Just to add a new slant to it. Mechanically the R is an S3 underneath, and yet how many people would consider the S3 a better car than the GTI. Of course there are many who would say that is is (and for what they need they are right) because it is faster but those who don't need the extra performance would see the increased prices, the increased running costs, the increased weight, and the smaller boot as all negative. The difficulty is that the S3 now has a VW badge on it which makes it more of an in-house fight.
I did consider an S3 there was only £2K in it price wise (after discount) and the S3 was far superior equipped than the GTI. After driving both i went for the GTI for the reason, the steering felt better, the ride felt better, the turbo lag was less. The turbo lag is why i went for a GTI i have spent the previous past few years running a TDI130 as a daily driver which has quite abit of lag and was really getting on my wick and so i wanted a smoother progress from my next car. The Pirelli mk5 just had too much lag for the way i drive daily so i waited for the mk6. The S3 suffered the same lag as the R's and Pirelli. The R/S3 maybe faster, it may corner better, It grips better but as an alrounder the GTI (sounds like the advert for the mk2 GTI v astra GTE16V again
) for me i felt better for my useage of the car.
Thinking about it this is starting to sound like the old mk2 Golf GTI 8V v Golf GTI 16V arguments... I always liked the 8V better
As for price i know i have said it previously on this forum but i had a large cash budget when i was looking for my daily driver replacment but i did not want something i would become tired of a year or so down the line. The lag and fuel consumption were large considerations to me as a daily driver. I could have bought a last of the line knockdown R32 at ~£18K new but i did not for similar reasons.
The 4WD system i would probably rare use on the R anyway the way i drive 99% of the time and unlike others on here i have not had traction problems with the front wheel drive layout. Maybe previous experience of front wheel drive cars and performance driver training cources are the reasons.
As for performance in todays traffic and road conditions im happy with the perfomance of a mk2 GTI so the mk6 GTI is good enough for me on my daily commuter trips and weekend moor trips. Infact i get more fun driving low powered cars of around 60bhp than faster cars as you have to hussle them about and also predict traffic/learn to overtake correctly again.
PS
I do like the Golf R its a great car and im happy for the original thread poster as im sure its the car for him, its just not for me.
What i do find a shame is the cheak of VW that they did not use the alloy suspension parts that are fitted to the S3, or spec it similar inside. Cheap cost cutting imo.
