VW mk4 Golf R32 - Anyone had one?
 

Toying with getting one, but would like to see what other people think of them.

So if you have owned or driven one then whats your impression?

Great sound, superb seats, nice chunky steering wheel, nice looks, good drive.

Hasn't got the go to match the soundtrack though, feel nippy at low revs tickling along but try and press on and become a bit flat feeling.

I loved mine though, I reckon a supercharged one would be an awesome car.. Standard performance was far too boring for me to keep it though.

Haven't owned one but drove plenty, as JamesWRX say's not got the balls at top but overall a very nice car, VW did bring out a software update which smoothed out a lot of the issues, if getting one go for, full leather (not part), 3 door, sat nav and Black or Blue, as Silver looks nasty once aged a little.

This was mine:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...andm/Golf5.jpg

Fantastic car - amazing soundtrack, super responsive engine, no flat spots in power delivery, great interior and pretty practical too. It also handles very well - very hard to unstick it and when you do, it's controllable.

The bad points? It's heavy, it's not massively quick and you MUST make sure it's had a VW ECU upgrade (v6364 I think) to sort a hateful flat spot in the power band at 2.5k revs. It also apparently ups the power a bit. Most kick out around 260bhp once run in. Slightly oddly, I also found the gearstick was set too far back which started to get on my nerves.

Thank's for the responses so far guys, looks like I need to sort a test drive out in one :norty:

I'd say go half, I've looked at a few and the leather in the arse of the seat doesn't wear well and goes saggy. 6yo half will typically look nicer than 6yo full.

Agree with Hank - I had full leather and like many R32 owners, am not convinced it's real. Many claim it's leatherette. Also the Konig seats looks the business but I actually found them a bit uncomfortable. Make sure you have secure parking too - I was forced to sell mine when I moved to Bristol (after a year in London with secure parking) and it became thief magnet no.1 and cost me a fortune. Had to sell it on and still gutted I had to do so.

Fantastic car, especially with DSG box ;) Very refined for a hot hatch, 4WD an' all, but making them go quicker is very expensive. If you want 300bhp-plus, GTi is a better starting point

...or maybe a car with 300bhp or more ;) :).

I had a different experience with an R32, I was underwhelmed by the whole thing. The only real plus I could find was it felt planted.
I found the power was not remarkably greater than a GTi, it felt like I was in a mini tank and asides from the seats the interior was nothing special.
If you get one it will hold its money but think about what else you can get for that premium.
Its a lot of money for an average car. I would be inclined to go for a MK5 GTi if I had MK4 R32 money.

Tim - this is the car that thrashed the S3, Scooby and several other "rivals" in a well known car mag test, one that got a rather surprisingly good TG lap time and the only car where I had strangers come approach me to ask about it and a group of kids (aged around 12ish) shout "nice car mate!"

It is too heavy (1477kg) meaning the power to weight is about the same as a CTR but unlike the CTR and turbo'd machines, there are simply no power gaps anywhere and the throttle is razor sharp in it's response. You may have driven one without the ECU upgrade? It makes all the difference.

But for the money, I think it's a lot of car - one journo called it a mini Carrera 4.
I reckon you didn't get to drive the one you used properly.

The mk5 GTi is a great car but still suffers from the usual turbo issues, has the rather tragic mk5 interior (a big step backwards) and has a very dull soundtrack.

I'd have a mk4 over 5 mainly down to that stupid bar that runs from the centre console to the dash that seems to afflict all the latest vag cars. It get's right in the way of where my left leg sits and make for a not very comfortable drive.

Hank - I also just don't "get" the mk5 R32 look. Those naff twin exhausts, that horrible chrome grille, the dodgy alloys.
The mk4 doesn't float everyone's boat but it's a nice looking car with lots of little touches that make it hard to beat for appearance.
However the R32 seems to be the only mk4 that handles. The rest of the range handles like a wobbly jelly on stilts.

Maybe I did drive a pre upgrade model, but I stand by it. I didnt feel as fast as I was expecting, and after driving my 300bhp STi to pick up the R32 I just felt like I was in "A" car... with nice seats.

They do look good, most VW's look good, You get the kudos, as with most hot VW's. Jurnos love it, as with most VW's but for me it just felt very ordinary.
But like you say, maybe I needed to drive an upgraded ECU model. I took the car out on my own, and I DROVE that thing...like a go cart around the corners but the pick up and the power band let me down.