I was gonna say, he looked like he was moving, which I realize is very impressive for a GoPro at that viewing angle at that mounting point, and then I realized he was cranking up a pretty significant slope. Wow. That thing moves. My anecdotes on being an APR customer: I have an APR stage 1 tune in my VW Alltrack (1.8T motor, IS12 turbo vs. IS20 for the normal 2.0 liters (GTI included) and IS38 for Golf R/S3/TTS/etc.). They claim 240/285 HP/TQ at the crank on 91 octane. The thing pulls pretty hard. Then my friend has a GTI performance pack with the APR stage 1 (300/330 I think they claim?) My god. I dared myself to keep it the throttle buried in the carpet for as long as I would in my stock 94 Miata on a stretch of a favorite driving road and achieved ludicrous speed! Mine has had no issues and feels pretty much stock, until you dig deep into that long-travel throttle pedal and pull out stupid amounts of torque. Passing is easy! My friend's been having some apparent issues with his software maybe not playing super nice with his traction control and emergency systems (he has the driver assistance package), but he's been working with APR customer service, describing the issues and providing OBDII logs, and the APR people have been fantastic. It seems they can work out the bugs with a software update, no charge. And they've been open and helpful throughout the process.
@@Trendyflute I've been an APR customer for 6 years now with my MKV GTI. Was Stage 2 for almost all 6 years with recently going 2+ a few months ago. I never had any issues with their tunes at first. In fact, I chose them because they were known to be more conservative powerwise and more reliable. But the newest revisions of the BPY FSI tunes that just came out this past year. Have been hit or miss imo. Granted, not many drive this platform now. Most have moved up to the newer gens. So I've basically became a testing ground. Before going 2+ after getting the update. I started having rev issues. Got a reflash that fixed it after contacting APR and then my boost was cut down considerably. Didn't get in for a reflash until getting an upgraded pump for the 2+ file. Boost was back, but they forgot to remove the speed limiter. Went back to get reflashed again after they sent my dealer a reworked tune, and now I'm dealing with a boost cut that's tied to 6k+ rev range. My car goes into a semi limp mode if I cross 6k revs and cuts boost in half until I restart the car. I have a case open with APR about it, but haven't heard anything back yet. I'm putting together a K04 kit for my GTI as we speak and am going to ask my shop to see if I can just have the older rev tune for it. I've heard the 2018/2019 K04 files are dealing with the same kinks for the BPY FSI. Or, I may finally leave APR. Don't know yet.
At 37 years old I feel this car is more appropriate and mature looking to me than a Focus Rs, STI, Evo, and especially the civic Type R . I like how VW kept it classy looking(not this car in particular, of course) & not flashy body clading/ spoilers, wings and aero garbage
Agreed. 33 and I have a '16 R and that was exactly how I felt. It's a phenomenal daily, and just enough fun with a little JB4 tune without blowing your warranty. Once that factory warranty is up, I'm heading up to Stage 2 at least. Just a clean almost sleeper looking fun car.
Same here, I also 37 with a 'grown up' job. The car is similar to my business card, both things tell someone who I am, and sometimes...first impressions ARE everything. I like the other cars a lot for fun and track work, but that's about that.
IsaiahZ48 um not at all. Performance wise mk7 is top notch but they feel sorta cheap atleast compared to mk6. And mk5 is literally just dog shit. The body style the bpy motor. Just trash. I work on these cars daily and am in mk7s all day but I LOVE getting into my 14 gti at the end of the day. It just feels so much better.
LazyRock if I didn't know better, I'd guess the video was sped up. He was thrashing it pretty hard the whole time, or got a new camera angle or something. The feeling of speed is pretty good in this one.
RIGHT!!! I WISH MY 03 FOCUS RAN, HANDLED & STOPPED, ANYWHERE NEAR AS GOOD AS THAT HOPPED UP GOLF DOES!!! WONDER HOW MUSH MONEY IS INVESTED INTO THAT CAR? COST OF CAR + UPGRADES???
SergeantMoetz yes. My upcoming car is the Octavia vrs wagon. It's prettier (IMO) than the golf wagon, and shares the same platform and setup as the golf gti. Also its about £1500 cheaper, with more kit. If you want to save another grand or so, seat do thr Leon FR ST (wagon), that again is built on the mqb platform and set up of the gti/vrs , and come with a little more kit. All look almost identical inside. The seat drives the best btw. More forgiving but just as direct. They have done a little magic.
No, i just read in a german car magazine that Audi won`t give the 5cyl engine to VW - they wanna keep it Audi-exclusive. But they think about a 6 cyl Golf R mk8.... with 400HP
After watching enough SmokingTire videos i could feel how busy Matt was behind the wheel on this one. Not a slippery one but it's just plain fast. This video was entertaining to watch, what a nice drive. i also love EFRs. i'm considering one for a project of mine : )
I know right you could pretty much do any mileage car though since they put in a new crate motor so as long as the interior/exterior is still nice you'll be set. you can get a 2015 with 70K miles for $25K so out the door you would be at $42K with a brand new crate motor and possibilities to tune for more than what they rate it at since you have a fully built motor.
