MikeHig

A petrolhead chum sent me this: "Comparing EV acceleration to ICE is like comparing a microwave to a BBQ grill. Faster, but....."

Sorry to hear this tale of woe - hope it ends well with recovery or a suitable replacement. One thought on insurance....aiui, gap insurance gets you back to invoice value. However that figure may be below the cost of a replacement if you managed to get a good deal when you bought the car - especially in a market like today's. My broker found a supplementary policy which pays out 25% (up to k£10) on top of the loss valuation which should be k£5+ better than gap.

Sorry, some crossed wires there! I wasn't comparing the GTS to an R - they are chalk and cheese - just pointing out that the GTS brings back the joys of the NA flat six.

But now there's the GTS with a lovely 4 litre NA flat six......heaven! I wanted to look at the RS3 as well as the R but total indifference from two big Audi dealerships put me off, especially as I was there against my own better judgement after too many experiences of cr*p Audi customer service.

Thanks for all the feedback - very helpful. Good point about preserving the service history in case of a just-out-of-warranty issue arising. That would be Sod's Law which has caught me out before so I should learn from the past. Plus it helps with resale, of course. VW have not contacted me about extending the warranty so I'll check that out - thanks for the reminder. The car was booked in already but I guess lockdown blues made me question the need (and the memory of a previous performance car which had 2 year/20,000 mile service intervals). Slider09: yes, short journeys are to be avoided. I've been aware of that for many years. I have an older diesel barge which does all the local hacking about. Nearly all journeys in the R have been 30 mins or more.

I expect there will be others in this situation. My R is coming up to 3 years old so is due a service and MOT in early December. However, mainly thanks to Covid, it has covered very few miles since the last service - about 1400 - and has only done about 13,000 since new. It has been garaged for much of the time and has been run regularly with everything brought up to temp. So it seems a bit pointless to have it serviced. There are no faults as far as I can tell so no warranty issues before it expires. I'd welcome thoughts as it seems a bit of a waste of money just to get a stamp in the book, so to speak. Thanks.

As everyone says, it's entirely personal. I went for black prets on my Indium 3-door. I also specced the black mirror caps (not the £££ carbon ones) partly to avoid a silver/black mix and partly because I think silver ones look Audi. If you find one with a lot of options, it would be worth checking the road tax. It was quite easy to spec a car up to over k£40 list price which adds £340 per year to the road tax for the first 5 years.

Howcomeit: interesting point about testers choosing manuals when deciding which version of a standard car to use for setting lap times. However, as far as I know, there are no modern racing cars which use manual boxes. They seem to all use sequential, automated boxes. I think I am right that the box in the Porsche RSR is a modified PDK (their version of DSG). That rather makes the case that, when speed round a track is the over-riding priority, autos are the way to go. I guess they also facilitate left-foot braking for the more gifted.

As many have said, it is ETTO. I would expand that for enthusiastic drivers to: each to their own ability. I am no driving god and know for sure that me using a manual would be left well behind by me using a DSG. I have never really mastered heel & toe techniques so, coming to a corner in a manual, I am either braking or changing gear whereas, with a DSG, I can do both. The same lack of technique means that, in the manual, I am far more likely to be in the wrong gear. In addition I feel that the lower "workload" of a DSG makes it easier to concentrate on braking points, lines through the corners, etc., especially over a length of time. Having driven manuals for most of my life, I totally agree that dropping a gear with perfect timing is far more involving and satisfying. Of course, I could work on my technique but, meh, I can live without it. Then there are the secondary issues: more relaxed cruising with the higher 7th ratio; ease of use in traffic; no risk of "buzzing" the engine with a missed downshift. Just my two penneth.

So the conclusion seems to be that this useful little feature was dropped in the switch from the 6-speed to 7-speed. Progress, I guess.

Thanks for the replies. Good to know it's not a glitch. Yes, I ended up using manual control - but didn't notice ALS391's point about it not changing back to D. As mentioned, my 2014 Skoda does drop a gear or two on a downslope. It has the older 6-speed DSG so I wonder if this clever little feature did not carry over into the 7-speed?

I took my 2017 R for a run to the Alps last month, had a lot of fun on the twisties. However I was surprised to find that, driving in normal traffic, the DSG stayed in high gears on the descents, giving very little engine braking. Putting it into Sport improved things because the 'box changes down at higher revs but it was not sensitive to the degree of slope. The surprise came because I have often driven out there is a diesel Skoda estate which clearly "senses" downhill travel and drops down the gears to give plenty of braking. I expected the R to do the same, especially since - afaik - the fuel flow is cut off on the over-run if the revs are up a bit. That improves economy which is such an over-riding issue these days. I'm curious if others have noticed the same effect or whether my car may have a small software glitch.

Gavras; thanks for that clarification. I was going by my own limited experience of a couple of manufacturers' Gap schemes which were purely return to invoice, not to list or replacement. Good to know.

One point about Gap insurance: it only gets you back to what you paid for the car (as I understand it). So, if you managed to get a great deal on the original purchase, you might end up short of the replacement cost. I have a supplementary cover which will pay out 25% on top of the insurance settlement up to a maximum of k£10 which should allow me to find a replacement of a similar or better standard, should the worst happen.

