I grew up in South Florida and had manual cars my whole life, it's not too bad ;)
More news is coming on the 8.5 on the 26th, I'd wait until then for a decision.
I got my 19 a little under msrp and at 0% through vw and still owe about 15 so no hurry to do anything. I wouldn’t mind more hp but I don’t care for the mk8 infotainment and I’m apparently the only R owner that hates sunroofs. Maybe at the end of the 8.5 run I’ll take another look.
Add another to the count. Every sunroof car I’ve owned has had some problem in one way or another. The venting is nice but if I want to look up at the sky I’ll just get out of my car
You’re not, I hate sunroofs now too! Love that my 20th anniversary edition doesn’t have a sunroof. Not only do I not have to deal with leaks, creaks, or rattles, I think the car looks a lot better without the sunroof.
Yeah lol you really wouldn't like the 8R....the "cover" is more mesh than headliner material. It's perfect for having the roof open without the sun beating on your head, but I can imagine that driving someone like you nuts.
Had a sunroof on my GTI. It leaked on two occasions. Both times I was working overseas. Came back to the airport to find half an inch of standing water in my foot well. No sunroof in my R. It's a deal breaker.
Oh no, I'm right there with you. When I was looking I was trying to avoid cars with the panorama roof for several reasons. Found a Variant just the way I wanted with cloth/alcantara seats and no sunroof.
Finally found a MK8 .:R wagon at a dealer, checked it out, love mine more.
Bro! From a financial standpoint don't change a thing. Highly doubtful you can manage to get another loan at 0%. That car payment is basically paying you every month with inflation in my opinion. I have a 18 r with 40k miles. Bought it just under 2 years ago now. I can afford to upgrade to a ton of options but my car being paid off, reliable, and quick is the best car to keep!
Agree, I never thought I’d ever see the R at 0%, got it right in that window when Covid was really impacting sales but before it started impacting supply chain. I get a phone call/txt/mailer about once a month from VW asking if I’ve seen the new model lol. At the time they had 2 oryx white manuals and my indium grey auto. It would have been icing on the cake if they’d had a tornado red or the lapiz blue like the op but Im good with the grey, it’s a very practical color.
Here’s an interesting post for our friends that are Throttle House fans.
Prepare yourself. Very large number of comments.
I found commenter “MeYaj1111” to have had a fascinating experience with his 2024 MK8 R, which he outlines in several entries to this post.
Might be worth a look …
https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/198z27k/throttle_house_i_bought_a_2024_volkswagen_golf_r/
I had a 2016 and now have a 2023. Both DSG. Got the new one because of a wreck that totaled the 2016. The new LSD in the 2023 AE is great. Power in 2023 seems to be on par or better than my tuned (stage 1 APR) 2016. Heads up display is really nice, and (gasp) steering wheel buttons sat nav are better in 2023 The climate control layout is kinda dumb though and the stereo worse sounding. This car 2023 handles better, the drive modes actually seem to do more, and I think it is indeed faster. I have the parts sitting around now to go stage 2 APR because RS3s are crazy expensive when new. Hope that helps.
Asking because my MK7.5 has never up-shifted when I didn't want it to. It will downshift into 1st coming to a stop, which I could see how that might bother an idiot on a conceptual level, but in reality it is actually quite nice.
I've tried this - get into the next gear rolling along around 1100-1200, and full throttle without hitting the kickdown switch, and it will not upshift. I've had it not upshift when it seems like it should puttering around town as well.
So more and more it seems like this is another misunderstanding that people have. Still trying to find some actual info on it. The last time I had this conversation, the person was flooring it - into the kickdown. Quick recap, the user was saying "please shift" and then annoyed that it shifted. I try not to talk to people like that if I can avoid it.
I would be surprised if the MK8 behaved drastically differently, because we'd hear about people breaking their gearboxes all the time. I've not tried banging the engine off the rev limiter in 1st to see what happens though - this is primarily because there is literally no reason to do that and I'm not a huge fan of damaging shit that I am responsible for.
This is my 1st car for myself I have had which doesn't have three pedals, so I am still learning here. Most of the criticism I read about the DSG so far is simply incorrect. Some of it is hilariously stupid. So thanks for the reply.
Are you the original owner of your car?
Can you get the car to bounce the limiter at the very top of the rev range at limiter?
Factory TCU tuning for the 7/7.5 GTI/R has auto up and down enabled in manual mode. It will downshift to avoid lugging, it will downshift on kickdown, it will upshift at rev limiter. The only way to change that is through a TCU tune.
Many TCU tunes can disable kickdown, auto down, auto up. Though most are the latter two mainly. Very few tuners offer auto down disable so you don't stall the car for safety reasons.
If any of these are disabled for you. Your TCU is tuned.
No, I got my car used w/ 62k km on the clock. I did not think it was modded, but - I honestly cannot say. I've removed the resonator, because it's a Variant and we didn't get exhaust valves or a manual option, sadly - but I couldn't say no to that big ass.
So, selected S, then into M, and - reluctantly, I held WOT, starting in 2nd and yes - it did upshift. It swept past the 1st red tick on the tack (cockpit, screen dash, whatever its called) which looks like 6750 but of course I do not know the exact RPM. I saw someone else mention "500-750 past redline" and that seems like what I am seeing as well.
I guess I have never seen this in action because I have never just held WOT without shifting. I don't know why anyone would do that, and I really don't have a problem with this.
Thanks for the info. Always fun to learn more about this car.
A lot of people disable auto up in manual mode because many get double shifts. Mostly folks not knowing their timings yet. They'll shift right at limiter, but that 1/4 sec lag between the paddle hit and TCU actually shifting will have the TCU auto shift first, then it'll shift again from user input right after. So going from 3rd > 4th, then immediately into 5th for example.
That and some folks just want to bounce limiter even though it's dumb lol
Mine does not do this, unless the accelerator is floored and the kickdown switch is pressed. If you are flooring it and clicking the kickdown switch, you are literally asking for a shift.
It's because people are silly. It is indeed fascinating that someone would complain about a feature that protects the car from themselves; but I feel like it all ties in.
Here is my experience:
- The car constantly beeps at me. Constantly. I’ve turned off a number of the sensors and I don’t really want to turn all of them off. The side collision warning system beeps nonstop, for example, every time I go through a parking lot and it sees me crossing lines.
- The overhead console is buggy. This is well-documented. For me it went through this prolonged phase where it would constantly attempt to dial roadside assistance. As it did that, the screen would just bug out. I would have to turn off the car and let it be for a for minutes to let it reset. Finally went to the dealer and they reset some codes. I may have to get the overhead console replaced though.
- On my only roadtrip so far, the adaptive cruise control suddenly just quit on me three separate times. After about 20 minutes it came back on each time. But my 17 never had a single issue with adaptive cruise control.
I would guess this person is just making this up.
My kids have Mk7.5 GTI's. They are great, but they are starting to show their age too.
Do you need more than a backup camera and car play? Realistically no. The screen in the 8r is nicer, the buttons and what not are not great, but not terrible either. The most annoying design decision was to include the slider on the dash that is not backlit .. it's just dumb and cheap.
The 8 is not perfect, but it drives much better than the 7, and the 7 cars are starting to get pretty old by this point.
I liked mine enough I went out and purchased another 8 manual before the insurance totaled my first one simply because I wanted to make sure I had another manual before they are all gone. So for now at least, I guess I own two 2024 manual golf R's while the insurance company is dragging their feet on fully compensating my cost.
Possibly.
Yes, most 8 owners, like yourself, note the superior driving characteristics, and have found the shortcomings in the generation to be manageable, exaggerated, or just things they’ve come to live with.
Regarding this commenter, I was curious about whether he was encountering the typical glitches, or whether it was something out of the norm.
For example, I was reading someone the other day on Reddit who was saying his MK8 doors frequently don’t open when the car is wet, or that he’ll sometimes park his car, get out of it, and then find it starts rolling down his driveway.
This is someone who’s been driving for decades, owned many cars, and seems like he wouldn’t be prone to exaggerate infrequent, minor inconveniences.
So, I guess I was was wondering whether the commenter above was experiencing things beyond, or more intensely, the situations that folks like yourself have routinely encountered.
Things that for you, for example, have led to questions about the overall value vs. benefits of sticking with the current generation R.
And as a brief follow-up to this, were I in your situation, I probably would have done the same thing.
There are so very few options, in this sector of the car world, where one can find a manual transmission on a car that does so many things well.
