great hot hatch, but NOT a racecar

If you can't get all the way through this review, just take away one high-level opinion, which is the core of my analysis: the Volkswagen R32 is a terrific performance hatchback, but it is not a racecar and it is not an ideal platform for modification. If you are buying this car to drag race, please stop right now. It's reasonably quick, but it is not built for drag racing and dumping money in it to make it a drag car is significantly more expensive than it would be for many other, more suitable, cars. If you are buying this car for heavy track use, you're also probably better off buying something like a WRX STi, an Evo VIII, or even an SRT-4. If you are buying this car for occasional track use, it may or may not be right for your needs.

I have owned a 2004 Volkswagen R32 for about a year. My previous car was an Audi A4 3.0 quattro 6-speed. I liked the refinement of the A4, but it was a little too stodgy, a little too calm. I was interested in the R32 for several reasons: exclusivity, hatchback utility, the naturally aspirated 3.2L VR6, big brakes, all-wheel drive, luxury accents, the Koenig seats, and the tough-but-conservative appearance.

As far as Volkswagens go, there are certainly more exclusive modern cars, even within the Mk. IV Golf family (the 337 and 20th Anniversary Edition, specifically), but casual enthusiasts recognize the R32 even if they wouldn't know the others by sight. The front and rear end immediately set it apart from its kin. Even on a black car, the open lower grilles are obvious and nothing can really hide the hatch spoiler or the twin exhaust surrounded by a "look-at-me" diffuser bumper. I get daily waves and nods from other VW owners (excluding many aircooled fans and A1/A2 disciples) and from the occasional WRX STi or Lancer Evo VIII driver.

Caveat emptor: If you get a Deep Blue Perleffekt R32, don't be surprised if you get noticed a lot more often than owners with Black Magic, Reflex Silver, or even Tornado Red. It's the "Nogaro Blue" of the line, and stands out dramatically. In my quest for casual R32 camaraderie, I can spot the DBP R32s out of the corner of my eye from a hundred yards.

I use the full capabilities of my hatchback once or twice a month. The Haldex all-wheel drive system intrudes onto the rear deck space of the hatch, reducing the overall volume slightly when compared to a front-wheel drive GTI, but it's still very useful. A small anecdote may illuminate its usefulness. A friend and I went to pick up a widescreen TV. We put it in the back of his Infiniti FX SUV. With his seats down, it was a tight fit. When we put the TV into my R32's hatch with the seats down, it slid right in with a little bit of extra room left over. The flimsy fabric that lines the hatch is pretty cheap and doesn't feel like it would stand up to much abuse. To remedy this situation, I purchased a Gorilla Gear mat. It's meant to go into a GTI, but it doesn't quite fit into the R32. Folding the edge over allows it to be used without any difficulty, so there is a way to the R32's hatch space for heavier duty traffic without much fuss.

Transforming the rear for full cargo use is a bit of a hassle. Forget leaving the rear seat bottoms in or mounting the rear headrests in their mounting points. The seat bottoms really resist the seat backs being folded down and the Koenig seats are simply too thick to make leaving the headrests in practical without moving the front seats forward excessively. That said, once you've transformed the back a few times, it becomes a five minute task. You can carry the the seat bottoms on the hatch privacy lid without much fuss and the headrests can be placed in the rear seat foot area. Once it's all set-up, it can devour an impressive amount of cargo. E.g.: I emptied the personal contents of my work office into my R32 with room to spare.

The interior on the R32 is very nice looking and feeling. The Koenig seats are quite comfortable for several hours of driving unless you have a wide body. The bolsters hold well and the seats' "two stage" flip-forward ability makes getting in and out of the rear seats pretty easy. I regularly have two or three adults in the car with me and it's never been an issue. The rear headrests are almost comically large and prevent a lot of rear visibility. I removed my center headrest. I know that many other owners have replaced their headrests with ones from other VAG cars, such as the Touareg. The leather is of decent quality, but it does not seem as durable as the leather in my Audi. It seems to get creases and scratches a little more easily. If I had to do it all over again, I'd probably try to find an R32 with the cloth seat inserts. They are hard to come by, but I think they would be practically superior to the leather seats. The heated front seats are a nice touch when it gets chilly out.

At the front of the car, the gauges are well-illuminated and easy to read. The steering wheel is thick and well-sculpted. The shifter is a little more comfortable than the seemingly larger ball on my A4 3.0, and the throws are reasonably short. The Monsoon stereo system leaves a lot to be desired. The sound quality is pretty poor and it doesn't have a whole lot of functions. Many owners have replaced theirs with double-DIN navigation units or a simple single-DIN head unit and a single-DIN cubbyhole from VW. The only significant problems I've had with the interior are the little rattles and buzzes that seem to plague many modern Volkswagens. If you're expecting the calm, quiet sound you might find in a BMW, Mercedes, or Audi, you will certainly be disappointed.

A lot of magazines and online automotive sites have covered the basic driving experience to death, so my focus will be more on long-term ownership and the idiosyncrasies I have noticed over time. The 3.2L VR6 is a reasonably powerful engine with linear delivery. You won't feel the kick of power you would find in a modded 1.8T, much less a WRX STi or Evo VIII, but it certainly gets the job done reliably. The gearing feels great from 1st to 6th. 2nd is appropriately tall, topping out at 55mph, and 3rd is a very strong passing gear. Shifting action feels good and crisp, though the clutch pedal has some long travel and low engagement issues. The brakes are quite powerful, occasionally biting with surprising strength if you're a little hard on the pedal. Track demons beware: without drilled or slotted rotors, they will fade with heavy use. That said, I have never once experienced fade on the street, mostly because I'm not psychotic.

As with most modern performance cars, the R32 has a bit of understeer in its stock form. It's front-heavy and its stock rear sway bar (16mm) is smaller than the front (19mm). I picked up a Neuspeed 22mm rear sway bar and the car transitioned to almost dead-neutral. The stock U.S. suspension rides a little high for my taste and the Monroe dampers feel like absolute garbage. It's another potentially weak link for someone looking for a high-performance vehicle. I solved the problem with off-the-shelf adjustable Koni coilovers. The only other performance modification I have made to date is the replacement of the stock exhaust with an EIP Street Series exhaust. It borders on being embarrassingly loud, but it has a nice look and gives a small boost to power.

The only other two weak points in the R32's performance are its stock tires and its Haldex all-wheel drive sytem. The stock U.S. market tires are Goodyear F1 GS-D3s. They have incredible grip in the wet and in the dry and are pretty quiet, but they have notoriously weak sidewalls. Unless the owner is vigilant about maintaining specific tire pressures, the possibility of getting a sidewall bubble -- or worse, a blowout -- is significant. R32 owners who track their cars frequently have shown GS-D3s undergoing massive rollover and heat degradation (read: melting) under stress. I suffered two tire bubbles in less than 6,000 miles and became concerned enough to replace all four with Pirelli P-Zero Nero M+S tires. Many owners who go the high performance route opt for Michelin Pilot Sport P2s.

The R32's front-biased Haldex all-wheel drive system is great for helping avoid torque steer and for dealing with bad weather, but it isn't particularly great for performance applications. It's an entirely mechanical system, with power being re-directed to the rear when slip is detected at the front. It gets the job done, but it's sub-par when compared to the systems found in the WRX STi or Lancer Evo VIII.

And here's where the real warning comes: if you are buying this car and have a performance bug, you have to understand that most mods for the R32 are relatively expensive when compared to similar mods for cars like the WRXes, the Evos, and the STR-4s of the world. For a big chunk of change, you can put one of several supercharger or turbocharger kits that will make the R32 insanely powerful (anywhere from 320 to 600 crank horsepower), but you better have a big piggybank. And also, keep this in mind, the little R32 weighs a whopping 3,400 lbs, with a lot of that coming from its all-wheel drive system. Weight reduction off the front is hard to come by and pretty expensive.

The R32 isn't a racecar; it's a great hot hatch. If you buy it expecting it to be the former, you will be disappointed. If you buy it expecting it to be the latter, you should be a very happy driver. I certainly am.