Why compare a manual 3 door mk5 with a DSG 5 door MK8.....

Yes and no... if you can look past the peeling interior trim and the fading red LED screen in the mk5 maybe 😁 has always bugged the hell out of me when I had one, but I am anal about things like that. Also don't agree though that the ride comfort was that good. Maybe they have stiffened it up a lot in the mk8 but the mk7s I drove had much better ride than the mk5.

Thats the beauty of the MK5 now though, being a VW hatchback you just need to pop to Pic-A-Part or Zebra and stock up on trim bits from lesser models to keep it fresh.

The advancements in cars since 2004 have mainly been what gizmo's go into them and POWER, I would find it very hard to justify forking out 65k for a Mk8 vs buying the nicest Mk5 and adding a $1000 head unit with car play etc.

The same cant really be said if you compare a 1990 Golf to a 2005 Golf in terms f refinement and dynamics.

Fitted some 3mm spacers to front wheels on RS5 (to give some more caliper clearance). Noticed the spacer is smaller in diameter than the wheel mounting face and hub face....by about 30mm. Consequently the outer part of wheel face isn't  flush with hub. (ie unsupported). Is this a) safe and b) normal.

Pic here
https://www.a5oc.com/threads/wheel-spacer-hub-to-wheel-face-gap.176458/#post-1619359

Nah I actually pulled it out to take it down to the scrap yard aye. Just have too many projects and can’t finish them all