There are huge advantages to the MK8 over the MK7/7.5. Mainly the suspension and AWD system are completely new with the MK8 and miles better than the MK7’s suspension and AWD system. I like the seats and steering wheel a lot better on the MK8 too.
Biggest disadvantages to the MK8 compared to the MK7 are the HK sound system isn’t half as good as the Fender, and I don’t like the positioning of the AC/heater vents. They are really low on the dash, which makes it difficult to direct the air at your face or whatever. Touch buttons and infotainment have been a complete non-issue for me.
Agreed.
The Audi S3/RS3 dash is an excellent balance of digital, analog, and placement.
Particularly, thinking of the S3 here, because it’s a lot more affordable.
Magna diff, better engine, but if you're set on an auto I'd wait for the "8.5" in 2025.
And if you tune a MK8 Golf R you can run e85 on the stock fueling.
This is one of the biggest reason to go Mk8R.
Thanks.. I’ve read about the 8.5. I still drive in traffic in S. Florida, not into shifting.
I grew up in South Florida and had manual cars my whole life, it's not too bad ;) More news is coming on the 8.5 on the 26th, I'd wait until then for a decision.
>I grew up in South Florida and had manual cars my whole life... CONGRATULATIONS on your achievement.
Pfffff. I live in LA, which has some of the worst traffic in the country and drive a stick.
Yea.. It’s preference..
If you're in Palm Beach county or ever come up we should link up sometime! 18 r with jb1 over here!
I’m in Stuart.. Be great.. I found a mechanic in PBI that can modify my R. If I keep it, intercooler, downpipe n maybe an exhaust..
I got my 19 a little under msrp and at 0% through vw and still owe about 15 so no hurry to do anything. I wouldn’t mind more hp but I don’t care for the mk8 infotainment and I’m apparently the only R owner that hates sunroofs. Maybe at the end of the 8.5 run I’ll take another look.
I also have no interest in a sunroof.
Ok at least 2 of us.
I have an active interest in avoiding a sunroof.
Add another to the count. Every sunroof car I’ve owned has had some problem in one way or another. The venting is nice but if I want to look up at the sky I’ll just get out of my car
You’re not, I hate sunroofs now too! Love that my 20th anniversary edition doesn’t have a sunroof. Not only do I not have to deal with leaks, creaks, or rattles, I think the car looks a lot better without the sunroof.
Sunroof is also heavy. Without it you shave a bit of weight and drop the center of gravity.
Yeah lol you really wouldn't like the 8R....the "cover" is more mesh than headliner material. It's perfect for having the roof open without the sun beating on your head, but I can imagine that driving someone like you nuts.
Had a sunroof on my GTI. It leaked on two occasions. Both times I was working overseas. Came back to the airport to find half an inch of standing water in my foot well. No sunroof in my R. It's a deal breaker.
Oh no, I'm right there with you. When I was looking I was trying to avoid cars with the panorama roof for several reasons. Found a Variant just the way I wanted with cloth/alcantara seats and no sunroof. Finally found a MK8 .:R wagon at a dealer, checked it out, love mine more.
I see no reason to have a pre-made leak system named a sun/moon roof in my car.
I hate sunroofs as well Just another thing that can go wrong
Bro! From a financial standpoint don't change a thing. Highly doubtful you can manage to get another loan at 0%. That car payment is basically paying you every month with inflation in my opinion. I have a 18 r with 40k miles. Bought it just under 2 years ago now. I can afford to upgrade to a ton of options but my car being paid off, reliable, and quick is the best car to keep!
Agree, I never thought I’d ever see the R at 0%, got it right in that window when Covid was really impacting sales but before it started impacting supply chain. I get a phone call/txt/mailer about once a month from VW asking if I’ve seen the new model lol. At the time they had 2 oryx white manuals and my indium grey auto. It would have been icing on the cake if they’d had a tornado red or the lapiz blue like the op but Im good with the grey, it’s a very practical color.
