I’m a bit late for a six month update as I’m now beyond the 7th.
It’s funny scanning back through the thread and seeing the Watts saga which did slightly surprise me with the eventual result
At the back end of last year I was accused of being as elitist about the TCR as the R owners became back in 2014 which is a bit rich coming from who said it but nevertheless the point was made.
The thing is that forums are about owners experiences and views as much as technical help and other queries, and each new model is bound to create a rash of interest in its the early days before it settles into general background forum noise.
There have been some really helpful threads and posts from others that have helped me make decisions over the years that no amount of test drives would ever replicate.
So anyone bored to the back teeth of TCR chatter they can change channel right now
I for one love to read owners stories and views, especially comparing cars that are of natural and sometimes a little more left field interest within the forum. There is a hugely diverse membership here and each of us have our own take on things and stuff we can share within the community.
There’s not a huge amount to report on within this post. The car has hit the ‘one year old’ point so I thought I’d update on the anniversary even though I didn’t take stewardship until a good few months after it was registered.
I’d half thought I’d be reporting in around the first service but I’ve not get round to booking it yet (but it’s imminent).
The car has hit 8k which is more than my Ed40 did in 2.5 years, but the cars were bought for different reasons and different uses.
The Ed40 was bought as a bit of an impulse buy to try and rekindle a flagging and blasé interest in cars after 30 years of owning GTI’s more on than off. Truth be told it heralded in more than that and helped trigger some really positive aspects in my life so it’ll always be a car fondly remembered even though I had no real actual need for the car because I had an old Diesel runabout for commuting and all the mundane things.
Driving the Ed40 always felt a bit of an adventure and it felt to me to be more than the sum of its parts.
Moving from an R and then a GTD to the Ed40 was quite a change of experience considering how much the cars share in common.
Life changes and we change with it. A more downward phase of life began with some big changes for me and I used this as a lever to swap GTIs for a variety of reasons. Partly because my son had requisitioned my oil burner for his own use and I was reluctant to start using the previously pampered Ed40 for commuting 7 days a week on rural roads right through the winter. That led to another impulse buy to a car that’s very close under the skin to the Ed40 but loaded with a few more creature comforts and to satisfy my curiosity about DSG being as I read so many glowing things about the latter.
After around six months with a new car I’m rarely bored with it but generally start to think about its replacement as there are always new things to explore as a lifelong car person.
Six months in and am I thinking “what next”?
There are a few more sizeable changes approaching so it’s all on the back burner. Everything from getting rid of two cars and moving to a single one therefore downsizing to something completely different, to keeping the oil burner for commuting and getting a semi-classic for occasional use, or more likely to check out the 8R eventually and take it from there...
Seven months into TCR ownership, seven years since I ordered my GTI PP.
I’ve now scratched the DSG itch. I can’t see me getting another manual transmission higher output Golf. I’m not a lover of DSG but I can work with it.
Thanks to advice in this thread I can hustle it out of side roads briskly by pulling the shift lever into S for as long as it takes to get up to speed, then I shove it back in D.
I tend to use this for overtaking the plague of Lycra clad Tour de France wannabes that are on a long government paid holiday this year (and who can blame them with the quiet roads and wonderful weather we’ve had) as I find the paddles don’t allow block changes to the appropriate gear, but the gearbox ECU is quite good at guessing when changing gearbox mode. So much so I just ignore the paddles generally. I’m no DSG natural, but then again my hand eye coordination isn’t the greatest at times when in a manual car so it’s swings and roundabouts. I’ll fare better with electric cars that have no gears!
As a daily driver the TCR has been great. It’s a Golf after all!
Unlike the R it can leave #11’s on the tarmac at times but unlike the R it doesn’t bog down on launch as much. But I very very seldom drive like that anyway. I’ve yet to even try launch control.
I used the car all through a very wet winter at all sorts of times of day and night during some godawful weather. It was surefooted and relatively comfortable and a joy to own just like all of the Golfs I’ve had.
The one complaint I have is the absorption of sudden sharp bumps and rubber speed humps which seem worse than my previous GTI’s that didn't have DCC and much worse than my R (also non DCC on 19’s).
The TCR steel exhaust has a unique sound, a bit like a propeller aeroplane’s drone most of the time but changes to quite a roar when zipping past the Lycra brigade. It’s quite amusing!
After almost six months I stopped using the car daily for just over a month which gives me a better feel for it again having started using it regularly once more from a fresh mind perspective.
No real faults so far (touch wood) aside from a dodgy windscreen mounted camera changed under warranty, plus a side skirt coming away slightly toward the rear. Oh, and a few stone chips.
One thing I have found is that after 30 odd years of modifying cars I quite like the Ed40 and TCR as standard.
The only thing I considered changing on the TCR is the rear diffuser as I dislike it. I emailed Rieger to ask if the 7.5 diffuser they make fits the TCR but they didn’t reply.
Future plans? None aside from a service.
I can’t say the car has moved me like the Ed40 did but then again it’s so similar dynamically to the former that there are no ground breaking differences, just subtle changes and improvements.
I love the styling of it including the Reifnitz wheels and the rather eye catching seat cloth!
The Stormtrooper TCR still has that immediate wow factor for me when I lift the garage door.
I’m not one of those people that can rattle off features I like and dislike easily. Things tend to work for me as a whole or they don’t, and this car does.
The GTI PP didn’t quite hit the spot as factory standard, the R however did. The GTD didn’t do it for me as much as it should have done (I’m a big fan of fast Diesels) but I didn’t really give it a fair chance.
The Ed40 got under my skin and I thought I’d miss it but I don’t; it had a worthy successor.
I’m very fond of the TCR and I don’t seem to be the only one:
