YACT: 2004 VW R32 or 2006 VW GTI

[DivideBYZero]

MK4 chassis is not great. The MK5 is supposed to be much better (I have not driven it). I had the V6-4Motion Golf with the haldex and the 204Hp V6. It was OK but the main flaw is the motor is slug out in front of the front axle, producing gut wrenching understeer. Take a shopping cart, load up 4 gallons of Apple juice in the front and try to turn it. Not fun? That is the MK4 in a nutshell.

The AWD sucks. I went from the Haldex system to the Subaru system and it was like night and day.

My advice is get the Mk5. If you need the extra 40Hp, get it remapped. It's waiting there for you already.

 

[dbot]

Originally posted by: Rickten
the MK4 definetly doesn't look as good as the MK5. R32 uses haldex a pretty crappy implementation of AWD. How many more years is the VW warranty going to last on an R32. Most R32's are going to be owned by enthusiasts who probably have heavy foots and think they are speed racer, i.e. potential for problems down the road. No DSG, yes it is that good. New R32 is coming out so expect a large decrease in MKIV R32's resale value in the next year. Odometer that reads 0 or odometer that reads 30 - 50k. 40hp more with R32. R32 worse gas mileage.

I ordered a 4dr GTI should be picking it up next month and these are some things I thought about when I was in your position. I think the R32 is really a niche car and once the MKV GTI was released I think that niche became even smaller.

I hadn't really thought about the new R32's depreciating the 04's. That is a good point. The new R32's are going to be out of my range so too bad for that one.

And the GTI i want is with the PCKGE 2, so i'ld prolly have to go used with one that has 15k miles on it to keep it in the low 20's instead of closer to $30,000.

 

[vi edit]

I'd take the MKV. I like the looks (especially the 4 door) and it has quite a few little tweaks and updates that I'd like to have(HID's, MP3 capability, ect). The R32 is a porker and not really all that quick. A MKV actually would most likely post better track times, but I have no numbers to back that.

The 2.0T is a brilliant little motor that can move the car well. Plus it gets over 30MPG to the mid 20's of the R32..so that's nice too.

The best thing about the R32 is the exhaust note which is something that the 2.0T can't match.