Golf R Test Driver

Received this in the mail the other day - a large blue envelope with Volkswagen's .:R logo embossed on it. Unfortunately, its from my mailbox in Australia.

Ah well, if only Volkswagen Malaysia were carry out such promotions. Or maybe I'll fly down to Melbourne in a week or two.

Its essentially a letter from Volkswagen Australia, inviting former Golf R32 owners to ring up any VW dealership in their city for the Golf R experience. Enclosed with the letter is a Golf R lanyard, complete with a pass that has your name on it. I imagine the Golf R experience would be a personal viewing and a subsequent comprehensive test drive of the new R.

Hurry up and bring in the Golf R already, Volkswagen Malaysia! I'm thinking of dropping by one of their dealerships here and putting down a deposit.

Golf R Test Driver

Received this in the mail the other day - a large blue envelope with Volkswagen's .:R logo embossed on it. Unfortunately, its from my mailbox in Australia.

Ah well, if only Volkswagen Malaysia were carry out such promotions. Or maybe I'll fly down to Melbourne in a week or two.

Its essentially a letter from Volkswagen Australia, inviting former Golf R32 owners to ring up any VW dealership in their city for the Golf R experience. Enclosed with the letter is a Golf R lanyard, complete with a pass that has your name on it. I imagine the Golf R experience would be a personal viewing and a subsequent comprehensive test drive of the new R.

Hurry up and bring in the Golf R already, Volkswagen Malaysia! I'm thinking of dropping by one of their dealerships here and putting down a deposit.

Golf R - Manual versus DSG - which is faster?

Interesting video by Autocar UK. They seek to find out which is faster - a Golf R with a conventional manual gearbox or one that is equipped with Volkswagen Group's Direct-Shift Gearbox (DSG)?

Like? Duh!

This is technically a no brainer as the DSG has been known to shift faster than a human being and more importantly, every shift it makes, is a perfect shift (oh and did I mention that the DSG is great in the fuel efficiency department as well?).

I've had the pleasure of driving a MK5 Golf GTI, then a MK5 Golf R32 and now a Audi Q5 2.0TFSI Quattro - all of which came with with the dual clutch transmission, so from my own personal experience, the DSG is all that it's cut out to be.

Anyway, very crude testing methods and horrible wet roads but the results speak for themselves and it is an entertaining video.

[Thanks to Liam from Ausmotive for bringing the video to my attention]

Golf R - Manual versus DSG - which is faster?

Interesting video by Autocar UK. They seek to find out which is faster - a Golf R with a conventional manual gearbox or one that is equipped with Volkswagen Group's Direct-Shift Gearbox (DSG)?

Like? Duh!

This is technically a no brainer as the DSG has been known to shift faster than a human being and more importantly, every shift it makes, is a perfect shift (oh and did I mention that the DSG is great in the fuel efficiency department as well?).

I've had the pleasure of driving a MK5 Golf GTI, then a MK5 Golf R32 and now a Audi Q5 2.0TFSI Quattro - all of which came with with the dual clutch transmission, so from my own personal experience, the DSG is all that it's cut out to be.

Anyway, very crude testing methods and horrible wet roads but the results speak for themselves and it is an entertaining video.

[Thanks to Liam from Ausmotive for bringing the video to my attention]

Wait for the Volkswagen Golf R or get the MK6 Golf GTI / Scirocco 2.0TFSI?

I've been mulling over this throughout the weekend (pics courtesy of oneshift.com).

After having sat in a Stage III Volkswagen MK5 Golf GTI, I've come to the conclusion that unless Audi / Euromobil introduces the Audi S5 / RS5 or TTS / TT RS any time soon, I'm going to swap the 350Z out for either MK6 GTI or a Golf R (R20). And before someone asks why the Scirocco R was not included, the answer is simple, all wheel drive (AWD). Due to Malaysia's tropical rainstorms, front wheel driven cars are handicapped when the roads are wet (wish the Rocco R came with AWD damnit).

As far as I can tell, the R20 will not be arriving in Malaysia until the end of the year. Hence, the MK6 GTI is the I-can't-be-bothered-to-wait-for-the-R20 option. Basically any non-engine upgrade that was available for the MK5 will be applicable to the MK6. ECU upgrades are already out, and engine upgrades are starting to trickle in.

Now, if you were to think long and hard, the car to get is the R20 - beyond a doubt. Why? There is only a 125KG weight penalty this time for the Golf R over the GTI (as compared to the 200KG in the R32 vs MK5 GTI) and the R20 has the S3's engine. It can be pushed even further for less $ and that AWD system will simply destroy the GTI in acceleration.

A MK5 Golf GTI with Stage III upgrade is pretty expensive (Stage III w/ intercooler, fuel pump, air intake and full exhaust). This will give you 285KW and 450NM and allow the car to do 0 to 100 in around 5.6 seconds. It is also recommended that you upgrade the suspension and brakes, which will increase costs.

So for the price of a Stage III GTI (without the brake/suspension upgrades) you could technically get a Golf R. It only has 200KW/350NM but because of the AWD it will do 0-100 in 5.5 seconds. The car also already comes with better suspension and brakes. With a ECU update it will easily do 240KW/435NM and finish the 0 to 100 sprint in close to 5 seconds, maybe even under!

To wait or not to wait - that is the question. Bleh.


Disclaimer: The tropical spec "R" engine is rated at a lower 256hp & 330Nm which roughly translate to a 5% drop in hp & 6% drop in torque. As such all "R" exported to hot weather countries are tropicalised. Hence the 0 to hundred in 5.7 seconds rather than 5.5 seconds.

Wait for the Volkswagen Golf R or get the MK6 Golf GTI / Scirocco 2.0TFSI?

