Paul_R

I’m going to get this done soon on my 7.5 wagon. I too was worried about drone but, having just driven for 4 hours on the motorway at 75 mph I have realised that tyre noise is by far the biggest issue with the Golf R. I can’t see how exhaust drone could be heard over the tyre roar - on Australian roads anyway. It was so bad that my wife is telling me I have to swap the R for a Merc C class or A4. I think she meant C43 or S4... Moral is, if you don’t think the R is too noisy on motorways in stock form then you are unlikely to notice a bit of drone.

Get it looked at. As Flogger said, us Antipodeans see day time temps in the mid 30s and up for most of summer. The highest my dash temp has read is 45.5 Celsius and I’ve never seen any heat related issue on any of my Golf’s. the biggest problem with the heat is the loss of power. Becomes obvious when the air temp is over about 28 and is horrific in the 40s. Simple overtaking manoeuvres on the way to work (in the cooler morning) become pant wetting exercises on the way home.

I’m keen to hear from estate/wagon/variant owners on this as well. No hatch owners waffling on about their flaps please. I’ve heard differing opinions on the estate res delete. It seems that in the hatch it’s a no brainier as you can turn the noise on or off with a button. How much of that is due to ECU mapping and how much is due to the flaps I don’t know. With the wagon not having flaps it’s a bit unclear. I was going to do it but the shop wanted the car for half a day, was going to weld the whole job - making it harder to reverse - and asked for $300 Aussie dollars. The first thing he did ask me though was had I researched it well...

I’ve gone from Mk 7 manual to facelift DSG. I would agree that the suspension seems to lose some of its finesse over time. The new car doesn’t bump and bash where the old one did. DSG taking a long time to adapt to after 27 years in a manual. I’m one of those people who skipped gears a lot ie 1st to 2nd then straight to 4th and then 6th. 6th to 4th for overtaking on open roads etc. Banging through each gear is taking some adjusting. Also noticing, again, that the whole car works better when driving at a certain speed (really fast) rather than normal commuting speeds. The manual was definitely designed to be driven at 8 or 9 10ths in terms of peddle setup for heal toe down changes etc.

Picked up my new wagon/variant/estate last week. Traded my Mk 7 R manual hatch. This is my first DSG and so far so good - as in I can actually live with an “auto” box. For those not in the know, the Wolfsburg is an Australian limited edition with every option there is and then some. The only choice is a sunroof which I never get anyway. Everything else is standard and the leather is another notch up as well. Also, I finally got my hands on a set of Prets which we weren’t given the choice on with the Mk 7. loving the wagon as I ferry 3 children around most days and they have a lot of crap to ferry. Also can fit 3 bikes on the roof for all the MTB tracks in our part of north east / Alpine Victoria (Falls Creek, Mount Beauty, Bright, Yack, Beechworth - check out the flow crews MTB vids on YouTube) PS the 5 year old is trying to unlock the rear door but hasn’t quite got the keyless thing fully sussed.

Normally I would go manual every time. Have done for 26 years. However, the current Mk 7 manual has a major flaw. The clutch. It isn't right. We are now starting to see a lot of burnt out Mk7 R clutches with very low miles on them. Mine included. Hence my next R will be DSG.

This is not an isolated incident! It would seem that the clutch in the Mk 7 R is not up to the job. Mine went at 16,000 miles. VW Australia covered the cost of the parts so it ended up costing me £300 out of pocket. There are more and more stories of stuffed clutches popping up as the cars get older. Remember also that anyone who has a tune, and subsequently destroyed their clutch, would automatically assume that it was because of the tune. It would seem the tune just brought forward an event that was going to happen anyway. Make sure you let the dealer know that you've been looking on the internet and found other people with similar problems. VW probably don't want another bad news story given recent history...good luck.

