I just bought an R32 Mk4 about four months ago from the original owner. It's such a beautiful car. The first time I drove it I was smiling the whole time. You're absolutely right. This car is special. It was my dream car and I'm still in disbelief that I have the pleasure of owning one. Thank you for making this video.
I’m the original owner of mine too. Not many OG’s left. This car still puts a smile on my face. It’s currently under the knife. Went to Turbo. HPA FT470 with HPA TRI-Flow cams (270/270)
Hi, from Sydney Australia. VW sent 200, R-32s to Australia in 2004. I have one of them from new., Number 175/200 Australia. Unsurprisingly, VW Australia sold 197 before they actually arrived in Australia but 3 just would go!! So, Porsche Australia bought all three (all black) for about 65% of list price for their sales staff to drive and that how I got mine, new, care of Porsche Australia. My R-32 now has approximately, 54,500 kms on the clock 1st June 2023, , it is black with NO sunroof. It is amazing. It shared the garage with the both the first 996, Yr 1999 GT3 and Yr 2001 GT-2 for Australia but I still love the R-32 most because of it's pure wholesomeness and it actually sounds better than the GT-2 !!!!!!! It was my daily drive. Today, all the Porsches are gone, yet the R-32 still here !!!!!
Nice video ..face looks familiar from Cars and coffee in san Clemente. and I also have The Mk4 R32 on black first owner too. currently 120k miles. Flywheel gave up at 86K and I decided to do the work myself and since it was there open went and change timing chains n guides. it was fun doing the work.
Thanks! While I'm not a regular at South OC Cars & Coffee in San Clemente, I do try to make it up there a few times a year, and I have filmed at least one video about the event for this UA-cam channel. If you don't mind my asking, what were the symptoms with the bad flywheel?
Great Vid!! Love it, always wanted an r32. Have a MK4 GTI, from new like you, which I've pretty much have an r32 body kit, along with dual exhaust, chip tuned, CAI and other bibs and bobs. Handed down now to my son, my wife didn't want me to buy another golf, especially the r32 as she thought I was nuts to buy another 20+ year old Golf that looks exactly like the the gti. I ended up with a45s instead hehe. My son is loving the Golf, wants to upgrade turbo and see what happens from there. Cheers and its amazing to see you still smile as you plant that foot down and the sound, love the wookie :)
Thanks! I'm now up to 175k miles on the Wookiee and she's going into the garage for a long grocery list of needed "old car" maintenance, repairs and upgrades. Look for quite a few more R32 videos to be coming down the pipeline!
Some idiot traded me his mk4 r32 for my mk1 caddy pickup. I've had it for 3.5 years now and never plan on selling. the vin number is even my birthday! wild.
It happens, though not close to an r32, I traded my basic bolt on mk4 Jetta VR6 for a mk2 Jetta GLI, then traded back for a 94 Jetta VR6 which I still have.
Great review. Thank you for it. I totally respect the R32. I have a 2013 R and it puts a smile on my face every time. Got an MK4 GLS 4 door 1.8t with manual. Gonna turn it into kinda R32 clone. It's sort of the first 4 door GTI.
I’m 22 and drive my dads 74 Chevy nova and was fortunate enough to get me a nice paying job where he works. I’m saving every dollar and penny to make this my first car. As tempting as it is to just buy a Golf mk4 with a VR6 I just know I’ll regret not getting an R32. Great video man!
WOW, this is a brilliant review you published, i currently have a volkswagen passat R36 which has a dsg gearbox. I am in desperate need to buy an R32 golf next to this wonderful flagship i currently own, thanks a lot for the review!!
I have the exact same spec! Currently in getting all my sills done, arches replaced and other bits and bobs. Absolutely spot on mate! I miss it so much and I cannot wait to get it back from the garage
@@CliffjumperCars just both front wings mate. I don’t think it was looked after to well before I got her, I live in the UK as well so a lot of salt on the roads during winter I’m guessing that’s what has happened or they never took the liners out to give it a clean . Yours still going all good?
@@PSNeXisTenZ I understand that's a common problem, especially among cars that get driven routinely in wet weather - stuff accumulating behind the fender liner and rotting it out. Mine has mainly been a dry weather car in Southern California, other than a couple of winters in the Midwest, and even then I took great care to clean out the undercarriage weekly to avoid the rot.
@@PSNeXisTenZ 80% of car owners in UK don’t get under chassis wash and wax because it costs more than a fiver at car wash…I don’t think I’d take a R32 to a IMO car wash though, I tell the operators to skip pre wash and brush because they don’t give a fk
@@knwgt5426 oh god yeah I clean mine at home. She’s been all done now, both wings replaced. Sills all cut out and new ones welded in. Got a new underseal so she’s doing alright
Very nice review, I always loved the VR6. Did fall in love with it when it came in the golf 3. When i noticed that the Audi TT also has the set-up from the R32 I was sold. So now I have a mk2 TT roadster 3.2 with DSG (same chassis MK5 golf 32) and love it very much,
I drove a TT 3.2 DSG before I got my R32, and I was absolutely in love with that setup. I was SO BUMMED that they didn't send the DSG here to the states in the Mk4 R32!!! Would have chosen that over the manual six speed in a heartbeat. But I'm not going to complain about the manual six, especially with the EIP short shifter I have on it.
The 06-09 a3 3.2 vr6 with the dsg is the perfect mix between the mk4 and 5. Although the mk4 r32 is one of my dreams for sure. This is the more cost effective one for me it doesnt have the R tax on it. Love the video and glad to see an original owner.
That's a great car with solid options. My only complaint about it are the seats, which are luxury oriented and nowhere near as supportive for high lateral g's... which honestly isn't that big a deal, since you can replace them with Recaros or Koenigs. It's a solid car and a great wookiee option! Also a big fan of the TT Mk2 3.2 myself. Smaller interior space, not as functional as a hot hatch, but a great driver.
@@CliffjumperCars yeah its a great option for a wookie. Its actually 1 of 2 options we had in canada for the 3.2 in a car. We never got the r32 due to "safety concerns". Very hard to find here and not common at all. The seats are a let down, the drivers are all ripped.
Nice review. I also had a mk4 R32 in silver. Great car! Sold it back in 2010 though. Nice to see it's still running great with high miles. I knew these cars were built to last.
@@CliffjumperCars A BMW 135i for a while (actually recommended by another socalR32'er) and nowadays I have a Cayman GTS. I still remember the Ahrrrr32.
Hi there, nice vids on your channel. I've got a Mk5 R32 manual, and have had the same car with DSG previously. Also, had the Mk4 Golf 2.8L V6 4motion manual and several 2.0T VAG cars. I'm now interested in a Corrado VR6.. I know they are quite different cars, for starters, the Mk5 R32 is quite refined. Which car do you prefer driving - your Corrado VR6 or your Mk4 R32? If you could only choose one, which would it be and why?
