My god 
I know the R is supposed to be a damn fine car but as it only has Awd and a higher top speed over the GTI I could never justify spending nearly £40 grand on a VW, and to be honest I wouldn't want to it is just VW piss taking yet again.
Agree.... I know there is a certain exictement to buying a new car... but most of you guy have owned your GTI's from new. I think is would be much more fun to go down the a' la hurdy route and spend the extra £20k you all seem to have lying around on upgrades and modding your GTI's to blow the R away 
I know that it's relative and all that, but if I had to put £20k on top of a very nicely speced, low mileage GTI, to get another new, but very similar car, it wouldn't happen.
Have you seen what that £20k would buy you on the used market?
There is massive list of great cars for around the £20k mark.... for me I would add a few pennies and get this
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3056837.htm
I've looked at all the used car options in the £30-40k bracket, an M3 was one of them, but the running costs are much higher than an R because it's a higher performance car. [more insurance, higher VED, lower mpg, higher servicing costs etc] and you will be out of warranty. I wanted something with very good performance and 4wd, but relatively affordable running costs and the peace of mind of 3 years warranty. So I've put my money into the car instead of the running cost. I've specced it up a bit as it will be the last new car I'll be buying for quite some time.
Gone for 3 door DSG, 19" Talladega's, rising blue, RNS510 with 6CD changer and dynaudio, ACC, cruise, rear view camera, colour MFD, lux pack and storage pack. My dealer also included 3 years gap insurance and lifeshine in the price [Worth around £800]
