Observations of a New R Owner

[S62R]

Congrats on your new ride! It must be exciting times for you indeed. I'd lighten up about the negative comments regarding those who prefer two pedals vs. three, especially this being your first post. I started driving when I was 13 (please don't tell dad!) on a 4 speed manual. I was self taught and I wasn't the sharpest of the bunch. By now you get my drift? My first real nice car was a 6 speed manual. That was my last 3 pedal car. I enjoy technology and performance too much, I guess. Different strokes for different folks, buddy.

 

[jac643]

I stand suitably chastised. My feeble attempts at what I thought was funny clearly backfired. My apologies.

I still think a MT is more fun but now see that others may have different perspectives.

BTW does anyone have an opinion on how long I should wait before getting the JB4. I only have 250kms on the car now.

 

[NCR-R]

Well although I am lazy and somewhat young (at least in my mind)... knee surgery kept me from going with a manual. I guess that means I don't know how to drive

 

[tknj99]

I stand suitably chastised. My feeble attempts at what I thought was funny clearly backfired. My apologies.

I still think a MT is more fun but now see that others may have different perspectives.

BTW does anyone have an opinion on how long I should wait before getting the JB4. I only have 250kms on the car now.

I got mine at 400mi and ensured the car was broken in until really testing out the limits

 

[TheWombat]

Gratz on the cool ride.

I must say, though, that I'm always a bit bemused by folks who say the car needs more power. Well, yes, more is better in a general sort of way but man, on the roads I drive on, in the sort of context I drive in, I've never been able to use a fraction of the power the car already has. Hell, shifting gears on our mortar-shelled roads is an exercise in frustration mixed with annoyance, as the car bounces around all the time on the frost heaves and dives into the pot holes with abandon, making the clutch/shift action sort of hit and miss at times.

More power for me would be something I went for simply to say I did it probably, because I could never really use it.

Also, it's good to hear the '18s MT is good. My '16 was just "ok" until I put the short shift kit, clutch stop, and weighted knob on. Before that it was nowhere near as satisfying as even my old GTI shifter.

 

[NCR-R]

I stand suitably chastised. My feeble attempts at what I thought was funny clearly backfired. My apologies.

I still think a MT is more fun but now see that others may have different perspectives.

BTW does anyone have an opinion on how long I should wait before getting the JB4. I only have 250kms on the car now.

There was no sign of humor in your original post...

 

[heiney9]

I stand suitably chastised. My feeble attempts at what I thought was funny clearly backfired. My apologies.

I still think a MT is more fun but now see that others may have different perspectives.

BTW does anyone have an opinion on how long I should wait before getting the JB4. I only have 250kms on the car now.

Let the car break in for a bit. I'll never understand people who immediately want to add power, add sway bars, suspension, etc. Get a good couple thousand miles on the car first. You haven't even had it long enough to form a baseline opinion....lol.

After break in on my GTI, it was a better car, faster, more responsive, etc. I'm still going to add power, but now I know the car much better.

But, all that said, it's your car do what you want.

 

[r-gazmic]

I stand suitably chastised. My feeble attempts at what I thought was funny clearly backfired. My apologies.

I still think a MT is more fun but now see that others may have different perspectives.

BTW does anyone have an opinion on how long I should wait before getting the JB4. I only have 250kms on the car now.

Yeah, I can see it might've been meant as a joke. The problem is there's been so much dickwaving about transmission choice on this forum that any mention that one might be preferable over another instantly triggers a ton of people. It goes both ways too, you can find posts where DSG owners make similar comments about how much better the DSG is and all the 6MT guys get their panties in a twist about it.

It's best to just accept that the car is sold with both transmissions, people are going to pick what they like, and arguing about a personal preference over the internet with total strangers is just pissing in the wind.

 

[tknj99]

Yeah, I can see it might've been meant as a joke. The problem is there's been so much dickwaving about transmission choice on this forum that any mention that one might be preferable over another instantly triggers a ton of people. It goes both ways too, you can find posts where DSG owners make similar comments about how much better the DSG is and all the 6MT guys get their panties in a twist about it.