Stephen Butler true. My daily is a tuned, turbo, manual. Although there is a guy that lives on my street with a dsg r32 golf and hearing the dsg farts is pretty cool i gotta admit.
MI Backyard Engineer the DSG is a box, all the pros of an auto and 90% of the fun. But when you're checking this much into a 'fun' car, you have to go manual. Autos may be ultimately outright quicker, but that's not the point of a hatchback. Especially a hot hot hot hatch.
@@TheSmokingTire Kind of a shame too. I'm the third owner of a stage 3+ Mk7R a lot like this one. The first owner put KW V3 coilovers on it, but the second owner ended up taking them off to get a bit more pliability and ground clearance because he lived in New Orleans. Now they're just sitting in a box in my garage. I'd love to put them back on as I wouldn't mind the stiffness and the stock suspension is just a tad bit floaty, but they unavoidably lower the car by another half an inch, and I need the ground clearance for sketchy dirt roads.
I know ads are important for keeping content coming. They're annoying, but they have to happen. I appreciate how you put it right in the beginning, so we can easily skip it if we really don't want to sit through it
Not to sound overly corny but theirs going to be an empty void every time I'm on youtube after these last few one takes are done. Wish you could get hooked up with netflix or something. Would be cool if you and some like minded people banded together for an actual series, It would be like the American top gear we deserved.
What you want already exists. Go check out /DRIVE on Amazon. It has Matt, Chris Harris, Alex Roy and that Spanelli guy. There are 4 incredible seasons.
Those rear sway bar upgrades seem to do alot in terms of tossability and killing a bit of the understeer in golfs. Cool to hear that it sounds almost as playful as the fiesta St.
I've ridden in that very same Golf R when I was visiting APR on business last year. Took it for a rip in the rain and it did very well. Super fast yet very drive-able. Perfect lil daily!
The Golf in its nurburgring package is the 2nd quickest hot hatch(The Civic type R being the 1st) the Focus RS runs like 8:06 i think 20 seconds slower around the ring then the cars mentioned above.
Bet it hit atleast 130mph down those long straights. That thing flys, if I had the money I’d get one and improve the suspension because that would get annoying quick.
I expect an expensive tuner like APR to get control over sth as easy as rubbing tyres. Kinda shooting themselves in the knee if you ask me. Well, I am really looking forward to the Mk. VIII R with its brandnew 3.0l Biturbo-VR6, because when you drive a Mk. VII R, while being fast, you kinda feel that thats just a 2l 4-cylinder ahead of you.
Good review, great seeing your runs on the Malibu canyon roads, which I cut my teeth on in 1958. Been consideering an APR upgrade to my '15 Glof R DSG, so your comments certainly considered. Pretty hard to understand all your comments due to high engine noise, please consider changing you mic placement for better dialog audio, not swamped by the engine.
X V they do, but honestly most people use 1 setting 99% of the time, so having the adjustable dampers is kinda pointless. Getting a set of coilovers with adjustable dampening is much better
The only time I feel a pang of regret about my GTI is when I watch R videos like this. Nicely done Matt, I love watching your vids. Happy Christmas man!
Do you have the roads closed when you do these tests? I don’t think I saw another car on the road! Every time I want to do a little spirited driving on some back roads I always get stuck behind someone! 😒
like poetry, its been in the shop for the last month and a half. The water pump started leaking, then the heater core, then the coolant line to the turbo, then some couplers, and then a coolant line beneath the dash was cracked. Hopefully I'll get it back next week, but regardless I'm in the hole ~$5000 on this string of coolant system leaks. No idea what the root cause is.
Matt just to clarify, this car's stage 3 performance package does not come with a crate engine. They recommend you build it at the power level because it will most likely blow up. It'll cost closer to 23-25K to replicate drivetrain aspect of this build.
Yeah but think of all the fiddly shit you'd have to monitor and take care of to keep the car running in top form. Plus I'm sure drivability would suffer big time. How could it not with almost 400hp?
EVDB honestly the stage 2 I had put into my 2009 vw GTI didn't fuck with drivablity. It stays nice and calm until I put my foot down. Then she wakes up and hauls ass
Thanks Matt. APR has serious talent and $17K even sounds about right since new engine required. But, always comes full circle back to value. Anybody with a car brain would rather have a GTR for that amount of jack even if its down a few hp.
We were just outside of Barstow when the drugs began to take effect, and What looked like giant bats and manta-rays were swooping and sweeping at the car, and a voice out of nowhere screamed "Dear God what are these Goddamned animals?" Matt where is your Dr.Gonzo in this video? If you're going to do anything you might as well do it right, hell we'd be fools not to take this strange roller coaster and ride it to the very end." Fear and Loathing. H.S. Thompson LOL Great Review.
You need to make a hard rule that no rubbing wheels are allowed. I, like others, lose all interest once you hear something as basic as proper clearance isn't addressed. "How'd your friend die?" reply "Oh, he decided to save a few dollars after spending $17k on mods" . Seriously, it just screams garbage build when there is rubbing. If a company is willing to do this for a customer, what other shortcuts for safety are they willing to make?
Dying over slight rub only on hard bumps? Exaggeration. I'm sure this car is equipped with a very nice coil-over system that can be raised at demand to the owner's preferred height. It's probably slammed for "looks" right now.
