they've done everything right on this car. it's substantially lighter, stiffer, more hp, more mpg....looks great. they didn't kill the manual transmission...... five thumbs up!!
i also think this car looks great.......holy crow.....what happened to me? i've been like mikey lately. i don't like anything.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34wJt3pRY0w
OK what happened with the s3 sportback or sedan? No manual???
Was at Detroit 2 days ago. I really like the new R too. Especially with the sweet motor from the S3. That would justify the price premium over the GTI, imo.
For now, the R's will continue to be made in Wolfsburg. The new Mexican plant does not have the ability to build 4-motion yet, but will acquire it later.
Latest I heard is that they will be available in Q1 of 2015.
Nice to hear that it will still be available as a five-door and with a manual transmission. I'm not so sure that it's worth the premium over a GTI, but will for sure be worth a look (and maybe a test drive) in a few years.
Last model R was only about 3-4 grand more then the similarly equipped GTI. If it's the same difference this time around it will be worth it for the big bump in power and AWD being a bonus.
Yeah, it's the "similarly equipped" thing that is a problem for me. I don't even want leather, navi or a sunroof, so it sucks that I have to pay extra for that on a Golf R.
My current GTI is pretty much a base model and I expect I'd want a MKVII the same way, so I'd be looking at close to ten grand extra for the R.
Funny you say that Helidriver, because the Golf at Detroit I found the most interesting was the cheapest one. It was the US equivalent of a base model with the convenience package and the new 1.8 TSI engine. For a base model, it was elegantly appointed. And a much better value than the Mk6 base model.
And I found the seating position perfect, whereas I couldn't get as comfortable in the new GTI with electric seats. I looked for leather seats in my Mk6 because they are a somewhat different shape than the plaid ones and, for some reason, fit me better (the adjustment was different too). Otherwise, plaid would have been just fine with me.
I would take a Mk7 R in the cloth, manual seats too. But 99% sure they won't be sold that way.