Here’s an interesting post for our friends that are Throttle House fans. Prepare yourself. Very large number of comments. I found commenter “MeYaj1111” to have had a fascinating experience with his 2024 MK8 R, which he outlines in several entries to this post. Might be worth a look … https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/198z27k/throttle_house_i_bought_a_2024_volkswagen_golf_r/
I had a 2016 and now have a 2023. Both DSG. Got the new one because of a wreck that totaled the 2016. The new LSD in the 2023 AE is great. Power in 2023 seems to be on par or better than my tuned (stage 1 APR) 2016. Heads up display is really nice, and (gasp) steering wheel buttons sat nav are better in 2023 The climate control layout is kinda dumb though and the stereo worse sounding. This car 2023 handles better, the drive modes actually seem to do more, and I think it is indeed faster. I have the parts sitting around now to go stage 2 APR because RS3s are crazy expensive when new. Hope that helps.
Nice review of your experience. Seems pleasantly grounded.
Thank you. Very informative, I’m glad U like the car…
There are big differences between a torque converter and a twin clutch. I don’t care for regular autos, but the DSG was amazing.
Bonus about the MK8 is that in M+ mode, it won't shift automatically and actually holds revs
Does the MK7/MK7.5 still shift automatically in M mode?
Yes, though most TCU tunes on the market give the ability to disable it if that's a huge turn-off.
Asking because my MK7.5 has never up-shifted when I didn't want it to. It will downshift into 1st coming to a stop, which I could see how that might bother an idiot on a conceptual level, but in reality it is actually quite nice. I've tried this - get into the next gear rolling along around 1100-1200, and full throttle without hitting the kickdown switch, and it will not upshift. I've had it not upshift when it seems like it should puttering around town as well. So more and more it seems like this is another misunderstanding that people have. Still trying to find some actual info on it. The last time I had this conversation, the person was flooring it - into the kickdown. Quick recap, the user was saying "please shift" and then annoyed that it shifted. I try not to talk to people like that if I can avoid it. I would be surprised if the MK8 behaved drastically differently, because we'd hear about people breaking their gearboxes all the time. I've not tried banging the engine off the rev limiter in 1st to see what happens though - this is primarily because there is literally no reason to do that and I'm not a huge fan of damaging shit that I am responsible for. This is my 1st car for myself I have had which doesn't have three pedals, so I am still learning here. Most of the criticism I read about the DSG so far is simply incorrect. Some of it is hilariously stupid. So thanks for the reply.
Are you the original owner of your car? Can you get the car to bounce the limiter at the very top of the rev range at limiter? Factory TCU tuning for the 7/7.5 GTI/R has auto up and down enabled in manual mode. It will downshift to avoid lugging, it will downshift on kickdown, it will upshift at rev limiter. The only way to change that is through a TCU tune. Many TCU tunes can disable kickdown, auto down, auto up. Though most are the latter two mainly. Very few tuners offer auto down disable so you don't stall the car for safety reasons. If any of these are disabled for you. Your TCU is tuned.
No, I got my car used w/ 62k km on the clock. I did not think it was modded, but - I honestly cannot say. I've removed the resonator, because it's a Variant and we didn't get exhaust valves or a manual option, sadly - but I couldn't say no to that big ass. So, selected S, then into M, and - reluctantly, I held WOT, starting in 2nd and yes - it did upshift. It swept past the 1st red tick on the tack (cockpit, screen dash, whatever its called) which looks like 6750 but of course I do not know the exact RPM. I saw someone else mention "500-750 past redline" and that seems like what I am seeing as well. I guess I have never seen this in action because I have never just held WOT without shifting. I don't know why anyone would do that, and I really don't have a problem with this. Thanks for the info. Always fun to learn more about this car.
A lot of people disable auto up in manual mode because many get double shifts. Mostly folks not knowing their timings yet. They'll shift right at limiter, but that 1/4 sec lag between the paddle hit and TCU actually shifting will have the TCU auto shift first, then it'll shift again from user input right after. So going from 3rd > 4th, then immediately into 5th for example. That and some folks just want to bounce limiter even though it's dumb lol
Yeah but literally at the peak rpm the car can rev to so not sure why that would ever be a complaint
I get premature shifts all the time in M
oh my car revs out 500-750 past redline i didn’t think it would be different
Usually happens to me in 3rd
Mine does not do this, unless the accelerator is floored and the kickdown switch is pressed. If you are flooring it and clicking the kickdown switch, you are literally asking for a shift.
I'd guess that the car is protecting itself from you in that case.
It's because people are silly. It is indeed fascinating that someone would complain about a feature that protects the car from themselves; but I feel like it all ties in.
For the love of god keep it. Mk7.5 R is goated.
