GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk8 => Topic started by: king monkey on 09 December 2020, 19:58
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Hi all,
Autocar CS review is here...
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/volkswagen/golf-gti/first-drives/volkswagen-golf-gti-clubsport-2020-review
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I think its quite colour sensitive and the lighter colours (moonstone as per those pics) or white definitely work best on it imo.
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I think I'd have to remove that rear GTI badge though. Just not a fan.
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that front end is much better than the standard GTI, and dare say, on them wheels like it! except for the touch interior and the removal of the DSG lever, there is no way back from that, but visually, the CS is looking quite good in these shots (as someone stated, when move the GTI badge to its proper place of course)
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Clubsport pictures to hit Twitter tomorrow of our cars @vwgeeks
I have a deep black, dolphin grey car and a reflex silver car which I am having 19inch Brescia’s fitted to 😍
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Just crazy money
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DTD its 1900 quid more for a clubby vs a GTI DSG.
£31,845.
For that you get what?
Clubby spoiler and decals, lowered, 300bhp (~60 more), nicer seats.
Tempting.
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DTD its 1900 quid more for a clubby vs a GTI DSG.
£31,845.
For that you get what?
Clubby spoiler and decals, lowered, 300bhp (~60 more), nicer seats.
Tempting.
You also get a better looking front end (IMO of course) with the Clubsport compared to the normal GTI.
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DTD its 1900 quid more for a clubby vs a GTI DSG.
£31,845.
For that you get what?
Clubby spoiler and decals, lowered, 300bhp (~60 more), nicer seats.
Tempting.
You also get a better looking front end (IMO of course) with the Clubsport compared to the normal GTI.
If your comparing base spec GTI to base spec Clubsport and happy with that spec, your going through carwow/ DTD and get that sort of discount, its a no brainer to go for the Clubsport imo
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Yeah you have to compare base spec... albeit that the clubby has a different (better) base spec over and above the engine power.
If you want HUD or Kings Red or DCC or heated seats, you'd stick it on either wouldn't you.
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DTD its 1900 quid more for a clubby vs a GTI DSG.
£31,845.
For that you get what?
Clubby spoiler and decals, lowered, 300bhp (~60 more), nicer seats.
Tempting.
Better brakes too; perforated discs and the GTi logo on the calipers.
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DTD its 1900 quid more for a clubby vs a GTI DSG.
£31,845.
For that you get what?
Clubby spoiler and decals, lowered, 300bhp (~60 more), nicer seats.
Tempting.
Better brakes too; perforated discs and the GTi logo on the calipers.
So on the face of it, I think you get more than 1900 quid's worth really. Just a shame it still has the boggo swastika wheels :sick:
If it had some better 18's as default, they'd never sell a normal GTI.
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For anyone that really can't live with the factory 18's, it may be worth considering something like this;
https://clptuning.co.uk/product/racingline-cup-edition-alloy-wheels/
They're OEM-ish and only slightly more than the cost of adding the factory 19's. They're lighter than the factory 18's too, you shouldn't then need DCC and they won't count towards the luxury VED threshold. Plus you could keep the original wheels pristine for selling on later.
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I think you've got a winning solution there.
And they aren't bloody diamond cut either.
I reckon those would look bob on for a clubby.
Nice thinking!
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I think you've got a winning solution there.
And they aren't bloody diamond cut either.
I reckon those would look bob on for a clubby.
Nice thinking!
Wasn't there a post on one of these threads about the Golf R 19" option being available in black as opposed to Diamond cut at some point? Or have I just made that up.
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I think you've got a winning solution there.
And they aren't bloody diamond cut either.
I reckon those would look bob on for a clubby.
Nice thinking!
Wasn't there a post on one of these threads about the Golf R 19" option being available in black as opposed to Diamond cut at some point? Or have I just made that up.
Yep, they're still on the German configurator but without pictures.
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Available in Ireland too, so they should be an option for us at some point?
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For anyone that really can't live with the factory 18's, it may be worth considering something like this;
https://clptuning.co.uk/product/racingline-cup-edition-alloy-wheels/
They're OEM-ish and only slightly more than the cost of adding the factory 19's. They're lighter than the factory 18's too, you shouldn't then need DCC and they won't count towards the luxury VED threshold. Plus you could keep the original wheels pristine for selling on later.
These are only Team Dynamics Pro Race wheels with the nasty logos deleted around the rim. Probably cheaper to buy from other resellers with discount codes when they come up. TD wheels are usually factory order so you can easily spec the correct centre bore etc.
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For anyone that really can't live with the factory 18's, it may be worth considering something like this;
https://clptuning.co.uk/product/racingline-cup-edition-alloy-wheels/
They're OEM-ish and only slightly more than the cost of adding the factory 19's. They're lighter than the factory 18's too, you shouldn't then need DCC and they won't count towards the luxury VED threshold. Plus you could keep the original wheels pristine for selling on later.
These are only Team Dynamics Pro Race wheels with the nasty logos deleted around the rim. Probably cheaper to buy from other resellers with discount codes when they come up. TD wheels are usually factory order so you can easily spec the correct centre bore etc.
Good suggestion for those looking to save cash. I'm not keen on the logos though, and I can't find the TD branded version in anthracite 🤷♂️
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You can request the deletion of the logos when ordering. Somewhere like Demon Tweeks would probably be able to spec them exactly how you want them with colour, bolt seatings and centre bore.
One benefit of the Racingline ones are that they take the original VW bolts I think (I might be wrong)
I had a set of anthracite ones on my mk6 GTI that were pretty much to Racingline spec but were ordered elsewhere.
(http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g26/Andy_vRS/HighResImage.jpg)
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Thanks for the tip. :wink:
I see you were able to get the all important proper VW :smiley: centre caps to fit.
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Yes, can’t remember exactly what caps I used now as I had loads of the things knocking around back then but they went in ok.
Still got the original TD ones in the garage I think, all these years later.
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Had test drive today in a Clubsport. Been away from vw for a good while and pleasantly impressed
With the clubby. Engine sound was better than my 718 cayman! Fit and finish had no issues with, yes
It’s different coming from a Porsche with loads of buttons to virtually none but I quickly got use to it.
Steering wheel buttons had no problem.
Engine performance pulled well and very responsive! Didn’t feel down on power to my Porsche.
Glad to say after the test drive ordered a dolphin grey, Adelaide wheels, HUD and DCC.
Hoping brexit doesn’t ruin it !
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Had test drive today in a Clubsport. Been away from vw for a good while and pleasantly impressed
With the clubby. Engine sound was better than my 718 cayman! Fit and finish had no issues with, yes
It’s different coming from a Porsche with loads of buttons to virtually none but I quickly got use to it.
Steering wheel buttons had no problem.
Engine performance pulled well and very responsive! Didn’t feel down on power to my Porsche.
Glad to say after the test drive ordered a dolphin grey, Adelaide wheels, HUD and DCC.
Hoping brexit doesn’t ruin it !
Impressive!
I've got my test drive of the boggo GTI on Monday.
If I can stand the interior, I'll definitely look at and probably choose the clubby.
Still got my 128ti test drive to come.... with option to cancel my order.
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It’ll be really interesting to see more of these impressions of the Clubsport coming in from people who actually drive cars as a daily, rather than the usual journalist rubbish.
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German video review but thought some might still want to see it.
https://youtu.be/T9VHZb4JjIc
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German video review but thought some might still want to see it.
https://youtu.be/T9VHZb4JjIc
That was worth viewing, I don't see this car as a clubsport, especially as it now weighs 100-150kg more than the previous variant.
VW should have stuck with the old name system and called this the Performance?
Other than spurious marketing, I don;t know why they are following the Porsche tradition of a clubsport and considering a cup version?
At least a cup car was raced in a championshipm with the chance to win a cup!
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Glad you thought it was worth posting.
Tbh I’m not sure why any version of the CS is called the CS. Bit of a nonsense really. Not sure that CS was associated with any other marks before the Mk7. Correct me if I’m wrong though. Often am!
We all know this is a trim version and lacks the special draw of an anniversary model. Tbh I don’t think it’s supposed to compete either the CS, that’ll be for the Ed45.
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The world of the vw marketing department is a bizarre place. No possible way of understanding it.
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KM, a clubsport is effectively a clubman race car that can be used in competition which is also road registered.
I have owned several Porsche clubsport variants over the last 20 years, hence this login which I have used for some time!
Here is the interior of my other CS, as it left the Porsche factory!
(https://i.postimg.cc/Y03W9BqL/20180803-144111.jpg)
Slightly different and considerably lighter than the mk8 CS ? :)
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I can see where they have penny pinched. Does it even have a gas strut under the bonnet? Must be dieselgate :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
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Just for fun - this is what I'd order:
Reflex (best colour I've seen)
19s
Winter Pack
DCC
A little under £40k as well.
(https://i.postimg.cc/jjbt8whK/Screenshot-2020-12-22-at-10-33-48.png) (https://postimg.cc/18JkXzTY)
Think it would benefit from better side decals to be honest. They are a bit half hearted.
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I think that's a decent spec but I'd swap the winter pack for hud. Hud let's you concentrate on driving and that's important with something like this. Nineteens and dcc is definitely the way to go unless you fancy doing some wheel swapping yourself.
The stickers... Well they are saving that for the ed45...
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KM, a clubsport is effectively a clubman race car that can be used in competition which is also road registered.
I have owned several Porsche clubsport variants over the last 20 years, hence this login which I have used for some time!
Here is the interior of my other CS, as it left the Porsche factory!
(https://i.postimg.cc/Y03W9BqL/20180803-144111.jpg)
Slightly different and considerably lighter than the mk8 CS ? :)
Thanks. I meant a Golf CS. Bearing in mind the history of Porsche CS, it was an odd name for VW to chose I think, either as a Mk7 or Mk8.
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Just for fun - this is what I'd order:
Reflex (best colour I've seen)
19s
Winter Pack
DCC
A little under £40k as well.
(https://i.postimg.cc/jjbt8whK/Screenshot-2020-12-22-at-10-33-48.png) (https://postimg.cc/18JkXzTY)
Think it would benefit from better side decals to be honest. They are a bit half hearted.
Love that! I’d definitely go silver or moonstone. I’d only add 19s and dcc as I’m too tight to pay for winter pack. :grin:
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Nice spec and what i would pick too. Agree on the colour. Either reflex silver or deep black pearl are the only two i liked in person on the 8.
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I think that's a decent spec but I'd swap the winter pack for hud. Hud let's you concentrate on driving and that's important with something like this. Nineteens and dcc is definitely the way to go unless you fancy doing some wheel swapping yourself.
The stickers... Well they are saving that for the ed45...
I've driven a few cars with it but never had it on any of 'my' cars and it doesn't really bother me. I quite like the look of the centre rev dial on the AID similar to the Audi sports models so that would be fine for me.
Just think the stickers would suit better if they went all the way along the bottom. But sure there will be something extra for the ED45.
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Just for fun - this is what I'd order:
Reflex (best colour I've seen)
19s
Winter Pack
DCC
A little under £40k as well.
Think it would benefit from better side decals to be honest. They are a bit half hearted.
Love that! I’d definitely go silver or moonstone. I’d only add 19s and dcc as I’m too tight to pay for winter pack. :grin:
I thought £270 seems like a good deal for heated seats and steering wheel? Am I right in thinking the bog GTI has heated steering wheel but not seats?
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Yes wheel but not seats.
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Decals along the length of the car would balance it out a bit better. I reckon the Ed45 will get the R side skirts too possibly.
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Nice spec and what i would pick too. Agree on the colour. Either reflex silver or deep black pearl are the only two i liked in person on the 8.
My Tungsten really showed off the red GTI bits and I do a like a nice silver, mine was sometimes a bit gold/beige in certain lights. Think Volkswizard mentioned how silver really works with the CS details in his review.
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Just for fun - this is what I'd order:
Reflex (best colour I've seen)
19s
Winter Pack
DCC
A little under £40k as well.
Think it would benefit from better side decals to be honest. They are a bit half hearted.
Love that! I’d definitely go silver or moonstone. I’d only add 19s and dcc as I’m too tight to pay for winter pack. :grin:
I thought £270 seems like a good deal for heated seats and steering wheel? Am I right in thinking the bog GTI has heated steering wheel but not seats?
Tbh I never use my heated seats anyway. I’ve never really liked heated seats at all. They are really good value for £270. Shame they’re not standard as I thought they’d be, like the reversing camera.
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I'm waiting for the next generation of hud, what we have here is good but beyond this is augmented reality with it projecting much more data into your full view. Navigation arrows appearing on the road itself, highlighting boxes around hazards. This is in military kit now, cars eventually. The type of thing we have today is little more than the reflector gun sights used in spitfires!
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Must be a balancing act. Taking some stuff off and adding other bits as standard.
They are pretty well kitted out to be fair but heated seats are a nice touch although I can only ever use them on the first setting for about 5 mins as otherwise, it's just too hot! Definitely not a necessity on cloth seats though.
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KM, a clubsport is effectively a clubman race car that can be used in competition which is also road registered.
I have owned several Porsche clubsport variants over the last 20 years, hence this login which I have used for some time!
Here is the interior of my other CS, as it left the Porsche factory!
(https://i.postimg.cc/Y03W9BqL/20180803-144111.jpg)
Slightly different and considerably lighter than the mk8 CS ? :)
Oh amazing Porsche btw!!
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Must be a balancing act. Taking some stuff off and adding other bits as standard.
They are pretty well kitted out to be fair but heated seats are a nice touch although I can only ever use them on the first setting for about 5 mins as otherwise, it's just too hot! Definitely not a necessity on cloth seats though.
Absolutely. I’d rather have the lights than the camera and heated seats.
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Must be a balancing act. Taking some stuff off and adding other bits as standard.
They are pretty well kitted out to be fair but heated seats are a nice touch although I can only ever use them on the first setting for about 5 mins as otherwise, it's just too hot! Definitely not a necessity on cloth seats though.
Absolutely. I’d rather have the lights than the camera and heated seats.
Guess everyone likes different things. My 330e has camera as standard and whilst it is useful sometimes, I find I'm not always using it. Lane assist is standard and had to turn it right down as I find it's a bit dangerous. Wireless car play is good and the iDrive is absolutely fantastic. Even the app is decent and I use the destination function loads where you can quickly search and send an address to the car which appears when you get in. Using the car nav has the benefit of optimising when to use electric in hybrid mode so is worth doing and it's a great system even if it sometimes likes to take odd routes!
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The heated seats will come as standard in the next MY you see... Its just all about giving with one hand and taking away with the other.
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Spot on Fred! Always happens.
There’s this other review. Doesn’t play atm but hopefully it’ll be sorted soon.
(https://i.postimg.cc/8CHyRM6S/3162-D346-8-B75-48-AF-A8-A2-B43-B9949741-C.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/Mcnbxc5P)
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Spot on Fred! Always happens.
There’s this other review. Doesn’t play atm but hopefully it’ll be sorted soon.
(https://i.postimg.cc/8CHyRM6S/3162-D346-8-B75-48-AF-A8-A2-B43-B9949741-C.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/Mcnbxc5P)
Not very talkative is he? :whistle:
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Only just got around to watch it. What a total waste of time!
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Only just got around to watch it. What a total waste of time!
:grin: Just him driving. Watched about 30 secs, skipped and bit then left.
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Think I might do one of me sat at some traffic lights for 2 mins. Might be just as good!
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My Tungsten really showed off the red GTI bits and I do a like a nice silver, mine was sometimes a bit gold/beige in certain lights. Think Volkswizard mentioned how silver really works with the CS details in his review.
I liked the tungsten. Ive had a mk1 GTI Campaign in Diamond silver for 30 years now so do like silver on a GTI too.
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My Tungsten really showed off the red GTI bits and I do a like a nice silver, mine was sometimes a bit gold/beige in certain lights. Think Volkswizard mentioned how silver really works with the CS details in his review.
I liked the tungsten. Ive had a mk1 GTI Campaign in Diamond silver for 30 years now so do like silver on a GTI too.
Yeah, silver definitely a good colour when its done right.
This flashed up on my phone the other day as a reminder from this time last year... Definitely miss the GTI!
(https://i.postimg.cc/nzyFVL2d/fullsizeoutput_3f4.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/tZzQ2pLP)
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Now with English subtitles.
https://youtu.be/T9VHZb4JjIc
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https://youtu.be/GuPPIu8Kfmc
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Our previously mute friend from a few days ago seems to have rediscovered his voice and has posted another video :smiley:
https://youtu.be/pCLq6wStcrg
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Our previously mute friend from a few days ago seems to have rediscovered his voice and has posted another video :smiley:
https://youtu.be/pCLq6wStcrg
Saw this the other day. Didn’t feel brave enough to post another of his videos! Thanks for taking the responsibility on... :grin:
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Our previously mute friend from a few days ago seems to have rediscovered his voice and has posted another video :smiley:
https://youtu.be/pCLq6wStcrg
Saw this the other day. Didn’t feel brave enough to post another of his videos! Thanks for taking the responsibility on... :grin:
He must have taken it down and re-uploaded then, as this was only posted an hour ago 🤷♂️
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Our previously mute friend from a few days ago seems to have rediscovered his voice and has posted another video :smiley:
https://youtu.be/pCLq6wStcrg
Saw this the other day. Didn’t feel brave enough to post another of his videos! Thanks for taking the responsibility on... :grin:
He must have taken it down and re-uploaded then, as this was only posted an hour ago 🤷♂️
Excellent! Great find there. Got to be better than the last one....
