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My Volkswagen Golf R 2014 review

TheSwede

Ready to race!
Location
Sweden, Halmstad
Car(s)
Golf7 Alltrack/Cupra
I've done a little review of my Volkswagen Golf R includes some nice photos. I hope you'll enjoy looking at them...

http://www.oooia.com/volkswagen-golf-r-2014-review/

Good review and beautiful photos!

A notification from the text:

"The image of the Golf I’ve always found quite inoffensive, and difficult to associate with any particular affiliation or social standing."

The description above is a feeling I also have, I like Golf’s, since it shouldn’t be to easy categorizing you because of the car you drive ;).

/Peter
 

.:KindiGTI

Go Kart Champion
Location
Muscat,Oman
Awesome car, pics and write up
 

slush.puppie

Ready to race!
Location
Burlington, VT
worst review ever!! now the wait for it to arrive in north america is going to be even more painful. thanks a lot buddy!!

:p

honestly, sounds great. well written, honest, and it sounds like i've made the right choice hopping on my local dealers list as the first person in the area to be able to order an r.

can i ask, what's your driving history like when it comes to transmissions? i'm 32, been driving since about 17, never owned (or regularly driven) any sort of automatic, but i'm really tempted to order the golf r with a dsg. you praise the dsg - is this coming from a manual, or other type of automatic gearbox?

i really feel like with the advent of all the other electronic aids in cars (drive by wire, non-linear throttle, hill-hold, etc, etc) that manual transmissions are feeling more and more alien. when it was clutch pedal and throttle-by-wire, i could control EXACTLY what the car was doing, and it felt perfect and fluid. now i kind of feel like i'm releasing the clutch pedal with my left foot, pushing an algorithm with my right foot, and crossing my fingers that the amount of throttle returned is close to what i think i'm requesting.

i'm turning into an old man, but i'm longing for the days when i used to push the gas pedal 50% and get 50% throttle, not push the throttle 50%, and then have a computer check my current speed, ambient temperature, engine mode, time of day, run a quick credit check, and then give me a return throttle value.

it seems we've reached a point where everything is so electronic that dsg is just a better match for the car. all the more reason to pick up the golf r in dsg, and an early miata for getting my gear changing fix.
 

cyb3rdud3

Ready to race!
Thank you for the kind words....

My driving history is chequered, I hope I can remember them all...Except the first three the rest I had from new...
Mitsubishi Colt Automatic (3-speed :eek:)
Saab 900 Turbo Manual
Maserati Biturbo Manual
VW Golf TDI Manual stop/start (90's...)
BMW 525TDS Automatic
Jeep Cherokee 4.0 Automatic
Peugeot 405 Estate Manual
Saab 900 2.3t Automatic
Saab 93 T18 (280Hp version) Manual
VW Golf GTi 1.8T Manual
BMW 750i Automatic
BMW 740i Automatic
Nissan Patrol 3.0 Automatic
VW Golf 2.0TDI Manual
Nissan Murano CVT
Audi A4 Cabriolet 3.0 Quattro TipTronic (second hand)
Toyota Prius CVT (total moment of madness)
Mercedes GL AMG Sport Automatic (Our anti-prius and restore my sanity, current x166 model)
VW Golf R (was supposed to be the runabout for my wife as she found the GL daunting, but is now used to the GL AMG so it is all mine for the commute to work...)

In short, the DSG is the best auto gearbox I've had....really like it...And better than that Mercedes 7-speed thing...I had a software update to it, but I am still not impressed by it...
 

Mellor1

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
East Yorkshire
What was the issue with the seats then? Until I joined this forum I fully expected my cloth seats to be dark grey/black but looking at your photos amongst others on here it would seem I should expect some very stain worthy looking seats?!

Were you made aware of this by the dealers?
 

cyb3rdud3

Ready to race!
What was the issue with the seats then? Until I joined this forum I fully expected my cloth seats to be dark grey/black but looking at your photos amongst others on here it would seem I should expect some very stain worthy looking seats?!

