Tell me about the mk5 Golf R32

Hades

Hades

Hades

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This is a little unexpected as my plans for cars was to keep my mk4 4Motion and probably get a Corrado for a bit of fun. But for one reason or another I haven't yet got around to the Corrado.

Yesterday I was getting a part for my 4Mo at the dealers when I saw a really nice looking mk5 R32. I had another look at it today and a test drive. It's quite nice and I'm tempted to swap the 4Mo for it, although that would mean sacrificing the Corrado plans.

In all honesty I'm not sure if I'll buy it because it wasn't in my plans to buy another reasonably new and expensive car. However I'm about to spend around £1k on my 4Mo for servicing and new tyres. I was also offered a much higher trade in on it than I expected (it's a n excellent condition car with almost every option and only 48k miles). So it might make sense to make the jump and save that additional servicing cost.



So I'm interested in peoples views about the mk5 R32. I'm normally mush more clued up on the cars I buy but as this came up a little unexpectedly I haven't really looked into them before now.

Are they good?
Are they better or worse than the mk4 R32's?
Do they hold their money?
Are they reliable or expensive to run and maintain?
Are there particular colours which are best avoided?
Are there particular 'must have' options such as DSG?

This particular car is a black 5 door with dark grey (almost black?) leather interior. It does not have DSG and is a 5 door which is probably why it's a bit cheaper than others I've seen advertised. I prefer the 5 door which is essential for me with my family and am not bothered about DSG (which may be expensive to fix in the future). But will this make it really hard to sell in the future?

It also has factory optional front seats which don't look like the normal ones. They were apparently an £1800 upgrade and are black plastic or some kind of carbon fibre at the back; they are very comfy indeed and have very wide shoulder supports. They are a little 'boy racer' like if that helps the description. I forgot to ask exactly what they were but they were certainly an expensive option when new. Are these a good or bad thing?

Any other opinions would be nice, thanks :)
 
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I believe the seats are similar to those I have in my RS4 and can be difficult for most people to get in and out of as they have a very high lip on them. I don't have a problem as I am used to them but most people who get in and out of my car seem to struggle, all shapes, sizes and ages. I don't find them super comfy or super supportive but I suspect others will see them as adding value. Like all seats it's a subjective call.
 
Housey said:
I believe the seats are similar to those I have in my RS4 and can be difficult for most people to get in and out of as they have a very high lip on them. I don't have a problem as I am used to them but most people who get in and out of my car seem to struggle, all shapes, sizes and ages. I don't find them super comfy or super supportive but I suspect others will see them as adding value. Like all seats it's a subjective call.
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Yes that sounds like them. I was surprised how high they were to get into because of the lip. I'd get used to it and while I don't like the boy racer look, I did find them nice to sit in. But I just wanted to make sure they wouldn't devalue the car in the future.
 
They're expensive for what you get. There's better performance for a lot loss, they seem to hold their value well though.
For a low-mid mileage one, expect to look at £16,000 upwards for a fairly good example.
There's little or no performance difference between the MK5 and MK4, I think both produce around 240bhp. They're not cheap to run, as they have a 3.2 V6 under the bonnet, but you can manage 30mpg if you're light footed!
Must have options - depends on your needs. DSG is technically quicker when getting to 60 and features a launch control setting (I think you put it into Sport, hold your foot on the brake and build up the revs). Sat-nav was an option and most people require this now, I wouldn't go for one without.

The seats you're inquiring about are Recaro seats, an expensive option and quite popular. The MK4 featured them as standard but in either full leather or half leather and half material. Depends if you're comfortable in them, try sitting in it and see!
A lot of owners fit aftermarket exhausts (usually Militek). If it does have a Militek exhaust, check which one - there's resonated and non-resonated, resonated is quieter and probably best if you're driving it every day and don't want the constant drone!

Head over to r32oc.com as there's oodles of info, this is only a few starter points!
 
dont know much about these cars but will pass on oppinions from people who have driven them / owned them.

THey're a bit on the portly side, and because of this not as fast as the stats would have you believe. When combined with a N/A transmission that needs to have its neck wrung it really doesnt feel all that fast. 4WD transmission loss saps the power further too.

This combined with expensive part replacements (wayn0r was saying that parts that are identical to other golfs will cost quadruple what they would on a normal golf, just because they belong on the R32, despite being the same part)

they are also exceptionally over priced for what you get. MK5 GTI is much better value for money, and if you get the edition 30 with the S3 turbo, can be much more powerfull easier (turbo remap gains are huge on edition 30s) and as a result end up faster.

edition 30s have some nice optional extras as standard too i think (?)
 
I think the best way to summarise if you're buying one - you have to have your heart set on it. It's an enthusiasts car and is quite rightly, as MrLOL says, expensive for what you get. The one you linked to isn't a bad price and has quite low mileage for it's year.
 
A fair bit of wear on the drivers seat by the looks of things, no great surprise judging by the shape of the seat but it would annoy me.

