Well at last the day arrived and I set of at 5am from Kent to Stockport to pick up my new toy, after 270 miles and several cups of coffee later I arrived at Smith Knight Fay VW Stockport. At 9.30 am
Smith Knight Fay managed to make what was supposed to be a special day, feel rather ordinary, even after making a 10am appointment, and knowing I had a long journey back home, they kept me hanging around over two hours, anyway seeing the car fully valeted soon made me forget all my gripes.
The sun was shining and not a cloud in the sky, I was looking forwards to my trip back.
So first impressions, in a word “fantastic†solid, comfy, great engine note. I won’t talk about looks and styling as “each to their own†and I think it’s all been covered before, but as far as driving is concerned the R32 feel planted, and un phased by rough roads and white lines, maybe the extra 200kgs over the FWD Golf might be part of the way it’s handle the pot holes?
The engine is a gem, quiet when it needs to be, but a lovely burble on light throttle, turning into a deep growl when you give it some. ItÂ’s really flexible , even in top gear I keep going for a higher ratio, thinking IÂ’m in third, I canÂ’t wait to see how it is after a few thousand has been racked up.
Steering inputs need to be greater for the same end result compared to my GTi, but not much, and after a few weeks driving I donÂ’t think IÂ’ll even notice.
Braking forces are massive, and on a couple of occasions IÂ’ve nearly suffered from whiplash due to jumping on the pedal with too much exuberance .
Road noise is also good, with not too much tyre noise from the DunlopÂ’s and reasonable feel through the steering wheel, I donÂ’t know about wet weather grip, as IÂ’ve not driven in the rain yet. I was hoping for the Michelins to have been fitted though.
Mine had s the manual gearbox, which is a sweet to use as any of the 3 MK5 GolfÂ’s IÂ’ve owned over the last few months, however 1st gear on the R32 is almost a waste of time, as soon as the clutch bites, it needs knocking up a cog.
And to be honest I was hoping that top gear would have pulled less rpm than it does, itÂ’s the same as the GTi around 80 mph @ 3000 rpm.
Fuel consumption is better than I though, I know IÂ’m running her in, but coming back from Stockport, sticking around 80-85 MPH it returned 31 MPG and on my work route over the last few days 27 MPG, which IÂ’m pleased about.
On to the interior, do I miss the leather? well the smell yes, but I do prefer the £1600 in my pocket TBH, I do however miss the dark roof lining that doesn’t seam to be available with cloth interiors, seats are a supportive and comfortable as the leather.
I like the silver detail around the radio controls as it lifts the greyness a little, not a lover of the blue neon look needles on the clocks, prefer the red on blue numbers of the rest of the range.
XenonÂ’s are amazing, they turn night into day, and pick out details along the dark a gloomy verge with ease, I was surprised that they still use the halogen lamps on main beam, I though Bi XenonÂ’s only needed them for flashing.
So far then, to sum up, I love the R32 and canÂ’t wait to get the chance to drive it, if I had one niggle, it would be with the drive train, I struggle to get smooth gear changes at slow speed, this might be me not being used to the bite point of the new clutch, or the itÂ’s not bedded in yet, but thatÂ’s about it really.
Thanks for reading.