Kinda pointless since he's done with filming one takes (permanently), but I agree... there should have been a basic inspection video done by the owner and sent to Matt beforehand. Would have avoided the brakeless Camaro, too.
You're literally a dope. A difference in 10mm of the section width of tires or even -.15* of camber could be all the difference to prevent the rub. Get out of here with your elitist outlook.
Fuji Customs, I agree with you, but don't think the company would of taken the time to take the car on such bad roads to see if the suspension is compliant on said bad/jarring roads. Their focus is on drivetrain.
People always complain about the Golf R/GTI styling but when im driving it (my Mk7 GTI) im not looking at it so looks are secondary to me with a car like this. You may say it looks boring but im having a heck of a time inside of one actually driving it. If im going for looks id take out a Lamborghini or Ferrari (Im saving my dollars for one)
It does not. That APR video is completely false. stage 1 rs3 has about 450-480 horse power. A 2018 Turbo S and 2018 488 GTB both have about 100-180 more horsepower than the rs3 and weigh a tad less and those both run 10.60. Are you actually trying to tell me that a RS3 are faster than both of those cars in the quarter mile? Anyhow, APR is definitely lying about that video. I read that the RS3 they used had an e85 tune, larger turbo, weight reduction and a couple other mods. It is definitely not stage 1 and is in reality pushing probably close to 600 hp.
Did you think of the section width of tires that APR maybe got for free? Or maybe that minuscule degree of camber adjustment that could of made all the difference? Nothing is wrong with the springs.
in my friends GTI you cant hear a difference from 3k up to the limiter. i was wondering if he is gunning it to the limiter. had to watch at the rpm gauge. guess thats the turbo which takes the noise out
Believe Inyourself they’re obviously building it as a more of a race car than a street car so I disagree. It shouldn’t be bottoming out like that. Seems like the spring rate doesn’t match well with the car.
I have checked APRs website. Was hoping someone would have personal experience with a shop. It seems like Eurocode is probably the way to go for me. I bought the car in Torrance. I will be checking out Ingolstadt West too. Thanks for the replies.
I assume you'd driven it a bit before this drive and you're familiar with the road but damn dude you were on it! Indication how nice the car is other than the stupid lowering springs. To be honest for street use I don't really see the need for that much power and I'd want to have as little lag as possible.
I have this fucking Gif of the Bob Parr's boss that's perfect for this situation, and now I'm have an inner conflict. Well, more like an internal Vietnam, if I'm honest, because part of me feels like UA-cam should let me do this; The other part of me is frozen in horror at the colossal clusterfuck UA-cam would become if they did allow Gifs.
My 2015 golf 7 Gti is now pushing 503hp with stock internals... 1 year 6 months later and still going strong... I know a guy in the UK pushing 510hp with stock internals... These cars can handle a lot
@@Flipzzz hi there I no longer own the Mk7 Gti I sold it I now have the MK7R and I have not yet tuned it, I am still enjoying it in its stock form...i have had the same tires on now since I got it new which is 5 month, if I still had the Gti I would have changed the front tires twice already there was too much wheelspin in that car 😂😂😂
I always ask myself one thing with these top level Golfs. Why not swap the engine for a 2.5litre 5 zylinder. They are easy to get, at least in America, as i have been told. They definately fit, they aren't that much more expensive to use than modifying the stock engine. But most importantly it just pushes the envelope. I saw a german video of an official Volkswagen Prototype with that engine and it was furious, more sound more and easier horsepower, more torque. But most importantly, it stops to be "just" a four pot and becomes the mighty 5 cylinder. When watching that VW prototype one could have confused it for an audi sport quattro.
How? Why? The only advantage is that the 2.0 is more common among tuners, so there are more parts. But other than that a bigger engine will always be the better tuning base.
Peter Griffin The 2.0 is a stronger, more efficient engine. Displacement has nothing to do with that. Why swap an engine when you can use the engine it came with? At that point, you’re tens of thousands of dollars in the hole without even having any power advantage until you start adding performances upgrades to the 2.5.
Lol @ the "Don't lower your Golf R kids". I completely agree. Stock height for mine all the way because I daily it. If it was a track car then sure...but daily in the real world? No. Can't wait for my warranty to expire so I can start heading up the stages! =)
Yeah, I saw APR + when it was first coming out but the power gains were meager at best. That refreshed version looks really great actually. Unfortunately I'm about 5k away from my powertrain warranty being up, so they only term limit match that anyway. Thanks for the tip though! If I was still 10-15k miles out on my warranty I'd for sure go with that!
the speed actually translates to camera on this one
that's when you know it's fast
I was gonna say, he looked like he was moving, which I realize is very impressive for a GoPro at that viewing angle at that mounting point, and then I realized he was cranking up a pretty significant slope. Wow. That thing moves.