My 2015 R burnt out it's clutch after 30,000 kms. VW paid for the parts as a car like this shouldn't burn out so easily. My car was completely stock and not thrashed. It was driven like an R should be though. I'm guessing there will be a fair few stock manual Golf Rs turning up soon with rooted clutches. Most wrecked clutches up to this point would have been chipped and people would just assume that the extra torque fried it. Looks like the clutch is piss weak and not up to the job in the first place. Not sure how much the clutch delay valve plays into this. I'm getting a DSG in November.

Looks like there is someone in the canned worm isle with a tin opener again... My rules led for running are: Rule 1: the purpose of bedding in is to properly seal (shape) the rings against the bore. This needs to be done on both sides by forcing the ring against the bore, therefore acceleration is just as important as deceleration - otherwise known as engine braking. Rule 2: never do anything other than normal driving until the oil temp is up around 80 degrees. Rule 3: you do NOT need to rev the head off an engine to run it in. Rule 4: you need to do full (or close to full) throttle runs in middle gears (2nd, 3rd and 4th work best) between about 2000 rpm and 4000 rpm. Up hill helps. Rule 5: this is the one most people ignore. You need to do the opposite to rule 4. On a downhill run, use the gears to slow the car, ranging the revs again between 2000 rpm and 4000 rpm. The harder the deceleration the better. This seals the other side of the ring as the lateral forces on the piston are reversed. You can gradually extend your rev limit as you see fit. Warm oil is more important that restricting revs. However, the bedding in bit is unable to be done, or takes infinitely longer, if you miss the window and the bores smooth off before the rings bed in. Therefore, the best time to do the above is as soon as you drive out of the dealership. The absolute worst thing you can do is drive 200 miles home down the motorway at 80 mph on cruise. Take the scenic route home instead.

And you don't have to press the Race button (or engine into sport) every time you get in the car because the valves close when the engine shuts off and don't automatically re-open when you start the engine. Very annoying. Not sure if all the Mk 7 hatches do this but my early one does.

That's good to hear. I had Dynaudio in my Mk 6 R and wasn't all that impressed with it. Never sounded quite right, even after putting a 10" sub in. The regular stereo in the Mk 7 R (we weren't offered Dynaudio in Australia for the Mk 7) is actually very nice. The sound quality is excellent. Just don't try to pop your back window out with it. I've ordered a Wolfsburg Mk 7.5 mainly because it will come to Australia with Dynaudio (also the only way we can get Pretorias). No on can say if the regular 7.5 R will have it. Consensus seems to be that it will either not have it, even as an option, or it will be standard.

So, assuming that this clutch delay return valve prevents the clutch from engaging quickly enough, I have decided to blame it for my clutch burning out at 30,000 km in a stock car with no standing start traffic light shenanigans. I'm wondering if that's why VW agreed to pay for the parts. I'm guessing that 'non-spirited' drivers would find the clutch action too jerky without it? Cost of a new clutch from VW seems to be around the GBP 2k mark for parts and labour. Obviously you would never take that option if you have a tune.

My money is on a hybrid R. Think of it as GTI with one or two 48 volt motors out the back. It will have minimal battery storage to save weight, maybe 50 kms on electric only if you're lucky. Anyone who thinks VW is going to stick a VR6 up front is pissed. But here's hoping😋

The dealer has now had a good look at my clutch and can't see why it has burnt out. They didn't try to push it as a warranty job but spoke to customer service instead. VW Australia agreed to pay for all the parts and I'm left with a GBP 600 labour bill. I guess that most failed clutches are assumed to be due to chipping and VW never hear about them. I now wonder how many of those chipped cars would have burnt out anyway. I now feel a lot better about having chosen DSG for my next one

Gearbox is out. Clutch completely burnt out. Dealer can't figure out why. They said they expected to see something obvious as it's only got 30,000 kms on it. They're going to have a more detailed look tomorrow as they say they want to make sure VW don't give them a 'please explain' notice if the dealer puts a warranty claim in and then VWA or Germany ask for it to be sent back so they can examine it. I'm half hopeful they'll find something....

