Author Topic: Stormtrooper TCR arrives...  (Read 32517 times)

Offline barrym381

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Re: Stormtrooper TCR arrives...
« Reply #50 on: 18 November 2019, 13:46 »
I'm not sure if it has interior lighting because I'm not from the UK, and also I'm importing this car from Germany, I think every country has different packs. Yes it is a "daily spec" Clubsport with heated seats, leather interior, standard leather seats, DCC and also the 18" lightweight wheels (I think these are the standard ones?) that I quite like, also it has no panoramic roof which is a plus for me, the pan roof squeaks so much on my RS3, I hate it and adds weight in the worst place possible.

Yes I think it still has the stock brakes, and even the stock rear tyres, currently it has front Michelins and rear Bridgestones.

Two years ago I had a mk7 Golf R, it was an amazing car but I never felt it was fun enough, it was a very fast Golf, but never felt more special than that. Since you owned both, do you agree the CS is more fun/engaging/special? (if not faster, but I don't care) :cool: :smiley:

Also I'm buying this car without seeing it, because it is 3000 klms away from where I live, it will take some time to arrive.

Is the clubsport to replace your rs3  :shocked:

Offline mariodiniz21

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Re: Stormtrooper TCR arrives...
« Reply #51 on: 18 November 2019, 14:27 »
I'm not sure if it has interior lighting because I'm not from the UK, and also I'm importing this car from Germany, I think every country has different packs. Yes it is a "daily spec" Clubsport with heated seats, leather interior, standard leather seats, DCC and also the 18" lightweight wheels (I think these are the standard ones?) that I quite like, also it has no panoramic roof which is a plus for me, the pan roof squeaks so much on my RS3, I hate it and adds weight in the worst place possible.

Yes I think it still has the stock brakes, and even the stock rear tyres, currently it has front Michelins and rear Bridgestones.

Two years ago I had a mk7 Golf R, it was an amazing car but I never felt it was fun enough, it was a very fast Golf, but never felt more special than that. Since you owned both, do you agree the CS is more fun/engaging/special? (if not faster, but I don't care) :cool: :smiley:

Also I'm buying this car without seeing it, because it is 3000 klms away from where I live, it will take some time to arrive.

Is the clubsport to replace your rs3  :shocked:

The RS3 is an awesome car, but it is 90% about the noise, I miss a more nimble car in which I can also do some trackdays.

Offline Exonian

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Re: Stormtrooper TCR arrives...
« Reply #52 on: 20 November 2019, 14:35 »
I'm not sure if it has interior lighting because I'm not from the UK, and also I'm importing this car from Germany, I think every country has different packs. Yes it is a "daily spec" Clubsport with heated seats, leather interior, standard leather seats, DCC and also the 18" lightweight wheels (I think these are the standard ones?) that I quite like, also it has no panoramic roof which is a plus for me, the pan roof squeaks so much on my RS3, I hate it and adds weight in the worst place possible.

Yes I think it still has the stock brakes, and even the stock rear tyres, currently it has front Michelins and rear Bridgestones.

Two years ago I had a mk7 Golf R, it was an amazing car but I never felt it was fun enough, it was a very fast Golf, but never felt more special than that. Since you owned both, do you agree the CS is more fun/engaging/special? (if not faster, but I don't care) :cool: :smiley:

Also I'm buying this car without seeing it, because it is 3000 klms away from where I live, it will take some time to arrive.

I did think you might not be from the UK but wasn’t sure, your English speaking is better then ours!  :grin:

There will be detail differences in spec around the world on Clubsports but from the ones I saw for sale in the UK when they were fairly new the leather equipped cars kept the ambient lighting pack (front doors and sills illuminated in red plus white LED door release and footwell lighting) but also retained the door and passenger side dashboard trim of the regular GTI rather than the honeycomb print trims of the Ed40 that had no LED lighting.
Some have red piping on the seatbelts and some don’t.

The rear Bridgestones on yours will last a million km I expect! They’re very hard wearing tyres but very noisy too. Most people hate them but I found them ok. I still have my 18” forged Clubsport wheels and tyres.

Yours has a nice spec and will make an ideal daily driver and occasional track day car.
When VW launched the mk7 in 2012 they hinted at a Clubsport type car having a carbon fibre roof and I’m sure that’s why the black roof option exists, just to give a nod to that original idea which must’ve been too expensive to produce in the end. The CF roof would be far more apt for this type of car than a sunroof maybe. Different people like different things though but I agree with you, the sunroof is too heavy and too noisy (squeaks) for my tastes, plus I think it looks ugly when open. Good for hearing the exhaust sound though!

I really hope you can find some time to write about yours when it arrives plus a few photos. Many of us here would be very interested in your experiences.