Were you made aware of this by the dealers?

Seatgate :) is a UK specific issue as far as I'm aware. Original VW UK had put up images in their online configurator and in the printed brochure of a VW Golf R with Race Cloth seats that was black, with black alcantara bolsters. As you can see it is more like Antracite for the seats, and a lighter grey in Alcantara for the bolsters.

Dealers should have contacted you that this was a mistake, and works something out with you. A bulletin was issued to all dealers. Mine was already in build when this became clear.

I can tell you one thing, the Race Cloth seats are stunning in real life. They are really hard to photograph to do them justice. They are comfortable, and they don't look/feel like dirt magnets to me at all. I'm glad they are like that, black would have been too dark.
 

nataraki1

New member
Location
United States
worst review ever!! now the wait for it to arrive in north america is going to be even more painful. thanks a lot buddy!!

:p

honestly, sounds great. well written, honest, and it sounds like i've made the right choice hopping on my local dealers list as the first person in the area to be able to order an r.

can i ask, what's your driving history like when it comes to transmissions? i'm 32, been driving since about 17, never owned (or regularly driven) any sort of automatic, but i'm really tempted to order the golf r with a dsg. you praise the dsg - is this coming from a manual, or other type of automatic gearbox?

i really feel like with the advent of all the other electronic aids in cars (drive by wire, non-linear throttle, hill-hold, etc, etc) that manual transmissions are feeling more and more alien. when it was clutch pedal and throttle-by-wire, i could control EXACTLY what the car was doing, and it felt perfect and fluid. now i kind of feel like i'm releasing the clutch pedal with my left foot, pushing an algorithm with my right foot, and crossing my fingers that the amount of throttle returned is close to what i think i'm requesting.

i'm turning into an old man, but i'm longing for the days when i used to push the gas pedal 50% and get 50% throttle, not push the throttle 50%, and then have a computer check my current speed, ambient temperature, engine mode, time of day, run a quick credit check, and then give me a return throttle value.

it seems we've reached a point where everything is so electronic that dsg is just a better match for the car. all the more reason to pick up the golf r in dsg, and an early miata for getting my gear changing fix.

My Mk5 GTI is my first "automatic" car that I had, and I've got a Unitronic Stage 2 DSG chip on it....it's F***n awesome especially on the track!! I wouldn't mind to spec my R on a DSG again given the chance;)
 

Sandweiler

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Luxembourg
worst review ever!! now the wait for it to arrive in north america is going to be even more painful. thanks a lot buddy!!

:p

honestly, sounds great. well written, honest, and it sounds like i've made the right choice hopping on my local dealers list as the first person in the area to be able to order an r.

can i ask, what's your driving history like when it comes to transmissions? i'm 32, been driving since about 17, never owned (or regularly driven) any sort of automatic, but i'm really tempted to order the golf r with a dsg. you praise the dsg - is this coming from a manual, or other type of automatic gearbox?

i really feel like with the advent of all the other electronic aids in cars (drive by wire, non-linear throttle, hill-hold, etc, etc) that manual transmissions are feeling more and more alien. when it was clutch pedal and throttle-by-wire, i could control EXACTLY what the car was doing, and it felt perfect and fluid. now i kind of feel like i'm releasing the clutch pedal with my left foot, pushing an algorithm with my right foot, and crossing my fingers that the amount of throttle returned is close to what i think i'm requesting.

i'm turning into an old man, but i'm longing for the days when i used to push the gas pedal 50% and get 50% throttle, not push the throttle 50%, and then have a computer check my current speed, ambient temperature, engine mode, time of day, run a quick credit check, and then give me a return throttle value.

it seems we've reached a point where everything is so electronic that dsg is just a better match for the car. all the more reason to pick up the golf r in dsg, and an early miata for getting my gear changing fix.

