Liked my GTI over an R. Am I crazy?

[YamR1rider]

Actually, I live in the Buffalo area and with a good set of winter tires it's really not bad. I mean, you gotta be mindful of your throttle a bit more but it's overall not bad.

Yeah I'm sure it's plenty manageable especially with decent winter tires - still, I think for me it would have been one of those 'justification' factors to spend the extra.

 

[Strange Mud]

I purposely didn't test drive an R when I went to go get my GTI. Brought just enough cash to buy the GTI. Didn't want any potential distractions .

I liked this post but you own an A3........



Mud

 

[FlyingNugget]

If I was looking to jump into that sticker price + mods, I would be jumping into an STI so that I can start out with LSDs and a BBK. With the R, you still need a an LSD in the front, and a BBK

 

[Subliminal]

If I was looking to jump into that sticker price + mods, I would be jumping into an STI so that I can start out with LSDs and a BBK. With the R, you still need a an LSD in the front, and a BBK

that old ass engine? blasphemy

...the R doesn't get the vaq diff?

the only reason I would 'upgrade' to the R is if I reaaaally wanted to go big turbo

 

[bentin]

People must be driving different Subarus than I have. Outside of the BRZ, all Subarus understeer more than an awd car has any right to, certainly more than my GTI or the R. That includes STI's and WRX's. On track they're a hot mess. The EVO was brilliant and drove much more like a rwd car, but I've also never been behind one on the track without it laying down a constant stream of oil.

I test drove an R before buying both of my GTI's, and not green ones, but used ones from CarMax. I didn't feel like there was enough to justify giving up the cloth seats or lighter car. But knowing what this forum has taught me, I might have reconsidered it now. If they make a manual Mk8 R, I think that's likely what I'll get next, especially if the Haldex is more capable of sending power back than the current setup. Unfortunately, I find myself missing rwd, but also don't want a heavy, large thing like the GT350 or even M2.

 

[sterkrazzy]

I hate wheel hop, so the R was worth it. I didn't fall in love with it during the test drive either. I even made the guy give me a 2nd and longer test drive. Then it took me about 6 months to really fall in love with it. It wasn't until I sat in a stage 2 R, tuned my own car, and put wheels on it. It's faster and is more comfortable to DD than either of the GTIs I've owned and all it took to get there was a tune. I'm kind of over putting money into mods and aftermarket aesthetics too, so it's nice being equipped with all the top options. I don't have to upgrade the headunit, or the speakers/sub, or the headlights and taillights. It doesn't even need a suspension upgrade as I'm happy enough with the ride height. Plus I really love DCC and ACC.

I guess I've been through this enough I knew what to expect from myself if I had bought a GTI and I didn't want to go through all that again with a third GTI. The R will be kept relatively stock and by the time I'm ready to sell it my miles should be fairly low, so resale should be pretty good still. I won't have to watch the resale sink into nothingness.

 

[bentin]

I guess I've been through this enough I knew what to expect from myself if I had bought a GTI and I didn't want to go through all that again with a third GTI. The R will be kept relatively stock and by the time I'm ready to sell it my miles should be fairly low, so resale should be pretty good still. I won't have to watch the resale sink into nothingness.

This is an important point too, resale is comically different between the two. When I bought both, I didn't care since I was putting about 30k miles on my car a year, and neither would have held up well to that. But now, even in non Pandemic times, I'm putting less than 10k a year on them, so the added potential resale retention of the R would be very nice.

 

[imthanick_a]

Call me stingy, but the digital dash was a big no-no for me. I like the analog gauges. Plus I also like a manual handbrake.

I hate digital dashes and touch screens instead of buttons. Call me old fashioned but it most things just function so much better with physical buttons instead of a processor.

 

[Mk_GTI]

I respect the R for what it is, and it is an awesome car. But I think more people would agree that the Gti is a better deal for the money though.

Depends. If you look at depreciation over the long term, the R becomes a far better value than the GTI despite costing more. I did the math and figured buying a one year old Golf R would cost around the same over 7-8 years than buying a brand new GTI SE w/Experience Pkg.

 

[Jose_Gti]

I just come back from the dealer, text drove both the R and the GTI and finally went with a 2019 GTI white rabbit edition, felt more agile, more fun.

 

[Subliminal]

The R stands for Remorse



(kidding)

 

[Strange Mud]

but is it buyers remorse or wish I got an R remorse?

CSB: after I got my car I was given a brochure....Mrs Mud asked "why didn't you get the R?". She understood when I mentioned the price. This is the same Love that when I mentioned I was going to look at a C7 vette asked how much...then said "You are not spending $50K on a car"

 

[Navi]

Depends. If you look at depreciation over the long term, the R becomes a far better value than the GTI despite costing more. I did the math and figured buying a one year old Golf R would cost around the same over 7-8 years than buying a brand new GTI SE w/Experience Pkg.

very true. GTI value tanks. You can pick up a clean one for 14-16 grand.

 

[abrad2912]

I had a 2016 manual R before my current 2019 manual GTI. The R was one of the most disappointing cars I have ever owned.

 

[MSchott]

I had a 2016 manual R before my current 2019 manual GTI. The R was one of the most disappointing cars I have ever owned.

What was disappointing about the R?