2018 Golf TCR and dealer information ?

[AGB]

Does anyone know if VW will be offering this to current TCR owners as an upgrade?

I spoke to Akaprovic direct and it will be in supply via their UK dealer network although for a car in warranty, I would likely want a VW authorised dealer to undertake the work. If I was doing it, I would send the car to JZM Porsche by preference as they are leagues beyond a standard VW garage who I doubt ever do performance upgrades.

[AGB]

Strangely the TCR has increased in price again on the configurator to a whopping £38195 over £2000 more than an R which is about another £600 increase again - have looked to see if anything has been added as standard but cannot see anything so presume the cost is purely Akrapovich - either way they have priced the TCR out of new sales as doubt Akrapovich laden TCR will get the discount of some 19 plates and you simply have to buy an R new or seek out a earlier TCR if really want one - obviously think the TCR is an attractive package to have tempted me away from another R but it’s not the near good enough to justify the difference between the original price and now in my opinion- not sure if anyone else can spot the why there is this £600 increase that’s maybe escaped me?

There won't be margin to play with in Akrapovic exhausts if it's titanium but at the price, it's probably stainless steel. The exhaust note on the TCR is pretty muted so it's a positive thing to have an exhaust option and it's what the car should sound like in my opinion (good find on the above clip).Even with the choice, I think I'd still have specified it without based on how we're using it. Must admit, the detailing on the tips does finish the car off well versus the standard which are just, well, standard and not what you'd hope for given the concept and the fact that it's a 'special'. There is nothing worse than a car with a droning performance exhaust on a long motorway journey so sometimes performance exhausts have downsides. I doubt the Akrapovic that comes on the TCR will have switchable baffles which is something that I would always prefer to have.

For me, the colour was a selling point over the GTI PP. Look at the miserable choice of 8 colours we get versus the 35 that Germany enjoy. I like cars in flat colours and pure grey is a beautiful rich and creamy colour. It looks superb on the GTI. It's also a good tone to clean - easy to see bug splatter and work on. It has the richness of poured cream. Probably one of my all time favourite colours on a car. What annoyed me is that Germany got the launch colour free yet we get stiffed for £600. VW don't do paint to order, i've asked but If you did paint to sample with Porsche, it would cost £3,000 and add horrible amounts of time to your build timeline. But if you're being asked to pay a large sum for a car, you should have choices. On the basis of limited colour choice, the paint has a monetary value in setting the car apart in my opinion.

On the subject of pricing, I ended up paying just over £32k for a new car to my spec which had a few extras - it came standard with so much anyway, there wasn't much to option. My spec on the configurator is over £42k now. But then I look around - Renault are offering a Megane RS Trophy R for £72k. I know it's more of a Clubsport S comparison but £72k for a hot hatch.  I remember when you could first spec a MKVI Golf R past £40k and everyone was horrified. But to put it into perspective and I know it's not a completely fair comparison but you can pick up an early (circa 2012) McLaren MP4-12C for around £80k. While I'm no fan of McLaren, one is a performance supercar engineered from the ground up for a purpose and the other is a hot hatch platform with all the compromises that come with that. Not rubbishing either but relative to the value for that spend...

But then I read about the new Mercedes A45S announced this week which starts at £50,570.00.  It has 415bhp and options are likely to add £5-£10k. Some of the components on the Trophy R are top class and for a driver's experience, I'm sure it's going to be celebrated like the Clubsport S. At £72k, I would want a special engine in it though. When you consider the TCR positioned relative to the top of the range offerings from other manufacturers, their pricing strategy makes more sense. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Brexit and VAG pricing strategy. I have an order in with Porsche and have been sent a letter saying that due to the political situation, they expect to levy a further 10% charge to the value of my order to 'accommodate new import requirements'. According to my dealer, the average Porsche order is around £100k so a lot of people (self included) are not happy about this prospect and I think I'll cancel. If they do that in VW and with the TCR - that's an extra £4,200.

I think this thread is lacking pictures. I'll try and get some up tomorrow! 

[fredgroves]

Your point about the 10%... I wonder if the Government will ever raise the £40k road tax hike?

Given that (unlike wages) the price of cars increases every 6-12 months, pretty soon even a reasonable Golf is likely to top out 40k, its hardly a luxury item only owned by rich people.

