Tempus Fugit.
It’s been over a year of ownership already.
I’ve been mulling over writing up a quick running report for a few weeks as the car’s first birthday approached.
Going back a few years a former member accused me of being anti Golf R (despite the fact I’d previously owned one) because I posted up the positives of a GTI based model as compared to an R in a thread answering a member’s questions. But in fact I had no agenda, have never had an agenda and am unlikely to ever have a particular agenda. Any posts I put up here are from the background of a VW Golf enthusiast who has owned a full range of models with no huge preference of one over another, just fairly open minded observations based on personal experience.
Seven days late for the car’s big day as it’s now 5th January but “happy birthday”
Down to business:
First service completed a couple of weeks ago just before Xmas and just before it clicked over 10k miles.
Nothing of note reported in the technician’s check list.
The front tyres were sitting at 4mm and rears at 5mm so I’d imagine they’ll need changing around the next service - the question will be what do I replace them with. Both previous Clubsports I owned were treated to Michelin 4S’s but I might go a different route once the current Bridgestones get down towards the wear markers. I’ll see what Black Friday deals throw up unless I suffer a puncture beforehand.
What to report and what’s the car like? A few things have come to mind whilst pondering this update and typically I’m sat here now in peace and quiet and can’t remember what they are!
Read any report or watch any YouTube vid and you’ll get bombarded with what a fantastic all rounder the car is (and it indeed is) as they thrash around in Race mode using someone else’s fuel.
But how about a real owner that has the car as their sole transport as opposed to a reviewer with a quarter of a million pounds worth of alternative cars sat in their driveway.
Ignoring list price as it’s an obsolete model, let’s have a look at costs.
£600 VED. A bitter pill. Not just because it’s a decent amount of money that needs to be properly budgeted for as opposed to £190 or so for the previous Clubsport, but the fact these bloody great 2 tonne plus SUV’s with 2 foot wide tyres pay the same rate and are far more polluting than a little VW shopping car.
Servicing, well, aside from the 4WD bits needing attention occasionally the servicing costs much the same as a 1.0 TSI Polo.
Fuel economy, that’s been around 10 to 15% worse than the Clubsport, currently sitting around the low thirties in general fairly light use. Put that down to extra transmission drag and a fractionally different engine state of tune.
Nothing ground breaking there.
Reliability, the thing the mk8 is notorious for in a bad way.
It’s been fine. Nothing to report here.
The only visit to VW thus far was the service and they did an SOS module update whilst it was there (which must have been simple as they only had the car a couple of hours and that included a wash).
Yes, a dealership wash, that thing that sends shudders down the spine.
Unfortunately, owing to matters beyond my control, the poor car lost the use of its nice garage and driveway in early September and was forced to live out on a road where it was sat forlorn and neglected under a street lamp. Thirteen weeks without a wash or vacuum when it had been previously been washed weekly come rain or shine.
Alas, those thirteen weeks of commuting in filthy weather on filthy rural roads left the car looking pretty grubby so the dealership wash was actually appreciated! I did manage to give the car a subsequent hand wash between the eves and can report the paintwork hasn’t done bad considering the neglect.
Just a couple of (touched in) stone ships in twelve months and 10k isn’t bad going.
You’ve read and watched the reviews of how the car drives with a “journo” at the wheel, so how about daily use with the world’s most boring person at the wheel? At the end of the day it’s a Golf, and a Golf is what VW does best. In daily use it’s just fine. The engine is tractable, the DSG has been developed to the point it’s nigh on perfect (as a long term naysayer about DSG for many years that’s quite a compliment coming from me), the ride is ok (pretty knobbly on 19’s with no DCC at times but smooth and refined at other times so I’d say no worse than most sporty cars and possibly quite a few non sporty ones) and fuel economy isn’t terrible.
To be honest, I’m probably the worst person to review a car, I spend most of my driving time stuck behind slowish moving traffic on a winding A road that has very few overtaking spots so I’m now drilled into sitting back, radio down low, just taking in the scenery. Half the time I don’t even bother overtaking when I can.
I do get some early morning clear runs but even then I don’t drive like a YouTuber as the wildlife likes to spring surprises and I don’t think the front end of a Golf would survive a deer or badger impact. The bloodied mangled furry reminders sit at the sides of the road as a daily warning.
Then when I get to the city there are new digital speed cameras on the only bits of 40 and 50 mph dual carriageway I have to use so any fun in the car is rare now.
One thing Devon does get is rain and wind. Lots of rain. One reason I wanted to revisit R ownership was the Clubsport would aquaplane quite readily on the estuary roads I use. Gravity dictates the water heads to the lowest point and the roads I use are pretty much sea level so they get WET. Does the R aquaplane less? Not really, but there’s always that added AWD reassurance that may or may not be placebo.
I did find the Clubsport would catch me out occasionally when overtaking with a tendency to torque steer on badly cambered narrow A roads when the throttle was mashed with the “gearbox in the sportiest of settings” (to quote Mat W). Due to the lack of margin for error should the person being overtaken wobble a bit if startled by the noisy white rocket ship shattering their daydream as it pulled rapidly past I generally hesitated before overtaking in the Clubsport, and to hesitate on those roads you lose your opportunity. The R has no such issues, however I’m drilled now to sitting back thanks to the former car, and I’ve also found that even if I whizz past the dawdler I come up behind another very shortly afterwards. In short, I really can’t be bothered nowadays!
Anyhow, the R does driving slow just as well as it does driving fast.
Looks? Always a contentious one with a mk8. To my eyes at mk7 still looks nicer on the outside but I’ve grown to prefer the mk8 on the inside. Yes, the screen menus are a pain in the arse at times, the steering wheel pad thingies are a bigger pain in the arse at times, but I like the uncluttered look, I prefer the mk8 seats and I love the mk8 steering wheel feel (and heating element).
The Clubsport still looks better to me than the R, but the R goes under the radar a bit better.
Do I regret buying the R after the Clubsport? In some ways yes but mostly no. At the end of the day it’s a Golf and a Golf is, as Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros once sang, “Home” (great song, great car)