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Our previously mute friend from a few days ago seems to have rediscovered his voice and has posted another video :smiley:
https://youtu.be/pCLq6wStcrg
Saw this the other day. Didn’t feel brave enough to post another of his videos! Thanks for taking the responsibility on... :grin:
He must have taken it down and re-uploaded then, as this was only posted an hour ago 🤷♂️
Excellent! Great find there. Got to be better than the last one....
I wouldn't quite go that far. I think Mat Watson's job is safe for now :grin:
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Our previously mute friend from a few days ago seems to have rediscovered his voice and has posted another video :smiley:
https://youtu.be/pCLq6wStcrg
Saw this the other day. Didn’t feel brave enough to post another of his videos! Thanks for taking the responsibility on... :grin:
He must have taken it down and re-uploaded then, as this was only posted an hour ago 🤷♂️
Excellent! Great find there. Got to be better than the last one....
I wouldn't quite go that far. I think Mat Watson's job is safe for now :grin:
:grin:
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After watching that video again I know the route where he’s driving. It’s the test drive route that Vw Blackburn use. The same route I test drove an R on before I bought it, when I was going backwards and forwards between another gti or an R! Cracking road that.
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https://youtu.be/9CTT-G-8gPM
Flip knows what’s he’s saying but the car looks quite nice and the snow driving looks fun :grin:
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Hi all,
New Clubsport written review by Top Gear.
https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/volkswagen/golf-mk7/20-tsi-300-gti-clubsport-5dr-dsg/first-drive
Not sure why there’s been hardly any video reviews of this car when some people already have their cars. Maybe COVID related.
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Hi all,
New Clubsport written review by Top Gear.
https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/volkswagen/golf-mk7/20-tsi-300-gti-clubsport-5dr-dsg/first-drive
Not sure why there’s been hardly any video reviews of this car when some people already have their cars. Maybe COVID related.
I think a lot of people don't want to be seen as doing anything breaking the lockdown rules.
Good review though although this question remains an unknown:
Did your car have the DCC adaptive dampers?
Ah, a key question. No, it didn’t. Without them it’s good, but with the £785 option I do wonder if the Clubsport has more bandwidth. Certainly VW says DCC is designed to work in harmony with various driving modes and the VAQ differential, so it’s altogether possible it might come together better with DCC.
Beyond the usual DCC is pointless/essential chat that we have endlessly on this forum, there is this nagging thing from the Mk8 articles early on about how DCC works in conjunction with the new vehicle dynamics manager that controls VAQ, throttle, wheel braking etc etc.
You'd absolutely need to drive an identical car with and without DCC back to back to determine what that actually means.
I think it might well be more than just "i can set the car nice and soft to take granny to collect her pension"
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Hi all,
New Clubsport written review by Top Gear.
https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/volkswagen/golf-mk7/20-tsi-300-gti-clubsport-5dr-dsg/first-drive
Not sure why there’s been hardly any video reviews of this car when some people already have their cars. Maybe COVID related.
I think a lot of people don't want to be seen as doing anything breaking the lockdown rules.
Good review though although this question remains an unknown:
Did your car have the DCC adaptive dampers?
Ah, a key question. No, it didn’t. Without them it’s good, but with the £785 option I do wonder if the Clubsport has more bandwidth. Certainly VW says DCC is designed to work in harmony with various driving modes and the VAQ differential, so it’s altogether possible it might come together better with DCC.
Beyond the usual DCC is pointless/essential chat that we have endlessly on this forum, there is this nagging thing from the Mk8 articles early on about how DCC works in conjunction with the new vehicle dynamics manager that controls VAQ, throttle, wheel braking etc etc.
You'd absolutely need to drive an identical car with and without DCC back to back to determine what that actually means.
I think it might well be more than just "i can set the car nice and soft to take granny to collect her pension"
Yeah I think like you said you’d need to drive them back to back. I really wanted to spec DCC on my car but it would put me over my company car budget and I really hate those Richmond wheels, there was a deal on metallic paint so optioning pure white wouldn’t have made much of a difference.
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From the VW press release on the standard GTI:
The new Vehicle Dynamics Manager control system makes its debut in the Golf GTI, controlling the XDS® electronic differential lock, the VAQ electronically-controlled, torque-sensing, limited-slip differential that is now standard, and also the lateral dynamics of the optional DCC® adaptive damping system. Drivers can customize their setup using the standard driving mode selection feature and a more finely adjustable DCC system. Sharper driving dynamics guarantee an enhanced and unadulterated driving experience as the eighth Golf GTI handles extremely accurately, virtually eliminating understeer.
Something I have noticed rumaging through the instruction book (which covers all performance Mk8's - GTE, GTD, GTI,Clubby and R) is that there is no mention of setting up an individual driving profile with VAQ options - like there was on Mk7.x GTI PP's.
This may be just a general ommission, because the user guide doesn't actually tell you anything about any of the menu contents - eg the car setup menu doesn't say WHAT you can change in there when quite clearly it will have time, date, units etc as well as a load of other things.
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From the VW press release on the standard GTI:
The new Vehicle Dynamics Manager control system makes its debut in the Golf GTI, controlling the XDS® electronic differential lock, the VAQ electronically-controlled, torque-sensing, limited-slip differential that is now standard, and also the lateral dynamics of the optional DCC® adaptive damping system. Drivers can customize their setup using the standard driving mode selection feature and a more finely adjustable DCC system. Sharper driving dynamics guarantee an enhanced and unadulterated driving experience as the eighth Golf GTI handles extremely accurately, virtually eliminating understeer.
Something I have noticed rumaging through the instruction book (which covers all performance Mk8's - GTE, GTD, GTI,Clubby and R) is that there is no mention of setting up an individual driving profile with VAQ options - like there was on Mk7.x GTI PP's.
This may be just a general ommission, because the user guide doesn't actually tell you anything about any of the menu contents - eg the car setup menu doesn't say WHAT you can change in there when quite clearly it will have time, date, units etc as well as a load of other things.
I seem to remember seeing a YouTube video where someone selected an individual setting. I’ll see if I can find it.
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Hi all,
New Clubsport written review by Top Gear.
https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/volkswagen/golf-mk7/20-tsi-300-gti-clubsport-5dr-dsg/first-drive
Not sure why there’s been hardly any video reviews of this car when some people already have their cars. Maybe COVID related.
Good find.
Unusually for me I totally agree with just about everything said in that review.
Some things about the car I’ve not had chance to try yet and some things I never will, but overall that was spot on in my opinion.
One notable thing I thought good was that it was a vanilla spec car which meant proper bare bones testing of the car rather than a Christmas tree spec press dept car loaded with frippery.
Even down to the tester saying he’d go for 19’s and add MPS4S (which I’m in the middle of myself but debating going for Assy5’s instead, cost difference negligible but keen to try different things) for a the full effect.
Here’s another recently uploaded vid btw, expect more from the guy with the gloves in the coming days in daylight when he does performance testing etc
https://youtu.be/Cn6HLr6AS3Y
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Even down to the tester saying he’d go for 19’s and add MPS4S (which I’m in the middle of myself but debating going for Assy5’s instead, cost difference negligible but keen to try different things) for a the full effect.
The love for PS4's is fairly universal - I watched a Yaris GR vs Mini GP session with Joe Achillies and some other dude the other day. PS4's rated as the best road sport tyre you can fit...
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Volkswizard was raving about the GY Asymmetric 5's in his latest video. Just saying 🤷♂️
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I had MPS4S on my Ed40 and loved them (first time I’ve ever said anything other than “meh, they’re black amd round” about a tyre) but always open to having an alternative, I’m not exactly Chris Harris (more like his granny).
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From the VW press release on the standard GTI:
The new Vehicle Dynamics Manager control system makes its debut in the Golf GTI, controlling the XDS® electronic differential lock, the VAQ electronically-controlled, torque-sensing, limited-slip differential that is now standard, and also the lateral dynamics of the optional DCC® adaptive damping system. Drivers can customize their setup using the standard driving mode selection feature and a more finely adjustable DCC system. Sharper driving dynamics guarantee an enhanced and unadulterated driving experience as the eighth Golf GTI handles extremely accurately, virtually eliminating understeer.
Something I have noticed rumaging through the instruction book (which covers all performance Mk8's - GTE, GTD, GTI,Clubby and R) is that there is no mention of setting up an individual driving profile with VAQ options - like there was on Mk7.x GTI PP's.
This may be just a general ommission, because the user guide doesn't actually tell you anything about any of the menu contents - eg the car setup menu doesn't say WHAT you can change in there when quite clearly it will have time, date, units etc as well as a load of other things.
I seem to remember seeing a YouTube video where someone selected an individual setting. I’ll see if I can find it.
https://youtu.be/lywTAMqWwPY
Skip to 9 minutes in this video. I know it’s a standard GTI but I’m sure it’ll be the same on the Clubsport.
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It might be off of the bottom of individual mode configuration screen in that shot but no vaq setting to be seen there.
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It might be off of the bottom of individual mode configuration screen in that shot but no vaq setting to be seen there.
Ah sorry, I miss read, I thought you meant no individual setting in general not specifically for VAQ.
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Even down to the tester saying he’d go for 19’s and add MPS4S (which I’m in the middle of myself but debating going for Assy5’s instead, cost difference negligible but keen to try different things) for a the full effect.
The love for PS4's is fairly universal - I watched a Yaris GR vs Mini GP session with Joe Achillies and some other dude the other day. PS4's rated as the best road sport tyre you can fit...
Yeah I put them on the front of my MK7.5 and the grip difference was ridiculous to the point where the rear end couldn’t keep up and would slide round roundabouts and corners, it was so much fun but I eventually put the same on the back. My car came with Potenza’s as standard but they weren’t a match on the PS4S’s
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0-100KPH
100-200KPH
https://youtu.be/awU1qeMPUSA
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Hi all,
New Clubsport written review by Top Gear.
https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/volkswagen/golf-mk7/20-tsi-300-gti-clubsport-5dr-dsg/first-drive
Reading the article, it suggests?
"No faulting the quality, the bespoke Clubsport seat isn’t as aggressive as you might think (nor as low in the cabin as it should be").
Is this the usual generic Top Gear review?
I understood the CS-8 has the same seats as the regular GTi, only fitted with the Art Velours cloth to differentiate the interior from the base GTi?
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I expect the Art Velours will arrive as an option for the regular GTI soon.
Slightly irritating that the CS has cloth door panel inserts but a PVC armrest. At least the “drift mode yo!” R has art velour alcantara door panel inserts to go with its TCR/R-Line patterned seats.
0-100KPH
100-200KPH
https://youtu.be/awU1qeMPUSA
Driving gloves man strikes again too:
https://youtu.be/OfB8TtVUlPI
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I don’t have any real desire to change at the mo but that exhaust does sound pretty good!
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MK8 Clubsport Vs New Civic Type R written review.
https://www.topgear.com/car-news/hot-hatch/vw-golf-gti-clubsport-vs-honda-civic-type-r
No prices for guessing which one he prefers 🙄 but it seems like he really likes the Clubby too.
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I don’t have any real desire to change at the mo but that exhaust does sound pretty good!
And people keep saying you can't have pops and bangs in 2021 on a new car from manufacturer - clearly you can! :smiley:
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I keep looking, keep hoping to find a single review where when it includes a Type R that someone says the pick isn't the Honda...
That article does kinda hit on the thing with the Type R though, best driving hot hatch but not the one you can live with.
Does anyone think any of the other marques COULD make a Type R competitor?
A Golf with ridiculous aero, bucket seats, some race type suspension, slick manual gearbox.
I think they probably could, but does it make any commercial sense? I don't think it does.
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Evo had the latest Type R in their car of the year and it did really well. The looks are a massive part of a hot hatch and for me, I wouldn't want all that extra bodywork but they mention the Evo/STI rally reps with big spoilers and how they were acceptable. But again, Ok for a weekend toy but an everyday car has to work in lots of different circumstances which is why the hot Golfs are so popular. Plus Civic is manual only.
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I expect the Art Velours will arrive as an option for the regular GTI soon.
Slightly irritating that the CS has cloth door panel inserts but a PVC armrest. At least the “drift mode yo!” R has art velour alcantara door panel inserts to go with its TCR/R-Line patterned seats.
0-100KPH
100-200KPH
https://youtu.be/awU1qeMPUSA
Driving gloves man strikes again too:
https://youtu.be/OfB8TtVUlPI
Just came across this one as well.. Pure sounds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vehXVDpRpHY
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MK8 Clubsport Vs New Civic Type R written review.
https://www.topgear.com/car-news/hot-hatch/vw-golf-gti-clubsport-vs-honda-civic-type-r
No prices for guessing which one he prefers 🙄 but it seems like he really likes the Clubby too.
Quoted weight for the Clubsport is 1461- I assume this is with driver and fluids. It does seem a lot heavier than the mk7 performance golfs, though most reports say it's only marginally heavier than the outgoing mk7.
A 5dr manual mk7 GTI Performance weights 1380, for example.
Can anyone shed any light on the quoted weights? Does anyone know a good source for comparing kerb weights?
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On the website it says the unladen weight of 1461kg includes 90% full fuel tank, 68kg driver and 7kg of luggage in line with eu directive 95/48.
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So, these are weights from Evo- basic spec, manual, with fluids-
Mk7 gti 1276
Ed40 - 1300
Mk7.5 gti- 1289
7.5 gti P- 1312
Add a 75kg driver to these numbers, still makes the mk8 sound heavy. I think I read in Evo’s review of the gti that it was only 2kg heavier than the mk7. Sounds like a lot more than that to me!
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So, these are weights from Evo- basic spec, manual, with fluids-
Mk7 gti 1276
Ed40 - 1300
Mk7.5 gti- 1289
7.5 gti P- 1312
Add a 75kg driver to these numbers, still makes the mk8 sound heavy. I think I read in Evo’s review of the gti that it was only 2kg heavier than the mk7. Sounds like a lot more than that to me!
That’s really interesting. Thanks for posting. What surprises me most is the weight of the CS. Thought it was supposed to be lightweight.
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So, these are weights from Evo- basic spec, manual, with fluids-
Mk7 gti 1276
Ed40 - 1300
Mk7.5 gti- 1289
7.5 gti P- 1312
Add a 75kg driver to these numbers, still makes the mk8 sound heavy. I think I read in Evo’s review of the gti that it was only 2kg heavier than the mk7. Sounds like a lot more than that to me!
That’s really interesting. Thanks for posting. What surprises me most is the weight of the CS. Thought it was supposed to be lightweight.
There were no weight savings on the ED40 apart from the standard 18 wheels, which are forged and weigh around 7.5 kg each, ahh perhaps the removal of the ambient lighting saved a few grams :whistle:
The reason the ED40 is heavier than the standard GTIs is the weight of the performance pack differential and brakes. The differential does not replace the open differential in the gearbox but is an add on haldex type unit and is quite heavy.
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So, these are weights from Evo- basic spec, manual, with fluids-
Mk7 gti 1276
Ed40 - 1300
Mk7.5 gti- 1289
7.5 gti P- 1312
Add a 75kg driver to these numbers, still makes the mk8 sound heavy. I think I read in Evo’s review of the gti that it was only 2kg heavier than the mk7. Sounds like a lot more than that to me!
That’s really interesting. Thanks for posting. What surprises me most is the weight of the CS. Thought it was supposed to be lightweight.
There were no weight savings on the ED40 apart from the standard 18 wheels, which are forged and weigh around 7.5 kg each, ahh perhaps the removal of the ambient lighting saved a few grams :whistle:
The reason the ED40 is heavier than the standard GTIs is the weight of the performance pack differential and brakes. The differential does not replace the open differential in the gearbox but is an add on haldex type unit and is quite heavy.
One thing the New Performance brakes is 1,2 kg Lighter than the standard 340mm!!. Thats is pretty crazy ;)...
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So, these are weights from Evo- basic spec, manual, with fluids-
Mk7 gti 1276
Ed40 - 1300
Mk7.5 gti- 1289
7.5 gti P- 1312
Add a 75kg driver to these numbers, still makes the mk8 sound heavy. I think I read in Evo’s review of the gti that it was only 2kg heavier than the mk7. Sounds like a lot more than that to me!
That’s really interesting. Thanks for posting. What surprises me most is the weight of the CS. Thought it was supposed to be lightweight.
There were no weight savings on the ED40 apart from the standard 18 wheels, which are forged and weigh around 7.5 kg each, ahh perhaps the removal of the ambient lighting saved a few grams :whistle:
The reason the ED40 is heavier than the standard GTIs is the weight of the performance pack differential and brakes. The differential does not replace the open differential in the gearbox but is an add on haldex type unit and is quite heavy.