It's best to just accept that the car is sold with both transmissions, people are going to pick what they like, and arguing about a personal preference over the internet with total strangers is just pissing in the wind.

Next we'll be arguing about which one is fastest with any and all available mods, the GTI or the R lol

 

[heiney9]

Gratz on the cool ride.

I must say, though, that I'm always a bit bemused by folks who say the car needs more power. Well, yes, more is better in a general sort of way but man, on the roads I drive on, in the sort of context I drive in, I've never been able to use a fraction of the power the car already has. Hell, shifting gears on our mortar-shelled roads is an exercise in frustration mixed with annoyance, as the car bounces around all the time on the frost heaves and dives into the pot holes with abandon, making the clutch/shift action sort of hit and miss at times.

More power for me would be something I went for simply to say I did it probably, because I could never really use it.

Also, it's good to hear the '18s MT is good. My '16 was just "ok" until I put the short shift kit, clutch stop, and weighted knob on. Before that it was nowhere near as satisfying as even my old GTI shifter.

^^ This

Is why I'm not in a hurry for more power. I would enjoy more midrange punch, push back in the seat. But I'm not in a hurry as I thoroughly enjoy it stock.

 

[tknj99]

^^ This

Is why I'm not in a hurry for more power. I would enjoy more midrange punch, push back in the seat. But I'm not in a hurry as I thoroughly enjoy it stock.

This pretty much sums up the ludicrosity (is that a word lol) of the mind-boggling power numbers cars are pushing out these days.. 6,7,800hp etc, who can use any of that without being in constant paranoia of cops and being arrested or worse killing yourself or someone else.. I know the feeling of paranoia that can come from such power after owning some of the fastest sportbikes of their day and it became exhausting between the temptation of going balls out insane with the speeds and trying to keep things under control.. i dunno.. human nature i guess to be the fastest

 

[r-gazmic]

Next we'll be arguing about which one is fastest with any and all available mods, the GTI or the R lol

See, that wouldn't be a good argument to have, but it's at least one with objective criteria. You could theoretically prove which one is faster. You could set up the rules for the race, and then decide on a mod set, and then whoever wins the race is faster. It's still dumb, but at least it's possible to "win" that argument.

"Better" isn't an objective adjective, it's subjective. There's no winning an argument about which is "better" because we can't define "better", we don't have any criteria that definitively makes one choice "better" than the other. Even saying one is "more enjoyable" than the other is subjective, it's just about how one person feels about driving the car.

What's sad is the mk7 R is a great car in all of its configurations, no one who owns one really has much to complain about (subjective statement ). I guess that's why we resort to complaining about other people's cars

 

[George Ab]

I just feel pretty good about being referred to as a "young" guy

Hilarious! OP, please use this as an example of "actual" humor.

Congratulations on your "R". You initially came off as a potential valued member who would contribute knowledge and respectfully share your opinions. However, then came the DSG owner comments.

Apology accepted, welcome to the forum.

 

[vj123]

I stand suitably chastised. My feeble attempts at what I thought was funny clearly backfired. My apologies.

I still think a MT is more fun but now see that others may have different perspectives.

BTW does anyone have an opinion on how long I should wait before getting the JB4. I only have 250kms on the car now.

I think no one found anything funny in your initial post.

I would first get used to the vehicle at least for a month or 1500 miles before thinking about mods. If necessary, i would prefer modding after my first oil change (which i did after 5000 miles).

 

[Gravwell]

"There will be three on our street. All manual transmissions"??????
I've been driving my 2016 R (manual) since June of that year. I live in NYC and am on the road almost every day and believe me, I see lots of cars. Traffic here is nuts. Naturally I keep an eye out for other R's and in the nearly 2 years I've been watching I've seen only 5. Plenty of GTIs but R's are extremely rare. That is certainly the very definition of a good neighborhood: three R's on the same block!