Mk 5 Golf R32 - Supercharged
Discussion
Hi All,
Following on from Basil Hume's thread aka Ben, I thought I would keep one going about the wonderful car he has created, and that I now own. For reference, Ben's thread is below, and describes in great detail his journey from purchase through to modifications and sale. I believe he has a final update to come.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
So, lets rewind back to September this year when the search for my R32 began. I needed to sell my Mk 5 GTI before buying. I've had a strong desire to own a R32 for a very long time and after a good 3 years with the GTI, a job promotion later and a lot less business miles needed, the hunt was on! I was after a late 08 plate onwards car, 5 door if possible, DSG was preferable with around 50-60k miles on the clock. I set myself a budget of £11k-£13k but, there were just no decent cars available.
I had been following Ben's thread since he bought the car, it appealed to me because he had tastefully modified the car without ruining the subtleness and character an R32 is renowned for. He has spent a not inconsiderable amount of money getting it to where it is today. A quick email or to later, I was on my way to Bristol to view the car. Afterall, you get what you pay for right? It was hook line and sinker as soon as I clapped eyes on it, and cemented when I turned the key. Ben took me for a test drive and kindly agreed for me to have a go. We pass through the end of a section of restricted 50mph roadworks and Ben says drop it into second and put your foot down. I left it in third and did as he said...absolutely incredible. Once we turned around to pick up my stomach, I left a deposit and after a long 2 month wait, I picked the car up last weekend. The purchase was a little unorthodox, namely because my GTI was not selling privately, so Ben agreed to take it as part payment with a view to selling it on in the new year (I believe its on autotrader at the moment).
So, it was a case of goodbye GTI
Hello R32
The spec is as follows:
- Manual, 62k miles on the clock
- I'm the 4th owner
- Turner Race Developments (TRD) Stage 1 Supercharger kit fitted April 2015. Based on a swiss, RUF charger
- Larger injectors
- Rolling road print out up to 372 bhp depending on air intake
- Miltek Exhaust
- Ferodo DS2500 front racing break pads
- Mk 6 Golf R front break calipers
- Bilstein B14 adjustable coilover suspension, currently on its highest setting
- Upgraded Mk 6 touchscreen digital radio and 6 disc CD player
- Rear parking sensors
- Upgraded focal front door speakers
- Metallic Steel grey.
Ben also kindly agreed to change all 4 tyres with alignment before sale as the others were nearing the limit, currently on Dunlop Sport Maxx's, and gave it a fresh MOT.
I went for a good drive around the Cotsworlds today and have covered around 400 miles in last week. It's a pleasure to drive on the daily commute - the grip, handling and noise really stir the senses. I have no other plans other than to drive it and keep filling it with super unleaded, a lot of super-unleaded... My Pistonhead smiley arrived today, so that's gone on. It will be my daily driver but I will keep the car mechanically and cosmetically in as good a condition as possible.
There are a couple of things ive noticed in the last week which I will be keeping an eye on. The first is a small oil weep from around the oil filler cap, which seams to leave minute streak of oil on the oil cooler reservoir. Any ideas? The second are squeaky breaks. Ben recently changed the discs and the pads are upgraded, so it could just be a case that the racing pads squeak when warm.
I will be at the Pistonheads Goodwood Sunday Service next Sunday, so feel free to say hello, or give me a friendly toot if you're on the road!
Following on from Basil Hume's thread aka Ben, I thought I would keep one going about the wonderful car he has created, and that I now own. For reference, Ben's thread is below, and describes in great detail his journey from purchase through to modifications and sale. I believe he has a final update to come.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
So, lets rewind back to September this year when the search for my R32 began. I needed to sell my Mk 5 GTI before buying. I've had a strong desire to own a R32 for a very long time and after a good 3 years with the GTI, a job promotion later and a lot less business miles needed, the hunt was on! I was after a late 08 plate onwards car, 5 door if possible, DSG was preferable with around 50-60k miles on the clock. I set myself a budget of £11k-£13k but, there were just no decent cars available.
I had been following Ben's thread since he bought the car, it appealed to me because he had tastefully modified the car without ruining the subtleness and character an R32 is renowned for. He has spent a not inconsiderable amount of money getting it to where it is today. A quick email or to later, I was on my way to Bristol to view the car. Afterall, you get what you pay for right? It was hook line and sinker as soon as I clapped eyes on it, and cemented when I turned the key. Ben took me for a test drive and kindly agreed for me to have a go. We pass through the end of a section of restricted 50mph roadworks and Ben says drop it into second and put your foot down. I left it in third and did as he said...absolutely incredible. Once we turned around to pick up my stomach, I left a deposit and after a long 2 month wait, I picked the car up last weekend. The purchase was a little unorthodox, namely because my GTI was not selling privately, so Ben agreed to take it as part payment with a view to selling it on in the new year (I believe its on autotrader at the moment).
So, it was a case of goodbye GTI
Hello R32
The spec is as follows:
- Manual, 62k miles on the clock
- I'm the 4th owner
- Turner Race Developments (TRD) Stage 1 Supercharger kit fitted April 2015. Based on a swiss, RUF charger
- Larger injectors
- Rolling road print out up to 372 bhp depending on air intake
- Miltek Exhaust
- Ferodo DS2500 front racing break pads
- Mk 6 Golf R front break calipers
- Bilstein B14 adjustable coilover suspension, currently on its highest setting
- Upgraded Mk 6 touchscreen digital radio and 6 disc CD player
- Rear parking sensors
- Upgraded focal front door speakers
- Metallic Steel grey.
