Anyone had both a Mk.5 GTI and a Mk.5 R32?
Discussion
Yes, had a 2008 manual GTI and did 60k miles and 2 R32s one manual and more recently a DSG but only covered about 10k miles in the R32s. MPG is about 35 v 28, insurance not much in it, I'd go manual for the more involving drive an less to go wrong, although dsg seriously quick changes.
The traction of the R32 is brilliant, if you sort the suspension and get better springs and bushes, it won't understeer like some might think. I would also recommend upgrading the break pads on the 32 a they are a heavy car.
The GTI proved very reliable in my ownership and oil consumption was average, about about litre every 2.5k miles. They are quite different to drive, th R32 Is very linear in the power delivery against the turbo of the gti. Rather than me waffle, if you have any specific questions just shout.
The traction of the R32 is brilliant, if you sort the suspension and get better springs and bushes, it won't understeer like some might think. I would also recommend upgrading the break pads on the 32 a they are a heavy car.
The GTI proved very reliable in my ownership and oil consumption was average, about about litre every 2.5k miles. They are quite different to drive, th R32 Is very linear in the power delivery against the turbo of the gti. Rather than me waffle, if you have any specific questions just shout.
I wouldn't really want to go making changes and they'd likely remain stock and I think I'm a bit beyond the boy racer. I think I'm looking more for the GTI as I don't really get the chance to go just for a drive anymore and I think the lower MPG and weight are both things that would count against them. I think I need to drive both.
I would choose the Edition 30 personally. Faster than the GTI, better looking than the GTI and a better engine than the GTI.
The R32 is what it is and in 90% of daily driving scenarios, the Haldex kit is dead weight. FWD MK5s feel a lot more nimble on the back roads.
Have owned and / or driven all flavours of GTI and R32, and that's just my thoughts on it.
If you get an R32, I would choose DSG every time. That engine and gearbox were made for each other! DSG doesn't feel quite as special with the GTI but it's still the best gearbox imo. The manual is awful.
The R32 is what it is and in 90% of daily driving scenarios, the Haldex kit is dead weight. FWD MK5s feel a lot more nimble on the back roads.
Have owned and / or driven all flavours of GTI and R32, and that's just my thoughts on it.
If you get an R32, I would choose DSG every time. That engine and gearbox were made for each other! DSG doesn't feel quite as special with the GTI but it's still the best gearbox imo. The manual is awful.
SuperchargedVR6 said:
I would choose the Edition 30 personally. Faster than the GTI, better looking than the GTI and a better engine than the GTI.
The R32 is what it is and in 90% of daily driving scenarios, the Haldex kit is dead weight. FWD MK5s feel a lot more nimble on the back roads.
Have owned and / or driven all flavours of GTI and R32, and that's just my thoughts on it.
If you get an R32, I would choose DSG every time. That engine and gearbox were made for each other! DSG doesn't feel quite as special with the GTI but it's still the best gearbox imo. The manual is awful.
Thanks for this, about what I was expecting. While I agree about the ED 30, they're also about £2-£2.5k above the equivalent GTI. I'm not sure they're worth the extra at the moment.The R32 is what it is and in 90% of daily driving scenarios, the Haldex kit is dead weight. FWD MK5s feel a lot more nimble on the back roads.
Have owned and / or driven all flavours of GTI and R32, and that's just my thoughts on it.
If you get an R32, I would choose DSG every time. That engine and gearbox were made for each other! DSG doesn't feel quite as special with the GTI but it's still the best gearbox imo. The manual is awful.
MissChief said:
SuperchargedVR6 said:
I would choose the Edition 30 personally. Faster than the GTI, better looking than the GTI and a better engine than the GTI.
The R32 is what it is and in 90% of daily driving scenarios, the Haldex kit is dead weight. FWD MK5s feel a lot more nimble on the back roads.
Have owned and / or driven all flavours of GTI and R32, and that's just my thoughts on it.
If you get an R32, I would choose DSG every time. That engine and gearbox were made for each other! DSG doesn't feel quite as special with the GTI but it's still the best gearbox imo. The manual is awful.
Thanks for this, about what I was expecting. While I agree about the ED 30, they're also about £2-£2.5k above the equivalent GTI. I'm not sure they're worth the extra at the moment.The R32 is what it is and in 90% of daily driving scenarios, the Haldex kit is dead weight. FWD MK5s feel a lot more nimble on the back roads.