They are very different, as you mentioned. Nothing drives like a Corrado... it's so small and low to the ground, and while the VR6 is more refined than the G60, its still pretty raw... it's definitely a driver's car. The Mk4 R32 is much more powerful in stock form, but they both have a wonderful visceral feel. They both have wonderful engine and exhaust sounds. Now that the Corrado has a supercharger, it's about as fast as the R32, but the R32 carries speed more confidently in corners with the AWD, and brakes much better as well. I enjoy having both. Which one I drive on any given day or to a particular event really depends on my mood. If the wonderful smog laws of the state of California were not an issue, I'd be tempted to throw an R32 motor into the Corrado and make it AWD with some Passat Synco parts, and have the best of both worlds. But... as it is I'd say the R32 tempts me more to drive like a hooligan with its instant throttle response, and the Corrado encourages me to take things more smoothly. I feel inspired by Ken Block in the R32 and Mario Andretti in the Corrado, if that makes sense.
My r32 is at 259 000km and it has literally no problems whatsoever I only have to replace the breaks from the back wheels And it’s my first car it’s such an amazing car I think about it all the time 😆
@@rjj00 yes it was, slowly but surely a lot of problems came so I sold the car for nearly the double price i bought it tho, rn I have a bmw m3 e92 and it’s truly a masterpiece, the sound the engine the interior the design of of the car is timeless I can’t describe how much fun this car is….
Nice R32. I wish I still had mine it had a stage 2 VF Engineering Supercharger and plenty of go fast parts to much to list. Had lots of fun put a smile on my face all the time I took her out for a spin. Lost her in 2012 to Super Storm Sandy here in NYC it had only 28K miles, won at Waterfest and the old Audi & VW show and go at Englishtown NJ. I hope to pick one up in Deep Blue Pearl again one day. Have fun nice car looks great.
Couldn’t agree more with your video, the pausing while getting on the freeway to enjoy the exhaust was exactly what I do in mine every time, smile machine is spot on. 202k and going strong on the original clutch and timing chains. I’m the 3rd owner and plan on keeping it forever like you. I think this year when I take it out of storage I might be doing the chains and clutch since vcds is showing a bit of wear and close to the spec to replace them. Great review !
Thanks! I'll stick with the original clutch & chains til they give me grief, but looking forward to the excuse to put in some Techtonics cams & maybe do a little headwork when that time comes.
I met you ages ago back when they had that VW car meet in San Diego back in November 2012. Your the Church preacher right? The guy who drove his Corrado off the Canyon cliff?
bought second hand, my daily since 2009 on german s autobahn, chain changed allready 2 times, near 300000 km, kw v3, 955 brakes, dieselgeak shortshift.. never in trouble, what a great car.. where did you get the screen?
If you're talking about the color MFA screen in the main gauge cluster, it's from Clusters By Litke - I have another video showcasing that, check it out! If you're talking about the screen in the radio console, that's the factory VW Navigation Radio (MFD Version G). You can find them on Ebay, Vortex, Amazon, Mk4 & Touareg Facebook forum classifieds, etc. Not the greatest tech but it was amazing back in 2004, and still works pretty well, as long as you continue to buy updated map CDs.
@@CliffjumperCars ah great, that s what i was looking for, i ll check your mfa video.. i had the mfd too , but changed the whole hifi system with an android radio from pumpkin, simple designed especialy for the mk4.. a way more confortable, but a lot of work you need to rewire few things..
Thank you so much for the video! I will follow you! This is the kinda video I needed in order to help me to decide to buy one next week.. I know is a great car since it came out in 2004… not big fan of vw’s but Im a car lover.. I love this as much as the gti 337 or the 20th and the jetta gli mark 4…thanks one more time
Thank you! My father would be happy to hear that someone somewhere thinks I'm a man of culture. :) After 25 moves around the world with a military family, good to know the experience may have been beneficial.
Look up "Clusters By Litke" on Facebook. Matthew Litke does the work. Long wait as he does them in batches, and there's a waiting list, but well worth it.
Haha! I know exactly the roads you were on in Alpine/Lakeside, how funny. Looking for one of these if you know someone that's selling... Silver preferred. Haven't sat in this model but assuming 6' 3", 215 lbs fits fine?
As long as they're not planning to track it with a helmet adding to their height, they're good. I'm 6' even and I have room with my helmet. My son is 6'3 and he fits comfortably (though he has not tried a track experience with a helmet yet).
I'm 2 months into owning mine. Blue with cloth seats. It's kind of the perfect car. Is it just me or should VW start VW Classic Support like Porsche Classic does? How cool would it be if we all could replace our seats with new Konig seats!?
VW Classic comes into play at the 20 year mark, so we're getting closer to that. I have no doubt there are warehouses with parts just waiting to be released into that system. But at the same time, the number of parts made correspond proportionally to the number of cars made, so there are not going to be dozens upon dozens of new seats available. New seat skins, probably, as those are an expected wear item.
I got the same car,when you decide to put cams( get the tectonics,) and do the full upgrade giac software included the camshaft files( the car really came alive) and ride fantastic.
I was able to drive the Mk5 R32 about two years before it was released in the USA, on track at Willow Springs as part of the first Fastivus event, which was at the time the latest in a series of SoCal R32 local events. I found the increased weight to be noticeable in acceleration, but the chassis was far superior to the Mk4, and the rear suspension geometry in particular made it over a second faster around the track. I really liked the DSG, and the european Recaro seats were excellent. It's a shame they didn't send those here with the US spec version; the GTI seats they came with are supportive and the lower seating position compared to the Konigs in the Mk4 makes one feel pretty planted, but the Recaros were very much on similar par with the Konigs in terms of actually holding you in place on the track, and for the premium price paid for the R32, it should have had something better than GTI seats with the headrest replaced with one that said R32 instead of GTI. At the very least they could have carried over the Konigs. I was not a fan of the Mk5 styling, and that perception seems to be true enough in general to warrant a lower resale value. The way it drove, the interior, the amenities... excellent car. If the Mk6 and Mk7 had come with the 3.6L VR6, they'd have been perfect. Even though they make more power with that 2.0T, there's just something about the VR6 wookiee noises that are so satisfying.
I remember having the pleasure of driving a Mk5 R32 around the track at Willow Springs before they were officially released to the public, at one of our SoCal R32 events that VW sponsored. I was amazed at how well the newer chassis and rear suspension handled compared to the Mk4, and the DSG transmission mated to the 3.2L VR6 was absolute perfection short of needing longer paddle shifters on the wheel. In a perfect world where money was no object, I'd get a 2008 R32, strip the body off it, put a Corrado body on it and drive the heck out of it!
