R32 Mrk V Excellent car for ME ! fast, comfortable, safe, stealth and sounds awesome!

OK- so again I will start this review by qualifiying my backgorund an dprevious cars owned:

I'm a chemical Engineer, my dad is a mechanic and I grew up around all types of cars and am very fond of their designs, mechanics and performance.

I have previously owned a Daihatsu Charade(1982), Charade GTti (1998), Porsche 914 (1972), Suzuki Samurai (1988), Honda Civic Si (1998), Mazda Miata-Mx5 LS(2001), Subaru WRX (2006), Miata MX5 GT (2007) and now a VW R32 (2008).

My main reason to going to an R32 is that I needed a back seat for my dog. The other reason the R32 is perfect for me is that it is AWD and I loved the safe feeling driving on the snow and wet conditions of the WRX. The 2008 R32 comes with DSG which is an automatic gearbox that has a normal drive setting, a sports setting which keeps the revs up before it changes gears and it has the triptonic setting with paddle shifters on the steering wheel. I didn't decide to get the navigation because I wouldn't use it and I tried to use it at the dealership and it was not very user friendly. It was also not voice responsive and I would lose the 6CD changer function.

I have driven manual cars right up to now and recently was man enough to admit that my right leg was killing me from my daily commute, even with the MX5s super light clutch, I found that switching from accelerator to brake did me in. The miata is a great car but not very well suited to my 40 min freeway traffic commute. Using my R32 in "D" lazy mode, I dont care about doign the stop and go traffic. WHy? because I have leather seats, fully adjustable, climate control (I changes my settings to display celsius - since I'm from australia but live in San Francisco, can control my radio/cd/satellite from my steering wheel (I could do that with the mx5 also) and have AWD to keep me stuck to the road.

The car is very well put together, I did find it a tad heavy (V6 under the hood!) but it provides super smooth acceleration that allows you to sink back into your heated leather seat. Now, if one of those moment presents itself when you have to ROAR (yes, the exhaust has a killer sound yet extremely quiet on normal driving conditions- thanks acoustic engineer at VW!) you just switch to "S" (sport) mode and roar past them.... not only does it sounds frigging terrifying to the crowds and spectators but it feels awesome (formerly driven and owned a WRX!)did I mention smooth? All 4 wheels grip and go, if your feeling like an F-1 driver, then hit the stick sideways to triptonic and your shifting with paddles.. just as fun but I don't find it comfortable if changing lanes or making wide turns.

SO, I've used the word comfortable several times.. my previous philosophies were that cars did not need to be comfortable , just perform. The MX5 around the windy CA coastal roads, in and out of traffic, the WRX in the snow and rain with turbo pushing it and AWD running it.

I guess I recently turned 30 and have become a comfort creature. But hey ! who wouldn't when you have a commute like mine and my pre requisites!

Is it cheap - NO ! compared to other hatches, Is it cheap compared to the BMW 135i - yes, to the STI or EVOs of the world, yes... but none of the cars mentioned are quite a good comparison.. the VW clan has designed its owned thing and it exceeds my expectations for what I was looking for... now I might have gone with an Audi...but its too serious for me and hits harder on the check book.

I love my R32, I feel like I dont need to do any mods on it..build with quality and I always discover something new that the car has to offer when I look around.... I was shocked at the manual content(great) and the inclusion of the "launch mode" with a step by step on to how to use the gearbox to get an explosive stand still start without a clutch ! I wont be trading this thing in any time soon..