Have owned and / or driven all flavours of GTI and R32, and that's just my thoughts on it.
If you get an R32, I would choose DSG every time. That engine and gearbox were made for each other! DSG doesn't feel quite as special with the GTI but it's still the best gearbox imo. The manual is awful.
Personally I feel it's worth the extra. The wheels, colour coded bumpers / skirts and the BBS 18s really make it stand out from the GTI. And many ED30 owners ticked a few boxes too, such as sunroof, xenons, heated seats, highline display etc etc. And if the mood does take you (and it always does with turbo engines), you've got an easy 300hp under the bonnet from just a £350 map. All of that is worth the premium over the GTI imo.
The Edition 30 seats are also one of the comfiest I've ever sat in too. They're a bit different to the cloth GTI ones somehow.
So now I think I have my heart set on an Edition 30. Won't be for a few weeks yet but the holy grail would be an ED.30 in blue. I haven't seen one at all anywhere. Red yes, black, grey, silver too, but never in blue. There is a Pirelli in blue but it's up at £10k, a bit too rich for my blood. Looking for about £8-8.5k with less than 80k miles.
Edited by MissChief on Wednesday 21st September 00:55
Not keen on the Pirelli personally. I think the ED30 looks better, but it has the same engine, which is a detuned Audi S3 unit if you didn't know already.
I might be wrong but I think the ED30 was only available in:
White
Tornado Red
Black
Black metallic
Silver
Steel Grey
I've never seen a blue one either.
You should be able to get a nice one for that budget. Mine was £9K 2 years ago with 73K on it, and they've definitely come down in value since then.
I might be wrong but I think the ED30 was only available in:
White
Tornado Red
Black
Black metallic
Silver
Steel Grey
I've never seen a blue one either.
You should be able to get a nice one for that budget. Mine was £9K 2 years ago with 73K on it, and they've definitely come down in value since then.
I had a Mark 5 R32 & I loved it. It still felt (and looked) special when I finally sold it after 9 years and 60,000 miles.
As said, if mpg is going to bug you don't buy one. (but by the looks of it you've made your mind up)
I know it's not what the haldex was made for, but was also quite handy climbing up the steep hill in our street in the snow.
As said, if mpg is going to bug you don't buy one. (but by the looks of it you've made your mind up)
I know it's not what the haldex was made for, but was also quite handy climbing up the steep hill in our street in the snow.
SuperchargedVR6 said:
Not keen on the Pirelli personally. I think the ED30 looks better, but it has the same engine, which is a detuned Audi S3 unit if you didn't know already.
I might be wrong but I think the ED30 was only available in:
White
Tornado Red
Black
Black metallic
Silver
Steel Grey
I've never seen a blue one either.
You should be able to get a nice one for that budget. Mine was £9K 2 years ago with 73K on it, and they've definitely come down in value since then.
Found this: http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/assets/common/pdf/broc... which confirms, no blue edition 30 was ever released. I might be wrong but I think the ED30 was only available in:
White
Tornado Red
Black
Black metallic
Silver
Steel Grey
I've never seen a blue one either.
You should be able to get a nice one for that budget. Mine was £9K 2 years ago with 73K on it, and they've definitely come down in value since then.
I went from a mk4 R32 to a mk5 Ed30 which I had for 2 years before I changed back to a mk5 R32 which I had for 7 years.
Personally I didnt much like the GTI, just never felt as planted as the R32s due to the front wheel drive and weaker brakes. I even tried a Miltek exhaust on it to try and jazz it up, but went back to the V6.
However there are many people who feel the complete opposite!
As above DSG suits the R32 well with its tendency to change up early in D. It will be going for sixth at 30mph most the time. I imagine in a turbo car this would make it feel very sluggish, my mate sold his DSG S3 for this reason.
Personally I didnt much like the GTI, just never felt as planted as the R32s due to the front wheel drive and weaker brakes. I even tried a Miltek exhaust on it to try and jazz it up, but went back to the V6.
However there are many people who feel the complete opposite!
As above DSG suits the R32 well with its tendency to change up early in D. It will be going for sixth at 30mph most the time. I imagine in a turbo car this would make it feel very sluggish, my mate sold his DSG S3 for this reason.