Always loved the R32, the Australian cars came without sunroofs - unfortunately a deal-breaker for me. Do you think putting an aftermarket one on would reduce its value? Curious..... thanks for the video. :)
If you're talking about the gauge cluster screen, that's Matthew Litke - you can find him on Facebook: "Clusters By Litke". If you're talking about the center console screen, that's a factory option VW CD Satellite Navigation Stereo model MFD-G. You can find them on Ebay.
Thanks but it was indeed already warmed up & had been on a spirited drive immediately before filming. The coolant temp gauge in the cluster wasn’t working at the time (needed a new sensor). Also, not sure if you are referring to this, but the Gage sweep happens automatically when you turn on the car, it does not reflect the actual RPM of the car. Unless you think I’m also going 180 miles an hour in two seconds. ;)
180k and still kickin, perfect paint...will keep 4 ever. You MUST do preventive maintenance or it will break. Ditch ALL the plastic coolant flanges, must get cams & exhaust and a UM tune
Agreed on maintenance. All the plastic flanges on mine lasted a good ten years, so I'm not as convinced to get metal replacements - definitely OEM replacements, not cheaper parts. Agreed on cams - when you do chains, it's the perfect opportunity to do cams, refresh the lifters & springs, and all the upper gaskets. However, I find the factory exhaust to be near perfection. Just replace the pancake pipe over the rear axle, install the valve switch, and call it a day. There is absolutely zero performance gain from an aftermarket exhaust unless you're adding equal length long tube headers, and most of them sound tinny and raspy compared to the well tuned factory setup. Some folks are into the rasp. I prefer the tuned throatiness without the harshness.
@@CliffjumperCars well said. This is one of the better review and I find myself watching over and over. These are such special cars and I will be keeping this car forever, considering mine is so damn clean. I overpaid 4 years ago (15k with 150,000 miles.) I have alot of regrets of selling past cars of mine that were also special (93 Cobra svt, 95 GSX, Mk2 Gli stroker motor, a 73 Giah.) so Ive learned my lesson...I should have kept my Mustang. I hope you keep yours forever also. I couldnt believe how clean my head was when I did my chains. I only switched to metal flanges when my t stat housing was leaking. Good luck brudda. Matt . I cant fkn believe how much the price has went up in the 4 years ive owned it. 20k now for a clean 150,000 mile car. I imagine it will level out at around 25 30 k. Did you see that one on BAT that sold for 30 grand? blew my mind.
@@friscostreetstories5403 The BAT prices do seem to be trending higher and higher, which is consistent with overall market value. I bought mine for $27.5k new, and 4 years after I bought it the VW dealer offered me $40k for it. Only car I've ever had that appreciated instead of depreciated. It has only dipped in value below the new price for a few years, really. I expect they'll appreciate slowly as rarity of clean examples increases.
Given the age, that's still pretty low miles on one of these. Main maintenance issues I'd look to make sure had been done would be timing chains and clutch. If those hadn't been done yet, I'd still consider the car but I'd negotiate the price down by $2500 to cover that expense.
@@CliffjumperCars the timing chains and clutch have all been done with recipts and the price is actually pretty good and has the rare oem bbs wheels with a clean title I think I’m going to pull the trigger.
Thanks! More and more people have been expressing that lately, and my kids and I are so used to having this car they grew up with, that 's a little weird to them when they hear it's someone's dream car. But I definitely appreciate how special it is.
Different ECU tuning. It’s aimed at providing more low end torque at the expense of high rpm horsepower, since most SUV’s spend the majority of their time at lower rpms. Same motor is in the Porsche Cayenne but it’s expected that that Porsche drivers are going to drive in a more spirited manner so it’s tuned for high rpm performance in that vehicle.
Depends completely on the maintenance and condition. If timing chains & clutch have been replaced, and it's in good shape, that's a decent price. Otherwise you have some room to negotiate.
@@CliffjumperCars yes it is! I also have a mk3 2.8 vr6 which I've had since 2006 so, a 2004 A3 3.2 vr6 seemed like a logical upgrade!🤨🤔 This thing is monstrous in comparison. 😁
It has been interesting to see the price fluctuate. When they first arrived here, they were $40k due to dealer markup. I bought mine at the market low in July 2004, $27.5k new. A year later they were selling for $45k, and the dealer offered me $40k to buy it back so they could flip it. It took a good 10 years before the value dipped below what I paid new, and I think they bottomed out around $15k for a good example (not counting the basketcases you can buy trashed and spend crazy money trying to fix up). Now that they're rare and desirable, the prices are going up once more. Seeing a few going for new prices again.
Yeah I definitely dodged a bullet there. Especially since the one I would have gotten was going to be the JCW with the factory supercharger tuning kit, and those have effectively replaced the G60 Corrado as the most unreliable hot hatch ever.
Excellent advise. I always warm my motors up to 180*F before romping on them. My analogue coolant display in the cluster isn't working currently though... broke the sensor connector harness when doing the thermostat replacement, and since it involves taking apart the front end to fix it, I have been putting that off. As long as the ECU is seeing the readings it needs, not a big deal.
That's on the "very soon" to-do list. Spoke with an upholstery place yesterday that specializes in Recaro seats, and while these are Konigs, the same principles apply. Will be able to rectify this myself as an in-car project on a warm day when the leather is more stretchy. My Recaros from the Corrado will be coming out to get some work done though, and the Momo steering wheel also needs some fresh stitching on its leather (leather is still stretchy & pliable on that). So yes, leather work ahead on the channel.
Different strokes for different folks. I think the original wheels look great, but they're boat anchors, weighing in at 29lbs each. I put them on my daughter's car, Joan Jetta, to keep them in the family. And they do give a nice DTM Super Touring look to a sedan. I prefer function+form so I've got some lightweight wheels on the R32 to reduce unsprung weight, reduce rolling resistance, and also the original wheels are a little soft and prone to bending from road imperfections, so having tougher forged wheels is a good move if you have to drive on terrible roads or if you're doing track time.
LOL I'd love to hear what facts I got wrong about my experiences with my own car I, which bought new and have driven nearly 20 years. Go on, enlighten me.
