Thoughts on the R

[mjh_056]

Morning Rebecca

Of course you are correct on both counts above, can find the car play readily now through menu and locking the car is as easy as the swoosh you described

Will likely do some specific GTD > R review once drove for a month but loving it and actually quite like the way it 'hides' in the dark, it just silhouettes to a normal looking Golf when parked and in relative dark, opposed to my white GTD which was always a little more obvious

As careful as am, think the Pretoria will do well to last without a dink on a kerb as its a lot of metal on low tyres.

The guy who took my previous straight to auction said they really do not worry about wheels having a few marks, its accepted wear and tear.

But they still intact at moment and maybe the green lines on the reverse camera will assist in keeping them that way.

The two things outside of performance that really happy with is the ride and the lightness of the front end, there has been no drop off from my GTD with the DCC despite the lowering of the R and 19" Pretoria.

Never gave a second thought to steering on the GTD, its all I knew, but in comparison the R is so much lighter

Another small difference is the dials, they are far sharper and brighter than the GTD, the outer counters IE: 10, 20, 30 MPH being LCD like in their flatness and brightness, - Never knew the R dials were different, or was there a change made?

MPG has dropped, Ooops, 23.2 MPG with just local and some 'testing'

Plan a good drive out Friday where can cruise, so be interested to see what happens then, though expect MPG to gradually improve as engine beds in.

So its been good to get in the R and just drive it as so familiar with everything but there has been enough lift all around to make it feel like a new experience too,

Hi mjh

You might be pleasantly surprised with the Pretorias - I've curbed every diamond cut wheel I've had on a Golf but so far (might have just jinxed it!) my Prets have not yet been introduced to it.  They seem to sit slightly further back in the tyre (Conti 5Ps) which gives a bit of added protection.  What tyres has yours come with, I think they've switched to Pirelli P-Zeros now?

Didn't think the dials were different but maybe they are?

Yep the drop in mpg is a given, lol, but it does get better - mine has risen by about 3-4 mpg over last few months (still woeful though - heavy right foot and heavy traffic town do not make for high mpg), hopefully you can get more from yours. 

Really glad yo are liking it so far, and good to hear that it still feels like enough of a change from your GTD to feel like a new car.  Really interested to hear more as you go on, and I'm sure there will be lots of people interested in your direct comparison of the R v GTD.   

Think the rear view camera will help as it does give you good starting point for the kerb and as you state the tyre does protrude and provide protection. We shall see!

The tyres are Pirelli P Zero 235/35 R19 which have excellent rating wherever look and actually looking forward to my first wet getaway (which was top of my irritation list for the GTD)

To be fair work has tied me to the laptop and journeys have only been town and very local and given that 'testing' performance in bursts too, then 23.2 MPG is probably about right. Still expecting when get into mixed driving and engine beds in around 30-32 MPG as comparison to the GTD 37-42 MPG on same patterns. This be a long term comparison.

Will say that am surprisingly not bothered by fuel as much as thought, think the realisation and feeling of what driving offsets that feeling.

As for the dials, definitely a nice lift, maybe the GTD dials were the early ones? or its just the R has these dials? But the outer rim glows a nice flat bright white and is reminiscent of what you would get on a LCD screen.



You definitely feel that you driving something a little more special but its tangibly lighter in the front end and more responsive in general at low speeds, where all GTD best work is once up and moving. And of course the noises are completely different 

Out for a 50 mile run and return on A road and Motorway tonight. Will do a GTD > R review when think finally grasped the differences and how much of what perceived that convinced me to select is the reality? 

[p3asa]

Out of interest mjh_056 have you noticed any difference between the 2 DSG's?

[mjh_056]

Out of interest mjh_056 have you noticed any difference between the 2 DSG's?

