I blame you lot...

[wigit]

linear throttle response for me these days so these gizmos do nothing for me

[Exonian]

yeah, horses for courses I guess. Ever since I had my mk5 and mk6 GTI's I've hated the pedal travel and response after being spoilt with the Lightning reflexes of a REVO'd Polo GTI 1.8t many many moons ago.

[am1w]

yeah, horses for courses I guess. Ever since I had my mk5 and mk6 GTI's I've hated the pedal travel and response after being spoilt with the Lightning reflexes of a REVO'd Polo GTI 1.8t many many moons ago.

I realise you don't like a bit of heel-toe action. A few ballet lessons should sort that out. 

[Booth11]

yeah, horses for courses I guess. Ever since I had my mk5 and mk6 GTI's I've hated the pedal travel and response after being spoilt with the Lightning reflexes of a REVO'd Polo GTI 1.8t many many moons ago.

I realise you don't like a bit of heel-toe action. A few ballet lessons should sort that out. 

Twinkle Toes, are you offering to give Mr Ex lessons?  That I'd like to see 

[Exonian]

My short hairy legs dangling out of a tutu would be quite a sight to behold
 


In other news: Today I got to use my 4wd!
Unfortunately it wasn't a tyre smokin' engine blazin' rip roarin' traffic light getaway.
It was having to park on a grass verge at a funeral of an ex-colleague of mine. The choice was either squeezing it into a small space in the car park, or reversing up a steep grass verge.
So I took the show off's option as it meant nobody was going to whack my doors.
As one does.

[Exonian]

I decided to take the R for a 4am run on Wednesday morning.
It's a route I've used regularly for quite a few years on a good combination of roads but mostly bendy, hilly dual carriageway.
It's about 40 miles or just over and gives me a direct comparison to other cars I've owned and teaches me strengths and weaknesses.
The first thing I noticed was the throttle seemed a bit jerky so I turned the PedalBox settings down a bit which smoothed out the response. I'm guessing from this that the R might have a fractionally more aggressive throttle map in the ECU.
With this PedalBox setting I found I could use a lightish throttle application to spool the turbo smoothly and ride the low end torque like a Diesel. I doubt you could quite replicate the same with a DSG as it would just flip between gears but it's very satisfying and really shows the dual personality of the engine.
Lazy lugger at below 3k and increasingly rabid above that.
I finally managed to get a whole trip to average more than 30 mpg on the MFD too. Bearing in mind the engine is tight still I'm quite happy with that.

As I'm finished doing 11 hour nights for a while and cutting back my hours a bit I had a little bit of time to get the station logos started on the radio. That gives the screen a splash of colour which I'm glad of.
I think if I'd had a car with nav specced I'd maybe regret not having the 6.5" screen but as my car just has the basic radio then I hardly look at the screen so don't give it much thought. If there's a bit of DAB text to read I glance that way but not often. I don't even have the camera screen in reverse now and don't miss it (so far). Mind you, with a factory order I'd spec the camera as it's cheap and impresses passengers no end.

Also, I've gradually introduced the car to a few friends now.
"What's an R? Is that better than a GTI? Is it a diesel?" Tend to be the general first questions.
Non petrolheads have no idea about the R 'brand'.
Looks wise, mixed opinions.
Bearing in mind my GTI was also white it gives a direct focus on the styling differences.
The women like the wheels less than the men so far. The guys seem to like the wheels as they're quite muscular but the girls say they look a bit agressive. Which is odd as the girls like the meaner looking 'face' of the car more than the boys so far.
Some prefer the GTI's looks and particularly the red flashes and unpainted plastic contrasts, and some say the five door R looks "more substantial" than the 3 door GTI. Though I wonder if the deeper bumpers and skirts subconsciously do that.
The only issue I've noticed so far is reverse gear can be a bit reluctant to go in and there is a fair bit of torque reaction on the overrun; in 4th gear it's most noticeable.

[Booth11]

Some very useful observations..  And good that you are now getting more time to notch up a few decent runs in and get to know the beast, so to speak.  It definitely sounds like it has a split personality:  caged animal sub 3k rpm; wild thing 3k plus.  That's actually a massive attraction for me who will be using the R as a daily driver.  I want it to be both those things.  I'm not interested in a pedal box, prefer to have the power delivery proportionate to the press of the pedal.

I agree, the average Joe hasn't got a clue what an R is, but I'm certain not many on here give a toss about that, we know.  Although, there are about three guys in my workplace who know their cars and have already booked 'a slot' for a run out in mine when it arrives (me driving of course) 

Interesting what you say about the differing way the looks of the R are perceived by boys and girls.  I can sort of understand the reactions to the wheels.  Perhaps men are more easily impressed by the apparent masculinity of the Cadiz over the Pretorias, which by contrast may look a bit too elegant or girly to some.  Cadiz are not my favourite but only really because I've gone off most diamond cut alloys in general (I'm sick to death of them tbh) and wanted 19s anyway.  It's fair to say they look great with certain colours, better than the Prets in those cases.

As for the rest of the car, it isn't as pretty or sporty looking as the GTI/GTD for sure, but I like the overall subdued intent of it, albeit with the overkill quad pipes.  I agree the side skirts and deep bumpers add to the subtle menace.  It perhaps could have been a tad more purposeful looking at the front like the Mk6 R but hey ho!  And again the choice of colour plays a part - white and silver making the most of the styling contrasts, and at the other extreme, black being more stealth.  Not forgetting Lapiz and TR which work brilliantly with the black accents.