Well I didn’t know that. Thanks! I’m sure I’ve heard people talk about the Mk7 CS being a lightweight car which adds to the appeal of it. Suppose it makes sense really as it’s a great car, but not some stripped out track special. :grin:
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The lightweight one was the Css... With the AC delete for extra hummingbird feather effect.
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MK8 Clubsport Vs New Civic Type R written review.
https://www.topgear.com/car-news/hot-hatch/vw-golf-gti-clubsport-vs-honda-civic-type-r
No prices for guessing which one he prefers 🙄 but it seems like he really likes the Clubby too.
Quoted weight for the Clubsport is 1461- I assume this is with driver and fluids. It does seem a lot heavier than the mk7 performance golfs, though most reports say it's only marginally heavier than the outgoing mk7.
A 5dr manual mk7 GTI Performance weights 1380, for example.
Can anyone shed any light on the quoted weights? Does anyone know a good source for comparing kerb weights?
Are we not comparing apples with oranges here given the DSG box in the Clubsport? I’ve not searched but I guess a more accurate comparison would be all cars with DSG (if available) given you can only get the Clubsport with that box.
Having said that, I’ve come from a land yacht A8 to my Golf so it was always going to feel as light as a feather!
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I think when you hear the name Clubsport you think of stripped back, race-inspired Porsches. I don't think VW has never used the name before they made the ED40/CS S. It's just marketing. Like the TCR that had nothing to do with the touring car race series apart from the terrible side decals!
I do think the Mk8 CS is what a GTI should be like. Decent power, decent-sounding and looking exhaust, beefy brakes, larger but not stupid spoiler. And with prices already from £32k, IMO I'm not sure why you would opt for a normal GTI. Just a shame about the 18" wheels but guess that's an easy fix. I'd like to see a Reflex Silver CS on 19" Prets...
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I think when you hear the name Clubsport you think of stripped back, race-inspired Porsches. I don't think VW has never used the name before they made the ED40/CS S. It's just marketing. Like the TCR that had nothing to do with the touring car race series apart from the terrible side decals!
I do think the Mk8 CS is what a GTI should be like. Decent power, decent-sounding and looking exhaust, beefy brakes, larger but not stupid spoiler. And with prices already from £32k, not sure why you would opt for a normal GTI. Just a shame about the 18" wheels but guess that's an easy fix. I'd like to see a Reflex Silver CS on 19" Prets...
Agree with that. It’s the same marketing stuff that leads to most BMW M cars having a competition badge on them. In reality, it usually means a ruined ride due to stiffer suspension and larger wheels and a big exhaust.
Regarding the wheels, yes the 18’s do look a little small (although they fill the arches better than the standard GTI in my opinion, might be the lower ride height?) but they do in theory give a better handling/ ride balance which suits what I use the car for. I’m also blessed with being the driver so I don’t have to look at them all the time! :grin: :grin:
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To be fair, they are growing on me now. Just think the CS would look great on some wheels that show off the brakes a bit more.
How are you finding it?
I'm loving this Reflex Silver one... £33k with 10 miles on! :smiley:
(https://i.postimg.cc/85PZxY4d/Screenshot-2021-01-26-at-10-19-23.png) (https://postimg.cc/qtSc3j9g)
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To be fair, they are growing on me now. Just think the CS would look great on some wheels that show off the brakes a bit more.
How are you finding it?
I'm loving this Reflex Silver one... £33k with 10 miles on! :smiley:
(https://i.postimg.cc/85PZxY4d/Screenshot-2021-01-26-at-10-19-23.png) (https://postimg.cc/qtSc3j9g)
Very impressed so far. It’s more comfortable and quicker than I expected which is a plus. Starting to get used to the interior (which feels well built to me) and especially love the seats. I’ve started to open the car up a bit more and use sport mode which helps with the noise and feeling of speed. I’ll try and do a full write up before the weekend.
I was offered a metallic car, brand new for £32k or the white car I have for £31.5k ish (don’t have the exact number to hand) and both included the service pack. I did have to spend quite a while negotiating and my local dealer told me to snap their hand off as they were effectively losing money at that price.
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Sounds like a great deal!
I'm in my company car until June next year so will see how prices look and what happens with the forthcoming ED45 version. I really do miss my GTI for blasting around the peaks but the 330e ticks a lot of boxes - just not the one called 'Exciting to drive'!
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MK8 Clubsport Vs New Civic Type R written review.
https://www.topgear.com/car-news/hot-hatch/vw-golf-gti-clubsport-vs-honda-civic-type-r
No prices for guessing which one he prefers 🙄 but it seems like he really likes the Clubby too.
That was an enjoyable read.
Not being someone who sneaks off into the loo with a copy of Evo mag I think the rather technical way the author drove the Civic proves to me I bought the right car! The Clubby is more than fine for a mere mortal like myself. :smiley:
It was good to read the thoughts of someone who can actually drive a hot hatch properly though and nicely written to boot.
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MK8 Clubsport Vs New Civic Type R written review.
https://www.topgear.com/car-news/hot-hatch/vw-golf-gti-clubsport-vs-honda-civic-type-r
No prices for guessing which one he prefers 🙄 but it seems like he really likes the Clubby too.
Quoted weight for the Clubsport is 1461- I assume this is with driver and fluids. It does seem a lot heavier than the mk7 performance golfs, though most reports say it's only marginally heavier than the outgoing mk7.
A 5dr manual mk7 GTI Performance weights 1380, for example.
Can anyone shed any light on the quoted weights? Does anyone know a good source for comparing kerb weights?
Are we not comparing apples with oranges here given the DSG box in the Clubsport? I’ve not searched but I guess a more accurate comparison would be all cars with DSG (if available) given you can only get the Clubsport with that box.
Having said that, I’ve come from a land yacht A8 to my Golf so it was always going to feel as light as a feather!
Yes, you are probably right- add say 20kg for a dsg box and the gap narrows - still probably around 60kg in it by my reckoning.
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MK8 Clubsport Vs New Civic Type R written review.
https://www.topgear.com/car-news/hot-hatch/vw-golf-gti-clubsport-vs-honda-civic-type-r
No prices for guessing which one he prefers 🙄 but it seems like he really likes the Clubby too.
Quoted weight for the Clubsport is 1461- I assume this is with driver and fluids. It does seem a lot heavier than the mk7 performance golfs, though most reports say it's only marginally heavier than the outgoing mk7.
A 5dr manual mk7 GTI Performance weights 1380, for example.
Can anyone shed any light on the quoted weights? Does anyone know a good source for comparing kerb weights?
Are we not comparing apples with oranges here given the DSG box in the Clubsport? I’ve not searched but I guess a more accurate comparison would be all cars with DSG (if available) given you can only get the Clubsport with that box.
Having said that, I’ve come from a land yacht A8 to my Golf so it was always going to feel as light as a feather!
Yes, you are probably right- add say 20kg for a dsg box and the gap narrows - still probably around 60kg in it by my reckoning.
It’s difficult to find the exact figures for a like for like model but Evo themselves seem to think it’s only 4kg between a manual 5 door Mk7 vs 8 but who knows for the other specifications?!?
Either way, the MK8 seems to be about average for a medium family hatch these days. Sounding like an old man but I do remember moaning that the weight of the FN2 Civic Type-R has crept to 1,260kg!
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The hot hatch is definitely changing. More luxurious, more powerful. First question buyers ( and testers) ask is “ how much more power than the outgoing model ”.
It is a shame in a way, because technology is there to make cars lighter, and so more enjoyable to drive, and cheaper to buy and run.
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The hot hatch is definitely changing. More luxurious, more powerful. First question buyers ( and testers) ask is %u201C how much more power than the outgoing model %u201D.
It is a shame in a way, because technology is there to make cars lighter, and so more enjoyable to drive, and cheaper to buy and run.
Making hot hatches ever more powerful increases the gap between them and the next engine/model down. In the Golf, for example, next below the GTI is the 150hp R Line - quite a gap in performance. Maybe there isn't much of a demand for 180-200hp warm hatchbacks these days.
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How would you make them lighter?
Serious question.
Would you make the gti lighter than an R Line? The clubsport lighter than the Gti and the R like a hummingbird that's been going to weight watchers?
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How would you make them lighter?
Serious question.
Would you make the gti lighter than an R Line? The clubsport lighter than the Gti and the R like a hummingbird that's been going to weight watchers?
I have no idea how you'd make them lighter.
I do know it can be done-the mk7 was lighter than mk6 and mk5. Body panels were thinner, and some lighter weight materials were used- don't ask me where- you'd know better than me!
I'm probably in a big minority- the hot hatch buyer wants a big powerful engine, a car that feels rock solid and a long list of options.
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I don't think the buying public really think about power to weight ratios. I just don't think it would sell.
As a former biker, I can tell you about that - I can tell you that a 188kg Yamaha R1 with 128bhp is a ratio that nobody who has only driven cars can possibly understand. You know that bit in star wars where the stars all blur to lines.... its like that lol!
You could make a GTI+ I guess by:
Using different materials for the bonnet and roof - maybe aluminium or carbon fibre?
Lighter forged wheels, maybe 17's, narrower tyres too
Lighter brake calipers and discs
Not sure that would make enough difference vs the money spent. Maybe shed 100kg like that? Cost maybe another 2k?
Removing the 2 doors and making it 3 door drops a fair bit of weight.
Then you could start to do things that nobody would want as a daily driver:
Remove AC
Remove all sound deadening
Remove carpets
Remove interior trim panels
Remove dash
Remove back seats
Replace front seats with lighter recaros
After that, its horrible to live in but probably what, 500kg lighter?
The actual TCR touring car is only 100kg less in weight than the road going "TCR" because after removing all of the nice things it has a rollcage and extra body panels.
Bizarre eh?
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That’s interesting. And your first paragraph is the crux of the matter.
The big shame is that almost everything required for driving enjoyment- steering feel, seat of the pants feel, agility, throttle response- is linked to low weight. Efficiency and reliability too.
Not sure there’s any difference now between 3 and 5 door- mk7 figures were the same, from memory.
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The other thing of course is that at the end of the crash diet, its still a golf - which is not as good as a designed from the ground up racing car like a Lotus Elise.
Normal car buyers demand comfort plus the EU demand safety (heavy body panels, safety systems, electronics)
Which I guess is why they just ramp the power up and not reduce the other things.
I still think if you wanted to add a lot of fun back, the wheels, tyres and brakes would go a long way towards it. Insurance companies hate it though and who wants to ditch their nice pretty 19's (that weight a metric sh1t tonne)
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BTW there is little difference in power to weight in a Yari GR circuit pack and a GTI Mk8... 257bhp, 1645kg...
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257 and 1645 versus
245 and 1950
Looks a bit like it's 305 kg heavier and 12 horses down
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But really it should be
257 and 1280 versus
245 and 1463
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I think low weight is important in itself, not just power to weight.
Just came across this Andrew Frankel gem-
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/anything-goes/how-create-ideal-driver’s-car
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Thing is, 1 second a lap faster on a 3 mile circuit is a significant speed increase... taking 30 seconds off of your best time to the office? Who cares!
Which comes back to what I keep saying about car reviews, they don't deliver the things that people care about.... namely some sort of value for money scale.
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Not sure if you’re referring to jv’s post, fred. My point is about driving enjoyment, which is a big part of hot hatch ownership. I agree speed itself isn’t that important.
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Divide price by power? Weight by power? Would almost certainly mean you should have a Ford... but then you'll complain about the interior - who cares if the dash plastic is less scratchy, do you run your hands on it on the way to the office?
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I watched Three Men Four Wheels the other day - a few episodes in fact.
I couldn't help but desire to want another (proper) Mini after watching the episode about the Cooper S.
Driving along, feeling like John Cooper himself and then realising you are doing only 45mph - that is totally the original Mini experience.
On the other hand, I had two of them (neither was a Cooper unfortunately) and don't need dodgy electrics and mysteriously twisted subframes in my life any more!
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I do think the Mk8 CS is what a GTI should be like. Decent power, decent-sounding and looking exhaust, beefy brakes, larger but not stupid spoiler. And with prices already from £32k, IMO I'm not sure why you would opt for a normal GTI. Just a shame about the 18" wheels but guess that's an easy fix. I'd like to see a Reflex Silver CS on 19" Prets...
Agree the CS should be the GTI. Also should have a manual option.
The standard GTI should just be renamed GT or bring back the Driver badge.
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A 240hp GT?!
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Ref Snoopy's post on previous page...
The GTI has pretty much always had 2 tiers. 8v & 16v MKIIs for example.
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I was picking up on Snoopy's previous post.
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Things can be left as they for me. A GTi doesn't need 300bhp. That's for the enthusiasts, not the typical GTi driver that has no intention of ever taking it anywhere near a track.
I'd bet the majority of GTi buyers don't visit forums such as this one, and most won't know exactly how fast it is to 60mph. They'll have bought/leased it simply because it's a GTi and that's something with heritage and a reputation. It makes no commercial sense to remove the GTi as one of VW's most renowned cars from the mainstream market and aim it at enthusiasts instead. 🤷♂️
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Things can be left as they for me. A GTi doesn't need 300bhp. That's for the enthusiasts, not the typical GTi driver that has no intention of ever taking it anywhere near a track.
I'd bet the majority of GTi buyers don't visit forums such as this one, and most won't know exactly how fast it is to 60mph. They'll have bought/leased it simply because it's a GTi and that's something with heritage and a reputation. It makes no commercial sense to remove the GTi as one of VW's most renowned cars from the mainstream market and aim it at enthusiasts instead. 🤷♂️
Wholeheartedly agreed.
Half the reason there’s always been such a cult following of GTI’s is that they’re ‘good enough’ out of the box for Joe (or Jo) Average and they are so easy to subtly modify for a bit extra in any direction one wishes which brings in a whole different spectrum of owners that want a little more but don’t want Type R or Megane Trophy levels.
The R is something different altogether and lightweight never a consideration.
Ve haf 4WD so we just throw more power at it ja?
And it’s the R that needs to build heritage now as the GTI looks like it’s down a blind alley as a FWD ICE car.
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I think low weight is important in itself, not just power to weight.
Just came across this Andrew Frankel gem-
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/anything-goes/how-create-ideal-driver’s-car
Sorry, the link I posted doesn’t work. Worth looking it up though- just google “ how to create the ideal drivers car “- not least because the golf gti gets a mention.
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Things can be left as they for me. A GTi doesn't need 300bhp. That's for the enthusiasts, not the typical GTi driver that has no intention of ever taking it anywhere near a track.
I'd bet the majority of GTi buyers don't visit forums such as this one, and most won't know exactly how fast it is to 60mph. They'll have bought/leased it simply because it's a GTi and that's something with heritage and a reputation. It makes no commercial sense to remove the GTi as one of VW's most renowned cars from the mainstream market and aim it at enthusiasts instead. 🤷♂️
I'd agree too but for one thing, I much prefer the power delivery of my TCR. My PP was great and plenty fast enough however it was always disappointing when you got it wound up, just as it was getting exciting the power dropped off where the TCR keeps going. In fairness I don't get the opportunity to do that often but that's what made it worse, when the chance came the PP just didn't hit the mark.
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I think low weight is important in itself, not just power to weight.
Just came across this Andrew Frankel gem-
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/anything-goes/how-create-ideal-driver’s-car
Sorry, the link I posted doesn’t work. Worth looking it up though- just google “ how to create the ideal drivers car “- not least because the golf gti gets a mention.
Forum doesn't like the apostrophe in the Autocar link, this should work:
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/anything-goes/how-create-ideal-driver%E2%80%99s-car (https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/anything-goes/how-create-ideal-driver%E2%80%99s-car)
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That article lol.... it does contain many of the widely respected "drivers cars" (complete with their faults and shortcomings that means I'd totally not want to own any of them) and then totally counter to everything he says about what makes it, chucks in a Golf GTI.
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That article lol.... it does contain many of the widely respected "drivers cars" (complete with their faults and shortcomings that means I'd totally not want to own any of them) and then totally counter to everything he says about what makes it, chucks in a Golf GTI.
Well all cars have shortcomings - in fact his very first point is no 2 people will agree on the best. I think that’s one of the main points of the piece -he talks about several things that don’t get mentioned in the context of “ driver’s cars”- like accessibility, practicality, visibility, ride- and obviously low weight. All of these things make a car enjoyable to drive, not just how much power and grip it has.
A very thought provoking piece imo.
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Maybe a "drivers car" isn't about it being your main form of transport.
Its about having that garage with something in it that in your leisure time on sunny days you take the cover off of it and drive it ten miles before returning it to its cossetted cocoon.
I suspect this nirvana is what these people speak of.
Sadly I'm more prole than that pipe dream. Maybe that's why I don't really get it.
Even my forthcoming GTI is a luxury beyond comprehension for all of my life, only made possible by me gambling on my mileage being far less than it ever has been for the next three years. If I've got it wrong then it will need to be gone.
One thing is for sure, next stop is a milk float :sick:
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I was picking up on Snoopy's previous post.
