Gabster : New R32 Review (Long)

[Gabster]

Well I went and had a half hour test drive this morning in the new Mark V R32, with my brother. The car I drove was a five door model in silver with the standard seats in black leather and standard stereo.

For the guys that don’t know I had a blue three door R32 from December 2003 to November 2004 before I had it stolen off me at gunpoint, in that time I did about 15,000 miles so I feel I am in a good position to compare both cars. Before that I have had two Audi S3s from 2000.

First impressions from looking at the car from the outside is the wheels are very striking and the discs, and blue brake callipers do look good, the wheels are a slight different design to the old R32 but I do like them. Not to sure about the central twin exhausts this is a bit chavish IMHO and I am surprised Volkswagen have copied the look from the Mini and the Clio, I personally prefer the exhaust either side of the car like the Mark IV R32. Overall nice but I prefer the Mark IV R32.

Apart from the skirts and the grill on the front which you don’t notice much on this silver car the car is very similar to a normal Golf, I quite like that as it does not stand out as much as the Mark IV R32 which I found got to much attention from the wrong people, my current Porsche does not get as much attention as my Mark IV R32 did, one of the reasons I switched to the Porsche, but many people still noticed this car while we were out in it today, usually your max power types, not good after my personal experiences.

My first impressions in the car where that the inside build quality is much the same as the current Mark V Golf, my brother has a 1.6 Sport, and we both feel the build quality and the materials used are not up to Mark IV quality. The controls feel the same as my brother’s car, quite light and plasticy.

We started the car up and straight away you notice that lovely 3.2l engine sound. I have read in some other reviews of the new R32 and I must agree that the engine note is a lot quieter than the old R32, when the car is ticking over it is silent. Also when you rev the engine unless you have the window open the engine sound is a lot quieter inside the car. As for the tone of the engine it sounds more metallic and more treble sounding than I remember my Mark IV R32, more M3 BMW than the old throaty growl the Mark IV R32 had. It’s still a great sounding car though when at full chat.

We took the car out of the dealership and down the A45 towards Birmingham airport, all wide dual carriageways. I did get up to around 60-80 for short periods easily. The ride is smoother and more composed than the Mark IV R32, and the car feels more planted on the road than the Mark IV R32. The controls are nice but the steering and pedals are all far to light IMHO, I like the steering on my Porsche as well as the pedal controls, nice and heavy with loads of feel. The pedals are all very on/off and there is no feel in between, also there is very small travel on the pedals which meant I stalled the car a few times because of the lack of feel through the pedals. I am now used to the Porsche steering wheel so the R32 wheel felt small, and you don’t get a lot of feed back from the road.

Take up is quick and there are massive amounts of torque through the range even below 2,000RPM which means pulling off in second or third is not a problem, and you can floor it in fourth and fifth and get quite a bit of pull. I do like this over the Porsche but it’s really down to how your style of driving is, and how lazy you are on gear changes rather than making the car a lot quicker. I enjoyed my test drive but I think the car is not any quicker than the Mark IV R32 and overall the controls are to light with not enough feel.

I did make a note of looking out for the flat spot in the rev range which the Mark IV R32 had but could not notice any flat spots in the rev range and the car pulls evenly through the rev range, very good for driving round town, get over 5,000RPM and the engine sound does get a lot louder and is then even quite noticeable in the cabin.

Through corners the car feels very planted the same as the old R32, and you don’t need to slow down much below 50MPH to go round roundabouts. I am used to the Porsche which is very “slow in and fast out” especially on a freezing crisp mornings with ice patches like today. In poorer conditions the R32 would be quicker because the four motion system inspires confidence; on a dry day road though I bet the Porsche is quicker. I would like to take the R32 onto a few twisty country roads in the dry though to see how it performs, I bet it would be tight between the Porsche and the R32 on these type of roads.

I spoke to the sales person and you were looking at about £337 a month with a £7,800 balloon on a PCP with a £5,000 deposit over 3 ½ years. I do feel that’s a good deal because the car will be worth about £12-£14k I reckon in 3 ½ years time. I am not sure about demand on the car, VW Birmingham are getting seven in the next 12 months and have only had three orders confirmed. I did think of putting my order in for a March delivery but with demand like that from such I large dealer I don’t reckon prices would allow me to sell the car on with a profit in March when it arrived. I thought there would have been more orders on the books and more interest. They have had the car on demo for two days with only three test drives booked in during that time. Is it to dear for a Golf?

Overall then IMHO the new R32 is not really moving the game on enough from the Mark IV, it’s about as quick and about as rare, but the spec is not as good, and it feels more sterile, and the build quality is poorer also than the Mark IV R32. Don’t get me wrong it’s Golf and they are great cars with a great heritage, if you’re getting one I am sure you will enjoy it.

For me though I will stick with the Boxster as I have been spoilt with open top motoring this summer and really loved it, along with Porsche feel and handling. Also through driving a few 911’s and Boxster’s recently I have realised the difference between a proper designed sports car and a family hatch back which has been souped up, and is still really a family hatch in disguise. At present I am lucky enough not to have to worry about more than two seats, and having to be practical so I will stick with the Boxster and look to get a 911 next time.

I took some pictures of the car and also have a catalogue which I photographed all these are in the gallery here . Would admin be good enough to label it up.

Thanks guys.

[loddrik]

Gotta be honest, I quite fancy one, but I am not prepared to get into debt to own one though!!

[NewNiceMrMe]

Top review Gabster, very good indeed.

I think the Silver looks much nicer than any other colour I have seen - the car suits it well. As you say, the bling doesn't stand out quite so much and it sits in a more subtle manner with the car.

In fact, whilst I still don't really like those wheels I think they look significantly better on the silver car. I could live with them in that colour.

Final point though, and one that you raised and agree with 100% but will add my own little bit to it....those exhausts....they're absolutely awful, tacky and completely chavtastic.

[sitas3]

[ QUOTE ]

Final point though, and one that you raised and agree with 100% but will add my own little bit to it....those exhausts....they're absolutely awful, tacky and completely chavtastic.

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my thoughts also - that would be the first thing to change if I bought one and I think it really ruins the looks of the rear end.

[MattR32]

Nice review!

I'll try one very soon.