Glad to hear you're managing to sort the station logos out and tart up the screen.  Having seen those recent pics of the 6.5" new screen it looks ok, but I'm still glad I changed my mind and added the tech pack and thus the 8" screen.  That should look super tarty!    And remember, whatever you may have heard, size counts!! 

[mcmaddy]

6.5”will be fine just not as good as the full 8”though 

[am1w]

Nice write-up Andy. Always a pleasure to read your essays.

I am very happy with most things on my R now except one:
Road roar mainly due to the Bridgestones and also perhaps due to lack of effective noise proofing coupled with the ultra thin panels. But in the name of lightness one has to accept this. The boot floor for instance is so thin that it can be depressed with finger pressure. The panels in the foot wells are also very thin. A change of tyres should help a bit, I hope. Perhaps the less focused GTI and GTD are a bit better from a noise perspective.

Am glad you are bonding with the car. Does the missus like it?

[Exonian]

Some very useful observations..  And good that you are now getting more time to notch up a few decent runs in and get to know the beast, so to speak.  It definitely sounds like it has a split personality:  caged animal sub 3k rpm; wild thing 3k plus.  That's actually a massive attraction for me who will be using the R as a daily driver.  I want it to be both those things.  I'm not interested in a pedal box, prefer to have the power delivery proportionate to the press of the pedal. You'll love the power delivery. Coming from a mk6 GTI it will be a huge increase all round but in a subdued controlled and typically VW way. You really really won't be disappointed Mme B. As for the pedal box, if you've lived with the mushy dead inch or so of travel on your mk5s and mk6 then you'll be familiar with the throttle action of the R and won't notice the difference aside from the pedal going back to the older non floor hinged style. The pedal box doesn't work quite that way contrary to a lot of opinion, you can set it up to do all sorts of things but for me getting rid of that dead bit of travel was essential. With the factory pedal it seems to do next to nothing for the first inch or so then gradually increases the throttle potentiometer/chip so in effect, even on an aggressive setting the pedal box keeps around about the same amount of useful pedal travel it just brings it into a more useable place and gives the car better reflexes. I'd hate to have to be the sales rep for the company as so many people can't get their heads around them! But alas I'm not, so all I'll say is if you're happy before then don't bother, but if you also find the responses too muted there is an option out there albeit at a price.

I agree, the average Joe hasn't got a clue what an R is, but I'm certain not many on here give a toss about that, we know.  Although, there are about three guys in my workplace who know their cars and have already booked 'a slot' for a run out in mine when it arrives (me driving of course)  :roll eyes: nobody seems in any doubt that it's a sporty car but they just don't seem familiar with the R brand and with the R Line trim available on nearly all VW's too it is very much uber stealth in identity. An enigma would be the best way to describe the R to those not clued up/obsessed like us lot

Interesting what you say about the differing way the looks of the R are perceived by boys and girls.  I can sort of understand the reactions to the wheels.  Perhaps men are more easily impressed by the apparent masculinity of the Cadiz over the Pretorias, which by contrast may look a bit too elegant or girly to some.  Cadiz are not my favourite but only really because I've gone off most diamond cut alloys in general (I'm sick to death of them tbh) and wanted 19s anyway.  It's fair to say they look great with certain colours, better than the Prets in those cases. The Cadiz are an homage to the Talladegas, just brought 'up to date' with the polished face that ALL manufacturers seem to be intent on using at the moment. I don't think the Prets look girly or pretty, they look more of a motorsport wheel like a company such as OZ would produce, and similar to ATS's range of lightweight track wheels. I'd have probably specced them on a factory order but thankfully was put out of my misery and spared the ridiculous wait.
The 19's look so much better in profile but were a pain in the butt on the GTI at times. I've still got my Rondells in the garage should I decide to go back to 19's at some point but I might even give myself a bit of a long term project to source a set of Pretorias as I like my cars to be a bit of a project. Who knows?!!
 The only thing a long wait vs. a cancelled order gives you is the change to sit and think "what do I really want?" where as my offer was "what can I live without?"
I think a lot of it comes down to perception of money and what's at your disposal. I get no financial assistance from work for my car so it's very much a cost sensitive thing. If I used my car for work and got company car benefits of mileage allowance I'd probably look at different things. Everyone's situation is different and I think the tech pack is a great option. My thoughts on the radio screen were more along the lines of "I don't have nav so the small screen isn't of much consequence" where as if I had nav then it would be "the bigger the better" but alas I think it's very overpriced and I'd happily spend my bosses money on Pro nav but not my own!!!

As for the rest of the car, it isn't as pretty or sporty looking as the GTI/GTD for sure, but I like the overall subdued intent of it, albeit with the overkill quad pipes.  I agree the side skirts and deep bumpers add to the subtle menace.  It perhaps could have been a tad more purposeful looking at the front like the Mk6 R but hey ho!  And again the choice of colour plays a part - white and silver making the most of the styling contrasts, and at the other extreme, black being more stealth.  Not forgetting Lapiz and TR which work brilliantly with the black accents. I must admit I did initially roll my eyes when I saw the press shots of the R and its quad pipes. But in the flesh they look ok, they're not in yer face but do get noticed by people

Glad to hear you're managing to sort the station logos out and tart up the screen.  Having seen those recent pics of the 6.5" new screen it looks ok, but I'm still glad I changed my mind and added the tech pack and thus the 8" screen.  That should look super tarty!    And remember, whatever you may have heard, size counts!!  I shall live my life with constant screen envy!

Replied in blue Asker style!