Our Countryman just went in for its first service. The car has been nothing but great since day 1. I don't drive it to often as its my wife's car. But she loves it and is happy with it so thats all that matters to me! I got a Golf R a few months back. Fun Little car for sure. But it has warmed up to the mid 70's these past couple of days, so i thought i would wash the cars and take a couple pics. Well actually my son washed both and took the pictures. I never wash the cars anymore he has taken over. Anyways the pictures aren't that great but they work.
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Loving the wheels on your R!! :drool:

 

Thanks man! They are just the stockers painted black!

 

Very nice cars. Now stop taking pictures and get out there and drive.

 

In a couple weeks me and my son are going down to pikes peak raceway and we are gonna do some laps in both cars!

 

I actually just traded in my 2013 Golf R for the 2013 CM All4 manual.The CM is more fun and stylish but of course much slower than the R.

 

I honestly don't think the Mini is that good looking, I think it's a funky little car. It doesn't look bad just not great. What do you mean by fun? Because if your talking about how it drives I think the R is way more fun to drive and gives you a way better driving experience.

 

The performance of the R is way stronger than the CM for sure in every respect. It is a very satisfying and refined drive. To me though, it is more GT than sports car. For example, the steering is no where near as sharp and quick as that in a sports car. It does begin to make perfect sense as you approach the 100 mph mark though. In fact the whole car comes into focus at about that speed. The R is a car engineered for the autobahn. It's a very fine piece of machinery. On twisties like short radius mountain curves, it is extremely competent and fairly enjoyable. But it is not a blast. The steering that makes so much sense, is so rock solid and non-twitchy at 110 mph seems detached, a bit slow, and lacking in feedback on the mountain curves. The CR's steering on the other hand seems more engaged, is more responsive, quick and...fun on these conditions. It is a car that loves to get tossed around, albeit imperfectly. It is also rock solid at 100 mph although quite a different animal than the R. The motor performance of the CRS around town is adequate and I quite enjoy wringing out all the HP it can muster. Again, the R is MUCH more powerful and fast. However, the CR is "quick". I find its quickness in acceleration, steering and handling more fun that the R in every day driving. Also, while not beautiful in any classic design sense, I find its aesthetics inside and out far more interesting and playful (while also functional) than the Golf's. In fact, one of the R's weakest attributes in my opinion, is that inside and out it can be difficult to differentiate from the lowliest Golf. That may be high praise the the entire Golf range, which I believe is well earned. That "stealthiness" can also be considered a strength of the R. Styling is extremely subjective. I can say that after the R, I am enjoying the unique styling of the CM.

 

Very nice review. I was looking at both the Golf R and MC ( we have a golf and Mini hardtop in the family already for my teens) I ended up go for the Countryman and was surprised to find it really fun to drive on a daily basis. It was the quirkiness of the mini that really made the decision , the Golf was nothing special inside. (Your blue is beautiful )
Also it was nice to see a photo of your Brilliant copper with the red brakes because I was thinking about that and wasn't sure how the colors would go together. It looks great!

Linda

 

I wasn't to sure about the colors going together either I mean light coffee and red just seems a little odd. But then again I have the most least common color out there.

 

Didn't wash the s5? Would've looked great in the middle in pic 2 with its top down!

 

I disagree with you completely. See but my car is dropped on coil overs. (Raised to stock ride height for winter). Believe me once you get this car on a little but stiffer spring and damper boy does it corner like a sports car. The best handling car I have ever owned is a 2008 Audi S5. That car had sway bars F&R and springs all the way around. IMO the Golf handles just as well as that and that was a true sports car. Also I'm a power freak and the Mini just seems way underpowered to me. Granted I've come from a 350HP Audi than i had a 400+HP Audi. The CM just feels numb to me. The electronic throttle I can't not stand. The sound coming out the back isn't great to listen to. Its seems to have more squeaks and rattles than any car I've ever owned. I'm not bashing the car by any means its a great fun little car. In regards to the R's styling. If you know cars, if you know what your talking about you will know that it's a R. I think it looks so much meaner than the stock Golf, the big air intakes below the lights, the DRL's, how much lower it is than a stock Golf. I get people telling me my S5 is an A5. The styling on most cars now days is very subtle between models and only people who know what there talking about can really tell a difference while cruising down the road.

 

No i haven't driven the 5 in a while because of all the rocks and salt on the road. Don't want to expose my baby to that if I don't have too! So the last time I washed it was mid-January and haven't driven it since.

 

So what kind of real word numbers are you getting in the MPG arena? (In the R)

 

Yesterday I drove to the airport (85 miles of highway) and I averaged 28.3MPG at about 80 the whole time. But when just driving to work and around town I'm usually a very spirited driver. I usually get about 23-24ish. But the car only has 2500 miles so hopefully the mileage will get better. But probably in the next 3-4ish months here the car will have APR Stage II+ so we will see how the mileage is then...

 

I take the R over the CM even the JCW CM anyday .......

I miss my MKV GTI so much now...........

 

That's why I bought the R over both of them..

 

My car actually isn't brilliant copper it's light coffee!