Cat amongst the pigeons!

[WHITEY20]

Totally agree with you on points 2,3,6 & 8(apart from the london bit)
I personally think the GTI looks better, it was the power factor that was edging me, I dont need it as my driving is short and usually only weekends but the figures look good. Honeycomb grill, 18" monzas, sold!

The 'R' is a great car.

I did not buy one because:

[1] It was not available sooner than the GTi.
[2] I prefer the front and profile look of the GTi.
[3] I badly wanted the Jacara seats. So iconic.
[4] I felt the boot in the 'R' was a bit too small for my purpose.
[5] After having driven both, I prefer the lightness of the GTi.
[6] I wanted a car with the 18" Monza Shadows (Detroits). So iconic.
[7] I like the manual gearbox and I felt this suits the GTi more than the R, IMO.
[8] I drive mostly in London, so I felt I did not require or would notice the extra performance.

That was the logic then.

Now, I am toying with the idea of buying a BMW M3 Coupe in 2012, maybe.

Oh, I truly love my GTi, more than I have any other car. Funny that.

[DDRFan]

Totally agree with you on points 2,3,6 & 8(apart from the london bit)
I personally think the GTI looks better, it was the power factor that was edging me, I dont need it as my driving is short and usually only weekends but the figures look good. Honeycomb grill, 18" monzas, sold!

The 'R' is a great car.

I did not buy one because:

[1] It was not available sooner than the GTi.
[2] I prefer the front and profile look of the GTi.
[3] I badly wanted the Jacara seats. So iconic.
[4] I felt the boot in the 'R' was a bit too small for my purpose.
[5] After having driven both, I prefer the lightness of the GTi.
[6] I wanted a car with the 18" Monza Shadows (Detroits). So iconic.
[7] I like the manual gearbox and I felt this suits the GTi more than the R, IMO.
[8] I drive mostly in London, so I felt I did not require or would notice the extra performance.

That was the logic then.

Now, I am toying with the idea of buying a BMW M3 Coupe in 2012, maybe.

Oh, I truly love my GTi, more than I have any other car. Funny that.

i do honestly prefer the look of the GTI over the R - to me the R just looks a bit too serious, a bit too "BMW-ish", sort of too clinical. On the other hand the GTI I look at it and I think it's like the girlfriend who's willing to go away on that spontaneous romantic trip with you without worry about how much it's gonna cost or that she's got work on Monday and she doesn't have to get ready cos she already looks great as she is........
ahem...... maybe this is why i don't actually have a girlfriend  :embarassed:

[p3eps]

i want an R 

So just how many of you R owners have bothered with winter tyres??? 

I had full intentions of buying a set of Winter wheels - but got caught off guard by the early snow!
As above - the price of Winter tyres now is stupid, so I'll hang fire for just now.

So far it seems to handle the snow reasonably well with the regular tyres, but I think a set of Winter tyres would make it very good.

[am1w]

Call me old fashioned, but I like the fog lights on the GTi, and now that that they have the LED DRLs integrated into the headlights, I feel it is as 'modern' as I would like it to be. Those LEDs in the R bumper look like an 'afterthought' and have a 'stuck-on' appearance. Also, the side skirts on the R look like two railway tracks and again very 'add-on' and an 'afterthought'. Not integrated like the ones on the GTi. Ofcourse this in IMO.
The R is no doubt a brilliant and fast car.

[R32UK]

i want an R 

So just how many of you R owners have bothered with winter tyres??? 

I had full intentions of buying a set of Winter wheels - but got caught off guard by the early snow!
As above - the price of Winter tyres now is stupid, so I'll hang fire for just now.

So far it seems to handle the snow reasonably well with the regular tyres, but I think a set of Winter tyres would make it very good.

let us know how they are with the AWD... would like to know, but I imagine pretty good without a doubt!

[The Danno]

Call me old fashioned, but I like the fog lights on the GTi, and now that that they have the LED DRLs integrated into the headlights, I feel it is as 'modern' as I would like it to be. Those LEDs in the R bumper look like an 'afterthought' and have a 'stuck-on' appearance. Also, the side skirts on the R look like two railway tracks and again very 'add-on' and an 'afterthought'. Not integrated like the ones on the GTi. Ofcourse this in IMO.
The R is no doubt a brilliant and fast car.

I hear ya! I would have preferred to have fogs in addition to LEDs, but hey I suppose I want to look slightly different from a GTI, that process has to manefest itself somewhere/somehow!

How successful do you all think the mk5 R32 was in comparison to the GTI? When had my Mk5 GTI I thought the mk5 R32 was a styling disaster with it's silly shiny passat style grill. In my mind this new Mk6 version is leaps and bounds better...

Would like to hear how all you boys and girls might have made the R look different from the GTI?? Try to be constructive!

[Phil1980]

I think they have got the styling spot on with the R, i for one would love one.  It is subtle in comparison to its competitors which I think makes it more appealing.  I like the interior look on the R also. 

[am1w]

For the R, I think more 'jewel-like' LED DRLs in the headlights would look the business and leave the present area where the DRLs are empty. This will give it a very stealthy and clean look. Obviously, the headlights should be 'smoked'.   

[MAW73]

Call me old fashioned, but I like the fog lights on the GTi, and now that that they have the LED DRLs integrated into the headlights, I feel it is as 'modern' as I would like it to be. Those LEDs in the R bumper look like an 'afterthought' and have a 'stuck-on' appearance. Also, the side skirts on the R look like two railway tracks and again very 'add-on' and an 'afterthought'. Not integrated like the ones on the GTi. Ofcourse this in IMO.
The R is no doubt a brilliant and fast car.

I hear ya! I would have preferred to have fogs in addition to LEDs, but hey I suppose I want to look slightly different from a GTI, that process has to manefest itself somewhere/somehow!

How successful do you all think the mk5 R32 was in comparison to the GTI? When had my Mk5 GTI I thought the mk5 R32 was a styling disaster with it's silly shiny passat style grill. In my mind this version is leaps and bounds better...

Would like to hear how all you boys and girls might have made the R look different from the GTI?? Try to be constructive!

I agree with that, a Mk5 R32 is a definate head turner   

[Rhyso]

MK4 R32 is the best looking .:R