From here - Traded in my 2015 STi for a 2016 Golf R, here are my thoughts after 4 days - GOLFMK7 - VW GTI MKVII Forum / VW Golf R Forum / VW Golf MKVII Forum
Background
The reason I started looking for a car to replace the 2015 STi is because I no longer felt that I could rely on it as a daily driver. It was Stage 2, started misfiring, and when I brought it back to stock, it stopped. I got the engine compression and leak down tested when the car was being brought to stock and the engine showed no issues, but after reading all the horror stories of blown stock engines I just didnāt feel like this car could get my from point A to B reliably any more. Itās important to me to have peace of mind with a daily driver and it was simply gone after the fiasco I went through.
First Impressions
My friend and I took a 5.5 hour drive to New Jersey to pick up the car on Saturday. The car in question was a 2016 Golf R in Lapiz Blue with a manual transmission and DCC/Nav. We were definitely a little fatigued when we got there, but as soon as we did the salesman tossed me the keys to the R to let me test drive it to make sure it was what I wanted. The second I sat in it and drove 10 feet, my friend and I were both relieved knowing we would have a MUCH more comfortable ride back home.
I had a stock short throw shifter on my STi so one of the first things I noticed was the long throw of the shifter compared to that. Compared to the STi, the Golf Rās transmission is a lot more forgiving when it comes to less-than-perfect shifts. If you had a less-than-perfect shift in the STi the car would definitely let you know it wasnāt happy. The Golf R will obviously still let you know but it isnāt nearly as violent. The clutch in the Golf R is also much lighter than the STi.
I definitely agree with all of the throttle lag complaints. You certainly have to have more time to āplanā a downshift compared to the STi. Itās certainly one thing I hope is fixed with a tune, which I will get eventually.
Interior
It goes without saying but the interior of the Golf R is leagues ahead of the STi. In the STi it was extremely apparent where costs were cut in the interior. For example, the window switches on the driverās side only had one-touch up/down for the driverās window. The other windows didnāt have one-touch up/down. Really Subaru? How much did you save there per car, a couple bucks if that? Another issue I had was that the optional Kicker Subwoofer caused the rear center brake light to violently rattle. Itās definitely an issue that Subaru had to have noticed during QA but simply didnāt care about. Any reviewer will tell you that the money went into the chassis and engine and itās 100% true.
The VW interior is a nice German interior with very German cup holders. Every material that you would touch in the VW (buttons, steering wheel, radio) feels worlds ahead of the STi. The navigation system is comparable to the aftermarket Pioneer AVIC-8000NEX that I had in the Subaru. The system also has Android Auto, Apple Carplay, and Mirrorlink, so I donāt think itāll ever go obsolete as long as these 3 platforms keep getting developed.
Drivability
One of the things I was almost certain I would lose when going from the STi to the Golf R were the STiās amazing handling abilities. The last Golf I drove was a mk5 GTi and it handled like you would think a FWD car would. This feeling quickly eroded when I took my first few corners in the Golf R. For street use, I think the car handles fantastic. Iām sure on a track these two cars would feel completely different in the handling department, but for spirited backroad driving I donāt think one car is vastly superior to the other. In race mode the car feels as planted and willing to dive into corners as the STi.
Speaking of the different modes, theyāre excellent and work as advertised. I love putting the car in comfort mode on my daily commute and then switching it quickly to race mode when Iām about to take an on or off-ramp. I had an e92 M3 with EDC and never bothered switching it up because I didnāt really feel a discernable difference between the harshest and softest settings. The differences were very apparent when going over the GW bridge on the way home and switching between race and comfort. The bumps every 20 feet on the bridge felt completely different between the two modes.
Putting around town is also much better in the Golf R than the STi. The gearing is A LOT longer in the Golf R, so staying in 3rd is no big deal when youāre cruising around in the 30-40mph range. You have to be a lot more attentive to the gear youāre in with the STi around town.
What I donāt like about the Golf R
The STi, even stock, has a much better sounding exhaust than the Golf R. You can barely hear the exhaust in the Golf R compared to the STi. The biggest disappointment we had when coming home was going through a long, narrow tunnel in CT. We put the car in race mode and put the windows down. Right away the fatal flaw of the engine speaker (soundaktor?) was apparent. Since the engine speaker is piped into the cabin, when you open your windows the sound actually gets quieter because itās no longer bouncing off the windows. We gunned it through the tunnel and barely heard anything. I do plan on getting an intake and downpipe sometime in the future, but I may have to add an AWE exhaust to the mix.
That all being said, I donāt plan on turning off or adjusting the volume of the engine speaker. I actually donāt mind the sound that comes out of it. I completely understand why people have gripes with it though.
Conclusion
Iām obviously still very much in the honeymoon phase but the Golf R is a much better car for me than the STi as a daily driver. I keep telling this to people that asked me why I switched; the STi is the car I would have loved to have when I was 19, but Iām 29 now. If I was more into track days/autocross I might prefer the STi, but even then, I would rather buy a miata or something and use that for the track vs. a 4 door tuned family sedan. The STi definitely made me way more attentive to my shifting habits and in turn it definitely made me a lot more proficient at driving stick. I will definitely miss the Subaru wave I got from everyone, but I think thatās a minor price to pay for a much more comfortable ride.
