Motors What do you drive? - The Photo Gallery

That's kind of my point though - here you have 10 cylinders making do with a mere two exhaust tips. There you have a 2.0 4-pot with four obnoxiously large exits.

Who is going to be the first mainstream manufacturer to go for >4 or >4" exits? Or even better, for exhaust exits to outnumber cylinder count? It wouldn't surprise me if exhaust (exit) bore on the Golf R was greater than the combined cylinder bore

Hmm... still entirely unconvinced by the Chiron exhaust.

The BMW sales guy looked at me like I was crazy when I optioned the forged 19" wheels, when the 21" (cast) were the same price. Because riding on 10mm of runflat rubber is exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for in a wafty motorway cruiser

I had the misfortune of receiving a relatively short lift in an S-Line A7, complete with "sport" suspension and 21" wheels (and 2.0 diesel, because SPORT, okay?) - the ride was abysmal, I can't imagine doing 50k+ miles in one.

 

Haha perhaps a Vauxhall Adam with a pair of 5" tailpipes as standard. I'm sure it would sell in spades. An Insignia with a standard tailpipe so big you could get your head in it? Excellent.

Mine's sitting on 20" wheels (with thin, run-flat rubber on). In 'Sport', it'll shake your fillings out and what have you, but in 'Comfort', it's not so bad. Not exactly 'wafting', but not far off. Besides, how would you fit those enormous discs in without such big wheels? Plus, what would you have to scuff on the kerb? (Not that I've ever done that )

Yes. wasp in bean-tin chic is exactly what they're going for, I reckon. There's a bloke who lives around the corner from me, and what he does with his wagon is all that is wrong with cars...

See a couple of excerpts from his (fabulous) instagram:



'cor. AND:



I'm sure that handles like a Roller...

 

The whole stance thing really does look bad. Never seen one car with it done that has been improved by it.

 

Kudos to him for not sticking on a fake M badge though.

 

From a 'design' perspective, symmetry?

I've heard of some having dual tips but one side being entirely devoid of function - For the sake of 'balance' in the design.

As for stancing a BMW, I'm convinced it's become a factory option these days. I've seen more than one SUV size BM with a weird stance on the rear wheels. More than just 'Oh that needs an adjustment'..

Largely, yes, looks retarded. Also seems exclusively for people who want wider wheels but don't want to pay for wider rubber, or flared arches. At least, around Lichfield at any rate.

 

IIRC the Current Octavia vRS (at least in diesel guise) is guilty of this. One side is visual only.

 

Not yet, anyway...

 

My Golf GTE Petrol/Electric Hybrid

 

Perhaps I better not post a pic of my Primera with it's Cherry Bomb on it, .

I personally love the sound it makes, not really chavvy, just a bit more of a burble, and it can't be that bad as the old bloke who lives across the road says it's sounds excellent,


Just had a play with the front grilles too and stuck some mesh behind them, looks a lot nicer.

 

Why would you want it to make a noise, usually denotes it's broken

 

Being surrounded by TVRs, everything else sounds boring if it's not tweaked,

 

Nice.

I must admit that the GTE was also an option when I was looking. I liked the combination of decent performance and economy, but ultimately the lure of R (and the waiting list for the GTe) meant I didn't go for one.

The next generation of GTE could be quite interesting though.

 

I'd go a step further and commend him on picking a 323 to ruin rather than a 328 (or M3 obviously).

Sums up my thoughts nicely on fake performance badges

 

Better still, he could have ruined a 318 though... Haha!

 

I did a 0-60 run the other day. (Flat road, from lights, nothing in front, sun going down on a road near me I know well)
Used the lap timer, so there is a manual element in stopping and starting but as it is an automatic, just foot down and no gear changing, I think it was fairly accurate.
7 secs dead to 60 in GTE mode and I think I could better it slightly. (Advertised figures are 7-6 to 60, total tosh)
This thing is quick.
But at the weekend, it costs me 'some electricity'
Also, it has tons of kit as standard.
Best Golf I have ever driven.

