Twenty-five-hundred miles is a long way. It gives you enough time to learn everything about your driving partner-and then you'll either fall in love with it, desperately despise it or form a dull indifference to its qualities. After 2,500 miles of turning the VW R32's fat steering wheel, I have a pretty good idea of what this very special Golf is all about.
The short version: Boy meets car; boy falls in love with car; boy loses car; car rescues boy; they live happily ever after (for a couple of weeks, anyway).
The VW R32 was launched in the U.S. at Firebird Raceway in Arizona. Activities included acceleration and braking tests, a road course and a terribly tight second-gear autocross. On this venue, the R32 was king, the engine's fat torque curve and close-ratio gearing turning this into the most capable VW ever.
The deeply bolstered Koenig sport seats and super precise six-speed shifter were designed to give the aggressive driver intimate contact with the car's dynamics, and if Volkswagen's intention was to create a track star, it succeeded. It is so easy to drive the R32 like a rally god, you almost forget it's a street car.
The R32 sports the most tossable chassis I've ever driven. Virtually absent is the joy-killing understeer built into most Volkswagen products. In its place is a predictable neutrality that makes power slides seem effortless. Although I looked like a champion whipping the R32 through the autocross, the extra time spent boiling the tires equated to nearly 2 full sec. off the day's hot lap. (I dubbed my car the "R34," as my time was 34 sec.) But I didn't care. I was having a blast despite what the stopwatch recorded.
Each car was equipped with a Vericom performance computer, and we were asked to try to emulate the factory performance numbers. According to the Vericom, the R32 is capable of 0 to 60 mph in 6.4 sec. and comes to a complete stop from 60 mph in 113 ft. These are the precise numbers cited in VW's press kit.
However, reducing the R32's real character to statistics is pointless, especially when the inevitable comparisons to the Mitsubishi Evo VIII and Subaru STi are made. Sister magazine Sport Compact Car has both cars in its long-term test fleet, and while they may produce better numbers, there's no way I'd drive either one the same distance I covered in the R32. While the STi and Evo may eclipse the 1/4 mile more quickly and faster than the R32, it's painfully obvious that Mitsu and Subaru spent all their money on performance with little left over for comfort. If you're looking for a supercar you can live with, look no further than the R32.
Following VW's press shindig, I began the drive back our offices in SoCal, happy as a lark in a gleaming new R32. Five miles from the track, an 18-wheeler dropped some chunks of steel right in the R32's path and one slashed a 7-in. gash in the fuel tank. Gas was literally spurting from the car. I felt certain it would go up in flames. My co-driver and I stood on the side of the freeway, waiting for the Roman candle. Nothing happened-it just sat there and bled.
A few hours later, the Volkswagen crew showed up with another R32, this one in Reflex Silver, and we were off. For several hundred miles west, Interstate 10 is like a black silk ribbon thrown across a huge, brown rumpled blanket of sand and rock. The unofficial speed limit is 85 mph, but most cars seem to do at least 90. At 87 mph, the R32's gearing leaves the engine spinning at some 3650 rpm, and there's a distinct drone that invades the cockpit. It's not too bad, as it's a reminder there's a highly tuned 3.2-liter VR6 under the hood.
The suspension is the best VW has ever done and should make the tuners think twice before any fiddles. And though I doubted the wisdom of VW's decision to fit 18-in. wheels, the ride quality is very good, very tight. It's perfect for either aggressive track use or long freeway schleps. Expect to stop pretty often for fuel, though. An unimpressive 20 mpg on the highway at $2.50 per gallon hurt.
By the time I reached SoCal, my backside was hurting. My co-driver agreed that the leather-clad seats (leather is the only option for the R32) are beautiful, but you tend to sit on them, not in them. Besides, cloth is preferable to me over leather in a car that goes around corners as well as the R32.
A day later, I headed up to New Dimensions (800-mile round trip) to test its 300-whp turbo package for the 24V VR6. Although my back had hurt on the previous trip, it didn't on that drive. Maybe my spine had molded itself to the seat. TechEd Chen also drove and seemed determined to bounce each shift off the rev limiter. He deserved a ticket, but I couldn't blame him. The R32 begs to be driven hard like a thoroughbred down the backstretch.
We placed the R32 on Vishnu Tuning's Dyno Dynamics four-wheel dyno and managed 185 whp. Considering the Australian-made dynamometer reads notoriously low, and given the driveline loss, the R32 is no doubt easily making the 240 bhp the factory claims. The chassis feels like it could handle 100 horsepower more.
Volkswagen wants $30k for an R32, a tidy sum for what some folks consider merely a highly tuned Golf. In essence, that's exactly what it is, but what makes the R32 special is the tangible quality VW has instilled in it. This is the sort of vehicle that will be cherished 10 years from now while its Japanese counterparts lie around in pieces.
The R32 reflects exactly the type of thinking Volkswagen needs to regain its strong footing in the U.S market. I can't wait to see the MkV version of this car.