Clarkson likes the Golf R

Who cares? He's a prat!
 
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It even says, he hasn't even driven it!
 
So....3 pages of the old fella dribbling on about Boris Johnson,Phaetons,GT-Rs etc,followed by a single page devoted to a car he admits he's never driven.
 
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If Clarkson thinks that, then it confirms I was right getting an Audi.
 
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He probably doesn't like Audi's because Audi don't take him out for lunches, or pay him for reviews of their cars... they sell on their own merits instead of having to pay an idiot to promote their car for them!
 
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It isn't really a car review as such, more an observation of cars and social perceptions :)

But he has made a boo-boo - The Golf R (and Audi S3) does not have the Haldex-based front diff that the Golf GTI with Performance Pack has.
 
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It isn't really a car review as such, more an observation of cars and social perceptions :)

But he has made a boo-boo - The Golf R (and Audi S3) does not have the Haldex-based front diff that the Golf GTI with Performance Pack has.

Better off with a Quaife or Wavetrac anyway!
 
Haha Indeed :)

Some would have you believe that Haldex is just as good (as Torsen or Quaife) !!!

:lmfao:
 
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Haha Indeed :)

Some would have you believe that Haldex is just as good (as Torsen or Quaife) !!!

:lmfao:

I've had the pleasure of driving cars with all of those(not all at the same time of course!).

Torsen diffs as opposed to torque sensing diffs(if you get my drift...) are probably the least intrusive,and you aren't aware of what's going on with them most of the time.

Torque sensing diffs such as the Quaife are immensely effective at finding traction,but tend to be a bit on the "snappy" side,and may also drag the car to whichever side has the most grip,so IMHO you do have to be prepared for what you get with these,and ready to correct the odd lunge.

The Haldex is OK...sort of.
It isn't anywhere near as effective as a torque sensing diff(again IMHO),but it's pretty unobtrusive,and does improve with an external controller,and clearly they do have potential in that they've been used by rallycross champions previously,albeit in programmable form.

I think,for what it is,the Haldex is a solution to the packaging of a transverse engine and gearbox which also allows some torque to be directed to the rear wheels,but is it as good as a Torsen,Quaife or Wavetrac....no.
 
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I like Clarkson.

Clarkson's harmless and FUN. A complete idiot at times, saying things most of us wouldn't say out loud, but he always makes me laugh :thumbsup:

And I did read his article in the Sunday Times of the Golf R. Clarkson made no excuses that he hadn't driven it; but I've no doubt he knows the dynamics of the car well.

But how many of our magazine scribes do drive the cars they describe, they always seem to report the same diatribe i.e., this Audi has dull steering. Well I've an Audi RS3 and an Audi TT roadster and the steering on either ain't dull, and that's having driven Lotus cars for 45-years with which to compare.

No, I'm into Clarkson, he's funny. And the fact that he ****** others off, that's funny too... :jump:
 
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I want his job! And I if I was him you could call me all the names under the sun and I wouldn't care I'd welcome it........ Same with footballers , if I was on £120k+ a week I'd let you chuck coins at me on the pitch! ;-)

Sean
 
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I've watched a few videos of the new Golf R and have thought the exhaust note from inside the cabin sounds really synthesised (like the M 135i).

From watching (many) videos of the S3, to me it sounds much more natural. Totally unsubstantiated comparison - but thats what I think!
 
Clarkson is funny, but he's a TV-personality-car-enthusiast. If I want an actual review on a car, I wait for Chris Harris to come out with one. Clarkson never speaks about the actual technical bits of what he drives.
 
Clarkson is funny, but he's a TV-personality-car-enthusiast. If I want an actual review on a car, I wait for Chris Harris to come out with one. Clarkson never speaks about the actual technical bits of what he drives.

Totally agree about Clarkson. Chris Harris a great bloke and love his videos. But we all know that a video will surely be coming soon and it will be either the R or S3 vs M 135i. Regular Monkey viewers will know the outcome of that fight before they have even watched it....
 
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I don't even think Clarkson is funny any more, and I do think he's harmful. Lots of people take him seriously (believe it or not), and whether he intends them to or not, they still do!
 
I like Chris Harris reviews but some of his videos are a bit irrelevant... 9.5/10 people will never drift a car around a track so why is that at all important.
 