I've been mulling over this throughout the weekend (pics courtesy of oneshift.com).

After having sat in a Stage III Volkswagen MK5 Golf GTI, I've come to the conclusion that unless Audi / Euromobil introduces the Audi S5 / RS5 or TTS / TT RS any time soon, I'm going to swap the 350Z out for either MK6 GTI or a Golf R (R20). And before someone asks why the Scirocco R was not included, the answer is simple, all wheel drive (AWD). Due to Malaysia's tropical rainstorms, front wheel driven cars are handicapped when the roads are wet (wish the Rocco R came with AWD damnit).

As far as I can tell, the R20 will not be arriving in Malaysia until the end of the year. Hence, the MK6 GTI is the I-can't-be-bothered-to-wait-for-the-R20 option. Basically any non-engine upgrade that was available for the MK5 will be applicable to the MK6. ECU upgrades are already out, and engine upgrades are starting to trickle in.

Now, if you were to think long and hard, the car to get is the R20 - beyond a doubt. Why? There is only a 125KG weight penalty this time for the Golf R over the GTI (as compared to the 200KG in the R32 vs MK5 GTI) and the R20 has the S3's engine. It can be pushed even further for less $ and that AWD system will simply destroy the GTI in acceleration.

A MK5 Golf GTI with Stage III upgrade is pretty expensive (Stage III w/ intercooler, fuel pump, air intake and full exhaust). This will give you 285KW and 450NM and allow the car to do 0 to 100 in around 5.6 seconds. It is also recommended that you upgrade the suspension and brakes, which will increase costs.

So for the price of a Stage III GTI (without the brake/suspension upgrades) you could technically get a Golf R. It only has 200KW/350NM but because of the AWD it will do 0-100 in 5.5 seconds. The car also already comes with better suspension and brakes. With a ECU update it will easily do 240KW/435NM and finish the 0 to 100 sprint in close to 5 seconds, maybe even under!

To wait or not to wait - that is the question. Bleh.


Disclaimer: The tropical spec "R" engine is rated at a lower 256hp & 330Nm which roughly translate to a 5% drop in hp & 6% drop in torque. As such all "R" exported to hot weather countries are tropicalised. Hence the 0 to hundred in 5.7 seconds rather than 5.5 seconds.

Volkswagen Golf Club Malaysia TT at Warung Belly

Went for the VGCM TT weekly TT (teh tarik / meet up) at Warung Belly last night, with the two modyourfast duo - k3v and R32.

Was a strong turnout (at least 10 plus cars) and supposedly, this is a normal occurrence (sometimes even more). There was even a stock blue VR6 2.9 Corrado, one of only two in the country. Talk about semangat'ness'. 350Z weekly get-togethers pale in comparison hehe. It reminded me of my Melbourne Golf GTI Club meet ups.

Needless to say, having owned a 2007 VW MK5 Golf GTI and a 2008 Golf R32, it was great meeting these guys. It was also good to finally put faces to names since I often frequent the VGCM forums. The conversation naturally was about cars, aftermarket parts (BBS RS-GT rims, OSIR carbon fiber rear valence), tuning (S3 engine components) etc - thoroughly enjoyable topics in my book!

Anyway, some of the guys have modded their cars to the extent of fitting in a bigger turbo i.e. Stage III K04 (roughly producing 245hp+ and 300lb-ft+ of torque : note that these are conservative figures). A stock GTI only puts out 197 bhp and 207lb-ft, so thats a big jump.

Was invited to have a ride in one K04 with a Unitronic remap (the car had stock intake haha!) and the power is pretty good (slams you back into your seat). 0-100 in under 6 seconds easy. The GTI's chassis is still stable and pliable (handling wise) but with all that power going through the front wheels, there was some chirping (the tyres couldn't find traction). In the wet, I imagine it would be a very scary affair.

Stayed till about 12 midnight before everyone decided to do a run on the highway but I opted out. Sounds like they had a good time though. 350Z for next week!

Volkswagen Golf Club Malaysia TT at Warung Belly

Went for the VGCM TT weekly TT (teh tarik / meet up) at Warung Belly last night, with the two modyourfast duo - k3v and R32.

Was a strong turnout (at least 10 plus cars) and supposedly, this is a normal occurrence (sometimes even more). There was even a stock blue VR6 2.9 Corrado, one of only two in the country. Talk about semangat'ness'. 350Z weekly get-togethers pale in comparison hehe. It reminded me of my Melbourne Golf GTI Club meet ups.

Needless to say, having owned a 2007 VW MK5 Golf GTI and a 2008 Golf R32, it was great meeting these guys. It was also good to finally put faces to names since I often frequent the VGCM forums. The conversation naturally was about cars, aftermarket parts (BBS RS-GT rims, OSIR carbon fiber rear valence), tuning (S3 engine components) etc - thoroughly enjoyable topics in my book!

Anyway, some of the guys have modded their cars to the extent of fitting in a bigger turbo i.e. Stage III K04 (roughly producing 245hp+ and 300lb-ft+ of torque : note that these are conservative figures). A stock GTI only puts out 197 bhp and 207lb-ft, so thats a big jump.

Was invited to have a ride in one K04 with a Unitronic remap (the car had stock intake haha!) and the power is pretty good (slams you back into your seat). 0-100 in under 6 seconds easy. The GTI's chassis is still stable and pliable (handling wise) but with all that power going through the front wheels, there was some chirping (the tyres couldn't find traction). In the wet, I imagine it would be a very scary affair.

Stayed till about 12 midnight before everyone decided to do a run on the highway but I opted out. Sounds like they had a good time though. 350Z for next week!