[gpchamp]

I may be in the market for a new ride and could use some feedback. Should I go for a CPO 2018 440i GC or a new VW Golf R? I think either car would be a substantial upgrade to my current 428i GC Dinan as a daily driver.

Thoughts?

[TodmordenLad]

Test drive both. I did. The 4GC won for me as it is the better GT car, and most of my journeys are long distance. The GC has more hatch space which was important too. The R's is miserly, less than the GTi's because of the four wheel drive system
With the MPPSK installed, the GC sounds better too. The R's exhaust sound is only average and the quad pipes look a bit naff too, IMO

[lacrimarum]

It depends on how you plan to use it.
I’d go for R for street+track usage. If that’s a car just for daily commutes, GC would feel more refined and practical without substantial sacrifice in sportyness.

[Zanity]

I could never go for a VW due to their forever bland and dull interior. But that's just me.

[uncleruckus]

Not even close for me... 4GC

[Pazu]

I'd go with the 440GC too. Very happy with my 440i Coupe so far. It's a very pretty car, as are the GCs. I find the VWs far less exciting visually.

[JustMtnB44]

I have a '16 Golf R now and am looking to get a F31 wagon instead. Mostly due to wanting more cargo space and a better GT car.

The R is really fun to drive, given the appropriate roads to do so. As a daily commuter its ok but not great as I would best describe it as high strung. The suspension and 19" wheels result in a fairly harsh ride on bumpy roads, but grip is excellent and handling is well composed. There is a noticeable boost threshold due to it using a fairly large turbo. This isn't a problem, it just means in daily commuter driving you don't even get into boost much of the time unless there is empty road ahead. Mine is a manual and the clutch is terrible, plus some other weird behaviors make it harder to drive smoothly than I would expect. The manual is also significantly slower than the DSG from a stop.

As noted the cargo space in the Golf R isn't as great as you would think, mostly due to it being very short in length. The overall build quality is very good, and the interior looks and feels more like an Audi than a VW. It's a great car overall, but doesn't fit my needs and lifestyle as well as I thought it would.

[Blubaron79]

I will say last time at the track the Golf R there was crushing everyone.

[jcdub]

I'd go for the golf R personally

[Sayzar]

4 GC for me all the way better looking car.

[TodmordenLad]

Originally Posted by Blubaron79

I will say last time at the track the Golf R there was crushing everyone.

Maybe, but if 99.9% of your driving time is on public roads, it's pretty pointless buying a car for its track ability :

[anotheran]

Originally Posted by TodmordenLad

Maybe, but if 99.9% of your driving time is on public roads, it's pretty pointless buying a car for its track ability :

Dodge Journey for everyone! substantial cargo upgrade!

[tex2670]

If they are around the same price, GC all the way.

[Mountain_Commando]

Weird comparison IMO.

A hatchback is so dissimilar to a sedan (yes technically the 4GC is also a hatch). Your space requirements alone would dictate the winner, if not the cost difference (I'm assuming its significant). Or aesthetics, personally the tiny Golf has nothing on the big and suave 4GC.

[HDClown]

I had a 2016 Golf R DSG w/DCC & NAV for 3 year lease and am now in a 2018 440i GC (got it 2 months ago). I had a 2013 Golf R DSG prior to the 2016. I was seriously looking at yet another Golf R but wanted a change. Only thing really new if I went to another R would be Virtual Cockpit (which is the best system on the market IMO) but otherwise same car with some style updates.

Anyway, these cars are absolutely nothing alike, they are just totally different. I enjoyed my years in the Golf R and have enjoyed my time in the 440i GC thus far. R drove lighter and more nimble, with more road noise and it felt faster than you were going. The GC drives heavier with a more "solid' feel to it, much quieter, and I feel like I'm creeping along at 70mph on the highway, which is dangerous because I find myself at 90mph and it still feels slower than 70mph did in the R.