My anecdotes on being an APR customer: I have an APR stage 1 tune in my VW Alltrack (1.8T motor, IS12 turbo vs. IS20 for the normal 2.0 liters (GTI included) and IS38 for Golf R/S3/TTS/etc.). They claim 240/285 HP/TQ at the crank on 91 octane. The thing pulls pretty hard. Then my friend has a GTI performance pack with the APR stage 1 (300/330 I think they claim?) My god. I dared myself to keep it the throttle buried in the carpet for as long as I would in my stock 94 Miata on a stretch of a favorite driving road and achieved ludicrous speed! Mine has had no issues and feels pretty much stock, until you dig deep into that long-travel throttle pedal and pull out stupid amounts of torque. Passing is easy!
My friend's been having some apparent issues with his software maybe not playing super nice with his traction control and emergency systems (he has the driver assistance package), but he's been working with APR customer service, describing the issues and providing OBDII logs, and the APR people have been fantastic. It seems they can work out the bugs with a software update, no charge. And they've been open and helpful throughout the process.
Was going to say the same thing
based well said
@@Trendyflute
I've been an APR customer for 6 years now with my MKV GTI.
Was Stage 2 for almost all 6 years with recently going 2+ a few months ago. I never had any issues with their tunes at first. In fact, I chose them because they were known to be more conservative powerwise and more reliable.
But the newest revisions of the BPY FSI tunes that just came out this past year. Have been hit or miss imo. Granted, not many drive this platform now. Most have moved up to the newer gens. So I've basically became a testing ground. Before going 2+ after getting the update. I started having rev issues. Got a reflash that fixed it after contacting APR and then my boost was cut down considerably. Didn't get in for a reflash until getting an upgraded pump for the 2+ file. Boost was back, but they forgot to remove the speed limiter.
Went back to get reflashed again after they sent my dealer a reworked tune, and now I'm dealing with a boost cut that's tied to 6k+ rev range. My car goes into a semi limp mode if I cross 6k revs and cuts boost in half until I restart the car. I have a case open with APR about it, but haven't heard anything back yet.
I'm putting together a K04 kit for my GTI as we speak and am going to ask my shop to see if I can just have the older rev tune for it. I've heard the 2018/2019 K04 files are dealing with the same kinks for the BPY FSI.
Or, I may finally leave APR. Don't know yet.
I'm sure he was going the posted 40 mph 😉
I've always liked the Golf R. A friend had a Mk IV R32 Golf and I've loved them since then. The interior quality is just outstanding.
At 37 years old I feel this car is more appropriate and mature looking to me than a Focus Rs, STI, Evo, and especially the civic Type R . I like how VW kept it classy looking(not this car in particular, of course) & not flashy body clading/ spoilers, wings and aero garbage
Agreed. 33 and I have a '16 R and that was exactly how I felt. It's a phenomenal daily, and just enough fun with a little JB4 tune without blowing your warranty. Once that factory warranty is up, I'm heading up to Stage 2 at least. Just a clean almost sleeper looking fun car.
Yawn...
"aero garbage"
Same here, I also 37 with a 'grown up' job. The car is similar to my business card, both things tell someone who I am, and sometimes...first impressions ARE everything.
I like the other cars a lot for fun and track work, but that's about that.
But thats the whole point of a hot hatch it's quick and a little outrageous not boring beige, each to their own I suppose.
I'm a v8 guy but these mk7s are dope
mk5s too. MK6 was a step back in feel.
V8s are good but turbos draw wood
IsaiahZ48 um not at all. Performance wise mk7 is top notch but they feel sorta cheap atleast compared to mk6. And mk5 is literally just dog shit. The body style the bpy motor. Just trash. I work on these cars daily and am in mk7s all day but I LOVE getting into my 14 gti at the end of the day. It just feels so much better.
@@IsaiahZ48 Yet my mk6 would walk the shit outta ur mk5 LMAO.
@@howdyimdan Unless its a 2008.5 mk5. In which case it'd be the same, if not better.
Wow watching the whole run it handled like a rally car, geez. Very well planted and power on demand. I'm impressed.
LazyRock if I didn't know better, I'd guess the video was sped up. He was thrashing it pretty hard the whole time, or got a new camera angle or something. The feeling of speed is pretty good in this one.
ianiva I know.
It's nice and all but all those mods your talking at least 65 k . That's GT 350R money.
Zamorazone in usa ofc, here the Mustang GT is 97k euros.
RIGHT!!! I WISH MY 03 FOCUS RAN, HANDLED & STOPPED, ANYWHERE NEAR AS GOOD AS THAT HOPPED UP GOLF DOES!!! WONDER HOW MUSH MONEY IS INVESTED INTO THAT CAR? COST OF CAR + UPGRADES???
This package on a stock looking Golf R wagon would make it such an awesome daily driver sleeper.
SergeantMoetz. With a quiet muffler and exhaust cut-outs. . . I'm pickin' up what you're puttin' down.
SergeantMoetz yes. My upcoming car is the Octavia vrs wagon. It's prettier (IMO) than the golf wagon, and shares the same platform and setup as the golf gti.
Also its about £1500 cheaper, with more kit. If you want to save another grand or so, seat do thr Leon FR ST (wagon), that again is built on the mqb platform and set up of the gti/vrs , and come with a little more kit.
All look almost identical inside. The seat drives the best btw. More forgiving but just as direct. They have done a little magic.
Also, it's got a working head gasket...
Elaborate?
@@Osprey1994 He owns a focus RS. just look up Focus RS head gasket.
Dream daily if you dumped the wrap and the lowering springs. Sick car.
L Taka exactly, perfect without the springs and stickers
The stickers can go but I would replace the springs with a nice coil over setup by H&R
I’d keep the springs just not the apr ones
5:00 -- car reviewed in 5 seconds.
Really enjoyed this one :)
Ivan Zavarzin 😂
LMFAOOOOOOO
What, no launch control demonstration?
I'd like to see VW bring back the VR5 or the VR6 in the Golf R.
They should turbo the 3.2 VR6 and that in the new Golf R. Fuuuuck
Yeah! R32 should make a return
Ralli2Yazh speculation it might have the 2.5 out of the RS3 and TT RS...
No, i just read in a german car magazine that Audi won`t give the 5cyl engine to VW - they wanna keep it Audi-exclusive. But they think about a 6 cyl Golf R mk8.... with 400HP
As much as I love the VR6 (owned a 2001 GTI VR6) I'd almost like to see the inline 5 instead. The inline 5 in the RS5 and TTRS is a monster.
After watching enough SmokingTire videos i could feel how busy Matt was behind the wheel on this one. Not a slippery one but it's just plain fast.
This video was entertaining to watch, what a nice drive.
i also love EFRs. i'm considering one for a project of mine : )
Watch Matt drive the Orange Viper on Smoking Tire. He's out of breather at the end of the video. One of the best.
I will sell you my 1.8t golf lol
Used golf R with less than 40k miles plus this package. Thats the deal!
I know right you could pretty much do any mileage car though since they put in a new crate motor so as long as the interior/exterior is still nice you'll be set. you can get a 2015 with 70K miles for $25K so out the door you would be at $42K with a brand new crate motor and possibilities to tune for more than what they rate it at since you have a fully built motor.
Cough manual.
Stephen Butler true. My daily is a tuned, turbo, manual. Although there is a guy that lives on my street with a dsg r32 golf and hearing the dsg farts is pretty cool i gotta admit.
Id really want the new 7 speed dsg if I were gonna do this to a Golf R
MI Backyard Engineer the DSG is a box, all the pros of an auto and 90% of the fun.
But when you're checking this much into a 'fun' car, you have to go manual. Autos may be ultimately outright quicker, but that's not the point of a hatchback. Especially a hot hot hot hatch.
It was obvious this was a good time for you and it was apparent that this thing was putting down some real performance.
stock suspension is perfect for the street Im over lowering newer cars,
Yeah I lowered my MK6 it was cool until it rubbed. I would love to have aftermarket suspension but stock height.
The roads where I live are horrible. I sometimes worry about scraping in my mk6 R and it’s stock height lol.
I had a lowered 335xi after that I kept my Golf R stock and love it
Group B Golf.
"Hey everyone!"
*triple taps 30 seconds ahead*
Ahh Perfect
LOL
Savageee
I see Golf R, I like
On any decent car from the past few years, if you think you have to lower it to improve handling, you're probably wrong.
Andy D this is correct
Cant wait to see the APR RS3 one take!
With golfs they just look better lowered
@@TheSmokingTire Kind of a shame too. I'm the third owner of a stage 3+ Mk7R a lot like this one. The first owner put KW V3 coilovers on it, but the second owner ended up taking them off to get a bit more pliability and ground clearance because he lived in New Orleans. Now they're just sitting in a box in my garage. I'd love to put them back on as I wouldn't mind the stiffness and the stock suspension is just a tad bit floaty, but they unavoidably lower the car by another half an inch, and I need the ground clearance for sketchy dirt roads.
I know ads are important for keeping content coming. They're annoying, but they have to happen. I appreciate how you put it right in the beginning, so we can easily skip it if we really don't want to sit through it
Not to sound overly corny but theirs going to be an empty void every time I'm on youtube after these last few one takes are done. Wish you could get hooked up with netflix or something. Would be cool if you and some like minded people banded together for an actual series, It would be like the American top gear we deserved.
Beerus /Drive on UA-cam TV
What you want already exists. Go check out /DRIVE on Amazon. It has Matt, Chris Harris, Alex Roy and that Spanelli guy. There are 4 incredible seasons.
Already watch it and not really what I was meaning.
Happy Holidays to the TST crew and thank you for all the videos this year (yachts included :P)!
Those rear sway bar upgrades seem to do alot in terms of tossability and killing a bit of the understeer in golfs. Cool to hear that it sounds almost as playful as the fiesta St.
an alignment on stock setup kills all the understeer
I've ridden in that very same Golf R when I was visiting APR on business last year. Took it for a rip in the rain and it did very well. Super fast yet very drive-able. Perfect lil daily!
The Golf in its nurburgring package is the 2nd quickest hot hatch(The Civic type R being the 1st) the Focus RS runs like 8:06 i think 20 seconds slower around the ring then the cars mentioned above.
That Car Guy and the clubsport S
That BOV sounds sick!!! Like a blaster from Star Wars
Looks very neat under the hood
I put APR Stage 1 on my GTI at 600 miles. About to hit 70k miles now. Can't wait to trade it in for an R!
