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Model specific boards => Golf mk6 => Topic started by: Booski on 19 January 2010, 18:58

Title: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: Booski on 19 January 2010, 18:58
All pretty positive - 4 star
obviously they mention the high cost

they discuss the Gti vs R
"the R is a better entertainer than the Gti: faster, more exciting, more playful and yet still ingrained with all the qualities you expect of a golf. Does that add up to the £5915 difference? Probably. But £30k? Maybe not."
Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: Snoopy on 19 January 2010, 19:23
Did they do much of a test or just a quick brief one?
Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: p3eps on 19 January 2010, 19:37
Damn... I was in the newsagent today and never noticed it!
I'll have to get it tomorrow and add it to my collection!
Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: Chins on 19 January 2010, 19:46

Well Autocar has the R vs the Meg vs the Ford RS tomorrow. Should make interesting reading
Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: SilverChariot on 19 January 2010, 19:56

Well Autocar has the R vs the Meg vs the Ford RS tomorrow. Should make interesting reading

Yeah, from the look of the front cover it's that poverty-spec red R again! :rolleyes:
Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: p3eps on 19 January 2010, 20:00
Cool... I'll wait till after work then and hopefully they'll actually have their Autocar on the shelves by then (unlike last week!)
Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: Booski on 19 January 2010, 20:02
Did they do much of a test or just a quick brief one?

it's an interesting read 12 page spread not all about the R as they are driving the megane rs250 and the 911GT3??
Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: SilverChariot on 19 January 2010, 20:03
Cool... I'll wait till after work then and hopefully they'll actually have their Autocar on the shelves by then (unlike last week!)

I'll guess the result:

1. Megane 250
2. Golf R
3. Focus RS

Golf R would be number 1 if it was £5K cheaper and they'd tested a decent spec one (i.e. Leather, DSG, ACC, etc).
Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: Booski on 19 January 2010, 20:10

Golf R would be number 1 if it was £5K cheaper and they'd tested a decent spec one (i.e. Leather, DSG, ACC, etc).

by decent spec you mean YOUR SPEC?
 :wink:
 
Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: p3eps on 19 January 2010, 20:18
Golf R would be number 1 if it was £5K cheaper and they'd tested a decent spec one (i.e. Leather, DSG, ACC, etc).

If they'd added that to the spec it would have cost ANOTHER £5k  :laugh:

Ok, not quite - but £4k!
Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: SilverChariot on 19 January 2010, 20:29

Golf R would be number 1 if it was £5K cheaper and they'd tested a decent spec one (i.e. Leather, DSG, ACC, etc).

by decent spec you mean YOUR SPEC?
 :wink:
 

Yeah. :wink:
Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: JonnyG on 19 January 2010, 23:24
As we all know the Golf R is getting some stick for being on the expensive side.

I remember the ED 30 got the same sort of stick when that was first announced.

There are some standard spec differences between the GTi and R, which narrow the gap a bit

Xenons                                     - £1110
18" Alloys as standard on th R      -  £ 450
Flat Tyre Indicator                         - £35

TOTAL                                     - £1595

Have I missed anything else ?  (I know the R also has Rear LED light lenses & front DRL'S which are worth extra too, say £400 )

The rest is then down to a subjective assessment of the more powerful engine and AWD.  Is it worth the remaining £4000 ?
Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: keelaw on 19 January 2010, 23:42

fair point well made.  i suspect you're able to get more of a discount off list on a GTI than on an R though,  which widens the gaps again.



Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: p3eps on 20 January 2010, 06:51
Have I missed anything else ?  (I know the R also has Rear LED light lenses & front DRL'S which are worth extra too, say £400 )

25mm lower suspension and natty blue dials that dance when you turn the car on!!
Well worth the £4k extra  :laugh:
Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: FamilyDub on 20 January 2010, 10:26
25mm lower suspension and natty blue dials that dance when you turn the car on!!
Well worth the £4k extra  :laugh:

 :grin:
Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: Tailpipe on 20 January 2010, 12:07
Neither Car nor Autocar tell us anything we don't know already.

