I do not as I thought the forum was dead but it seems to keep going because of the build threads. I guess all the new folks use social media now which I don't have.

I have thought about starting one though as now I can't seem to stop wanting more power out of it :). I am stage 1+ now with stage 2 on standby. K04 will be in the future as well. I am loving the Euro life so far. I have always wanted a GTI since high school but have always been scared of the VW reliability rumors which seem to be more from lack of maintenance and ignorance of things that are now known trouble parts like the timing chain tensioner. I don't expect it to be like my Honda's as far as reliability but the smiles per gallon is awesome and it flies under the radar so well.

The Golf R is gorgeous car and very understated which makes it even better IMO.

Yeah, the build threads and like six people are what keep me coming back here :)

Such a fun car, the MK6 was one of my favorites when I had one (Drivers Edition). I still miss the plaid and those seatbelts.

You should definitely do a journal. The Euro life is a lot of fun!

It's only because I have a MK7 so I know from the door and bumper instantly. I got out of my evo to get into the GTI and sometimes I wish I got an R but then I remember the payment and I was like eh...that's okay. Great choice man. VW knocked it out of the park with the infotainment system as mine is somewhat similar but not as many bells and whistles.

Haha, knew it was a new Golf R by the black Pretorias and a few other details. It looks awesome! I'd imagine it's going to be an incredible car for everything you want to do!

:cool::cool::cool:

Thank you! Yeah, the digital dash and display with the new seats in the refresh really make it feel high end inside. I'm honestly not just happy/excited to have this car, i'm also content. That's a rare feeling with a new car for me.

One thing about the 2019's is that the Performance Monitor is missing. VW is aware of it and working on a software fix. I've asked one of the guys thats involved in that team to also correct the boost pressure readout to not include ambient so that the PSI shown is more accurate to what boost gauges read. We'll see if that gets through the teams.

Thank you so much! I waited awhile just to get one with the Black Prets. Was a deal breaker :)

So this is cool: VW put a particulate filter on the exhaust of their gasoline models as well. Unintended side effect of this has been that the exhaust tips are still chrome and shinny after 1k miles of varied driving during break in.

What!?! I want a particulate filter too please! That’s a nice benefit, I was considering painting my tips blackbut they look so nice when they are shinny.

I could be wrong after more forum searching...it's possible US cars don't get this filter after all. I'd need to look under the car.

So I've done some cosmetic mod ordering based off of the Performance Pack that Europe offers for the Golf R:

https://www.evo.co.uk/volkswagen/190...kswagen-golf-r

So far I've gotten the silver brake caliper logo plates and ordered the rear lip spoiler.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d499ea7b_z.jpg

The rear lip spoiler is the same one offered on the Rabbit GTI here in the U.S. but hard to get ahold of right now state-side. I like the nice subtle touch to the rear of the car:
https://cdn1.evo.co.uk/sites/evo/fil...?itok=w2gi6wIo

The front brake rotors and F+R pads included in this Pack are from the ClubSport S GTI. The rear rotors stay the same. The article describes their benefit. I may do those too. That would leave me with just the Akrapovic axle-back and the raised speed limiter as the missing elements from that Euro-only option list. A tune fixes the speed limiter and I could order the Akrapovic but it's awfully expensive.

The good news is that the R has been fantastic to drive and I'm really enjoying not having to worry/stay conscious about the weather conditions, parking lot entrances, parking in general, traction available on the road surface, the power itself at WOT, traffic, and size like I did with the ZL1. Much less anxiety to take the R out for a fun drive, even if it is markedly slower all around.

That spoiler looks great!

You've described a lot of reasons for me to sell the GT350 :) I pretty much agree with all of it, it's just much easier to have an easier car to drive every day. Not that either of our cars were horrible, but just minor things add up overtime.

Thank you! It's going to be very subtle which matches the car well. Gloss black matches the factory aero treatments too.

Yup, exactly :)

Plus, my wife grew to hate the ZL1 after the way GM treated me. We were going to get her a new Blazer, but after that fiasco...

Still grinds my gears. $6k was easily covered with my vehicle purchases. What a SH1T company.

Back to the R...

Spoiler looks dope. I saw so many of these when I was in England last week, mostly driven by dudes 40+

:lol:

Thanks

Is Dave 40+? :-p

:lol: That’s a few years away still

Rear Spoiler finally shipped yesterday. I ordered it on 5/22. :)

Currently looking at chassis braces:
https://www.ecodetuning.com/EC0111-0...sis-brace.html

There's definite movement in the chassis in this car...not as stiff of a platform as the Alpha was by any means.

Does the rear strut bar actually do anything?

I believe so...if you look at the Clubsport S model, VW included one on a car they wanted to be lightweight (hence use of FWD and not AWD).

Going through chassis motions, you can hear the backseat shudder against the trunk cover lid for the hatch. Nothing awful but shouldn't be there, IMO.

Does this one do anything? Reviews seem positive but there are several different braces on the market (it's nice to have a global car again - options!).

The original VW bar gets rid of the backseats entirely(because race car), some aftermarket require drilling new holes (nope), some don't and are $$, another basically blocks off the back of the rear seats (nope), and then there's this one.

Mentally building this car has been fun. There seems to be a conflict with adding weight (braces and swaybars) and removing it (brake options and wheels).