Yep, so was I - sorry. I've edited.
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Its about having that garage with something in it that in your leisure time on sunny days you take the cover off of it and drive it ten miles before returning it to its cossetted cocoon.
That’s exactly what people have been doing with their golf GTIs since last March 😂
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Ooooh clubby vs Type R track battle!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPcsfN2Rw7c
That's upset the internet!
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Ooooh clubby vs Type R track battle!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPcsfN2Rw7c
That's upset the internet!
On the face of it a great result...
However the driver of the Golf showed much more commitment, I have never seen a review of a road car on track where the driver braked so late & aggresively, compare that to the Honda.
Having experience of driven 100+ trackdays (none in my Golf CS), I doubt the Golf would do many laps like that before brakes , tyres or gearbox asked for a bit of a rest!? :)
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It was pretty hard driving, you are right that the stock brakes and tyres probably aren't best suited to that level of attack for any length of time but... I've never seen a type R bested on the track before but another hot hatch... Let alone that car being a golf.
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To be fair he was absolutely wringing the neck of the golf and kindov took it easy towards the end of lap with the CTR. Or at least the CTR made the same lap look a lot more composed :undecided:
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Apologies if it’s already been posted up but I found this in the wee small hours this morning.
Not exactly a review but interesting enough.
https://youtu.be/Ngl2R41O1NQ
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Surprised his gloves didn't cause it to have a massive dummy spit lol
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Ooooh clubby vs Type R track battle!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPcsfN2Rw7c
That's upset the internet!
What... Bridgestone tyres that can actually stick to a road?! :tongue: :grin:
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https://youtu.be/I0MW_V2OqxQ
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Nice car, well demonstrated, some reasonable suggestions for tweaking but she would give me a sore head, listening to her! Where can I get her lease deal?
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Agree with her on the side stripe / decal. Such a lame effort by VW. Why not extend it into the rear door and have a CS logo (like the MK7 did and the TCR did). A CS logo - or even a GTI logo - on the seats would have been a nice touch too.
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You can see her with the GTI here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg_IKq84uSY
And I am asking the question why she'd want a manual clubby after the hash she made of that lol
Also the GTI video shows some pops... and she said the clubby in Special mode has fake pops and bangs????? wtf!
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I’m getting dangerously tempted by a Clubsport :smiley:
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Nice car, well demonstrated, some reasonable suggestions for tweaking but she would give me a sore head, listening to her! Where can I get her lease deal?
In Germany
https://www.leasingmarkt.de/leasing-vw-golf?v=2&sort=rate&mn=97&mag%5B%5D=GROUP-37&g=a&sfid%5B%5D=1&epf=290&doors=4%2F5&ins=1
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You can see her with the GTI here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg_IKq84uSY
And I am asking the question why she'd want a manual clubby after the hash she made of that lol
Also the GTI video shows some pops... and she said the clubby in Special mode has fake pops and bangs????? wtf!
They all say they want a manual on YouTube but buy DSG
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You can see her with the GTI here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg_IKq84uSY
And I am asking the question why she'd want a manual clubby after the hash she made of that lol
Also the GTI video shows some pops... and she said the clubby in Special mode has fake pops and bangs????? wtf!
They all say they want a manual on YouTube but buy DSG
LOL they all think that their skills at three pedalling are superior to a computer.... but either proved wrong or acknowledge that most of the time that has zero use.
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And yet a nation so well know for its love of a slush box had so much clout demanding a manual, BMW made US market M5s with a stick for 2 generations of car after we were told tough tits.
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https://youtu.be/I0MW_V2OqxQ
Just watched that.
A bit too much collagen going on there methinks. But enough about the car... :whistle:
As said, some good ideas around the graphics but I think it’s been toned down deliberately so the Ed45 has somewhere to stamp its mark. Then maybe a light facelift in a few years will see the Clubsport graphics changed. I actually don’t dislike the Clubby side graphics as is but there’s room for improvement. And certainly on a white car I’d agree that a black roof would be nice. I liked the black roof on my Ed40 and TCR, chavvy or not.
Despite having rubbish hand/eye coordination I still prefer a manual box too. Yes the DSG can be faster but generally it’s slow witted in give and take driving, and there isn’t a setting to suit my driving style which would sit between Normal/Comfort and Sport. I really can’t be arsed with the paddles. I appreciate I’m in the minority.
Another good vid by hair-in-a-bun man here showing off a fully loaded R.
I think he likes it.
https://youtu.be/eGZLZ6MmIhQ
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I don't think you can trust anyone with a man bun :whistle:
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Indeed! A fine looking chap but you’d not want him near your daughter :grin:
What struck me more than the car was the scenery. It twigged around the point where he was stood next to the rear of the car pointing out bits.
Initially it was the watery winter sun hazily glowing through the grey clouds above the miles of flat green fields, looking like a setting for a painting. Well, it stopped me looking at his beige shoes at least...
Then moving on to the in-car driving: it was all beautifully flat! Visibility! Somewhere where you can actually drive a modern 300 plus BHP sports hatch without wondering whether you’ll encounter sudden death around each corner.
Where I live it’s all bends, trees, hills and suicidal nature.
At 4:30 in the morning, as Alison Mosshart explains to me it ain’t water that she wants, each bend on the beautifully clear (of traffic) roads fills me with dread that there’ll be yet another navel gazing stag standing aimlessly in the road bathing in the moonlight.
Can you fit bull-bars to a Golf?
Then during the daylight hours it’s people who think driving 30 miles to take their dog for a sh!t on the beach is an essential journey, or grandma popping out somewhere for some reason, the Lycra jockeys, the caravanettes...
oh for some flat roads and visibility!
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You should try Lincs... I'm renaming it "the green hell" both because its a road nightmare and because the local scallies think it actually is The Ring.
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18 inch prets. Nice. 19s would be better. By one. :grin:
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There’s a few R’s and CS popping up on AutoScout24.de with the black estorils now - not the best pictures so haven’t really got a good impression of what they look like just yet
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There’s a few R’s and CS popping up on AutoScout24.de with the black estorils now - not the best pictures so haven’t really got a good impression of what they look like just yet
I’ve seen the R’s on there with estorils but not clubsports, will take another look. I wonder if we will get the option for black estorils on the clubsport or just diamond cut
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(https://i.postimg.cc/901x5LMT/8892-AD3-F-4070-41-F5-A5-F3-5-D3-F2-F131-D82.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
(https://i.postimg.cc/Gh7MXg6n/5-BFB09-B1-1-B69-4232-B383-73120-F1-EBDF6.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)how to do a screenshot on a pc (https://postimages.org/app)
(https://i.postimg.cc/zfnFYx2B/C9-E4-EF6-B-F3-AD-49-EB-AA59-7908-D54-D3-D69.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
Best I could find.
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(https://i.postimg.cc/DZBZywgD/263-CF375-B86-A-48-B9-B435-64-B46-E704-FAE.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
Looks great
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(https://i.postimg.cc/DZBZywgD/263-CF375-B86-A-48-B9-B435-64-B46-E704-FAE.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
Looks great
they look like polo r line wheels :sick:
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OMG looks superb with Prets :cool:
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Latest 8CS review from carfection. HenryC is one of the best car "testers" in my view.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7PtsxgBlxI
It will be interesting to hear the view of those who have owned 8CS & TCR at the videos concluding remarks?
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Latest 8CS review from carfection. HenryC is one of the best car "testers" in my view.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7PtsxgBlxI
That is a good review. Its actually a review, not some youtuber talking garbage.
He did miss a trick or two though - the blue lights and dash? No idea how the clubby comes out of the box but its entirely configurable.
He didn't know what the non-DCC chasis settings did either lol but did note that without DCC you don't get "special mode".
Interesting to hear him say that VDM doesn't control the electro-mechanical LSD in the base GTI.... first I've heard anyone say that.
Noticed he didn't seem to struggle to turn off ESC while driving, unlike anyone else so far. Maybe they were all just moaning babies :laugh:
Anyway, while undoubtably the clubby is a great hot hatch, i'm happy with having chosen the cosy hatch :cool:
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You know, thinking about non-DCC cars and the chasis setting in the driving modes...
Thats going to be a VDM setting isn't it? VDM controls everything in a Mk8.
If you have DCC it controls suspension rates on a per wheel basis, but without it its still controlling XDS and maybe VAQ along with ESC.
That I think is what the chasis setting does in non-DCC.
So maybe he is sort of right when he said it controls the VAQ and he noted their is no front diff setting in the individual driving mode, unlike in the Mk7 with VAQ.
I guess its all about VDM, which is new in the Mk8 and joins up all of the systems unlike the Mk7.
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Having followed Henry's reviews for years, I think he and the team do enough research into the car they feature. Just look at the production quality, they never rush to be the first to get a car online.
As this thread title is "clubsport reviews".
Henry ran a mk7 CS as a long termer.
This may be classified as Nsfw with parental advisory as it is literally Gti pron! :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTXenwRMwvk
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Oh don't get me wrong, thats the best most detailed review I have seen of a Mk8 yet, refreshing to see some professionalism in the end!
And it made me muse about what VDM was, I think all of us don't really understand it yet. The truth will come - from a VW technician training manual.... would love to see the book on VDM as I am sure its all explained in there.
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It will be interesting to hear the view of those who have owned 8CS & TCR at the videos concluding remarks?
That’ll be this idiot then :grin:
I only had chance to whizz through the review, I’ll watch it properly when less busy later/at the weekend.
Steering wise they feel much the same to me but bear in mind I’m still running the car in and can only use it for commuting (which is admittedly on rural roads at least). But I can’t really tell the difference between the steering between the cars. Then again I’m not a proper driver like Henry and certainly not a qualified reviewer so I’ll go with what the man says.
In all other respects I agree with Henry, pointless changing between the two as you gain little for a lot of expenditure and lose quite a bit in the form of user functionality (looks are arguable I suppose but the nod definitely goes to the TCR for me).
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Interesting thing on the Carfection review - that Clubsport was not specified with 19"s from factory. They have been added afterwards. Still trying to find a 100% clear answer on if spec'ing 18/19"s the only difference from factory is the little plastic winglets on the arches with the 19"s
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Interesting thing on the Carfection review - that Clubsport was not specified with 19"s from factory. They have been added afterwards. Still trying to find a 100% clear answer on if spec'ing 18/19"s the only difference from factory is the little plastic winglets on the arches with the 19"s
Good spot! I missed that.
Hmmmm the winglets are for MOT compliance I believe... otherwise they protrude from the body work?
And yes, the question of what they change besides the wheels and the winglets is still unanswered.
Curiously just now the GTI configurator triggers the question about 19" suspension, the clubby doesn't.
Weird.
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Mmmmm, I think it looks so good in that carfection video! Nicest / most flattering video I've seen of the car yet.
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VW confirmed to Harry that the comfort/ sport chassis setting is the diff, not anything to do with ride quality.
Buried somewhere in the comments for the video. Glad that one is sorted then!
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VW confirmed to Harry that the comfort/ sport chassis setting is the diff, not anything to do with ride quality.
Buried somewhere in the comments for the video. Glad that one is sorted then!
Oh yes....so it does. One of the great Mk8 mysteries solved!
I can understand how the XDS/VAQ setting could be considered "sport" but "comfort"?? what does comfort mean on a diff setting?
And I wonder if a car with DCC has chasis menu options that read differently? I'll find out in 3 weeks!
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Hey guys, I have some news on the subject of the suspension differences between a Clubsport with 18" wheels and 19" wheels from factory. I wanted to get a 100% clear answer, so, I managed to speak in person to a gentleman by the name of Jürgen Pützschler who works alongside Karsten Schebsdat, the head of chassis development at VW HQ! The answer is, there is a difference in suspension setting/spring rates between a car fitted with an 18" wheel and a car fitted with 19" wheels from factory. Trust this helps anyone wishing to know.
(P.S, I also happen to know that there is 100% an Edition 45 GTI coming! I asked him!)
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Now that is some top quality insider research! :nerd:
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Hey guys, I have some news on the subject of the suspension differences between a Clubsport with 18" wheels and 19" wheels from factory. I wanted to get a 100% clear answer, so, I managed to speak in person to a gentleman by the name of Jürgen Pützschler who works alongside Karsten Schebsdat, the head of chassis development at VW HQ! The answer is, there is a difference in suspension setting/spring rates between a car fitted with an 18" wheel and a car fitted with 19" wheels from factory. Trust this helps anyone wishing to know.
(P.S, I also happen to know that there is 100% an Edition 45 GTI coming! I asked him!)
Good work! How difficult was it to get that far up the food chain? :afro: :cool:
Did he intimate what any of the differences are? Sooner or later part numbers will be available so the fact there are differences will be obvious from that but which one has stiffer springs or dampers or both would be useful.
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Fantastic info!
So Henry's car with retro fitted nineteens won't be riding the same as one factory built for nineteens.
Interesting and something I've been speculating for a while.
Those adelaides are super heavy, maybe that's why they need different springs?
And I think it's the springs and not the dampers because dcc is listed as being for eighteens or nineteens.. I doubt if the dampers are different but perhaps they are too.
One thing is totally apparent now, vw have put a lot of effort into handling in the mk8 and it was possible to feel that on my gti test drive for sure.
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Your very welcome! Well, I actually was wanting some advice on the suspension set up of my Clubsport Edition 40 GTI, I actually uncovered an anomaly in the rear camber values that Volkswagen had stated for the car and wished to get this clarified as well as glean some tips on chassis set up from the men that know and actually developed the car in the first place from scratch!
It seems that the vehicles speced with the 19" wheels from factory have the different spring rate, hence why fitting a 19" wheel to a vehicle that was fitted with 18" wheels from factory may cause issues.
The other aspect he did stress is to get the full advantage of the Mk8 handling improvements, the Dynamic Chassis must be specced, a lot of development has gone into this with the VDM (Vehicle Dynamics Manager) and only when fitted with DCC, the VDM is fully active and helps agility.
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Yes, I'm pretty sure the early reviews talked about it being very much about vdm working with dcc.
Dcc goes from being a fairly dumb individual shock system to becoming a sensor network and controlled by another computer that uses even more inputs to adjust each wheel (throttle position, braking, steering, speed etc) plus adjusting the xds/vaq.
It's very clever.
I'm still not sure how the setting for chassis on a non dcc car can be "comfort" though...
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Good info. Next time you speak to him could you ask him what's included in the nav pro over the standard nav? :grin:
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Lol or why the clubby decal only goes halfway along the side 😜
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He has assured me he is only responsible for chassis development :rolleyes:! I tried to press for a little more information on the upcoming Edition 45 GTI and was clearly informed that aspects such as interior etc are taken care off by Marketing!
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So that confirms that as well, it's just stickers and an expensive exhaust :laugh:
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So that confirms that as well, it's just stickers and an expensive exhaust :laugh:
And a nice key ring 👍
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Yes! Does look like this more or less! I don't think we will be getting the ultra desirable Recaro wingback seats...Alcantara steering wheel...red trimmed seat belts etc etc that Volkswagen let us have on the Edition 40 ☹☹👎
I also don't think there will be any extra chassis revisions over the standard Mk8 Clubsport...
And, it doesn't seem the Edition 45 GTI will be a limited production model like the Edition 40 GTI..
Sorry Volkswagen, you have lost the plot here....hard for me to say this as I'm an exceedingly loyal Golf driver :sad:
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From all of the other thread, the ED45 pack is:
different wheels (possibly red spokes)
akra exhaust
some undetermined cosmetic stuff (probably stickers)
Its about 3000 euros/pounds/roubles
and then on top you can order an ED45+ pack which add cup2 tyres
which brings it to ~5000 euros/punts/zimbabwe dollars
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It seems that the vehicles speced with the 19" wheels from factory have the different spring rate, hence why fitting a 19" wheel to a vehicle that was fitted with 18" wheels from factory may cause issues.
The other aspect he did stress is to get the full advantage of the Mk8 handling improvements, the Dynamic Chassis must be specced, a lot of development has gone into this with the VDM (Vehicle Dynamics Manager) and only when fitted with DCC, the VDM is fully active and helps agility.
That’s me buggered on all counts then :grin:
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Can’t understand a word they’re saying but you can see the CS on Estorils.
https://youtu.be/eef0Xq3Dgos
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Can’t understand a word they’re saying but you can see the CS on Estorils.
https://youtu.be/eef0Xq3Dgos
Previously I’d have wanted to spec the all black Estorils but seeing that and a few other photos I think the polished versions look loads better. :cool:
I think the two guys were discussing chicken soup btw. :whistle:
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Peter Cooper hedge end have stuck their Clubsport on brescia’s aswell to join in with the trend lol
I almost asked for another test drive to see what it rode like on 18” standard spring setup from factory but on 19”s
Black standard R in aswell which looked quite tasty
(https://i.postimg.cc/jSNYDkB0/6-B5-F6-FDA-9155-4-A8-B-8217-0-FFCB637-E2-EC.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/gxYT54YN)
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Peter Cooper hedge end have stuck their Clubsport on brescia’s aswell to join in with the trend lol
I almost asked for another test drive to see what it rode like on 18” standard spring setup from factory but on 19”s
Black standard R in aswell which looked quite tasty
(https://i.postimg.cc/jSNYDkB0/6-B5-F6-FDA-9155-4-A8-B-8217-0-FFCB637-E2-EC.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/gxYT54YN)
I really don’t like the look of the R at all this time. Another CS in Brescias says it all!
