Alternatives to the TCR

[Gtiless]

Thanks for the comments, I think the comment regarding I thinks its probably a bit quicker than the Gti has to be balanced with the fact it (M135i) only still had about 200 or so miles on it and I was trying to not be too hard on it until I had got a few miles on the clock.
Its now got around 600 (essential obviously!) miles on it and it feels like its loosening up nicely the exhaust note is starting to deepen up a bit, as others have commented its very grunty from low down and very very quick. You dont have to rev it out to go really quick really quickly!
The chassis/ handling is really stiff and has a real "point and shoot" quality to it- its absolutely like its on rails.It still manages to retain a comfortable ride in sensible use though- even though mine is on 19"s with no adaptive suspension.
The brakes are superb and scrub speed in a rapid but very controlled fashion.


The 8 speed box is good and I cant really notice any difference between it and the DSG in the Golf. There is still sometimes that milli second of lag built into the accelerator especially in comfort mode as on the Golf but in sport it all but disappears and you start to notice it less and less as you drive it.

The interior is great, no creaks or rattles at all that I have noticed up to now and its a great place to sit. The tech, nav and even the speech control are good and pretty easy to use. Ill be glad when the android update happens though.
Head up display is fantastic and so easy to glance at without really taking your eyes off the road.

I think I didn't at first realise how fast it really is, in a race between this and my Gti I know where I would place my money.....

[p3asa]

I'd say it was significantly quicker than the gti.... But it doesn't feel like an R does where it feels heavy and a bit less exciting.

The gearbox is pretty good, didn't find any real issues as a manual driver. Obviously in nutter mode it holds the changes much longer and also up shifts pretty savagely.

It's a lot of fun, maybe not tail sliding Clarkson style fun, but that's just journalist pish.

That's interesting it doesn't feel as heavy as the R as that is definitely something I notice when driving the GTI. Thanks for that.

The power delivery of the 135i is similar to the GTI in that it’s lower revving and more torque biased than the revvy R engine, Stevie.
It’s like a beefed up GTI engine (only the BMW synthesised engine noise doesn’t sound crap like the VW Soundaktor does!) that gathers pace very very quickly and drama free but doesn’t need beating all the way to the red line.

If the 8R looks less ugly than the 8GTI and has 330PS then it might be worth the (long) wait but BMW have done a very good job with the new M135i making it feel very Golf like, just chunkier.

Hi Andy hope you and the family are keeping well. See you are still spending the boys inheritance on new Golfs. Keep it up 

My preference would be to wait on the R. Just before the Covid outbreak I checked my finance and seen I was £3k in equity with a year to go so thought I'd cash in and got the bug to change. No doubt its all gone now though.

I much prefer the power delivery on the GTI compared to the R. It makes it feel so much quicker I think.

[Exonian]

Hi Andy hope you and the family are keeping well. See you are still spending the boys inheritance on new Golfs. Keep it up 

My preference would be to wait on the R. Just before the Covid outbreak I checked my finance and seen I was £3k in equity with a year to go so thought I'd cash in and got the bug to change. No doubt its all gone now though.

I much prefer the power delivery on the GTI compared to the R. It makes it feel so much quicker I think.

Those Golfs have served them well for endless taxi trips over the years! I don’t think the boys even notice I exist anymore except when they run out of money (frequently!) 

There are plenty of ex-demo launch cars in BMW dealerships still, I’d recommend driving one when things eventually settle back down.
The engine will definitely tick your boxes, it reminds me a bit of previous remapped GTI’s I’ve owned which is a good thing.

BMW lead times are pretty good normally (mind you, ‘normal’ could be anything from here on) but there were a reasonable amount in the system over the last few months at really good prices and even better still if you went for an ex-dealership registered car (the latter being what I’d personally go for with around £8k off and just needing a good machine polish which you’d do anyway to make the paint pristine)