 

Was your previous car a mk6 or a mk7 ST? I've got the Mk7 at the moment, Peron Stage 2 @ ~ 240bhp; and it's an absolute hoot, but I find myself wanting for straight-line traction an awful lot. (That and the image is very boy racer)

I'm considering either the S3, or more likely the 'R' which is cheaper, but it would be awesome to hear from someone who has done the exact change I'm looking at. What do you feel you lost and gained with your upgrade?

 

Dropped my MX5 at Skuzzle Motorsport yesterday for some NA tuning. Head skim, valves recut, cams reground, aftermarket ECU and dyno tune. Will be interesting to see what she makes. Hopefully they remember to dyno her before as well for the comparison.

 

Yeah I always assumed the GTE would offer up basically GTI like performance tbh. Maybe a little slower "by the clock" but real world naff all difference.

To tell the truth I had a Focus ST MP275 for 18 months in between but I do remember my (Mk7) Fiesta ST MP215 fondly. It was nicknamed "Kimi" by the Mrs for its "give no **** attitude to anything we threw at it".

It is somewhat hard to compare the R to the Fiesta considering the former is basically twice the price and a class above, but I will try.

As an everyday vehicle the Golf is leagues ahead of the Fiesta. Interior is nicer, there are more toys to play with, it is more practical and, on fuel at least, no more expensive to run. This isn't really surprising and as a direct comparison, not really fair.

When you want to have some fun they are similar but at the same time very different. The Fiesta is most at home on the tight twisty B roads, whilst the R is happier when the road opens up a bit. I think this mainly down to the fact the Fiesta is ~300kg lighter and as a by product feels more nimble and light on its feet. The R is in no way bad on a tight B road, it just feels a little heavy and is missing a little of the get up and go the ST exhibits.

Mind you once the road opens up.... Holy balls can you cover ground quick in the R. Somehow VW managed to actually make the R ride correctly. The damping control is excellent and the steering is both weighty and not totally devoid of feel. This is a stark contrast to R's of old which were lumpy, wooden and totally devoid of any feel (I had a MKV R32 and test drove the MK6 R).

Overall I loved my little ST but as an all round package the R has all the boxes ticked (at least for me). Saying that if I had the option to buy back "Kimi" I would in a heart beat. Can't justify running two cars though.

In terms of S3 vs R I would suggest getting a decent test drive in both as a starting point and work from there. Review wise the S3 seems to lag behind the R for some reason. I have no idea why as I would have though there would be nigh on identical but obviously there are some noticeable changes going on under the skin.

Honestly I never even considered the S3 as it offered nothing over the R (for me) to justify the increase in price.

Ideally the right car for me would have been the Focus RS. Unfortunately needing an automatic (hey old biking injury coming back to bite me in the ass) and Ford deciding that only specific dealers can sell the car meant I looked elsewhere.

If you have any specific queries feel free to drop me a PM.

 

^ This is interesting to read.

My bro has just sold his house and will most likely be moving into smaller digs, and I think this is the push he's been waiting for to get a new car (he has an 06 plate Astra and always said he'd change after 8 years). He's had his eye on the Golf GTI for a long time but until now hasn't been able to afford it. Having spoken to him extensively about his options, he's pretty keen to get the GTI (or, at a stretch, and with some persuasion from me, the R). Our folks recently got an A3 and I think that secretly my bro was pretty taken with it, and I asked him if he'd ever consider an S3. He said exactly what you (xaser04) said about the S3 and the R being identical except for price, and whilst he's open to test driving the S3 I still think he'll go for the Golf because of the marked price difference.

He obviously considered similar hot hatches and won't touch Ford or Seat for various reasons, and Audi/Merc being excessively pricey probably won't be considered either (definitely not Merc anyway). With his options being the GTI or the R, it really intrigues me having read what you have written as a new owner of the R.

My bro is thinking very sensibly and practically about this purchase - 5 doors is a must, so that rules out the 370z. And he'll be coming from a torquy 1.9L turbo diesel at 150hp so it'll be a big step up no matter what he chooses.

Love the look of your R and the rims are nice. I saw a Golf recently with Audi rims and it looked...afwul.