The R felt roomier inside due to more head clearance to the roof and window design. There's more stuff going on in the BMW interior than VW but I think overall quality is the same between these models, although long standing stupid shit that's still a problem on BMW's like squeaky door seals making your $60k+ car sound like a creaky wood boat is absurd, so that's a demerit on the GC, and so is the lack of sync for the driver/passenger side climate control. The steering wheel controls for the R are better but I think rotary controller is much better than touch screen in the R (have also had a few Audi's with MMI NAV prior to the R and that's where I came to really like rotary controller based systems)

I'm in FL and we have great roads so I never had complaints with harsh ride due to high quality road, but you certainly feel the road more than in the GC. Gearing in the R means you're cruising on the highway at 3k RPM. The ZF trans in the GC is amazing... wasn't sure if I'd be disappointed compared to DSG but if you didn't know otherwise you would think he ZF is a DSG.

Aesthetic is a big personal thing, and the R is pretty time. My MK6 was more aggressive and better looking than the MK7, which I found to be a bit bland in comparison, and I actually don't like some of the changes in the MK7.5. Some angles are nice, others are kind of meh. In comparison, I find the GC to be absolutely stunning from every angle. I'm a blue car guy and deep blues are my favorite, so I like the Lapiz Blue on the R more than the Estoril on my GC, but Estoril is still awesome.

There's just no comparison in the engines between the two, but that's because they are obviously in two different worlds, so that's not really a great comparison to consider in the first place IMO (even tho HP #'s are similar). My R was completely stock and I think it has a decent sound but the GC is way better in that department. Power delivery is obviously very very different.

[cfm56d7b]

The earlier post is very well written. These cars have very little in common, especially the engines. If Golf R had the modern version of VR6 then the comparison with B58 would be more fair. 440i GC is a much better vehicle.

[Swappy]

This is a topic where I have first hand information . I have a 16R, which is a great car for what it is and I certainly consider it the best car under $50k in Canada.

Fast, fun to drive but it has its drawbacks. The engine spins at a very high rpm when cruising because of the weirdly short gearing, the car also suffers from significant turbo lag and is basically dead below 2.5k rpm. And the hatch is useless if there are people in the back seat.

But the interior quality is great, more Audi than VW and the car has a great sleeper charm to it.

The 340i I have has the full leather dash so interior feels a notch or two above the R. Also I have the digital display so it makes it feel more flashy.

The biggest difference is the engine. The B58 with the MPPSK is significantly more powerful (355 vs 292) with much more torque as well (369 vs 280) and this difference is very noticeable when on the road.

Golf R also sounds lame if you disable the fake sound it emits via a dash mounted speaker ( soundaktor). The 340i sounds like a beast.

This comparison is honestly one sided because golf R is a significantly cheaper car and in a different class as compared to the 340/440.

Pictures of both my rides .

[gpchamp]

Thank you all for your feedback. I just pulled a trigger on a 2018 440i GC xDrive with the MPPSK.

[cfm56d7b]

Originally Posted by gpchamp

Thank you all for your feedback. I just pulled a trigger on a 2018 440i GC xDrive with the MPPSK.

Great choice - especially the decision to add MPPSK. Congrats!

What exterior and interior colors did you select?

[gpchamp]

Originally Posted by cfm56d7b

Great choice - especially the decision to add MPPSK. Congrats!

What exterior and interior colors did you select?

Estoril blue and black. Pictures coming soon...

[gertpacu]

Never will deal with VW ever again. My Jetta was the biggest piece of junk I have ever had. Bought it new and under 3k miles it was in the shop for a month for some kind of engine/computer problem. Then my electric window thing in my door melted and two of my windows stopped working. This was at about 4k-5k miles. Happened to a lot of people I guess because I had to wait another month. All that BMW cost of ownership is bullcrap.. I have taken care of my car and it's taken care of me.

[JustMtnB44]

Originally Posted by HDClown

R drove lighter and more nimble, with more road noise and it felt faster than you were going. The GC drives heavier with a more "solid' feel to it, much quieter, and I feel like I'm creeping along at 70mph on the highway, which is dangerous because I find myself at 90mph and it still feels slower than 70mph did in the R.

This is a better way to communicate what I meant by "high strung" in my reply above. The R does feel like you are going faster than you are. Sometimes I think I'm taking a turn at above average speeds and then see a pickup truck going the exact same speed I am. This also makes it much more fatiguing to drive on the highway, even with all of the driver assist aids turned on.

My R is Lapiz blue and I haven't had any issues, and while I love the Estoril blue wagons, I might go for Mediterranean blue or Mineral gray just to not stand out on the road so much.