Who owns a Golf GTD / GTI / R?

Caporegime
Joined
21 Nov 2005
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40,277
Location
Cornwall
A VW thing in my experience!

My wife's old Mk5 GTi got a turd on it and stained it in a day. Metallic blue

My Polo was the same a few months back. Black

Laquer is rubbish.
Thanks.

Thankfully it is just the lacquer and a hairdryer sorts it pretty quick but it's annoying how fast the finish spoils.

It’s nothing special really but decent price and servicing wise. Fuel economy isn’t great but you don’t but it to worry about or save fuel.

It can be fun occasionally.
Drove from Cornwall to Bristol last Wednesday and got 35mpg on the way up driving sensibly and 29mpg on the way back. Awful compared to a lot of cars but far better than I thought I would get.
 
Associate
Joined
6 Oct 2004
Posts
1,980
Location
Southampton, UK
Careful with the right foot and messing with the modes and you can get 30-35 mpgs with ease, even with the commute traffic. Drive without thinking about economy you will net 25-28 :)

Still enjoying my R after almost 2 years of ownership from new. I can see why people will find it boring or numb , but it does the driving parts mostly without fuss or drama. Pushing on and trying and failing to find the limits is fun enough for me on public roads.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
21 Feb 2006
Posts
29,299
I don't dislike the Golf R, I can see it's a great all round small performance saloon that goes well, has 4WD security and a nice interior/exterior. However, I back to backed it (within a few days) with the current Civic Type R which kills it, destroys it as a drivers car.....but dies a death on the interior/exterior fight! :D
 
Man of Honour
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
39,945
I don't dislike the Golf R, I can see it's a great all round small performance saloon that goes well, has 4WD security and a nice interior/exterior. However, I back to backed it (within a few days) with the current Civic Type R which kills it, destroys it as a drivers car.....but dies a death on the interior/exterior fight! :D
I tried one of those, great fun driving it but yes.. it's truly hideous. Other half took one look and said 'NO!' quite loudly while in the dealer.
Felt oddly claustrophobic in the Focus ST and RS, just seemed very small inside.
A45 AMG is ridiculously priced, but an utter lunatic. Again, not a looker.
S3 just didn't appeal.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Aug 2011
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2,845
Location
Norfolk
Had the MK7 GTI and have the R. I like it but getting a little bored.

Same. Had mine since June '17 and looking forward to June '19 when I can look at getting something different.

Which is strange for something that is: cheap, reliable, quick and practical. It just doesn't make me want to drive it anywhere other then straight to my destination, there's no fun in it at all (other than the occasional stationary 0-60 blast).
 
Associate
Joined
2 Oct 2006
Posts
2,276
Same. Had mine since June '17 and looking forward to June '19 when I can look at getting something different.

Which is strange for something that is: cheap, reliable, quick and practical. It just doesn't make me want to drive it anywhere other then straight to my destination, there's no fun in it at all (other than the occasional stationary 0-60 blast).

Agreed. The odd quick blast, the sound proofing on the motorway isn’t great either.

Had a 14 GTI and currently have a 16 R.

What would be a good replacement?
 
Man of Honour
Joined
21 Feb 2006
Posts
29,299
Common theme amongst a few people I know who have had R's. You look at the specs and the cars quality (interior, exterior, styling) and see the cheap £300 lease deals and thing "this makes total sense" but reality is it's not a great hot hatch. It's a very quick one not question and a superb car for doing some driving, but my test as mentioned above is does it / would it make me get out of bed at 5am to go to the Evo Triangle and the answer is no.
 

Ev0

Ev0

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
14,152
I’ve loved my R, but if I had one expecting it to be a ‘fun’ hot hatch then I would’ve been disappointed.

Not that it isn’t a good drive, but as you all say it’s not a traditional hot hatch kind of drive.

But then what is with all the silly power these things have now? (Other then the Civic obviously ;) )

I’ll be replacing it end of the year (potentially buying it from lease co for the wife to use as she loves it), short list at the moment is RS3, M3 or C63.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
39,945
May not be getting my R this weekend.
Seems like one of the keys may have been misplaced. Great.
And it's got the keyless entry option on it. Perfect...
 
Soldato
Joined
25 Jun 2009
Posts
7,733
I tried one of those, great fun driving it but yes.. it's truly hideous. Other half took one look and said 'NO!' quite loudly while in the dealer.
Felt oddly claustrophobic in the Focus ST and RS, just seemed very small inside.
A45 AMG is ridiculously priced, but an utter lunatic. Again, not a looker.
S3 just didn't appeal.

it's not the Type R that's ugly it's the Civic it's based on
 
Soldato
Joined
10 Apr 2013
Posts
3,737
I've had my '14 MK7 Golf R since new. Even nearly 5 years later there's nothing out at the moment which would tempt me to part with it. The combination of performance, handling, 4WD stability/traction, practicality and interior/exterior fit and finish quality is hard to beat for £30k.

I'll probably hold on another year or two and see what the next VAG platform brings to the table when the new MK8 GTi/R are released along with the new Audi S3.

Incidentally I had it in the garage recently to fix a couple of issues which were covered under warranty. Sound Actuator rattle and the rear spoiler trim coming loose at the bottom of the windscreen. Both resolved now.
 
Soldato
Joined
10 Apr 2013
Posts
3,737
Base Civic is no looker, but the Type R is just completely Halfordsised. If only they could have toned it down a bit.

I kind of like it for being outright bonkers but it does look like Honda time-travelled back to the 90's and asked a bunch of 17 year olds what their dream car would look like.

To be fair I think it looks better than the previous model. I get the impression the new Civic is a far better car in general than the outgoing one which always felt us Europeans were being offered the inferior version.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
19 Oct 2002
Posts
29,509
Location
Surrey
For the last 20 to 25 years I have frequently had a Golf GTI even if I also had other cars as well. My Mk6 recently failed completely and I am shortlisting something new. I went into the dealer today to take a look at the current GTI. But I found them quite boring and a little dated. Is there due to be a new model soon?
 
Man of Honour
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
39,945
For the last 20 to 25 years I have frequently had a Golf GTI even if I also had other cars as well. My Mk6 recently failed completely and I am shortlisting something new. I went into the dealer today to take a look at the current GTI. But I found them quite boring and a little dated. Is there due to be a new model soon?

Yup. Mk8 in 2019. Apparently 260-325bhp depending on the version. 10spd DSG and 4 wheel drive.
 
Associate
Joined
27 Oct 2008
Posts
1,898
Location
Gloucester
Yup. Mk8 in 2019. Apparently 260-325bhp depending on the version. 10spd DSG and 4 wheel drive.

260-325? Strange that the new Golf R only has 296. Less than before. Why would the GTI be more? More to the point. Could it handle that much power through the front wheels?


edit: 4 wheel drive? Where does that leave the Golf R then????
 
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