Golf GTI TCR announced

[JoeGTI]

^^^ WTF ^^^

Sorry, but that post screams delusional at best. Lets not get carried away. How does it not compare to the uniqueness of the Clubsport?! It's pretty much the same bloody car with the 7.5 bits added!

The bucket seats may be optional on this car too, who knows. They're hardly "unique" or bespoke items either.

[scanesare]

^^^ WTF ^^^

Sorry, but that post screams delusional at best. Lets not get carried away. How does it not compare to the uniqueness of the Clubsport?! It's pretty much the same bloody car with the 7.5 bits added!

The bucket seats may be optional on this car too, who knows. They're hardly "unique" or bespoke items either.

Please, lose the "WTF" if you're actually interested in a civilized discussion. A simple cross checking of the items that are different between a standard GTI and a Clubsport (or just a visual comparison at the very least) would help you realize what I am saying here. The Clubsport enjoyed a thorough upgrade compared to the standard MK7 GTI both in exterior and interior design (front bumper, side-skirts, rear spoiler, diffuser, tail-pipes, back-box, alcantara bits, bucket seats *yes bespoke in the mk7/7.5 Golf range*) as well as a (equally important) more focused chassis and geometry settings that were studied to address known issues in the MK7 dynamics (ie. the "weak" rear)

So, now that it's (hopefully) clearer enlighten us and point out where do you see ANY of that in the TCR? The car looks exactly like a 7.5GTI (same front, same rear bar the diffuser) with the R engine, some decals and the extra option of the 7.5 R's Akrapovic exhaust... And inside the only thing I noticed is a different paint/scheme on the  seats. We should of-course wait and see if there are suspension changes but seeing as there is absolutely no mention of a sportier chassis that for sure would be heavily advertised as was the case with the CS and CSS, we can assume there is nothing noteworthy.

That been said, I'm pretty sure that with the clueless-ness that characterizes the typical VW salesmen, some will definitely try to sell it as one "oh yeah it's the new Clubsport didn't you know??" 

[JoeGTI]

Thanks, but I am fully aware of the extra bits that VW put on the Clubsport over the regular GTI. As lovely a car as it is, I think calling it unique or bespoke is stretching credibility a little too far - this is VAG after all, who are the absolute masters in parts bin sharing. Maybe ease off on the Clubsport Kool-aid a little bit...

To the best of my knowledge (and correct me if I'm wrong - I'm sure you will), there are no suspension differences between a GTI and a Clubsport.

In the TCR's defence, it at least will have the 290 ponies on tap and not be relying on that silly 10 second overboot gimmick.

[Guzzle]

Well I appear to be in the minority here, I actually quite like it 

[scanesare]

Thanks, but I am fully aware of the extra bits that VW put on the Clubsport over the regular GTI. As lovely a car as it is, I think calling it unique or bespoke is stretching credibility a little too far - this is VAG after all, who are the absolute masters in parts bin sharing. Maybe ease off on the Clubsport Kool-aid a little bit...

To the best of my knowledge (and correct me if I'm wrong - I'm sure you will), there are no suspension differences between a GTI and a Clubsport.

In the TCR's defence, it at least will have the 290 ponies on tap and not be relying on that silly 10 second overboot gimmick.

Not sure if we're arguing semantics here as English is not my mother language but I think I'm doing ok in general. It surely has several unique/exclusive bits that were designed solely for it (which I mentioned above) and which were clearly setting it apart from the MK7 GTI, it's definitely not a bespoke car as it reuses probably 80% of standard GTI parts.

Now if you compare a 7.5GTI and a TCR the differences are really kept to a minimum is what I'm saying. If I had a 7.5GTI I just would not bother, 7.5PP definitely seems to be pushing a bit more than the advertised 245bhp also so don't expect massive differences in times, just a hint... 

As for suspension differences between a GTI and CS i'm afraid you're wrong (but you knew that  ). CS is confirmed to have different (stiffer) springs and slightly different camber settings i think, and it surely feels like it, haven't you read any CS review?

I would agree on the overboost nonsense, it's a bit annoying on a stock car although it's more psychological as you would be hard pressed to feel when the extra boost cuts off but I bought the car with the intention of going straight to stage 1 which guess what, brings the power to the exact same power levels as on a R/S3/Cupra since it's the same engine (and now the TCR), so VW's marketing sh1te of trying to differentiate their models does not worry me too much 

[Watts]

Well I appear to be in the minority here, I actually quite like it 

Me too Apart from dsg only. Really like the seat covers with the GTI embossing, don't like the honeycomb decals but they are optional and the wheels - not too sure. But, I think it might be a tad past my wallet's capacity for now. And tomorrow.

[JoeGTI]

As for suspension differences between a GTI and CS i'm afraid you're wrong (but you knew that  ). CS is confirmed to have different (stiffer) springs and slightly different camber settings i think, and it surely feels like it, haven't you read any CS review?

Of course I've read the reviews. I'm the biggest VW / GTI anorak there is. But I tend not to believe everything I read in reviews, as more often than not they're full of marketing blurb, false assumptions and general inaccuracies - I wouldn't watch Top Gear for example if I wanted accurate information on a car's spec. I've also driven a CS - I was extremely close to buying one last year, but it didn't happen for various reasons.

Can you point me at a reliable source that actually describes the suspension differences? I'm genuinely curious, as I still don't think there is any, barring something very minor. Are there actual verifiable part number differences?  I remember back in the MK5 days, some people were convinced that the Edition 30 had a lower ride / different suspension setup than the standard GTI. It didn't.

[JoeGTI]

Well I appear to be in the minority here, I actually quite like it 

Me too Apart from dsg only. Really like the seat covers with the GTI embossing, don't like the honeycomb decals but they are optional and the wheels - not too sure. But, I think it might be a tad past my wallet's capacity for now. And tomorrow.

I think it looks great too tbh, but the side decals would be too much for me also. I love that grey...

[scanesare]

Besides what's everyone's opinion about it, I just thought isn't it really late in the MK7/7.5 lifecycle for yet another variant? If the first cars are delivered late 2018, isn't this just one year (or less) before the Mk8 GTI? If these dates are more or less accurate I imagine it would suffer from depreciation, let alone the fact that, as a platform, it will be a car that will have basically been on offer since 2013 and that's it's going to be replaced very soon...

[JoeGTI]

Besides what's everyone's opinion about it, I just thought isn't it really late in the MK7/7.5 lifecycle for yet another variant? If the first cars are delivered late 2018, isn't this just one year (or less) before the Mk8 GTI? If these dates are more or less accurate I imagine it would suffer from depreciation, let alone the fact that, as a platform, it will be a car that will have basically been on offer since 2013 and that's it's going to be replaced very soon...

Agreed - it is very late in the MK7 platform at this stage, but its nothing new. Manufacturers do this all the time, release some new special edition model to help boost sales and clear out the parts bins! VAG do it all the time.... The last generation RS3 was barely out when the new A3 was launched... The MK5 GTI Pirelli edition was at the very tail end of the MK5 lifecycle. People still bought them.

Would it be wise to spend a significant load of cash on a run out model? I dunno... I guess it's residuals will hold fairly well, the "special edition" factor, etc..

I would also be surprised if we see the performance variants of the MK8 before early 2020 at the earliest. The vanilla model MK8 will likely appear several months in advance of the go fast versions.