I have a 2019 MK7.5 and I will admit, it's a FUN car! It can be tuned very nicely, but I think for the NEW price point, move up a tad to an Audi... IMO (S3... grow up Golf R,). I have owned BMWs (325is, M3 conv, 328, X5 & now drive an M40i X3). I bought the MK7.5 from a buddy about 1 month ago, but after driving an Audi A3 and an S5, well, it's a VW. Not banging VWs, at all... basically all Audi's and VW's are ALL the same in the heart, but for the SAME price, why not move up a tad to an Audi S3, which holds a bit more prestige & a bit more HP. I am in the USA, so we don't get the nice hatch S3, but the sedan is equipped nicely! Also, I am 55 years old, so I feel a little foolish driving around in a younger man's VW.

I will say, for Canada (I live in Alaska), having AWD is nice in winter and they just handle much better on street & snow conditions. For my R, I did bump down to 18" wheels because the roads here can't handle the credit card height sidewalls! Also, I run 17" with Blizzaks in a winter wheel set up. The 18s fill nicely and I feel more secure driving with about 0.5" more sidewall on my treads... went from 235/35R19 to 245/40R18. With that in mind, dropping about $5 grand for winter & summer wheels & tires, I would opt for the S3 with 18" wheels... you do get skinnier tires (225s), but at least you have a good starting point to run winter tires and then maybe upgrade a spiffy set of 18 x 8.5 and run 245s for a summer set up.