1. Golf R 7.5 Faster Without Traction Control Light
2. Golf R 7.5 Faster Without Traction Controller
3. Golf R 7.5 Faster Without Traction Control Video

Sorry this is longer than I thought.

2018 Volkswagen Golf R Review: Sense and Sensibility in the Hot Hatch for Adults The ultimate Golf is the most mature, best all-around hot hatch on the market—with a price to match. Hi, my name is Brad, and welcome to my build thread. As a fan of sleeper cars, the Golf R really appealed to me with its passive aggressive looks, while providing incredible performance and daily useability. I went with the facelifted Mk7.5 as it has the latest features and updated exterior all around, as well as the EA888 engine and MQB chassis.

I’m writing this to document my experience with doing this to help others considering this upgrade. I’m writing it here because I found this forum to be a great source of information for VW enthusiasts about these upgrades and I just wanted to add my 2-cents to this base of knowledge.

A TL:DR for other MkVI Golf R owners considering a similar tune; DO IT!

My background: This is my third turbo-charged AWD car, I’ve previously owned a MY98 Subaru WRX and a Mazda 6 MPS (or Mazdaspeed 6), both have been wonderful cars and I enjoyed them immensely. Both were bought new, as was the Golf R.

I bought this car with knowledge that I’d regularly having two passengers, and I wanted it quickly so instead of getting exactly what I wanted – a nine month wait - I got one “off the boat”, that is, a car a dealer had order speculatively. I’ve owned the R for almost two years but until recently it was a lease car and I kept it as stock. Never once in my time of owning it did I ever see the traction control light go on.

The Original car: I ended up with the R with the 19” wheels (I wanted the 18’s – Sydney roads are terrible), Magnetic suspension (a must have; see Sydney roads) ,the leather interior (I was alive in the 70’s and it is still too soon for plaid), DSG (an agonising choice), and the standard sound system (hey how bad can the sound be on a 50K car). It was a car I respected rather than loved. It was very fast, faster than my WRX and MPS 6, but it didn’t seem to want to involve me in the drive. I both loved and hated the DSG, it was great in traffic, but again, seemed to take out my involvement. I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to keep it or not, but due to various shit (passenger capacity now not an issue) I ended paying out the lease and owning it outright.

The Upgrades: firstly I hated the sound; I didn’t have the Dynaudio, which I’ve heard is excellent, I had the standard, which is woeful in the extreme. So the old shitty speakers were cut out and new mid-priced speakers were installed (along with sound deadening) and they were a revelation! A mere $1300 could transform my car audio from shit to great and spend a little more and it will only get better!

I caught the mod bug.

Next I read about the various tunes applied to VWs, all of this was a mystery, but reading this forum and others and checking out websites and what was available locally I decided in the APR Stage 1 tune. I would also note the advice I got from this forum; wait until the sales are on. A sale happened to be on right then.

Golf R 7.5 Faster Without Traction Control Light

The APR Tune: I checked it into a local APR dealer, who was a VW specialist, it was done in a few hours.

The APR Stage 1 tune: Wow, just wow. This car is quick! There are no issues with drivability, which was my main concern, I’d driven the first unlimited edition WRX STi in Australia and it was a dog, no boost before 4000rpm, then a beast, a useless piece of kit off a racetrack. No this APR tuned car was just as tractable as the stock below 3000rpm, but above that it was a different car. From that day on the traction control light has been a regular light on my dash.

Golf R 7.5 Faster Without Traction Controller

Golf R 7.5 Faster Without Traction Control Video

I know we’ve all seen this written before but it is now the engine it should’ve been out of the factory. To think all of this grunt and power could be unlocked by simply changing some software setting is amazing. And they didn’t lie about the fuel economy either; even after gunning it frequently I’ve found my fuel consumption is lower!

Pros: Everything. It’s the car it should’ve been out of the factory – for me anyway. Increased power, torque and better fuel consumption. The DSG now makes a lot more sense as the times between shifts are much shorter.

Cons: You do now get the odd tug on the wheel from torque steer, the Haldex system isn’t quick enough to get all that torque to the rear wheels. Honestly I think this is why the factory dialled back the engine, to maintain the flawless chassis behaviour.

Power does tend to die off over 6500rpm. I’m not certain whether this is just an impression or really genuine, or a marketing ploy. I do know then next stage has the intake and fuel pump as the next additions and we know what that will help.

My Conclusions: Do it as soon as you can. It transforms the car from a quick appliance to something that feels like it wants to go hard. I like the fact that it twitches occasionally now and that it sets off the traction control in second gear, it now feels more like there is a beast lurking the engine bay willing to go harder, not an appliance. I love driving it every day.

I’m getting the air intake and fuel pump next year.