Bet it hit atleast 130mph down those long straights. That thing flys, if I had the money I’d get one and improve the suspension because that would get annoying quick.
Nice to see some love from Matt for a Golf R!
Looks Mildly propahhh . No salute for that Rubbing though !!
luimarco never knew you were into cars man.
yeah Lumiarco. I wouldn't have guessed that you're into cars either.
luimarco propahhhhhh Good to see you. How is the BMW
beep
VW's have a a bit of plastic that sticks down off the bottom it rubs even if you do a mild drop.
Saw APR testing up in the NC mountains! Sick Golf R
#GoAPR for the win! I've put over 50k "spirited" miles on my 2010 GTI since my stage II tune with zero issues.
Volkswagen Group. PERIOD... Best platform no question.
I expect an expensive tuner like APR to get control over sth as easy as rubbing tyres. Kinda shooting themselves in the knee if you ask me.
Well, I am really looking forward to the Mk. VIII R with its brandnew 3.0l Biturbo-VR6, because when you drive a Mk. VII R, while being fast, you kinda feel that thats just a 2l 4-cylinder ahead of you.
Good review, great seeing your runs on the Malibu canyon roads, which I cut my teeth on in 1958. Been consideering an APR upgrade to my '15 Glof R DSG, so your comments certainly considered. Pretty hard to understand all your comments due to high engine noise, please consider changing you mic placement for better dialog audio, not swamped by the engine.
That car needs some proper coilovers. I can’t believe after all that money APR put into it, that they used lowering springs haha
X V they do, but honestly most people use 1 setting 99% of the time, so having the adjustable dampers is kinda pointless. Getting a set of coilovers with adjustable dampening is much better
I change settings frequently.
The only time I feel a pang of regret about my GTI is when I watch R videos like this. Nicely done Matt, I love watching your vids. Happy Christmas man!
Do you have the roads closed when you do these tests? I don’t think I saw another car on the road! Every time I want to do a little spirited driving on some back roads I always get stuck behind someone! 😒
it's not closed.
DAMN, even this video felt like you were flying!! that exhaust note is clean! always loving these one takes!
Hey Matt! I reviewed the same car but in the UK a few weeks back on my channel! I like the reference to McLaren.
I ended up getting a low mileage used Stage 3+ mk7r in large part because of this video. Great video.
like poetry, its been in the shop for the last month and a half. The water pump started leaking, then the heater core, then the coolant line to the turbo, then some couplers, and then a coolant line beneath the dash was cracked. Hopefully I'll get it back next week, but regardless I'm in the hole ~$5000 on this string of coolant system leaks. No idea what the root cause is.
Why so much hate towards the Golf? This car is amazing. Your V8's wouldn't be able to keep up with this thing hahahahaha
Arrtus cause it's still a GOLF
Audfile As opposed to what? It's better built than 90% of the cars on sale.
I guarantee my Z06 would destroy it
Your Z06 would slide off that mountain while you tried to keep up.
Audfile your poor soul. Once again it's clear you know nothing about cars.
that thing was MOVING in some of those drive-bys
10-8 in a quarter mile. You're in boostedboiz EK hatch territory. LOL. Thanks for the video matt
Love that wrap on the golf. Looks sick af!
Nice.....That Foxbody in the back. XD
Apart from the springs, this is exactly what I want on my soon to be 2018 R
oooh ahhh, nice "High-schooler learning adobe cs" livery lol
Happy Holidays Matt! Well deserved!
Nice! I like my Stage 2 just fine. 11.8 and 0-60 in 3 is good enough for me. If read other write ups on this Stage 3 they spent $18,000. LOL.
It's $17,000 plus a car, but that's because to get this much power you need an entire crate engine from APR, which is $6,500
Jack Flash you're not running them times....nice try kiddo.
Yes, i am.
I call BS.
Jack Flash nah kid, take your 13 sec / 300hp stage 2 somewhere else. This is bigboy talk.
Matt just to clarify, this car's stage 3 performance package does not come with a crate engine. They recommend you build it at the power level because it will most likely blow up. It'll cost closer to 23-25K to replicate drivetrain aspect of this build.
$17,000 doesn't seem too horrible for that upgrade.
Yeah but think of all the fiddly shit you'd have to monitor and take care of to keep the car running in top form. Plus I'm sure drivability would suffer big time. How could it not with almost 400hp?
EVDB Very true but I can easily imagine this costing $25,000+.
That is very reasonable!
EVDB honestly the stage 2 I had put into my 2009 vw GTI didn't fuck with drivablity. It stays nice and calm until I put my foot down. Then she wakes up and hauls ass
Thanks Matt. APR has serious talent and $17K even sounds about right since new engine required.
But, always comes full circle back to value. Anybody with a car brain would rather have a GTR for that amount of jack even if its down a few hp.
When it shifts it sounds like a sound from an SNES Super Mario Game
I had the first R32 released in the U.S. I want this one now too, I dig the tat too mang, PJ forever!
the gear shift changes being picked up by the interior mic sound like something from an 8-bit donkey kong game.
Ry666 sounds like a fart every time
Just bought a 19 R, can’t wait!
Thanks Matt!
Mans out here living my dream
If ya ain't rubbin ya ain't dubbin
My favorite intro ad to date, Matt! Gonna miss the one-takes.
