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My R was on long life servicing and only ask for first oil change at 15000 miles. Car ran great with 2 services in 2 years with 36000 miles when I changed. A couple of little top ups in between.

I got the S5 Coupe after my R and would choose it over any of the above. Different car to the Golf. Stunning looking car. Still get compliments from the neighbors after a year. My next car will be another S5 but with some exclusive paint! 😎

I've got a set of 19" Borbet LW with Michelin Pilot Supersport (5mm) on them if you're interested.

Same all round.

Do it through your insurance (if you can) but get your insurance to accept you are not at fault and it won't affect your no claims. However if your insurance insist you pay the excess - get that off him! I had 2 big claims before. One for hitting a deer and one when my car was keyed. My insurance accepted both as not at fault and I've never incurred any penalties on my insurance premium when I acknowledge them. I was insured with LV and Direct Line.

Hot hatch was always my choice of car contributed with the fact I lived town centre for 10 years. The S5 is lovely and it'll be another dilemma when it's time to replace again. But for me the Golf R is still the perfect all round car even taking the S5 into consideration. The S5 is lovely, but I think you would be a little disappointed (like me) with anything else other than an R.

The 8 speed auto took a little bit of time to get used to. Its apparenty the same box that's used in the RS7 and possibly the same one in the new RS5? Now that I've had it a while I prefer it over the S-Tronic/DSG, more so in manual. Although I love the way you can blip the accelerator and it will change down and hold a gear without having to kickdown in auto and sport. From launch, with all traction switched off, the gear changes are neck snapping brutal. It's definitely quicker than the standard R with everything switched off - but not as poised. Definitely feels more GT car that hot hatch.

I have the S5 Coupe and love it. It's a different car to 7R. More grown up.

I've had 54mpg on a 32 miles round trip to work in eco and costing at every opportunity I could. I don't think anywhere near that would be possible on the motorway though. Never tried. 30 is achievable and high 30's are doable in the R. I get 36mpg most days in my B9 S5, although this is efficiency/eco mode. 30mpg in dynamic/sport/race. Pretty much the same mpg as the R but probably due to the 8 speed gearbox.

It's 4 wheel drive and not 'set up' for a wider track on the rear. Some mods are great to enhance the look of the car but don't enhance performance at the same time. The 'electronics' of the R are set up for the factory track width with a wheel offset of 50. A car is guaranteed to go wrong at some point if you change this. This video sort of illustrates what can go wrong. https://youtu.be/EFpRLjmAicc

Without a doubt 19" with the right offset and good rubber i.e. ET50 and Michelin Pilot Super Sport.

Forgive me for boring you with this post... but, correct tyres and setup is absolutely paramount on a car like the R - and arguably any car for that matter! I never compromise on tyres. They are the only contact the car has with the road. As soon as my tyres hit 3mm they are off and a new 'set' replaces them. To mix and match different tyres of different tread levels is bonkers on a 300+bhp all wheel drive car. I rotate every 3000 which sounds a bit bonkers in itself but I deep clean the alloys at the same time. This ensures my tyres don't wear unevenly and don't go over 2mm difference in tread depth. Trying to save or not spend money on tyres is something you definitely should not do in my opinion. My father had a bad car accident some years ago now due to poor tyre choice (winters only on the front in winter) and I lost a friend a few years back arguably due to the tyres - using different tyres with low tread on the rear. The Golf R can only provide excellent all wheel drive grip with the same quality and brand/pattern of tyres with good levels of even tread. A tyre fitter (or main dealer for that matter) will probably never recommend this but VW insist on this on their maintenance package. That's says it all!

Audi have the phone app for keyless so you can lock/unlock with phone. Why does VW not have this??... or do they?

If you're happy to pay extra consider the 240 R line (if you want something quicker) or maybe the new Q5?

Buy a European drivers side visor??

This is really shocking. The service manager at the dealership obviously doesn't give a toss about customer cars. They've put part synthetic in the car rather than fully synthetic?? This will absolutely create a longer term issue with the car and undoubtedly effect performance meantime. Get it changed out as quickly as possible. I would personally go to another dealer and have it changed, then chase the dealership for a refund and costs for your inconvenience. Run the car like your breaking it in meantime.

I didn't like the Potenza on the R. I liked the F1 but found them to have poor traction when cold. The best tyre I had on the R was Michelin Pilot Supersport. Another tyre that I have to recommend is the Hankook fitted to my new S5. I would never have thought of this tyre for the R. Amazing on the S5 - better than the Supersport in both wet and dry conditions in my opinion.

S5 - It's way better... but not as good! So after 2 weeks with the S5 I can honestly say I love it, but I miss the 7R!

For similar reasons i didn't order the face off and ordered an S5 instead. Had it a week now and I'm more than happy!

Some burglar is going to get himself or herself killed over a car at some point. It's enevitable! They'll make the wrong assumptions and picked the wrong house. They'll trip over someone's cat in the confusion, fall down the stairs and break their f*cking neck.

Gutted for you! I've got an alarm on the house and I don't leave the keys out so hopefully that reduces the risk for me. God knows what would happen if someone (and others) came into my home while I'm in it! I'm kinda grumpy sometimes if I get woken out of a deep sleep. I wonder how many cars in addition to R's are being stolen in this way. Surely insurance companies can't keep paying out on this basis in the long term. It like printing money for theives.

Hi. I would advise you to deal with Nationwide Vehicle Contracts over others. As the broker they deal with you throughout the order process to delivery. You only pay them the booking fee upfront at time of order - usually £180. Once the car is delivered you deal directly with the finance company and your local dealer for servicing etc. The deposit is your first payment after you receive delivery. Excellent customer care. Chris Beecher is excellent to deal with. https://www.nationwidevehiclecontracts.co.uk

Well the time has come. The last week of owning the 7R is unfortunately finally here. It's been a great car and will definitely be missed for my daily commutes! Not one issue in 2 years of ownership. I'm going to enjoy the next 7 days as much as I did the first. Might even treat it to a wash at the weekend! 😎

I've had the Goodyear but prefer the Michelin. Don't change 2 or your lose the back end with just 3mm.

It was a difficult choice for me but arguably made easier having no kids or dog. I went for the new S5. Pick it up on 9th March but I'll definitely miss the Golf!