Quite a nice little article that. Doesn’t go into massive detail but says enough about the car to sum it up very well from the perspective of a GTI sceptic.
I’d planned to go back to a 4wd hatch along the lines of a mk8 R or M135i once the Leonardo DiCaprio style (versatile pretty boy) Clubsport had done its time with me. Due to a change from a short, mostly outskirts of the city, commute to a much longer nighttime rural one I was always reluctant to mess up the ultra low mileage immaculate much loved Edition 40 with salt spray, mud proliferation and stone chips.
The TCR swayed me away from the Clubsport due to having little and not so little upgrades over and above my Ed40 which made it a very slightly better car for its role, not least of all the truly excellent adaptive LED lights. The TCR is a very business like GTI, the sort of car the enthusiast owner of a standard GTI would build using parts bin OEM+ and aftermarket upgrades were it not a production model.
So far during a very very wet autumn and early winter it hasn’t once felt lacking in grip or traction, plus the handling is truly inspiring at times.
If cars were like film characters a lady was going out on a date with then the Golf R would be James Bond. Handsome, suave, charismatic know it all who was also 11/10 when they went back to the hotel room.
The TCR would be Han Solo, that little bit rougher round the edges.
Ask your wives who they’d prefer!
You see plenty of reviews that read out the same stats etc, which we all very familiar with and though obviously subjective to that reviewer its nice to see the review focus on the experience, and on that note it did resonate with my own.
Its been a mild yet mucky winter, with wet and damp roads on most days, and the expected trade off from switching from the R in terms of traction has not really materialised, I am driving the TCR in the exact way drove the R and have only briefly ever seen the traction light flashing at me - My starts are brisk, I push myself into moving traffic from junctions spiritedly but never floor it (which is where suspect the laws of traction would have it scrabbling)
So, traction has pleasantly surprised me and its just fun to drive, there is a nice agility to the experience that sure the GTI PP also gave over the R
Carried a lot of family around over Christmas, mainly in Miss Daisy mode (comfort) and like all MK 7 it does the daily use so well.
The MK 7 series performance might not have the raw performance of some of the hatches lauded out there, but none can do the daily and performance as well - Really is 2 cars in 1
Nice article and tribute by PistonHeads on the R which really translates to the whole MK 7 series Performance Range
https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-features/ph-carbituary---volkswagen-golf-r--mk7-/41620