[Marcus62]

I am changing my car in the next few months and am tempted by the R35, but would appreciate some advice from current owners. I will be doing around 10,000 miles per year and would like to know:
a) is the car a serious ownership proposition for everyday use?
b) what can I expect in terms of tyres, servicing, fuel etc.
c) What car have you come from?
d) Does a Milltek exhaust affect warranty?
I'm a little concerned about the transmission issues I've read about, I won't be tracking the car so do I need to be worried? Grateful for any responses.

 

[alloy]

I've had mine for 7 weeks now with just shy of 2000 miles on the odometer.

a) Yes i think it is for my needs. I drive it on the weekend as i live and work in the City it's not required for commuting etc. But a run down to the shops or off to see friends and it is a very compliant car to use. The rear seats though are less than a token gesture, especially if you'r north of 6ft like me.
b) Servicing is inline if not a shade more expensive than the GTRs peers. Tyres depend on how hard you drive the car and how well you drive it, i've heard people mention 8k miles others in the states still going strong with over double that on them, so no real answer there. Fuel, on the motorway you'd be upset not to see 26mpg on a cruise, tap the loud pedal though and you can soon easily see single figs. Think my average MPG is around 17mpg and thats with city, motorway and spirited use.
c) I came from STI and Evo9.....
d) Y-Pipe will affect your warranty on the exhuast, although mine was fitted by HPC and their unofficial comment was you'd be very hard pressed to suffer a void warranty for the Y-Pipe.

Transmission issues, again if you're sensible with the car i dont see any future problems, it's like anything too much abuse and things go pop. Remember there's little to no mechanical sympathy in getting something aroun 1.8ton from a standstill to 60mph!

 

[Marcus62]

Thanks for that Alloy, I'm in an RS4 Audi at the moment and I'm expecting a big difference in performance, how did it feel coming from an EVO?

 

[mickv]

I am changing my car in the next few months and am tempted by the R35, but would appreciate some advice from current owners. I will be doing around 10,000 miles per year and would like to know:
a) is the car a serious ownership proposition for everyday use?
b) what can I expect in terms of tyres, servicing, fuel etc.
c) What car have you come from?
d) Does a Milltek exhaust affect warranty?
I'm a little concerned about the transmission issues I've read about, I won't be tracking the car so do I need to be worried? Grateful for any responses.

Hi Marcus
I've swapped to an R35 from an RS4 too. Here are my views:
a) Yes - I use mine every day for commuting and business meetings. Not as comfortable as an RS4 on motorway (more road noise and slightly harsher ride), but I can live with it. Drove to Somerset at the weekend and it didn't bother me. One point is to check out the seats though - anyone with a wide frame might find them a bit tight. I'd say I'm relatively narrow (12st and a bit an 5ft 11") but I sometimes find them a bit nippy on the thigh if I set the seat pad down to it's lowest level - I upped it a bit for the long trip I mentioned because of this.
b)I'd say read the forum here. Running costs are going to be steeper than an RS4 as more frequent services, tyres about double the cost. But manageable if you aren't going to track it. If you are going to track it, check out costs of inspections and fluid changes before you commit. Fuel not much different from RS4 - you can get 25mpg on a motorway run, but it drops off quickly when giving it the beans. I've not noticed much difference from RS4 in range/economy.
d)Opinions seem to vary. Anyone with one fitted will say no or very unlikely. But risk is probably non-zero. I'm considering one because I think the car needs a bit more volume, but I intend discussin with my HPC in advance. I suspect that they will become more accpeted as time goes on. I had thought to wait for the NISMO bits but then saw the price - think it's around £12k for the cat-back system of the SpecV. I don't need noise that badly!

If you have kids, check them in the back seats. I've a 6 and a 10 year old. 6yr old fits nicely in a booster behind the passenger seat if you have it reasonably far forward - legs stick out a bit as thoighs not as long as front to back depth of seat cushion. 10 yr old fits behind me fine - knees bend bang on edge of seat cushion and down beind by seat back fine. If I was 6ft 3" though it would be a struggle.

In performance terms, I wasn't expecting much difference from the RS4 to be honest. However, it really is like night and day. Makes RS4 feel soft/tame. In my view in a completely different league, whatever the raw stats say. Get down to an HPC and have a good long test drive.

Hope that helps.
Mick

 

[alloy]

Thanks for that Alloy, I'm in an RS4 Audi at the moment and I'm expecting a big difference in performance, how did it feel coming from an EVO?

My Evo was tuned to 400bhp, the GTR feels like a grown up evo to be fair seems to have much more grip and the power delivery is much more linear yet still almost as light on it's wheels as the evo was.

Without being bias its a very useable and enjoyed motor, go and test drive one then you'll understand

 

[ANDY400R]

d) Y-Pipe will affect your warranty on the exhuast, although mine was fitted by HPC and their unofficial comment was you'd be very hard pressed to suffer a void warranty for the Y-Pipe.

Alloy- can I ask which HPC this was as mine flat refuse to allow any change to exhaust and I really want to get this done. Thanks

 

[Marcus62]

Thanks guys, that's really good information and I will try to drive a car in the next couple of weeks. I know that it's going to be a lot quicker than my current car, I just wondered what effect the kerb weight has on handling, but judging by your comments it's not an issue. Thanks once again, if I take the plunge I'll be back in touch with pics!