yupididit wrote: Isnt the cla45 amg awd too? Anyway, great write up. I yet to ride in either.
Yeah the CLA45 AMG is AWD as well; but there's a pretty steep increase in price for the Merc. The FoRS & Golf R both start around $36/37k; whereas the CLA45 AMG starts at an eye watering $50,400!
I'm sure it's a nice car, but too rich for my blood. And for me- no hatch= not interested.
Goodness i thought they were cheaper!
The FoRS has an electronically controlled valve in the Driver's side exhaust outlet.
It is open in most of the drive modes and at WOT.
I suspect it is open briefly at start as well.
The ride is harsh for most poorly maintained roads. I've already lost one tire due to a nasty road seam that I hit at 35mph (it was marked at 45 and I was on the brakes hard as I hit it).
At the one and only track day I took it to so far, putting the suspension in Sport resulted in much too much bouncing on the slightly curved back straight at Portland International. To the point, I put it back in regular to avoid potentially being bounced off course at 120+mph.
As soon as the stock tires are used up, I'll be going to 18's for the street to get some extra sidewalk to improve the ride a bit.
I've not had any issues with it, I've put a little over 5000miles on it and a single oil change.
So updates? Also sent you a message...
Knurled said:In reply to Stefan:
But it sounds like a four cylinder. And DI engines sound awful au naturale, which is why they get muffled and artificial music piped in.
Plus, it's the only 300hp-range AWD thingus available with an automatic, bar the Evo X. (And, of course, the various mooses, but they're a different size class)
In hindsight, wanting a Golf R because it played FIVE-cylinder noises in-cabin, and lamenting that the Golf R and Evo X were the only 300hp hyperturbo handling-AWD cars available with an automatic... It's pretty funny given how things turned out.
And, yes, updates plz!
roninsoldier83 said:yupididit wrote: Isnt the cla45 amg awd too? Anyway, great write up. I yet to ride in either.Yeah the CLA45 AMG is AWD as well; but there's a pretty steep increase in price for the Merc. The FoRS & Golf R both start around $36/37k; whereas the CLA45 AMG starts at an eye watering $50,400!
I'm sure it's a nice car, but too rich for my blood. And for me- no hatch= not interested.
Da Boss's FIL has a CLA45. (He used to have an Outback, that he bought when he traded in his Legacy whatever-the-turbo-wagon-was because it was "too fast".. 2.5GT? 2.5XT? Whatever got you the EJ255)
Its brakes impress the hell out of me. Knurled-approved.
When he brings it in next month to swap the winter tires/wheels off, I'll take pics. The weird thing, to me, is that even though it is AWD, it still has differential tire/wheel sizing front to rear.
roninsoldier83 said:Mitchell wrote: Great summary! Did you drive the GTI with the DSG? I like to keep "sporty" cars in the back of my mind that I could share with my +1.I drove the GTI in both the DSG and the manual. I prefer the manual. The manual in these cars is extremely easy to use. I've owned a DSG in an Audi in the past and I did not enjoy the experience. For daily driving, I would actually prefer an traditional torque-converter auto over the DSG. I know I'm in the minority there, but I wasn't all that impressed with the dual-clutch.
I understand the performance benefits of the dual clutch, but for light to light commuting, it frequently felt like a novice trying to drive a manual. My biggest gripes about the DSG:
-It frequently had trouble pulling away from a light/stop smoothly. I don't think most people would notice/care, but I did. I honestly felt I could drive smoother in a traditional manual, as I could feel a slight shudder pulling away from a light; it felt like a manual driver barely being able to slip the clutch out and getting some clutch/flywheel chatter in the process.
-It downshifted aggressively when just braking for a stoplight, causing a massive engine-braking effect. This would be great for a racetrack! For light to light traffic, I found it annoying... let's say I'm giving the car ~50% brake pedal to stop for a red light... the car downshifts and the 50% pedal I'm giving feel is much more pronounced, feeling like I'm giving it ~80% brake pedal; so I let off the brake a bit... then the engine braking effect lessens, so I give it a bit more pedal... then it downshifts again and the exact same thing happens... It used to annoy the hell out of me. I don't think most people would notice, but since I've been driving primarily manuals for the past 2 decades, I sure did. Again, I prefer a manual.
-I felt like it was frequently in the wrong gear and never really learned my driving style. It was GREAT at shifting early in order to help you obtain good gas mileage. It was also pretty good when you are really flogging on it... but everything in between? Not so much. Driving the car at 0-30% was fine; driving it at 80-100% was fine. But it frequently got confused in the "30-80%" area, where I spend a lot of my time. If that makes sense? Sure, you can use the paddle shifters to shift yourself and avoid the issue; but at that point, in my mind it just makes more sense to buy the manual.
I know a lot of people love the DSG and swear by it. I'm just not one of them. Call me old school, but I prefer to row my own gears. The DSG takes away the fun/involvement factor for me and replaces it with a transmission that doesn't act the way I think it should, just for the sake of convenience. As long as my left leg is functional, I'll be sticking with the 3-pedal arrangement.
Couldn't agree more with all of your points. I feel the same way about most current DSG + DCT's (Current gen PDK being the exception). I would MUCH rather take one of the excellent ZF 9 speed units or Ford new 10 speed over the DSG any day.
roninsoldier83 said:I only have 1 real argument against the Golf R: you can get a GTI for almost $10k less and have just as much fun. In some ways, I actually preferred the GTI, due to it being lighter/more tossable and I preferred the way it cornered with the fancy electronic front diff. I'm also a sucker for the GTI's plaid seats and the dirt cheap ($1500) performance pack on the GTI nets you the EXACT same brakes as the Golf R! The Golf R gets more power vs the GTI, but really, there isn't as much of an acceleration advantage as you might think and the GTI's engine is more low-end friendly, making it great for the daily commute. ...
To illustrate a point: every year, Car and Driver puts on their annual Lightning Lap event. By comparison, the MK7 GTI ran a 3:14.6 around VIR vs the Golf R's 3:12.3. The R is the faster car, but not by a huge margin given it's power and traction advantage. The Focus cars? The Focus RS ran an impressive 3:03.9 vs the Focus ST's 3:17.6. That's a massive gap, and does a great job of demonstrating the vast improvements in the FoRS vs the FoST; whereas you can see that the 2 VW cars are much closer, making the GTI a potentially better value proposition.
This is the exact argument that keeps bringing me back to the mk7 GTI as a potential next daily driver. The cloth plaid seats are great, and the "Sport" trim gives you all the performance goodies and the lighting package.
Cblais19 said:The 2017 "Sport" trim for the GTi includes the formerly standalone Perf Package and Lighting Package (steering Xenons) for an OTD price right around $26k based on local dealers. That's quite a steal.
Yup! Plus now used ones are starting to pop up below $20K. The fact they'll knock down 30+ mpg hwy makes them a strong contender given my commute. Slick top, manual trans, LSD, and the R brakes? win.
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