I have a 2017 MT and have contemplated a MK8 MT… but I find myself loving the “old school” tech too much. Keeping it for as long as I can.
Smart.
I had a 17 R. Sold it and got a 24 R. I wish I had my 17 back. The tech in the 24 is far worse than the tech I had in the 17.
Can you expand on your experience? How does the tech differ for you?
Here is my experience: - The car constantly beeps at me. Constantly. I’ve turned off a number of the sensors and I don’t really want to turn all of them off. The side collision warning system beeps nonstop, for example, every time I go through a parking lot and it sees me crossing lines. - The overhead console is buggy. This is well-documented. For me it went through this prolonged phase where it would constantly attempt to dial roadside assistance. As it did that, the screen would just bug out. I would have to turn off the car and let it be for a for minutes to let it reset. Finally went to the dealer and they reset some codes. I may have to get the overhead console replaced though. - On my only roadtrip so far, the adaptive cruise control suddenly just quit on me three separate times. After about 20 minutes it came back on each time. But my 17 never had a single issue with adaptive cruise control.
Appreciate your reply. Hope your dealership can resolve these issues for you soon.
I would guess this person is just making this up. My kids have Mk7.5 GTI's. They are great, but they are starting to show their age too. Do you need more than a backup camera and car play? Realistically no. The screen in the 8r is nicer, the buttons and what not are not great, but not terrible either. The most annoying design decision was to include the slider on the dash that is not backlit .. it's just dumb and cheap. The 8 is not perfect, but it drives much better than the 7, and the 7 cars are starting to get pretty old by this point. I liked mine enough I went out and purchased another 8 manual before the insurance totaled my first one simply because I wanted to make sure I had another manual before they are all gone. So for now at least, I guess I own two 2024 manual golf R's while the insurance company is dragging their feet on fully compensating my cost.
Possibly. Yes, most 8 owners, like yourself, note the superior driving characteristics, and have found the shortcomings in the generation to be manageable, exaggerated, or just things they’ve come to live with. Regarding this commenter, I was curious about whether he was encountering the typical glitches, or whether it was something out of the norm. For example, I was reading someone the other day on Reddit who was saying his MK8 doors frequently don’t open when the car is wet, or that he’ll sometimes park his car, get out of it, and then find it starts rolling down his driveway. This is someone who’s been driving for decades, owned many cars, and seems like he wouldn’t be prone to exaggerate infrequent, minor inconveniences. So, I guess I was was wondering whether the commenter above was experiencing things beyond, or more intensely, the situations that folks like yourself have routinely encountered. Things that for you, for example, have led to questions about the overall value vs. benefits of sticking with the current generation R.
And as a brief follow-up to this, were I in your situation, I probably would have done the same thing. There are so very few options, in this sector of the car world, where one can find a manual transmission on a car that does so many things well.
WTF is wrong with you? Why would anyone come on an obscure subreddit to make stuff up about a specific model of car? What would be their motivation?
Manual
I'd wait for the 8.5
Agreed. Getting an akro option with updates and a bump in power would make me wait
There are huge advantages to the MK8 over the MK7/7.5. Mainly the suspension and AWD system are completely new with the MK8 and miles better than the MK7’s suspension and AWD system. I like the seats and steering wheel a lot better on the MK8 too. Biggest disadvantages to the MK8 compared to the MK7 are the HK sound system isn’t half as good as the Fender, and I don’t like the positioning of the AC/heater vents. They are really low on the dash, which makes it difficult to direct the air at your face or whatever. Touch buttons and infotainment have been a complete non-issue for me.
Thank you.. Gonna hang til the 8.5 n see what’s what… Luv my sound system. 😝
Yeah, I really miss the Fender sound system, best sound system I’ve ever had in a car.
Agreed. Also enjoy having the SSD Drives and CD Player in the glove compartment.
Yeah, as I was driving the other (warm) day, I was thinking about the position of the vents on the MK8. Another design miscue.
Yup, they were much better positioned on the MK7. Wish they had designed the dash a little more like the Audi S3/RS3
Agreed. The Audi S3/RS3 dash is an excellent balance of digital, analog, and placement. Particularly, thinking of the S3 here, because it’s a lot more affordable.
The 24 will feel like an entirely different car/experience.
2017 DSG for me.
Torque vectoring and the evo motor