Figured I had some time on a Sunday to write a real review of the car like I did for cars in the past. While COVID has reduced my driving significantly, after 28,xxx miles there are definite things I've noticed.
Let's start with the
Styling:
For me, the MK7 Golf R (2015-2017) was a bit too tame in appearance. The front bumper was too squared off and not aggressive. The Cadiz wheels were horrific looking and overall, the styling just didn't belong on a car with an R badge IMO. The GTI during those years looked a lot better to me overall.
The MK7.5 R fixes a lot of this with the refreshed headlights and lower bumper. The extended rear air diffuser and use of gloss black highlights has helped to make the car look a little more aggressive overall. The black Pretoria wheel package finished off the look and helped to accentuate the gloss black effects on the mirror caps, aerodynamic ground effects and new grill.
Engine and Transmission:
The EA888 is a little slow to respond with the larger IS38 turbo vs. the IS20 powered GTI, as is expected with a 2 liter motor. Once you are on torque above 2,000 rpms, the motor is much better and easier to live with with its response. Ideally, you'll find 3,000 rpms for most of your throttle use, where the DSG gearing works the best. The DSG itself in Drive mode wants to find 7th gear as quickly as possible, which means you will have to downshift around town in order to accelerate quickly. This can be frustrating if you're used to larger displacement engines.
In Sport mode, the DSG will idle smoother (at a higher rpm) and will downshift quicker, which makes it work in city much better. Sport mode will hold the gear for a bit too long if not racing, so manual upshifts will be needed if you've merged into traffic and are now at speed.
Fuel economy is steady in the low 20's around town and high 20's on the highway around 70mph. Eco mode is painful, as it dulls all response from the motor and transmission...and I'm not sure there is an MPG benefit to it. It will actually struggle to keep up with the ACC.
Electronics:
ACC and Lane Keep Assist are well sorted and work very well on the highway. I use them both for long trips and enjoy being able to take my feet off the pedals and sit normally. The emergency braking can be wonky with steep inclines and declines if you're entering or leaving a parking garage, just something to note. I've had it go off in DC traffic once or twice from the system misreading a merge. In those situations, I'd recommend just disabling it from the menu.
The start stop system is one I helped work on while at VW and it functions as expected... keep the transmission in Sport and it will be disabled, or just hit the switch if you want the motor to keep running at a light or in traffic. Otherwise, it's relatively ok... annoying if you're in stop/start situations but for long lights it just makes sense.
The digital dash is cool but you get used to it quickly (a good thing)...I wouldn't say that it's worth buying the car due to it, but it helps make the package more appealing for sure.
The stereo is the last one with physical buttons and it's perfect. The interface is clean, quick to respond and just works. I can see how moving the screen up closer to my sight line would be beneficial but with the digital dash, I can see the navigation route without too many problems. Overall, this is a strength of the car's overall value.
Stereo:
The Fender audio I struggle with. It's definitely a huge improvement over the HK in the BMW M235i that I had, better than the Bose setup in the Camaro and worlds better than the Bose in the 911, but it lacks clarity from it's tweeters and while the subwoofer fills in the punchier low end decently, the speakers just lack the ability to pick out individual notes or strings in rock music. Mid heavy but can get decently loud. I would love to have heard the Dynaudio version from European models to compare. I've read they can be almost the opposite.
Suspension and Chassis:
Before doing the Clubsport work on the front end, the R had a reluctance to steer into a curve under load. It would head into understeer if you were increasing speed in a steady state or attempting to push the car into a turn. If you went with a little more smoothness, it would settle easier (unlike the STi) but overall you could find the limits of the front end heavy car. A RSB and bracing helped with the steering response and giving more involvement from the rear of the car, but ultimately the front end was kind of resistant.
After doing the Clubspport front pieces, the steering lost more of the play it had, making inputs more immediate. The turn-in was more dynamic and the car would lean into the turn more naturally. Grip levels were up on the front end due to the increased camber and more stiffness up front, so now the car is more willing to enter the curve and dig in than ever before.
This is how the R should have come from the factory. Tire wear hasn't been impacted from the extra negative camber after 10k miles of street and highway use (although I do make sure to get after it on higher speed turns).
I think the MK8 changes to the chassis reflect quite a bit of these thoughts.
The shock damping with the extra bar rate out back has been decent. They're a bit soft in full Race mode and lack the strut travel that I think the car needs frankly. The shocks can be quite crashy around town, hitting the bump stops relatively easily, which is depressing for a VW Golf. Comfort mode makes a noticeable difference to help smooth out the road but the travel seems to be a recurring issue. This is not to say that the car is uncomfortable, but the road condition is definitely noticed by all occupants.
Overall, if you take the time that the Clubsport ran the Ring in, added 300 lbs of weight and an AWD system to it, this car should be quite capable around a track as-is. Hard to complain about the suspension with all of it's utility.
Braking:
From the factory, the R brakes just lacked initial bite and grip to slow the car down from 80-90mph with any regularity. I thought the brake dust was way too high for the lack of pad. For whatever reason, it just always felt like there was not enough brake for this car.
After upgrading to the Clubsport rotors and pads, the initial bite and grip of the pad was improved. I could deep brake the car a bit more with regularity without feeling sponginess. However, my final conclusion is that the MK7 Golf R platform is under equipped with its brake package. Pads and rotors are not enough, unless maybe you go with a strict track pad? Overall, I think the caliper and rotor need to be upsized to haul down a car that can reach R speeds easily.
This viewpoint was shared during the R's development by the test driver, but was dismissed by the engineering team.
It looks like on the MK8 they finally listened. I will be watching to see if the MK8 brake package can be swapped onto the 7 generation...if not there are a ton of aftermarket solutions available.
Interior:
The layout of the MK7.5 is very similar to all generations since the MK5. It's timeless in its ergonomics. The seating position is spot on, the ergonomics to reach all controls are great, there is little to no guessing on how to work the car (wife verified). I would have liked for the armrest on the center console to be raised a bit higher in it's default state, I would have appreciated more USB ports and I would also have liked to have memory seats with a heated steering wheel but at the price point, with everything else, this would have been difficult to pull off. The loss of a sunroof was surprisingly not as big of a deal as I thought it would be, there is enough glass to keep the cabin well lit during the day. I also love the seats with the perforated panels in the leather. Overall, a very nice place to drive and ride in, with enough storage to fit a rear facing baby-seat, a dog and storage in the hatch. The A/C and heat also work very well, and there are plenty of cupholders.
With the drastic changes of the MK8, it's safe to say the MK7.5 interior will be the highlight of Golf interiors for a long time.
Exterior:
Really just putting this in here to say that the paint quality of the MK7 era isn't the best. There is tons of orange peel and I've had rock chips up front which will definitely require the front bumper to be repainted at some point. This might just be par for the course with modern environmental controls on paints so YMMV.
Overall, as my only car, the R fulfills the dual-role of a performance vehicle with a daily driver better than anything else I can think of. The aftermarket support is the largest I've ever seen except for maybe the Mustang and the platform overall is very reliable and well sorted. I'm going to be happy to keep this in the garage for a long time, and I do not know how it could be replaced with something that checks all the boxes this well.
