New golf r test drives

[joinery80]

Hi has anyone on here test drove the New R
I am thinking of getting the missus one as there is a brand new one coming in to my local dealer today and can have Car immediately just wondered what ure thoughts are?
also what do u guys think it would be worth in 6 months time

[Nickyboy]

I have an S3 which is pretty much the same and I love it.

Granted some of the options I have help to make it so good but for an S car it is great. Still wish I had my old RS 5 though.

[Nickyboy]

This is what I posted to another guy in my S3 thread:

I'm really loving it. IMO it's the best package for my family of three and a lot of people within Audi love it also.

Plus points:

I got 40mpg with 4 adults and all their stuff on a trip from Kent to Bristol and I floored it a few times.
Very efficient in town especially in economy mode as it disengages the gears and coasts but will fire up quickly again like cylinder on demand in the S7 etc.
The B&O is awesome and now comes with a sub. I prefer it over the B&O in my old B8s. Bit of a gimmick but they light up at the front as well.
The interior light pack is a really nice addition, gives the car a modern feel and you can adjust the ambience in front and back. At £170 its a no brainer
It's got just enough boot room for the three of us on long trips.
It's agile.
Nice exhaust parp for a 4 pot 2 litre engine.
Mrs finds it comfy, she hated my RS.
Tax is cheap, insurance is cheap.
Similar in size inside to the S4 except the boot.
0-62 of 4.8/4.9 for hatch/sportback is good.
Quad tail pipes are nice
Rear diffuser looks aggressive
It's got slightly flared and beefed up body, not RS but still pleasant.
18 tyres and bloody cheap, Eagle F1s for under £400.
Tuneable engine.

Negatives

Turbo lag, can't seem to get used it after the V8.
Brakes aren't so responsive and feel spongy, feels like an S car brakes really. My RS had ceramics so a big difference here.
As its tuneable I want to tune it which means no warranty potentially and means throwing more money at it.
Doesn't have an RS badge and big ovals.
I really miss the V8 of my RS 5.

In a nutshell I was really quite surprised how good it was/is for an S3 and poses good value for money. It's a great mid ground for me whilst I wait for the next RS 3.

Let me know how you get on and just remember its not an RS and I think you'll be pleased.

P.S. MMI touch is really good and allows you to focus on the road more.

[joinery80]

Thanks for that big help so performance wise how does it compare to rs cheers

[Nickyboy]

Again from the other thread:

Low down and mid range it is not far off but it does run out of puff whereas the RS keeps getting stronger. It's just waiting for the boost but once it's on it's nice. A remap would really wake it up, ABT have had 370bhp from a stage 1 so there's definitely potential.

If I was likely to keep the S3 for a long time I would be mapping it and adding better brakes.

I would also add that due to the nature of how the RS 5 and S3 perform the S3 is more useable. You have to really rev the RS 5 and a lot of the time it just isn't possible for my drives. When you can though it feels epic.

[Ian_C]

I found it plenty quick enough but would probably have it remapped simply to remove the soft limiter and - if possible - lift the overall redline slightly. I found the soft limiter very very annoying! Copied from my initial test driver review.... "Seems to go for a second wind about 4-4500 and then a soft limiter kicks in about 6500 before a 6800 max, peak power plateau from 5500-6800."

If I noticed this coming from a 7400 rpm redline V8 S4, I'd imagine it would be even worse stepping from a 8250 rpm redline B7 RS4 or 8500 rpm redline RS5

[Nickyboy]

Soft limiter?

[Ian_C]

Maybe a manual thing. Definitely hit a soft limiter and held back approx 300 rpm before the redline. Whats your S Tronics redline - 6500 or 6800?

[adsgreen]

Soft limiter?

Can be done a number of ways... On some cars I've seen it start to close the throttle so it feels like the engine has run out of puff as you get closer to the hard cut out. Basically the same mechanism that speed limited cars use.
Other cars (esp without drive by wire throttle) start to cut fuel occasionally slowly giving a "soft" misfire. As you get nearer the hard engine cut out it'll then cut all fuel until rpm drops under the pre defined limit.
Note: cars with cat's definitely don't cut spark like older cars as this sends unburnt fuel into the cat and at best damages it and at worst causes a fire.
On turbo cars the engine controller can start dumping boost...

Lots of different ways.

[Ian_C]

Likely to be the later I'd imagine then - thats exactly how it felt for the last 300 rpm before hitting the actaul limiter

[Nickyboy]

Maybe a manual thing. Definitely hit a soft limiter and held back approx 300 rpm before the redline. Whats your S Tronics redline - 6500 or 6800?

Unsure, I'll have a look next time I get a chance.

[RS6chris!]

But it's four cylinder!

IMO anything less than a 5 pot no matter
What type of intake and exhaust sounds <beep> end of.

[Nickyboy]

Likely to be the later I'd imagine then - thats exactly how it felt for the last 300 rpm before hitting the actaul limiter

Had a play tonight and I couldn't feel any sort of soft limiter. It just doesn't pull as hard as the RS 5 up high.

[Ian_C]

6500 or 6800?

[Nickyboy]

Hmmm. It's hard to tell as its so quick but I think it's 6,800.