stevie1982

iTrader: (16)

So the A1 sold and has been replaced with a 65 plate Golf R. Was looking at the latest shape impreza as it's the only shape I've not owned over the years however the engine concerns just put me off and always fancied trying a R out so figured the time was right. Collected it on Saturday and quite impressed with it, usual issue with the DSG where drive shifts up to early and sport holds on to long yet other than that they are not bad cars.

Need to get hold of a VCDS cable to tweak a couple of bits. Set the exhaust flaps to open and turn off the enhanced cabin sound.

Anyone else had one or got any pointers on them?

Cheers

SmurfyBhoy

Having driven a couple of stock ones and a stage 2 APR one (400ish)

They are amazing cars and would struggle to find a better all rounder,

They stage 2 one was like lightning but wasn't cheap either

Personally my 1st mod would be brakes if driving it hard

Followed by even just Stage 1 APR Software they remap the DSG too

SmurfyBhoy

Have a Launch vid of the Stage 2 R somewhere can PM it

Wull

I've been seriously tempted by these a few times, came across a stage 3+ one on eBay that tickled my fancy but I just can't bring myself to get rid of the Evo.

imprezagaz

iTrader: (2)

There was one at scoobyfest this year at York raceway. Running 465 and it was doing consistent 11.2. Surprised me

Moley

iTrader: (9)

I have been tempted to get one for the Mrs, but the huge amounts of thefts has put me off so far

A friend works for a VAG specialist and recommends the REVO, but i was more than impressed with the car in standard form when i went out in one

First 'mod' should be better security, on your property as much as the car

stevie1982

iTrader: (16)

Completely stock at the moment yet have been tempted to stage 1 the ecu and dsg as I've seen some decent figures being claimed. Doesn't cost that much either around 1200 to get 370 odd bhp. To go stage 2 it's full system, intake and intercooler which will see 400-415 so depending on what you fit I'm not sure pound for return over the stage 1 is enough.

Yeah pm it over, thanks

stevie1982

iTrader: (16)

They're great arounders mate, I've been looking at a custom map from MRC, big in the audi world over the Revo or APR yet I don't think you can go wrong with either of them.

I'll give you a shout once the policy is due for renewal

imprezagaz

iTrader: (2)

Map tech in brigg have one and to map it is a lot less than 1200

stevie1982

iTrader: (16)

MRC, Revo (via vagtech) both quote 599 for ecu and 399 for dsg both ex vat prices. Never heard of map tech so I'll check them out.

Cheers

imprezagaz

iTrader: (2)

http://www.map-tech.co.uk/your-car.htm?car=4702

have used him before many of times and he is good.

barnshaw

iTrader: (1)

had a 2015 DSG Golf R for 2 years and it was brilliant, never went wrong and I gave it death, impressive grip and handling as standard, replaced with an M140i and I do miss the golf r in honesty, superb cars

lozgti1

I'd love one. Extremely stealthy. Til you cop the exhaust pipes....

RS Grant

Had one for nearly 3 years until recently, brilliant car... mine was a manual and ran a JB1-box with supporting Stage 1 mods and it was really quick, even with the torque-limiting map to preserve the clutch of my car giving me a smooth ~330lbft rather than the full fat punch of ~360lbft.

Rick @ Unicorn is where I'd take an R for mapping, proper custom maps and gets some very good figures out of them too. IIRC there was a Unicorn mapped Stage 2 car that was running high 10-second 1/4 mile too, that's seriously impressive for a car which is equally at home bumbling along doing the daily grind and doesn't cost much; compared to other 10-second cars.

stevie1982

iTrader: (16)

Not sure I'd get a tubing box so it would have to be a map. Yeah I've heard good things about unicorn just they are too far to travel but thanks for the input

Saxo Boy

JB1 tuning box is fine once you research what they actually are and do. I've ran a JB1 on my R Estate for 13,000 miles without issue and I drive it hard. If you remap a VAG car you can kiss your warranty goodbye but it took me just 30 minutes to remove my JB1 before putting the car in for a service. Obviously a remap IS better but not at the expense of warranty.

Golf R is the best all round car I've owned by a distance. My lease is due up in September and I'm simply either extending it or getting another Golf R Estate. I can't find anything for circa £300-350 per month all in that's practical, fun when pressing on, 4WD and runs 0-100mph in 9s with just a £400 box of wires and what looks like a calculator microchip.

Key to getting the best out of DSG is to learn how to use manual mode properly, use it often and get replacement (larger) paddles or paddle extensions. I drive in manual mode 95% of the time. It's very rare I let the car do the shifting, even around town, runs to the shops, etc.

stevie1982

iTrader: (16)

Thanks for the feedback, that's one small concern i have as it's under warranty until December 2018, not normally fussed about it and just do what I want, must be getting old!

Can you recommend where to get decent paddles from, looked on ebay and just dubious of quality etc

Thanks

nik52wrx

I bought from these guys, expensive but are top quality.
They are direct replacements, not stick on rubbish.

http://www.s2tpp.com/VW.html

If you join the vw r owners forum they have group buys from time to time.

http://www.vwroc.com/forums/

RS Grant

JB1 is a tuning box, buuuut not a generic tuning box.. it's a bit more involved than that and the reason I went for that over the one everyone else was going for at the time was because it offered a level of safety and peace of mind that I wouldn't have had with the other option.

