Should I sell my new gti and order an R

[Geomets]

The GTI performance pack does not understeer or oversteer (except if you define the laws of physics and drive like an idiot). It does put all the power down with its...transverse Haldex. That's why some journalists blamed VW for it being too sterile. So, in my opinion, the R does not bring any benefit, instead it ups your costs. More fuel (weight and extra friction due to -non-permanent, agreed- 4wd), more CO2 (and thus more taxes) and (the worst for me at least) extra weight (being ~100kg) when driving in the twisties. Also, if you are thinking about tuning, if you read carefully the sites of the well-known and respected tuners, you'll find that the R does not have that huge potential the GTI has, because it has the same engine (ok, bigger turbo) and is already tuned up. On the contrary, an ECU tweak and a CAI is going to provide your GTI PP ~280hp and ~43kgm of torque. Plenty enough and easily put down with the diff (I occasionally drive an mk6 with the same upgrades and -270hp and 41kgm- with no traction issues). If you go upgrading big time on the R, it will show 450hp, but then no Haldex pseudo-4wd will react properly (let alone it's reliability...).
Hope I didn't tire you, just put my own thought down. It's you and what you really want in the end!

[Dully]

Hi folks I am very happy with my gti but with only 700 miles on the clock I find myself looking at the R on a daily basis and contemplating trading up!
My biggest concern is the fact I will obviously lose a lot of money on the gti and as I have been carefully running in the gti and have not yet used the car near to its full potential.
Should I keep the gti and be very happy or order the R in the hope it's gonna be even better??? 

This has also been playing on my mind, my wife runs the GTI, it's her car, she picked the spec and traded in her TT, it's only used when she really needs to and only done about 400 miles in 8 weeks.

I've shown her the pictures of the R and she prefers the GTI purely on looks which I suppose is a woman thing (trying not to be too sexist there) but I am sure I could have persuaded her to like the R more!

What really pisses me off is when I start to think of the cost, she wanted leather as the checked seats did not meet her approval, went for PP which I swayed her to and also DCC as she thought it might be a chance to have a softer ride than the TT.

When you look at the R none of the options she chose would be required, no checked seats, loads of horse power and knowing now what I do of DCC she would not pick that either bringing the cost of the R with a very small discount to the same she paid for the GTI 

After much deliberation she is going to keep the GTI for the planned 3 years as she normally does to get reasonable value for money, don't like those huge residual value losses in the first 2 years. I think then she might look at an R or S3.

The thought of losing so much money on a car in 6 months is not good, even if someone knocked on the door now and offered good money she still has to find a car to tide her over to March May next year, plus she actually loves the GTI !

[2014GTi]

My plan is to keep the Golf GTi as my daily car.
If I get good money for my Golf R32 then move to a Porsche GT3 as a weekend toy 

But if I had to have one performance car, I would wait for the next Audi RS3 
The Golf R is not bespoke or unique enough for my tastes.... its just a tuned up GTi engine and its not a real 4WD system.

Stick with the GTi and see whats out in 3-4 years time 

[wigit]

Funnily enough the reason why I went for the 35 was I didn't fancy a R as money never came into it, on the road the R out performed it but I wanted a GTI, in reality at this time I fancied a R, seems ordering a mk7 has got my wife to start getting her arse in gear and order a more door GTI PP so will be able to see which one I prefer, if it's the GTI my wife will gladly take the keys of the R

Never really get into the remap debate as I'd rather put 300bhp through 4 wheels than 2 based on my own experiences as you can't use mapped power for all the time (I normally turn ours down in winter)

I'll also refrain from the inter web speculation on comparisons till I've driven both, there are enough mk5 fan boys out there who seem the won't have a mk7 based on Tiffs comments lol

GTI and R are different cars which play to their own strengths

[Munrohuna]

Thanks for your thoughts guys.
Think I will hold on to the GTI after all for a while at least, after all I kept my last one for 4 years and it did everything you would expect from it brilliantly!
I'm sure when the R is released I will get a test drive and see how I like it but in the meantime I'm very happy with the GTI.

[Exonian]

The GTI is just that.
It was always about the best balance of all things including cost (by VW's own definitions of value for money which considering they don't struggle to shift them the must know something we don't).

For me personally paying for my own car and not earning loads of money the GTI is a good blend and to my eyes a better looking car. A lightly modified sensibly specced GTI offers the best £££ per smile factor for me.
Looking at the R forum, R owners are a different type of buyer. Most seem to think nothing of speccing the car very highly so cost to them is insignificant. Words such as speccing the near £2k Nav and DCC just because they think it will be expected when they sell the car on again (and as they are R owners they know R buyers are far more discerning), so it all boils down to £££££
The R is a different niche to the GTI and VW have their marketing about right.


Too many people over the years (and I've been around GTIs and Cupras all my adult life) buy a GTI for its virtues and suddenly want much more out of the car, wrecking the balance of the car and making it something the GTI is not and then move on to something they should have bought in the first place after a very expensive lesson.

Do you have lots of ££££?
Do you have image issues?
Do you need 300bhp
Will you use 300bhp
Do you need 4wd when the PP Haldex is actually quite good unless you're attempting a standing start with both wheels on a slippy surface (not tried that yet as still running in and driving like a granny)?

Everyone is different and only you can make a decision on what your needs are.

I know people on £50k a year who drive round in those Chevrolet Daewoo Matiz's as that suits them.

I'll also refrain from the inter web speculation on comparisons till I've driven both, there are enough mk5 fan boys out there who seem the won't have a mk7 based on Tiffs comments lol

GTI and R are different cars which play to their own strengths

I think a lot of it is sour grapes from the mk5 fan boys Andy! Some of them still have massive issues with the mk6 because the mk5 was the second coming!!! There's nowt like internet car enthusiasts!!


And yes, fully behind you on the GTI and R thoughts. It's nice that we have the choice. When I got into GTIs the choice was - Golf 8v, Jetta 8v or Scirocco 8v and even then there were massive arguments within the VW scene and that's before we got launched into by the air-cooled purists!

It's nicer still if you have both parked outside and just can go with whatever mood you're in!!!! Unfortunately my circumstances don't allow that! 

[Booth11]

I would be inclined to hold onto the gti for couple of years then switch to an R if you still feel that way inclined.  But sometimes heart wins over head 

I intend to get an R in 18 months, but it's by no means on a whim.  I passed on an R32 some years ago and always regretted it.  Last year (after having two mk5 gti's) I was set to get a mk6 R but my partner preferred the looks of the gti, so I compromised and got that.  But, much as I love the gti, the R is still an itch that won't go away.    It'll probably be the most expensive car I ever get and I expect I'll be back in gti's at some point in the future, but next time round it's time to scratch that itch!  Until then, I'll continue to enjoy the gti 

[Geomets]

In reality the R is a copied version of the Audi S3. If I was going this way, I would by the authentic one... Sorry, but that's my feelings. After all, after VW dropped the V6 from the R, they offered it as a reskined version of S3.

[corgi]

Porsche GT3

The above is in an entirely different league to the below

Audi RS3

One is a proper sports car the other is a just fancy shopping car 

[Johnc41]

Just been offered a disgracefull trade in price with my new gti against an r from who i bought the car from. So forget the r lol