GOLFMK8
GOLFMK7
GOLFMK6
GOLFMKV

GTI to Golf R?

xXDavidCXx

Autocross Champion
Location
AZ
Car(s)
2017 GTI SE DSG
So they make tires that hook better than AWD??? Sign me up. Lol
:rolleyes: Don't be obtuse.

Why spend all that money when the launch performance can be dramatically improved with better tires, and other suspension items if needed.

Both cars will struggle on damp roads, and both with benefit with better tires.

The OP didn't even say what tires he was on, just jumped to conclusions that the only recourse must be a "better" car.
 

aloha_from_bradley

Autocross Champion
Location
AZ
Smart move. I think that the um...polarizing...looks of the Mk8 in pictures caused a lot of people to snatch up the Mk7/7.5, but now that we've seen more pictures and videos of the Mk8, and it's prettier in person, people will be hoping into it. Especially with the Mk8 R having that incredibly sick rear diff and extra hp.

I, personally, would love to take one for a rip and see just how clever it is, because the reports are coming back pretty fantastic, aside from the completely buttonless interior.

I sat in the ID.4 a couple weeks ago which has the same haptic feedback buttons as the MK8. They felt like the home button on a cell phone from a couple years ago when they removed the physical button. Very artificial and slow. Working through menus / making adjustments, especially while driving, seems like it's going to be cumbersome. Total drawback if you ask me. Deal breaker in my book. I'll more than likely spring for an RS3 if I do get another car.
 

Dog Dad Wagon

Autocross Champion
Location
Go Birds
Car(s)
16 Touareg TDI
I’ll admit it looks a lot better in real pictures than marketing materials. But this is also a side shot. The rear end is still hideous and I still hate the front fascia lolol
 

Attachments

  • FCE84D9E-4379-47A1-AA8B-375F401EFAE4.jpeg
    FCE84D9E-4379-47A1-AA8B-375F401EFAE4.jpeg
    350.1 KB · Views: 113

Acadia18

Autocross Champion
Location
The Greater Boston Metropolitan Area
Car(s)
2019 Golf R
I’ll admit it looks a lot better in real pictures than marketing materials. But this is also a side shot. The rear end is still hideous and I still hate the front fascia lolol

Dear lord. And I didn't think it was possible for the MK8 to look even more hideous than the regular GTI\R. Then you've gone and shown it on a wagon 😂
 

Dog Dad Wagon

Autocross Champion
Location
Go Birds
Car(s)
16 Touareg TDI
Dear lord. And I didn't think it was possible for the MK8 to look even more hideous than the regular GTI\R. Then you've gone and shown it on a wagon 😂

I think the wagon pulls it off better than the hatches but you and I know we’re gonna agree to disagree on that one :)
 

ECNMY R

Drag Race Newbie
Location
California
Car(s)
R, RS3, GTS 4.0
Calling the RS3 boring and numb is overstating it, but it certainly feels less agile and direct than an R. The difference in weight over the nose is really apparent in the steering. The RS3's rear-end is way more planted and confidence-inspiring in corners though. I wonder if upgrading my R's RSB would make it feel more like that or if it's some mag ride magic.

Feeling the weight difference between the R and RS3 makes me fully believe anyone who says they prefer a GTI to an R.
 

aloha_from_bradley

Autocross Champion
Location
AZ
TIL: the rs3 is boring and numb.

Lol oh kay

Once I'm bored with the R I'm going RS3.

Right? That was my point. You can make any car a racecar with enough money.

To mod a car to it's maximum potential, outside of any realistic daily driveability and creature comfort aspect of owning a car will make anything else you drive feel numb. The RS3 is definitely NOT boring... the least bit. It's well balanced, has everything most people would ever want in a car (most enthusiasts at least), plenty of power with a huge after market, and can run 11 flat quarter miles completely stock. If you get one barely used you can find them in the 50s. That's crazy.

REALLY hard to compare apples to apples street vs. racecars. Bottom line is you have one or the other. At least most adults do that realize riding around town on rails just beats you and the car up. Can't take people on a business lunch in your heavily modified bounce machine that you never take to the track. It just doesn't make sense. Just get something that's fast, comfortable, and fun to drive. And if you plan on buying a 60+ thousand dollar car you hope can do it all & plan to frequent the track, I hope you have a load of money to burn.
 

launchd

Drag Racing Champion
Location
New York
Car(s)
2023 M3LR, 2021 A7
(Opinion, don't get your little panties in a wad)

The Golf R is not worth it's price tag from a pure modding/performance perspective. The haldex faux AWD system is not worth $10,000+ over the GTI unless you plan on upgrading it's clutches and running a custom haldex tune which, come on now... none of you do (I've only seen a handful of RS3/TTRS cars run upgraded clutches). The haldex unit's clutches are simply overwhelmed (just as VAQ's are) beyond stock power levels. Their clamping force and their capabilities (heat) are consumer, stock daily driver focused.

My $26,500 GTI (NEW) with all of it's mods (which puts it right at the USED Golf R price point) will spank a stock Golf R from a dig. You would be spending another $10,000+ easy on mods for a Golf R to get it to perform marginally better than a (correctly) modded GTI and at that price point, you should've just bought a RS3.

