How heavy is the rear Haldex unit in an R?

[fredgroves]

Probably racing cars are stripped out removing even more weight from over the rear...

[bgbazz]

Probably racing cars are stripped out removing even more weight from over the rear...

And the front...and the middle! Most of the race cars I've seen have the engine and the transmission at the rear.

[fredgroves]

But more so on something like a clio surely?

[golfdave]

Probably racing cars are stripped out removing even more weight from over the rear...

And the front...and the middle! Most of the race cars I've seen have the engine and the transmission at the rear.

Talking about race/rally versions of production cars..

what you don't realise it that they add more central weight with a roll cage...

Then they corner weight the suspension..& having height adjustable coilovers means they can adjust the spring heights to get perfect cross axle weight distribution...

& then they bolt lead or steel plates down into the rear footwells or passenger ones...

[I wanted a GTi]

Probably racing cars are stripped out removing even more weight from over the rear...

And the front...and the middle! Most of the race cars I've seen have the engine and the transmission at the rear.

Not sure what race cars you seen but have you ever seen touring cars?

Most hot hatches will raise an inside rear wheel on very fast tight corners.

[Jim_mk7.5]

What I was talking about is why is the R so much more planted over bumpy roads than a GTD/GTI.

If you have never been in one or driven one you might not understand what I mean, but its absolutely a different ride and its almost certainly not anything to do with 4 driving wheels and has to be the weight.

Its obvious a GTI/GTD is superlight at the rear - how do you get 55k+ out of a set of rear tyres if the back end isn't light as a feather.

That planted feeling is nothing to do with weight distribution which is why I said putting a bag of sand in the back of your GTD isn't going to make much difference. The difference in weight distribution between a GTI and R is minuscule. See the quote below from Motor Trend.

"The Golf R has slightly better weight distribution than the GTI (60/40 split, compared to 61/39), but the feel of the car is much more balanced. The recalibrated suspension no doubt helps, as does the power being routed to the rear wheels. You can be so smooth while pushing the Golf R hard that the traction and stability controls will rarely come on. 

[fredgroves]

Well, I've pinched a couple of bags of sand from the plant maintenance guys this morning, I'll have a play and report back!

[I wanted a GTi]

Well, I've pinched a couple of bags of sand from the plant maintenance guys this morning, I'll have a play and report back!

Well I didn't bother with sandbags but I got a mate to sit in the boot today to see if it made any difference going over those full width speed bumps that you drive up on and then drive off them.

He is about 14 stone and it made no real difference other than he nearly broke the rear window with his head. Nearly pissed myself laughing at a grown man calling me every name under the sun after I floored it and then hit the brakes.

[fredgroves]

Ahhh but there is something else you needed to do... Swap the badge on the grill for one that says "R" ;-)

[Exonian]

And then Exonian says about suspension.... how is it different?

VW brochure for MK7 2014 GTI manual UL weight 1351kg.......R manual 1476kg

As for different rear suspension...not really

The arms, links & wishbones are the same, subframe is different because of AWD....dampers & springs have their own settings to accommodate the extra rear weight of AWD.

Ooops, didn't see these replies.
I never spent a lot of time crawling under my R but a casual glance is enough to see a few differences such as an axle and subframe! 
But I was more referring to the extra drive going to the rear, the traction control settings and the way it handles roll and rides better than my GTI PP did.