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I like Chris Harris reviews but some of his videos are a bit irrelevant... 9.5/10 people will never drift a car around a track so why is that at all important.

Also surely the set up for drifting round a track is exactly the opposite of what you want in a road car? Namely a back end that will pop out easily if provoked.
 
Clarkson always seems to rate the Golf over the S3, but given his reviews of the last 5 years, if he doesn't like something then I'd likely buy it more readily than if he did like it. His views are overly personalised rather than objective, and I'm almost convinced he is pro certain brands / models to the point of something going on behind the scenes involving unmarked brown envelopes. If he mentions driving into the office in his Mercedes one more time I'll be convinced!
 
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I'm pretty sure the whole car/reviews industry involves many brown envelopes. I've certainly heard it about awards / car of the year type things before, it's all pretty corrupt (allegedly!)
 
Oh, and Top Gear (the TV show) is just as bad, despite being bound by the BBC's editorial guidelines.

They had an episode where they slammed the Tesla Roadster for running out of power half way around and having to be pushed off the track, and then having a problem with its brakes that would have taken all night to solve. What in fact happened is they faked the car running out of power (the car's logs showed this when Tesla later downloaded them), didn't need to be pushed off, and had a blown fuse which was fixed in 5 minutes. Not that they told the viewer this of course. They then moaned about the cost of it.

Later the same episode they did a bit on hydrogen fuel cells and the Honda FCX Clarity (no mention of the MILLIONS that this one costs though), and were really positive about it, despite the numerous problems that exist in setting up an infrastructure, cost, environmental concerns with it, inefficiency in producing hydrogen on that scale, etc. Guess what? Shell Oil are quite heavily involved in the research and development of a hydrogen infrastructure, and funnily enough... it's the same Shell Oil that sponsor Top Gear (The production company, not the TV show - being BBC it can't have sponsors, but it's hard to say there's no conflict of interests there...)

No wonder TG are always slamming electric cars and faking scenes of them running out, they are a big threat to one of their production company's sponsors!

I'm pretty sure after that that it must be the same with car manufacturers and shows like that - there must be a reason they like to write off entire brands at once and love everything other brands do!
 
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Totally agree about Clarkson. Chris Harris a great bloke and love his videos. But we all know that a video will surely be coming soon and it will be either the R or S3 vs M 135i. Regular Monkey viewers will know the outcome of that fight before they have even watched it....

Interesting.....monkey has been driving an S3!!! https://mobile.twitter.com/harrismonkey

He seems to like it - only a few tweets down from the top. Hope a video is coming soon!
 
Clarkson always seems to rate the Golf over the S3, but given his reviews of the last 5 years, if he doesn't like something then I'd likely buy it more readily than if he did like it. His views are overly personalised rather than objective, and I'm almost convinced he is pro certain brands / models to the point of something going on behind the scenes involving unmarked brown envelopes. If he mentions driving into the office in his Mercedes one more time I'll be convinced!

He has always liked Golfs. I think he's admitted that in the past.
He always plugs his Merc (as stated) - generally dislikes BMW, Audi and Porsche. It's very predectable.

Generally, I dont take any notice of most reviewers. My world is very different to racing round a track for a couple of hours. And I also have to buy and sell my car - not just hand it back at the end of a day blasting round in it.
 
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Jeremy's dislike of Porches is just so he can argue with Richard and put a blowtorch to his crotch. Entertaining? maybe. Informative? no.
 
What has Clarkson's opinion on housing extensions got to do with anything??? :undwech:

Jeremy's dislike of Porches is just so he can argue with Richard and put a blowtorch to his crotch. Entertaining? maybe. Informative? no.
 
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As posted before I hate Clarkson. Give us a car programme about cars! Not lads and pompous T* twats playing silly buggers.
 
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I have driven the golf R (I wonder if Jeremy has yet) and its engine noise is as fake as he is
 
For it being the most popular and well liked tv show which I will say is humorous and entertaining even with the odd rediculas comment none the less, this would be the last place I would imagine people to be slagging them off!
Unfortunately we are odviously all doing something wrong as we are sat here on this app and sounding like a bunch off jelious twonks!
If u want it then go and do it, and show all all what a real programme is all about ;)
 
I'm so not jealous :)

and maybe I will....watch this space
 
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