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2004
Volkswagen Golf R32
The Good: Stylish &
sporty exterior. Good ergonomics inside. Powerful
engine. Sporty exhaust. Great steering feel and
aggressive suspension. Functional interior.
The
Bad: Made for a small niche market. Seats too
bolstered for larger adults and not comfortable for long
rides. Ride is too stiff for bumpy roads. Has the
feeling of an import tuner, so teenagers want it but cant afford it,
and the 30 something crowd is looking for something more
mature. Very low production numbers means real world price
near MSRP.
VW has been building pocket
rockets since the early eighty’s. Its long-term knowledge of
how to do it right in Germany has been copied by many automakers
from Asia to the US. Volkswagen shows off their expertise in
this new model named the R32. This little Golf is a
fire-breathing dragon, utilizing the newly developed compact
3.2-liter V6 engine. It is packed with every tweak you could
expect from a manufacturer, and of course its 4Motion all-wheel
drive system simply adds to the excitement of driving this little
beast.
The R32, with a sharp
handsome exterior and enough modifications to enter it into a SCCA
race, stands uniquely apart from its other Golf siblings. Body
cladding is bold and very low to the ground. The large front
apron features three large mesh grills, of which the driver’s side
grill is filled in with plastic. The side skirts are subtle
and flow with the overall design well. The rear apron features
lower air channels and large dual chrome tipped exhaust pipes.
Even dark tinted rear taillights and a small spoiler on the roof
adds to the hot look of this little machine.
The R32 is powered by a
small and compact 3.2-Liter V6 making 240 horsepower and 236 pounds
of torque. This is the same engine used in the Porsche Cayenne
and the recently tested Audi TT 3.2. The R32 uses a six speed
manual transmission with a smooth hydraulic clutch. A 4Motion
all-wheel drive system with a Haldex differential sends power to all
four wheels, grabbing the pavement without any slippage. The
R32 is also loaded with anti-slip regulation, electronic
differential lock, and an electronic stabilization program with
brake assist.
The R32 weighs less than
most other cars with a V6 engine, hence acceleration is very
impressive. Zero to sixty takes just 6.1 seconds. And
the quarter mile comes in at 14.5 seconds with a 98 mph speed.
The engine revs freely, with a nice soft clutch and great
transmission, everything is perfect for spirited driving. The
shift gate offers a nice feeling of engagement that most other cars
lack today. Body lean and sway is very low, as you would
expect. The sport suspension features independent front
McPherson struts and a fully independent multi-link rear suspension
with dual-link trailing arms. The suspension is lowered with
stiffer springs and thicker anti-roll bars as compared to GTI
models. In normal daily driving the R32’s setup offers smooth
handling without any bounce but hit a pothole or an uneven road
surface and you will surely feel the jolt. Braking is also
well done with the blue colored 4-piston brake calipers on large
front and rear discs brakes. Stops from sixty take only 113
feet, and that brings this Golf into Porsche territory.
The R32 loves high speeds and getting there is quick and effortless
with plenty of growl. Power in every gear is there when you
need it. Even in sixth gear, passing on the highway is done
smoothly and with confidence. VW made this car for the
autobahn and the R32 is highly stable at those speeds. Road
feel is excellent and the feeling of a solidly built machine is
evident.
We recently tested the Audi TT which also
features the same engine but felt much more planted with its wider
track, and this great feeling is lacking in the R32. The R32
is sticky and low to the ground, but the shape of the car and
seating position do not make it feel like a superb driving
machine. If you look at numbers the story changes back to a
high performance vehicle, we could easily pull .84 G’s on a turn in
our track. Serious wheels and rubber
adorn the R32. 7.5 x 18 inch alloys with Goodyear 225/40 ZR summer
performance tires with the V pattern on their treads look
great. The four-wheel
drive system pushes you forward evenly, with low levels of noise
from the undercarriage. The dual exhaust system produces very nice
sound, specially around 3-4,000 RPM. Put the car in sixth gear
and a deep growl is felt inside the cabin. The sound is also
great as you get in and turn the key, a high pitched rumble from the
exhausts really puts a smile on your face.
