I said I would post up a fuller review when I had run the car in but I’ve done about 500 miles in it now and spent the last week in the TCR driving in all conditions so suspect that my opinion won’t change much.
We optioned the TCR with traffic sign recognition and lane assist. The first appears to only identify the last traffic sign recognised versus having any intelligence or using supplemental data. The speed warning that was permanently on in the instrumentation became a source of irritation and it was promptly disabled. The lane assist revealed itself to me on a piece of road I know well and as I took the racing line, proceeded to fight me. Disabled that at the next stop street and not turned it back on again. I am sure they can be adjusted in some way but I’m not bothered about them as features and wouldn’t specify them if I had my time again. These features have been executed better in other cars I’ve driven.
The car is starting to bed in and the exhaust has produced some promising sounds when provoked but I still think it’s too quiet or the cabin is too well insulated. For a race car inspired model, it appears inspiration was taken from Formula E.
This is the first VW I’ve had with the digital instrumentation and for the most part I like it - subject to the usual complaint about the division of information between the head unit and instrumentation cluster not always being entirely perfect. The one thing that I have a bit of a bug bear with is the fuel gauge. At no point am I ever in doubt as to what my fuel level is on the CSS. But on the TCR, I have to check the gauge versus being able to just glance at it. Not sure if it’s the orientation change or the colour choice of the marker needle. I need to investigate whether I can change the needle colour or customise it, I’m sure it’s possible but if anyone has done this, be good to hear your views and how you did the change. I no longer have VCDS but been thinking about getting it again but as it’s PC only, it really is a pain.
Over the last week, I’ve driven the car in some appalling conditions and it has felt sure footed in extremely water logged conditions. The Pirellis have been very good and confidence inspiring. My car has the Reifnitz wheels and there is virtually no tyre wall when combined with the Pirellis and even very low kerbs can be nicked if you turn out too sharply. There really isn’t much forgiveness at all. Brakes are excellent and every bit as good as the ones on the CSS. They’re sharp but don’t feel as over servoed as they initially did, this may be running in or just familiarisation on my part.
I’ve played with the chassis control extensively and am running an individual programme which in essence is sport mode with dampers set to comfort or standard. I think the DCC settings are really well judged and unlike the CSS, I can use all of them in all conditions and none feel inappropriate. On the other hand, race mode on the CSS can’t cope with the UK’s roads but Sport on the TCR is absolutely fine.
I think power and torque in the TCR are spot on and the car feels quick. Quicker than a GTI PP. I’ve not managed to slip the wheels or induce any tramping and it puts power down well without any discernible torque steer. I've not been stamping on the pedals or burying my foot, it just hasn't been necessary due to the level of power/torque.
The DSG gearbox. Personally, I hate it if I want to have fun but don’t mind it if I’m just driving the car normally. Left in full auto, it’s always a gear out from where I want to be or is hell bent on having me change up for fuel economy. Driven in manual, it’s fine but the paddles are a bit of a joke and might be more agreeable if they were suitably sized. I’ve mentioned that I don’t get on with the fact that they’re fixed to the steering wheel which is a pain if you’re on twisty road with changes in elevation where you’re turning and changing up/down. Left in full auto to avoid shifting, the car would have me in sixth as soon as it possibly could, even in sport. Will probably swap to Mountine paddles if they can supply them without the ‘Halfords look’ branding.
Fuel economy not great, driving like a saint, I got 36.6mpg on a 100 mile run which was 20% suburbs / 60% motorway / 20% rural. Ironically, my wife runs the car in eco and got worse figures for the same run and she has a very different driving style. The Blue Trainer app gave me 85% as a rating for my driving but given the 20% of London driving, that’s expected due to the way you have to drive. My GT4 has a 3.8 litre engine and is manual. I manage 30.1mpg driving in similar manner on the same journey.
For me, the novelty of exploring a new car has worn off. It’s a superb car and excellent package but I think the performance aspects are let down with DSG. Despite the creature comforts, modernised interface and so on, I’d have a CSS without hesitation if I wanted a car that put a smile on my face every time.