Ben also kindly agreed to change all 4 tyres with alignment before sale as the others were nearing the limit, currently on Dunlop Sport Maxx's, and gave it a fresh MOT.
I went for a good drive around the Cotsworlds today and have covered around 400 miles in last week. It's a pleasure to drive on the daily commute - the grip, handling and noise really stir the senses. I have no other plans other than to drive it and keep filling it with super unleaded, a lot of super-unleaded... My Pistonhead smiley arrived today, so that's gone on. It will be my daily driver but I will keep the car mechanically and cosmetically in as good a condition as possible.
There are a couple of things ive noticed in the last week which I will be keeping an eye on. The first is a small oil weep from around the oil filler cap, which seams to leave minute streak of oil on the oil cooler reservoir. Any ideas? The second are squeaky breaks. Ben recently changed the discs and the pads are upgraded, so it could just be a case that the racing pads squeak when warm.
I will be at the Pistonheads Goodwood Sunday Service next Sunday, so feel free to say hello, or give me a friendly toot if you're on the road!
Edited by si_xsi on Sunday 6th December 19:15
Thanks for the positive comments and info / tips above ^^, seems the breaks are normal and I will get TRD to look at the slight oil weap when its next in for a service. Having driven the car for 3 weeks now and covered 1,000 miles, I'm absolutely over the moon with it, every drive has a sense of occasion. Having come from a 3 door mark 5 GTI, aside from the obvious power and noise gains, the following has stood out since I picked it up:
1. Grip - its so sure footed when pulling out of wet, greasy junctions
2. The uprated brake pads are brilliant
3. Improved sound proofing - quieter at motorway speeds even with a Miltek, although I think some of the noise on the GTI was down to tyre choice, the Michelins were not as quiet as the Dunlop SP Max.
4. Smaller boot on the R32 due to the Haldex gubbins, but fine for my purposes.
5. A few more interior rattles from the dash in the R32, presumably the thrumming of a big VR6 and possibly a head unit change might of caused something to not sit tight.
A few pictures from the recent PH Sunday Service at Goodwood
Love a shark-nose
We came back via the Hindhead tunnel, I have a video which I think people might enjoy, once ive worked out how to upload it!
Its not been without its dramas though, annoyingly I picked up a puncture this week on a tyre which has travelled less than 1,000 miles. Thankfully I noticed when it was parked at one of the sites I manage, it held enough air for me to go the mile to Merityre. The nail was on the edge of the tyre and couldn't be fixed, so a new one was required. Not too bad at £113 fitted and balanced.
I've got a trip from Oxfordshire down to my family in Dorset over Christmas and then up to Bath for a night away, so looking forward to covering more miles in the R32
1. Grip - its so sure footed when pulling out of wet, greasy junctions
2. The uprated brake pads are brilliant
3. Improved sound proofing - quieter at motorway speeds even with a Miltek, although I think some of the noise on the GTI was down to tyre choice, the Michelins were not as quiet as the Dunlop SP Max.
4. Smaller boot on the R32 due to the Haldex gubbins, but fine for my purposes.
5. A few more interior rattles from the dash in the R32, presumably the thrumming of a big VR6 and possibly a head unit change might of caused something to not sit tight.
A few pictures from the recent PH Sunday Service at Goodwood
Love a shark-nose
We came back via the Hindhead tunnel, I have a video which I think people might enjoy, once ive worked out how to upload it!
Its not been without its dramas though, annoyingly I picked up a puncture this week on a tyre which has travelled less than 1,000 miles. Thankfully I noticed when it was parked at one of the sites I manage, it held enough air for me to go the mile to Merityre. The nail was on the edge of the tyre and couldn't be fixed, so a new one was required. Not too bad at £113 fitted and balanced.
I've got a trip from Oxfordshire down to my family in Dorset over Christmas and then up to Bath for a night away, so looking forward to covering more miles in the R32
Not the best sound quality but you get the idea, a little video of it going through the Hindhead Tunnel. Skip to 1 min as I was a bit keen to record.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wDJ89NHXbYg
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wDJ89NHXbYg
The supercharger was only fitted at 55k miles (now on 63k) and a full health check was done by TRD before carrying out the work. I was concerned about running the standard clutch, but the gearbox and clutch feel fine, they are pretty robust. The beauty with this car is even though it's modified, you can drive it 'normally' with ease, it doesn't jerk or judder around at low speeds for example. The tourque curve is so linear - there are no sudden power spikes, except after 5000 rpm, where it noticeably picks up even more. But im not a boy racer and don't drive like this day to day, however for the occasions when you want to open her up, the noise is sublime.
I love how the Miltek exhaust produces such a range of sound as you explore the revs. 1-2.5k revs has a deep burble akin to a V8, 2.5k to 4k revs is its gargling gravel scratchy throat phase, 4k to 5k is a wonderful higher pitched howl and above 5k is like a jet with the induction from the supercharger. It lets off the occasional pop between 1st, 2nd and 3rd when warm too
The tax is a bit hard to swallow, especially when you consider the state of some of the roads in this country, but ultimately that's what you have to pay to enjoy a large n/a V6 in a hot hatch - and considering the likes of these engines will never be seen again, is it worth it, in my opinion, yes!