As for the R, it’s a wonderful car and I loved every minute I owned it. I deeply regretted selling it but it was losing a lot of money at the time and needed expensive new tyres yet I’d barely used it for four months due to not needing it to commute in, and didn’t go anywhere very far when I wasn’t working at that time!
I can’t think of a bad word to say about the R.
The Clubsport was very much an impulse purchase just like the TCR was.
Where the Clubsport differs to the R is that it has bags of character and feels much more lively. Yes, it’s not quite as fast but that matters not a bit, it feels special and drives very nicely. I can’t recommend a pedalbox enough for these cars and I’ve bored everyone to tears about them for years but they really bring the engine alive.
Where the R is very polished in all areas the Clubsport is more rock’n’roll (by VW’s conservative standards).
Definitely more fun, more special and more engaging than an R even when you’re not going very fast. It’s just set up differently, and perfectly comfortable in daily use too. More jiggly and less composed than the R due to stiff springs but still rides well and feels much lighter than the actual weight difference is. The DCC maybe will give a different feel, mine had passive dampers and I was very happy with how it felt.

Here’s a photo of the Ed40 and Clubsport nose to nose when I collected it. The weather was terrible, 80mph gusts of wind and heavy rain but a short break in the rain allowed us to get the cars lined up quickly in between customers trying to get past!
The light was really bad so the details of the cars lost, I've lightened the photo slightly but it’s still not good for seeing the lower body details due to being such a dark wet day.

“Mirror mirror on the wall, which is the fairest GTI of them all?“
The Clubsport sure nails it in the looks department!

image hosting website
‘25 8.5R, ‘23 8R, ‘20 8CS, ‘19 135iX, ‘19 TCR, ‘17 Ed40, ‘17 GTD, ‘15 7R, ‘13 GTI PP, ‘11 GTI, ‘09 GTI, ‘98 Ibiza Cupra, ‘05 GTI, ‘06 Polo GTI, ‘04 GT TDI, ‘05 Fabia vRS, ‘02 GTI T, ‘03 Ibiza TDI 130, ‘01 Leon 180, ‘89 mk2 16v, ‘99 Ibiza TDI, ‘96 VR6, ‘98 Ibiza TDI, ‘92 VR6, ‘88 mk2 8v, ‘92 Polo G40, ‘91 mk2 8v, ‘89 mk2 8v, 205 GTI 1.9, ‘83 mk1 GTI, ‘80 Scirocco GTI, plus some others I’ve forgotten 

Offline Watts

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Re: Stormtrooper TCR arrives...
« Reply #53 on: 20 November 2019, 15:01 »
That picture does confirm my thoughts on black wheels, the Prets look so much better. I'm having a bit of a wobble in the TCR dept at the mo, very tempted by some of the 3 door versions for sale. I see it as possibly my last chance to get a nearly new GTI with the likely event of the MK8 being 5 door only. The only thing is the circa £17k cost to change. Do I really want to spend my hard earned cash on something so similar to what I already have? And do I want to go DSG? (My shocking efforts with a gear stick at times might suggest auto would be a good idea.... :rolleyes:).
2019 Oryx White 5dr TCR.

Was - 2015 Tornado Red 3dr GTI PP, manual, Santiagos, Audi short shifter.

Offline Exonian

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Re: Stormtrooper TCR arrives...
« Reply #54 on: 20 November 2019, 16:19 »
Volkswizard has a ‘bargain’ price 3 door considering the spec and paint treatment.

The photo isn’t actually reflective of how the wheels look in the flesh to be fair due to being in shadow on a dank morning but I’m generally not a fan of black wheels either. The grey-blue Pretorias looked perfect on the Clubsport but wouldn’t have looked as good on the TCR unless they were a darker shade like on the T-Roc R.

As for DSG, I’m warming to it. I still disagree with the shift points in the lower gears and it feels like the clutch is slipping in its application at times due to how it’s programmed, but in other areas it’s quite good.
The manual box made the Clubsport a fun zippy car to drive even when just pootling around, but the DSG is making me a lazy driver so I’m wafting about in D which is actually quite satisfying when there’s no traffic around. Kind of defeats the racy nature of the car though!
The weak point of the manual ‘box was my coordination at times and the weak points of the DSG is that it has no eyes or ears so tends to do things an experienced driver wouldn’t. Neither are perfect.
Maybe the next generation GTE will have the answers. Just a shame it looks like an even uglier version of a Toyota than Toyota managed themselves. I don’t think the 2020’s will be remembered as a time of good looking hatchbacks!

