2018 Golf TCR and dealer information ?

[dean5125]

3drRed4life?! 

I'm sure it will have a few more happy owners in it's life.... Watts is just sharing the love!!!

[CookieMonsterGTi]

Fantastic colour. Really pops in the sun. Was so close to closing it but went for the grey as it was the signature colour (and liked it equally as much).

Sure you will be happy with the move!

[Exonian]

Deal done, deposit paid, collection on Tuesday....

Knock me down with a feather!

Congrats Watts excellent news.
Was that from Martins?

I’d had a scroll down through available cars just last night on VW’s used cars website and had wondered if that was the one you’d looked at. I only ended up there after the talk of a TCR on Belvederes yesterday to see how they looked.
I had a quick scan through the white ones for that reason and then a look at red TCR’s with you in mind!   
The black and white scheme works really well (not biased at all  ) and the Oryx will look amazing in sunlight 

You could definitely knock me down with a feather! My wallet is going to be out of bounds now for years!

Yes, it is the one from Martins, the Oryx was rather nice and as much as I love TR, I needed a new car to be different. It's very unusual for me to buy the same car twice! Just hope I don't regret it, but I just fancied a TCR so why not?t

The Oryx TCR was a really good price for the spec. Can’t wait to see more pics of it and your initial thoughts after the usual new car adjustment time.

There are so many differences to the red GTI it’ll feel like a very different car in quite a few ways. Lots of gizmos to get to grips with.
Even moving from a white 5 door manual Ed40 to a white five door TCR it feels familiar and yet very different.
I’d got a bit lazy with the DSG and DCC making life too easy, but spurred on by clubsport I’ve been experimenting a bit these last few days.

Really looking forward to your post pick up posts. 
I sure hope you have no regrets long term.

[Paul70]

[/quote]
Even moving from a white 5 door manual Ed40 to a white five door TCR it feels familiar and yet very different.
[/quote]

Exonian would you mind explaining this in a bit more detail? I am torn at the moment and pondering changing to a TCR so would appreciate your view of the differences after a few months ownership, as I am close to changing from an ED40 to a TCR and you’ve been on a similar journey.

My rational
I would prefer 5 doors rather than 3
I am growing to like DSG after driving my partners Polo GTI
Every time I get in my ED40 it seems a bit dated - love the interior of the TCR
VW made a few compromises with the ED40, interior lighting, armrest, limited chassis mods and smaller exhaust which frustrate me and do not think this applies to the TCR.

[Exonian]

Even moving from a white 5 door manual Ed40 to a white five door TCR it feels familiar and yet very different.

Exonian would you mind explaining this in a bit more detail? I am torn at the moment and pondering changing to a TCR so would appreciate your view of the differences after a few months ownership, as I am close to changing from an ED40 to a TCR and you’ve been on a similar journey.

My rational
I would prefer 5 doors rather than 3
I am growing to like DSG after driving my partners Polo GTI
Every time I get in my ED40 it seems a bit dated - love the interior of the TCR
VW made a few compromises with the ED40, interior lighting, armrest, limited chassis mods and smaller exhaust which frustrate me and do not think this applies to the TCR.

You’ll never find any financial justification and I’d expect the CS to hold value better but the TCR has touches that make it feel quite different depending on spec.

If going five door DSG with DCC Ed40 to similar spec TCR then I’d say keep the former as it looks far more unique and means something to more people. The Ed40 is a fantastic car and the TCR only beats it in details.

Moving from a 3 door manual to 5 door DSG will be a significant change. The DSG is a totally different drive and de-skills you in some ways but requires you to learn different techniques for spirited driving which adds to the experience. You soon learn to snick it quickly into Sport gearbox setting for a fast overtake which will change gears far more quickly than you could in manual mode on the paddles. The only shame is not having a separate easy to reach button to quickly put the dampers into Sport on the fly so one can firm up briefly to take a sharp bend or fast roundabout without any roll before going back to Normal for some comfort when back cruising again.

The adaptive LED lights are a huge step up from the Xenons which I never thought as good on a mk7 as a mk6.

The fluffy steering wheel in the Ed40 was always a nice touch but also feels synthetic. I like the dimpled leather of the TCR ‘wheel more.

I didn’t have CS buckets so standard seats to standard seats it’s all about the centre section cloth difference which adds colour to the interior. I’ve grown really fond of it, and despite not missing the interior ambient lighting on the Ed40 it’s nice to have it back!

