It will be interesting to have a drive in one when/if it comes to Canada. I'm not so sure it will be $10,000 better than the GTI, but I guess I'll have to drive one and see. To be honest, I was hoping that it wouldn't come with a manual transmission: if it only had the DSG I could write it off my list, but now I might be tempted to upgrade.
![Undecided :-\](https://www.autos.ca/forum/Smileys/CarTalk/undecided.gif)
But, from some of the foreign reviews I've read, it seems that the R has lost a bit of the fun, nimble, tossable nature of the GTI. While it will certainly be faster than a GTI, I'm not so sure it will handle better or be appreciably more fun to drive.
I suppose the AWD will be an advantage in the winter, but FWD has never failed to get me anywhere I've needed to go. And the R is still a nose-heavy car with the engine hanging out in front of the axle, so I doubt the AWD will give much handling advantage in the dry.
IMO, the real reason for AWD in this car is simply to get the extra power to the ground without excessive torque steer. I could see that being a huge advantage for a guy who would want to chip a GTI, but since I'm happy with the stock output it's not such a big deal to me.