Have any of you noticed the significant power drop off when the air temp is over 28 degrees? Where I live (Australia) it's over 30 degrees every day for at least 3 months of the year. It can get over 40 degrees any time from November to February. Highest my car has read is 45.5 air temp. We get a massive drop in power - about 30% some reckon - when its that hot. I love winter.

My clutch cooked itself on the weekend. Dealer is taking the gearbox out tomorrow. It was OK when cold so I didn't really notice it as it's winter here and I've been doing short trips to work last couple of weeks. Took it to the farm on Saturday and it was slipping in 4th and up. This morning was fine again until it warmed up and then slipping in 2nd gear. Dealer wouldn't let me take it home. Said they need to see what has failed so hopefully a warranty job. Car is completely stock and I've never shafted a clutch before in 26 years of driving manuals.

What he said +++++ However, a Mk 7 with DCC on 19s rides better than a Mk 6 with DCC on 18s (for the pedants out there , the Mk 6 didn't technically have DCC - it was called ACC in those days, but that's the cruise control now ). Tyre choice makes sweet f a difference as far as I can tell from experience. I don't use cheap tyres though - Michelins at present from Bridgestones delivered. the other thing to consider is tyre life. I got a lot more out of the 18s than the 19s and the 18s are a lot cheaper. Why have I got 19s? In Australia we didn't get a choice. All Mk 7s come with 19s.

What's the price difference between a minimum spec and a fully loaded Golf R in the UK now? An Aus 5 door hatch manual with no drive assist or sunroof is about GBP 31,500 and a Wolfsburg wagon DSG with sunroof is about GBP 36,800. That doesn't include on road costs which most people can negotiate away or have a corporate option that waives them. Otherwise add another GBP 1000 to GBP 3000 to those figures for people who don't haggle and go to a stealer dealer.

I'm not here to gloat but, you guys have a tough time with options in the UK. The only two options on a Golf R in Australia are sunroof and driver assistance package. However, we may not be getting Dynaudio (again) and Pretoria's are apparently a ~GBP 4000 dealer option. Everything else on the UK options list is standard on our cars. Our Wolfsburg's will have Dynaudio, drive assist and Pretoria's all as standard. The only option on the Wolfsburg is a sunroof - a sunroof in Australia is a very polarising thing. People either love them or hate them.

I suppose it depends on what sort of driving you're doing. The motorway isn't great but I feel that the tyres are more to blame here. i did disconnect the Soundaktor on my car for about a year but have had it plugged in for the last 12 months as it was missing something. My 2015 R doesn't have the option to turn down the fake noise like the newer ones do. when you're on it though, it sounds like it should.

Looks great. Same wheels/colour choice as I've picked so maybe I'm biased. How's it sound compared to the Legacy?

All racing sequential gear boxes are pull back to go up a gear, and push to go down. Always have, always will be. I have no idea why some car manufacturers do it opposite way around. Maybe VW can explain their logic. I can't use the stick because I cannot retrain my head to do something so non-intuitive. I have to think too much about what I'm doing rather than just doing it subconsciously. Our last car was a Mazda and was the correct way around.

Fascinating write-up. It is generally well accepted, down under, that our cars put out exactly the same power/torque as UK spec cars. As long as you use the best available (98 RON) fuel, and the ambient air temperature is below about 28 degrees. I expect/hope that to be the same when our 7.5 versions turn up soon. In summer we lose truck loads of torque to the extent that there are overtaking manoeuvres that you just don't even attempt when it's in the 40s. Today is fine, ranging from -1 to about 15 degrees. Yes it is winter. Failures with the infamous 1.4 twin-charger 'hand-grenade' were often attributed to muppets using the basic 91 RON fuel when the fuel flap was clearly labelled 98/95 like yours is. I have no proof for that last statement, it's just hearsay. The rear fog light on AUS spec cars does work. My last two did anyway. Good luck with the rest of the build.

Looks great mate. How does the exhaust sound on the new estate?