u/BahnMe

I’m not familiar with the current market.

Essentially I bought a second system during my buying craze and I barely ever used it. I did upgrade the warranty to max years and it’s in mint shape. I’ve just been swamped with work and its not getting any lighter so I might as well just sell it. This is not a sale ad and any PMs will be ignored.

If anyone is familiar with the market, would be curious.

I feel fucking done with the Golf R, fourth time this week the infotainment reboots exactly when I'm not sure where the fuck I'm at and need direction. Then it goes into an infinite loop trying to reconnect CarPlay.

Every other reboot now, I have to pull over, turn the car off, leave, lock, come back 1min30s later. This used to happen every couple of weeks which made it somewhat tolerable. Now it's every other day.

Car is amazing otherwise. But I wouldn't recommend it until they fix this issue. None of my other cars, including a fucking '22 Land Rover Velar (famous for electrical issues) has this issue.

Does it work any better if you disable CarPlay?

The noise from the camber plates at low speed is quite annoying. I think for my other vehicles I might try something else like adjustable control arms or these bushings.

Anyone have experience with them? I’m curious how much of a difference there is in Street vs Black series? Do they hold up over repeated seasons of 10-15 days?

In the US. Trying this out with my R8W, I like the integration.

But damn, so many warnings for cops that don’t exist, speed cameras that are nowhere near my path of travel. I got like six speed camera warnings while just going straight on the highway where there are no speed cameras except maybe deep in local roads.

I guess it’s good it’s a free trial but I was hoping the data and functionality would be better.

Sometimes I forget during a session and it’s so dumb I have to go into 3 menus between each start up.

I have to turn off stability, turn off collision braking, turn off emergency mode, put in custom settings…

On top of that I gotta start my lap timers and all that too.

I’m looking for some more drama from the car. Feels quite boring sometimes compared to my other vehicles. I have the APR intake and APR stage 1 tune so the speed is there and some more whistling noises but still feels a bit plain.

I don’t have emissions testing in WA so maybe down pipe? But don’t want it to be too too obnoxious.

I’ve been on a kick to rearrange my fleet a bit but I just can’t think of any car that’s as well rounded as the Golf R.

It’s small enough to be to tossable and agile but big enough to hold an extra set of wheels and tires along with camping gear and track accessories for a track day weekend without any creative solution required.

It has huge customization potential with a robust aftermarket of quality upgrades that are not insanely priced. Even stock it’s faster and more powerful than its closest competitor the GR Corolla while being much nicer inside and having more tuning headroom while staying reliable. The AWD system is advanced and robust enough to hold on to multiple push laps on a hot day without overheating.

Considerations:
Roughly 3,450 pounds
315–328 hp stock
Torque-vectoring AWD
Fast dual-clutch transmission
Compact exterior dimensions
Genuine rear-seat and hatch utility
Comfortable year-round daily use
Exceptional tuning support

Perhaps its actual closest competitor are previous generations of the Golf R and maybe the Focus RS which is famous for having a fragile driveline.

Of course, I have many complaints about the car, some of which I have mitigated (replaced steering wheel touch buttons with physical, replaced subwoofer with previous generation, removed steering tug nanny for adaptive cruise, etc), but I really can’t think of any car that can quite match it in being such an excellent practical all rounder.

My other vehicles make me really bored of my Golf R (718 Boxster GTS, C205 C63). There's just no sense of occasion or excitement when I start it up and drive it. Of course it makes it very comfortable and practical because of the hatch while still being very small. I can easily fit an extra set of wheels and tires, camping equipment and such with the seats down. However, I took it recently on a 3 hour back road drive and it was just Ok, didn't feel that serotonin hit from an exhilarating drive.

I am thinking of taking one of these paths:

1. Golf R mods: APR Stage 1 kit + APR intake + APR cat back + APR Intercooler
2. Trade it in for a CLA45

I have modified the Golf slightly, just RS3 brake ducts, Neuspeed camber plates, and some more aggressive pads and SRF. I have been tracking more recently and I sometimes do 2 day track weekends but usually go once a month and plan to go more often with either the Golf or CLA.

I am wondering if the CLA45 can stand up to that kind of use as reliably as option 1... The model I'm looking at has the Dynamic Plus back, the six piston brakes, the adaptive suspension, and the track pack.