Lovely sound though :)
 
viper_2003 said:
A fair bit of wear on the drivers seat by the looks of things, no great surprise judging by the shape of the seat but it would annoy me.

Lovely sound though :)
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I didn't notice much wear so it probably looks worse in the picture. But yes I suspect it's a hazard of the shape of seat over time. Funny enough I was expecting more from the sound and it was a lot quieter than I expected.
 
I have driven a Mk5 R32. I did a review at the time IIRC.

Summary of thoughts:

Pros:

Quick in a straight line
Sounds good

Cons:

Cheap plastics, dissapointing after everyone banged on about how premium a Golf was
Nose heavy feel blunted the handling.

Conclusion:

Sounds great but I enjoyed the GTI more.

And thats a lot of money for an 07 plate Golf. I appreciate its what an R32 costs, but I cant get over how expensive they are.
 
[TW]Fox;16970367 said:
I have driven a Mk5 R32. I did a review at the time IIRC.

Summary of thoughts:

Pros:

Quick in a straight line
Sounds good

Cons:

Cheap plastics, dissapointing after everyone banged on about how premium a Golf was
Nose heavy feel blunted the handling.

Conclusion:

Sounds great but I enjoyed the GTI more.

And thats a lot of money for an 07 plate Golf. I appreciate its what an R32 costs, but I cant get over how expensive they are.
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Yes, agree with the comments about the cost and the plastics. As I've said in a recent post, I was disappointed at how poor I thought the mk6 quality was. This felt a little better but probably not quite as good as my mk4. It also means I'm back in a depreciating car. One last issue is that I can see the kids feet ruining the plastic/carbon back of the front recaro seats.
 
Hades said:
Yes, agree with the comments about the cost and the plastics. As I've said in a recent post, I was disappointed at how poor I thought the mk6 quality was. This felt a little better but probably not quite as good as my mk4. It also means I'm back in a depreciating car. One last issue is that I can see the kids feet ruining the plastic/carbon back of the front recaro seats.
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R32 Golfs hold there value incredibly well, though, don't they? I know someone who looking for the MK4 a year ago and they were still around £11 - £12k. So if the depreciation on the MK5 is similar it looks like it's been hit with the large amount already.
 
They are so much better than the mk4 4motion its silly... that said I don't know why anyone buys MK4/5 golfs except for every day run arounds... the money is better spent elsewhere if your looking for what made golfs great...

Personally I'd be putting my money on a VR6 mk3 Golf/Corrado or looking at other (more modern) performance cars.

EDIT: If your choice is either MK5 R32 or VR6 Corrado there is no way I would go for the R32 personally... but thats just me.
 
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Rroff said:
They are so much better than the mk4 4motion its silly... that said I don't know why anyone buys MK4/5 golfs except for every day run arounds... the money is better spent elsewhere if your looking for what made golfs great...

Personally I'd be putting my money on a VR6 mk3 Golf/Corrado or looking at other (more modern) performance cars.

EDIT: If your choice is either MK5 R32 or VR6 Corrado there is no way I would go for the R32 personally... but thats just me.
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Well my first plan was the 4Mo and the Corrado. I used to have a mk3 VR6 and loved it to bits but it was stolen a long time ago. It's not that I actually went out to look for an R32 but that I simply saw this one and loved the colour and everything about it. It it had turned up a month or two later then it wouldn't be in consideration but the additional £1k I'm about to spend on the 4Mo could be put towards this instead.

But I'm not desperate for it so I'll have a hard think about it.

Funnily enough I drove home in the 4Mo and realised how nice a car it still was. Normally I get out of a test drive and get into whatever car and it makes me think how nice the neew car would be. But the 4Mo is still a lovely car day to day.
 
Hmm admittedly I don't have much experience with the 4motion - but coming from an old school MK3 VR6 I was left feeling very underwhelmed.
 
Rroff said:
Hmm admittedly I don't have much experience with the 4motion - but coming from an old school MK3 VR6 I was left feeling very underwhelmed.
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The 4Mo is a more refined and modern car than the VR6 but the VR6 definitely has more character. If I didn't already have the 4Mo then I'd happily have a VR6. I loved my old VR6 Highline and it's probably because of that car that I;m interested in the R32 (my VR6 was also 5 doors, black with black leather, etc).
 
everyone it seems... said:
R32's expensive, hold their value etc...
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When I looked (out of curiosity) last year, I discovered that the equivalent Audi A3 3.2V6 was cheaper. I don't know if it's still the same now.
 
Maccy said:
The seats you're inquiring about are Recaro seats, an expensive option and quite popular. The MK4 featured them as standard but in either full leather or half leather and half material.
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IIRC the standard seats in the mk4 R32 were by Konig. I remember this as they were rock solid and not that comfortable.

Having driven both I too was disappointed by the quality of the plastics of the mk5 over the mk4. The DSG gearbox was ok, but I prefer manuals.

For me the mk4 R32 looks like the range topper, whereas the Mk5 version just looks like any other mk5 golf.

Unless you are desperate for a new R32, I'd just keep your current golf.
 
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