Golf R review from an e46 M3 CS owner
Discussion
I expect a few people may be considering the switch to one of these. Someone close to me just got one and was kind enough to let me see 'what's what'. Here is my review, with my own car (a M3 CS SMG) as the obvious benchmark.
1. First impressions,
It's a big car! Sat beside my car, it looked wider and not far off having the same total footprint. I wouldn't be surprised if it is in fact bigger (can't be bothered to look up the stats)!
LOTS of space inside. Headroom excellent in all the seats.
Plasticy interior. I didn't think muck to the ergonomics- the placement of some buttons just isn't quite as intuitive as my own car's. Also didn't feel as 'built to last' as some competition out there.
Seats decent. Driving position good.
Cracking stereo.
Spare wheel! BMW please take note.
2. General driving
DSG very very smooth, little lag when setting off (compared with what I've experienced with the DSG on the e90 335i). Thought I would hate the start/stop and electronic parking brake but soon enough you see the inherent logic. Both work well and don't 'get in the way'.
The ride is just about perfect for a 300hp car on british roads. It lacks the crashiness of my own car's, yet it doesn't lean through corners much worse than the M3.
The automatic cruise control is genuinely awesome....this thing would munch the miles up.
We got 45mpg. 25 if hoonin about. Very impressive.
It has that low grunty exhaust note when it idles, like you get with evos and imprezas. Niiiice.
3. 'Making progress'
The mid-range torque is immense. Simply awesome from 2000 revs onwards, but you wish it would rev higher.
The gears feel quite short. I was surprised it was a 6 gear car, not 7 or 8, considering how much it's needing to change gear.
There is noticable lack of torque and a lot of turbo lag low down.
Weirdly, i found the upshifts 'too smooth', being used to a brutal SMG upchange. I would miss that.
We couldn't figure out how (even in manual 'racing' mode) to stop the car making upshifts for you high up the rev range. Manual should mean manual, in my book. This annoyed me,
It never once wouldn't give me a gear when downshifting. Impressive versus some AMGs I have driven which drove me nuts by refusing to 'play ball' when i wanted 2nd gear.
The engine really lacks charachter higher up the revs, coming from the m3. I missed the linear delivery of the m3 and THAT noise high up the revs. Exhaust note and engine noise also quite subdued compared to the M3.
Low speed corneriing grip: immense. I am pretty sure this would kill a M3 around a place with lots of roundabouts like milton keynes.
Traction out of low speed corners is excellent. Weirdly though, i think this would become boring because you are SO FAR from the limit, compared to how you can easily get the M3 to break rear traction.
The thing which most surprised me: high speed cornering grip was really quite poor, given how grippy the car is elsewhere. The car begins to understeer at cornering speeds that would only be 7 or 8 'tenths' in an M3. I predict a few Rs being written off due to high speed understeer causing big accidents!
The steering is TERRIBLE. Way too light and completely lacks feel. Horrid horrid horrid.
All in all, a very good try from VW and HUGE value for money. I won't be trading in my 'old dog' quite yet however. The engine guys need to work on a more exciting top end to the revs and I didn't like the gearbox in manual mode. The killer was the charachterless steering,
1. First impressions,
It's a big car! Sat beside my car, it looked wider and not far off having the same total footprint. I wouldn't be surprised if it is in fact bigger (can't be bothered to look up the stats)!
LOTS of space inside. Headroom excellent in all the seats.
Plasticy interior. I didn't think muck to the ergonomics- the placement of some buttons just isn't quite as intuitive as my own car's. Also didn't feel as 'built to last' as some competition out there.
Seats decent. Driving position good.
Cracking stereo.
Spare wheel! BMW please take note.
2. General driving
DSG very very smooth, little lag when setting off (compared with what I've experienced with the DSG on the e90 335i). Thought I would hate the start/stop and electronic parking brake but soon enough you see the inherent logic. Both work well and don't 'get in the way'.
The ride is just about perfect for a 300hp car on british roads. It lacks the crashiness of my own car's, yet it doesn't lean through corners much worse than the M3.
The automatic cruise control is genuinely awesome....this thing would munch the miles up.
We got 45mpg. 25 if hoonin about. Very impressive.
It has that low grunty exhaust note when it idles, like you get with evos and imprezas. Niiiice.
3. 'Making progress'
The mid-range torque is immense. Simply awesome from 2000 revs onwards, but you wish it would rev higher.
The gears feel quite short. I was surprised it was a 6 gear car, not 7 or 8, considering how much it's needing to change gear.
There is noticable lack of torque and a lot of turbo lag low down.
Weirdly, i found the upshifts 'too smooth', being used to a brutal SMG upchange. I would miss that.
We couldn't figure out how (even in manual 'racing' mode) to stop the car making upshifts for you high up the rev range. Manual should mean manual, in my book. This annoyed me,
It never once wouldn't give me a gear when downshifting. Impressive versus some AMGs I have driven which drove me nuts by refusing to 'play ball' when i wanted 2nd gear.
The engine really lacks charachter higher up the revs, coming from the m3. I missed the linear delivery of the m3 and THAT noise high up the revs. Exhaust note and engine noise also quite subdued compared to the M3.
Low speed corneriing grip: immense. I am pretty sure this would kill a M3 around a place with lots of roundabouts like milton keynes.
Traction out of low speed corners is excellent. Weirdly though, i think this would become boring because you are SO FAR from the limit, compared to how you can easily get the M3 to break rear traction.
The thing which most surprised me: high speed cornering grip was really quite poor, given how grippy the car is elsewhere. The car begins to understeer at cornering speeds that would only be 7 or 8 'tenths' in an M3. I predict a few Rs being written off due to high speed understeer causing big accidents!
The steering is TERRIBLE. Way too light and completely lacks feel. Horrid horrid horrid.
All in all, a very good try from VW and HUGE value for money. I won't be trading in my 'old dog' quite yet however. The engine guys need to work on a more exciting top end to the revs and I didn't like the gearbox in manual mode. The killer was the charachterless steering,
I too have a M3 CS and test drove the Golf R a couple of weeks ago.
I was let loose with the car without the nanny salesman so I had chance to explorer the performance.
I know what you mean about the steering the first hot corner I hit after being used to the quick rack on the M3 I nearly went through the hedge opposite.
The power was impressive but didn't have the same brawn feeling as you get with the M3. 2L turbo vs 3.2L 6 doesn't quite do it, but saying that it did feel quick. Overtakes where easy.
Brakes where very good and sharp, mine was a manual and the clutch was light, gears precise.
Cabin and general build quality was good, the touch screen would take a good sit down with the manual I think it wasn't very logical.
I noticed the lag as well but I think you could drive round that.
Compered to the M135i which to me is it's main competition, I think the Golf looks better, it's 4wd which might be better or worse. Speed wise I don't think there's much in it, but I didn't notice any lag on the M135i.
I think the cabin on the BMW is better.
The current lease deals on the Golf are very tempting, my M3 is 8 years old now.
Is the Golf or the M135i a better car then the M3? I think the driving dynamics of the M3 are better, but the technology, efficiency and them being just a new car could sway it.
I didn't clock the mpg on the Golf but I set off with 1/2 a tank of fuel and after what seemed like 1/2 hour drive it had dropped to less than a 1/4.
I've had both Evo 8's and Impreza STi's, I wouldn't say the Golf is like those cars at all, but I remember the fuel economy of a 4 cylinder turbo charged engine wasn't good.
I was let loose with the car without the nanny salesman so I had chance to explorer the performance.
I know what you mean about the steering the first hot corner I hit after being used to the quick rack on the M3 I nearly went through the hedge opposite.
The power was impressive but didn't have the same brawn feeling as you get with the M3. 2L turbo vs 3.2L 6 doesn't quite do it, but saying that it did feel quick. Overtakes where easy.
Brakes where very good and sharp, mine was a manual and the clutch was light, gears precise.
Cabin and general build quality was good, the touch screen would take a good sit down with the manual I think it wasn't very logical.
I noticed the lag as well but I think you could drive round that.
Compered to the M135i which to me is it's main competition, I think the Golf looks better, it's 4wd which might be better or worse. Speed wise I don't think there's much in it, but I didn't notice any lag on the M135i.
I think the cabin on the BMW is better.
The current lease deals on the Golf are very tempting, my M3 is 8 years old now.
Is the Golf or the M135i a better car then the M3? I think the driving dynamics of the M3 are better, but the technology, efficiency and them being just a new car could sway it.
I didn't clock the mpg on the Golf but I set off with 1/2 a tank of fuel and after what seemed like 1/2 hour drive it had dropped to less than a 1/4.
I've had both Evo 8's and Impreza STi's, I wouldn't say the Golf is like those cars at all, but I remember the fuel economy of a 4 cylinder turbo charged engine wasn't good.