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Can’t understand a word they’re saying but you can see the CS on Estorils.
https://youtu.be/eef0Xq3Dgos
Previously I’d have wanted to spec the all black Estorils but seeing that and a few other photos I think the polished versions look loads better. :cool:
I think the two guys were discussing chicken soup btw. :whistle:
Agree Andy. I think the diamond cut Estorils look better. Think it’s that black alloy thing where they look smaller. Adelaides do look massive in comparison to Estorils though.
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Peter Cooper hedge end have stuck their Clubsport on brescia’s aswell to join in with the trend lol
I almost asked for another test drive to see what it rode like on 18” standard spring setup from factory but on 19”s
Black standard R in aswell which looked quite tasty
(https://i.postimg.cc/jSNYDkB0/6-B5-F6-FDA-9155-4-A8-B-8217-0-FFCB637-E2-EC.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/gxYT54YN)
I really don’t like the look of the R at all this time. Another CS in Brescias says it all!
It’s weird, I don’t like it in that photo, but in the flesh it’s a lot sharper but remains subtle overall. I don’t think black is the best colour for it.
I’m really really torn atm. Very tempted to grab a 32k ish standard spec Clubsport in white or the lighter grey off autotrader and stick on my black Pretoria’s. They are at a good discount atm. But on the other hand I’d want DCC and the misses insists on heated seats which means a long wait factory order
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happy misses happy life :grin: :whistle:
My two cents, remember you can not add heated seat or DCC later. so, be patient keep looking :nerd:
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Im quite taken by the CS, I just hope that VW will bring some more wheel choices to it in the next 12 months for when I think about changing my 7.5
(https://i.postimg.cc/xdxK2JLz/6-B5-E62-EF-B8-B4-4541-B0-B3-9584-FF6-BBEFC.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/p9j9QdGW)
This looks fantastic. Been waiting to see a Mk8 with some Prets.
For anyone interested, Volkswizard has just done a video fitting some T-Roc Prets in dark grey to his Mk7.5 R and they are a lot cheaper brand new than the Golf ones! £1400 for a set.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Volkswagen-genuine-19-Pretoria-Dark-Graphite-Matt-Light-Alloy-Wheel/363110894180?hash=item548b188a64:g:rGkAAOSw-R9f8xoJ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uuYSp0tLkU
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Aren't the golf ones forged and the others cast? Weight will be the difference...
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Yes, they aren't forged. Which Andrew points out might make them better at no cracking/buckling. Don't think the weight difference is that much? And there aren't any forged factory wheels are there so you aren't adding weight?
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Someone posted a link up for those ET44 Pretorias back before Christmas and I must admit I was sorely tempted myself. They’ve gone up a little in price since then.
I cheaped out in the end and went reps partly due to the state of my local roads and partly because I wanted something that wasn’t immediately obviously from a previous generation car due to the general rarity of the style (Reifnitz) to a casual observer (as opposed to the :nerd: on here :grin: )
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Yes, they aren't forged. Which Andrew points out might make them better at no cracking/buckling. Don't think the weight difference is that much? And there aren't any forged factory wheels are there so you aren't adding weight?
I thought going back to Mk7 days a lot of prets were getting buckled???
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I think that what Volkswizard was getting at is that the 'heavier' version of the Prets would potentially be more resistant to buckling as they're cast rather than flow formed like the proper Golf R version.
However I seem to recall a few examples of Santiago's buckling too, and that's also a 19 inch cast alloy. 🤷♂️
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I think that what Volkswizard was getting at is that the 'heavier' version of the Prets would potentially be more resistant to buckling as they're cast rather than flow formed like the proper Golf R version.
However I seem to recall a few examples of Santiago's buckling too, and that's also a 19 inch cast alloy. 🤷♂️
I love those Prets he bought but I’m not sure they work on his R. Possibly the colour.
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I think that what Volkswizard was getting at is that the 'heavier' version of the Prets would potentially be more resistant to buckling as they're cast rather than flow formed like the proper Golf R version.
However I seem to recall a few examples of Santiago's buckling too, and that's also a 19 inch cast alloy. 🤷♂️
I love those Prets he bought but I’m not sure they work on his R. Possibly the colour.
Yeah I get what you mean, although they are still a good upgrade on the Dijon's he had on before.
While I'm here, just remembered there was also a 19 inch Cadiz for the R that I recall a few people having problems with them breaking. 🤔
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Hi
anyone else seen the Hockenhiem lap between a clubsport 8 and Civic type R?
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The offset is lower on those Pretoria too - not sure it it might cause issues catching
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The offset is lower on those Pretoria too - not sure it it might cause issues catching
Think Andrew in his video said they sit 6mm further out but don't think there would be any issues unless you slam the car down on some low springs.
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The offset is lower on those Pretoria too - not sure it it might cause issues catching
No it won’t cause issues. I run ET45 and they’re fine and only 1mm difference.
I ran ET41 on my mk7 and they had plenty of room too (which is basically the same car).
In about a months time those same Pretorias will no doubt be sitting on a mk8 Clubsport so we will all know!
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Evo review out today
https://www.evo.co.uk/volkswagen/golf/gti-clubsport
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The offset is lower on those Pretoria too - not sure it it might cause issues catching
No it won’t cause issues. I run ET45 and they’re fine and only 1mm difference.
I ran ET41 on my mk7 and they had plenty of room too (which is basically the same car).
In about a months time those same Pretorias will no doubt be sitting on a mk8 Clubsport so we will all know!
Good to know. I’d heard the front arches were looking tight on the 8. Looking at the wrapped racechip car from another thread, the wheels they have are 8.5x19 with 45 offset (I think!) so mUst be more room to play with
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Couldn’t remember if this had been posted. Pistonheads review.
https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-driven/2021-vw-golf-gti-clubsport-uk-review/43754
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Couldn’t remember if this had been posted. Pistonheads review.
https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-driven/2021-vw-golf-gti-clubsport-uk-review/43754
Did they actually drive that car? It reads like an essay put together from snippets of the press pack. The car looks like a launch base spec with 18’s that VW Press fleet have added some Adelaides to rather than an actual £42k car and their take on Clubsport DCC vs non-DCC doesn’t add up at all especially around the way they describe ‘Ring mode.
Got car delivered, weather was a bit snowy, gingerly drove to some photo locations, went back in the warm to write some ‘facts’?
Or didn’t I read it properly? I’ve only had a couple hours sleep so maybe it’s my foggy brain.
I appreciate it’s hard to fully sum up a car in a short passage but that review was as bland as a detailing thread.
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Couldn’t remember if this had been posted. Pistonheads review.
https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-driven/2021-vw-golf-gti-clubsport-uk-review/43754
Did they actually drive that car? It reads like an essay put together from snippets of the press pack. The car looks like a launch base spec with 18’s that VW Press fleet have added some Adelaides to rather than an actual £42k car and their take on Clubsport DCC vs non-DCC doesn’t add up at all especially around the way they describe ‘Ring mode.
Got car delivered, weather was a bit snowy, gingerly drove to some photo locations, went back in the warm to write some ‘facts’?
Or didn’t I read it properly? I’ve only had a couple hours sleep so maybe it’s my foggy brain.
I appreciate it’s hard to fully sum up a car in a short passage but that review was as bland as a detailing thread.
Apparently the photos aren’t of the car they tested. Something is a bit odd there though. Does feel a bit clipped together.
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It’s pretty generic stuff, isn’t it? Could’ve been any modern hot hatch he was talking about- “ steering not much feel, auto box good but I wish it was more involving etc etc “
Generally seems to be some enthusiasm for the clubsport over the base GTi though
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A lot of the reviews refer to a 4K price diffenence which isn’t really fair given a good part of that cost is for DSG. Compared to a DSG standard GTI the difference is relatively small and well worth it especially as I expect the CS to be more desirable second hand and thus hold its value better.
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Depends on what your priorities are, most people don't buy a golf gti because it's the fastest or best handling...
If I don't run the clubby on 98, am I seeing much difference?
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why do people buy a GTI if not for power and handling? Is the mk8 becoming the new mk4 :cry:
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I'd argue a lot of people buy it for the badge and the equipment level.
If you wanted handling and performance, everyone would buy something else, a type R probably.
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I'd argue a lot of people buy it for the badge and the equipment level.
You could say the same for almost any performance car.
I would think most golf gti buyers would have some interest in the dynamic abilities of the car, though , yes, it does have broader appeal than many alternatives
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Yeah it can't totally suck but on the other hand as we've said numerous times it's never been the ultimate driving machine...
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Apparently the photos aren’t of the car they tested. Something is a bit odd there though. Does feel a bit clipped together.
Hmmm, I smell a rat!
A shame really as pistonheads reviews are normally good, or the odd one or two I’ve previously read (from links on here) have been at least. Depends on what your priorities are, most people don't buy a golf gti because it's the fastest or best handling...
If I don't run the clubby on 98, am I seeing much difference?
The higher state of tune (as opposed to the 245 engine) works better on higher RON stuff but it’ll run happily enough on 95, especially just pootling around in cooler weather. Driving hard in warm weather might lead to retardation to stop detonation possibly. I get your point though, although enthusiast owners (us lot) will generally insist on using Momentum and V-Power, the average cheap lease company car driver won’t be arsed and won’t notice a difference.
why do people buy a GTI if not for power and handling? Is the mk8 becoming the new mk4 :cry:
The modern GTI appeals to a really broad spectrum of people where the mk4 GTI mostly appealed to image conscious women until the tuners started releasing decent power out of the 1.8t engine.
There was a big gulf opened up between the GTI and R in the mk7 days so VW addressed that. Unfortunately their solution made those 290 bhp versions more expensive than an R to buy (new) when discounts and leases were taken into consideration.
VW have now come up with a staggered model line up with a clear price gap between models.
The basic mk8 GTI is praised for its handling in every road test I’ve seen and as usual its performance belies its on paper power deficit. It’s no mk4 GTI.
Most likely every road test of an R will decry the Clubsport as ‘pointless’ next to it which will miss the point completely. A Clubsport is a very fast GTI out of the box where an R is just a fast competent Golf unless you throw £5k of extras at it to make it what it wants/needs to be.
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Apparently the photos aren’t of the car they tested. Something is a bit odd there though. Does feel a bit clipped together.
Hmmm, I smell a rat!
Reviewer working from home :lipsrsealed:
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https://youtu.be/42fi7Wyk1Ks
Thomas is back again.
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https://youtu.be/42fi7Wyk1Ks
Thomas is back again.
Do you get the feeling he much preferred the R?
Not exactly ideal conditions for a 300PS FWD’er I know but even so...
Having said that, the R he tested was a full spec one which makes a big difference IMO.
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https://youtu.be/42fi7Wyk1Ks
Thomas is back again.
Do you get the feeling he much preferred the R?
Not exactly ideal conditions for a 300PS FWD’er I know but even so...
Having said that, the R he tested was a full spec one which makes a big difference IMO.
Yep who wouldn't in the snow, needs to be reviewed in the warmer climates
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The poor chap is just bored.
“ here’s another vw sports hatchback.. it’s very similar to all the others.. red stripe.. daytime running lights.. god I hate this job..”
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I love his reviews but let’s not forget that he didn’t rave about the tcr when he reviewed that. Said the ride quality wasn’t a good as other Golfs.
I totally agree that the CS reviews have been hampered by the bad weather. We all know that the snow in those videos causes problems for a fwd hatch. You couldn’t really explore the cars qualities properly.
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I bet he felt a bit more enthusiastic doing the 911 GT3 launch :grin:
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I'd imagine most of the job is pretty dull... This week Fred's got the new Renault Crapeau. Its not the range topping 1.5tdi, he's got the 1.1 litre basique model. Watch him struggle to find some positives so next week they let us review the new megane rs...
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I'd imagine most of the job is pretty dull... This week Fred's got the new Renault Crapeau. Its not the range topping 1.5tdi, he's got the 1.1 litre basique model. Watch him struggle to find some positives so next week they let us review the new megane rs...
:grin:
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Longer version of Thomas’ review now uploaded https://youtu.be/oijcDmi15lg
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I’ll make myself a brew and sit down to watch it!
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Just doing the very same thing myself now.
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Just doing the very same thing myself now.
I had a biscuit too. Highlight of my week Andy. :grin:
The full review is great. Love the fact that Thomas talks about normal things like how good the seats are and fuel consumption. Need to know these things as an every day car. Hope you’re enjoying your CS.
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I pushed the boat out and had a bowl of cereal! :grin:
Mind you I’d not long dragged my lazy arse out of bed (night shift).
I’m now watching Nicki Shields introduce the McLaren Artura which looks a mildly more appealing car than the Clubby.
How difficult is it to pick six winning numbers? Can’t be that hard can it... ?
My own Clubby is in rather typical occasional use only at the moment. Waiting for my son to move back out again so I have room to get the car in and out to use it more. I’m getting the dreaded warning messages come up on the dash on and off and can only use it for commuting so it’s getting gently run in rather slowly.
Once I can get the thing in more regular use I’ll post up more thoughts on how it compares to the mk7. Not all of it glowingly positive!
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No three zone aircon on the clubby?
WTF?
Edit: Actually our German friend is sort of wrong, well in the UK. Both the GTI and the Clubby in the UK don't have three zone aircon as standard. The three zone comes as part of Winter Pack 2, together with heated rear seats.
Whether or not you need 3 zone in order to control the aircon with voice control, I don't know. Probably don't I suspect.
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I’d swap my 3 zone for Thomas’s Harman Kardon any day
(https://i.postimg.cc/xTPWv2xT/EF1-AB511-F684-441-D-8-C34-E1-D344633-E41.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/gnnSpfbf)
picture courtesy of jv’s natty new uploader widget thingy
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do you have winter pack 2?
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No, just plain ol’ peasant spec
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Oooh check out those freshly mown mats
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No, just plain ol’ peasant spec
But you have 3 zone climate...
VW UK strike again?
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Oooh check out those freshly mown mats
Not a dandelion in sight.
But you have 3 zone climate...
VW UK strike again?
UK vs DE spec variations maybe, or early build anomalies
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But you have 3 zone climate...
VW UK strike again?
UK vs DE spec variations maybe, or early build anomalies
Yeah VW UK the early days.... look at the UK configurator today.... clubby or GTI definitely option ticks for 3 zone.
Wonder if mine will have it..... its not listed on the options list as a paid for option.
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Longer version of Thomas’ review now uploaded https://youtu.be/oijcDmi15lg
He also says the suspension in ring mode is stiffer.... its not.
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As far as I could tell from anything I’d read there was no real difference in interior spec between GTI and Clubby, seat materials excepted.
I did read in the blurb that the CS had a GTI ‘welcome light’ but mine just has a golf ball like a normal Golf (I’m assuming the latter has this) if it was referring the the under mirror light.
I’ve no idea what the ‘Ring mode actually consists of but I’d expect a fair degree of electronic trickery involving tightened suspension but damping being set to be quickly reactive to allow absorption of track kerbs but firmed up enough to eliminate any wallow when steering lock is applied allowing full power through bends, keeping as much tyre contact and weight loading across both sides of the axles as even as possible for maximum traction.
Then again I don’t have the first idea about suspension dynamics when it comes to race tracks.
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Dan Prosser (Pistonheads). Clubby Vs. Type R, 3 guesses as to which one he prefers 😂
https://youtu.be/uprnaqIwCrk
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That’s more like what we’d expect from PH. Much better.
Confirms that the car does have DCC and optioned 19’s rather than retro fitted Adelaides like on the white press car. That written PH article threw up more questions than it answered.
Tells us a bit more about the ‘Ring mode too in that it’s very suitable for British roads (explains why so much car manufacturers spend so much time doing ‘Ring laps) due to its compliance.
No surprises on the outcome but a good watch and informative to boot.
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Loads of car makers have claimed to have specially adapted suspension for UK roads though. They don't seem to shout about the ring being used to do it though.
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I’d hope on road developments were done all over the world still, from desert to arctic and everywhere in between, but most ‘spy’ snapshots tend to be captured at the ‘Ring these days.
Obviously the high speed development done on track in Germany is far removed from 40 mph on the Bracknell bypass dodging the potholes and manhole covers but at least with DCC and microprocessors we can have suspension that’s tuned for most conditions at the flick of an index finger.
A screen navigator and button presser’s dream!
Personally I like to just get in and drive and have extremely specific requirements from a car. The less settings the better. But if it means I don’t have to drag out a VCDS cable to mess about with long codes and instead can set up a car how I want it from the off using officially sanctioned menus then it’s all good.
When I look at my colleague’s mk5 GTI I love the simplicity and solidity of that car.
I was having that very discussion with another colleague who was lamenting the complexity and build quality of modern BMWs compared to an old 5 series he has amongst his collection of cars.