I love how the Miltek exhaust produces such a range of sound as you explore the revs. 1-2.5k revs has a deep burble akin to a V8, 2.5k to 4k revs is its gargling gravel scratchy throat phase, 4k to 5k is a wonderful higher pitched howl and above 5k is like a jet with the induction from the supercharger. It lets off the occasional pop between 1st, 2nd and 3rd when warm too
The tax is a bit hard to swallow, especially when you consider the state of some of the roads in this country, but ultimately that's what you have to pay to enjoy a large n/a V6 in a hot hatch - and considering the likes of these engines will never be seen again, is it worth it, in my opinion, yes!
Unfortunately I had to call the rac out this afternoon to recover the r32. After a long drive this morning, I stopped for a coffee for an hour or so and the car had developed a misfire. The rac plugged in their laptop and it showed no fault codes, but suspect ignition or coil pack related. I now have to wait until Monday to find out the diagnosis, once the garage has had a look
I hope it's simple and not too expensive. If anyone has had a similar problem I'd be grateful to hear your experiences. The car is running larger injectors. I think its time for an update since the last post. It has been a costly few months for me and the R32. After recovering the car to a local garage and replacing no 1 coilpack, the fault code was cleared but it made no difference to the rough running. I decided to get the car recovered to TRD in Stroud, who carried out the supercharger conversion and who know the car well.
They were able to throw a camera into the head which confirmed my worst fears, piston no 1 had detonated, resulting in the need for 6 new pistons. The cause...well this sparked much debate, as can be read further here.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Ultimately, TRD maintain this was down to the single tank of Tesco momentum 99ron fuel I put in 2 days prior to the incident, so from now on im sticking to Shell V power, or if unavailable BP ultimate / Esso Premium im told is ok.
So, the car was with TRD for nearly 2 months. Why so long, well, aside from their busy schedule, after taking the head off and fitting new pistons and plumbing the supercharger back in, I asked Dan at TRD to drive it around for a few days to make sure all was well. After all, this is my daily and I couldn't afford for it to be off the road any longer. All was going well until driving it from Dans home into TRD one morning, when the dreaded fault light came up indicating cam chain stretch... We had a long discussion on the phone which highlighted several important points.
1. It was unusual for a car of my age and mileage to throw this code.
2. One of his customers has had the fault on for 18 months and still driven around. A big risk I wasn't prepared to take.
3. We both agreed the chain was disturbed whilst taking the head off to replace the pistons.
4. To replace the chains is listed as a 24 hr job, because the gearbox has to come off.
5. If you take the gearbox off, its false economy not to replace the clutch and flywheel.
So I obtained another quote, and I agreed to all of the above work. Dan agreed to a not inconsiderate amount of labour discount and I picked the car up about a month ago. Whilst I didn't notice any wear in the clutch department, the old one was apparently not in the best of shape - not a reflection of Ben, the previous owners driving, more the 2 owners before him!
Some photos of the work below.
Ive got the old pistons in my boot, will try and get a photo up shortly showing the damage to piston 1.
Ive now driven about 1000 miles since the work has been completed, the car is running sweeter than ever. Obviously im on a strict running in regime so keeping it below 4000rpm, checking the oil every week and going back shortly to for an oil change. The only thing which needs looking at is the windscreen and headlight washer. Since the front bumper was removed, I don't think the head-light washer pipe was connected properly because there is a leak and low warning light permanently on.
As you can imagine, the bill was £££££ and I almost thought about selling, but I now have a car which has had most major components replaced, and whilst my wallet has taken a complete battering, it still brings a smile to my face whenever im driving and the obligatory look back, when parked up!
A trip to Bath over Christmas.
More recently
All being well over the next few months, a roadtrip to the South of France in June is still on the cards. The car will go into TRD for a full health check before the trip.
So that's the journey so far, I was at MBW Sunday Service last weekend and will be at Santa Pod Sunday service next weekend, but safe to say I won't be going on the strip!
They were able to throw a camera into the head which confirmed my worst fears, piston no 1 had detonated, resulting in the need for 6 new pistons. The cause...well this sparked much debate, as can be read further here.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Ultimately, TRD maintain this was down to the single tank of Tesco momentum 99ron fuel I put in 2 days prior to the incident, so from now on im sticking to Shell V power, or if unavailable BP ultimate / Esso Premium im told is ok.
So, the car was with TRD for nearly 2 months. Why so long, well, aside from their busy schedule, after taking the head off and fitting new pistons and plumbing the supercharger back in, I asked Dan at TRD to drive it around for a few days to make sure all was well. After all, this is my daily and I couldn't afford for it to be off the road any longer. All was going well until driving it from Dans home into TRD one morning, when the dreaded fault light came up indicating cam chain stretch... We had a long discussion on the phone which highlighted several important points.
1. It was unusual for a car of my age and mileage to throw this code.
2. One of his customers has had the fault on for 18 months and still driven around. A big risk I wasn't prepared to take.
3. We both agreed the chain was disturbed whilst taking the head off to replace the pistons.
4. To replace the chains is listed as a 24 hr job, because the gearbox has to come off.
5. If you take the gearbox off, its false economy not to replace the clutch and flywheel.
So I obtained another quote, and I agreed to all of the above work. Dan agreed to a not inconsiderate amount of labour discount and I picked the car up about a month ago. Whilst I didn't notice any wear in the clutch department, the old one was apparently not in the best of shape - not a reflection of Ben, the previous owners driving, more the 2 owners before him!
Some photos of the work below.
Ive got the old pistons in my boot, will try and get a photo up shortly showing the damage to piston 1.
Ive now driven about 1000 miles since the work has been completed, the car is running sweeter than ever. Obviously im on a strict running in regime so keeping it below 4000rpm, checking the oil every week and going back shortly to for an oil change. The only thing which needs looking at is the windscreen and headlight washer. Since the front bumper was removed, I don't think the head-light washer pipe was connected properly because there is a leak and low warning light permanently on.
As you can imagine, the bill was £££££ and I almost thought about selling, but I now have a car which has had most major components replaced, and whilst my wallet has taken a complete battering, it still brings a smile to my face whenever im driving and the obligatory look back, when parked up!
A trip to Bath over Christmas.
More recently
All being well over the next few months, a roadtrip to the South of France in June is still on the cards. The car will go into TRD for a full health check before the trip.
So that's the journey so far, I was at MBW Sunday Service last weekend and will be at Santa Pod Sunday service next weekend, but safe to say I won't be going on the strip!
ChocolateFrog said:
Unlikely in the extreme.
More likely that with the wick turned up by 50% something let go, assuming the internals are standard?
Well this was my initial thought, but very difficult to prove. My cars internals, as with other stage 1 cars, are standard. TRD do a full health check on all cars before undertaking the conversion, including compression test. Out of the many, perhaps 80 or so they have done, only 1 other car had suffered the same problem as me. More likely that with the wick turned up by 50% something let go, assuming the internals are standard?
Bigphatcgar said:
Sorry to hear of the trouble but glad you have the car back on the road
I don't agree with the tesco fuel issue either , have run a few cars on it
Do you have an AFR gauge and an EGT gauge ?
Any chance of photos of the failed piston
No such gauges fitted in the car, I had to Google to find out what they were! Here are some photos showing piston 1 damage, I'm told this one gets the hottest. I don't agree with the tesco fuel issue either , have run a few cars on it
Do you have an AFR gauge and an EGT gauge ?
Any chance of photos of the failed piston
Anyway, that's all in the past now and there is no point dwelling on it. I'm just enjoying being back in the car.
Cheers Valo.
To answer some of the queries, stage 2 and 3 run a charge cooler, stage 1 doesn't, it's not meant to be used flat out all the time, occasional short bursts are fine though, which suits my needs. The charger doesn't really fully come on song until 4000rpm, but with the increased torque, it pulls very well from 1500 rpm. It runs larger injectors.
The bores were honed before the new pistons were fitted.
The ecu is standard but it was remapped post conversion by Stealth, who are renowned for mapping VR6 engines.
It's been a love hate relationship so far, but I'm hoping for some trouble free motoring now to switch that balance.
To answer some of the queries, stage 2 and 3 run a charge cooler, stage 1 doesn't, it's not meant to be used flat out all the time, occasional short bursts are fine though, which suits my needs. The charger doesn't really fully come on song until 4000rpm, but with the increased torque, it pulls very well from 1500 rpm. It runs larger injectors.
The bores were honed before the new pistons were fitted.
The ecu is standard but it was remapped post conversion by Stealth, who are renowned for mapping VR6 engines.
It's been a love hate relationship so far, but I'm hoping for some trouble free motoring now to switch that balance.
So it’s been a little while since the last update, the R32 has covered another 7,000 miles including a holiday to the south of France, more on that later.
Since the engine rebuild it hasn’t all been plain sailing, about 2 weeks after getting the car back, it developed an electrical fault which even had the RAC man stumped. This meant another recovery to TRD in Stroud who dug out the wiring diagrams and traced the problem to a blown relay switch. So a quick and inexpensive part to fix,but frustrating as I had to pay for recovery charges.
That was back in March and with the big road trip booked in for mid-June, I was keen to see how the car performed over the next few months. I noticed the air con was starting to smell when turned off after being in use, so I decided to change the cabin/pollen filter and use one of the car-air bombs whilst the air-con was on. This solved the problem but having checked the service history I couldn’t find anything to suggest the air-con had been re-gassed, so I got this seen to as well and changed the wipers. For peace of mind I took the car to TRD 1 week before we left for a final check-over, Dan was happy with everything
The old manky filter.
Roadtrip to the South of France
Distance 2250 miles
Fuel £550 worth of Shells finest V Power – circa 25mpg
Total drive time 45 hours
Route taken
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/Oxford/Dover/Cal...
I was very excited to take the R32 on this trip, It’s what the car was designed for. At motorway cruising speeds of 75-80mph I was getting a range of about 270 miles. We left the house at 4am and were booked on the 7.30m ferry from Dover which, amongst loads of people going over to France to see the football, there were a few more exotic cars travelling to Le Mans. There was a bit of a delay getting off the boat at Calais, que a chorus of Pork, TVRs and bikes revving their engines! The drive down on the first day was pretty uneventful, with occasional heavy thunderstorm, the autorotues In northern France don’t drain water very well so I was thankful for the 4WD. We arrived at our first stop over – Macon at about 6pm. We hadn’t booked so were keen to just find anything with secure parking, dump bags and get a beer and food.
