Well, there's apparently a whole bunch of people who are going to be living vicariously through you and your musings about the R, after you get it. I'm interested in if " incredibly plush ride " as Patrick says is how you feel about 35 aspect summer performance (or any other kind of thin sidewall) tires. I'm a convert of the value of VW's DDC and wouldn't live without it, but I have 45 aspect ratio non-band aid tires and have to be convinced of magic tech.
The ride with the 225/40-18 all season tires on the GTI with DCC is more compliant than either the 55/60 (all season/winter) aspect tires on the Jetta or the 65/70 (all season/winter) aspect tires on my Yukon XL, so it won't be too much of a leap from 40 aspect to 35 aspect to degrade the ride so who knows......
Interesting indeed. And I note Patrick said " now with the option to set the dampers two clicks past the default Comfort and Sport settings ". Maybe that's why, despite the 35 aspect tires.
If I'm not mistaken, your Jetta doesn't have DCC like mine? In the GLI I mostly use Custom settings - sport settings for everything (but turn down the piped in engine sound), except suspension which is set on comfort, and that does make a big difference vs. sport. Other times, I just hit the sport option, not custom. It remembers my custom settings, making it easy to switch. With the lesser power GLI, I find a smoother throttle tip in isn't necessary, whereas Patrick finds the R is better with it.