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Just try Google with "suspension tuned for UK roads" and you'll see exactly what I mean.
Some of the results are what people might rate as desirable cars, some of them are sh1tboxes. Its really common though!
I don't think any of them use clever electronics though. I'd just trap my finger in the springs trying to push one of those 🤣
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Dan Prosser (Pistonheads). Clubby Vs. Type R, 3 guesses as to which one he prefers 😂
https://youtu.be/uprnaqIwCrk
The honda’s the one to buy... if you do most of your driving on deserted b roads.
Interesting you can buy it without the ridiculous spoiler. It’s possible some normal people will now consider buying one
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Dan Prosser (Pistonheads). Clubby Vs. Type R, 3 guesses as to which one he prefers 😂
https://youtu.be/uprnaqIwCrk
This is a very interesting video. New member here, I'm a mk4 Focus ST 2.3 owner since 2019, and considering a switch to a Clubsport with 18s and DCC, in order to maximise pliancy over bumpy surfaces.
The section where Dan describes using individual mode with the dampers in their softest setting and it mopping up bumps with ease sounds perfect for an everyday car.
The DSG only option, coming from a really sweet manual in the ST, is a turn off for me however. That said, if the ride is as pliant as described, I might forgo manual for the first time in 26 years of car ownership!
Has anyone here driven a Clubsport with DCC and 18s over very bumpy roads, if so, how did you find it?
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I don't think dcc running in the softest setting is anything new for performance golf owners.
Everyone i know at work with mk7 gtd, gti or R seem to permanently run their cars in comfort mode.
I never did on my mk7 that had dcc. I'm only interested again in dcc because on the mk8 it's primary function is less about how hard or soft the ride is and now more about per wheel dynamic stability on all four corners in real time. This is the key feature of the mk8.
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I should have added, the Mk8 clubby with DCC on 18's you definitely will not find a harsh ride. Absolutely 100% certain of that - unless you dial up the DCC to its hardest setting when you will feel every pimple in the road.
I don't think coming from a ST you will find it hard or unbearable at all - it will be a perfectly usable daily.
I'd even go as far as to say fitting 19's shouldn't upset it either, providing you have DCC.
On a clubby you really do want DCC anyway.
Probably your biggest question mark though may be the DSG. I've had only manual cars for 35 years and over millions of miles. Its slightly different....
What I will say though is that for most of your driving miles its neither a problem or a negative - if anything only a positive because boring driving is boring driving.
Sometimes it will make decisions you wouldn't have done with a manual, but just go with the flow and don't let it annoy you.
You definitely will love the seamless acceleration though - you hear the engine revving and instantly shifting but you feel no jerky changes, just a smooth roar as you whizz along. That's where DSG is awesome and there is nothing else quite like it.
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Pliancy! Words are used to convey meaning or to allow someone to describe something. Pliancy? Not in the. Dictionary. Pliancy that’s just vague. Really needs to do better and articulate what he ‘s trying to say and not just make something up to sound interesting. To reduce it to basics - would pliancy mean soft then? :nerd:
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I should have added, the Mk8 clubby with DCC on 18's you definitely will not find a harsh ride. Absolutely 100% certain of that - unless you dial up the DCC to its hardest setting when you will feel every pimple in the road.
I don't think coming from a ST you will find it hard or unbearable at all - it will be a perfectly usable daily.
I'd even go as far as to say fitting 19's shouldn't upset it either, providing you have DCC.
On a clubby you really do want DCC anyway.
Probably your biggest question mark though may be the DSG. I've had only manual cars for 35 years and over millions of miles. Its slightly different....
What I will say though is that for most of your driving miles its neither a problem or a negative - if anything only a positive because boring driving is boring driving.
Sometimes it will make decisions you wouldn't have done with a manual, but just go with the flow and don't let it annoy you.
You definitely will love the seamless acceleration though - you hear the engine revving and instantly shifting but you feel no jerky changes, just a smooth roar as you whizz along. That's where DSG is awesome and there is nothing else quite like it.
Thanks Fred, much appreciated.
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Pliancy! Words are used to convey meaning or to allow someone to describe something. Pliancy? Not in the. Dictionary. Pliancy that’s just vague. Really needs to do better and articulate what he ‘s trying to say and not just make something up to sound interesting. To reduce it to basics - would pliancy mean soft then? :nerd:
Thanks for your response.
Pliant and pliancy are both in the dictionary, and my post was a genuine query, clearly written and received a very detailed response from Fred, which I found extremely helpful.
No problem if you don't understand what pliant suspension is, but please be nice and respectful with your responses in future as your response above certainly was neither.
Thanks for your consideration.
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I watched the PH Clubby vs CTR video.
Its interesting, it was always a predictable outcome but I think he says enough to really highlight that the Golf is a better daily car but the Honda isn't a terrible daily - except for the lack of individual mode.
I also think he missed a trick, becoming obcessed with ring mode, from my experience of the Mk7 with DCC, I'd say he might have found the feeling he was missing had he tried sport mode or any individual setup with DCC set to much harder.
With it set hard you do get a lot of feedback from the road, I reckon he might have found that more engaging if not slightly uncomfortable. I always could feel every tiny undulation with the Mk7 in sport suspension mode. I think on the Mk8 the DCC goes both harder and softer than the range the Mk7 one was adjustable too as well... not to mention that the Mk8 now has springs tuned for either 18's or 19's from the factory - as opposed to one set of springs for all wheel sizes on the Mk7.
Electric steering always gives you a degree of seperation and there is nothing you can do about that because weight reduction requirements to hit CO2 targets mean mechanical systems just aren't used on normal cars any more.
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I watched the PH Clubby vs CTR video.
Its interesting, it was always a predictable outcome but I think he says enough to really highlight that the Golf is a better daily car but the Honda isn't a terrible daily - except for the lack of individual mode.
I also think he missed a trick, becoming obcessed with ring mode, from my experience of the Mk7 with DCC, I'd say he might have found the feeling he was missing had he tried sport mode or any individual setup with DCC set to much harder.
With it set hard you do get a lot of feedback from the road, I reckon he might have found that more engaging if not slightly uncomfortable. I always could feel every tiny undulation with the Mk7 in sport suspension mode. I think on the Mk8 the DCC goes both harder and softer than the range the Mk7 one was adjustable too as well... not to mention that the Mk8 now has springs tuned for either 18's or 19's from the factory - as opposed to one set of springs for all wheel sizes on the Mk7.
Electric steering always gives you a degree of seperation and there is nothing you can do about that because weight reduction requirements to hit CO2 targets mean mechanical systems just aren't used on normal cars any more.
Is it true that the 18" wheel cars from the factory have a lower spring rate than 19s?
If so the combination of 7.75mm more side sidewall and lower spring rate could see a very noticeable difference between 18 and 19
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I watched the PH Clubby vs CTR video.
Its interesting, it was always a predictable outcome but I think he says enough to really highlight that the Golf is a better daily car but the Honda isn't a terrible daily - except for the lack of individual mode.
I also think he missed a trick, becoming obcessed with ring mode, from my experience of the Mk7 with DCC, I'd say he might have found the feeling he was missing had he tried sport mode or any individual setup with DCC set to much harder.
With it set hard you do get a lot of feedback from the road, I reckon he might have found that more engaging if not slightly uncomfortable. I always could feel every tiny undulation with the Mk7 in sport suspension mode. I think on the Mk8 the DCC goes both harder and softer than the range the Mk7 one was adjustable too as well... not to mention that the Mk8 now has springs tuned for either 18's or 19's from the factory - as opposed to one set of springs for all wheel sizes on the Mk7.
Electric steering always gives you a degree of seperation and there is nothing you can do about that because weight reduction requirements to hit CO2 targets mean mechanical systems just aren't used on normal cars any more.
There’s two things I find odd about the mk8 reviews- when compared to the mk7-
Firstly, many reports say the manual gearbox doesn’t feel great on mk8 whereas the mk7 box was praised for being slick. I wonder why testers are less enthusiastic with this model.
Secondly steering. A bit trickier to interpret what’s being reported on this because it depends to a large extent on what the tester expects of an electric system. Again, there was some praise for the mk7 steering, seems to be very little for the mk8.
Interested to know from anyone with experience of both mk7 and mk8 how the two compare.
I don’t expect that the systems are getting worse, but it is possible that vw haven’t moved things on in the way other makers have?
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Is it true that the 18" wheel cars from the factory have a lower spring rate than 19s?
If so the combination of 7.75mm more side sidewall and lower spring rate could see a very noticeable difference between 18 and 19
I've not seen any precise figures, but my interpretation is that they had adjusted the spring rate so broadly the ride is the same on both.... meaning the old fashioned "19s are hard" is not an issue.
Remember of course that outside of the UK there is also a 17" option too.... so on a Mk7 your springs were the same on a light 17 wheel and a heavy 19.... super compromised I'd say.
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There’s two things I find odd about the mk8 reviews- when compared to the mk7-
Firstly, many reports say the manual gearbox doesn’t feel great on mk8 whereas the mk7 box was praised for being slick. I wonder why testers are less enthusiastic with this model.
Secondly steering. A bit trickier to interpret what’s being reported on this because it depends to a large extent on what the tester expects of an electric system. Again, there was some praise for the mk7 steering, seems to be very little for the mk8.
Interested to know from anyone with experience of both mk7 and mk8 how the two compare.
I don’t expect that the systems are getting worse, but it is possible that vw haven’t moved things on in the way other makers have?
I think you'd need a really specialist analysis to find that out.
It would be good to do, but you'd need to carefully obtain the right vehicles to do the test and be familiar with the Golf as a daily driver.
The trouble is most of these reviewers aren't golf experts and the cars they get to test are press ones for a limited time - meaning lots of options that they don't understand and no familiarity of Golfs to start with.
I'd love to test a Mk8 GTI on 18's and 19's and with and without DCC, all back to back - and then chuck in some Mk7.5 GTI PP cars with those options to make a full evaluation.
But I *love* compartive evaluations and result grids :)
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Welcome Colm :smiley:
I understood what you meant by pliancy!
The first (large) batch of Clubsports that arrived in the UK were standard spec non DCC cars so there won’t be many that have had an opportunity to try a DCC equipped versus non DCC yet.
You can pretty much ignore anything I’ve posted about Clubsport DCC as I’m surmising at best going from assumptions, guesses, reviews and press pack blurb. Basically talking out of my derrière.
I’ve not even tried my own non DCC car on very many roads due to gov’t restrictions.
The Clubsport is a production VW so I’m pretty confident you’ll find it reasonably pliant if you’re accustomed to sports hatch suspension.
As for DSG, hmmm, well most people that try it decide it’s the best invention in the world ever, but although I tolerate it I’m far from a fan of it. To me it’s a box set up for extremes with the middle (normal) setting a bit mushy. Everyone is different, hopefully you’ll fall in the “love it” camp.
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Welcome Colm :smiley:
I understood what you meant by pliancy!
The first (large) batch of Clubsports that arrived in the UK were standard spec non DCC cars so there won’t be many that have had an opportunity to try a DCC equipped versus non DCC yet.
You can pretty much ignore anything I’ve posted about Clubsport DCC as I’m surmising at best going from assumptions, guesses, reviews and press pack blurb. Basically talking out of my derrière.
I’ve not even tried my own non DCC car on very many roads due to gov’t restrictions.
The Clubsport is a production VW so I’m pretty confident you’ll find it reasonably pliant if you’re accustomed to sports hatch suspension.
As for DSG, hmmm, well most people that try it decide it’s the best invention in the world ever, but although I tolerate it I’m far from a fan of it. To me it’s a box set up for extremes with the middle (normal) setting a bit mushy. Everyone is different, hopefully you’ll fall in the “love it” camp.
Thanks Exonian,
I probably would fit into the tolerate it camp on DSG also, I love heel toe downshifting. What I really want is a circa 300bhp manual hatch that can deal with bumps and compressions in it's stride.
I switched my ST to 18s, added a subtle map (305bhp) and free flow cotton air filter in order to improve the character of the engine and throttle response in Normal mode, which it did. It's much more rev happy now, it was very linear and dull from the factory.
This allows me to leave it in normal mode all the time now (therefore lesser of the the 3 damper settings). The Sport mode is laughably filling rattling.
It's a shame because with a better suspension setup the ST would be the perfect hot hatch for my tastes.
As a result of being happy with engine and throttle response in normal mode now, it's a perfectly comfortable daily, with 305bhp and 470nm. However, show it bumps at higher speeds and it does have a tendency to try and pummel said bumps into submission. This sadly robs alot of the fun from the car, and has me considering alternatives.
I need 5 seats, and couldn't look at the Civic, too old for it anyway, and I really like the look of the Clubsport, so if it could mop up bumps at higher speeds (with DCC and 18s), then it would probably be worth the loss of manual box.
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I read what you'd written thinking "buy the Honda" and then saw the bit at the end :laugh:
The manual box does exclude most cars you could choose. Manual is on its way out before we get to milk floats which don't even have gears.
What about another ST?
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I read what you'd written thinking "buy the Honda" and then saw the bit at the end :laugh:
The manual box does exclude most cars you could choose. Manual is on its way out before we get to milk floats which don't even have gears.
What about another ST?
I have a new model Mk4 Focus ST so there's no point in getting another ST. The mk3.5 isn't a good machine, and I had a mk3 for 5 years (loved that, flawed but enjoyable).
So, probably time for a change, but I agree, it's not easy to find alternatives these days alright!
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Probably I'd take a look at the i30n... The sport back version is a touch more adult than the hatch but still very bonkers.
If you've had performance ford's you'll already be used to shocking fuel economy lol.
Probably the hyundai is the most old skool apart from the Honda but without the "just ram raided Halfords" look.
Definitely test drive a clubby but also try the i30n.
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Probably I'd take a look at the i30n... The sport back version is a touch more adult than the hatch but still very bonkers.
If you've had performance ford's you'll already be used to shocking fuel economy lol.
Probably the hyundai is the most old skool apart from the Honda but without the "just ram raided Halfords" look.
Definitely test drive a clubby but also try the i30n.
Oh no, definitely not an i30n!!!. The local Hyundai dealer gave me his demo for a weekend in 2019 prior to ordering my MK4 ST, I was considering it as replacement for my mk3 ST.
It wasn't a sport back obviously, but the hatch is the same DNA. I had high hopes, and the price was great..... what a disappointment, the engine was really poor, so little low down (only c.350nm in it), axle tramped really badly, and despite all the configuration, none of the modes did a good job at the daily grind stuff, so much road and exhaust noise even in quiet modes, ride was really poor also. It felt like a first effort car, and nowhere near the reviews. It certainly had a fun factor, but overall it's not something I'd recommend. The mk4 ST is streets ahead of it.
The newer model i30n with the altered front suspension is said to ride better, I haven't tried it though.
I test drove a Megane Trophy also, my my what a hoot, felt like our rallycar, undoubtedly the most fun I've had in a road car on a proper back road blast, love the flared arches too, and I could put up with the rubbery manual box, but the constant nodding dog ride quality would be impossible to live with. What a fun car though, and the gimmicky rear wheel steering felt fine, added to the fun as it really felt like it pivoted around you.
Unlikely to find a DCC clubsport in Ireland to test, so it'll probably have to be a blind order.... but owner feedback/reviews/YouTube videos do help alot, not ideal but so be it
I don't have to commute to work thankfully, so mpg doesn't concern me. My ST is sitting on 30.3 mpg despite lots of short trips and back road fun on the countryside roads I live on. Anything around 30mpg is fine for me.
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Lol I'll put you down as a "maybe" on the i30n :laugh:
I don't think I've seen you say you are in Ireland before... Maybe a clubby with dcc and the ring mode might be a good idea.
Maybe things have changed since I was last there but the only place I've found with worse roads than England is Ireland.
Actually, that's not true, Italian city centres in the South are not even roads, just craters!
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The ride in the i30N is exceptionally harsh. If you’re worried about a CS on 18s with dcc then an I30N is a real bone shaker.
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Lol I'll put you down as a "maybe" on the i30n :laugh:
I don't think I've seen you say you are in Ireland before... Maybe a clubby with dcc and the ring mode might be a good idea.
Maybe things have changed since I was last there but the only place I've found with worse roads than England is Ireland.
Actually, that's not true, Italian city centres in the South are not even roads, just craters!
😂 ha, yes, I didn't feel the love for the Hyundai alright!
Indeed, our back roads in Ireland take bumpy to another level. I laugh watching UK reviews where reviewers talk about "this bumpy terrible B road I'm on today".... and I'm looking thinking, no, that's a motorway compared with what is outside my house!!!
Thankfully our National route are mostly good quality now, but the back roads are as bumpy as you remember them.
Anyway, apologies for taking the thread off topic somewhat, can't wait to see more Clubsport reviews
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Clubby's seem to be dropping in price
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Clubby's seem to be dropping in price
Wouldn't surprise me to see any dealer stock getting more discounts.... this stock must be killing their cashflow.
The whole motor trade is banking on a huge demand surge when lockdown lifts.... not sure I agree that will happen because a lot of people will not return to commuting... why replace your car if its going to sit on the drive? Does a family need multiple cars?
