jimmy_uk

Well that will be a bit sooner than expected now. Having originally been told it would arrive at the end of July / beginning of August it is already built and in the country. I don't want to wait 2 months for the 71 plate knowing it's already here and the increase in used car values has worked in my favour so the car is being collected on 28 June. I had a decent drive in my R this week for work and it made me a bit sad to think it's going, it is such an amazing car and I will miss it. But I'm certainly looking forward to getting the M135 so that helps a lot! Once I have it I'll post a few photos and a bit of a comparison to my Mk7R.

Thanks Bec, I will put a bit of a comparison up once it arrives. After having 4 VWs I am looking forward to having something different but I will miss the R for sure, it's been a great car.

I've had my R for just over 5 years now which is the longest I've ever owned a vehicle by a country mile. I've been getting itchy fingers for about a year to change but with Covid and a vast reduction in the amount of miles I'm driving I wasn't able to justify it when I am not paying anything on my current car. The last couple of months I've started to drive more again so I've looked at various different options for replacement. Mk8R was the natural choice, and I'm liking the exterior more and more everytime I see one. Bec's R has shown how good it looks in Lapiz! But when I sat in one the other day I just wasn't feeling the interior, especially the DSG shifter. I was considering a Tiguan R, but it's too expensive for me to justify and having had 2 Mk7's, a little bit too much of the same. I started looking at other makes. The S3 and A35 were ruled out due to a number of reasons. I took a M135i out for a test drive at the weekend and to be honest was blown away by how good the car drove and felt. The tech was a big improvement over my Mk7, although you need a few options to get it to the "right" spec. Price wise it was on a par with the Mk8R, but the BMW low rate finance (2.9% on PCP or HP) makes it a lot more affordable. So I've placed an order for one, for delivery in September on a 71 plate. I've never owned a BMW before, but I've driven plenty through work. I know the looks are a bit subjective, but I found colour makes a huge difference (I've gone for mineral grey). I'm quite excited about it arriving, just like I was with my R. It's going to be a long 18 weeks!

I'm yet to see an 8R in the flesh as there wasnt one at my local dealer, but I'm keeping my eye out. I have seen a few regular Mk8's and it's definitely growing on me a lot. As to Tiguan vs Golf, I think cost will be a big player!

I was really against buying an 8R at first, but seeing your photos is changing my mind. It looks great in Lapiz too. Although I did see the Tiguan R at the dealer yesterday when my car was in for a service, that also looks gorgeous. Going to be a hard choice on what I do.....

Starting from £45,915. More than I was expecting.

I had my Haldex done at 3 years and my DSG at 4, even though it had only done 29,000 miles. It wasn't a lot of money if I recall, think it was £69. One thing I wont pay for is the £139 air conditioning service they keep trying to flog me. Ridiculous price.

I like this, and the interior is so much better than the Golf 8. Start stop button, proper DSG lever and climate control without going through the infotainment is a particular highlight. Only downside will probably be the price, we've got to be looking at £45k with the T-Roc R being just under £41k.

I was undecided until I saw that video. But I think it's a no from me now and I'll look elsewhere for my Mk7 replacement. Mainly for the following reasons: Uncovered cup holders - just looks cheap. Start Stop - it seems they have made this as difficult as possible to disable. A one button press on the 7 is perfect, although I do wish it would default to the last state you left it in. DSG lever - it's just hideous. I like shifting using the current one at times which will be impossible in the 8. Lack of physical buttons - not much needs to be said but for some controls it's dangerous. Active Info Display - looks cheap. The Audi version at the moment is fantastic, if only they used that! The styling I'm still undecided on and I'll reserve judgement until I see it. Such a shame what the Golf has turned into on the Mk8.

It might be a controversial opinion here, but why shouldn't cars like the Arteon, Touareg etc be offered with a performance engine? Audi do it, so do BMW, why not VW? Having driven numerous SUVs as rentals, I quite like driving them. What has always made cars a non starter for me is the lack of a good engine. Don't get me wrong, I love my Golf R, and it's much more fun to drive round country lanes than an SUV, but as I spend a lot of time driving A roads, motorways and through towns, a good SUV with a performance engine offers a great mix of practicality and fun IMO.

Well this happened to me on Friday. Small stone thrown up by a passing lorry. Having the screen replaced by Autoglass tomorrow for the £95 excess charge.

I think I will reserve judgement until I see it in the flesh, especially the R, but from the photos I'm not impressed. The front looks odd, the interior looks a bit better and I'm sure I will like it more in the flesh like I do the Audi cockpit. But what is that DSG lever? It's like they are trying to copy Volvo.

I have several concerns about this, from a safety perspective: 1) If it is controlled by GPS, what happens when you have no GPS reception? Does it have a "default max speed" value? 2) If it is controlled by road signs, what happens when it reads the sign wrong? I have seen this on other peoples cars where it doesn't register the increase in the limit, or simply confuses as shows 30 instead of 50. So you could be on a 60 mph road but limited to 30 as it hasn't seen the sign. 3) What happens when the system malfunctions? Does it revert to a "default max speed" or continue at the current speed? Could you find yourself in a situation on the motorways where it thinks the speed limit is 30? IMO this is a poorly thought out implementation designed to pacify the "speed kills" groups. There is a time and a place for speed, outside a school at 1500 is a no-no, but there are far worse driving habits that need addressing first! This could be a bit of a get out of jail free card though... What you might be left with is an annoying beep for a couple of seconds and an annoying light on the dashboard. It could be worse I suppose. This worries me even more. Are these going to be like the black boxes fitted to young drivers cars, and used in the same way by insurance companies? Or are they just for accidents and incidents? I have massive privacy issues with my insurance company tracking where, when and how I drive.

When I moved house I was adamant that I wouldn't have a shared driveway for this very reason. But it's really hard and restrictive to find houses now that have a private one. Your experience does show how some people are totally unhinged though.

My R is just about to hit 3, recently had it serviced and MOT'd, so I am looking for a change. The T-Roc R is an interesting concept, I really like a SUV car and its about time VW did a R version of one. I think it could be a contender for the R replacement, especially as it could possibly be sub £40k. The Audi SQ2 does look good as well, and I much prefer the Audi Virtual Cockpit to the VW info display, but thats coming up at £42k loaded. The Mk8 Golf R is likely to be a bit far away for me, not sure I want to keep my R for another 18 months!