Alternatives to the TCR

[mcmaddy]

mcmaddy, that's a shame, hopefully your dealer will find out it's already built and awaiting shipping. It's a really great car so I'm sure you'll love it!

As for discussing new cars given the current issues, yes please! So much doom and gloom we need to escape from plus as horrible as things are for some people, life goes on and it's for living and enjoying while you can

well said and so true. Hopefully it's built (fingers and toes crossed) 

[Toeman]

Apologies  probably didn’t read initial post   We are all very lucky that we can still probably get out and about in cars and not have to worry about public transport. Which would be a worry at this stage

[AGB]

So it appears my TCR order is now up the swanny seeing as though VW are closing all the European factories. Now before anyone gets all arsey I know new cars should not be important at times like this but it's still disappointing non the less. Supposed to have been built this week but no updates from VW and the My VW app hasn't changed either. So if it now transpires my order has gone awry what other cars are alternatives to the TCR?

Sorry to hear that McDaddy. There is a lot of disappointment for a lot of people on a lot of fronts, you shouldn't have to defend yourself. I'm distracting myself from the relentless news corona cycle at the moment with cars so happy to chat options. 

The TCR is hard to beat. I'd probably compromise on my spec if you can negotiate the price to where you want. Heated windscreen is really helpful in winter and does save using de-icer which I've never been a fan of for what it does to polish and finishes. I must say that having lived with Pure Grey, it's a superb colour in all weathers and light so wouldn't compromise on that. I have DCC and find it useful although I rarely change it out of personal settings.

The Dynaudio I'd not bother with but I've been of the view for a long time that I prefer the sound of the exhaust and that cars are a poor acoustic environment to listen to music so the standard system is sufficient. I know it can be improved but I don't see the point. One of my mates has a Burmester system in his 911 and it's great, it really is but then again it was close to £4k. You can buy decent separates from Linn, Quad or someone like that for that sort of money. Personal preference of course, no judgement.

You'll probably laugh at the suggestion but have you considered a Yaris GR? I know, Yaris but it's that in name alone. I've ordered one with the circuit pack and it promises to be a lot of fun. £33.5k fully spec'd with two LSDs and a homologation special.

[Watts]

mcmaddy, that's a shame, hopefully your dealer will find out it's already built and awaiting shipping. It's a really great car so I'm sure you'll love it!

As for discussing new cars given the current issues, yes please! So much doom and gloom we need to escape from plus as horrible as things are for some people, life goes on and it's for living and enjoying while you can

well said and so true. Hopefully it's built (fingers and toes crossed) 

You have to get your TCR now as it's partly your fault I have mine, you were one of those that told me life's too short

Apologies  probably didn’t read initial post   We are all very lucky that we can still probably get out and about in cars and not have to worry about public transport. Which would be a worry at this stage

Public transport is pretty horrible at the best of times but now, you are right!

[mcmaddy]

Apologies  probably didn’t read initial post   We are all very lucky that we can still probably get out and about in cars and not have to worry about public transport. Which would be a worry at this stage

actually a good point, would much rather use my own car than have to use public transport. I know a new car at this point isn't the best of subjects but no one had a clue any of this was going to happen.

[Exonian]

As for discussing new cars given the current issues, yes please! So much doom and gloom we need to escape from plus as horrible as things are for some people, life goes on and it's for living and enjoying while you can

Precisely! We need some sort of distraction in our lives from the current situation and family health and finance uncertainties.
On a Golf GTI forum it’s quite likely our cars are our hobbies as well as our basic transport so it’s important to have a positive focus, plus the businesses that rely on us to stay afloat need to still turn over just to exist even in the shorter term, be it new cars, modifications or maintenance and cleaning. Same with any hobby right now and particularly those that have more time on their hands suddenly (I’m having to go to work as normal all the way through but many don’t).