It still says 6 gears so its unchanged as would expect being pre-facelift though to be honest never count them

Not really stretched its legs yet, that be coming tonight and over the weekend, have nice rat run down some lanes, onto A road and then onto a Motorway for 3 long junctions, so drives have been quite short due to work keeping me tied to this laptop 

The only thing noticed was it stayed in 5th at 30 MPH speed limit and when manually shifted it to 6, the 'think blue' gauge (was playing with the bits and pieces) had a hissy fit and deducted me points haha, so maybe that indicates the rations are different as to what is optimum gearing for speed/engine, and that 5th at low speeds puts less pressure on the engine.

Functionally would say the DSG itself is not noticeable in difference to the outgoing GTD, it still seamlessly and smoothly moves through the gears both up and down.

2 most noticeable things are front end/steering feels a lot lighter and the noises/pops.

Should have a better feel for it all by end of the weekend, and will keep a note to see if there is any difference in the DSG.

[Booth11]

Think the rear view camera will help as it does give you good starting point for the kerb and as you state the tyre does protrude and provide protection. We shall see!

The tyres are Pirelli P Zero 235/35 R19 which have excellent rating wherever look and actually looking forward to my first wet getaway (which was top of my irritation list for the GTD)

To be fair work has tied me to the laptop and journeys have only been town and very local and given that 'testing' performance in bursts too, then 23.2 MPG is probably about right. Still expecting when get into mixed driving and engine beds in around 30-32 MPG as comparison to the GTD 37-42 MPG on same patterns. This be a long term comparison.

Will say that am surprisingly not bothered by fuel as much as thought, think the realisation and feeling of what driving offsets that feeling.

As for the dials, definitely a nice lift, maybe the GTD dials were the early ones? or its just the R has these dials? But the outer rim glows a nice flat bright white and is reminiscent of what you would get on a LCD screen.



You definitely feel that you driving something a little more special but its tangibly lighter in the front end and more responsive in general at low speeds, where all GTD best work is once up and moving. And of course the noises are completely different 

Out for a 50 mile run and return on A road and Motorway tonight. Will do a GTD > R review when think finally grasped the differences and how much of what perceived that convinced me to select is the reality? 

Ooh, see what you mean about the dials.  Not sure if that's R specific or not, perhaps someone else can confirm?  Yeah I have to say much prefer the R dials which are beautiful (in my eyes) and much prefer them to the oft-discussed future digital dash. 

There's a Think Blue game thread going I over on VWROC. http://www.vwroc.com/forums/topic/16340-think-blue-game/  It's throws up some amusing results.  I sat in heavy commuter traffic one morning and got 100/100 (must be driving economically when not moving, lol.  Then the next morning on the school run, round the rural back roads, got it down to  37/100.  The Think Blue thing just makes you want to see how low you can go, which is ironic!

Anyway, the mpg suddenly becomes a minor thing when you get in and drive it. 

[p3asa]

Out of interest mjh_056 have you noticed any difference between the 2 DSG's?

It still says 6 gears so its unchanged as would expect being pre-facelift though to be honest never count them

    I wasn't being that simplistic.  I know its the same gearbox but folk have commented previously on how they feel the DSG map has changed etc.

Thanks for the feedback though.

[mjh_056]

Out of interest mjh_056 have you noticed any difference between the 2 DSG's?

It still says 6 gears so its unchanged as would expect being pre-facelift though to be honest never count them

There is a 7 gear box coming so just covering that base.

Noted above that it stayed in 5th at 30 MPH and had an economy fit when tried to force it into 6th

But understand what you asking and will be using across all the conditions later so will see if note any changes in benavious, that maybe DSG or just R specific (by long term R owners comments)
    I wasn't being that simplistic.  I know its the same gearbox but folk have commented previously on how they feel the DSG map has changed etc.

Thanks for the feedback though.

[Booth11]

Treated the R to an inside clean this week...

[Booth11]

And not to be left out, the outside got treated today...










 

[Exonian]

Bloomin' eck Ms B, if mine ever ended up that clean I'd be locking it away for months on end to make sure it didn't get dirty again!
Good work.

[Booth11]

Bloomin' eck Ms B, if mine ever ended up that clean I'd be locking it away for months on end to make sure it didn't get dirty again!
Good work.

Thanks Mr Ex.   Sadly it'll probably be dirty again by 9-30am!