I took both a Golf R and Scirocco R for a test drive today. Coming from an RS4, it was always going to be a hard sell but I had to start somewhere…
The thing I really wanted to find out was whether the DSG could really substitute for a manual gearbox. In my mind, at least for the ones fitted to these cars, the answer was no. I found that the change was still too slow. But what I did find, unexpectedly, is that these cars were fun to drive even letting them change gear themselves. The blip on the downshift and the muted “explosion” on the upshift were smile inducing. The engine sound was also a pleasure. I found manual shifting confusing, as this appeared to be something you did in addition to, as opposed to instead of, the transmission changing automatically. I didn’t bother in the end but would experiment with it further given more time. I did find the downshift paddle quite close to the indicator stalk so managed to flash the hi-beams at least one innocent motorist!
In Drive mode, the cars moved into high gears very quickly. At 60km/h, the Golf shifted to 5th, the Scirocco to 6th. Changing the transmission into Sport mode both saw them use 3rd gear at 60km/h, which seemed too low (I’d have the RS4 in 4th for the same speed).
My last experience with a turbo was a WRX STi Ver. 8. The VW turbo is a lot smoother and while it did not have the raw kick of a WRX, it certainly made up ground well when called upon, although after an initial delay. Having said that, with some more time in the car (the salesperson did suggest having the car for a day to really get used to it), a quick downshift would probably remedy that.
Both cars were nice places to sit, at least in the front (I didn’t bother experiencing either car from the rear seat, I don’t plan on ever sitting there). Both cars had cloth instead of leather, which was no bad thing either.
The interiors in both were great, nicely laid out dash with plenty of colour from the dials and screen. Plenty of gadgets and entertainment features to make the time stuck in traffic more bearable. These are features that the VW’s had over the RS4, which is almost sparse by comparison (and yes, I could throw some money at addressing this but the fact that these were default options in the VW that fit in with the overall design and layout were a plus in my mind).
I enjoyed the Golf more than Scirocco.
Now armed with some idea of what to expect from the DSG, I wanted to try a S5. But my wife decided she didn’t like those so never got that far…
Maybe I’m just a dinosaur and get amused easily but thought I’d share my experience. In the end, I didn’t buy either but the Golf R is something I would definitely consider with some more time behind the wheel.
