GS-F, E63 AMG, or Quadrifoligio. Drove all three and conflicted. All I know is I have a weird thing for four doors and now my next car has to be four doors.

 

Are you sure the S3 doesn't have power seats? The RS3 definitely doesn't have power seats.

As the resident Golf R convert, I've been really happy with my decision. I can see how a FWD based car wouldn't be a great track toy, and I can also see why it wouldn't make a good platform for someone who only drives a little and want's an analog driving experience when they do. But for commuting to work every day and dropping off kids and running errands, I find it to be more enjoyable than my G37 was. It's also loaded with things that I didn't really realize my G lacked--like auto high beams and windshield wipers, blind spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, usable cup holders, and Apple CarPlay (and Android Auto, if that's your thing). None of which are important on a track or for a weekend warrior, but are damn nice for the day-to-day driving.

Aftermarket support dwarfs what is available for the G. When I was looking to upgrade swaybars, I think I was up to 10 options--hollow, solid, and various OD. You have ECU tunes and warranty friendly piggyback units. I finally found the combination of parts to get the shifter on par with the STS I had in the G, so I think the only real drawback is the steering lacks the feedback that the hydraulic rack in the G37 had. The electric unit in the R is nice and heavy, but it doesn't talk to you like the fast ratio rack on RWD sport model G did.

 

Well the Gs keep getting less expensive. I originally was thinking of a 370z figuring that I could count on my hands how often I have had passengers in my car. But 370s always command more $$ even though the luxury in the G is hard to find in a 370z. For a track car, I would rather have a 370z, but I don't track. You are going to hate me, but I was thinking of the Golf R as a daily mostly so I would consider the DSG which is what the video I put up had. I do miss shifting, especially with stuff like the hill control a lot of the newer cars have, but for now I would probably consider a manual on a 2nd car, not a daily.

 

 

Nice man, looks much sharper than the originals.

 

Yeah, that had to happen. Big improvement, Lego.

Did you notice the lighter wheels in any aspect of driving the car?

 

Nice! That is a great improvement over the stock wheels and anytime you can save that much rotational weight it multiplies. 28 lbs of rotational mass should be enough to actually feel it slightly on acceleration. Looking good! Is your car lowered and what are the specs on the wheels and tires? I remember not being able to go too wide on the Golf R.

 

Thanks! Surprisingly, I don't notice any difference. I guess my butt-dyno needs calibrated

Stock height--rear swaybar and end links are the only suspension mod. Wheels are 19x8.5 ET47 with OEM 235/35 Continental summer rubber. The extra 1/2" in width and offset had the added benefit of pushing the wheels out ~9mm, so really close to flush--most "flush" kit spacers are 10/15mm F/R. The extra width also opens up 245 width tires for the future. Anything wider than that would be difficult at stock height, where I'm planning to stay. Lowering the car would kinda negate the adjustable dampers.

 

 

With the recent VAG posts, I looked at the 2013+ S4 and they seem like a very viable replacement. 4 doors, manual, LSD, power, creature comforts and most importantly..reliable. Reading up on them, looks like the powertrains (including the auto) are very stout. T-stats appear to be the only vulnerability and require changing around 60-70k miles. Pretty drama free car.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/d...0337/overview/

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/d...5065/overview/
(auto)

 

Your Golf R looks great with those rims. It's amazing how the German brands seem to understand wheel gap. I wouldn't lower it at all. Then again, you are running stock sized rims and tires so it should look right. Good to hear the offset of the new rims works better for flush fitment. I spent so much time trying to get that right with my car since I was going with larger rims and much wider tires. I usually run into issues when I go with a larger rim and thinner sidewall to create the wheel gap that requires lowering.

However, I think you may run into an issue trying to go wider. You usually have to go 2-3 sizes wider and one size smaller sidewall to keep the speedo accurate. This means you will be on rubber band tires, but maybe that is ok with the ability to adjust the ride comfort?

What are T-stats? I like the S4 if I were not so hung up on handling and outright performance.

 

German brands in particular, but it seems like all manufactures are getting better at not making cars look like jacked up 4x4s. Even my wife's Honda Accord has surprisingly tight wheel gap.

I could see possibly going 245/40, but 35 is already pretty low profile all around, and the ride is definitely stiff--we at least have good roads down here because they don't get torn up by snow and salt and plowing. The adjustable dampers largely span the same range as the Koni Yellows did--comfort mode is like full soft.

thermostat

 

It's when you're batting 300 from a free-standing pitch.

 

Thermostats. Possibly located under the supercharger which made them a PITA to change out. They were a commonly mentioned issue with the 13' when prospective owners asked about the 8.5 S's reliability but investigating further on Audizine, it appears the issue was fixed after that year. Not sure of the specifics but other than that, the car is pretty drama free. Occasional wheel bearing like our cars is also a common issue.

You can get one used for $25-30 pending the transmission you want. Bolt-ons and a tune have the car somewhere in the mid 300 - low 400 awhp range; pending how far you take it. As for reliability, a lot of the '8.5 S4 reliability' threads had owners picking them up anywhere from 75k-110k miles and running mods on them without issue. Would usually make me think they were crazy for grabbing a German car outside of warranty but the 8.5 3.0 S4 seems to be the exception. Swapping out the turbos for a supercharger really seemed to solve a lot of the issues of the previous generation. The ease of making big power isn't there (saw a couple videos of B5 and B6 making over 700 awhp...wow) but the supercharger can hold its own with a pulley upgrade and a tune. Key is proper maintenance by previous owner(s). As long as that's squared away it looks pretty like it's a bulletproof platform.

Straight line is pretty great out of the box (sub 4) according to zeroto60.com; but I imagine if you drive it like a normal person and don't beat the ever loving dog crap out of it you will still be to 60 in under 5 if you got into it. I also checked out Youtube videos and there's quite a bit of DIY walkthroughs for everything from basic oil service to DSG service if you went that route. One channel in particular does a fantastic job making said videos.

As for the handling, it appears to be a great highway cruiser in stock form. if you wanted to track it, you'd want additional cooling but again, there's walkthroughs on Audizine on how to add an additional transmission cooler for all of $50. I saw a lot of guys adding catch cans to the transmission but that was only for DSG models. Both cooler and catch can were cautionary mods to extend the life of the DSG but the manual isn't as bad. From what I read and watched, the OEM clutch doesn't like it once power mods and tuning push it over 350awhp so an upgrade is required. Again, these were all used models so chances are the new owners were paying for the mistakes made by the previous owner operating the manual transmission in a less than optimal way. The OEM clutch may be able to withstand the power level but I'm going off of what I've read and watched.

Coilovers are another upgrade you would probably want if you wanted to track the car. I watched a Smoking Tire video and Matt is ripping an S4 in the canyons and commented that the Bilstein shocks really made the car feel planted. Stock brakes held up pretty well with the upgraded pads and rotors the owner installed.


Given the lack of options for a replacement sedan, this car has really peeked my interest over the other alternatives.

 

Here's the channel with all the walkthroughs:


Seems like a pretty solid replacement for the G. Checks all the same boxes plus the addition of FI.