Drove up today to visit my brother - as much as I love my slightly modified MCS (pulley and giac upgrade) - I can't wonder how life would be with my brother's blue R32 - god that thing is a beast! It sounds so frigging cool - for the uninitiated - it's basically a narrow angle 3.2 VR6 engine with all-wheel drive - here's a sound clip of the engine - http://www.squirty.com/graphics/r32-...ar-launch1.mp3 .

 

I prefer the seating position in the VW (sedan like) over the MINI (sports car like) and it is more commodious. But after having my new MINI for 3 or 4 days I believe it is so different from other small cars as to be in its own class. If you want more friggin' performance noise you can probably order it. And as nice as your brother's VW is your MINI is transcendent.

 

You'll appreciate your car more when his windows suddenly fall into the doors, likely on a day of heavy rain.

 

Excuse my question: but what VW model is an R32?

 

WoW that thing is a beast! Just the sound itself can kill

 

It's the Golf with all-wheel drive.

 

Here how its looks

 

....snickers about the window comment - that's exactly what happened to his 2001.5 1.8t GTi - and in a rain storm to boot!

 

That's a beautiful sounding engine! I had two VWs - a 1980 rabbit in babysh-- green and a 1987 white GTi 16V. Both were great cars and never gave me any trouble. When it came time to put my money down I ordered an MCS, but I could also see myself being happy with the R32 also. That's really a nice car!

 

The R32 is a nice car that will beat a stock MCS, but it is prone to miniscule part failures. A friend of mine who owns a R32 told me that a part breaks on it every time he goes for a drive in it. Just yesterday, the sun visor broke. Its not a R32 specific defect. The problems of mics part failures are common on most VWs.

 

my brother owns one and its incredible. the awd system is the same of a porshe and they actuallyed helped design the car.


I quote top gear "The GTI VR6 is a one night stand, and the R32 is like a long lasting relationship".... or well something to that affect.


Its looks are even great. Very smal changes but the fact that the engine growls like a beast...gives me shivers. If you clamp a air bypass valve it gets louder...actually it gets as loud as it should be.

 

btw its 240hp...hahhaha insane for a gti. it handles very well too.

 

I agree the sound is friggin nice.............way before I bought my MCS I was considering the R32.........but the weight was an issue. But I still love the way it sounds

 

I test drove an R32 and an MCS on the same afternoon on the same roads. In short, the 32 felt fat and cumbersome, the Mini was lythe and responsive. Sure the VW went faster, but it had nowhere near the fun, go-kart feel of the Mini. I tried to keep an open mind in spite of all of the dependability problems I had with my Jetta VR6, the VW dealer, and VOA. Nevertheless, the Mini won out, and at 2000 miles, I am SO grateful !!!

BTW, Morkmini, I don't think the seating in the Mini is sportscar like...not after sitting in a Vet, Miata or an RX-8, where my butt feels flat on the floor and I'm looking up over the dash. To me THAT's sportscar seating, and I don't like it.

Yay Mini !!!

 

Isnt the R32 like base price at 30k? I looked into it but thought that was too much to spend on a Golf. I can get so much more for the 25k i spent on the MINI and its more fun. But the R32 is a nice ride.

 

I drove a Turbo GTI yesterday then a Mini Cooper and while the GTI was faster it was no fun, unless you were going fast. The Mini at the speedlimit is sooo much fun. I tried to get the MA to let me in on when we can actually see the 06 colors, but he wouldn't clue me in :( He did hint that Mini could keep the current modle in production and have a larger modle added to the mix.

 

I've never driven an R32, but I've run against one on an empty highway. Neither of us were able to pull away from each other. I was able to stay with him up to 125.

 

I believe the R32 was produced for only one year: 2004. I saw a couple of privately owned ones for around $25000, a little more at dealers, but that was asking price...never made an offer on one, but you know how it goes...if they're hungry, they'll deal.
hs

 

R32 really should've been an Audi - new generation A3 has that 3.2 VR6 slated for production - no word if it's slated for US production.

 

I forget where I read it, but with a reasonable amount spent on mods on an R32, you can bring it to 500hp.

 

Back in '02 I sold my '00 GTI VR6 to buy my MCS, and I never looked back... until the R32 that is. I still love my MINI but I could be tempted by that 3.2 ltr. engine, AWD and 6 spd box. Thankfully (for me at least) there were only 5,000 or so imported and they all sold out quickly, before I succumbed to their siren's song.

 

R32 = a nice car, but NOT worth the money they want for them. Sure it sounds nice, but I pull away from them SO quickly on straights.

 

speaking of pulling away... I was just twincharged... totally worth the money...Now to break that in and then adjust the wastegate for some 3-40- ft.lbs..

 

So how does a stock VR6 compare to a stock or mildly modded MCS? I was looking at specs and a VR6 is 200HP. My buddy who is planning on getting a VR6 keeps saying how he'll whoop my Mini. I told him I don't think he could.... If he can whoop on me..oh well, but I'm wondering if a stock VR6 could whoop my MCS?

 

I believe only 5K R32 were produced in 2004 for sale in the US market. Nice car, but I would not change my MINI for one. An ex-MCS owner in our local club currently owns one and he got the car pretty discounted for $25K brand new off the lot, last year.