The facts that you got wrong are about the car itself, not your personal experiences with the car. Just a few examples off the top of my head are, the R32 engine is not the same engine as the Audi TT 3.2. The TT has a different emissions equipment. It also has a different valve cover along with other differences.The R32 truly is 240hp and the TT 3.2 is 250. You stated that it was the same motor because that was less work to import than going through the process with 2 different motors. But again, you are wrong. They are different motors with different a tune AND different emissions equipment. Even the part number for the long blocks are different. You also stated that the car had "infinitely adjustable camshafts" obviously that is not possible or you would have valve contact. Also the 2008 R32 has a different cam adjusters allowing it more adjustment range than the mk4 R32 engine (for emissions purposes).While there are many tuners out there that can make the same power from both engines, they are different. I share your experience of buying a new VW back then. However i chose the 2004.5 Jetta GLI over the R32. I preferred the sedan over the hatchback. I still have my GLI and i also have a blue R32 along with many Corrado's and a Touareg v10 TDI. Sorry for being technical but i greatly dislike it when people share incorrect information. It's no different than someone saying a 1.8T is the same in a Jetta as it is in a Audi TT 225. Don't even get my started on the Touareg 3.2 vs the R32 engine! @@CliffjumperCars
@@mattlarson9897 Okay there, let's walk through this. First off, I spent many hours with the VW Moonraker team that brought both the Mk4 and Mk5 R32 over here to our shores. I was one of the first to drive the Mk5, a full two years before it was released here. Had extensive conversations about the engine specifics, dynamics, and tuning. Where you're correct: the valve cover and intake manifold do differ between the US spec R32 and the US spec TT Mk1 3.2, to allow for the different emissions equipment layout required for fitment in each, comparatively. Yes. That is accurate. Does the US spec R32 make 240hp? No. It's the same 250hp tune as the TT 3.2. I have this directly from the Moonraker team, and dyno results to show it's accurate. While the UK, Australia, and Japan got the 239hp and 241hp version of the motor that was the same as the Beetle RSi, with the number depending on the specific country's particular consumer laws regarding power ratings, the US got a different version with revised cam profiles, a bigger throttlebody, and a few other differences, giving it a pretty decent power bump. The decision was made by VW Marketing to list it as 240hp for a few reasons - they were really big into this idea of not cannibalizing sales from Audi, which they wanted to promote as their performance car division, and they didn't want to alienate their worldwide customer base. But the Moonraker people wanted the full 250hp and they got it. VW just didn't tell anybody publicly. Stock UK spec dyno with the 239hp rated engine shows right around 202whp on a Dynojet 248x. Well documented, many people posted their charts back in the day. My US spec car dynoed 214whp on the same dyno, with 700 miles on the clock, which I can personally attest to. And I'm pretty sure most of those documented dyno plots are still on VWVortex if you want to dial back the time machine and go digging through history of a couple decades ago, when the cars were brand new and we were discovering all the fun details about them I also dynoed it with the flapper mod (218whp), after adding an EIP full CCAI (236whp), and GIAC software (248whp). Also... yes, the camshaft system, aka the Porsche Variocam setup, has infinite adjustability between its max/min limits, in comparison to the VTEC system of the time that only had three specific adjustments or other systems that had two. Each cam can be adjusted independently of the other, adjusting either intake or exhaust, any amount of degrees between it's minimum and maximum setting. Great to hear from another enthusiast! I've also got a couple of 1.8t Jettas (yes with different 1.8t's in each), have had four Corrados (two VR6's and two G60's), two Mk2 Jettas (a 16V and an 8V), a Mk2 Scirocco, and a host of other cars in and out of my fleet over the years. Started wrenching on cars in the 1970s, been at this awhile. ;)
I am telling you that the R32 did not make the same power as the TT (what ever the true number is). Even the Touareg 3.2 is only rated at 240hp. The software is different. If it was the same then they would share ECUs. They don't, the part numbers are different, so are the engine codes. You can believe what you want to believe but the part numbers and information directly from VW do not lie. You can't even do a dyno comparison since one is DSG and one is manual. You are basing your information off of a story you were told by somebody else. I have worked on and owned more Audi TT's, Touaregs, and MK4s than you can shake a stick at. If parts are the same then the part number on them match and are interchangeable, if not, something is different between them. In fact i can prove that you are wrong because the part number on the European R32 (engine code BFH and BML) has the exact same part number throttle body as the US R32 (engine code BJS) 022 133 062 AA. The information you were told is wrong. @@CliffjumperCars
I just bought an R32 Mk4 about four months ago from the original owner. It's such a beautiful car. The first time I drove it I was smiling the whole time. You're absolutely right. This car is special. It was my dream car and I'm still in disbelief that I have the pleasure of owning one. Thank you for making this video.
My pleasure!
Any tips on looking for one and it is an obtainable dream car of mine I have to own one!
My dream car also
will u sell it
how has it held up? how many miles?
I’m the original owner of mine too. Not many OG’s left. This car still puts a smile on my face. It’s currently under the knife. Went to Turbo. HPA FT470 with HPA TRI-Flow cams (270/270)
Thanks for a great video! I am the original owner of a stock 2004 R32 with 19, 350 miles. Love it!
Hi, from Sydney Australia. VW sent 200, R-32s to Australia in 2004. I have one of them from new., Number 175/200 Australia. Unsurprisingly, VW Australia sold 197 before they actually arrived in Australia but 3 just would go!! So, Porsche Australia bought all three (all black) for about 65% of list price for their sales staff to drive and that how I got mine, new, care of Porsche Australia. My R-32 now has approximately, 54,500 kms on the clock 1st June 2023, , it is black with NO sunroof. It is amazing. It shared the garage with the both the first 996, Yr 1999 GT3 and Yr 2001 GT-2 for Australia but I still love the R-32 most because of it's pure wholesomeness and it actually sounds better than the GT-2 !!!!!!! It was my daily drive. Today, all the Porsches are gone, yet the R-32 still here !!!!!
Thanks for sharing! Did you get any of the DSG models down under? Or just manual transmissions like the USA?
I sat in one of these when I was a teenager. I fell in love. Your video made me decide that I will buy one very soon! Thanks a lot!
Glad to help! It's a wonderful machine.
really great vid. Well done
Thanks!
I love it I just bought 2008 r32 I like noise also. Thanks. Good video
Congrats & enjoy!!
Nice video ..face looks familiar from Cars and coffee in san Clemente. and I also have The Mk4 R32 on black first owner too. currently 120k miles. Flywheel gave up at 86K and I decided to do the work myself and since it was there open went and change timing chains n guides. it was fun doing the work.
Thanks! While I'm not a regular at South OC Cars & Coffee in San Clemente, I do try to make it up there a few times a year, and I have filmed at least one video about the event for this UA-cam channel. If you don't mind my asking, what were the symptoms with the bad flywheel?
Brandon, thanks for sharing your journey. Not many of us left! Bought mine new in Sept '04.
Right on! OG owners gotta hang on together!!
Great Vid!! Love it, always wanted an r32. Have a MK4 GTI, from new like you, which I've pretty much have an r32 body kit, along with dual exhaust, chip tuned, CAI and other bibs and bobs. Handed down now to my son, my wife didn't want me to buy another golf, especially the r32 as she thought I was nuts to buy another 20+ year old Golf that looks exactly like the the gti. I ended up with a45s instead hehe. My son is loving the Golf, wants to upgrade turbo and see what happens from there. Cheers and its amazing to see you still smile as you plant that foot down and the sound, love the wookie :)
Thanks! I'm now up to 175k miles on the Wookiee and she's going into the garage for a long grocery list of needed "old car" maintenance, repairs and upgrades. Look for quite a few more R32 videos to be coming down the pipeline!
