Volkswagen Golf Mk.7 Hatchback R (2014-2017)

Biggest mistake of my life – After getting promoted, I celebrated by buying a new Golf R, I spared no expense and was bowled over by the many test drives I completed. Everything was going well until the first service, keep in mind I’m a trained mechanic and pilot, but had to use them for warranty reasons - for the next year it was in and out, new turbos, new parts, leaks,… Read more

electronics that would freeze and stutter and then it flat out wouldn’t start. Fair to say they don’t like the Aussie heat much, even so, rubbish car for the price.

Golf R variant = superb – I bought this brand new and killed its warranty the next day by tuning it to Stage1 and then Stage2. (0 to 100 time is 3.4 seconds) Its quick enough now to keep up and beat some $140k+ cars like AMG, BMW M and Audi RS. Now that's value for money considering it only cost me $68k for car including all the tunes, upgrades, and major repairs. And yet… Read more

it still drives like a luxury car, interior is pretty good, exterior not too bad but could do with improvement.

Its been 2.5 years now I've done 65,000 KM.

Problems so far:

Major:

Front diff Transfer case - lost AWD ability costing me over $5000 (just unlucky)

Minor:

DSG Oil Leak - replaced DSG Plate cover - Thankfully warranty approved.

Vibration noise from dashboard - VW Tech's were not able to isolate.

Pros:

Great Daily driver

Great Family Car

Great Race Car

Great Spirited Joy Ride

Great on long drives

Good Interior

AndriodAuto is now a must for me

Adaptive Cruse Control is recommended, so handy for high traffic areas or long drives.

Very comfortable ride, bumps are absorbed really well compared to say BMW 135+ series.

Best looking steering wheel and button placement.

AWD handles well in all road conditions and grip is amazing

Cons:

The Turbo Lag. If you're a city driver you won't like it, GTI variant would be more fun.

Overpriced as a stock car (Not worth bang for buck if you're not planning to tune, BMW 135/140 may be a better choice for performance vs value)

Expensive 60k AWD service, now that its tuned, recommend more frequent servicing.

No electric adjustable seats.

Leather Seats could be a little better quality but still good.

Golf R has been great – The Golf R is my third VW and has been thus far as reliable and great to drive as the others. Running costs services have been, in my opinion, reasonable and most importantly I have been very satisfied with the dealer. The handling and roadholding is great and the performance is terrific. In fact there is almost too much performance (heresy?) for… Read more

suburban driving but when you need it to go it does! The DSG is so smooth and gear changes are almost imperceptible.

There is some tyre noise but with such low profile tyres this cannot be easily avoided. My only complaint is the timer on the rear window and exterior mirror demist. I have had no other complaints or issues with this car. Fuel consumption varies from 9.8lt/100km local driving to 6.9lt/100km for long distance driving with no real attempt to achieve economy.

The R is now two and a half years old and has covered 49,000 km and had the battery replaced, under warranty, three months ago. I bought the car mainly for the 4 Motion transmission as my previous car, a VW Bora V6 was fitted with 4 Motion and I have found the extra traction and grip to be extremely re-assuring in all circumstances.

It was pricy but quality costs and I have no regrets about paying the price for this car.

Over Priced – Purchased the VW Golf R just a few weeks ago. The first thing I will say about this car is that it is WAY WAY overpriced. $60,000 plus for a Hatch back is too much $$$ to outlay. As for the car, runs well, has all the bells and whistles, leather seats, although I will say the seats feel a little small. It requires premium fuel which ads to the… Read more

cost.

The gear box is fantastic where as you cannot feel any of the gear changes.

It has a sports mode gear box as well, easy to slip into it by mistake once you start the car.

The stop start technology is a real pain if you're not used to it.

To deactivate it, it must be done every time you start the car.

Inside technology is good, so much to learn though.

The owners guide book is thicker than a phone book, you get lost looking at it.

Maybe VW should think about supplying a DVD as well for the owner to view the manual with.

Overall impression is that the car does do everything asked of it.

I expected more for the price – Performance is great and customising the ride quality is appreciated. I use this car as a runaround, getting to work and my daily shopping trips. It is very easy to park and has a good turning circle. It has sensors galore so I feel safer when manouvering turns in tight car park buildings/u-turns etc . What I don't appreciate is when I am… Read more

reversing and half the screen is taken up with this dark box to customise options...it actually blocks my view so I have given up paying attention to the camera.

I bought all the extra options (except the sunroof, because I live in QLD) mostly because I wanted the added safety of an adaptive cruise control system. The R gives me additional security with its 4Motion system. Driving in heavy torrential downpours is risky, but this car just carves out the water and kicks into all wheel drive when needed to keep me steady. Both systems are great.

I bought this because I wanted a nice looking car and that had higher safety features. But for $70k, I could have bought a nice BMW or Audi, so I regret paying this much for the car. It is my second VW and I bought the Golf R because I owned a GTi (Mk6) and it was a great performer but now every second car on the road is a VW Golf. So, I am now looking at the new Jaguar XE.

The Fastest Golf Ever Made – 2.0L Turbo, 204KW, 380Nm, 0-100 in 5 seconds! The handling is incredible, just smooth control in all aspects from the feel on the road, nice smooth electronic acceleration with buckets of control on the accelerator to just sitting behind traffic and letting off the accelerator and it smoothly takes you down the hill without having to keep hitting… Read more

the break. Very easy to drive as it looks after it all for you.

A couple of issues with the App Connect technology. Bit of a pain with lag and temperamental action but still new so will hopefully improve with the next update when its in for a service.

Surprisingly good mileage when driven in normal mode at about 10K/L in the city.

Faulty since the day it was delivered – Car has had an infotainment fault since the day it was delivered - 6 months ago. Still unable to be repaired and have been told there is nothing I can do but wait. Completely blank screen on start up each morning, which means no satnav, no phone, now music settings, no reverse camera! Buy a vw at your own peril.  Show details

Golf R Red – I got this car in October 2015 and has been 3 months since then. I find this car so much fun to drive with. the Performance is good and the handling are seamless, I like how the car can do a U turn and feel so smooth doing it. There is a setting one the LCD Screen for your car to change your level of driving comfit from sports mode to eco. I found… Read more ·  1

out that because of the Australian weather(Heat) that the R model's KW's have been lowered a few more compared to our England brothers. Interior is neat and modern and tells me that its not over the top though dust love to hang on to the shinny black panels. The functionality and the buttons on the dashboard isn't confusing after you play around with it for an hour, its not all over the place like some cars or uncomfortably placed. I have yet to have any issues and when I used to drive to and from work in the city I would spend 60 a week on Octane 98 BUT since I moved work closer to home, I've spend between 50-60 a fortnight, may vary due to prices of the fuel.

Good – Being into my 8th Golf which is a my16 R wolfsburg limited edition having it a few days over 1 month with 1010k on the the clock the infotainment system has packed up completely. Apart from not getting what one has paid for it is very annoying not having this system as so many functions are dependant on it  Show details