61 replies to this topic

[Tfp]

You might be right there Pete; it is a little numb. Can't say I get a lot of satisfaction from giving the R loads of stick in the lanes.

 

It may be a bit un entertaining, but its incredibly efficient.

 

Love that Merc by the way.

[pete-r]

You might be right there Pete; it is a little numb. Can't say I get a lot of satisfaction from giving the R loads of stick in the lanes.

  It may be a bit un entertaining, but its incredibly efficient.   Love that Merc by the way.

Absolutely, it's effective at covering ground unlike any hatch I've ever been in. At a wet Anglesey in March an R estate was the fastest thing out there too.

[CocoPops]

I tested the Golf R to replace my wretched M135i auto....... I then tested the GTI and found it a lot sweeter to drive even with the reduced power.

Thread drift... what's wrong with the 135? (To make it wretched). On the other note, I have ordered a new GTI-PP with DSG to replace the Audi. Due October/November, still waiting on a delivery date.

[pete-r]

Great choice Lee, I ended up with a a non-pp GTI manual. I got a '16 plate with 4K for 20100 from a dealer. The 135 was an awful hatch. Where do I start... 1. The hk audio hissed like crazy all the time but bmw told me it was nothing and implied it was me hearing things. 2. The auto gearbox started whining in reverse and 4/5th which again bmw said was normal. 3. The steering feel is non existent, and the Golf shows electric racks can have some feel. 4. The auto box refused to obey orders. Put it in sport and it revs high all the time so you look stupid, put it in comfort and it always changes around 1500rpm so it's always out of the power band. Using the paddles to select a gear is ok but if you don't then do something on the throttle within a second or so it takes over again, so if your holding a gear for a gap to overtake it's just infuriating unless you see a gap, then engage sport mode, then pull the paddle to downshift which is just stupid. Then if you put your foot down hard in comfort there's a second or two delay while it decides what gear to drop to before going, by which time the gap has gone. 5. The rear tyres light up in tight bends way too easy, my previous E82 135, E46 M3 and E36 M3 did things much better. 6. The ride is appalling, I didn't spec adaptive dampers ubut it's just harsh and bounces down the road. Again the Golf hammers it for road damping. 7. I lost a small fortune on it. Had a 7k deposit contribution but still spent an uncomfortable amount because they are so commonplace the trade values suffer. 8. Every time I went over a tiny bump in the road the hard suspension made the rear view mirror drop. 9. My mate reckons his has given him tinnitus because he drove it a few hours with the window down and the wind drone is awful. There's probably more. On the plus side the engine is incredible and the pro nav is awesome to look at though often takes you into jams rather than around them. Overall it's a PlayStation car for pub stats but it's not a drivers car at all. It will get you down the road really quickly but I never felt part of the process.

Edited by pete-r, 24 July 2017 - 08:37 AM.

[ChrisS1]

Interesting feedback there Pete.

 

[ChrisS1]

Oh and that Merc great use of man maths also!

[pete-r]

Interesting feedback there Pete.  

I definitely think I'm in the minority, but it's easy to get blown away by the straight line speed.

[ChrisS1]

 

Interesting feedback there Pete.  

I definitely think I'm in the minority, but it's easy to get blown away by the straight line speed.

 

 

Good to hear real world experiences. Are you pleased with the GTi?

[CocoPops]

I guess of the main things will be speed? The GTI is 6.5s to 60, rather than the 4.something of the M135? Equally, I'm guessing the fuel usage is better in the GTI vs the M135?

[pete-r]

I absolutely love the GTI Chris. It's fast enough for a daily and in the midrange it's really rapid. I think the Golf is the better platform. The only thing that lets it down are the nav screen feels a little old compared to the retina style displays but I think the new 7.5 sorts that out, and weirdly the doors only have one stop position (sounds daft but it's a real world fault). I got 22.x from the bmw, and I get 29.x now. Mainly town driving rather than motorway.

[fezzasus]

That's fantastic, who cares about boot space when it looks that cool. I tested the Golf R to replace my wretched M135i auto. I wanted a manual and the pace was bananas and imagine the DSG even more relentless, but I then tested the GTI and found it a lot sweeter to drive even with the reduced power. And much cheaper for a newer car. There's something artificial about the VW 4wd for me, so I think you've made a wise choice.

 

Thanks Pete, interesting experience and agrees with a lot of the GTI to Golf R comparisons i've seen

[Nev]

 

Interesting feedback there Pete.  

I definitely think I'm in the minority, but it's easy to get blown away by the straight line speed.

 

 

Not so fast really IMO, I met one once, I've seen quite a few faster cars out there over the years.

 

[pete-r]

If you were in nipper then you have more power and less weight so hardly a shock. Against a normal car the auto m135i is relentless with no noticeable shift lag.

[Stevie Dubyah]

Great choice Lee, I ended up with a a non-pp GTI manual. I got a '16 plate with 4K for 20100 from a dealer. The 135 was an awful hatch. Where do I start... 1. The hk audio hissed like crazy all the time but bmw told me it was nothing and implied it was me hearing things. 2. The auto gearbox started whining in reverse and 4/5th which again bmw said was normal. 3. The steering feel is non existent, and the Golf shows electric racks can have some feel. 4. The auto box refused to obey orders. Put it in sport and it revs high all the time so you look stupid, put it in comfort and it always changes around 1500rpm so it's always out of the power band. Using the paddles to select a gear is ok but if you don't then do something on the throttle within a second or so it takes over again, so if your holding a gear for a gap to overtake it's just infuriating unless you see a gap, then engage sport mode, then pull the paddle to downshift which is just stupid. Then if you put your foot down hard in comfort there's a second or two delay while it decides what gear to drop to before going, by which time the gap has gone. 5. The rear tyres light up in tight bends way too easy, my previous E82 135, E46 M3 and E36 M3 did things much better. 6. The ride is appalling, I didn't spec adaptive dampers ubut it's just harsh and bounces down the road. Again the Golf hammers it for road damping. 7. I lost a small fortune on it. Had a 7k deposit contribution but still spent an uncomfortable amount because they are so commonplace the trade values suffer. 8. Every time I went over a tiny bump in the road the hard suspension made the rear view mirror drop. 9. My mate reckons his has given him tinnitus because he drove it a few hours with the window down and the wind drone is awful. There's probably more. On the plus side the engine is incredible and the pro nav is awesome to look at though often takes you into jams rather than around them. Overall it's a PlayStation car for pub stats but it's not a drivers car at all. It will get you down the road really quickly but I never felt part of the process.