Because we had done so much driving on day one, it meant only another 3.5 hours until we reached our destination for the main part of the holiday, a self-catering villa in Goult, a pretty and quiet part of the Luberon in Provence.
Below are just a few places we went to explore – L’isle Sur Sourge, Menerbes, Lacost, Gordes, Fontaine de Valcluse, the most impressive was probably the Verdon Gorge.
The villa
After a week in Provence and filling up the car with as much wine as I could , we reluctantly started our journey back, but rather than go back the way we came, we had planned a stop overs in Cahors (just north of Toulouse) and L’angeais (Loire Valley). The latter at a very nice chateau.
The car performed faultlessly over the trip – not once did I see another R32 out there, just a bland collection of modern Peugeot, Renault and Citroen Frenchie whiteness - well, except these 3.
Since being back in the UK, the car has yet again rebelled and now the RCD510 digital radio, SD and CD player is refusing to turn on, something I need to sort asap as I enjoy music. But the sound of the Supercharged VR6 isn’t too bad.
Here is a little video at one of the French tolls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMWVEfzUQOQ
Thanks for reading.
Since the engine rebuild it hasn’t all been plain sailing, about 2 weeks after getting the car back, it developed an electrical fault which even had the RAC man stumped. This meant another recovery to TRD in Stroud who dug out the wiring diagrams and traced the problem to a blown relay switch. So a quick and inexpensive part to fix,but frustrating as I had to pay for recovery charges.
That was back in March and with the big road trip booked in for mid-June, I was keen to see how the car performed over the next few months. I noticed the air con was starting to smell when turned off after being in use, so I decided to change the cabin/pollen filter and use one of the car-air bombs whilst the air-con was on. This solved the problem but having checked the service history I couldn’t find anything to suggest the air-con had been re-gassed, so I got this seen to as well and changed the wipers. For peace of mind I took the car to TRD 1 week before we left for a final check-over, Dan was happy with everything
The old manky filter.
Roadtrip to the South of France
Distance 2250 miles
Fuel £550 worth of Shells finest V Power – circa 25mpg
Total drive time 45 hours
Route taken
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/Oxford/Dover/Cal...
I was very excited to take the R32 on this trip, It’s what the car was designed for. At motorway cruising speeds of 75-80mph I was getting a range of about 270 miles. We left the house at 4am and were booked on the 7.30m ferry from Dover which, amongst loads of people going over to France to see the football, there were a few more exotic cars travelling to Le Mans. There was a bit of a delay getting off the boat at Calais, que a chorus of Pork, TVRs and bikes revving their engines! The drive down on the first day was pretty uneventful, with occasional heavy thunderstorm, the autorotues In northern France don’t drain water very well so I was thankful for the 4WD. We arrived at our first stop over – Macon at about 6pm. We hadn’t booked so were keen to just find anything with secure parking, dump bags and get a beer and food.
Because we had done so much driving on day one, it meant only another 3.5 hours until we reached our destination for the main part of the holiday, a self-catering villa in Goult, a pretty and quiet part of the Luberon in Provence.
Below are just a few places we went to explore – L’isle Sur Sourge, Menerbes, Lacost, Gordes, Fontaine de Valcluse, the most impressive was probably the Verdon Gorge.
The villa
After a week in Provence and filling up the car with as much wine as I could , we reluctantly started our journey back, but rather than go back the way we came, we had planned a stop overs in Cahors (just north of Toulouse) and L’angeais (Loire Valley). The latter at a very nice chateau.
The car performed faultlessly over the trip – not once did I see another R32 out there, just a bland collection of modern Peugeot, Renault and Citroen Frenchie whiteness - well, except these 3.
Since being back in the UK, the car has yet again rebelled and now the RCD510 digital radio, SD and CD player is refusing to turn on, something I need to sort asap as I enjoy music. But the sound of the Supercharged VR6 isn’t too bad.
Here is a little video at one of the French tolls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMWVEfzUQOQ
Thanks for reading.
JakeT said:
Nice write up and glad it's doing well and earning its keep after the rebuild. My favourite of the golfs, by far. Especially with a supercharger. Does the 'charger have that much of an impact on fuel consumption compared to a standard R32? I imagine it's not making a lot of boost when you're cruising.
Thanks, at cruising speeds the charger has hardly any impact on mpg, around town and spirited driving it is probably only 10% worse than stock. _Nathan_ said:
si_xsi said:
developed an electrical fault which even had the RAC man stumped. This meant another recovery to TRD in Stroud who dug out the wiring diagrams and traced the problem to a blown relay switch.
Out of interest didnt this show on VCDS / VagCom ?xjay1337 said:
Nice one Si, great looking pics glad the car is running well.
Regarding the head unit I would look at getting one of the aftermarket Kenwood DNX520VBT units, they have built in Satnav. No SD card but there is iPod and USB connectivity.
Also has built in Garmin Satnav for which I have all the 2016 updates for. Quite a tidy head unit!
Thanks for the suggestion, if I can't get this one working I will look at those next. Regarding the head unit I would look at getting one of the aftermarket Kenwood DNX520VBT units, they have built in Satnav. No SD card but there is iPod and USB connectivity.