We were just outside of Barstow when the drugs began to take effect, and What looked like giant bats and manta-rays were swooping and sweeping at the car, and a voice out of nowhere screamed "Dear God what are these Goddamned animals?" Matt where is your Dr.Gonzo in this video? If you're going to do anything you might as well do it right, hell we'd be fools not to take this strange roller coaster and ride it to the very end." Fear and Loathing. H.S. Thompson LOL Great Review.
Matthew Mohri Sadly not many will get this. It's the generation of swine.
Controlled chaos, i was looking for this comment. May he rest in peace
This was a really good one take. I enjoyed this one a lot more than others.
0:25 I mean you don't gotta be so aggressive
Great video... I’d have to get an older Golf R on the cheap and APR it if I was to do it
You need to make a hard rule that no rubbing wheels are allowed. I, like others, lose all interest once you hear something as basic as proper clearance isn't addressed. "How'd your friend die?" reply "Oh, he decided to save a few dollars after spending $17k on mods" . Seriously, it just screams garbage build when there is rubbing. If a company is willing to do this for a customer, what other shortcuts for safety are they willing to make?
Dying over slight rub only on hard bumps? Exaggeration. I'm sure this car is equipped with a very nice coil-over system that can be raised at demand to the owner's preferred height. It's probably slammed for "looks" right now.
Kinda pointless since he's done with filming one takes (permanently), but I agree... there should have been a basic inspection video done by the owner and sent to Matt beforehand. Would have avoided the brakeless Camaro, too.
Well it's just a spring as he said in the video and has the oem chassis adapting controls on it
You're literally a dope. A difference in 10mm of the section width of tires or even -.15* of camber could be all the difference to prevent the rub. Get out of here with your elitist outlook.
Fuji Customs, I agree with you, but don't think the company would of taken the time to take the car on such bad roads to see if the suspension is compliant on said bad/jarring roads. Their focus is on drivetrain.
That noise, Everytime you shift, fucking godly sound
They ruined it with that Gonzo font.
People always complain about the Golf R/GTI styling but when im driving it (my Mk7 GTI) im not looking at it so looks are secondary to me with a car like this. You may say it looks boring but im having a heck of a time inside of one actually driving it. If im going for looks id take out a Lamborghini or Ferrari (Im saving my dollars for one)
For comparison, an Audi RS3 runs a 10.55 in the quarter with only a stage 1 apr tune.
jjdayton yep that’s why an RS3 is $15k more than the Golf R out of the box!
Yeah, but add the cost of the stage 3+ kit and you’re in the same ballpark.
That's the point I was making. Going that fast in a VW product in the quarter mile requires $60,000 one way or the other.
It does not. That APR video is completely false. stage 1 rs3 has about 450-480 horse power. A 2018 Turbo S and 2018 488 GTB both have about 100-180 more horsepower than the rs3 and weigh a tad less and those both run 10.60. Are you actually trying to tell me that a RS3 are faster than both of those cars in the quarter mile?
Anyhow, APR is definitely lying about that video. I read that the RS3 they used had an e85 tune, larger turbo, weight reduction and a couple other mods. It is definitely not stage 1 and is in reality pushing probably close to 600 hp.
4 years later, I now have a set of those fine-ass APR AO1s Wheels I first saw here in this vid. (MK7 IS38 GTI)
Steaming morning dump squad checking in!
I might be picking up one of these eventually. I'm s gonna keep the MK6 GTI. But that R would be a fun project car
The turbo noise sounds alot like compressor surge, not saying it is but..
Not compressor surge, the EFR turbo kit has a waste gate actuator that make the sound when you lift off throttle.
Sounds so much like surge!
You`re right, saw the shots of the engine bay and I definitely agree that its probably from the waste gate.
Stiffer dampners would probably help with rubbing.
don't buy cheap lowering springs on your golf r kids... leave it stock or use good aftermarket coils 😎
They didn't use cheap springs. They just don't have enough spring rate.
You would think a company like APR would give a car with sorted out suspension set up to Matt for a one take
Did you think of the section width of tires that APR maybe got for free? Or maybe that minuscule degree of camber adjustment that could of made all the difference? Nothing is wrong with the springs.
It's the ugly wheels which are not matched up correctly. You can how "hella flush" they are.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and all TheSmoking Tire viewers.
The cost in upgrades is not bad, but the Golf R is steep.
Zcypot Matt said 40k for the golf r but you can buy used mk7s for 30-35k
How is it steep lol, isn't an STI close to 40k?
I am running H&R super sports which lower further than the APR springs and I don't have rubbing issues. Weird.
You most likely never drive your car hard enough to experience rubbing then...
This may have a wider wheel/tire setup.
Did you wind out any gears? Seems like you were below the power band the whole time
in my friends GTI you cant hear a difference from 3k up to the limiter. i was wondering if he is gunning it to the limiter. had to watch at the rpm gauge. guess thats the turbo which takes the noise out
Emic Moto lol
Of course I ran every gear to around 500 RpM short of redline.
TheSmokingTire don't lie to me bitch
Sounds awesome. Take the wrap off for the ultimate sleeper
you R going very fast , but not with much joy ?!
review the VFR800 honda car again man !