Some idiot traded me his mk4 r32 for my mk1 caddy pickup. I've had it for 3.5 years now and never plan on selling. the vin number is even my birthday! wild.
haha that's great! :)
Insane come up
Lol nice one my boy
@@A43R3W still got it.
It happens, though not close to an r32, I traded my basic bolt on mk4 Jetta VR6 for a mk2 Jetta GLI, then traded back for a 94 Jetta VR6 which I still have.
Great review. Thank you for it. I totally respect the R32. I have a 2013 R and it puts a smile on my face every time. Got an MK4 GLS 4 door 1.8t with manual. Gonna turn it into kinda R32 clone. It's sort of the first 4 door GTI.
Thanks for making this video! Been wanting one for nearly 20 years. One day.
Hope you’re able to get one sooner rather than later!
I’m 22 and drive my dads 74 Chevy nova and was fortunate enough to get me a nice paying job where he works. I’m saving every dollar and penny to make this my first car. As tempting as it is to just buy a Golf mk4 with a VR6 I just know I’ll regret not getting an R32. Great video man!
Things worth saving for are worth waiting for. Keep after it!!
WOW, this is a brilliant review you published, i currently have a volkswagen passat R36 which has a dsg gearbox. I am in desperate need to buy an R32 golf next to this wonderful flagship i currently own, thanks a lot for the review!!
Great video. I’m at 142,000 miles also on stock clutch and timing chains with no clatter. Good maintenance goes a long way!
Yes indeed!!
I have the exact same spec! Currently in getting all my sills done, arches replaced and other bits and bobs. Absolutely spot on mate! I miss it so much and I cannot wait to get it back from the garage
Arches replaced?? Was it driven in snow? Or has it suffered track damage, fighting for corners?
@@CliffjumperCars just both front wings mate. I don’t think it was looked after to well before I got her, I live in the UK as well so a lot of salt on the roads during winter I’m guessing that’s what has happened or they never took the liners out to give it a clean . Yours still going all good?
@@PSNeXisTenZ I understand that's a common problem, especially among cars that get driven routinely in wet weather - stuff accumulating behind the fender liner and rotting it out. Mine has mainly been a dry weather car in Southern California, other than a couple of winters in the Midwest, and even then I took great care to clean out the undercarriage weekly to avoid the rot.
@@PSNeXisTenZ 80% of car owners in UK don’t get under chassis wash and wax because it costs more than a fiver at car wash…I don’t think I’d take a R32 to a IMO car wash though, I tell the operators to skip pre wash and brush because they don’t give a fk
@@knwgt5426 oh god yeah I clean mine at home. She’s been all done now, both wings replaced. Sills all cut out and new ones welded in. Got a new underseal so she’s doing alright
i’m buying one on monday,
my dad had one when i was younger. i’m pretty excited
Awesome! Congrats!!!
Very nice review, I always loved the VR6. Did fall in love with it when it came in the golf 3. When i noticed that the Audi TT also has the set-up from the R32 I was sold. So now I have a mk2 TT roadster 3.2 with DSG (same chassis MK5 golf 32) and love it very much,
I drove a TT 3.2 DSG before I got my R32, and I was absolutely in love with that setup. I was SO BUMMED that they didn't send the DSG here to the states in the Mk4 R32!!! Would have chosen that over the manual six speed in a heartbeat. But I'm not going to complain about the manual six, especially with the EIP short shifter I have on it.
The 06-09 a3 3.2 vr6 with the dsg is the perfect mix between the mk4 and 5. Although the mk4 r32 is one of my dreams for sure. This is the more cost effective one for me it doesnt have the R tax on it. Love the video and glad to see an original owner.
That's a great car with solid options. My only complaint about it are the seats, which are luxury oriented and nowhere near as supportive for high lateral g's... which honestly isn't that big a deal, since you can replace them with Recaros or Koenigs. It's a solid car and a great wookiee option! Also a big fan of the TT Mk2 3.2 myself. Smaller interior space, not as functional as a hot hatch, but a great driver.
@@CliffjumperCars yeah its a great option for a wookie. Its actually 1 of 2 options we had in canada for the 3.2 in a car. We never got the r32 due to "safety concerns". Very hard to find here and not common at all. The seats are a let down, the drivers are all ripped.
The audi tt was the othe option obviously.
And then the toureg i think came with it too
@@Mitch-m7zwhy safety concerns?
Nice review. I also had a mk4 R32 in silver. Great car! Sold it back in 2010 though. Nice to see it's still running great with high miles. I knew these cars were built to last.
Thanks! What did you move on to after the R32?
@@CliffjumperCars A BMW 135i for a while (actually recommended by another socalR32'er) and nowadays I have a Cayman GTS. I still remember the Ahrrrr32.
@@joeshmoe7485 I'm pretty jealous about the GTS!! LOVE the Cayman!! Perfect driving car.
God i love this car. Always been a 'realistic' dream car of mine.
Dream car! Have had my eye on one for a while. Fantastic review - super detailed 👍🏼 Keep enjoying it 🚙💨
Thanks! I plan to enjoy it until my kids wrestle the keys from my arthritic aged hands
:)
@@CliffjumperCars can you adopt me sir?
Hi there, nice vids on your channel. I've got a Mk5 R32 manual, and have had the same car with DSG previously. Also, had the Mk4 Golf 2.8L V6 4motion manual and several 2.0T VAG cars. I'm now interested in a Corrado VR6.. I know they are quite different cars, for starters, the Mk5 R32 is quite refined. Which car do you prefer driving - your Corrado VR6 or your Mk4 R32? If you could only choose one, which would it be and why?
They are very different, as you mentioned. Nothing drives like a Corrado... it's so small and low to the ground, and while the VR6 is more refined than the G60, its still pretty raw... it's definitely a driver's car. The Mk4 R32 is much more powerful in stock form, but they both have a wonderful visceral feel. They both have wonderful engine and exhaust sounds. Now that the Corrado has a supercharger, it's about as fast as the R32, but the R32 carries speed more confidently in corners with the AWD, and brakes much better as well.
I enjoy having both. Which one I drive on any given day or to a particular event really depends on my mood. If the wonderful smog laws of the state of California were not an issue, I'd be tempted to throw an R32 motor into the Corrado and make it AWD with some Passat Synco parts, and have the best of both worlds. But... as it is I'd say the R32 tempts me more to drive like a hooligan with its instant throttle response, and the Corrado encourages me to take things more smoothly. I feel inspired by Ken Block in the R32 and Mario Andretti in the Corrado, if that makes sense.
