Mk7 Golf R Estate

[Leins]

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

[Leins]

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!

[Jaaack]

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

[Leins]

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 why

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

[Leins]

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

[rdodger]

If you buy something like OBDeleven you can code these things yourself with their apps. It does the usual stuff of diagnostics etc too.

[Cambs_Stuart]

I had a JDM subaru legacy and that had really dark tints in the back.
Anyway, really like the car. I like a fast estate and these are a good version. Also, looking at the adverts the wagons have a lot less insurance markers and remaps.

[RS Grant]

Really rate the R estate.. they're a great all rounder option and Lapiz is such a nice colour too, especially when the sun hits it and turns it into an electric blue.

[missing the VR6]

Love an R Estate, if I lost my company car, that's what I'd buy.

Standard UK tints on these are 60 or 65%, one could upgrade to 90% tint from factory for about £2-300. Tints may be factory glass, not film.

[MDMA .]

Very nice. As above, a lot of JDM cars, the tint is baked into the glass, so not a film. It maybe that you’ll need to source some EDM glass if you want to go lighter.

I like these in grey too. Fly under the radar if you don’t notice the exhausts on the back. Enjoy.

[Fastdruid]

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 OBDeleven

If you disconnect the battery sense wire it won't know how charged the battery is and so will disable stop/start

[Its Just Adz]

Looks great, the estate shape really does suit them.

The start / stop annoys me in all cars, first thing I always turn off.

Thread running in the VW section for MK7 owners. Hopefully the usual Mk7 niggles won't affect you, but all easily sorted.

[Tony_T]

Nice, has the stereo and nav been converted ok?

[Fastdruid]

Tony_T said:

Nice, has the stereo and nav been converted ok?

We got someone to unlock the android auto (as well as the performance dials), cost far less than VW.

[ManicMunky]

Cleanest way is a harness, few quid from AliExpress. It just defaults it to off so you can turn it on if needs be.

[Leins]

rdodger said:

If you buy something like OBDeleven you can code these things yourself with their apps. It does the usual stuff of diagnostics etc too.

Great, thanks for the heads-up

Cambs_Stuart said:

I had a JDM subaru legacy and that had really dark tints in the back.
Anyway, really like the car. I like a fast estate and these are a good version. Also, looking at the adverts the wagons have a lot less insurance markers and remaps.

Yes, they don’t seem to have quite the same image issues as some of the hatches I think, and the estate is definitely the lesser spotted one

RS Grant said:

Really rate the R estate.. they're a great all rounder option and Lapiz is such a nice colour too, especially when the sun hits it and turns it into an electric blue.

Thanks. It reminds me a little bit of the old BMW Avus Blue, which I was always a big fan of

missing the VR6 said:

Love an R Estate, if I lost my company car, that's what I'd buy.

Standard UK tints on these are 60 or 65%, one could upgrade to 90% tint from factory for about £2-300. Tints may be factory glass, not film.

Ah that’s good info. Have to be honest that I never considered that

MDMA . said:

Very nice. As above, a lot of JDM cars, the tint is baked into the glass, so not a film. It maybe that you ll need to source some EDM glass if you want to go lighter.

I like these in grey too. Fly under the radar if you don t notice the exhausts on the back. Enjoy.

Thanks very much. I had plans if I bought a white one to do a bit of “TSi Bluemotion” rebadging, but with this colour I’m not sure it would get away with it. No getting away from the quad exhaust, even if only two pipes work anyway

Fastdruid said:

It can be permanently turned off using VCDS or OBDeleven

If you disconnect the battery sense wire it won't know how charged the battery is and so will disable stop/start

Good to know, thanks

Its Just Adz said:

Looks great, the estate shape really does suit them.

The start / stop annoys me in all cars, first thing I always turn off.

Thread running in the VW section for MK7 owners. Hopefully the usual Mk7 niggles won't affect you, but all easily sorted.

Thanks IJA, and I must check out that thread

Tony_T said:

Nice, has the stereo and nav been converted ok?

I’m actually not sure, but it seems to work fine, and connects quickly to my phone via Bluetooth each time I jump in

ManicMunky said:

Cleanest way is a harness, few quid from AliExpress. It just defaults it to off so you can turn it on if needs be.

Thanks for the advice!

[119]

Another shout for OBDII.

Cheap enough and has quite a bit of functionality with pre set tweaks so you don’t have to mess about with adaptations.

Pretty sure the tints are factory so not sure you can do much to lessen them without changing the glass itself.

Much love for the Mk7 and .5.

Pretty much peak Golf IMO

[Leins]

119 said:

Another shout for OBDII.

Cheap enough and has quite a bit of functionality with pre set tweaks so you don t have to mess about with adaptations.

Pretty sure the tints are factory so not sure you can do much to lessen them without changing the glass itself.

Much love for the Mk7 and .5.

Pretty much peak Golf IMO

Thanks 119. Looks like the tints are staying put, but that doesn t overly bother me

Small thing, but ordered a set of rubber floor mats to go with the one in the boot. I plan to use the car through the winter and I know the originals will get destroyed when I do

Started using the Golf for some “daily” activities, like bringing the kids to training and picking up dinner. It really is a decent do everything sort of car, I suppose as you might expect being a Golf

Edited by Leins on Thursday 27th August 03:20

[119]

I was trying to find a decent GTD, or R estate for months but in the end settled on a 7.5PP hatchback which is completely impractical, so bought a knackered Subaru Outback to take on those duties.



Only other thing to watch, which i think the R had as well, is the silica gel bag in the coolant expansion tank which can split and leak into the heater matrix. Its easy enough to get out, or if you are handy with the spanners, a lot of people just replace the tank for the later one without.

Apparently it was supposed to lengthen the life of the coolant, or something like that.

[Leins]

^^^ Ah thanks, just been looking into this and it’s on the list now for when I get the car serviced in a couple of weeks