Also has built in Garmin Satnav for which I have all the 2016 updates for. Quite a tidy head unit!
Time for an update, and not a good one at that. After an epic roadtrip around France in the summer, on th 4th August after work, i had just filled up with fuel and went the long way home. Whilst on a 1 mile straight section of dual carrideway, I came across 2 lanes of stationary traffic andd stopped. On the other side of the road were police, who had closed the road. A young girl in a silver VW Polo somehow missed the 2 lanes of queing traffic on a 1 mile straight road, and ploughed in the back of me at approx 50mph.
I had just enough time to see this happening in my rear view mirror before bracing for impact and applying my footbreak. Bang. No air bag deployed, i sat there for 10 seconds trying to process what's just happened. I get out, Police cross over the roaad, i assess the damage and my heart sinks. The force of the impact has rippled through to the rear quarter panels, the parcel shelf went flying, the rear cupholder in the centre consol flew open and the can of octane booster secured in the boot was so severely crushed i have no idea how it didnt explode! The car did a good job of protecting me and i managedd to sstop myself ploughing into the car infront by absorbing most of the impact.
So the long and tedious journey of speaking to insurance companies, repair assessors, solicitors and attending phsyio and medical asssessment ensued. During this time my courtesy car was a Mercedes C350 E-Sport. A hybrid with 275 bhp, it was certainly a little different, with its air-suspension (good for my back), but otherwise a pretty uneventful driving experience.
So insurers classedd the car ass a cat C which then changed to a cat D when they realised what was under the bonnet. All modifications had been declared and I had legal cover, so after lots of negotiating i finally agreed on a settlement fgure. I could have kept the car, stripped it for parts, swapped the engine over, but all of this would have taken time and space, both of which i don't have. It was my daily driver and i needed to find a replacement. The car got sold as salavage and i've already been in ccontact with the new owner who came to meet me last week to collect the service history paperwork and keys etc. he's getting it repaired, the engine was in great shape, even post accident, but im not sure it would ever drive the same again, let alone be worth anything, but id be interested to see what happeens to it.
I toyed with getting a Mk 6 Golf R or Edition 35 and mapping it, but as decent ones of these are still £16k plus I couldnt justify the extra, what with buying a house soon. I felt my time with an R32 had been cut short and even though i'd not had a brilliant experience with the last one, something was still drawing me to a R32. So, after keeping an eye on Pistonheads, this one came up for sale:
Its a 2009, deep pearl black, DSG, full VWSH, 2 previous owners, the last had kept it for 6 years, 60,000 miles (now on 62.5k miles!) completely standard but with lots of extras. In fact, the only boxes unticked when new are the Recaro Wingbacks, Sunroof and rear camera. Its got RNS510 with nav and bluetooth wired into an aftermarket fiscon system with microphone wired in by the drivers door pillar, speaker upgrade, parking sensors, cruise control etc. The bodywork is in great condition, but it needs a good detail, under the bonnet was filthy. The haldex and dsg have been serviced at the correct intervals, air-con regasssed, new water pump, centre rear break light.
As soon as i got it home i gave it a good clean, not perfect but an improvement. I was shocked at the amount of leaves and debbris which had collected in the front wheel arch liners, no wonder the wings rot easily. Water from the windscreen and bonnet are now draining away properly and thankfully i couldnt see any rust. Plans for it include a main service in December - i may get the DSG serviced again to keep things fresh, new tyres will soon be needed, (Goodyear efficient grip) on there at the moment (will prob go Dunlop Sport Max) as i found them to be quieter with road noise. Breaks are approx 70% worn so when the time comes I will look at a minor front break upgrade to either standard VW discs anf Ferrodo DS 2500 pads or TTRS discs and uprated pads. Whilst there are no squeaks or rattles in the suspension department, it is a bit soft and could probably beenefit from a refresh, so im thinking some racing VW springs / H&R Springs, with new bushes etc just to firm things up a touch, i'm not after suump grinding levels of low as its my daily. Other than that it will probably remain standard.
I've already been to Bruges, Belgium in it and hosted an early Sunday morning run ith some other pistonhead members. Overall im really pleasd with it, yes it doesn't havee the samee sort of grunt as the last one, but i love the noise and actually, whilst driver involvement has dropped a little with it being DSG, it has made commmuting even easier (Oxford traffic is horrendous) and you can still have fun in sport mode. Better economy too, 34 mpg at a steady 70mph.
Thanks for reading.
And just for old times sake
I had just enough time to see this happening in my rear view mirror before bracing for impact and applying my footbreak. Bang. No air bag deployed, i sat there for 10 seconds trying to process what's just happened. I get out, Police cross over the roaad, i assess the damage and my heart sinks. The force of the impact has rippled through to the rear quarter panels, the parcel shelf went flying, the rear cupholder in the centre consol flew open and the can of octane booster secured in the boot was so severely crushed i have no idea how it didnt explode! The car did a good job of protecting me and i managedd to sstop myself ploughing into the car infront by absorbing most of the impact.
So the long and tedious journey of speaking to insurance companies, repair assessors, solicitors and attending phsyio and medical asssessment ensued. During this time my courtesy car was a Mercedes C350 E-Sport. A hybrid with 275 bhp, it was certainly a little different, with its air-suspension (good for my back), but otherwise a pretty uneventful driving experience.