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Maybe, but lots of people coming to the end of their PCP will still have a decision to make. They'll still swap for a new one because, well, that's just what they've always done. :undecided:
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The i30n fastback suspension is different to the hatch. The new hatch now has the same suspension as the fastback which was and is a lot more compliant. Fuel economy is the most off putting thing about the i30n, it's a tad thirsty.
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5 year unlimited mileage warranty isn't to be sniffed at. The front 2/3 of the fastback looks ok but there is something not quite right at the rear to me..... A bit Laguna-ish? I haven't looked into it seriously as wouldn't buy one but a 'fastback hot hatch' could be a new 'sub segment'? Maybe only the A Class shooting brake competes though I'm guessing the A250 is the fastest you can get in that. And I suppose the 2 series coupe/type thingy (can't be bothered to look up what it is called).
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Clubby's seem to be dropping in price
Wouldn't surprise me to see any dealer stock getting more discounts.... this stock must be killing their cashflow.
The whole motor trade is banking on a huge demand surge when lockdown lifts.... not sure I agree that will happen because a lot of people will not return to commuting... why replace your car if its going to sit on the drive? Does a family need multiple cars?
True, and we are all being pushed towards electric anyway, the government havent thought this sh!t through
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The Tesla Model 3 is around the same price as the clubby here in Ireland. I'd have been tempted if they offered PCP...But they just offer car finance through Bank of Ireland at around 5% I think so the monthlies are crazy.
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I love technology, you might have all noticed...
Even though everyone says tesla is the milk float to buy I'd not. The things are built like a crappy American built car, panel gaps a go go. That's before you get to the teslarati, who are practically a cult. Weapons grade *******s
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I wonder what VW will have in 2-3 years time come end of my PCP term...the most expensive ID.3 here, the ID.3 Max is only €47,223...I'd be tempted to consider it also come time to change.
*Edit: Sorry that price is before grants. Price is €43,730
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https://youtu.be/5VJOpYf9unI
I think he likes it.
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https://youtu.be/5VJOpYf9unI
I think he likes it.
He’s had far too many E numbers in his pick ‘n’ mix
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Lots more Clubsport content imminent from Mr Chapple https://youtu.be/0LbjrERYzLs
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Lots more Clubsport content imminent from Mr Chapple https://youtu.be/0LbjrERYzLs
I do like his videos.
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He’s a good lad is Mr Chapple. I met him a few times at various events over the years many moons ago and even bought a car from him when he was first setting up.
He has lots of experience and is in tune with the sort of people that visit forums such as this, despite him seemingly preferring to use social media which is understandable as he needs to promote himself in the widest possible arena. It’s just a shame looking at many of the comments on said media that it’s the usual easily influenced fanboys and people that have strong opinions on things they know nothing about.
His videos are very ‘him’, quite laid back and open, no frippery. I think Andrew would learn a bit on this forum!
I agree with much he says, disagree with much and have no love of massive Audis personally, no matter how fast they might go, but I’ll always try and watch his VW/SEAT related content.
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I don’t watch the Audi content either. Not an Audi fan at all. My S3 was my least favourite car I’ve had but I kept it the longest. Odd.
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I am a little surprised he hasn't done any Skoda content. I know perhaps Skoda isn't the most sporty or fashionable brand out there, but to have not even had a cursory once over of cars like the Octavia vRS seems a little remiss to me. 🤷♂️
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Interested that he was taking it easy for the first 1000 miles. I asked about this when I picked mine up, and was told no running in period was necessary
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Interested that he was taking it easy for the first 1000 miles. I asked about this when I picked mine up, and was told no running in period was necessary
I think that’s just an old school thing that Andrew obviously very much subscribes to. Similarly, he put that white MK7.5 R Wagon up on a ramp and put a sealant on the underbody... despite knowing he’d only be keeping it a few months.
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I am a little surprised he hasn't done any Skoda content. I know perhaps Skoda isn't the most sporty or fashionable brand out there, but to have not even had a cursory once over of cars like the Octavia vRS seems a little remiss to me. 🤷♂️
On his latest video he says he's getting a VRS in to review.
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He likes a hot estate.... I guess he's never late for the funeral. Customer service I guess :laugh:
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I am a little surprised he hasn't done any Skoda content. I know perhaps Skoda isn't the most sporty or fashionable brand out there, but to have not even had a cursory once over of cars like the Octavia vRS seems a little remiss to me. 🤷♂️
On his latest video he says he's getting a VRS in to review.
Just watched the video. Seems he read my mind...
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Interested that he was taking it easy for the first 1000 miles. I asked about this when I picked mine up, and was told no running in period was necessary
it states in the manual about running it in.
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Possibly the worst colour for that car :undecided:
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Not a review but I thought this was interesting. Just posted my Mr Chapple on twitter.
Gti Cup sticker on his CS. No wonder that name had been rumoured.
(https://i.postimg.cc/Z5YJdQYt/E7-F19048-ABA6-4374-8-DCF-2-E3-DCA0-B81-B5.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/tYf002V2)application screenshot (https://postimages.org/app)
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Close one, Fred would have called it a 'cuppy' :grin:
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Interesting to see that, thanks for posting up Michele :afro:
Confirms the rumours that the Clubby was originally penned as a Cuppy, probably because the Eddy was originally going the be the Clubby but after a boardroom game of paper, scissors, stone things took a slightly different direction.
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Cuppy! Eddy! I’d love to get an Eddy....
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Close one, Fred would have called it a 'cuppy' :grin:
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
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Has this one been posted before? AutoExpress
https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/road-tests/354435/new-volkswagen-golf-gti-clubsport-2021-review?fbclid=IwAR1JoEAqlVOszZBw_6pQ_7h-QmFP53k3tCkrWt7P-YOS6l9X5WlgqMri-xQ
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Everyone seen this?
https://youtu.be/tcebV1Vq50E
He has some interesting things to say there, worth a listen.
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He was never going to say the TCR is the best GTi ever even though it is :whistle:
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Everyone seen this?
https://youtu.be/tcebV1Vq50E
He has some interesting things to say there, worth a listen.
That was very interesting - thanks for posting it. I didn't realise the touch screen could be customised to such a degree with one's most used functions. Actually has made me re-think as to whether I could live happily with that system. Maybe I could....? Will have a good poke around with the screen options when the Mk8 is released down here.
Maybe, just maybe, the mk8 is back on the list for my next car.
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The Mr Chapple video was very thorough. After a year of being told the tcr is the best gti ever, now the CS is the best gti ever and the previously faultless tcr now has faults. Make of that what you will.
Here’s another ‘gti v insert other hot hatch’ comparison with predictable results.
https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-reviews/comparison/2021/vw-golf-gti-clubsport-vs-renault-megane-rs-trophy/
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I watched the TCR vs 8CS video, typical youtuber, they need to make the current car appear to be the best ever to stay in with the manufacturer, for access to the next shiny new car?
Wasn't the 7.5R estate the best Golf ever a few weeks ago when he was selling that?
He appears to have the TCR up for sale, he could hardly keep the TCR and sell the 8CS from a marketing and relationship point of view?
No doubt he is a nice chap, etc... but his youtube channel would never get anywhere if he were to focus on mk5 Gti's, so it all has to be seen as part of the game?
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As far as I am aware he paid for the TCR and paid for the CS.
He might have got a decent discount, but I don't think it was based on any advertising.
Those two are his cars.
Other cars he reviews are loaners sometimes.
He does have all of the truth in that video, that is pretty much the best Mk7.5 vs Mk8 video I've seen. He talks about what has changed, he talks about the things everyone who has had a press one for 20 minutes moans about and he talks about how the handling of the mk8 is better. Nobody has said anything other than "it handles better" (if you can spot that amongst the moaning about the buttonless interface).
He's done 1000 miles in that Mk8 now - thats about ten times what any other reviewer has done.
I've no idea how many miles he's done in the TCR, but quite a lot too - plus he's done track days and then driven them back to back.
This is the most comprehensive review for Golf owners you will find - of this I have no doubt.
He didn't moan about DSG, that's what I'm disappointed about :laugh:
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I think His channel is Great and very helpful as i also did not know that the screen etc could be customised with favourites and used easily as that, even my dealer didnt show me that when i went to see a demo last year.
He is pretty honest in his reviews also, Does not skim over the cost cutting on the new Mk8 model with the door sounds, card, cill's etc...
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He didn't moan about DSG, that's what I'm disappointed about :laugh:
He uses the paddles a lot. Forget throttle position, it’s all about the hands imho.
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Autocar review, soz if it's already been posted...
https://youtu.be/SsrdtcuxCH4
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Andrew (Volkswizard) is great imo. A real VW geek, but very likeable! I always find his content very informative and watchable. There’s a glut of irritating youtubers and shills out there now and I don’t think he’s one of them.
I’m not keen on the wheels he’s put on the CS though.
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I watch a lot of YouTube reviews - not just cars. AC one of the best, in my view. At least he puts his money where his mouth is and buys cars with his own cash, sometimes just for his channel. Am sure he gets a reasonable discount but good luck to him. I'd rather listen to someone who has actually owned the car. He did favour the M135i over the S3 so not always VAG biased.
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I really like Andrew’s videos too. Always really detailed and informative from an owners point of view. Just look at all the details he’s shared about the climate control and shortcuts etc. I do think though you have to keep in mind that he has to produce content for his channel so that’s an influence too. He himself said one reason for buying a CS over an R was the content he could make.
Check this one out too.
https://youtu.be/a8xoQ110-UI
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^^ agree with this.
He has a deep understanding of his subject, he produces high quality videos and I’ve no reason to doubt his integrity.
But it’s very difficult to remain subjective when there are conflicts of interest.
There’s scope for him to become very wealthy if he makes the right decisions.
I think he does genuinely prefer the driving dynamics of the CS to the TCR. He was disappointed with the TCR on track, if I remember.
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I wonder what featuring in a Carwow drag race video is going to do for his channel now. Sudden exposure to over 5m followers. :shocked:
Can only be good for him one would have thought.
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Yes, exactly. Bloody drag race videos. Auto journalists equivalent of going on the game.
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He always said he hated drag races and they were pointless. But, offered that chance you have to take it. It’ll hopefully help his channel grow a lot.
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Yes.
I just hope he doesn't drastically alter the slant of his content to cater for all his about to be new followers. :undecided:
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Will Mr Wizard get much more than a passing mention in Carwow’s vid? Most guests don’t, just a quick link to their channel or insta. Certain people get full cameo roles but not many. We shall see, but Mat seemed a bit blasé with Andrew in the snippets from the ‘day in the life’ vid.
Andrew desperately wants VW Press to take him seriously but he cut his teeth with Volkswagen Driver mag over the years as a contributor so he’s stayed true to what he does so far in being open and fairly frank and honest.
He’s a car dealer that relies on enthusiasts too so can’t go overboard with saying new cars are the best to appease VW. He’s on the right track I think, by and large.
Mind you, even Clarkson and Harris had their heads reasonably in tune with regular people before fame and fortune inserted their heads somewhere else.
Having owned a TCR and mk8 Clubsport myself I think he’s got that review pretty spot on in areas that are significant. Obviously to go into deep nitty gritty stuff he’d be recording two hour long vids that just wouldn’t keep most people’s attention span and would be a nightmare for him too.
It’ll be interesting to see what he makes of the R.
Unfortunately the 8R is doomed to attract a certain following but it’ll be good for viewing figures. A drag race is what the R excels at so he did exactly the right thing there, putting it up against supposedly bigger guns as well as doing his usual thing driving his usual roads etc.
I’m looking forward to his R vid.
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Carwow have just posted their video, unfortunately Volkswizard doesn't feature at all. Not even a mention
https://youtu.be/sfqRshK7z3k
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Carwow have just posted their video, unfortunately Volkswizard doesn't feature at all. Not even a mention
https://youtu.be/sfqRshK7z3k
Doesn’t seem fair to me. We’ll borrow your car but not even mention you.
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That’s not the video is it? He was up against an A45S.
It’s the car but they had it before him too.
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Actually, you're right. It was the A45 not the S3🙈
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Doesn’t happen often. :wink:
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Mr Chapple’s CS v R video drops at 12 today.
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Be interesting to see if he likes the R which will then become the best golf ever, he'll sell his CS and then he'll have an R until the Ed 45 turns up which will then be the best golf ever which will mean the R is sold and an Ed45 will be on his drive. :grin:
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He’s never hidden his dislike for the R so it’ll be interesting. Best Golf ever? :grin:
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Review trailer! Very Hollywood
https://twitter.com/andrewjchapple/status/1380428246416822277?s=21
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Here it is.... R vs Clubby:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vEtg8HNBSI
Spoiler alert... the wizard is loaned a VW press car and isn't allowed to say what he might really think.
After an inconclusive ramble he concludes with "the clubby is a drivers car and hardly anyone is a capable enough driver so they will buy the R"
meh
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I’ve not got around to watching it yet but Andrew does have a thing about the R and R drivers. I know he’s had some flack, some of it quite personal, on the R forum and his Mk7 R had lots of issues. Hmmmm
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I just think it is a different segment that buys Rs. I know the R has some heritage but it seems GTIs have a whole lot more.
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Hhhmm..... You have to love the detail he goes into with his reviews.
I'm not sure there is an answer to which is the "better" car?
I don't like the plastuc egg crate front end on the CS amongst other things, 5 door & Dsg only on a CS "drivers car"?
The R looks the better package to me, however, with the car precariously on the edge of the £40k tax limit, easily braeched by a few extras, that is a detriment to choosing the R.
I haven't driven either, but the notion that Fwd modern hatch with modern traction and safety aids is a test, only for serious drivers is a bit of a reach?
Try a rwd aircooled 911 lightweight on a torrential Nordscliefe, when you have a clear track as the Dutch contingent are too cautious to take their Subarus out!:)
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I haven't driven either, but the notion that Fwd modern hatch with modern traction and safety aids is a test, only for serious drivers is a bit of a reach?
Try a rwd aircooled 911 lightweight on a torrential Nordscliefe, when you have a clear track as the Dutch contingent are too cautious to take their Subarus out!:)
Quite!
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I haven't driven either, but the notion that Fwd modern hatch with modern traction and safety aids is a test, only for serious drivers is a bit of a reach?
Yes, it sounds like nonsense to me.
That's just about the dullest video he's ever done.
Here's my advice for anyone considering either car-
"Here are 2 fast golfs. One is two wheel drive, the other is all wheel drive. Take your pick."
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I just comes down to the usual thing : "speed is a question of money, how fast can you afford to go"
Although increasingly at the moment I'm starting to think "how fast do i actually want to go?".... which is why I quit my motorbike habbit.
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Buy yourself an older car, Fred- and you’ll enjoy every drive.
Here’s a far more interesting vid-
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jHv_5tCXhuw
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Am I right in saying he thought the ride with DCC was a bit crashy but he always says without is fine? Maybe crashy isn’t the right word but he could feel every imperfection in a DCC R but the non DCC CS is always a good ride. ??????
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Yes that was odd with the DCC on the R, I have Dcc on my Mk7 CS with 19's and I am pleased with the options available.
Although I haven't driven a Dcc equiped mk8, with the 15(?) multi option settings, surely there must be a Goldilocks balance avilable under the individual setting?
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Am I right in saying he thought the ride with DCC was a bit crashy but he always says without is fine? Maybe crashy isn’t the right word but he could feel every imperfection in a DCC R but the non DCC CS is always a good ride. ??????
No he said that if you turn the DCC up beyond the middle setting, he thought it was too hard.
I've seen him do this before - he likes individual mode with everything set to sport except the daft noise and DCC set to soft.
You can't really complain about non-DCC because there is nothing you can do lol but he won't have made it any better by adding 19's to it.
For me, I've not really found a happy place with DCC yet. Comfort is a bit soft and wallowly most of the time and the sport setting is too hard. I must try an individual mode setting somewhere between the two - there are about 200 clicks of choice!
What would be nice are multiple individual profiles tho.... are you listening VW?
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Shows how much attention I was paying.
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I’ll watch the vid at some point over the weekend.
Points I’ve gleaned from quickly reading this:
No surprise if the verdict wasn’t pointing to a clear favourite.
Going from his last CS vs TCR review, he’s finally taken the same line as me around suspension springs dictating ride quality far more than just the dampers.
I sold my TCR as the springs made it too crashy with the DCC set to anything other than rock hard. It made the car unusable with an injured back. Ironic that it was more bearable set to rock hard “sport”.
The 8CS is anything but luxurious but has a very decent ride/handling balance on passive dampers, even on 19’s. You feel the road and that’s how it should be, but it doesn’t crash or jolt.
I very much doubt I’ll ever get to drive an 8R so will leave commenting on anything about it as I can have no valid opinion.
A shame if Andrew has taken a fair bit of abuse from R drivers. That says a lot in itself and is unfortunately also the price one pays when making a living from the media, opening the floodgates to the reactive lynch mobs of the comments sections.
