Quote:
Originally Posted by Transfer
Watch the video. He thinks the R has more chassis/brakes than the M235i.
Traction control is fully defeatable on the Mk7 Golf R. How do think he makes the car go nice and sideways in the vid?
You need to read up on the Mk7 GTI and R. It is an entirely different chassis which is very well balanced.
This is a very interesting comparison, and one that may not make sense to some people. His bottom line in the review is that the Golf R is the better car but he prefers the M235i due to 6 cylinder and RWD, that's it. You choose one of these cars over the other because either you want a RWD 6 cyl coupe that can get a little hairy at times, or you want an AWD hatch that is better sorted out. They are otherwise equal and you can't really say one is better than the other unless you insert your personal needs into the equation... until you look at price which is >$10k different when you consider LSD in the 235i.
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QFT
You know, when I watched the video, I was a little unnerved over the fact that a 35k+ hatch may outperform my new M235i - and I just came out of a MKVI GTI with an APR tune.
That being said, Chris Harris' perspective comes from a very focused viewpoint - how the car(s) performs while driving and nothing else. Not that there is anything wrong with that - he is a performance reviewer and we are (mostly) enthusiasts.
However, other things may be taken into consideration between the two cars - especially since, per Chris Harris, he could take one car over the other depending on how he feels. Whatever faults the M235i has in comparison to the Golf R are apparently so minor that he would take the M235i because of the engine noise and "fun" factor, and despite the fact that the motor/chassis/brakes aren't quite as good as the Golf.
Also, and this kind of depends on your take (or wants from a car). In my experience with my GTI (which, despite the MQB platform enhancements, is relatively similar in some respects with the MK 7 line) is that the car just ... doesn't feel as nice. I don't know what it is. Maybe its the build quality (lots of rattles in my GTI, none in the BMW), or the leather, or the iDrive system (which I happen to like), or the gearbox, or whatever, but I really fell in love with my M235i in a way that I never did with my GTI. I really don't know how to describe it.
That being said, Chris Harris is a pro driver - the Golf R is an
awesome car, and if he says its a teensy bit better than the M235i re: pure performance, I'll believe him, but I'll probably never notice the difference because I could never use either car in the way he is able to.