Potential Swap and help needed.

[Beclou]

I’m after some help or maybe some answers to back up my own decision 😂😂

I picked my 2023 GTI at the end of April - Pan roof, winter pack and  19” Aidelaide with upgraded suspension.
I do love her…. BUT the dealer who I’ve used for years told me they have a R coming in June in black with winter pack, rear camera and performance pack…

The question is do I stick or swap 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤯

[Exonian]

Swap

[Beclou]

I’m worried I’ll miss the pan roof BUT I have a feeling pressing that little blue R button will soon make me forget 😂😂

[SRGTD]

I’d stick with the GTI;

• lighter and more nimble than the R
• black; a real labour of love to look after (I’ve owned 5 black cars in the past; never again). Seem to remember your GTI is white(?) which IMHO really suits the GTI
• IMHO an R in black doesn’t look that special - looks very similar to an ordinary Golf apart from the quad tailpipes.
• I’m guessing the R will cost you more to buy than the GTI, and will cost more to run

[Beclou]

I do love the GTI in white.
I had a Mk8 GTD in Atlantic blue and another GTD mk8 in Dolphin grey and non of them looked as nice as this GTI.

With the R having the performance pack which I believe has now been pulled as an extra will cost me more… around £5k more 😫

[Brenbo]

I would get your GTI in white over the Golf R in black.  I had a Golf R Mk8 with performance Pack and it was a good car but with performance pack on it can be a bit harsh on the ears to drive with pops and bangs all the time even with std exhaust.  The manual paddle shift all the time was good but i don't miss not having it on my Tiguan R.  At times when you want to have a lazy relaxed cruise home i would find myself trying to prevent the pops and bangs from happening at times.  Especially when in manual mode and driving between 3000 to 4000 revs... this was the sweet spot for the pops and bangs to happen.  I also found the fake carbon effect on the dash too cheap looking for the price of the car probably because there was so much of it.  The car was great to drive but on roads did not find i was using all it had to offer and as such it felt a bit underwhelmed as knew it could do so much more than i could use on public roads.  If i hadn't got a Tiguan R i was seriously thinking of getting a GTI next.  Also Deep Pearl Black looks great, but a nightmare for showing up all the flaws on your paintwork (every single scuff and scratch).  Also i agree that the black paint makes a Golf R look more ordinary and less performance.  My Tiguan R in black looks like a more ordinary Tiguan apart from the (21 inch estorils and quad exhaust fitted to it)

To conclude i would advise that you stick with the GTI you have.

[Exonian]

I’m sticking with swap 😁

GTI pro’s:
Lighter on its toes
Better on fuel
More tractable (turbo boosts usefully lower in the rev range which is better in normal driving especially when the gearbox is in dozy mode)
The sunroof (apparently)
It’s white

R pro’s:
It’s a Performance model which has a bit of kudos and will retain value well
Goes like a startled stoat once the turbo starts boosting
AWD (useful)
Looks better

If it’s £5k to swap then that’s decent value and you’d likely see that £5k retained.
Yeah, it’s black which is a Royal PITA to care for, but it’ll be covered in pollen and dust in summer and general grime in winter almost as soon as you’ve cleaned it which will hide a lot of sins and applies to any colour.
Here’s a black one in action https://youtu.be/ixUmeZKHD2o

Everyone should own a Golf R at some point in their life, and because new ones are scarce now maybe it’s a good time…

[Sean G]

If it’s £5k to swap I think that’s an extremely good deal and definitely would do it
The R will retain its value better and the fact it’s a Performance Pack car which you cannot now order will definitely help
Also it’s not now possible to order any performance golf apart from the GTI so again I think there will be fewer R’s for the foreseeable future
Also being a newer car it will have updated hardware and software so hopefully less gremlins !

[Beclou]

They came back with the figures today and it’s £3k to swap my GTI in.
I’ve said I’ll make a decision when it comes in, in June. My only concern is they’ve said they will need to register it before registering it to me which I’m not sure as to why but I haven’t asked the question.
I need to try and see if any of the staff have any R’s as demo cars to take one for a spin.
I do really love this GTI and when she’s clean she is very pretty but I know I’d love the sound more on the R 😂.
If it had been in blue or white I don’t think I’d have questioned it.

[Beclou]

If it’s £5k to swap I think that’s an extremely good deal and definitely would do it
The R will retain its value better and the fact it’s a Performance Pack car which you cannot now order will definitely help
Also it’s not now possible to order any performance golf apart from the GTI so again I think there will be fewer R’s for the foreseeable future
Also being a newer car it will have updated hardware and software so hopefully less gremlins !

I’ve been looking with this GTI with it being a 23 plate I’ve not had any issues at all unlike my GTD.
But I think it’s because it is the 2023 model, I love how they’ve added the wing protectors on them now too, it finishes it off.