Remember the R is carrying 200 more kg's. (or 2 more passengers).The Gti has a smaller turbo and spoils up faster give more peak torque on initial take off.But as with all the K03 Gti's the power at top end falls away, whereas the R's turbo will give more boost right to the redline.
Here's a bit of anoraky info for you. I checked the weights of the cars from VW's German website and discovered an error of sorts in the UK brochure. The R is only 128kgs heavier than the GTI - the UK brochure weight for the GTI doesn't include 68kg for the driver and 7kg for luggage.

Golf GTI 3dr manual 1393kg
Golf R 3dr manual 1521kg
Those weights include a 68kg driver, 7kg of luggage and a 90% full fuel tank... not sure what the 7kg of luggage consists of

Having said that, the R is still 20 stone (one fat bloke) heavier than the GTI - and it feels it too. I have no doubt a remapped GTI would keep pace with me in most circumstances.
As one knowledgeable member said on the VW Chat thread, 'VW have to restrict the GTI because of those stupid overweight, numb, bloated VR6/R32/R models'.


so my car's a little overweight - but it has a really good personality