And this gold looks like it going all over the place. Doesn't look it's on rails.
Everytime he shifts that mother, it is an eargasm.
RUB RUB RUB RUB RUB RUB RUB
Have a 21 GLI considering building it after seeing this video definitely gonna build it
All that money in it and they put springs instead of a proper set of coilovers.
FJP Photography nah bags would be the way to go ;)
Believe Inyourself they’re obviously building it as a more of a race car than a street car so I disagree. It shouldn’t be bottoming out like that. Seems like the spring rate doesn’t match well with the car.
FJP Photography and cast wheels. Agree
Maybe this car had the dynamic suspension (DCC?) so they lowered the ride while keeping the adjustability that comes with the standard dampers
FJP Photography coilover onto your couch
Sounds like the VW piped in sound is enabled. That low thudding sound is the vibrator in the windshield.
Anyone have any suggestions as far as a good shop in LA or OC area for APR installations? I have a 2017 Golf R that I want to start upgrading.
I would go on APR's website and look at their list of certified dealers/installers in your area.
Eurocode in Torrance, CA
www.ingolstadtwest.com
Theres also one in Canoga
Magic Juan dave at eurocode tell him luis landa sent you for a discount..
I have checked APRs website. Was hoping someone would have personal experience with a shop. It seems like Eurocode is probably the way to go for me. I bought the car in Torrance. I will be checking out Ingolstadt West too. Thanks for the replies.
I assume you'd driven it a bit before this drive and you're familiar with the road but damn dude you were on it! Indication how nice the car is other than the stupid lowering springs. To be honest for street use I don't really see the need for that much power and I'd want to have as little lag as possible.
Clifford Bradford When you drive the canyons as much as he does it's literally a walk in the park.
So much Volkswagen content. Doug, The Smoking Tire, Regular Car Reviews. Coincidence? I think not! lmao
I have this fucking Gif of the Bob Parr's boss that's perfect for this situation, and now I'm have an inner conflict. Well, more like an internal Vietnam, if I'm honest, because part of me feels like UA-cam should let me do this; The other part of me is frozen in horror at the colossal clusterfuck UA-cam would become if they did allow Gifs.
My 2015 golf 7 Gti is now pushing 503hp with stock internals... 1 year 6 months later and still going strong... I know a guy in the UK pushing 510hp with stock internals... These cars can handle a lot
how are you pushing 503 stock? Also do you have instagram?
@@Flipzzz hi there I no longer own the Mk7 Gti I sold it I now have the MK7R and I have not yet tuned it, I am still enjoying it in its stock form...i have had the same tires on now since I got it new which is 5 month, if I still had the Gti I would have changed the front tires twice already there was too much wheelspin in that car 😂😂😂
I always ask myself one thing with these top level Golfs. Why not swap the engine for a 2.5litre 5 zylinder. They are easy to get, at least in America, as i have been told. They definately fit, they aren't that much more expensive to use than modifying the stock engine. But most importantly it just pushes the envelope. I saw a german video of an official Volkswagen Prototype with that engine and it was furious, more sound more and easier horsepower, more torque. But most importantly, it stops to be "just" a four pot and becomes the mighty 5 cylinder. When watching that VW prototype one could have confused it for an audi sport quattro.
The 2.0 EA888 is a much more capable engine than the 2.5. No comparison.
How? Why? The only advantage is that the 2.0 is more common among tuners, so there are more parts. But other than that a bigger engine will always be the better tuning base.
Peter Griffin The 2.0 is a stronger, more efficient engine. Displacement has nothing to do with that. Why swap an engine when you can use the engine it came with? At that point, you’re tens of thousands of dollars in the hole without even having any power advantage until you start adding performances upgrades to the 2.5.
I don't know wether we are talking about the same blocks. The 2.5 i am talking about is also in the RS3 and the TT RS and is superior in any way.
Peter Griffin the rs3 hatch is pretty much the car you described.
Idk how expensive that motor would be for a swap though
Apr always has a stealthy package for Audi, Vw I remember like 5 years ago you doing the Audi TT with 600 hp
Hope I can make my R like this someday
Long live the one take!!!
Happy new year mat
Lol @ the "Don't lower your Golf R kids". I completely agree. Stock height for mine all the way because I daily it. If it was a track car then sure...but daily in the real world? No.
Can't wait for my warranty to expire so I can start heading up the stages! =)
lonememe you should look into the refreshed APR +! For about 1 grand you get stage 1 with apr providing for the power train warranty.
Yeah, I saw APR + when it was first coming out but the power gains were meager at best. That refreshed version looks really great actually. Unfortunately I'm about 5k away from my powertrain warranty being up, so they only term limit match that anyway. Thanks for the tip though! If I was still 10-15k miles out on my warranty I'd for sure go with that!
As a apr2 gti owner I so want that cars crate engine... nice build
Stradman lambo wrap!
stradman?
Buck Futter UA-camr that did a purple camo wrap on his gallardo
huh?
Buck Futter you asked who the stradman is
why is he famous?
DSG just-a fartin' its ass off. Always happy to see an R with Farah behind the wheel.