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Hamza is back!
https://youtu.be/6tQyVJq1ORg
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Perhaps these may be a solution. I remember back in the day they were raved about in the tt forum.
https://www.akstuning.co.uk/shop/home/1065-mss-fully-adjustable-lowering-springs.html
Looks like not out for the mk8 yet
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I'd still really love to do a thorough test on a GTI...
Drive back to back:
18's without DCC
18's with DCC
19's without DCC
19's with DCC
I've never even seen a professional review covering that in all of my time looking at Golfs.
I suspect even back to back you'd discover there was barely any noticeable difference and I suspect its why VW haven't been keen to set that up.
Although I've had one Mk7 with DCC, one Mk7 without and now a Mk8 with DCC.... I'm still not convinced its actually something worth the money.
The only "thing" DCC definitely gives you on the Clubby is access to the "ring mode".... maybe down the pub that's worth 10 extra bragging points to your mates.
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But they did comment that the ring mode may be suited to UK roads. That's what was interesting to me.
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But they did comment that the ring mode may be suited to UK roads. That's what was interesting to me.
That's only that dcc on soft is better suited to UK roads....
While soft soaks up the bumps it also introduces wallowing, which to me is not what I want. I don't want to feel like I am at sea in a storm (I had a Renault 5 once that was like that) but equally I don't want to be shaken to bits (like the 128ti did). Somewhere in between is what you want and I'm leaning towards that's actually what non dcc actually gives you... Minus the bragging rights of ring mode of course.
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I'd be interested to see where you think the ride of a non DCC GTi sits in the range of a DCC car?
Is a standard car's ride equal to the 'comfort' setting or about half way?
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Well there are lots of settings. As you can see in the photo I took below, there is no normal any more, comfort and sport are the two profiles... And in individual mode you can go softer or harder than those two or in the middle. I'm currently trying a middle setting today. I'd guess that like the mk7, this is about the same as non dcc.
(https://i.postimg.cc/2SXYzgbS/20210410-190652.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/dhdp6Hjb)
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Quick, cancel your Clubsport orders and buy an R as it’s superior for driving because it launches better :rolleyes:
https://youtu.be/1HKrmwvTuBg
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Club Sport looks much nicer from the front and the R looks better from the rear....
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Club Sport looks much nicer from the front and the R looks better from the rear....
Buy both, cut them in half and glue them back together.
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Club Sport looks much nicer from the front and the R looks better from the rear....
The R with Performance Pack maybe. The Clubby isn’t too shabby from the rear in the flesh.
And from side on? The R side skirts don’t look quite right to my eyes, can’t put my finger on why.
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I agree ref the side skirts. They kind off look like an afterthought.
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Spot on with the side skirts. I think part of the issue might be that they’re body coloured. Add extra width and height to the car visually.
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Joe Achilles currently has a Clubsport to review. It’ll be interesting to see what he thinks of it so soon after having the R.
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Interesting result on the dyno compared to other EA888 4th gen cars they've tested.
https://youtu.be/TqQiEvNSGsc
Backs up how it feels on the road, very similar performance to a TCR, where as all the tests so far say the R feels way quicker than the factory outputs suggest.
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Joe Achilles review has just landed.
https://youtu.be/mBAfugebEjw
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I'm not sure he is that keen, it took him 8 mins 10 secs to say it's handling is just "to die for", normally in a BMW review he considerss his mortality within a few minutes? :)
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Seems he much prefers it to the R.
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I thought he really liked it. Possibly more than the R.
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I was joking he seemed keen, but he does use a few pointless phrases like "to die for" in his reviews.
I am not sure with some of these reviews though, looking forward to getting a heavy 5 door Dsg hatchback, on track to try the lift off oversteer?
Really?
I would think it ends at being a more involving B road car than the R ?
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I can't remember in the blizzard of performance golf reviews but one of them said about how the R gave you some funny mid corner feeling that was not desirable... Functional yes, not quite what you wanted though. Might have been tr hamza actually... Who knows his vag cars quite well and isn't paid to advertise them.
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Sorry, was there a car review going on there?
I was too busy eyeing up the rocks by the barns. I need some big rocks in my life.
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Good one here
https://youtu.be/mBAfugebEjw
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Sorry, was there a car review going on there?
I was too busy eyeing up the rocks by the barns. I need some big rocks in my life.
Don't believe i actually went back and rewatched it for the rocks. :laugh:
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Got my CS testdrive booked for next Friday.
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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.
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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
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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!
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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....
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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
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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.
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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.
Correct sir.
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You can also delete the up shift with a tvs dsg tune...
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You can also delete the up shift with a tvs dsg tune...
So if we got a club sport the kick down could be taken off?
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You can also delete the up shift with a tvs dsg tune...
So if we got a club sport the kick down could be taken off?
Yes they can do that too. I've spoken with them and you can have them customise it just how you want.
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https://youtu.be/cSvcIJ12ug0
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You can also delete the up shift with a tvs dsg tune...
So if we got a club sport the kick down could be taken off?
Yes they can do that too. I've spoken with them and you can have them customise it just how you want.
Sweet
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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.
Correct sir.
Do I win a prize for being correct? :wink:
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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.
Correct sir.
Do I win a prize for being correct? :wink:
Are you saying the standard car doesn’t have it?
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Yes absolutely the standard R doesn't have it. See Harry's garage video and hear him moan about it.
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Even when in race mode?
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Even when in race mode?
I believe so, its a performance pack mod.
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Yes absolutely the standard R doesn't have it. See Harry's garage video and hear him moan about it.
Ffs so I must have driven a performance pack car last week :sick:
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Bit of a curveball here. Not really a review either.
https://youtu.be/VPo1pfoon5I
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Just watched that.
Quite an enjoyable vid, both very down to Earth guys.
I do have a big soft spot for the Alpine.
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Nobby on cars CS review https://youtu.be/_HSnXGi394s
Surprisingly says no pops and bangs, unlike other reviewers/videos and also says cs has weight saving over standard gti, not heard that before either.
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Well, the brake callipers are lighter.... so yes, maybe a little lighter but AFAIK that's it! Whether the bigger spoiler then offsets it though... could be a couple of kilos lighter max I'd say.
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LWB Clubsport?
https://youtu.be/C-HtlN2ObUM
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The new Cupra Leon 300 is looking very tempting against the CS!
Had a play on the configurator after watching the Autotrader review on AT. Spec'd up to £38,450 with adding pan roof, urban silver and the basic driver safety pack (ACC, HBA, traffic sign) which is £220.
(https://i.postimg.cc/FF3yWBBj/Screenshot-2021-05-10-at-08-47-03.png) (https://postimages.org/)
Obviously being a SEAT, sorry Cupra, it's loaded so all the toys including 15 way DCC, 19s, heated leather bucket seats etc.
The added bonus is real buttons on the steering wheel! Would any Mk8 owners choose real buttons for the steering if they could?
I'm yet to sit in one or even have a proper look around a Mk8 but they are growing on me looks-wise and the CS and R are definitely the pick of the bunch.
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This will definitely be a 'Sleeper', also I would imagine second hand values will fall harder so more of a bargain?
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This will definitely be a 'Sleeper', also I would imagine second hand values will fall harder so more of a bargain?
I'm sure it definitely won't hold money as well as a Golf but a CS with similar spec would be £2k list more to start. Although I'm sure there could be some haggling done!
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This will definitely be a 'Sleeper', also I would imagine second hand values will fall harder so more of a bargain?
I'm sure it definitely won't hold money as well as a Golf but a CS with similar spec would be £2k list more to start. Although I'm sure there could be some haggling done!
:cool:
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The Leon isn't really sure what it wants to be. Looks like a focus with a bit of i30n from the front, the side shot just looks wrong and the rear could be a Mazda 3 with a hint of Vauxhall too 🤢🤢
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The Leon isn't really sure what it wants to be. Looks like a focus with a bit of i30n from the front, the side shot just looks wrong and the rear could be a Mazda 3 with a hint of Vauxhall too 🤢🤢
The new Leon seems to have lost it's visual appeal a bit. The previous model was a good looking car, especially the ST.
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Hard to say whether the Cupra is financially a better deal.
The list price is lower, the residuals are lower too.... the kicker will be what discounts are available and what the PCP interest rate is.
When I looked at SEAT and Skoda in the past, they actually worked out more expensive than VW for those two reasons.
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Hard to say whether the Cupra is financially a better deal.
The list price is lower, the residuals are lower too.... the kicker will be what discounts are available and what the PCP interest rate is.
When I looked at SEAT and Skoda in the past, they actually worked out more expensive than VW for those two reasons.
Whenever I've looked at Seat, their dealers generally think you're getting a good deal if you pay list and the chuck in nats and a full tank of fuel! It's the accessible discounts with VW that generally makes them cheaper to own, and the fact that Seats have Ford-llike depreciation.
Seats and Skodas look good financially to those initiated that think you have to pay list price for a car.
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Yes and the higher interest rates are probably to do with customer demographics too...
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Maybe it's a regional thing? I've never had any trouble getting a decent discount off a Skoda or a SEAT. Maybe not a DTD sized discount, but no less generous than the local VW dealer.
Interest rates play a part for sure, as do residual values. But right now Skoda's PCP rate for the Octavia is half a percent lower than VW's rate for the Golf.
If you're worried about residual values, then have a look at PCH instead. Both the Leon and the Octavia have been cheaper to lease historically than a Golf if you're happy with the standard spec.
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TBH these days with a SEAT/Cupra they don't do options really, its just colour and automation package selection.
I suspect finding a 300 with the XL package would be easy as stock.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7PtsxgBlxI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7PtsxgBlxI)
Carfection Review and in summary at 13.58 he states that think the TCR is still the better care, for the keeping of switches and buttons and surprisingly to me given all read on MK8 GTi, the steering.
Obviously slightly biased as have a TCR but this review really says if have a TCR the MK 8 CS is not going to be worth the change, but if have a GTI then it's definitely one to look at.
switches and buttons aside, really like the MK 8 CS and one of the few it seems that likes the 45 and if in the market now would be looking at one over the R and reason say that, is now that lived with TCR for 20 months, enjoying the drive much more than ever did in my R, you feel no less secure, but its simply more agile and engaging.
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https://youtu.be/pQdZJNrumkY
Aside from the wheels and the arch spats I actually agreed with almost everything there for once.
Like Mr Chapple’s mine is daily driver on a 4 year PCP too, my first ever delve into the finance trap, but I’m really not bothered about trying a Clubby in any other spec personally. The chassis is so well set up sans DCC that no matter whether I’m dawdling or pushing on a bit I find every corner a real pleasure which still seems a bit alien to me after many years of GTI’s which felt safe and competent but a little inert. I’m not sure the engine feels like it has much more than 300 PS myself, unlike the R which is proven to have way more than 320, but it does have a really good character for a standard production car, with strong torque from down low then a real revvy character when you push past 4000 rpm. It still feels a quick car even if you never go over 4000 rpm though. Bear in mind I’ve had quite a few remapped cars so I’m quite particular about power delivery yet this unit feels fine as standard.
I really must have a play with Sport ESC to see if it livens the chassis up even more.
Interior wise I agree 100% with Andrew. Mine hasn’t (touch wood) had too many issues with parking sensors yet but the audio unit is glitchy to the extent of every ignition cycle I’m wondering what gremlin will rear its head.
The random warning bongs reduced significantly in mine after a few weeks, almost like all the sensors were bedding in when new. Things do randomly reset from time to time still which is really annoying.
Huge fun as a drivers car yet still nice to pootle along slowly in.
Wonderful dynamics, temperamental electronics, looks that grow on you.
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Watched that this morning too. Also agreed with the majority of it. His wheel choice has grown on me, but the little arch eyebrows are a hard pass! Without seeing them up close, I’m still of the opinion that they’re not necessary too?!
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Another decent review by Bob Flavin
I do like how down to Earth he is.
https://youtu.be/PgYvzFGWsJQ
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There’s never any fuss or nonsense with Bob. I really like this videos. Enjoyed this one too.
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Nice to see Bob getting a bit of a following outside of Ireland :smiley:
He’s a good guy, he’s been around quite a while now building a slow and steady following. Decent impartial Irish car reviewers are thin on the ground but thanks to YouTube we are getting a handful of decent ones and Bob has some head start. I’d also recommend NobbyOnCars, another down to earth Irish guy who does some good stuff.
https://youtu.be/_HSnXGi394s
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Been following Bob for a couple of years now. I do like his straightforward approach and how he reviews from the everyday usage perspective rather than labouring on about how fast it is round a track.
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https://youtu.be/wWcYoit9efE
Good watch if you’re waiting for your clubsport to arrive :grin:
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https://youtu.be/wWcYoit9efE
Good watch if you’re waiting for your clubsport to arrive :grin:
It surprised me how well it did against those cars. :cool:
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You have to admire Matt Watson’s commitment.
How does he drag himself out of bed in the morning for another day of pointless drag racing.
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You have to admire Matt Watson’s commitment.
How does he drag himself out of bed in the morning for another day of pointless drag racing.
Well I for one really enjoy those videos and I'm sure many more do too or they would cease to make them. Brings me back to my boy racer days :cool: :grin:
I was actually eagerly awaiting this video and I was disappointed that it rained :rolleyes: I also enjoy seeing rolling road/Dyno results, especially when they indicate that VW were being modest in their quoted figures. Same goes for beating the 0-100 quoted times. I'm sure plenty of manufacturers, back in the day, quoted results from the most idyllic conditions which no near mortal could ever replicate themselves on the road! :grin:
I hope Matt W and co keep those videos up :smiley:
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A more realistic 'real world' drag race would be a rolling start from a motorway slip road straight to the outside lane, undercutting/undertaking traffic in lanes 1 and 2, and then tailgating vehicles in lane 3.
That would be more representative of the type of driving I often see.
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https://youtu.be/QhJnfi05q64
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https://youtu.be/QhJnfi05q64
I saw the video title & aborted,,,, with 5 doors and dsg, obviously not! :)
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Im quite taken by the CS, I just hope that VW will bring some more wheel choices to it in the next 12 months for when I think about changing my 7.5
(https://i.postimg.cc/xdxK2JLz/6-B5-E62-EF-B8-B4-4541-B0-B3-9584-FF6-BBEFC.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/p9j9QdGW)
Dragging up an old one here, anyone know if these are 18 or 19 prets on here? I’m having a small meltdown trying to consider swapping std 18s for after market or going all in on 19s and dcc.
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Im quite taken by the CS, I just hope that VW will bring some more wheel choices to it in the next 12 months for when I think about changing my 7.5
(https://i.postimg.cc/xdxK2JLz/6-B5-E62-EF-B8-B4-4541-B0-B3-9584-FF6-BBEFC.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/p9j9QdGW)
Dragging up an old one here, anyone know if these are 18 or 19 prets on here? I’m having a small meltdown trying to consider swapping std 18s for after market or going all in on 19s and dcc.
18s on continental tyres. VW currently have them on ‘special’ offer around 1300 with tyres.
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Id have the tyres from the Richmonds to swap over so some CM Versions will probably achieve the target of no richmonds but also avoiding 19s
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Not exactly a review but worth a watch.
The 0-60 isn’t too shabby for a FWD.
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Im quite taken by the CS, I just hope that VW will bring some more wheel choices to it in the next 12 months for when I think about changing my 7.5
(https://i.postimg.cc/xdxK2JLz/6-B5-E62-EF-B8-B4-4541-B0-B3-9584-FF6-BBEFC.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/p9j9QdGW)
Dragging up an old one here, anyone know if these are 18 or 19 prets on here? I’m having a small meltdown trying to consider swapping std 18s for after market or going all in on 19s and dcc.
I’ve ordered CS with Estorils, didn’t like the Adelaides in real life. Decent 18s with higher offset think best way to go. Especially if happy to have no option car from stock and avoid the long wait.
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Possibly not relevant to the average daily commute but if you’re going to call a car Clubsport then it needs to deliver on track too…
https://youtu.be/RWUVQ8F83VA
Not overly shabby all things considered.
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Possibly not relevant to the average daily commute but if you’re going to call a car Clubsport then it needs to deliver on track too…
https://youtu.be/RWUVQ8F83VA
Not overly shabby all things considered.
The mk8 CS didn't look happy on track, the weight with 5 doors & Dsg didn't help that case?
Still possibly a better road car than the Yaris though, GR is a bit of a rabid terrier too much of the time from my experience driving them?
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I’ve not driven a GR Yaris but kind of like the idea of rabid!!
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I’ve not driven a GR Yaris but kind of like the idea of rabid!!
You should try one just to have the experience in your hard drive.
What I mean by rabid is that it goads you on.....it's limitations are beyond what you may reasonably find on a B road, wet or dry, yet driving it slowly is not that enjoyable. I can see what all of the fuss is about & for the tech it is a relative bargain.
Look forward to your thoughts Exonian once you have the opportunity to try one.
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I’ll see if I can find a dealer with one in within reasonable distance.
I’d been avoiding trying one in case I liked it :grin:
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Well, when you are near Cambridge :tongue:
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Do you have one yourself jv?
My attention span is worse than a bluebottle on acid so did I miss this?