Quote:
Originally Posted by BlacMacJac
Ah, so you prefer the R to the M2, or simply that they are not comparable?
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I apologize for this lengthy explanation, in advance.
Firstly, I have kind of gone overboard on car ownership; I have 6, for 1 person. So you have to accept the idea from the start that I do not have a lot of common sense.
4 of my cars are what I would call "occasional," or limited use, or maybe cars of passion. One is a 1M, which needs no introduction. One is a 2003 Porsche 911 (996) Twin Turbo, now on its 6th owner (me). One is a 135is Convertible; I always wanted a convertible, but I don't live in an area where the weather cooperates for convertible use a lot of the time. The last collectible or semi-collectible, limited use vehicle is a 2000 Z3M Coupe, of which I am the 2nd owner, but only bought it 3 years ago. Other than for the 135is convertible, the other 3 cars are if anything appreciating, so although they do tie up some cash and do cost something to own, in the end I could get rid of them tomorrow and it will not have cost me very much money to have enjoyed them for a period of time.
That gets me to the cars I actually drive most of the time, and cars that I would drive in the winter on snow tires. I was driving a used 2013 135i coupe for about 3 years, which I traded in on my M2 in March. I intend to use the M2 more or less like I used the 135i coupe, e.g. all year, although maybe I'll be a little less likely to take it on substandard roads, for example for hiking. The Golf R has the advantage of 4 doors plus a hatch, extreme practicality, and AWD in the winter. It was a 2016 with relatively low mileage.
When I bought the M2 I thought that I would trade the Golf R in on the M2 also, e.g. trading in the 135i and Golf R, together. I wasn't offered much by the dealer on the Golf R, so I decided not to do that. Later, I thought about just selling it outright, because I assumed that the M2 would replace it. Over time and with more use of the M2 and the R, I decided that they were two different types of vehicles, not really competitive, and although not economically rational, I could justify keeping both. So rather than getting rid of the R, I instead traded it in on a new one on Monday, which only cost me around $11K for this vehicle with an MSRP north of $40K. In exchange I got the new facelift Mark 7.5, a color I prefer (gray), and a 6 year/72K mile warranty in place of a warranty that would have expired soon. It seemed worth it to me, since I think it is a rather unique offering in marketplace (grown up hot hatch) and I think that the manual transmission is likely to be discontinued soon, so I got a new one with a MT.
Bottom line is that I don't see anyone cross-shopping a Golf R with an M2. The M2 is an entry level luxury M car; the R is a gussied up Golf, with AWD and 292 HP. You can take the R to some dodgy and remote places you would probably not choose to take the M2, and I think it will be more competent in bad winter driving, although both will be fine with good snow tires.