Waterloo

Looked at Cupra in the past. Two things put me off. Firstly the styling is more in your face than I like but the deal breaker was the interior was worse than VW (I'd held of buying an R mk 8 because the interior, at least the 8.5 has a much better infotainmetn set-up). I should say I've been luckly in the 3 golf's I've owned as are they were probably the best build of the marks/models (56 Plate Mk5 GTI DSG, 66 Plate Mk7 R estate and a 66 Plate Mk7.5 R estate with PP) One thing Cupra did get right is I think, from memory, they were offering Brembo brakes before R got upgraded ones in the 7.5 PP. Both my first 2 golfs were unconvincing braking compared to some of the other cars I've had.

Segments are closer than you think due to so few performance estates vs SUVs. Hatch is different but IMHO biggest completion to R estate is 340i, C43 and rs4. Just got the Alpina and still running it in, so haven't pushed it hard yet, but my feeling is in the real world I'll get the same range out of it as my mk7.5 but the fuel tank is 59 vs 55. This means it might beat the fuel consumption I got from my earlier mk7 with the 6sp! Given this thread seems to be heading well off topic will try and post a photo if I get a chance in the correct place.

Latest B3 xdrive so less "only hearing and feeling it" to quote Walter Rohrl

Always had Q cars so went for Alpina B3

Follow-up to the post above. Having pushed both the dealer, who was very helpful but ultimately couldn't help, and VW UK for some sensible answer on what a realistic delivery date for my Golf R Estate would be I first got the anwer build week 32. Mid-summer is a very unlikely actual build week (August so factories close and supply chain slows) so I asked again and the second answer from VW UK was simply it would be "by the end of this year". Given VW couldn't even provide a meaningful date I sadly cancelled the order (it would have been my 3rd R estate in 8 years) and got a different high perfance estate car.

Is anybody else having issues getting a build week from VW for a 8.5 R estate. Ordered in January and having gone round the dealership and VW UK best I've got is that the order is accepted but build week is uncertain but "this year". I worry this is related to VW seemingly stopping selling the golf estate (entirely not just as an R) in the UK.

I need snow chains for my R estate with the performance pack as I'm going to areas in France where they are a legal requirement and will be needed due to snow. In theory this is a car you cannot chain due to the dimensions howvever after a bit of searching I can confirm that the Michelin Fast Grip chains fit fine. Will post what they are like in snow in a months time. Also worth noting I've put on a set of Conti allseasoncontact tyres (so they are m+s and have the mountain & snowflake symbol) which aren't quite as good in the complete dry as the the normal summer Conti's I had but better seem to clear standing water better.

I had a mk7 estate from 0 to 60k miles and after the first 10k ish it seems to give you pops almost at will with race mode and sport DSG setting. You'll also get them very rarely in other modes if you're pushing hard from a standing start with the DSG in sport. However worth noting that I can't get pops at all on my current WLTP estate, even though I think the engine pulls harder.

Has anybody on the forum successfully got a set of snow chains to fit on stock 235/35 R 19 wheels on an R? Konig claim several sets that will fit but there's nothing like proof from somebody having done it. and before you ask I did a forum search and there are lots of threads over the years concerning winter and all weather tyres etc. but little on chains.

From memory you can't get the R in some european countries, or as a minimum it's not on the local country website. For example I think France doesn't get the estate and Italy doesn't get it at all.

If you were the driver of the Matt Green R who came onto the roundabout under the A3 at Ripley this morning I have to ask what was the white Focus doing? I can only assume he didn't expect us both to close in on him at that speed or they were a lemming.

I just ordered a new R estate to replace my current one, but test drove a c43 estate. Nice car but is clearly heavier than the R in a good way (feels solidly made) and bad (feels heavier on it's feet). If you spend most of the time on the M'way it's probably a better car but with UK A, B and back roads R is better. Other reason to get/not get it is that it has slightly more rear seat space (unless you get the AMG sports seats) but a much smaller boot.

Assuming it's a wagon check under the false boot floor. If you need to stow the load cover away it will fit under the raised floor.

A couple of posts recently on other threads have commented that the 19 inch wheels have a worse a turning circle than the 18s but the diameter of the two is almost identical and the extra 1cm of width cannot make much difference. Is this just a steering feel issue? Only thing I wandered is do the 19s make it harder for the front of the car to drag the rear for some reason. Years ago i had a clio 182 and the centre of mass was so far forwards and the rest of the car so light you could ignore everything after the front seats as the front simply dragged or lifted the rear wheels round.

Lots of posts on this thread about 19 wheels having worse a turning circle than 18 but the diameter of the two is almost identical so is this just a steering feel issue? Only thing I wandered is do the 19s make it harder for the front of the car to drag the rear. Years ago i had a clio 182 and the centre of mass was so far forwards and the rest of the car so light you could ignore everything after the front seats as the front simply dragged or lifted the rear wheels.