thoughts on the VW CC VR6?

[Dolph]

That would be awesome thanks!

I've had my R36 since November, after changing from my Audi S3 because I was just finding it too small. Some of my comparisons will be with that car as a result.

The first thing I've noticed, in the UK at least, is rarity, I'm yet to see another one on the roads, which has both it's advantages and disadvantages. The car is nicely anonymous, which is great if you like that sort of thing, but I've also had a few people very confused why I changed my fast Audi for 'just a passat'. They look very surprised when I point out that the passat is very slightly quicker.

Performance-wise, the car is excellent. One thing I will say is that, in comparison with a turbocharged car, it doesn't 'feel' as fast, although the speedo certainly indicates otherwise. It accelerates well, brakes well, and steers well, although the extra weight compared to the S3 does show, and it does have a bit more of a tendancy to run the nose wide if you go in too fast, but is easily correctable. In common with other VAG group cars, the steering feel could be better, but it's not bad by any means. The DSG box is excellent, the best automatic I've driven, and the characteristics of the engine match it well. It does take a little while for the box to learn your driving style, but that just improves it more. Shifting in manual mode is very smooth and effortless. Sport mode seems largely pointless unless you're on a track (when you'd be using manual anyway) as all it does is refuse to change up until very close to the limiter. The car never quite shakes it's weight, but that's the price you pay for having the space. The standard tyres I believe also take some of the blame for this, but I'm not changing them yet as the car has only done 7k so far. Loosing the dunlops for something with stiffer sidewalls does lead to handling improvements according to other other owners.

Inside, the seats are very comfy, the air adjustable side bolsters seem gimmicky, but do work well enabling you to alter the 'hold' of the seat depending on what you are doing. The interior build quality is fine, there are a couple of places where it's noticeably worse than the audi (the main one I notice is the heating controls) but generally much of the switchgear is the same, and there are no rattles, squeaks or other unpleasantness.

Fuel economy is, well, ok. I think I'm averaging about 28mpg, rising to 30-31mpg on longer runs, although if you're driving round town regularly the economy drops quite rapidly, and can be sub 20mpg.

Anything else you want to know, let me know.

Oh, and just on the other topic of discussion, I would agree with those who said circumstances would help (although not that accused you of pretending or whatever). I stand by my advice that, in the UK at least, you should not buy one of these cars new, because the depreciation is shocking, and they make a much better second hand buy as a result. Your circumstances are somewhat different, and it would have changed how I approached the thread if all the information was available.

 

[sigma]

I think people are getting a bit bored of the spec me a foriegn car stuff. Every other spec thread these last few weeks is from the middle east. We dont live there, we dont know the market, we dont know the conditons, we dont know how cars we otherwise know well would hold up there.

There must surely be a better place to ask about buying cars in the UAE than Overclockers UK?

Where has he said spec me a car? He simply asked an opinion on the car itself, the clue is in the title.

Some of you guys need to lighten up a bit, it's hardly the end of the world.

 

[Participant]

Where has he said spec me a car? He simply asked an opinion on the car itself, the clue is in the title.

Although to be fair, he made the comment 'I can't see much else in its league which comes even close' which, as several others have pointed out, surely opens up this angle of discussion.

However, although it might not be the best place in terms of specific local knowledge, I can't see a problem with people from Qatar asking about European cars on OcUK .

Telling the OP about the car will at least allow him to make his own mind up, which Dolph has done very well. It beats responding with 'Posters from the Middle East are not welcome to ask questions here, because it's a bit hotter and sandier and everything we thought we knew about certain cars does not apply here', apparently entirely forgetting the possibility that there may be members that live or have lived in the Middle East and can lend their input and experience (assuming that knowledge of Qatar is somehow required in order to discuss a CC VR6 whatsoever, which it clearly isn't).