I had one of these for a week (my next door neighbour owns a VW dealership).
I can't say I was disappointed because I had very limited expectations of it, I have an Audi of similar power to weight and although it's a great mode of transport it really is nothing on most BMW's dynamic wise.
The usual understeery, over assisted steering and brakes etc are just what the VAG group do apart from the R8 and to lesser extent the RS Audi's which portray some steering competence but really no feel.
To me personally whether you drive 2/10 or 7/10 it feels exactly the same and I can understand some people like that. My girlfriend for example loves the Audi and drives it reasonably quickly, due to the feedback from BMW's she feels it's too much like hardwork to drive them quickly.
We should just be glad BMW still makes cars to please an ever decreasing proportion of drivers who don't just want to be cossetted and all feedback removed in the name of "comfort".
I can't say I was disappointed because I had very limited expectations of it, I have an Audi of similar power to weight and although it's a great mode of transport it really is nothing on most BMW's dynamic wise.
The usual understeery, over assisted steering and brakes etc are just what the VAG group do apart from the R8 and to lesser extent the RS Audi's which portray some steering competence but really no feel.
To me personally whether you drive 2/10 or 7/10 it feels exactly the same and I can understand some people like that. My girlfriend for example loves the Audi and drives it reasonably quickly, due to the feedback from BMW's she feels it's too much like hardwork to drive them quickly.
We should just be glad BMW still makes cars to please an ever decreasing proportion of drivers who don't just want to be cossetted and all feedback removed in the name of "comfort".
I have an e39 m5 and got my new (leased) golf r last week. Driving them back to back is hilarious one is a noisy, heavy, mechanical monster of a car that still looks (to these eyes) sharp and will always put a smile on my face when I turn the key. The new golf has taken a week or so to gel but I'm now really enjoying it. I completely understand the above comments but spending a bit more time with these cars is crucial as what it may lack in terms of engine drama it makes up with through raw pace, practicality, grip and incredible comfort on the adaptive suspension. I have to say the steering is 'different' to the m5 but it is bloody effective and I think once you learn to trust it and the enormous grip on offer you can have some fun with it. I don't think they were trying to match our old beemers - just keep in mind this is a hot hatch and has to be driven as such and you'll have fun with it. I am!
Don't agree with the understeer comment.
It will understeer if you drive a certain way, but put the right foot down and it will shift the power to the rear, killing understeer very effectively.
Not sure why you'd compare one with an M3, different animals.
The R is a cracking car for sure and I will enjoy running in the one arriving next month for her indoors.
It would cope comfortably with a 135i down a back road, would make an M3 think in the dry....wet roads, game over.
It will understeer if you drive a certain way, but put the right foot down and it will shift the power to the rear, killing understeer very effectively.
Not sure why you'd compare one with an M3, different animals.
The R is a cracking car for sure and I will enjoy running in the one arriving next month for her indoors.
It would cope comfortably with a 135i down a back road, would make an M3 think in the dry....wet roads, game over.
bennyboysvuk said:
What's it like when you really push it hard and start looking for oversteer? Can you induce lift off oversteer then punch in some power for a pleasant powerslide?
It's not that type of car, the grip is too great to even attempt this on the road. The all wheel drive nature means the golf just grips and goes. It might do but you'd need a track or enormous balls to attempt it otherwise. tjlazer said:
It's not that type of car, the grip is too great to even attempt this on the road. The all wheel drive nature means the golf just grips and goes. It might do but you'd need a track or enormous balls to attempt it otherwise.
Have you tried in the wet?Will the Golf even let the driver get it sideways without intervening?
tjlazer said:
I have an e39 m5 and got my new (leased) golf r last week. Driving them back to back is hilarious one is a noisy, heavy, mechanical monster of a car that still looks (to these eyes) sharp and will always put a smile on my face when I turn the key. The new golf has taken a week or so to gel but I'm now really enjoying it. I completely understand the above comments but spending a bit more time with these cars is crucial as what it may lack in terms of engine drama it makes up with through raw pace, practicality, grip and incredible comfort on the adaptive suspension. I have to say the steering is 'different' to the m5 but it is bloody effective and I think once you learn to trust it and the enormous grip on offer you can have some fun with it. I don't think they were trying to match our old beemers - just keep in mind this is a hot hatch and has to be driven as such and you'll have fun with it. I am!
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