I think the most telling criticism of the R is that AWD only kicks in when the extra traction is needed. But even when a significant amount of power is channeled to the rear wheels, it still feels predominantly like a FWD car. Which means that for most of the time you drive an R, the extra power is doing little more than compensating for the extra weight.

Nevertheless, Car concludes that the R is ultimately more capable than the GTI because it can put more of its power down more of the time. While the extra ponies are diluted by an additional 100 kgs of AWD hardware, the R   seems to have an edge over the GTI that the R32 never had over the Mark V GTI, according to the same magazine.

In the end, the Golf R consistently gets 4 stars instead of 5 because of the price. What both articles seems to be trying to do is to send a coded message to VW: ease up on the prices, your badge cannot command the type of premium you insist on charging. I would be surprised if VW didn't offer discounts on the R before too long - unless they're really serious about only selling 250 or 500. If total sales of 250 is the maximum they can achieve with a £30K+ price tag, then I doubt they'll recoup the development costs.

So the $10,000 (£6,500) question is should I buy an R over a GTI? Hmmm. Tough one. 

Very tempted to just get a GTI.
Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: R32UK on 20 January 2010, 12:15
it sounds like they never turned the ESP off :laugh: :laugh:
Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: FamilyDub on 20 January 2010, 12:17
Message to VW: ease up on the prices, your badge cannot command the type of premium you insist on charging.

^^^^^^^ Exactly. VW are becoming too 'premium' with their pricing policy, I think.

So the $10,000 (£6,500) question is should I buy an R over a GTI?
 

I'd be asking, sorry telling a dealer you want extended test-drives in both cars, over all road types, traffic conditions, etc to see for yourself whether the premium of the R is worth it over the GTI.

Either way you cut it, spending £23k+ (GTI) / £32k+ (R) is a chitload of money.
Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: Awry on 20 January 2010, 12:18
Well... to help you guys feel better about the price difference between the GTI and R in the UK. I can gladly report that the difference over here is 24,5k.  :laugh:
Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: FamilyDub on 20 January 2010, 12:18

^^^^^^^ Where?
Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: Awry on 20 January 2010, 12:25

^^^^^^^ Where?

Norway :) One of the worst place to live if you're a car enthusiast. :P 55k for my GTI order. I'm sure as hell going to enjoy it when I finally get it.  :grin:
Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: FamilyDub on 20 January 2010, 12:39


^^^^^^^^  :shocked:
Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: Neil gti on 20 January 2010, 12:59

^^^^^^^ Where?

Norway :) One of the worst place to live if you're a car enthusiast. :P 55k for my GTI order. I'm sure as hell going to enjoy it when I finally get it.  :grin:

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ :shocked: :shocked: :shocked:       :grin:
Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: Snoopy on 20 January 2010, 20:31
Yeah, from the look of the front cover it's that poverty-spec red R again! :rolleyes:
And imo thats how all reviews should be done with the basic spec model. As reporters have no clue what are extra or not! They should be showroom dealer demo models too not specialy prepped press models :wink:
Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: SilverChariot on 21 January 2010, 09:47
Some info about Feb issue of Car magazine with Golf R in here:
http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Magazine/Search-Results/February-2010-issue-of-CAR-Magazine/?

(http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/upload/22128/images/inthisissue.jpg)

Notice it's the blue one they're testing.
Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: p3eps on 21 January 2010, 11:11
I bought Car and AutoCar yesterday...
Both give 4 stars, but the Car review seemed much more positive.  They loved the car and said it was better on all counts than the GTI apart from the price.  I think the price is whats preventing 5 stars in most reviews. 

AutoCar however didn't seem to understand that its supposed to be a 'grown up' hot hatch and seemed to be more taken with the ASBO looking RS and the nasty French car!  They also said that the Megane was much faster - and then admitted the Golf had only done 500 miles and not been run in!

Hey ho...  I'm sure we'll get an AutoExpress one in the next week or two!

Title: Re: Car magazine golf R review
Post by: The Danno on 21 January 2010, 11:11
Silvercharriot - just looking at your spec. that muist have costs a fortune. What did you pay?

I have the Rising blue, acc, 19" in Silver and that was bad enough!