RE: Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR: Driven

RE: Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR: Driven

Author
Discussion

pppppppppppppppp

169 posts

121 months

Saturday 26th January 2019
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Baldchap said:
Example:. The Golf in the article has adaptive cruise control, which in the Auto version will go from zero to whatever, back to zero and set off in traffic etc. It's an excellent feature that makes long runs and congestion very low effort. In the manual, it does none of that. Now consider driving modes:. In the auto it makes a difference, in the manual it basically changes what the air conditioning does. The list goes on.
Hmm. In the manual, adaptive cruise control does pretty much the same thing, except you have to press down the clutch. No surprises there. So you can change gear as much as you like and the cruise will re-engage once you're back in gear. It will also attempt to stop the engine from stalling and it does that by firing a warning symbol and sound telling you to press the clutch and brake. You get used to it pretty quickly. Yes, it's not going to take you all the way down to zero; it's a manual. If you constantly live in traffic then you probably need to get a different job or find a better way of getting there. Yes, I'm being facetious, with apologies, as I realise that people often have no choice. I have the benefit of working at home most days, living 2 mins walk from a station and 20 mins drive from Heathrow. I don't drive much and when I do I want to enjoy the experience. For the mundane stuff I'd rather someone else were driving. But each to their own.

As for the driving modes, I'm intrigued. In the manual the driving modes change the suspension setup, the stupid artificial engine sound, and in the case of the eco mode, the throttle response, which is restricted unless you press the accelerator right down past the kickdown notch (yes, the manual has this too). So what does the auto do in addition? I guess it holds the gear longer in the sport mode (it's sport on a GTi, right - I have a 2014 R?) but you can hold gears as long as you want on a manual, as you presumably can in manual mode on a DSG (I guess/hope these cars don't force an upshift). So what else does it do?

I did drive an auto before buying the car and found it dull as I find all autos. Easy, yes, but ultimately dull. Don't get me wrong, if I used my car every day driving through London I'd be tempted to get an auto and probably wouldn't waste my dosh on a fast car. I know this is a topic that will never go away, but we all have our priorities. I'm interested in what the driving modes do though.

MawsleyCarValeting

278 posts

183 months

Sunday 27th January 2019
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andrewparker said:
I don’t get your point? I have two hot hatches, one has the 7 speed DSG ‘box and the other is a 6 speed manual. Despite a power deficit of 195 bhp the manual is a more enjoyable car to drive, and I contribute that largely to the transmission. I get it on a super car where the power and speed is so brutal that taking your hands off the wheel could be detrimental to the experience, but that’s not the case with a hot hatch on public roads. You can tell me I’m wrong, but I’m not dismissing DSG based on zero experience with it.
My point is I don’t want to buy the slower version of a car. At this moment in time I yes me love twin clutch gear boxes. As for more fun again personal preference. Why should I tell you your wrong freedom of speech my friend. Enjoy.

MawsleyCarValeting

278 posts

183 months

Sunday 27th January 2019
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pppppppppppppppp said:
Hmm. In the manual, adaptive cruise control does pretty much the same thing, except you have to press down the clutch. No surprises there. So you can change gear as much as you like and the cruise will re-engage once you're back in gear. It will also attempt to stop the engine from stalling and it does that by firing a warning symbol and sound telling you to press the clutch and brake. You get used to it pretty quickly. Yes, it's not going to take you all the way down to zero; it's a manual. If you constantly live in traffic then you probably need to get a different job or find a better way of getting there. Yes, I'm being facetious, with apologies, as I realise that people often have no choice. I have the benefit of working at home most days, living 2 mins walk from a station and 20 mins drive from Heathrow. I don't drive much and when I do I want to enjoy the experience. For the mundane stuff I'd rather someone else were driving. But each to their own.
As for the driving modes, I'm intrigued. In the manual the driving modes change the suspension setup, the stupid artificial engine sound, and in the case of the eco mode, the throttle response, which is restricted unless you press the accelerator right down past the kickdown notch (yes, the manual has this too). So what does the auto do in addition? I guess it holds the gear longer in the sport mode (it's sport on a GTi, right - I have a 2014 R?) but you can hold gears as long as you want on a manual, as you presumably can in manual mode on a DSG (I guess/hope these cars don't force an upshift). So what else does it do?