Performance is harder to quantify because of the different gearbox.
Clutch slip hampers the DSG annoyingly at lower speeds but under WOT it comes into its own.
Manual is more intuitive and involving and DSG more ‘on/off’ but I’ve warmed to the dual clutch semi-auto as a different entity. 

The three door mk7 looks really good and my PP was a 3 door.
The smaller doors of the 5 door are much better in use and currently having a back back it’s much less painful not having to contort to reach the seatbelt or squeeze out in a tight parking space.

[Paul70]

Thanks Exonian for taking the time to comment, some really good points.

Just need to drive one and make a decision whether to keep the CS and tweak it a little more or go for the TCR.

[Exonian]

Thanks Exonian for taking the time to comment, some really good points.

Just need to drive one and make a decision whether to keep the CS and tweak it a little more or go for the TCR.

A pleasure 

Much of it depends if you’d be tempted by a Mk8 (or something else) in a year or so.
It’d cost a lot to change from the Ed40 to a TCR which would in turn depreciate a lot more for the first three years or so.
Fine if you planned it as a long termer but maybe not so good if you’d move it on after a short time.
Money ploughed into the Ed40 would be partly recovered if you stripped it back to standard before selling it all on when the time came.

A TCR takes more than one road test to appreciate the qualities. Many aren’t obvious until you’ve spent a bit of time familiarising yourself.
Where you would perhaps spend money tuning a manual CS to offset the power deficit against a TCR (ignoring overboost) you’d find the DSG in Sport mode goes like a rocket and is more than adequate for UK roads. I overtook a geriatric in a Corsa yesterday and the car accelerated more quickly than my brain could process hustling a tuned Ed40 with a manual gearbox I reckon. Mind you I am getting old myself!! 

[Paul70]

From what I’ve seen if the MK8 they will have to do something pretty special in GTI guise but read that it will be showcased at Geneva next month so perhaps worth a wait.

I’ve lost my enthusiasm for doing significant mods, a few tweaks here and there can make a huge difference and as you say you can burn thousands on modding and unless you track the car you are rarely in a position to utilise the improvement. In the summer I  changed to Cup 2s and once up to a reasonable temperature the mechanical grip was fantastic but in normal driving the PS4 would be better. They also highlight sloppiness in the chassis. A pair and SuperPro LCAs, engine mounts and roll bars would sort that out but you’ve already spent north of 2K and that’s before brakes, clutch, exhaust and tune.

I am more in favour of a TCR perhaps with a JB4 and an updated rear ARB sounds like a plan.

[Exonian]

From what I’ve seen if the MK8 they will have to do something pretty special in GTI guise but read that it will be showcased at Geneva next month so perhaps worth a wait.

I’ve lost my enthusiasm for doing significant mods, a few tweaks here and there can make a huge difference and as you say you can burn thousands on modding and unless you track the car you are rarely in a position to utilise the improvement. In the summer I  changed to Cup 2s and once up to a reasonable temperature the mechanical grip was fantastic but in normal driving the PS4 would be better. They also highlight sloppiness in the chassis. A pair and SuperPro LCAs, engine mounts and roll bars would sort that out but you’ve already spent north of 2K and that’s before brakes, clutch, exhaust and tune.

I am more in favour of a TCR perhaps with a JB4 and an updated rear ARB sounds like a plan.

I’ve been running DCC in Sport for the last few days and am gradually getting used to the jiggly ride and being ultra cautious of potholes (the latter very difficult!) and it certainly firms things up a lot.
Gone is that typical GTI wallow (which the R didn’t suffer) on initial turn in on certain bends and roundabouts. A RARB and dampers set to Sport would make the chassis very good for fast road use without completely wrecking the ride quality. The dampers in Sport mode remind me of Bilstein or Konis fitted to GTI’s I had decades ago, very firm but not totally crashy, you’re very aware of the road surface.

I kept my old JB1, which I’d planned selling previously, just in case I get the urge to turn it into a JB4 at some point to add a bit more spice to the engine, no rush for that though.

As for the mk8, I guess we’ll all get used to the looks and slowly be able to palette it but that’ll take time. I’ve not seen a single review of the next gen Golf, A3, Leon or Octavia that points to an improvement of significance in any area.

[Talk-torque]

No, I think VW lost heart with the Mk8 when they realised the speed of EV development would have to be much faster. The Mk8s were, at one time, 48v hybrids, but all that went with the bringing forward of the ID3 program. The Mk8 has become a stop gap car. 😕