So many thing here I want to update too on my 2001 Vr6
Excellent car, that exhaust note is divine.
My r32 is at 259 000km and it has literally no problems whatsoever I only have to replace the breaks from the back wheels
And it’s my first car it’s such an amazing car I think about it all the time 😆
What about the timing chain is it original?
@@rjj00 yes it was, slowly but surely a lot of problems came so I sold the car for nearly the double price i bought it tho, rn I have a bmw m3 e92 and it’s truly a masterpiece, the sound the engine the interior the design of of the car is timeless I can’t describe how much fun this car is….
Great job representing the Mk4 R32!
Thanks!
Great review, I enjoyed this 👍
Glad to hear! Thank you!
Nice R32. I wish I still had mine it had a stage 2 VF Engineering Supercharger and plenty of go fast parts to much to list. Had lots of fun put a smile on my face all the time I took her out for a spin. Lost her in 2012 to Super Storm Sandy here in NYC it had only 28K miles, won at Waterfest and the old Audi & VW show and go at Englishtown NJ. I hope to pick one up in Deep Blue Pearl again one day. Have fun nice car looks great.
Sorry to hear about the loss of yours. I always liked the VF supercharger setup.
@@CliffjumperCars thanks,........
Couldn’t agree more with your video, the pausing while getting on the freeway to enjoy the exhaust was exactly what I do in mine every time, smile machine is spot on. 202k and going strong on the original clutch and timing chains. I’m the 3rd owner and plan on keeping it forever like you. I think this year when I take it out of storage I might be doing the chains and clutch since vcds is showing a bit of wear and close to the spec to replace them. Great review !
Thanks! I'll stick with the original clutch & chains til they give me grief, but looking forward to the excuse to put in some Techtonics cams & maybe do a little headwork when that time comes.
I met you ages ago back when they had that VW car meet in San Diego back in November 2012. Your the Church preacher right? The guy who drove his Corrado off the Canyon cliff?
That's me!
@@CliffjumperCars I thought so! I'm Nick Hill's British friend if you remember.
bought second hand, my daily since 2009 on german s autobahn, chain changed allready 2 times, near 300000 km, kw v3, 955 brakes, dieselgeak shortshift.. never in trouble, what a great car.. where did you get the screen?
If you're talking about the color MFA screen in the main gauge cluster, it's from Clusters By Litke - I have another video showcasing that, check it out!
If you're talking about the screen in the radio console, that's the factory VW Navigation Radio (MFD Version G). You can find them on Ebay, Vortex, Amazon, Mk4 & Touareg Facebook forum classifieds, etc. Not the greatest tech but it was amazing back in 2004, and still works pretty well, as long as you continue to buy updated map CDs.
@@CliffjumperCars ah great, that s what i was looking for, i ll check your mfa video.. i had the mfd too , but changed the whole hifi system with an android radio from pumpkin, simple designed especialy for the mk4.. a way more confortable, but a lot of work you need to rewire few things..
Thank you so much for the video! I will follow you! This is the kinda video I needed in order to help me to decide to buy one next week.. I know is a great car since it came out in 2004… not big fan of vw’s but Im a car lover.. I love this as much as the gti 337 or the 20th and the jetta gli mark 4…thanks one more time
My pleasure!
Man thats my dream car right there
Thank you for the video. Very useful information
28:00 why did you take the factory skid plates off? also great video
I installed the European factory steel skid plate in place of the plastic one that came on US spec R32s.
You sir, are a lucky man. And a man of culture as well 👌
Thank you! My father would be happy to hear that someone somewhere thinks I'm a man of culture. :) After 25 moves around the world with a military family, good to know the experience may have been beneficial.
Where did you take the cluster to modify the lcd screen? It looks really cool btw.
Look up "Clusters By Litke" on Facebook. Matthew Litke does the work. Long wait as he does them in batches, and there's a waiting list, but well worth it.
Haha! I know exactly the roads you were on in Alpine/Lakeside, how funny. Looking for one of these if you know someone that's selling... Silver preferred. Haven't sat in this model but assuming 6' 3", 215 lbs fits fine?
As long as they're not planning to track it with a helmet adding to their height, they're good. I'm 6' even and I have room with my helmet. My son is 6'3 and he fits comfortably (though he has not tried a track experience with a helmet yet).
I'm 2 months into owning mine. Blue with cloth seats. It's kind of the perfect car. Is it just me or should VW start VW Classic Support like Porsche Classic does? How cool would it be if we all could replace our seats with new Konig seats!?
VW Classic comes into play at the 20 year mark, so we're getting closer to that. I have no doubt there are warehouses with parts just waiting to be released into that system. But at the same time, the number of parts made correspond proportionally to the number of cars made, so there are not going to be dozens upon dozens of new seats available. New seat skins, probably, as those are an expected wear item.
yes they should. Parts will become very hard to get. As it stands you cant get oem bumpers anymore.
I got the same car,when you decide to put cams( get the tectonics,) and do the full upgrade giac software included the camshaft files( the car really came alive) and ride fantastic.
Thanks for the recommendations!
I love this review. Have you driven the MkV R32 and if so, what are your impressions?
I was able to drive the Mk5 R32 about two years before it was released in the USA, on track at Willow Springs as part of the first Fastivus event, which was at the time the latest in a series of SoCal R32 local events. I found the increased weight to be noticeable in acceleration, but the chassis was far superior to the Mk4, and the rear suspension geometry in particular made it over a second faster around the track. I really liked the DSG, and the european Recaro seats were excellent. It's a shame they didn't send those here with the US spec version; the GTI seats they came with are supportive and the lower seating position compared to the Konigs in the Mk4 makes one feel pretty planted, but the Recaros were very much on similar par with the Konigs in terms of actually holding you in place on the track, and for the premium price paid for the R32, it should have had something better than GTI seats with the headrest replaced with one that said R32 instead of GTI. At the very least they could have carried over the Konigs.
I was not a fan of the Mk5 styling, and that perception seems to be true enough in general to warrant a lower resale value. The way it drove, the interior, the amenities... excellent car. If the Mk6 and Mk7 had come with the 3.6L VR6, they'd have been perfect. Even though they make more power with that 2.0T, there's just something about the VR6 wookiee noises that are so satisfying.
Excellent video and personal view .. get a 2008 r32 and tell me what I have please thanks
I remember having the pleasure of driving a Mk5 R32 around the track at Willow Springs before they were officially released to the public, at one of our SoCal R32 events that VW sponsored. I was amazed at how well the newer chassis and rear suspension handled compared to the Mk4, and the DSG transmission mated to the 3.2L VR6 was absolute perfection short of needing longer paddle shifters on the wheel. In a perfect world where money was no object, I'd get a 2008 R32, strip the body off it, put a Corrado body on it and drive the heck out of it!