I drove my car for ~3 years, did 13k fairly fast miles, numerous track days and trip to The Ring and it never put a foot wrong... but when it needed to go in for a service then it was a piece of cake to remove and re-fit afterwards. If you are in any way concerned about warranty, then I don't see any other option IMO.

Totally agree, miss mine at times and if I needed a car to use daily then I'd be straight back out to find an R Estate. Fantastic cars.

stevie1982

iTrader: (16)

Hi mate, thanks for that I'll take a look. Yeah I've joined vw r however the classified section I see just has a few cars. Might have to hit a number of posts or paid membership to get full access?

Cheers

stevie1982

iTrader: (16)

Thanks for the open and honest view point. Only had the car a week and it's a great car, just getting used to it and power bands etc yet it's always nice to have a little more power. Been perfect in today's weather

SRSport

Has Subaru not sorted this out yet? I stopped at the Hawkeye as I couldn’t trust the marque, can’t believe 10 years on and they still can’t produce a reliable engine.

Saxo Boy

S2T's are the best paddle extensions as they are a complete replacement but they are seriously expensive for what they are.

I have these ones and they were about £30 and stick on with 3M tape and little grub screws that pinch the original paddles. They looks alien for all of about 5 minutes but now they just blend in with the architecture of the interior. I've sat numerous times looking around the cabin waiting while the wee man sleeps another 10 minutes and they simply register as OEM. The car would honestly look wrong without them now. They are rock solid for feel and the size allows activation through a wide range of lock. They don't interfere with the indicators or other controls and I can easily make changes mid-roundabout if I'm running out of revs

Genuinely, I could get a £50,000 windfall tomorrow and I still wouldn't replace them with S2Ts, as I simply don't see the point. They look great and feel great and do everything I need.

Saxo Boy

It's also worth noting that the support from George at Burger Sport is second to none. He will endlessly assist you in setting up, configuring and fine tuning the JB1 and JB4 units and will check your logs to make sure your individual car is happy. The big selling point for me was that the JB1/4 are tied into the fuel pressure sensor and through some wizardry it can actively alter fuelling to account for the extra boost it's layering in. The other tuning boxes in the market simply throw in the boost and wait for the lambda sensor in the exhaust to report lean conditions whereupon the car's ECU will trim fuelling. This post-combustion/chasing your tail approach never sat right with me and graphs of said other box on the dyno show some pretty big swings from lean to rich and back as the ECU goes daft trying to figure out what's going on.

If you have a warranty until December 2018 I'd get a JB4 (which you can sell on easily afterwards) and then when the warranty expires go the whole hog with a full remap.

JB4 is more of a PITA to fit though as you have to take a wire through the bulkhead to the OBD port. You will swear. A lot. My DSG gearbox wasn't happy with the JB4 so I reverted to JB1. I think it was an isolated incident and could probably be solved with a top of the DSG oil (also a PITA). As it's a lease car I didn't want to fanny around so I went back to JB1 and can live with 10-15hp less. JB4 was bloody ballistic though and it spooled up so much faster because the OBD tie in allows it to add boost based on the throttle position whereas the JB1 only activates when it see 9psi. For this reason, the JB4 is also a little smoother but I seldom find the JB1 anything other than smooth anyway.

stevie1982

iTrader: (16)

Do you have a link to the paddles?

Thanks

stevie1982

iTrader: (16)

Thanks for the info, I've got a dsg equipped car, not sure I'm after and dsg related headaches however I'll take a look and again cheers for the help

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Interesting thread.

I note that no-one has yet mentioned fuel economy?

I would have thought that in this day and age it would be a concern?

nik52wrx

I will then.....
Mostly around town driving, averaging 27mpg from new, approaching two years old.

Saxo Boy

I got mines directly through a chap on VWROC but I think the company he was sourcing them from through Aliexpress are now supplying directly in the UK. If you ask on VWROC someone will point you in the right direction in no time.

Fuel economy is heavily dependant on how you drive. I drive mines fairly hard and average around 27mpg in mixed driving. A hard blast can see that in the low 20s and a long run at 70mph with hard acceleration away from roundabouts will see 30-33mpg. For an experiment I drove as economically as I could for 20 miles and managed 42mpg.

With regards to DSG I'll say this. If I drove it all the time in D (i.e full auto) and never used the manual functionality I'd probably be frustrated at the lack of interaction, control and the potential for odd gear decisions from the ECU. However, given the way I use it (which is really rare), I'd struggle to go back to a full manual car.

stevie1982

iTrader: (16)

Cheers saxo, found the link and have a set on order. Been looking at the jb1 and jb4, price point is great. Torn between the 2 mind as the DSG box may struggle with the jb4 power output increase, most tuners offer a tcu/dsg tune to cope with the power increase. Might stick with the jb1 until the warranty runs out