There's almost always a better place to ask a question. Why ever post a motors question on OcUK, when you could post them on a specific manufacturer's forum? Answer - because there are loads of knowledgable members and some of them are even willing to answer the ****ing question!!

 

[kaktus]

I've had my R36 since November, after changing from my Audi S3 because I was just finding it too small. Some of my comparisons will be with that car as a result.

The first thing I've noticed, in the UK at least, is rarity, I'm yet to see another one on the roads, which has both it's advantages and disadvantages. The car is nicely anonymous, which is great if you like that sort of thing, but I've also had a few people very confused why I changed my fast Audi for 'just a passat'. They look very surprised when I point out that the passat is very slightly quicker.

Performance-wise, the car is excellent. One thing I will say is that, in comparison with a turbocharged car, it doesn't 'feel' as fast, although the speedo certainly indicates otherwise. It accelerates well, brakes well, and steers well, although the extra weight compared to the S3 does show, and it does have a bit more of a tendancy to run the nose wide if you go in too fast, but is easily correctable. In common with other VAG group cars, the steering feel could be better, but it's not bad by any means. The DSG box is excellent, the best automatic I've driven, and the characteristics of the engine match it well. It does take a little while for the box to learn your driving style, but that just improves it more. Shifting in manual mode is very smooth and effortless. Sport mode seems largely pointless unless you're on a track (when you'd be using manual anyway) as all it does is refuse to change up until very close to the limiter. The car never quite shakes it's weight, but that's the price you pay for having the space. The standard tyres I believe also take some of the blame for this, but I'm not changing them yet as the car has only done 7k so far. Loosing the dunlops for something with stiffer sidewalls does lead to handling improvements according to other other owners.

Inside, the seats are very comfy, the air adjustable side bolsters seem gimmicky, but do work well enabling you to alter the 'hold' of the seat depending on what you are doing. The interior build quality is fine, there are a couple of places where it's noticeably worse than the audi (the main one I notice is the heating controls) but generally much of the switchgear is the same, and there are no rattles, squeaks or other unpleasantness.

Fuel economy is, well, ok. I think I'm averaging about 28mpg, rising to 30-31mpg on longer runs, although if you're driving round town regularly the economy drops quite rapidly, and can be sub 20mpg.

Anything else you want to know, let me know.

Oh, and just on the other topic of discussion, I would agree with those who said circumstances would help (although not that accused you of pretending or whatever). I stand by my advice that, in the UK at least, you should not buy one of these cars new, because the depreciation is shocking, and they make a much better second hand buy as a result. Your circumstances are somewhat different, and it would have changed how I approached the thread if all the information was available.

Thanks for that Dolph, very informative.

I too also found the speed to be deceptively lulling, i only noticed I had hit 120kph when the buzzer went off telling me I had gone past the set limit. The roads are fairly straight here so I didnt really get a chance to test cornering but from what I could tell it seemed rock solid. And I absolutely love the gearbox, the smoothest gear shifts by far I've ever felt.

I suppose I'm curious if you had the choice again, would you buy the same car or would you opt for something different? Is there anything that makes you think, bleh I should've gone for xyz?

 

[Dolph]

Thanks for that Dolph, very informative.

I too also found the speed to be deceptively lulling, i only noticed I had hit 120kph when the buzzer went off telling me I had gone past the set limit. The roads are fairly straight here so I didnt really get a chance to test cornering but from what I could tell it seemed rock solid. And I absolutely love the gearbox, the smoothest gear shifts by far I've ever felt.

I suppose I'm curious if you had the choice again, would you buy the same car or would you opt for something different? Is there anything that makes you think, bleh I should've gone for xyz?

Exactly the same choice, yes, I'd buy the car again, but I did get a very good deal.

Buying new, I'd have an Audi S4 instead, the handling is slightly better (especially with drive select) and less front biased, and the depreciation is much less. The disadvantage is the additional cost of getting one with a decent spec.

Thread from when I bought the R36 is here if you're interested.