The interior is slick and
adorned with leather. What grabs you first are the very large
Konig racing style seats with R32 logos. Authentic brushed
aluminum trim is used in the center console and on the doorsills,
with polished aluminum pedals add to the street-tuned machine
look. We found that the seats were not very comfortable for
long rides and for large people. The seat bottoms had bolsters
that were just too high and were not adjustable causing you to sit
with your legs crammed together. We think that if you are
going to make an extreme car, it should be adjustable to all
drivers. The seats made this car very uncomfortable to drive,
not to mention that they made the interior feel smaller as
well. Try to turn and look at the back seat and all you are
likely to see is the other seat right next to you.
Because of the width of the
seats, our arms could not fit down the sides to adjust the
backrest. Everything is manual we might add, and we think they
should be powered in such an expensive vehicle; perhaps even having
buttons on the door is best if VW ever chooses to follow our
recommendations. The driver’s seat moves forward and aft and
has height adjustment to move the back bottom of the seat up, as
well as manual adjustment of back lumbar cushion to push it outward
quite a bit. A lever allows the entire seat to move and tilt
forward for rear entry. The amount of room in the rear
passenger compartment is just enough to hold two small buddies for a
quick ride. However, the high roofline and boxy design creates
a lot of headroom for both front and rear passengers. Behind
this is a small luggage compartment that is deep enough to hold
small items. There is also a cover for this area to hide your
belongings from view.
We did not like the feeling
of the R32 headliner in the cabin, touch it and you might feel that
scratchy feeling that makes you twinge as if someone has scratched
their nails on a board, we suggest Microfiber or Alcantera which
would be more fitting for this modified car. The leather
used inside did not feel or look of high quality. It was
fitted tight, making for a smooth and slippery seat. In the
rear passenger compartment, the large rear windows do not open, and
it can get a bit claustrophobic in the back with those large seats
right in front of you. It would be nice if those windows could
roll down. At high
speeds, we also found a bit too much wind noise entering the cabin
from the front pillars and the high level of engine sound can get
bothersome on long trips.
Another difference between the R32 and a standard Golf is the sport
steering wheel. This has to be one of the thickest sport wheels we
have ever seen. Its just has a massive diameter on top and on
the bottom with wide grip areas probably double the size of a normal
steering wheel. Some will like it a lot and others will think
it’s a bit overdone as in the seats.
The functionality of the interior is very good. The radio controls
are easy to understand and use, as are the temperature
controls. The only fault we could find would be to raise the
temperature control area a bit higher. We liked the blue
colored lighting on the instrumentation clusters. It was a
fresh change from green and red found in other cars. The
Monsoon sound system with 8-speakers was just great. We liked
the integrated CD player and cassette deck as one unit. There
is an optional 6-disc CD changer available, but we found that using
an Apple IPOD with FM transmitter beats anything else hands
down. There is no need to get CD changers anymore once you
experience the joy of having your entire music library in the palm
of your hands.
The hot hatchback is back
from Volkswagen. Does anything else compare to the R32?
Well nothing is exactly in the body style of the R32 so if that is
your main concern the decision is easy. When looking at price,
you can buy a whole range of other cars for around the same price
with similar horsepower and more room. Assuming that the local
VW dealer will get very few of these cars and that they will sell at
MSRP and not at the low $26,000 invoice price, you can choose a G35
from Infiniti for more horsepower and more interior room. The
Mazda RX-8, the Subaru WRX and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution are also
close in price with loads of horsepower for the money. Take a
look at our comparison chart below for more information
The Volkswagen R32 is suited for a niche
market. The extreme nature of the ride and handling make us
believe it would fit well with the younger twenty-something crowd,
however many owners in USA are around the age of 30. We found
that many teenagers absolutely love this car. The exterior
look, with its low profile aero package really makes the R32 stick
out on the road. Owners of the Golf, especially in Europe,
routinely buy a standard Golf and tune everything: engine,
suspension, aerodynamics and the interior. Volkswagen looked
at this and in particular, the growing tuner market in the US, and
offered the R32 as a factory tuned vehicle. Right out-of-box,
the buyer gets what so many in the past have spent countless hours -
and money - doing. The R32 should meet the demands of this
market segment very well. We saw it first hand, from the looks
and smiles that this car got. The market will be small, but
for those who grew up with the Golf, this will be a dream come true.
For a pdf file
brochure on the R32 click
here. |
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