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Thanks, I test drove one a while back and obviously didn't live with it but wasn't a massive fan. I use then constantly in the 7.5 for cruise and audio, I'm happy with the swap, genuine parts and can swap back if needed

I just found a couple of photos of the various media settings from my Dec 2020 Mk8 Clubsport and my December 2023 8R.
The hardware number in my 2020 car was H56 and the later car H61.










The early MK8’s got a shocking reputation for glitches and yet my Clubsport  which was one of the very first batch imported to the UK was pretty good. There are a few threads on that car on this forum which catalogued just about everything I experienced with the car.
The first thing you want to check is if the prospective car has had a replacement steering wheel under warranty.

My advice, buy as late a car as you can find/afford that will hopefully still have some of its original factory warranty. Just in case!

But, as stated above, the only real differences were very minor, the dials are no biggie, the later car’s gloss black centre console will soon tell you how well a car has been looked after, and there’s the GTI logo embossed. Aside from mildly updated gubbins inside the dash the media system is much the same.

The Ed45 is nice if you can find one. Not hugely different to the regular Clubsport but has an Akrapovic back box and nicer side decals plus unique wheels.

It's not nearly as bad as one press guy wrote about (and every other lazy journo copied) but swapping them out is possible as described above. Personally I'd not bother.

The OSF you mention is usually called the 5F controller. It's the "brains" of the infotainment system, a computer that lives behind the glove box.

Not seen anyone say it's causing HK problems, it has been known to be the cause of the various bongs and crashes on the Mk8 though.

It's an expensive part, £3500...unless there is a TSB for it they aren't going to even think about touching it. In fact the dealer isn't allowed to do any warranty work without the VW computer authorising them... No guess work or initiative allowed.

Today I when to my local dealer to enquiry about placing an order, but largely I was there to see if I can charm them into giving me a discount for my 10+ years of doing business with them.

We had a long conversation and I tried to gather information they may have at a dealer level. He told me there have been allocated 8 slots, so 30+ in total as they have a few dealerships. They have sold 1 slot thus far. Only 8 slots will be available for the year, and customers are free to order from factory in whichever spec, but not alcantara wheel. I asked repeatedly, in different ways, surely they will receive more slots down the line, either in the next quarter, when press cars come to the UK or perhaps when they sell all their slots. However, based on what he’s been told by the bosses so far, it’s only 8, with the future being unknown.

Absolutely, not a penny off the list price. On paper, it’s a Golf GTI TRC level time-bound production, i.e., free to order all year round, but at the prices of a limited production Clubsport S. It would have been much better if VW UK made up their mind instead of pussyfooting around and said its 50k with X limited production take it at full price or leave it, no discounts.

Can anyone who has ordered these types of special edition cars before shed some light on their experiences and if this is just the dealer selling strategy? I find it hard to believe dealers across the UK have only been given a limited number of slots of the whole year whilst all the PR press says it will be available for order for the whole 2026.

Current delivery lead time is 3/4 months.

On the off topic, he mention that the Golf R with the 2.5 RS3 engine is in late prototype cycle now, which confirms Autocar’s report earlier this year.

I bought a mk4 r32 new, each dealer was given 7 slots per year for 2 years and they were all allocated. I randomly called one day and they'd been given an extra 2 allocations so I snapped one up. No discount and as none were in the country at that point no test drive either, similar to this.