 

Interesting. Sounds like you got a Freitag afternoon car... not good. :-(

 

To add a counterpoint to this, I've owned an M135 Auto from new since January 2016, and while the steering is pretty devoid of feel (Sport mode just makes it heavier) it's accurate enough to be fun.

 

I have no issues at all; no gearbox whining, just imperceptible shifts and strong performance across the rev range. The (standard) stereo is fine, but if I had my time again I would likely upgrade it.

 

The auto>manual mode stays in manual for about 20 seconds, if you do nothing, then reverts to auto. On the very rare occasions I fancy using the paddles I just snick the lever over and keep in manual.

 

The ride is fine - firm, but definitely not at all harsh... certainly nowhere near bumpy enough to move the mirror. I bought it because I had a back operation, which made the VX un-driveable, and it's no more bumpy than the wife's Volvo.

 

The engine is awesome and the gearbox always seems to know what gear to be in. It's pretty quiet on a run for a small car and almost as quick as my Stage2 SC VX when the mood takes me.

 

I don't tend to drive everywhere at full chat, but it's sporty enough for me and I don't get problems with wheel-spin, unless it's wet and greasy or I turn off all the TC and give it a boot-full. Something I don't recommend.

 

I like it a lot and am thinking of chopping it in for an M2 or an M240 at the end of the year (so I guess I'll find out about depreciation then).

 

 

 

Loving that Mercedes, though.

 

[pete-r]

Maybe my car was rare and poor. I can easily see the appeal hence why I bought one. Perhaps it was software but my car held a manual gear for no more than 3-4 seconds before going back into D. Is 20s in sport or comfort? Go out in a gti or r golf, the steering feel and ride/handling will blow you away compared. The sq on the audio upgrade was brilliant but on quiet bits of music it sounded like it needed a noise suppressant. Didn't help that the dealer in Swansea was crap (and has recently been taken over by sytner)

Edited by pete-r, 25 July 2017 - 10:59 AM.

[Stevie Dubyah]

Maybe my car was rare and poor. I can easily see the appeal hence why I bought one. Perhaps it was software but my car held a manual gear for no more than 3-4 seconds before going back into D. Is 20s in sport or comfort? Go out in a gti or r golf, the steering feel and ride/handling will blow you away compared. The sq on the audio upgrade was brilliant but on quiet bits of music it sounded like it needed a noise suppressant. Didn't help that the dealer in Swansea was crap (and has recently been taken over by sytner)

 

I test drove the GTI Golf at the time. It didn't do it for me and worked out more expensive after all of the deposit contributions and discounts. I see what people see in the Golf, but I often find myself left a bit cold by VAG products. I'll try the latest R, though; that can go on my list come replacement time.

 

I very rarely use the paddles, but if I do (to get the revs up to overtake, for example), I often get bored waiting for it to take back over and knock the lever left and right to force it to go back to manual. Definitely more than 4 seconds. It stays in comfort pretty much all of the time.  

There's no excuse for bad dealer service.

 

Funny how experience of the same car can vary, isn't it?

[pete-r]

Definitely, my mate bought one at the same time and loves it, he's on his second. But he drives a long motorway commute so the leggy auto wins. When it came out it was marmite in its reviews too. If I'd bought the manual I might have hung on to it longer, I have had a few autos including a Jaguar S type R which I adored (as did my local Esso) and seemed to suit the nature of the car but not this time. Coupled with the monthly cost of finance I was happy to swap and the acid test must be when I see one around I never regret it or pine to have it back.

[Stevie Dubyah]

Maybe my car was rare and poor. I can easily see the appeal hence why I bought one. Perhaps it was software but my car held a manual gear for no more than 3-4 seconds before going back into D. Is 20s in sport or comfort? Go out in a gti or r golf, the steering feel and ride/handling will blow you away compared. The sq on the audio upgrade was brilliant but on quiet bits of music it sounded like it needed a noise suppressant. Didn't help that the dealer in Swansea was crap (and has recently been taken over by sytner)

 

I doubt you care, but I timed the auto > manual switchover this weekend on mine.

 

I left it in auto, but pulled the shift paddle while driving normally (in comfort mode) and then didn't touch it again. It stayed in manual for between 10 and 14 seconds (different amount each time) before reverting to auto. So maybe I was a bit out with 20 seconds.

 

 

Either way, it just goes to prove it was a dull weekend.

[pete-r]

Strange it's a different amount each time. Mine was nowhere near that. I used to put it higher gears too to shut it up around town (say 1300rpm) but again it would go back from 6/7 to D after a double of seconds and the revs would go back up to 2000+. Maybe my car was a duffer, either way it's someone else's problem now. I love my Golf

[JG]

I love our M140i. But I don't drive it daily. I've little doubt that a Golf will be better for day to day.

There are few things as fast as my old GTD across ground. it just built and built confidence, whereas the m140 needs a lot more care, especially on the runflats. It tried to kill me the other day.

 

I would quite like a GTI/R along side the M140 for a daily.