Having been through an admittedly mild winter with a heated front screen, but using the car during the coldest darkest hours right through) I’d certainly not say it’s an essential. It’s ok, but so is a jug of lukewarm water! (De-icer is evil)

Dynaudio is fantastic when sat at traffic lights with the engine off!
Ok, it’s better than the standard system all the time but not massively so unless the volume is up a few notches to drown out the TCR exhaust burble and tyre noise.
Half the point of a TCR is its exhaust noise though!
Dynaudio is nice but its biggest benefit on the move is the sub in the boot. A Helix sub can easily be retrofitted to a car without Dynaudio.

Colour? I guess the draw of a TCR to many is Pure Grey.
It was one of my must haves.
But I ended up with white and think it looks great!


The Yaris GR is a great suggestion though. Probably a half decent investment too.
Probably a bit too hardcore for me but something I’ll be keeping a close eye on (along with many other FWD hot hatch aficionados). 

[monkeyhanger]

So it appears my TCR order is now up the swanny seeing as though VW are closing all the European factories.

Supposed to have been built this week but no updates from VW and the My VW app hasn't changed either.

The ‘My VW’ app is notorious for being incorrect or updating late. The confirmed build week on the App is often shown a week later than the true build week, so if it shows the confirmed build week as this week, it could’ve actually been built last week. There've also been owners over on uk-polos.net who’ve taken delivery of their cars and been driving around for a number of weeks and the App is still saying the car is in transit from the factory.

I just had to check the App after reading your post. My Aug 1st 2018 delivered Polo GTI+ is still in transit according to the tracker. 

[mcmaddy]

Thanks chaps, the Yaris is too small unfortunately, like the Up. I've had my current golf for over three years now which has been a record for me in recent years so I'm pretty fixed with the spec I'm after. I could have easily kept the current GTi until it's four in December so if the TCR is as least as good then I'll be having it the same time frame. Hopefully some good news will come either over the weekend or on Monday and apologies if my twisting on about a new car in the current Corona crisis isn't to everyone's liking. Stay safe everyone 🤞

[kmpowell]

Dynaudio is fantastic when sat at traffic lights with the engine off!
Ok, it’s better than the standard system all the time but not massively so unless the volume is up a few notches to drown out the TCR exhaust burble and tyre noise.
Half the point of a TCR is its exhaust noise though!
Dynaudio is nice but its biggest benefit on the move is the sub in the boot. A Helix sub can easily be retrofitted to a car without Dynaudio.

I disagree.

The standard stereo is 8x normal paper-cone speakers with a standard 4x20w (80w max power) output driven from the main headunit (both Discover or Discover Pro).

Dynaudio is 400w (max power) sent over 9x speakers (8 speakers plus the sub), powered via a separate Dynaudio amp, not the headhunt. The front and rear speakers are 2-way sets (dual soft-dome tweeters and magnesium mid drivers), and the sub in the boot is a coil dual-voice.

The benefits are cumulative and huge, it's not just the sub. I've rattled on about this many a time, if you just listen to the radio around town and aren't into music, then the standard system prob is ok... but if you enjoy music and/or spend a lot of time in the car listening to music, then the Dynaudio really is a no brainer. Once you have it set-up (through the specific Dynaudio software menus in the headhunit) to your taste and sound type, it really does wipe the floor with the standard system, not to mention IMO easily beats BOSE and HK offerings I've had in other cars. The only system it's not beaten IMO is the 1200w Meridian System I had in my Range Rover Sport, but that was 3x the power (and price!).

The only thing about Dynaudio that can be annoying is how sensitive it can sometimes be to the source (bitrate mainly).

[jv]

You'll probably laugh at the suggestion but have you considered a Yaris GR? I know, Yaris but it's that in name alone. I've ordered one with the circuit pack and it promises to be a lot of fun. £33.5k fully spec'd with two LSDs and a homologation special.

Interesting, was hoping to hear somewhere here had ordered. Not sure on the h-word though 

mcmaddy, I think you need to channel Kirsty and Phil into your dilemma. Got to compromise somewhere if you can't achieve the seemingly impossible.