So I've owned my 2016 Manual M2 for about 3 weeks now and finally feel that I am able to somewhat properly compare it to the 2017 Manual Golf R I previously owned for only 9 months.
SENSATION OF DRIVING
Even though the Golf R was probably faster off the line (definitely faster if it was an auto), the M2 feels like no other car I've ever driven at higher speeds. Acceleration between 2nd and 3rd especially is unbelievable. The sound of the M2 is also incomparable to the R. The Golf did not sound sporty, did not burble, did not pop and did nothing for me. In the Bimmer on the other hand.....
. I find myself driving it in 1st or 2nd half the time just to hear the exhaust notes.
HANDLING
The M2 is the best handling cars I've ever driven. The Golf R felt great at times but comparing an AWD car to RWD car should be illegal! What's more fun than going sideways?
THE RIDE
DCC on Golf R was fantastic which is why it takes the edge here. I live in the suburbs and work in the city and driving the M2 in the city can be brutal at times. I'm young (22) and once daily drove an E30 with coilovers for 2 years so the bumpiness doesn't bother me too much, HOWEVER, it would nice to have an option to put the suspension in comfort in bumpy areas around town.
MANUAL TRANSMISSIONS
I never really understood why people were complaining about the sloppiness of the Golf R until I drove the M2. The M2 feels tight and precise and the Golf R...not so much. The clutch is also much easier in the Bimmer in comparison to the VW.
The one complaint I have for the BMW is the auto blip. Why BMW did you have to deprive me of using the heel and toe technique I longed to master! I know auto blip can be turned of by switching traction control off but... really? Why can't there just be a setting or a button that turns auto blip on and off.
EXTERIOR STYLING
Hands down the M2 takes this category. Though the Golf R is styled nicely for what it is, it was way to subtle in my opinion and would have needed heavy exterior modification to make it look as aggressive as I wanted. However, I do agree that there are a lot of people out there wanting it for the subtleness. The "sleeper" look seems to be heavily sought after by R enthusiasts.
The M2 on the other hand looks aggressive right out of the gate, especially when adding a carbon fibre front lip and black kidney grills.
INTERIOR STYLING & HEAD UNIT
If I'm honest, I'm slightly disappointed with the interior of the M2. It feels like any other BMW to me. The Golf R felt refined, luxurious and modern. The BMW again, with the exception of the blue stitching and carbon fibre/alcantara bits, feels like any other BMW. What I liked about the R was that everything was simple. The display was massive, touchscreen and came with Apple Car play right out of the gate. And the BMW.....is a BMW.
Sound systems I would say is a dead tie. The Golf R seemed to have a larger subwoofer but I could care less.
TECH
Surprisingly the Golf R takes this category also. Lane departure (which was almost like Tesla's autonomous driving), front collisions warning, parking sensors and back up camera are all better in the Golf. An issue I had recently with the M2 was that I couldn't figure out a way to permanently turn off the front end collision warning. It once activated the brakes when I was driving on a road with parked cards on the side. Luckily for me there was no one behind me or else I would have had to say bye bye to the ass of my car.
In the end, the BMW M2 takes the win. The feeling the I have when driving the car is comparable to the feeling I have when I go snowboarding or downhill mountain biking. The exhilaration is immense and the only other car that gave me this feeling was my friend's R32 Skyline Gtst......only because he insisted that he stayed sideways the whole time.