Awesome video!
Thanks! When are you going to get an R32 & join the club? ;)
Great car! Day and night difference between the base golf 4 model. I feel guilty for putting kilometers on my R32
I don't feel guilty at all for driving mine. It begs to be driven!!
Agreed had mine for 8 years.. feels superior to any mk4 golf.. exterior interior engine.
Great car, great video. I own one myself. Bought mine out of England.
Always loved the R32, the Australian cars came without sunroofs - unfortunately a deal-breaker for me. Do you think putting an aftermarket one on would reduce its value? Curious..... thanks for the video. :)
I've never seen an aftermarket sunroof improve the value of a rare car, only hurt its resale value.
Fantastic lucky bugger. Fantastic VW motorsport R series. Congrats
I drive a 2004 GTI VR6 and always get a bit(a lot) jealous when I see a R32.
Just keep in mind the R32 wouldn't even exist if not for the VR6 models. As Dominic Toretto would say, there's always room for family.
can you share who did the center console screen mod with a link? TY ....just bought one but I am old school VR6 fan.
If you're talking about the gauge cluster screen, that's Matthew Litke - you can find him on Facebook: "Clusters By Litke".
If you're talking about the center console screen, that's a factory option VW CD Satellite Navigation Stereo model MFD-G. You can find them on Ebay.
Loved the video
Glad to hear!!
One letter, two numbers 😂
four wheels, and six gears ;)
you redlined it with the engine completely cold... It's a miracle it survived you
Thanks but it was indeed already warmed up & had been on a spirited drive immediately before filming. The coolant temp gauge in the cluster wasn’t working at the time (needed a new sensor).
Also, not sure if you are referring to this, but the Gage sweep happens automatically when you turn on the car, it does not reflect the actual RPM of the car. Unless you think I’m also going 180 miles an hour in two seconds. ;)
Wish I never sold my mk4 r32 ☹️☹️
I feel that way about my Alfa GTV6 Maratona. Maybe some day I'll get another. Some cars are just very, very special.
the 3.2 is 15 degrees, the 3.6 is 10.5 degrees
Thanks for the correction!
180k and still kickin, perfect paint...will keep 4 ever. You MUST do preventive maintenance or it will break. Ditch ALL the plastic coolant flanges, must get cams & exhaust and a UM tune
Agreed on maintenance. All the plastic flanges on mine lasted a good ten years, so I'm not as convinced to get metal replacements - definitely OEM replacements, not cheaper parts. Agreed on cams - when you do chains, it's the perfect opportunity to do cams, refresh the lifters & springs, and all the upper gaskets. However, I find the factory exhaust to be near perfection. Just replace the pancake pipe over the rear axle, install the valve switch, and call it a day. There is absolutely zero performance gain from an aftermarket exhaust unless you're adding equal length long tube headers, and most of them sound tinny and raspy compared to the well tuned factory setup. Some folks are into the rasp. I prefer the tuned throatiness without the harshness.
They come with a good muffler. I just wanted a 2.75 cat back the whole way to go with the cams. I felt the difference
@@CliffjumperCars well said. This is one of the better review and I find myself watching over and over. These are such special cars and I will be keeping this car forever, considering mine is so damn clean. I overpaid 4 years ago (15k with 150,000 miles.) I have alot of regrets of selling past cars of mine that were also special (93 Cobra svt, 95 GSX, Mk2 Gli stroker motor, a 73 Giah.) so Ive learned my lesson...I should have kept my Mustang. I hope you keep yours forever also. I couldnt believe how clean my head was when I did my chains. I only switched to metal flanges when my t stat housing was leaking. Good luck brudda. Matt . I cant fkn believe how much the price has went up in the 4 years ive owned it. 20k now for a clean 150,000 mile car. I imagine it will level out at around 25 30 k. Did you see that one on BAT that sold for 30 grand? blew my mind.
@@friscostreetstories5403 The BAT prices do seem to be trending higher and higher, which is consistent with overall market value. I bought mine for $27.5k new, and 4 years after I bought it the VW dealer offered me $40k for it. Only car I've ever had that appreciated instead of depreciated. It has only dipped in value below the new price for a few years, really. I expect they'll appreciate slowly as rarity of clean examples increases.
@@CliffjumperCars The dealer wanted it back? lol
Nice flick Brendan!
Thanks Manny!!
good video, I have one in black magic , in sandiego too👌
Come out & join us for a West Coast Wookiees event!!
@@CliffjumperCars It's a good idea, what day is the event?
@@newfusionteam1720 join the West Coast Wookiees group on Facebook - they organize drives and events there.
Would you buy one with 145k if it had matinence and good service records
Given the age, that's still pretty low miles on one of these. Main maintenance issues I'd look to make sure had been done would be timing chains and clutch. If those hadn't been done yet, I'd still consider the car but I'd negotiate the price down by $2500 to cover that expense.
@@CliffjumperCars the timing chains and clutch have all been done with recipts and the price is actually pretty good and has the rare oem bbs wheels with a clean title I think I’m going to pull the trigger.
Also would you buy a car without a ppi
@@ironslimy7899 Never without some sort of 3rd party inspection. Wouldn't want to get surprised by something I missed in my excitement.
@@CliffjumperCars What do you recommend
I'll be keeping mine until death
Same plan!
U have my dream car 🥺❤️
Thanks! More and more people have been expressing that lately, and my kids and I are so used to having this car they grew up with, that 's a little weird to them when they hear it's someone's dream car. But I definitely appreciate how special it is.
So I keep watching videos of these engines, does anyone know why my touareg only has 220hp?
Different ECU tuning. It’s aimed at providing more low end torque at the expense of high rpm horsepower, since most SUV’s spend the majority of their time at lower rpms. Same motor is in the Porsche Cayenne but it’s expected that that Porsche drivers are going to drive in a more spirited manner so it’s tuned for high rpm performance in that vehicle.
Looking at getting one of these w/ 150k for $16.5, good deal or good bye?
Depends completely on the maintenance and condition. If timing chains & clutch have been replaced, and it's in good shape, that's a decent price. Otherwise you have some room to negotiate.
I have one but, it's in an A3 body..
That sounds pretty fun!!
@@CliffjumperCars yes it is! I also have a mk3 2.8 vr6 which I've had since 2006 so, a 2004 A3 3.2 vr6 seemed like a logical upgrade!🤨🤔 This thing is monstrous in comparison. 😁
I’ve been wanting this car for years now but I just now got enough money to get it smh
Now I can’t find one
@@goldenwyd7238 keep searching
Those are worth a fortune nowadays
It has been interesting to see the price fluctuate. When they first arrived here, they were $40k due to dealer markup. I bought mine at the market low in July 2004, $27.5k new. A year later they were selling for $45k, and the dealer offered me $40k to buy it back so they could flip it. It took a good 10 years before the value dipped below what I paid new, and I think they bottomed out around $15k for a good example (not counting the basketcases you can buy trashed and spend crazy money trying to fix up). Now that they're rare and desirable, the prices are going up once more. Seeing a few going for new prices again.
