Golf R /RD

[Bill_the_Bear]

Bill: Yep - you only hear about the bad stuff. For every bad DSG there will be thousands of good ones that don't have a voice.

Honda Civic though? They're cheap (built to a very noticeable price), the design is very marmite and unless the new 2013/14 model has changed, it won't even have a multilink rear suspension that'll massively compromise the handling (your colleagues might have it if it is the grandad looking one and not the newer "space-age" looking one). The old Civic (circa 2005ish) was a grandad looking car, and adding some sporting cues on the R didn't really save it in the looks. Not a fan of the naturally aspirated 200ps engine either. You had to rev the nuts off it to get it to do anything. Below 4500rpm it was useless due to it's massive lack or torque. I think you'll know who has the better car!

Exactly, and if they take their own advice those CTR owners should be googling door rust problems, or issues with 3rd gear... I haven't mentioned this to them though because I'm nice, however I'm seriously considering not letting them get in my new GTI when it finally arrives since I have no desire to listen to them criticise it.

Every bloody day I get "have you changed it to grey yet?" No! And fcuk off, this joke wasn't funny the first time it certainly isn't funny after two months!

[PenguinGTI]

Bill_the_Bear, don't want to turn this into a CTR bashing thread (as I love the cars) but you could gently remind your pub friend that the FN2 does without the independent rear suspension in favour of a cheaper, less-beneficial torsion beam; you could also remind him that only the Championship White edition came with a proper LSD; you could point to the fake exhausts which hide microscopic pea shooters behind them; or mention the wonderful rear spoiler that is a triumph of design over function. At least when VW do design, they still manage to keep the practicality.

As for the GTI, I think white is spot on for the MK7. So you get a thumbs up from me.

Returning to the topic though, I very much doubt a R tdi. Not even Audi offers a faster diesel in the A3 range and Audi is arguably the more appealing brand in terms of fast diesels. In fact, Audi don't even offer a competitor to the GTD (in terms of a unique performance diesel flagship), instead offering the engines in a variety of trims. But then again, they don't offer a GTI rival either and instead lump the 217bhp engine in amongst the "standard" trims.

And then we come to the argument in favour of diesels. Which invariably is cost. People might argue they like the torque, but a big V8 will offer plenty - the problem is the cost of running the V8. So the logic is that someone would pay... let's guess around £32-33k on a Golf R tdi, to save themselves around £2-3k in fuel costs over the course of 20-30k miles against a £27k GTI.

Take you 2 years to play catch up with the GTI.

[Running Man]

DSG recalls in China

I think this is an overreaction.  I've spec'ed DSG and have no end of people at the office keep telling me (very patronising) "ooh, you don't want to do that, just go google DSG problems..." and then smiling all smug like they know something I don't.

Well, its always the 7 speed dry DSG that is being recalled, not the 6 speed fitted to the GTI.  If you look at the details of the China recall the cars are all 1.4TSI, which has the 7 speed box, and they are manufactured in China itself.  There are some imports from Germany also being recalled but this is just because they've issued a blanket recall, the problem is the Chinese build ones as I understand it.

To be honest I'm kind of sick of work colleagues or friends down the pub constantly telling me what is wrong with my choice of car.  After DSG they go to: "White, no that looks rubbish.  Get grey" (I get asked if I've "changed the colour to grey yet?" about 3 times a day... ).  "Ugh, those seats look like my nan's conservatory furniture, you haven't ordered them have you?"  (as it happens I've got leather, but that's not the point).  "Don't get 5 door it looks crap, get 3 door."  "Don't like the red trim in the headlights..."  The latest one is criticism of the e-diff.

So my mate has just bought a Civic R (07 model or something).  The other morning he was joking that I should cancel the GTI and get a 2014 Civic R (Can you not just be positive about my choice of car?  For just once, is that too much to ask?).  Trying to be friendly and chatty instead of just going silent every time the GTI is insulted I asked if the Civic would be getting an LSD?  ...Apparently "they've had them since 2010".  No, I say, is it getting a front e-diff.  Right now the GTI is the only one on the market with one.  "Oh, you don't want to get an e-diff, go and Google e-diff problems."  "There are loads and loads of cars with e-diffs."  "Look up jaguar e-diff problems." etc etc etc...

/rant

I've forgotten what my point is now.  I think it was that often it is said that there are going to be problems, but that in reality no data is offered to back those claims up or the statements are made out of context.  If you steer clear of everything that has gone wrong at some random time in the past then you just make life unnecessarily difficult for yourself.  As they say in Rain Man:

- "Quantas never crashed."
- "That's gonna do me a lot of good Ray. Quantas doesn't fly to L.A. out of Cincinnati. You have got to get to Melbourne... Australia in order to get the plane that flies to Los Angeles!"

Jealous of you and your soon to be GTI springs to mind