So insurers classedd the car ass a cat C which then changed to a cat D when they realised what was under the bonnet. All modifications had been declared and I had legal cover, so after lots of negotiating i finally agreed on a settlement fgure. I could have kept the car, stripped it for parts, swapped the engine over, but all of this would have taken time and space, both of which i don't have. It was my daily driver and i needed to find a replacement. The car got sold as salavage and i've already been in ccontact with the new owner who came to meet me last week to collect the service history paperwork and keys etc. he's getting it repaired, the engine was in great shape, even post accident, but im not sure it would ever drive the same again, let alone be worth anything, but id be interested to see what happeens to it.
I toyed with getting a Mk 6 Golf R or Edition 35 and mapping it, but as decent ones of these are still £16k plus I couldnt justify the extra, what with buying a house soon. I felt my time with an R32 had been cut short and even though i'd not had a brilliant experience with the last one, something was still drawing me to a R32. So, after keeping an eye on Pistonheads, this one came up for sale:
Its a 2009, deep pearl black, DSG, full VWSH, 2 previous owners, the last had kept it for 6 years, 60,000 miles (now on 62.5k miles!) completely standard but with lots of extras. In fact, the only boxes unticked when new are the Recaro Wingbacks, Sunroof and rear camera. Its got RNS510 with nav and bluetooth wired into an aftermarket fiscon system with microphone wired in by the drivers door pillar, speaker upgrade, parking sensors, cruise control etc. The bodywork is in great condition, but it needs a good detail, under the bonnet was filthy. The haldex and dsg have been serviced at the correct intervals, air-con regasssed, new water pump, centre rear break light.
As soon as i got it home i gave it a good clean, not perfect but an improvement. I was shocked at the amount of leaves and debbris which had collected in the front wheel arch liners, no wonder the wings rot easily. Water from the windscreen and bonnet are now draining away properly and thankfully i couldnt see any rust. Plans for it include a main service in December - i may get the DSG serviced again to keep things fresh, new tyres will soon be needed, (Goodyear efficient grip) on there at the moment (will prob go Dunlop Sport Max) as i found them to be quieter with road noise. Breaks are approx 70% worn so when the time comes I will look at a minor front break upgrade to either standard VW discs anf Ferrodo DS 2500 pads or TTRS discs and uprated pads. Whilst there are no squeaks or rattles in the suspension department, it is a bit soft and could probably beenefit from a refresh, so im thinking some racing VW springs / H&R Springs, with new bushes etc just to firm things up a touch, i'm not after suump grinding levels of low as its my daily. Other than that it will probably remain standard.
I've already been to Bruges, Belgium in it and hosted an early Sunday morning run ith some other pistonhead members. Overall im really pleasd with it, yes it doesn't havee the samee sort of grunt as the last one, but i love the noise and actually, whilst driver involvement has dropped a little with it being DSG, it has made commmuting even easier (Oxford traffic is horrendous) and you can still have fun in sport mode. Better economy too, 34 mpg at a steady 70mph.
Thanks for reading.
And just for old times sake
So I treated the R32 to a thorough clean and Polish over the weekend. Day off today, stunning weather and a nice drive over to the guys at Wheels In Motion in Chesham for 4 new tyres and geometry.
The old Goodyear efficient grip tyres which were on the car when I bought it still had a bit of meat on them at the back but the fronts were on the limit. I've gone for Dunlop Sport SMaxx as I was very impressed with them on my old R32.
The guys working on the car said I need new discs and pads all round quite soon, which I was aware about. I'm getting a quote from TRD in Stroud who worked on my old car and know a thing or two about R32s. Probably going to go standard discs all round but uprated Ferodo DS2500 pads for a bit more stopping power.
Anyway, wheels in motion came recommended and I think the car is in safe hands what with the 458 Speciale in!
The old Goodyear efficient grip tyres which were on the car when I bought it still had a bit of meat on them at the back but the fronts were on the limit. I've gone for Dunlop Sport SMaxx as I was very impressed with them on my old R32.
The guys working on the car said I need new discs and pads all round quite soon, which I was aware about. I'm getting a quote from TRD in Stroud who worked on my old car and know a thing or two about R32s. Probably going to go standard discs all round but uprated Ferodo DS2500 pads for a bit more stopping power.
Anyway, wheels in motion came recommended and I think the car is in safe hands what with the 458 Speciale in!
matc said:
Great read!
That 458 belongs to a PH'er Woppum - he's got a few other nice bits of kit!
Thanks - it looked and sounded awesome in the flesh, the guys at the garage were pretty chuffed to be getting their hands on it! Would recommend this garage for tyres and geometry, steering is spot on and the grip is amazing, booted it off a rounder-bout and onto a slip road to join the M40 and it's like glue!That 458 belongs to a PH'er Woppum - he's got a few other nice bits of kit!
chrismc1977 said:
Shame about the old car......you must miss the extra torque in the new one though?