Agree 100% with you! Except that I will not go for any sort of automatic gearbox in a sport car no matter how good it is. Must be my old age (I am 42). So if you consider yourself as being old I must be as old as Yoda :D

I know it sounds weird but I like to use my brain (sometimes) when I drive and I love response and "instinct" in a car. Quoting Jeremy Clarkson, a car must have a soul. A real one, not an electronic brain telling me when I have to pull over for a coffee break or visit the restrooms...

Almost got a BRZ but too underpowered despite the fact that I loved the position in the car and it's accuracy.

Also have a Miata for fun and its purity & lack of electronic bull-s*** :D
 

BlueBullet

Ready to race!
Location
Great Britain
I drove the dsg gearbox today and no one can say your not involved. You can use paddles if want and the different driving modes are very capable whatever mood takes you. The launch control system is fantastic better acceleration than any manual means, it hurls you forward ferociously at maximum attack. I loved my manuals but this car and dsg are perfect match, seamless, effortless and ferocious it's outstanding.
 

slush.puppie

Ready to race!
Location
Burlington, VT
Agree 100% with you! Except that I will not go for any sort of automatic gearbox in a sport car no matter how good it is. Must be my old age (I am 42). So if you consider yourself as being old I must be as old as Yoda :D

I know it sounds weird but I like to use my brain (sometimes) when I drive and I love response and "instinct" in a car. Quoting Jeremy Clarkson, a car must have a soul. A real one, not an electronic brain telling me when I have to pull over for a coffee break or visit the restrooms...

Almost got a BRZ but too underpowered despite the fact that I loved the position in the car and it's accuracy.

Also have a Miata for fun and its purity & lack of electronic bull-s*** :D

when 900 years old you reach, drive a manual, you will not!!

i love using my brain, and i always feel like i know exactly what i want the car to do, i just feel that as more and more electronic gizmos get inserted, it's a constantly getting tougher to make that exact thing happen.

is there such thing as a linear throttle tune? maybe that would be the best of both worlds. really i just feel like since the advent of drive-by-wire i've been falling out of love with rowing my own gears. i never felt like it was a chore or a hassle, now i get these moments where i feel i'm just talking to the car, going "really?! that's what you thought i meant?".

perhaps i'm just too much of a perfectionist, and feel like the dsg will do a more perfect job than me, now that the other tools have changed.
 

cyb3rdud3

Ready to race!
Agree 100% with you! Except that I will not go for any sort of automatic gearbox in a sport car no matter how good it is. Must be my old age (I am 42). So if you consider yourself as being old I must be as old as Yoda :D

I know it sounds weird but I like to use my brain (sometimes) when I drive and I love response and "instinct" in a car. Quoting Jeremy Clarkson, a car must have a soul. A real one, not an electronic brain telling me when I have to pull over for a coffee break or visit the restrooms...

Almost got a BRZ but too underpowered despite the fact that I loved the position in the car and it's accuracy.

Also have a Miata for fun and its purity & lack of electronic bull-s*** :D
I agree, however don't make the mistake to compare this DSG gearbox to other automatics...It is absolutely superb...Yes the 7 speed on my Mercedes GL AMG is rubbish, and brains off....The one on the Golf is in a very different league in my opinion...

Now if I wanted a fully engaged car I wouldn't get a Golf, I would not get a daily driver for that....Once I clear my garage I am going to make space for a Donkervoort D8 :) Alternatively get an Arial Atom
 

BlueBullet

Ready to race!
Location
Great Britain
I agree that electronics are ruining cars to a large part as you can't open your bonnet and fix things anymore, plus a lot dearer to fix. Everything electronic in the golf between the 4 wheel drive system, traction control systems and latest dsg are all working together in harmony to make you as secure, involved and a stunning driver as possible. I can't explain how much better this R is than the previous,it's that much better and has revolutionised the super hot hatch. I know you didn't mean faster but I never felt less involved. I have to admit I was little worried that with being auto with cruise control and auto hand brake, what would I concentrate on but it is so good in every way I can't sing it's praises enough.
 
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