Author Topic: Clubsport Reviews  (Read 48856 times)

Offline king monkey

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Re: Clubsport Reviews
« Reply #360 on: 01 May 2021, 18:49 »
Got my CS testdrive booked for next Friday.
Current: Clubsport45, white, DCC.

Past: Mk5 gti blue graphite, mk6 gti carbon grey, mk6 gti edition 35 candy white, Mk7 pp gti tornado red, 2016 Audi S3 sportback, 2019 7.5 Golf R.

Offline Exonian

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Re: Clubsport Reviews
« Reply #361 on: 02 May 2021, 12:34 »
Looking forward to what you think of it Michele.
Will it be an unaccompanied drive?
Do you know the spec on the car?

Best advice I can give is spend a few minutes fiddling about with the infotainment and drive menu crap before pulling away. Switch off lane assist, familiarise yourself where the gear nugget is in case you need a quick burst of acceleration (it’s not as intuitive as tugging back on the lever shifter but you soon get used to it) and then put all that stuff out of your mind.
My first impressions were how different the three quarter view across the cabin looks, everything seems lower and looks more sparse in a Bauhaus type design. Some of the plastics will shock you but you soon get used to them.
The engine will feel familiar but the steering immediately felt significantly sharper to me, but not in a pointy way and in fact the turning circle seems almost as oil tanker like as a mk7 R. It was the steering that gave me the best first impression. The more you push it the better it gets. The car’s talents way outweigh mine.
As an anecdote, I took a corner early on Saturday morning about 20mph quicker than I normally slew around it half asleep at around 5am. I’d just overtaken an annoyingly erratic early morning rural dawdler on the one short straight I deem it safe to do so so was approaching the corner way quicker than I usually do. At first I thought about scrubbing a bit of speed off but decided to hell with it, “it’s a good day to die” as the old Red Indian said in Little Big Man (not seen that film for a few decades!), and just barrelled the car into the corner. Ok, that’s dramatising it a little but damned if the car didn’t just shrug the cambered uphill bend off like it wasn’t there. I had full faith in it but some days the chassis just staggers me with its confidence and ability.

One thing I will say is I’ve previously stated the ride is quite good, and to me it is in general semi-rural or dual carriageway use, but yesterday I spent quite a lot of time doing city driving and the ride can be very bumpy on 19’s. I doubt DCC would make a massive difference as the sharpness of the potholes and violence of some badly patched roads would still beat the shock absorber valving but if you do a lot of urban driving the ride quality is something to be aware of before buying.

A last note, a very personal view, if you’re going to push through the £40k barrier with a Clubby I’d have a really good think as to whether an R with Performance Pack wouldn’t be a better place to put your money. I know what I’d rather do.
A basic spec Clubby puts a real smile on my face every day for many reasons, but if it was optioned up I’d be asking myself serious questions as to its relative value next to an R as far as ultimate dynamics and ability goes.

Oh, and you do get used to the haptics and absence of buttons. It’s still a bit pants but it’s workable.
‘23 8R
Serial white Golf owner


Offline Brenbo

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Re: Clubsport Reviews
« Reply #362 on: 02 May 2021, 13:43 »
I have also recently considered my options of going for either a clubsport, edition 45 or Golf R with options such as performance pack.  I am currently leaning toward the Golf R with performance pack and some other options.  I know it will take me in to the £40k premium car, tax bracket.  But i feel i have had a lot of stuff happen in my life recent years and as long as i can afford, i will just get on and enjoy life while i can.  The decision between a clubsport or golf R is a tough one though

Offline Kenis

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Re: Clubsport Reviews
« Reply #363 on: 02 May 2021, 14:40 »
I have also recently considered my options of going for either a clubsport, edition 45 or Golf R with options such as performance pack.  I am currently leaning toward the Golf R with performance pack and some other options.  I know it will take me in to the £40k premium car, tax bracket.  But i feel i have had a lot of stuff happen in my life recent years and as long as i can afford, i will just get on and enjoy life while i can.  The decision between a clubsport or golf R is a tough one though

Spec it how you’d want to live with, then pick the one you like the look of most. You aren’t going to make a bad choice there!
Ordered Apr-21 Arrived Mar-23: MK8 GTI Clubsport, Dolphin, Estorils plus other options

Offline Exonian

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Re: Clubsport Reviews
« Reply #364 on: 02 May 2021, 14:50 »

Spec it how you’d want to live with, then pick the one you like the look of most. You aren’t going to make a bad choice there!

Sums it up in a nutshell. Otherwise it’ll come down to a coin toss!
‘23 8R
Serial white Golf owner


Offline Brenbo

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Re: Clubsport Reviews
« Reply #365 on: 02 May 2021, 15:01 »
Am looking in to my options at present regarding a Golf R with Performance Pack, DCC etc. Have owned current Golf R MK7 about 5 years so feel maybe time for an update coming up soon.

Offline king monkey

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Re: Clubsport Reviews
« Reply #366 on: 02 May 2021, 15:57 »
The testdrive is unaccompanied. I wouldn’t do one with a salesman at the mo tbh.

The car is pretty standard I believe. Rides on 18s with no dcc which kinda suits me. I’m only going to get a feel for the car as it’ll be like driving the Ed45. We’re lucky we can get that impression without driving the Ed45!

I’ll certainly post back my thoughts but it’s going to have to be a bit special for me to part with my R. When I testdrove the TCR is wasn’t different/special enough to warrant the change so I walked away. If I hadn’t had the R at the time that would have been a different story!

Thanks for the heads up on what to look out for. I’ll definitely be posting my ramblings.
Current: Clubsport45, white, DCC.

Past: Mk5 gti blue graphite, mk6 gti carbon grey, mk6 gti edition 35 candy white, Mk7 pp gti tornado red, 2016 Audi S3 sportback, 2019 7.5 Golf R.

Offline jaceyboy

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Re: Clubsport Reviews
« Reply #367 on: 02 May 2021, 18:20 »
I think all test drives are un accompanied, well ours in the CS and R where, gives you a good chance to have a fiddle and chat normally (if your misses is with you) and thrash the car without feeling bad :grin:

One thing I noticed is that in manual mode the CS kicked down and the R didnt, I though they had the same gear boxes?, if im honest it put me off the CS purely because of this....

MK7 GTi

Offline Kenis

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Re: Clubsport Reviews
« Reply #368 on: 02 May 2021, 20:42 »
In one or two of the reviews/conparisons they say the r in manual mode is truly manual so won’t change up and allow you to bounce off the Rev limiter, but still thought they said it would change down if going too slow. But in cs etc it will still change at the limit even when you don’t want it to
« Last Edit: 02 May 2021, 21:47 by Kenis »
Ordered Apr-21 Arrived Mar-23: MK8 GTI Clubsport, Dolphin, Estorils plus other options

Offline Brenbo

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Re: Clubsport Reviews
« Reply #369 on: 02 May 2021, 20:51 »
I might be wrong, But I think I have read and seen on YouTube reviews, that the true manual gear shift mode was part of the Performance Pack on the Golf R.