Volkswagen Golf R/GTI Mega Thread

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Are the S3 interior plastics any better? I remember sitting in one at the Auto show the first year they were in Canada, and it was utter crap compared to the S4 next to it. Even the GTI at the show had a nicer interior.

[Mitsu3000gt]

The few I have been in had no cheap plastic anywhere unusual except surrounding the gear selector, which is where even $100K cars have garbage materials these days because apparently everyone loves fingerprint piano black I'm sure I haven't seen every iteration of the S3 though, maybe some trims don't come off so well.

From the waist up, everything that should be soft touch or wrapped in leather, is. Switch gear feel/quality is also the same as the rest of their cars, which is to say better than almost everyone else for my tastes. I remember reading general quality of materials is the same as the A8, probably just because they share parts bins for the little stuff throughout basically the entire lineup (likely no different than most other manufacturers).

The new 2017 A4's interior is even better yet, it's really exceptional compared with what some other brands are putting out in the same price category. Then again you can't expect a platform that starts $10K less to have every little detail the same.

At the end of the day, I think everyone puts emphasis on different things when judging interior quality, which is fair. Cheap plastic above my waist, door panels that I can easily move, visible gaps/seams/injection molding marks, and cheap switchgear are all things that bother me most. Also how easy it is to see raw metal, foam, etc. Thank god nobody is using that truly awful fuzzy headliner material anymore either.

The GTI interior was good but nothing special, IMHO and for my personal criteria, nowhere near the S3. The GTI also moves to almost all hard-touch surfaces for the rear passengers on the doors (same in my car, wtf? How much is that saving them? haha), and the whole center console all the way from the vents down to the gear selector is surrounded by the same cheap plastic insert. The S3 has something similar down low, but the dash is a lot nicer (IMHO anyway), and is one giant piece of soft touch material.


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[Khyron]

That's funny - I'm in the market for either the s3 or Golf R so at the car show I went back and forth about 3 times just for the interior fit and feel. I thought the S3 seat fabric/look was nicer but the R fit ME better, the S3 lcd gauges were better than even the videos of the 18 R digital gauges. But everything else I liked the R better. The S3 vents, the tacked on stupid tablet-on-a-dash, it just wasn't great. If they were exactly the same price, I'd probably still take the Golf (but would love the Audi cluster).

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by Khyron
the tacked on stupid tablet-on-a-dash..

It retracts into the dash, unless they changed that this year. It's one of the few cars without the hideous tacked on screen that Audi, MB, et all have moved to recently in their other vehicles.

[Redlined_8000]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
I drove an S3 on the weekend and wow, what a little car. One thing that really stood out is that the S-Tronic has no input delay on the manual shifts, but when I drove a GTI the DSG had so much input delay it ruined the experience. I am curious, since they are basically the same car underneath, does the Golf R get the S3 transmission/programming? Or does it have the same input delay as the GTI?

Input delay on the paddles? Its the same car man. Same programming and same engine/tranny. My R has very very little delay at all. Ive never driven a S3 but the R's DSG is not slow by any means.

If you want to experience input delay go drive a few year old AMG lol.

EDIT:
When using manual mode, made sure you go to "S" mode then go to manual. You can operate manual mode from both "D" and "S". I am not fully sure how much a difference there is but sport should be faster and crisper.

[Redlined_8000]

Originally posted by Hallowed_point
Anyone know the owner of a Golf R lic plate HEYBERT?

Hey Bert, you drive like a fucking asshole and you're extremely lucky that my gf was in my car. Your golf is not a race car and you're still a 45 year old midget even in a fast car.

Stopping traffic to talk to your bro in the other lane and cutting off other drivers with inches to spare with a quick signal is a great way to win friends.

What color?

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
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Its funny that Honda got all the flack for not having a vol knob and putting one back in and VW is doing the opposite on the Golf and removed the vol knob and go touch only.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by Redlined_8000


Input delay on the paddles? Its the same car man. Same programming and same engine/tranny. My R has very very little delay at all. Ive never driven a S3 but the R's DSG is not slow by any means.

If you want to experience input delay go drive a few year old AMG lol.

EDIT:
When using manual mode, made sure you go to "S" mode then go to manual. You can operate manual mode from both "D" and "S". I am not fully sure how much a difference there is but sport should be faster and crisper.

I've never driven a Golf R which is why I asked - only a GTI. The GTI has very noticeable delay, and I figured they would use the same transmission in the GTI and the R but maybe not. It wasn't much, but it was enough to make it not nearly as fun, for me anyway. I definitely had it in "S" confirmed by the salesperson, since I was specifically asking him about the delay. It wasn't bad, I think I was just expecting more.

