I’ve always enjoyed the finer things. There weren’t many 16 year olds buying Himalayan Sea Salt or asking baristas at Starbucks to steam their latte at 125F as opposed to the higher 130 temp. That was me though. I’ve always been a little picky and enjoyed nicer things. I didn’t come from money. When possible, nicer things are fun!
The problem with finer things is that they usually cost a lot of money. I have to pick and choose. I might eat very cheap food for a week so that I can afford a fine bottle of champagne or a fancy trip to France or to a nice restaurant. Sacrifices within my budget to enjoy nice things. The Volkswagen Golf R was one of those nice things that I sacrificed to afford and it was worth it every time I went for a drive.
My first car was a Toyota Camry manufactured in 1992. I received this car in 2001 from my grandmother. I added 125K miles to the odometer that was already at 145K when i received the car as a gift. For 3 years after I moved to SF from Florida, various students of my dad used the car as a loaner from time to time. It eventually bit the dust around 2011. She had a good run!
After moving to New Hampshire from San Francisco, I picked up a car with the little bit of cash I had left over after moving my entire life across country. It was a 1996 V-6 Nissan Maxima. Slightly more power than the 4 cylinder Camry but way more rust due to the horrendously cold and salty winters up here. It lasted me 12 months exactly and was well worth the $2500 I paid. I remember the car basically dying on my way to the airport and I rolled for a bit and called a tow truck and that was the end of that car.
In 2011, I leased a Toyota Corolla for 24 months. It was the “S” model which stands for speed! It wasn’t any faster than the regular Corolla but it had a little spoiler, alloy wheels and Bluetooth hands-free! It wasn’t a bad car. I enjoyed it actually. I returned it under my mileage for the lease and then I was without a car.
I always had this love for fast cars but also for comfortable big cars. A big cadillac is more appealing than a Porsche. I was going to trade the Corolla in and buy a 2013 Toyota Avalon. Supposedly, the car is for old people but I had a lot of love for the Toyota brand and the Avalon was a big car, very comfortable and luxurious.
It was that March of 2013 that my friend Justin in San Francisco flew out to New Hampshire to visit me. He literally changed my life and got me out of what was going to be a downward spiral of underpowered V6/V8 floating cars for retirees.
“Dude. You should get a Golf R!” He showed me a car that was like a regular Golf but had these insane specifications like 0-60 in 5.4 seconds. What? 256 HP in a hatchback the size of a Pinto? That’s insane! It turns out one was in a showroom nearby so I went by and test-drove it. That same day, I drove home with it. Justin is more of a BMW fan but he knew I didn’t want to spend 60K on a car and I’m glad he recommended something that was an incredible value in a great german engineering package.
At 37K MSRP, the 2012/2013 model year Golf R was expensive. The STI, Focus ST and other similar boy-racer cars were cheaper even by 10 grand in some cases. Yet they lacked the Audi-inspired features, comfort, interior refinements and modding potential. I did learn along the way that VWs, especially track-car VWs were quite expensive to maintain if you drive them hard. I didn’t make a ton of modifications to the R. I drove it 49K miles in 30 months of ownership. it was the best years of my life so far.
It’s very difficult to put into words the joy of owning a performance car. The R is no Porsche 911 or Audi RS5 but it is quick and nimble and a complete sleeper and deciding you want to go 138MPH on a track and getting there in a short amount of time is incredible. It’s wonderful. If you’re responsible, it’s the most fun you can with a machine.
In late 2013, only 6 months after I had the R, the MK7 Golf generation was announced and with that, a Golf R replacement to my car. Of course, this R wouldn’t arrive state-side until April of 2015. The R is not a normal car. There has been a 2004 and 2008 R32 and then there’s the 2012 and now 2015 R. It’s a seldom made vehicle. There are a few 2016 Model year Golf Rs in production just like it was with the 2012/2013 where a 2012 cutoff happened and a few 2013s were made.
I’ve been lusting after replacing my car nearly since I bought it and that’s why I didn’t take on too many modifications. I knew the real hero was coming that would dethrone the car that sat in my driveway.
Before I get too far ahead of myself. I should go back to the MK6 Golf R. Aside from the fact it was an Audi S3 without the Audi logo, the R of yesteryear was unfortunately low-tech. You take 10K off the price of the S3 and yes you have a Golf R but you have a car that’s missing so many tech-savvy features. I paid 37K for the Golf R and it didn’t even have an auto-dimming mirror for night time driving with people behind you with bright headlights. There was the lack of motorized seat controls but VW says that was to save weight but yet, it had a sunroof which, for a track car, is a no-no as it adds top-heavy weight.
Despite these downsides, the R was an incredible driving experience. Despite $550 car payments, I managed to pay my car down much earlier than I needed to and now I’m stuck with a very positive equity in my car at the same time as the car is depreciating amidst the new Golf R being on the market and my odometer count racking up….time to move on.
Next. The Replacement to my favorite car of all time.
For now, a few photos of my car over the last 2.5 years:
