First Drive: 2008 Volkswagen R32

Ignorant comments......
Typical post from someone who has never sit in one and truly enjoy the car for what it is..
AMGC55: It's coming....but might be in the next generation Golf. The 3.6 does not fit in the engine bay of the MKV.

Supra: not meant to compete against the Evo

almost same price as A3 3.2 ?.?'

People, this car is uglier than original sin....

What happened to the black-out honeycomb grille that saved the GTI from looking like its chrome-lipped Rabbit/Passat/Jetta siblings?

De Silva from Audi can't update the VW line-up fast enough...

As for performance, to each his/her own. But why spend $30-something and get this hideous shell?

Ricemaster, once again, is so far off base that only a search & rescue party will find his logic.

The Mazdaspeed 3 is a fine car. But it's not in the same league as the R32. A glance at interior quality should tell you that, even before driving them. The AWD of the R32 will leave all doubts behind when you do drive it. It's phenomenal. I have no idea what the hell you're talking about regarding "Euro tuning is crap for the american road". Is this supposed to imply that Porsche and Ferrari don't work well in the USA?

The EVO and WRX are also fine cars, well tuned to on-track performance, and definitely as fast or faster than the R32. Of course, if all you want to compare is on-track performance, then why limit yourself to stock configurations? Anyway, neither the EVO nor the WRX are as practical or comfortable for daily transportation. The R32, like all AWD cars, is heavy. But it's also a brilliant handling, comfortable, stable, roomy hatchback that does all things very well.

So why pay a few bucks more for the R32? Because it's one of the best 4-season "everyday" compact cars built today, and there's no avoiding the current #$%^&(! exchange rate. Please stop bashing an excellent VW just because you'd rather drift a Camry around a track. You obviously have never seen, let alone driven, an R32.

what happend to making an R36...

33k and a front biased AWD? How can this thing compete with the upcoming Evo X with "Super All Wheel Control System"?

CARGUY2 -- please quote facts, not instigative "questions". The MkV has been very good in reliability -- it's very much improved from the VW Golf MkIII and MkIV chassis.

Based on my experience and research, I'm convinced that the only reason that Japanese automaker fans claim superiority is because their cars historically have had simpler designs and less equipment. Now that that has changed -- Japanese cars have more and more gadgets and electronic crap on them all the time -- we will see the reliability statistics even out.

As for the VW R32: the Haldex AWD system, DSG transmission, and the 3.2 VR6 are more complex AND more reliable than the AWD systems in Subarus and Mitubishis according to European driving statistics. Since there will be only 5000 MkV R32 cars in North America this year, reliability statistics are yet unknown. So stop posting stupid notes questioning the reliability of a very fine automobile when you don't have the facts (and obviously don't care to know the facts).

if your in the US, reliability is crap for VW, from experience, but the GTI and this R32 will have better reliability. but all of a sudden, more passats and jettas are becoming lemons (new ones). pshh for tht matter, most of the VWs are made from Mexico. poor build quality and craftsmenship. reason we got our accord. but shit happens.

i totally agree with moto!

I drove the old R32 and it was a fine piece of machinery. definatly bites the road.
I hope this one is even better, the price is still kind of high though.

@Ricemaster: seriously... STFU and go drive ur civic with your huge glued'on wing around.

but R32 discontinued in 04, and the evo and sti were selling. (IDK why it discontinued) many used ones have high resale value because of its rarity.

So in your book ricey, whats a real performance car? A civic with type R stickers all over it, a wing that blocks your eyes vision, 21' rims and a lowered bodykit?

you forgot the disco lights underneath the car

I've driven the old R32 too, but the sti and evo have more availability of aftermarket parts tht doesnt break my pocket. the R32 doesnt seem like a bad car for a daily driver.

may I add work on the evo and sti is easier to work on.

So this makes it a better car -- more aftermarket parts availability? News flash: EVO and STi are no easier to "work on" than any other car. The only difference is that many of the aftermarket bits designed for these cars are intentionally designed primarily to grab attention, not improve real-world performance. The R32 is so subtle in its design that most casual observers have no idea that it is twice as powerful as the base Rabbit.

Yup .. the R32 is kinda dated ... especially going up against the Scoobie / Evo or even rwd sedans in the price range . Sad to say but the fwd Mazdaspeed 3 will probably knock its socks off . As somebody said ... its the exchange rate ....
Maybe ..but who the hell wants to bear the cross for such a overpriced POS ...
Its strange .. but then the car has no hustle, muscle or style .. the "Deutchland Uber Alles" crowd suddenly get religious about ride quality ... ( must be channeling their Camry souls )
All in all, fun reading the comments.