 

[kaktus]

Exactly the same choice, yes, I'd buy the car again, but I did get a very good deal.

Buying new, I'd have an Audi S4 instead, the handling is slightly better (especially with drive select) and less front biased, and the depreciation is much less. The disadvantage is the additional cost of getting one with a decent spec.

Thread from when I bought the R36 is here if you're interested.

That thread is pretty funny.

Dolph, I was thinking about this car for lots of highway mileage (looking at racking up around 25-30k miles per year on it). Do you think it's the kind of car that can handle that well? I.e. when it racks up the first 30k is it likely to start falling to pieces? And how about the next 30? I've never owned a VW before so I dont know how well they fair for usage over time.

Btw I took it out again for a test drive today (r36) and it's just incredibly awesome. I was extremely harsh on it today though, tried to get it to spin out of control constantly to test its limits and while the front end tended to be quite heavy as you pointed out, and usually the first to spin out, the back end quickly catches it and sets the car straight again in a sec and I did some pretty hardcore thrashing (90 degree turns at 70km+). Such an awesome car.

 

[Dolph]

That thread is pretty funny.

Dolph, I was thinking about this car for lots of highway mileage (looking at racking up around 25-30k miles per year on it). Do you think it's the kind of car that can handle that well? I.e. when it racks up the first 30k is it likely to start falling to pieces? And how about the next 30? I've never owned a VW before so I dont know how well they fair for usage over time.

Btw I took it out again for a test drive today (r36) and it's just incredibly awesome. I was extremely harsh on it today though, tried to get it to spin out of control constantly to test its limits and while the front end tended to be quite heavy as you pointed out, and usually the first to spin out, the back end quickly catches it and sets the car straight again in a sec and I did some pretty hardcore thrashing (90 degree turns at 70km+). Such an awesome car.

Given VW's reputation, there should be no real issues with running one for high mileage. However, I can't comment too much with direct experience as neither my Audi nor my VW are high mileage cars.

 

[DM]

I think people are getting a bit bored of the spec me a foriegn car stuff. Every other spec thread these last few weeks is from the middle east. We dont live there, we dont know the market, we dont know the conditons, we dont know how cars we otherwise know well would hold up there.

There must surely be a better place to ask about buying cars in the UAE than Overclockers UK?

He asks here cos he loves ya

 

[[TW]Fox]

Btw I took it out again for a test drive today (r36) and it's just incredibly awesome

I urge you to test drive other similar cars as you really need some context.

 

[kaktus]

I urge you to test drive other similar cars as you really need some context.

Please feel free to give me some examples, bearing in mind that it will be a new car and budget is around 35k sterling. All cars here are priced within 5% of UK prices so pretty much equivalent.

I've looked at some second hands in that price range and mostly they're knackered 60,000 km+ saloons from Audi, Nissan and Mercedes. There's a couple of Touaregs v6 3.5's with low mileage for around 30k sterling but not much else.

 

[kaktus]

He asks here cos he loves ya

And yes, I ask here cause I'm asking people from my homeland, who think similar to me, understand the concepts of relative value the same way and who probably know a hell of a lot more about cars than me and most of the people in this region

 

[Dolph]

Please feel free to give me some examples, bearing in mind that it will be a new car and budget is around 35k sterling. All cars here are priced within 5% of UK prices so pretty much equivalent.

I've looked at some second hands in that price range and mostly they're knackered 60,000 km+ saloons from Audi, Nissan and Mercedes. There's a couple of Touaregs v6 3.5's with low mileage for around 30k sterling but not much else.

335i coupe, TTS, A5 sportback, S4, E-class coupe would be the obvious recommendations (although specs are less, and you will have to hit the options list more).

I would agree with Fox that you should drive the competition, it helps put things into perspective more.

As for asking on here, to be honest the fact that this forum has an R36 owner is pretty rare for the UK, given the very small number of them about. I'd say it was a good choice