Mk 5 Golf R32 - Supercharged
Discussion
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.
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.
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!
About £300 on the internet. You can get the later model DNX521/522 if you want but I haven't used those.. Suspect it's all the same with a slightly newer looking facia.
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!
About £300 on the internet. You can get the later model DNX521/522 if you want but I haven't used those.. Suspect it's all the same with a slightly newer looking facia.
Road trips to South of France are magic aren't they? Just done one too in my R
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
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!
No worries dude. For the cost of a new/used RCD it makes sense to spend the extra! 
RNS510 may be good to look at as well. Depending on model year (I can't remember yours) I think before 58 plate need a CECM upgrade or it can be bodged in the fusebox
If you want a poke around the Kenwood headunit let me know and we can meet up as I have juan in my car.
RNS510 may be good to look at as well. Depending on model year (I can't remember yours) I think before 58 plate need a CECM upgrade or it can be bodged in the fusebox
If you want a poke around the Kenwood headunit let me know and we can meet up as I have juan in my car.
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
I always loved reading about this car, especially since I've got a A3 3.2. The temptation of a Rotrex has always been there despite the difficulties you've had. Although they did put an end to the tuning temptation on my own car! I stuck to a few choice suspension and cosmetic mods instead.
Gutted to see the result of someone elses carelessness, I hope your new R32 brings you a little more luck.
Joe
Gutted to see the result of someone elses carelessness, I hope your new R32 brings you a little more luck.
Joe
Hi Si, sorry if I had confused you
Get these discs -
http://www.mtecbrakes.com/brake-discs/audi/tt-coup...
PART NUMBER: MTEC1597
Description: 1 pair of discs
Vented - Diameter: 340 Thickness: 30
They are what I have on my car, eliminating the lip you get on 345mm discs (as the pad is smaller than the disc anyway) and also better cooling being vented to the disc bell and 1.2kg lighter than 345mm ones
Get these discs -
http://www.mtecbrakes.com/brake-discs/audi/tt-coup...
PART NUMBER: MTEC1597
Description: 1 pair of discs
Vented - Diameter: 340 Thickness: 30
They are what I have on my car, eliminating the lip you get on 345mm discs (as the pad is smaller than the disc anyway) and also better cooling being vented to the disc bell and 1.2kg lighter than 345mm ones
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
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