It's a lifetime affliction! In it's time the original GTI changed the game. It had only 110 BHP but its performance was in another league compared to the cars of the day. Mine was one of the first phase with a 1600 engine which had a "kick" in the torque curve at 5000 rpm: quite intoxicating! When ordering my R I tried hard to find a way to get the classic GTI upholstery.

The timing of new models and facelifts can limit choices. Normally I would look for something around 2 - 3 years old with a few months of factory warranty left to run. However, when I was looking for my R I preferred the 7.5 update but it was quite recent so there weren't many used ones about, especially with the spec I wanted. Have to admit I enjoyed speccing my first brand new car in 30+ years - the previous one was a Mk1 GTI!

I think I have read somewhere that the mirror setting can be cross-linked to the seat position memory, if you have electric seats of course! If your car has them, is it possible that the dealer has changed the "master" memory on the seat and that is messing up your mirror setting?

Just scanned this week's Autocar in the newsagent because it has an article comparing the new Merc A35 to the R. They gave the Merc the edge on purely driving criteria, but not by much. However the R won out overall as the better all-round package. And it is about to be replaced by the Mk8......

Another vote for DSG! As others have already said, the mix of motoring is a big factor. It also depends on what sort of driver you are. A manual is certainly more involving and demands more of your driving skills when pressing on. That is very satisfying when you get it right on an open stretch of road but has the obvious downside of being more effort in mundane traffic. In contrast a dual-clutch makes fast, smooth driving much easier: no attempts at rev-matching on downshifts; no wishing you could master "heel & toe" techniques; etc.. A few years ago I tested manual and dual-clutch versions of the same car on a circuit. The manual was undoubtedly more engaging but, for my skill level (modest), the dual-clutch was more rewarding through being smoother and quicker. That's the main consideration, in my view, but there are a few others: > The DSG gives a broader range of driving characteristics in that it will just mooch along effortlessly at one extreme (esp with adaptive suspension) or turn into a lairy beast at the other. > Response: if you need sudden acceleration - a misjudged overtake for example - the DSG will snap down a gear or two faster. > The later DSG has a higher top gear than the manual which should give quieter cruising and improved economy. > Wear and tear: clutches have already been mentioned but poor technique will also put more stress on a manual gearbox. A DSG also protects the engine as it is impossible to make it labour at too-low revs, nor can it be over-revved on downshifts. > Resale: this could cut either way. Manuals are now much rarer so may hold their value better or might only appeal to a small number of potential buyers.

Just a detail on Porsches.....it was the 996 and 997 Gen1 models that became notorious for bore-scoring and other very expensive engine/gearbox failures. The 997 Gen2 had a completely new engine design and gearbox (PDK). AFAIK these changes have cured the previous problems. That said, as noted above, they are not cheap cars to run but the sense of connection and involvement is on a whole different plane, as someone has already said.

Thanks for all the helpful comments. I'll try a bit more enthusiastic driving - good to have an excuse! I'm bit reluctant to go to the cost of changing pad material but will keep it in mind for when (if) the rear pads need replacing. The comment about the hubs has often caught my eye too - so many smart wheels sitting on discoloured and rusty hubs. Makes me wonder whether a coat of Hammerite or similar would keep things looking clean?

My R was unused for a few weeks over the break and, not surprisingly, the discs picked up quite a "tan". A bit of lively driving has cleaned up the fronts, no problem. However the rear discs still have some rings where the rust has not cleaned off despite some fairly enthusiastic braking. Should I just give it another run and be even more positive on the brakes? If it had a manual handbrake it would be easy to work the rears but I hesitate to try that with the purely on/off electric handbrake. Any suggestions? Thanks.

"the 911 I would but would have to be the turbo." Have you tried a non-turbo 911? My previous was an early Gen2 997 with PDK. In my opinion it was a faster car than the R but the Golf is easier to drive fast, if that makes any sense. The PDK - even the 08 model - was better than the current 7-speed DSG and, with the SportChrono package, the speed off the line was dramatic. Then you have the noise, steering feedback, suspension tuning, etc.. Obviously it's a very different beast to the R but worth a try, imho.

Dougaberdeen: if working in imperial units, power and torque figures should be the same number at 5250 rpm, at least it is for NA engines. It’s all to do with power being torque x revs but I can’t link to the physics/maths behind that: a quick Google should pull them up.

Being a technonumpty, I have no idea how to pull up these stats! Also I suspect that those with 19” wheels might make more use of the softer suspension settings. Or it could be an age thing, trying to avoid denture-rattle! I run in Comfort when just pootling about, Individual when pressing on. Occasionally I have a play in Race but it’s quite harsh on most of my local roads and the grip feels better with a bit more compliance. I’ve tried Eco on clogged-up motorways: it brings back memories of old cars with freewheel! Reading the comments, it seems quite a few folk adjust settings within the modes while on the move. That’s not for me so I do find it frustrating not to be able to change just one parameter. A previous car had buttons which made it easy to, say, soften the ride without changing anything else. That’s a minor gripe as it’s a cracking car!