Yes this subject has been covered many times, and I suppose will continue to be, as long as the two cars appeal, for me their much harder cars to separate, and now I no longer own either I feel I can offer an unbiased opinion.
Firstly there’s much talk of the R32 being heavy and not handling so well, in fact I found it to be the opposite, at least when pushing hard, the R32 got more secure than the GTi at speed, and ALWAYS felt well planted, whereas my GTi used to cock a rear wheel under hard cornering and get a bit unsettled over rougher roads.
I think the sound of the two cars has been covered, so enough said, performance wise the GTi feel more lively, with a sudden rush around 2k RPM, where the R is much more linier and less strained, sometimes feeling slower, but it’s not until you look at the speedo, you realise how well it covers ground.
I managed to get a regurlar 30 MPG out of my R, compared to 33-34 form the GTi, so not so different, what you will notice is the fuel tank rage between fil-up’s the R could have done with another 5-8 litres of tank capacity, but consumption alone, there’s no getting away from the road tax hike, thanks to Gordon Brown.
My R had the manual gearbox, and for me this is where the problem lies, I have come to the conclusion that small 4wd cars with manual transmissions from VAG don’t work that well, having owned a TT225 and R32 both cars suffer from driveline shunt spoiling the overall enjoyment. I could never get a smooth gear change in the low gears, this made me tune into the problem, which resulted in every drive being a battle between me and the car. It’s quite possible the DSG would solve this issue, but I don’t know.
On the plus side the DPB paint on the R is just stunning, getting look’s of admiration every where I went.
My ultimate choice would be..
3 Door
DBP
GTi
R32 wheels
Manual
Leather
Xenon’s