Originally posted by Xtrema



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Its funny that Honda got all the flack for not having a vol knob and putting one back in and VW is doing the opposite on the Golf and removed the vol knob and go touch only.

Yeah every car needs a volume knob IMO. I don't mind the way Honda does it (works fine) but I'd still prefer a knob for the passenger to use - I only use the steering wheel volume control anyway, and would regardless if I had a vol knob or not. Every manufacturer seems to try and come up with the latest trend, but there are just some things that people will want unchanged forever haha.

[Hallowed_point]

Originally posted by Redlined_8000
What color?

Reflex silver.

[Redlined_8000]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt


I've never driven a Golf R which is why I asked - only a GTI. The GTI has very noticeable delay, and I figured they would use the same transmission in the GTI and the R but maybe not. It wasn't much, but it was enough to make it not nearly as fun, for me anyway. I definitely had it in "S" confirmed by the salesperson, since I was specifically asking him about the delay. It wasn't bad, I think I was just expecting more.

Ah I see... Interesting.

I also test drove a GTI performance pack and I found the shifts to be very nice.... But again my previous paddle experience was from the C63 AMG which had a good 1sec delay on the paddles haha.

I dont think you should mind the delay on the R. Its crispy. Also if you ever decide to get a TCU tune it will improve the response time even more.

[heavyD]

The only delay with the DSG is throttle tip in from a stop. Once you are going it's very quick to upshift or downshift.

[max_boost]

Have you guys used the launch control on the car? I remember when Bart showed me it on my 10GTi I thought it was the coolest thing ever haha

[nickyh]

I haven't driven an R, but have taken out the S3 - I found while in dynamic and down / upshifting with the paddles some input delay. My biggest complaint on the car. When chatting with the sales guy it's because the software is protecting the gearbox essentially. There is no delay with the 7spd transmission. The TCU tune is supposed to fix this, but I'm not interested in voiding warranties on cars anymore.
As for launch control, the first time I did it my heart nearly stopped. It was quite the experience when I did it.

[Redlined_8000]

Originally posted by max_boost
Have you guys used the launch control on the car? I remember when Bart showed me it on my 10GTi I thought it was the coolest thing ever haha

Ive done 5-6 launch controls. Its awesome fun.

Today I managed to spin all 4 on the launch haha.

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Yeah, I've only noticed delay on tip in, or when not aggressive enough on the throttle in D mode.

I haven't tried launch control on my GTI, mostly because I still have the OEM A/S, so there'd just be a one wheel peel. That open diff tho. I couldn't justify the performance pack when it brought it so close to Golf R pricing.

[Khyron]

New model for Canada has 30+ custom color options (for extra charge). I'm in for one of the greens, or the bright yellow I think:

Special Colours (extra cost)
Spectrum - Earth
9807 - Harvest Moon Beige
9975 - Champagne Metallic
9802 - Terra Brown

Spectrum - Blue
9984 - Jazz Blue
9094 - Techno Blue Pearl
9940 - Inky Blue Pearl
9926 - Laser Blue Pearl
9043 - Prussian Blue Metallic
9069 - Azure Blue Pearl
9955 - Deep Blue Pearl
9459 - Sarantos Turquoise
9518 - '91 Blue
9504 - Ice Blue

Spectrum - Green
9070 - Viper Green Metallic
9652 - Racing Green
9623 - Reseda Green
9621 - Cliff Green
9487 - Irish Green

Spectrum - Orange
9208 - Magma Orange
9923 - Copper Orange Metallic
9292 - TNT Orange

Spectrum - Purple
9074 - Violet Touch
9400 - Traffic Purple
9968 - Dark Violet Pearl

Spectrum - Red
9317 - Mars Red
9079 - Bordeaux Red Pearl
9959 - Hot Chili Red Pearl
9348 - Raspberry Red

Spectrum - Yellow
9106 - Ginster Yellow
9184 - Curry Yellow

[Redlined_8000]

That is very cool VW is offering so many colors. I wouldn't have minded a dark green with black pretoria wheels. Unique.

[heavyD]

Racing green would be the color I would have got. I like the idea of unique colours but I'm curious to see how much extra the colors will be.

[danno]

That's awesome of vw to do that. For 900 I would pay for special colors, 2000-3000 not so sure. It will be interesting to see what it does cost.

What do the premium brands charge for special colors??

[Khyron]

I'm guessing 1500 but it's not that crazy when some of the "slightly" custom colors from other companies are 500-600 extra.

The interesting bit is it's still showing 6 speed DSG, 292 hp - I can't see the factory doing different trans/engine runs but maybe they require new certification/crash/emission testing.