SuperchargedV6 said:
The R32 is what it is and in 90% of daily driving scenarios, the Haldex kit is dead weight. FWD MK5s feel a lot more nimble on the back roads.
This is what concerns me I don't think I could shake the feeling that I'd be carrying 200-300kg of 4WD gear for little to no benefit. That and despite living in Scotland I've never been stuck in a FWD car.MissChief said:
SuperchargedV6 said:
The R32 is what it is and in 90% of daily driving scenarios, the Haldex kit is dead weight. FWD MK5s feel a lot more nimble on the back roads.
This is what concerns me I don't think I could shake the feeling that I'd be carrying 200-300kg of 4WD gear for little to no benefit. That and despite living in Scotland I've never been stuck in a FWD car.PS. Did you say blue was your ideal colour?
What's not to like?
MissChief said:
SuperchargedV6 said:
The R32 is what it is and in 90% of daily driving scenarios, the Haldex kit is dead weight. FWD MK5s feel a lot more nimble on the back roads.
This is what concerns me I don't think I could shake the feeling that I'd be carrying 200-300kg of 4WD gear for little to no benefit. That and despite living in Scotland I've never been stuck in a FWD car.It doesn't give you any more grip, only traction, so it's just as bad as a FWD Golf on wintery roads. I've found the GTI to be more than capable in snow and ice to be honest.
The R32 has zero torque steer though, but then again, a GTI with healthy dampers and bushes isn't riddled with it either.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti R32 at all, I just personally never found the Haldex justified it's weight penalty. I even played around with after market Haldex controllers to try and get more rear action, but nope, it's just as inert and lifeless, and they can actually cause plough-on understeer if you gas it mid corner. The GTI just turns and goes in that situation.
Another thing that bugged me with the R32 was it's power delivery. Below 3000rpm it feels like it has all the power in the world and wants to snap your neck, but past 3000rpm, nothing! Flat as a fart. It was always a charismatic sounding engine, but it's torque curve is awful, imo, and just never feels 250hp. More like 200.
As above, I think a decent test drive in both should help you choose. They're both great cars in their own right, but FWD for me
Edited by SuperchargedVR6 on Friday 23 September 09:40
I have owned a Edition 30 manual and a R32 DSG back to back last year, both were standard apart from lowering springs on the R32.
The Edition 30 felt the quicker and more capable car, and was great fun. but the R32 just felt more special, I loved just cruising around in it, it felt and sounded great without having to rag it everywhere. I would of loved to try a manual R32 though.
Also, I think R32's will start to appreciate in value. They seem to of jumped up this last year.
The Edition 30 felt the quicker and more capable car, and was great fun. but the R32 just felt more special, I loved just cruising around in it, it felt and sounded great without having to rag it everywhere. I would of loved to try a manual R32 though.
Also, I think R32's will start to appreciate in value. They seem to of jumped up this last year.
joe-cz4n7 said:
I would of loved to try a manual R32 though.
Also, I think R32's will start to appreciate in value. They seem to of jumped up this last year.
They're not that nice! The aforementioned bizarre torque curve can be tricky with the manual box in the lower gears, which are a lot shorter than the GTIs incidentally. Pulling out of junctions in 1st gear for example. There's a fine line between creeping out slowly and tearing off like a scalded cat. Quite tricky to modulate. But that's also down to VW's usual 20% pedal = 100% throttle mapping!Also, I think R32's will start to appreciate in value. They seem to of jumped up this last year.
It will crawl along at walking pace in 3rd gear quite comfortably though. The GTI needs 1st to do that. And that is one aspect of the R32 that's so appealing. That big torquey saloon feel in a little hatchback.
I think you're right, and more so the MK4 imo. Mainly because that platform was universally panned for being rubbish, but the R32 was actually massively better than the GTI in all the key areas.
Edited by SuperchargedVR6 on Friday 23 September 15:51
I have had both (Manual '06 R32 and a DSG 07 GTI). R32 looked flash, sounded great but was pretty slow. Comfortably outpaced by my Corrado VR6 I also had at the time.
GTI hardly stood out looks-wise over a 2.0 TDI but with a remap and that DSG box it was laugh out loud fast- especially punching through traffic which the R32 seemed struggle with.
GTI hardly stood out looks-wise over a 2.0 TDI but with a remap and that DSG box it was laugh out loud fast- especially punching through traffic which the R32 seemed struggle with.
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