I was fortunate enough to test the black R32 demonstrater that they've
got at Eurocanterbury, and I've got to say that I loved it. The car is
a five-door manual box, and the crispness of the box was absolutely
astounding. The engine creates a very powerful-sounding rumble, and the
power delivery is exceptionally smooth, all the way to 120mph (by that
point the branch manager who was with me panicked and asked me to slow
down!). The steering is very precise and tight - I absolutely adore my
GTI, and the handling on my car is brilliant, but the R32 frankly put
it to shame. The R32's handling felt to me very similar to that of a
late-eighties/early-nineties Ferrari (I'm think of a Mondial T or a 355
here), and was so... crisp is the only word that appears in my mind.
The 18" wheels look very nice, but I'm not too big a fan of them to be
honest (the 18" GTI wheels are nicer and more unique), though the ride
on the Michelins you get as standard was very nice, stiffer than the
GTI (the 18" GTI wheels come with Continental tyres, nice but not
nearly as nice as the Michelins), yet still providing plenty of comfort
for drivers and passengers both.
The throw of the gearstick is very short, but allows for a great degree
of precision, and the clutch is well-balanced, though I've had better.
The white lighting on the dash is very refreshing too, with blue
needles - the lighting is bright enough to read well but not so bright
as to hurt the eyes. My biggest complaint about the interior was the
awful "Engine cut" metal trim - it's too bright and flashy and not at
all like the subtlety and class of the brushed aluminium trim found in
the GTI. The trim in the R32 is far too reflective and doesn't provide
either a focal point or an accent - it looks like it's just there to be
different, and not an entirely pleasing form of different.
Overall, it is an absolutely stunning car. Chatting to the VW guy it
seems that there's only a ?2.5-3k difference between the mid range GTI
and the mid range R32 (lowering to 2k difference for top specs of
both). It'd be a hard decision for anyone - one of my friends is
currently agonising over whether to get a GTI or R32, and he honestly
can't decide which. To be honest though, it does seem that the GTI
gives more bang for its buck, especially at the lower price levels. R32
is still an absolutely stunning car though, and I was sorely tempted!