[Clubsport S]

Strangely the TCR has increased in price again on the configurator to a whopping £38195 over £2000 more than an R which is about another £600 increase again - have looked to see if anything has been added as standard but cannot see anything so presume the cost is purely Akrapovich - either way they have priced the TCR out of new sales as doubt Akrapovich laden TCR will get the discount of some 19 plates and you simply have to buy an R new or seek out a earlier TCR if really want one - obviously think the TCR is an attractive package to have tempted me away from another R but it’s not the near good enough to justify the difference between the original price and now in my opinion- not sure if anyone else can spot the why there is this £600 increase that’s maybe escaped me?

I think this thread is lacking pictures. I'll try and get some up tomorrow! 

Some pictures of the Clubsport S and TCR together would be good 

[AGB]

Your point about the 10%... I wonder if the Government will ever raise the £40k road tax hike?

Given that (unlike wages) the price of cars increases every 6-12 months, pretty soon even a reasonable Golf is likely to top out 40k, its hardly a luxury item only owned by rich people.

But that's being compensated for by finance deals which are allowing entry to cars that people would never be able to own otherwise. Look at all the car YouTubers.

It suits the government not to adjust the threshold and it's likely that as we move toward electrification, they won't be able to apply this tax to electric vehicles. It wasn't that long ago that they were trying to stimulate growth with subsidies for electric/hybrid use. I suspect as we approach the tipping point of declining revenue, they'll revisit.

[clubsport]

Strangely the TCR has increased in price again on the configurator to a whopping £38195 over £2000 more than an R which is about another £600 increase again - have looked to see if anything has been added as standard but cannot see anything so presume the cost is purely Akrapovich - either way they have priced the TCR out of new sales as doubt Akrapovich laden TCR will get the discount of some 19 plates and you simply have to buy an R new or seek out a earlier TCR if really want one - obviously think the TCR is an attractive package to have tempted me away from another R but it’s not the near good enough to justify the difference between the original price and now in my opinion- not sure if anyone else can spot the why there is this £600 increase that’s maybe escaped me?

I think this thread is lacking pictures. I'll try and get some up tomorrow! 

Some pictures of the Clubsport S and TCR together would be good 

Close enough?

[AGB]

Strangely the TCR has increased in price again on the configurator to a whopping £38195 over £2000 more than an R which is about another £600 increase again - have looked to see if anything has been added as standard but cannot see anything so presume the cost is purely Akrapovich - either way they have priced the TCR out of new sales as doubt Akrapovich laden TCR will get the discount of some 19 plates and you simply have to buy an R new or seek out a earlier TCR if really want one - obviously think the TCR is an attractive package to have tempted me away from another R but it’s not the near good enough to justify the difference between the original price and now in my opinion- not sure if anyone else can spot the why there is this £600 increase that’s maybe escaped me?

I think this thread is lacking pictures. I'll try and get some up tomorrow! 

Some pictures of the Clubsport S and TCR together would be good 

Close enough?

Just arrived?

[clubsport]

The TCR is a May 2019 demo car with 3k miles, up for £30,950.

[fredgroves]

It suits the government not to adjust the threshold and it's likely that as we move toward electrification, they won't be able to apply this tax to electric vehicles. It wasn't that long ago that they were trying to stimulate growth with subsidies for electric/hybrid use. I suspect as we approach the tipping point of declining revenue, they'll revisit.

According to this:

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax-rate-tables

That's zero VED for electric but for the first 5 years, you are paying £320 a year for it being over 40k - which if you look at the fully electric vehicles on offer today, that's most of them once you have optioned something like a stereo or seating.

I wonder if this is the interim taxation method for electric?

[AGB]

It suits the government not to adjust the threshold and it's likely that as we move toward electrification, they won't be able to apply this tax to electric vehicles. It wasn't that long ago that they were trying to stimulate growth with subsidies for electric/hybrid use. I suspect as we approach the tipping point of declining revenue, they'll revisit.

According to this:

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax-rate-tables

That's zero VED for electric but for the first 5 years, you are paying £320 a year for it being over 40k - which if you look at the fully electric vehicles on offer today, that's most of them once you have optioned something like a stereo or seating.

I wonder if this is the interim taxation method for electric?

Possibly but law of innovation means and scale economies mean the prices will come down. Government can't touch electricity prices but we seem to be moving toward a rental economy so car sales in younger generation are depressed from the last research I read. Perhaps owning a car becomes the luxury. Either way, the government need to invest in infrastructure so possibly an infrastructure tax might find its way into being at some point.