I've always thought the stock ~240bhp isn't really enough to give a favourable power to weight with all the 4wd gubbins- certainly in the dry. Lovely looks/sound however
Miss the old car a lot, but not its issues. Yes, the old car was more fun with an extra 120bhp, the chassis and drivetrain coped brilliantly, the engine less so, but I think I was unlucky given the number of successful conversions TRD have done. In standard form, its 120kg heavier than the Mk 5 GTI, but with 50 more bhp. The torque is very linear, I think it pulls ok, a little lardy perhaps, but I don't think nearly as bad as people make them out to be - that's the trade off with a N/A 6 cyl engine and all wheel drive in a hatch. I've always thought the stock ~240bhp isn't really enough to give a favourable power to weight with all the 4wd gubbins- certainly in the dry. Lovely looks/sound however
New discs and pads all round plus break fluid with the guys at TRD in Stroud. These guys really know their R32s. Whilst in I'm getting a new auxiliary belt which does the water pump and air con because the one fitted by VW was the wrong size! It was too narrow and I noticed it was starting to squeak.
Also getting the drivers side xenon light reset as it was sitting too low. They self level via 2 sensors which sit on the rear and front of the car. Also getting it scanned on vagcom to make sure there are no hidden faults.
Car is filthy again!
Also getting the drivers side xenon light reset as it was sitting too low. They self level via 2 sensors which sit on the rear and front of the car. Also getting it scanned on vagcom to make sure there are no hidden faults.
Car is filthy again!
Time to bring this thread up to date. Just after Christmas I met up with some fellow PH for an early run out to Wales to sample some of the good roads that way. They didn't disappoint. Company included 2 tuned Audi TTRS with over 400 bhp, Clio V6, 993 Porsche, TTS, old Scooby, E92 M3.
Started off around -4c and foggy but the day turned into a cold crisp, but sunny day. Roads were filthy and a little slippery, not that I noticed it with the Haldex 4WD.
Car filthy again - I promise I do clean it...
The car went in to VW for a main service back in February to include spark plugs and passed its MOT with no advisories. Around April I noticed the car developed an occasional lumpy idle where the rev's fluctuated from 600rpm to 1000 rpm and the fans came on. I took it back to VW who found a few fault codes including one relating to the ignition Gateway and some old ones stored on their. They cleared them and reset the main gateway control unit, plus recommended I changed the fuel filter as whilst it was not strictly a service item, the 3.2 likes to have a drink and any restrictions wouldn't be helping. Afterwards it did feel more spritely and the issue hasn't appeared again.
The R32 has just ticked over 74,000 miles now, having covered 14,000 in my 11 months of ownership. Its seen me move house too and I now have the benefit of an offroad drive, so it will be getting a proper detail over the next few weeks with the help of Jay and his buffing tools!
Unfortunately I have noticed the common rust issue starting to appear on the front arches, it is most noticeable on the passenger side. There is a 12 year anti-corrosion warranty but VW seem to vary in willingness to address the issue under warranty, depending on what dealership you use. Some offering to complete FOC, others ask for a contribution with the need for the customer to pay if they want the paintwork blending from wings to doors and bonnet, which of course you would. As the bonnet has a few marks I would probably get that sprayed too. My nearest VW bodywork repair centre is Newbury VW, they apparently send out an engineer to your nearest VW dealer (Kidlington) assess the paintwork to check the depth and ensure its original, then send you a report with their findings and diagnosis.
I'm also soon to embark on another 2000 mile roadtrip to the South of France on holiday - I will do another update on that trip once I return but before I go, its going to VW for a minor service, Haldex 4WD oil change, DSG oil change and air-con re-gas all for £500 which I thought wasn't too bad.
Started off around -4c and foggy but the day turned into a cold crisp, but sunny day. Roads were filthy and a little slippery, not that I noticed it with the Haldex 4WD.
Car filthy again - I promise I do clean it...
The car went in to VW for a main service back in February to include spark plugs and passed its MOT with no advisories. Around April I noticed the car developed an occasional lumpy idle where the rev's fluctuated from 600rpm to 1000 rpm and the fans came on. I took it back to VW who found a few fault codes including one relating to the ignition Gateway and some old ones stored on their. They cleared them and reset the main gateway control unit, plus recommended I changed the fuel filter as whilst it was not strictly a service item, the 3.2 likes to have a drink and any restrictions wouldn't be helping. Afterwards it did feel more spritely and the issue hasn't appeared again.
The R32 has just ticked over 74,000 miles now, having covered 14,000 in my 11 months of ownership. Its seen me move house too and I now have the benefit of an offroad drive, so it will be getting a proper detail over the next few weeks with the help of Jay and his buffing tools!
Unfortunately I have noticed the common rust issue starting to appear on the front arches, it is most noticeable on the passenger side. There is a 12 year anti-corrosion warranty but VW seem to vary in willingness to address the issue under warranty, depending on what dealership you use. Some offering to complete FOC, others ask for a contribution with the need for the customer to pay if they want the paintwork blending from wings to doors and bonnet, which of course you would. As the bonnet has a few marks I would probably get that sprayed too. My nearest VW bodywork repair centre is Newbury VW, they apparently send out an engineer to your nearest VW dealer (Kidlington) assess the paintwork to check the depth and ensure its original, then send you a report with their findings and diagnosis.
I'm also soon to embark on another 2000 mile roadtrip to the South of France on holiday - I will do another update on that trip once I return but before I go, its going to VW for a minor service, Haldex 4WD oil change, DSG oil change and air-con re-gas all for £500 which I thought wasn't too bad.
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