P.S. This question came up in my mind so a lot of you will probably be wondering the same; why didnāt you wait for the Focus RS? I suppo
Background
The reason I started looking for a car to replace the 2015 STi is because I no longer felt that I could rely on it as a daily driver. It was Stage 2, started misfiring, and when I brought it back to stock, it stopped. I got the engine compression and leak down tested when the car was being brought to stock and the engine showed no issues, but after reading all the horror stories of blown stock engines I just didnāt feel like this car could get my from point A to B reliably any more. Itās important to me to have peace of mind with a daily driver and it was simply gone after the fiasco I went through.
First Impressions
My friend and I took a 5.5 hour drive to New Jersey to pick up the car on Saturday. The car in question was a 2016 Golf R in Lapiz Blue with a manual transmission and DCC/Nav. We were definitely a little fatigued when we got there, but as soon as we did the salesman tossed me the keys to the R to let me test drive it to make sure it was what I wanted. The second I sat in it and drove 10 feet, my friend and I were both relieved knowing we would have a MUCH more comfortable ride back home.
I had a stock short throw shifter on my STi so one of the first things I noticed was the long throw of the shifter compared to that. Compared to the STi, the Golf Rās transmission is a lot more forgiving when it comes to less-than-perfect shifts. If you had a less-than-perfect shift in the STi the car would definitely let you know it wasnāt happy. The Golf R will obviously still let you know but it isnāt nearly as violent. The clutch in the Golf R is also much lighter than the STi.
I definitely agree with all of the throttle lag complaints. You certainly have to have more time to āplanā a downshift compared to the STi. Itās certainly one thing I hope is fixed with a tune, which I will get eventually.
Interior
It goes without saying but the interior of the Golf R is leagues ahead of the STi. In the STi it was extremely apparent where costs were cut in the interior. For example, the window switches on the driverās side only had one-touch up/down for the driverās window. The other windows didnāt have one-touch up/down. Really Subaru? How much did you save there per car, a couple bucks if that? Another issue I had was that the optional Kicker Subwoofer caused the rear center brake light to violently rattle. Itās definitely an issue that Subaru had to have noticed during QA but simply didnāt care about. Any reviewer will tell you that the money went into the chassis and engine and itās 100% true.
The VW interior is a nice German interior with very German cup holders. Every material that you would touch in the VW (buttons, steering wheel, radio) feels worlds ahead of the STi. The navigation system is comparable to the aftermarket Pioneer AVIC-8000NEX that I had in the Subaru. The system also has Android Auto, Apple Carplay, and Mirrorlink, so I donāt think itāll ever go obsolete as long as these 3 platforms keep getting developed.
Drivability
One of the things I was almost certain I would lose when going from the STi to the Golf R were the STiās amazing handling abilities. The last Golf I drove was a mk5 GTi and it handled like you would think a FWD car would. This feeling quickly eroded when I took my first few corners in the Golf R. For street use, I think the car handles fantastic. Iām sure on a track these two cars would feel completely different in the handling department, but for spirited backroad driving I donāt think one car is vastly superior to the other. In race mode the car feels as planted and willing to dive into corners as the STi.
Speaking of the different modes, theyāre excellent and work as advertised. I love putting the car in comfort mode on my daily commute and then switching it quickly to race mode when Iām about to take an on or off-ramp. I had an e92 M3 with EDC and never bothered switching it up because I didnāt really feel a discernable difference between the harshest and softest settings. The differences were very apparent when going over the GW bridge on the way home and switching between race and comfort. The bumps every 20 feet on the bridge felt completely different between the two modes.
Putting around town is also much better in the Golf R than the STi. The gearing is A LOT longer in the Golf R, so staying in 3rd is no big deal when youāre cruising around in the 30-40mph range. You have to be a lot more attentive to the gear youāre in with the STi around town.
What I donāt like about the Golf R
The STi, even stock, has a much better sounding exhaust than the Golf R. You can barely hear the exhaust in the Golf R compared to the STi. The biggest disappointment we had when coming home was going through a long, narrow tunnel in CT. We put the car in race mode and put the windows down. Right away the fatal flaw of the engine speaker (soundaktor?) was apparent. Since the engine speaker is piped into the cabin, when you open your windows the sound actually gets quieter because itās no longer bouncing off the windows. We gunned it through the tunnel and barely heard anything. I do plan on getting an intake and downpipe sometime in the future, but I may have to add an AWE exhaust to the mix.
That all being said, I donāt plan on turning off or adjusting the volume of the engine speaker. I actually donāt mind the sound that comes out of it. I completely understand why people have gripes with it though.
Conclusion
Iām obviously still very much in the honeymoon phase but the Golf R is a much better car for me than the STi as a daily driver. I keep telling this to people that asked me why I switched; the STi is the car I would have loved to have when I was 19, but Iām 29 now. If I was more into track days/autocross I might prefer the STi, but even then, I would rather buy a miata or something and use that for the track vs. a 4 door tuned family sedan. The STi definitely made me way more attentive to my shifting habits and in turn it definitely made me a lot more proficient at driving stick. I will definitely miss the Subaru wave I got from everyone, but I think thatās a minor price to pay for a much more comfortable ride.
P.S. This question came up in my mind so a lot of you will probably be wondering the same; why didnāt you wait for the Focus RS? I suppo