As a driver’s car I can’t recommend the TCR enough. Up close it looks mean and inside it looks and feels really good. The engine is superb (as post WLTP 2.0 turbos go), the chassis is excellent, really impressive in Reifnitz spec with the CSS style front camber which also makes it look even more racy too.
It’s a shame they cost such stupid money now but they’re pretty spot on out of the box which was never something I’d have previously said about any GTI other than the 6 speed Lupo GTI.
A fine swan song to the best generation of Golfs since the mk2, and thankfully not just a mobile iPad.
‘25 8.5R, ‘23 8R, ‘20 8CS, ‘19 135iX, ‘19 TCR, ‘17 Ed40, ‘17 GTD, ‘15 7R, ‘13 GTI PP, ‘11 GTI, ‘09 GTI, ‘98 Ibiza Cupra, ‘05 GTI, ‘06 Polo GTI, ‘04 GT TDI, ‘05 Fabia vRS, ‘02 GTI T, ‘03 Ibiza TDI 130, ‘01 Leon 180, ‘89 mk2 16v, ‘99 Ibiza TDI, ‘96 VR6, ‘98 Ibiza TDI, ‘92 VR6, ‘88 mk2 8v, ‘92 Polo G40, ‘91 mk2 8v, ‘89 mk2 8v, 205 GTI 1.9, ‘83 mk1 GTI, ‘80 Scirocco GTI, plus some others I’ve forgotten 

Offline Watts

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Re: Stormtrooper TCR arrives...
« Reply #55 on: 20 November 2019, 17:03 »
Thanks Exonian, nice summary. I've been looking at the Volkswizard car online, sounds like it has been well cared for so far and a great spec. Not 100% sure on grey though but there are a couple of red ones about with Prets and sunroofs for similar money. I like red :smiley: But the Volkswizard does seem the most appealing overall. Surprisingly my OH likes the grey... Hmmm, what to do...
2019 Oryx White 5dr TCR.

Was - 2015 Tornado Red 3dr GTI PP, manual, Santiagos, Audi short shifter.

Offline Exonian

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Re: Stormtrooper TCR arrives...
« Reply #56 on: 20 November 2019, 18:55 »
I’d buy the Volkswizard car in a heartbeat personally even though it’s a three door!
It has lots of red! Red callipers, red stripe, red badges, red seats, red stripe on the steering wheel...  :whistle:
‘25 8.5R, ‘23 8R, ‘20 8CS, ‘19 135iX, ‘19 TCR, ‘17 Ed40, ‘17 GTD, ‘15 7R, ‘13 GTI PP, ‘11 GTI, ‘09 GTI, ‘98 Ibiza Cupra, ‘05 GTI, ‘06 Polo GTI, ‘04 GT TDI, ‘05 Fabia vRS, ‘02 GTI T, ‘03 Ibiza TDI 130, ‘01 Leon 180, ‘89 mk2 16v, ‘99 Ibiza TDI, ‘96 VR6, ‘98 Ibiza TDI, ‘92 VR6, ‘88 mk2 8v, ‘92 Polo G40, ‘91 mk2 8v, ‘89 mk2 8v, 205 GTI 1.9, ‘83 mk1 GTI, ‘80 Scirocco GTI, plus some others I’ve forgotten 

Offline clubsport

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Re: Stormtrooper TCR arrives...
« Reply #57 on: 20 November 2019, 19:47 »
Watts, I went from a PP to a red CS.
Not actively looking to sell, but could always be persuaded at the right price? :)

Offline Yusee

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Re: Stormtrooper TCR arrives...
« Reply #58 on: 20 November 2019, 19:54 »
some interesting observations, Exonian- and nice to see you're warming to the DSG box.
Surely your coordination is a strong point of the manual! the satisfaction of the perfect shift, rev matched, at the perfect time, down to driver alone!
2018 Golf GTI Performance  5dr manual, Isaac blue
1988 Peugeot 205 GTI 1.9, 2022 Triumph Street Triple R, 2016 Seat Alhambra.

Offline Watts

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Re: Stormtrooper TCR arrives...
« Reply #59 on: 20 November 2019, 20:47 »
I’d buy the Volkswizard car in a heartbeat personally even though it’s a three door!
It has lots of red! Red callipers, red stripe, red badges, red seats, red stripe on the steering wheel...  :whistle:

Lines of communication have been opened, I'm having a serious think about it. Thing is, I'm still perfectly happy with my PP and £17k would keep it in Michelins and anything else it needs for many years. I think it's just because I don't like opening my wallet too often :whistle:

Watts, I went from a PP to a red CS.
Not actively looking to sell, but could always be persuaded at the right price? :)

I shall keep that in mind, TR CS is a thing of beauty :kiss: :laugh:

Surely your coordination is a strong point of the manual! the satisfaction of the perfect shift, rev matched, at the perfect time, down to driver alone!

All the reasons why I love my manual. Shame I can't manage them :rolleyes:
2019 Oryx White 5dr TCR.

Was - 2015 Tornado Red 3dr GTI PP, manual, Santiagos, Audi short shifter.