72,500 original clutch so still more to go lol
wow , if theres anyone who can talk about this car, its you boss
Yeah, I talk a lot :)
Oh dear god. Thank goodness you didn’t buy the mini
Yeah I definitely dodged a bullet there. Especially since the one I would have gotten was going to be the JCW with the factory supercharger tuning kit, and those have effectively replaced the G60 Corrado as the most unreliable hot hatch ever.
Don't rev a cold engine to the red, will end in tears
Excellent advise. I always warm my motors up to 180*F before romping on them. My analogue coolant display in the cluster isn't working currently though... broke the sensor connector harness when doing the thermostat replacement, and since it involves taking apart the front end to fix it, I have been putting that off. As long as the ECU is seeing the readings it needs, not a big deal.
get your seat fixed before it gets worst.
That's on the "very soon" to-do list. Spoke with an upholstery place yesterday that specializes in Recaro seats, and while these are Konigs, the same principles apply. Will be able to rectify this myself as an in-car project on a warm day when the leather is more stretchy. My Recaros from the Corrado will be coming out to get some work done though, and the Momo steering wheel also needs some fresh stitching on its leather (leather is still stretchy & pliable on that). So yes, leather work ahead on the channel.
Original wheels look better
Different strokes for different folks. I think the original wheels look great, but they're boat anchors, weighing in at 29lbs each. I put them on my daughter's car, Joan Jetta, to keep them in the family. And they do give a nice DTM Super Touring look to a sedan.
I prefer function+form so I've got some lightweight wheels on the R32 to reduce unsprung weight, reduce rolling resistance, and also the original wheels are a little soft and prone to bending from road imperfections, so having tougher forged wheels is a good move if you have to drive on terrible roads or if you're doing track time.
Too painful to watch. You have so many facts about the car wrong. I would correct you but it is far to many mistakes to put in this little comment.
LOL I'd love to hear what facts I got wrong about my experiences with my own car I, which bought new and have driven nearly 20 years. Go on, enlighten me.
The facts that you got wrong are about the car itself, not your personal experiences with the car. Just a few examples off the top of my head are, the R32 engine is not the same engine as the Audi TT 3.2. The TT has a different emissions equipment. It also has a different valve cover along with other differences.The R32 truly is 240hp and the TT 3.2 is 250. You stated that it was the same motor because that was less work to import than going through the process with 2 different motors. But again, you are wrong. They are different motors with different a tune AND different emissions equipment. Even the part number for the long blocks are different. You also stated that the car had "infinitely adjustable camshafts" obviously that is not possible or you would have valve contact. Also the 2008 R32 has a different cam adjusters allowing it more adjustment range than the mk4 R32 engine (for emissions purposes).While there are many tuners out there that can make the same power from both engines, they are different. I share your experience of buying a new VW back then. However i chose the 2004.5 Jetta GLI over the R32. I preferred the sedan over the hatchback. I still have my GLI and i also have a blue R32 along with many Corrado's and a Touareg v10 TDI. Sorry for being technical but i greatly dislike it when people share incorrect information. It's no different than someone saying a 1.8T is the same in a Jetta as it is in a Audi TT 225. Don't even get my started on the Touareg 3.2 vs the R32 engine! @@CliffjumperCars
@@mattlarson9897 Okay there, let's walk through this. First off, I spent many hours with the VW Moonraker team that brought both the Mk4 and Mk5 R32 over here to our shores. I was one of the first to drive the Mk5, a full two years before it was released here. Had extensive conversations about the engine specifics, dynamics, and tuning.
Where you're correct: the valve cover and intake manifold do differ between the US spec R32 and the US spec TT Mk1 3.2, to allow for the different emissions equipment layout required for fitment in each, comparatively. Yes. That is accurate.
Does the US spec R32 make 240hp? No. It's the same 250hp tune as the TT 3.2. I have this directly from the Moonraker team, and dyno results to show it's accurate. While the UK, Australia, and Japan got the 239hp and 241hp version of the motor that was the same as the Beetle RSi, with the number depending on the specific country's particular consumer laws regarding power ratings, the US got a different version with revised cam profiles, a bigger throttlebody, and a few other differences, giving it a pretty decent power bump. The decision was made by VW Marketing to list it as 240hp for a few reasons - they were really big into this idea of not cannibalizing sales from Audi, which they wanted to promote as their performance car division, and they didn't want to alienate their worldwide customer base. But the Moonraker people wanted the full 250hp and they got it. VW just didn't tell anybody publicly.
Stock UK spec dyno with the 239hp rated engine shows right around 202whp on a Dynojet 248x. Well documented, many people posted their charts back in the day. My US spec car dynoed 214whp on the same dyno, with 700 miles on the clock, which I can personally attest to. And I'm pretty sure most of those documented dyno plots are still on VWVortex if you want to dial back the time machine and go digging through history of a couple decades ago, when the cars were brand new and we were discovering all the fun details about them
I also dynoed it with the flapper mod (218whp), after adding an EIP full CCAI (236whp), and GIAC software (248whp).
Also... yes, the camshaft system, aka the Porsche Variocam setup, has infinite adjustability between its max/min limits, in comparison to the VTEC system of the time that only had three specific adjustments or other systems that had two. Each cam can be adjusted independently of the other, adjusting either intake or exhaust, any amount of degrees between it's minimum and maximum setting.
Great to hear from another enthusiast! I've also got a couple of 1.8t Jettas (yes with different 1.8t's in each), have had four Corrados (two VR6's and two G60's), two Mk2 Jettas (a 16V and an 8V), a Mk2 Scirocco, and a host of other cars in and out of my fleet over the years. Started wrenching on cars in the 1970s, been at this awhile. ;)
I am telling you that the R32 did not make the same power as the TT (what ever the true number is). Even the Touareg 3.2 is only rated at 240hp. The software is different. If it was the same then they would share ECUs. They don't, the part numbers are different, so are the engine codes. You can believe what you want to believe but the part numbers and information directly from VW do not lie. You can't even do a dyno comparison since one is DSG and one is manual. You are basing your information off of a story you were told by somebody else. I have worked on and owned more Audi TT's, Touaregs, and MK4s than you can shake a stick at. If parts are the same then the part number on them match and are interchangeable, if not, something is different between them. In fact i can prove that you are wrong because the part number on the European R32 (engine code BFH and BML) has the exact same part number throttle body as the US R32 (engine code BJS) 022 133 062 AA. The information you were told is wrong. @@CliffjumperCars
I own a TDI i wish to own this VR6