is spot on (as it usually is for me with German cars). Initial consumption is about 32 MPG over mixed driving, but if I start using Eco mode for longer journeys I believe that will increase. Radar cruise is very handy, and this is the first car I’ve had it in. Stop/start though I found a pain, and will be switching it off every time I think
I was away for much of last week in another car, so I’ve still to spend a bit of time understanding everything in the car. More to follow, but for now I really like it!
Straightaway it was pressed into duty as I had to pick up a load of camping equipment from Dublin and make the journey home to Cork. The boot is really decent:
Initial impressions are that it’s good some real performance, it’s decent to hustle on the windier roads, and the driving position is spot on (as it usually is for me with German cars). Initial consumption is about 32 MPG over mixed driving, but if I start using Eco mode for longer journeys I believe that will increase. Radar cruise is very handy, and this is the first car I’ve had it in. Stop/start though I found a pain, and will be switching it off every time I think
I was away for much of last week in another car, so I’ve still to spend a bit of time understanding everything in the car. More to follow, but for now I really like it!
Jaaack said:
Nice! I didn't realise they were unavailable in Ireland. I've just bought one myself, but it's stuck in Japan at the moment as Chinese EV manufacturers have bulk booked all the boats!
Mine will be for sale when it gets here, but I know I won't want to
Thanks! Yes, they only sold the hatches here. Traditionally estate cars haven t been big sellers here for some reason, but could never figure out exactly whyMine will be for sale when it gets here, but I know I won't want to
A friend has just imported a Mk7 GTi ClubSport from Japan, and it took 3 months to get here. Hopefully your one doesn t take too long
A few other quick things:
- I’ve bought a retractable dog guard for it, which sits behind the back seats, beside the sliding boot cover. However, I’ve just realised that I don’t seem to have any clips or hooks in the roof for it to attach up into, so that might not be a runner after all
- The rear tints are very dark, which I’m not usually a big fan of. Handy for the kids, but I’m tempted to get them removed and a lighter tint out in instead
- Being a Japanese car, there are additional daytime running lights which are orange. I believe there’s a way to turn these off, but not figured it out yet
- Stop/start is driving me mad, as it cuts out when the car is still moving slowly in traffic or pulling out of a junction. Supposedly this is more a DSG-car issue than a manual one, so for now I’ll just remember to switch it off each time, but eventually I might look to getting it coded out
- The car will be going in for a service in a couple of weeks, including the Haldex and DSG
- Just added a set of better plates, as the standard plastic Irish ones are awful
- I’ve bought a retractable dog guard for it, which sits behind the back seats, beside the sliding boot cover. However, I’ve just realised that I don’t seem to have any clips or hooks in the roof for it to attach up into, so that might not be a runner after all
- The rear tints are very dark, which I’m not usually a big fan of. Handy for the kids, but I’m tempted to get them removed and a lighter tint out in instead
- Being a Japanese car, there are additional daytime running lights which are orange. I believe there’s a way to turn these off, but not figured it out yet
- Stop/start is driving me mad, as it cuts out when the car is still moving slowly in traffic or pulling out of a junction. Supposedly this is more a DSG-car issue than a manual one, so for now I’ll just remember to switch it off each time, but eventually I might look to getting it coded out
- The car will be going in for a service in a couple of weeks, including the Haldex and DSG
- Just added a set of better plates, as the standard plastic Irish ones are awful
Leins said:
- Stop/start is driving me mad, as it cuts out when the car is still moving slowly in traffic or pulling out of a junction. Supposedly this is more a DSG-car issue than a manual one, so for now I ll just remember to switch it off each time, but eventually I might look to getting it coded out
It can be permanently turned off using VCDS or OBDelevenIf you disconnect the battery sense wire it won't know how charged the battery is and so will disable stop/start
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