OP - buy better tires, upgrade your mounts and swap your open differential for a real LSD... you'll be happy and you'll save a fuckton of money.

Edit: Also, from the amount of threads/posts I've read on this forum regarding VAQ/Haldex/LSDs, most of you are clueless about how power gets put down on these cars. As a starting point, any FWD (or FWD biased - Golf R) cars that still have their open differentials and are being modded for big power, is a serious problem. You should be solving that problem in your builds, not ignoring it, pretending it doesn't exist ("I don't have traction issues") or cluelessly assuming your car is putting it's power down efficiently.
 
Last edited:

aloha_from_bradley

Autocross Champion
Location
AZ
So, you essentially built a racecar. You just validated my point entirely.

It all comes down to what you want to do with the car. If it's a street driven car and you just want to enjoy something that's fast and comfortable, buy the R.

If you are trying to build a car to take to the track, go with something cheaper and heavily modify. Too often do people not understand the difference, and just throw parts at a street driven daily and then call it "modified." Again... street car, or racecar?

The realization usually doesn't happen for people until later in life.
 

sterkrazzy

Autocross Champion
Location
United States
Car(s)
Turbo. Blue.
I bought the R because I didn't want a car that needed that many mods. I've put $10k of mods into each of my GTIs, some cosmetic though, and neither times did it really feel worth it. Those days are over for me. The mods I've been doing on my R are all pretty light compared to what I normally do, like an RSR clutch with dmfw instead of a smfw, a resonator delete instead of a full turboback, stage 1 tune instead of stage 2, a dogbone insert for a diesel instead of a stiffer mount, and an apr short shifter for the adjustability and the counterweight instead of the notchy sigma 6. I want to go fast, but not at the cost of comfort. It becomes too much of a chore to daily drive if there's too many mods. I don't have to modify the suspension or the mounts and I have plenty of grip in 1st gear and in the rain. Sure, I spent $10k more than someone who bought a GTI did, but 5-6 years down the road I'm also getting $10k more when I go to sell it.
 

aloha_from_bradley

Autocross Champion
Location
AZ
I bought the R because I didn't want a car that needed that many mods. I've put $10k of mods into each of my GTIs, some cosmetic though, and neither times did it really feel worth it. Those days are over for me. The mods I've been doing on my R are all pretty light compared to what I normally do, like an RSR clutch with dmfw instead of a smfw, a resonator delete instead of a full turboback, stage 1 tune instead of stage 2, a dogbone insert for a diesel instead of a stiffer mount, and an apr short shifter for the adjustability and the counterweight instead of the notchy sigma 6. I want to go fast, but not at the cost of comfort. It becomes too much of a chore to daily drive if there's too many mods. I don't have to modify the suspension or the mounts and I have plenty of grip in 1st gear and in the rain. Sure, I spent $10k more than someone who bought a GTI did, but 5-6 years down the road I'm also getting $10k more when I go to sell it.

You'll get more than that. Have you seen the prices on Rs recently? I could sell mine right now for more than I paid for it brand new 2 years ago.

Of course the market won't always be this strong, but if you are even sniffing the idea of selling your R right now, I'd say it's now or keep it. You won't ever get more for it than now.

Last point. The R is made in Germany, and you can tell. The GTI feels like a rattle trap comparatively speaking. I've been in both. Have friends that own both.
 

launchd

Drag Racing Champion
Location
New York
Car(s)
2023 M3LR, 2021 A7
So, you essentially built a racecar. You just validated my point entirely.

It all comes down to what you want to do with the car. If it's a street driven car and you just want to enjoy something that's fast and comfortable, buy the R.

If you are trying to build a car to take to the track, go with something cheaper and heavily modify. Too often do people not understand the difference, and just throw parts at a street driven daily and then call it "modified." Again... street car, or racecar?

The realization usually doesn't happen for people until later in life.

I daily drive my car with and without passengers, no complaints.

I've put 54,000 miles on my car in two and a half years. It's a great car, it's comfortable, it's reliable and it's certainly not something I would consider to be a race car. I don't track it (often), it's primary purpose is actually for commuting.

I bought the R because I didn't want a car that needed that many mods. I've put $10k of mods into each of my GTIs, some cosmetic though, and neither times did it really feel worth it. Those days are over for me. The mods I've been doing on my R are all pretty light compared to what I normally do, like an RSR clutch with dmfw instead of a smfw, a resonator delete instead of a full turboback, stage 1 tune instead of stage 2, a dogbone insert for a diesel instead of a stiffer mount, and an apr short shifter for the adjustability and the counterweight instead of the notchy sigma 6. I want to go fast, but not at the cost of comfort. It becomes too much of a chore to daily drive if there's too many mods. I don't have to modify the suspension or the mounts and I have plenty of grip in 1st gear and in the rain. Sure, I spent $10k more than someone who bought a GTI did, but 5-6 years down the road I'm also getting $10k more when I go to sell it.

I would say if you put $10,000 into your GTI and it didn't feel worth it, you did it wrong or you have some extreme expectations.
 
Top