I did drive an auto before buying the car and found it dull as I find all autos. Easy, yes, but ultimately dull. Don't get me wrong, if I used my car every day driving through London I'd be tempted to get an auto and probably wouldn't waste my dosh on a fast car. I know this is a topic that will never go away, but we all have our priorities. I'm interested in what the driving modes do though.
Not all autos are dull. You just need to drive the right ones.

duckers26

992 posts

172 months

Sunday 27th January 2019
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kmpowell said:
As andrewparker says, it's Isaac Blue. It used to be called Isaac Blue Steel, but weirdly VW dropped the word steel for 2019. More pics here: taken just after I'd had it ceramic coated: https://postimg.cc/gallery/29jj3ej2k/ or fresh off the transporter the day it got delivered to the dealer: https://postimg.cc/gallery/esip0zfw/

I like it because it's a bit different and I think it contrasts the red GTI detail/lines nicely.
.

I agree and have ordered in that colour!

dobly

1,166 posts

158 months

Monday 28th January 2019
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The good news - it's a 3 door.
The bad news - a Sleaford Mods album is pre-loaded onto the stereo.

pppppppppppppppp

169 posts

121 months

Tuesday 29th January 2019
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MawsleyCarValeting said:
Not all autos are dull. You just need to drive the right ones.
Agree completely. But I expect all of them would be better with a decent manual, "better" being a subjective word of course.

FerrariGuy007

97 posts

93 months

Sunday 16th June 2019
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I don’t think anyone mentioned this but it would be nice if this car is manual.

DukeDickson

4,721 posts

212 months

Sunday 16th June 2019
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FerrariGuy007 said:
I don’t think anyone mentioned this but it would be nice if this car is manual.
As long as it wasn't a VW one, sort of. Even the GTI has clutch issues. More means more issues.

PorkRind

3,053 posts

204 months

Sunday 16th June 2019
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Isnt this the sort of weight, if not less, than all 3 door hot hatches should be about? Who wants a fwd hot hatch anyway, dull'o'rama.

andrewparker

7,898 posts

186 months

Sunday 16th June 2019
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MY20 changes see the TCR getting the Akrapovic exhaust as standard.

Court_S

12,764 posts

176 months

Sunday 16th June 2019
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I came pretty close to buying one of these, when I was looking in March there were some pretty good discounts to be had.

On paper I thought it was a winner; interior looks fantastic, digital dash looks great, decent interior space, better looking than an R and more powerful than the normal GTi. Oddly the GTi I test drove left me totally cold and I decided not to wait fr the first TCR’s to arrive and ordered a 140, which is smaller, badly packaged and misses or on the digital dash.

andrewparker

7,898 posts

186 months

Sunday 16th June 2019
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Court_S said:
I came pretty close to buying one of these, when I was looking in March there were some pretty good discounts to be had.

On paper I thought it was a winner; interior looks fantastic, digital dash looks great, decent interior space, better looking than an R and more powerful than the normal GTi. Oddly the GTi I test drove left me totally cold and I decided not to wait fr the first TCR’s to arrive and ordered a 140, which is smaller, badly packaged and misses or on the digital dash.
What do you mean by “badly packaged” re. the M140i?

Maximoosh

3 posts

124 months

Monday 2nd March 2020
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The reason no manual is that the power train actually comes from a Golf R and not a GTI and there’s no manual for that either anymore.

Court_S

12,764 posts

176 months

Monday 2nd March 2020
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andrewparker said:
Court_S said:
I came pretty close to buying one of these, when I was looking in March there were some pretty good discounts to be had.

On paper I thought it was a winner; interior looks fantastic, digital dash looks great, decent interior space, better looking than an R and more powerful than the normal GTi. Oddly the GTi I test drove left me totally cold and I decided not to wait fr the first TCR’s to arrive and ordered a 140, which is smaller, badly packaged and misses or on the digital dash.
What do you mean by “badly packaged” re. the M140i?
Very late response! biglaugh

The M140i just isn’t very spacious for its size, it’s noticeably smaller than the Golf inside. In my M140i I can’t sit behind the driver seat when I’m comfy whereas I can in a Golf. It’s a compromise that I’m happy to make.