VW Golf R32 (MkV) – Entry 022
Exactly one year ago today, I was given the keys to the best thing I’ve ever owned, my pride and joy, my R32. That day was one of the highlights of my life and I’ll never forget it. Maybe to someone who’s already owned a string of nice cars, an R32 would just be a ‘good car’ but for me, coming from a £6k Peugeot 206 the difference was akin to burgers and fillet steak!
A lot has happened in a year, I’ve upgraded my Haldex system, shortened my gear change, improved the sound system, bought a private plate, added a couple of carbon fibre bits, swapped to 19” alloys with better tyres and changed my exhaust. At not far off £5k, modifying cars is certainly an expensive habit. Maybe I’ll look back at it and think I was a bit silly, I’m not sure really. As things stand today, I’ve enjoyed every penny spent and don’t regret it one bit.
We’ve now covered 16,000 miles together, travelling the length and breadth of the country, the highlights being several spirited drives into North and South Wales. Whether it’s bombing down the motorway, blasting along country roads, night time cruising or stuck in traffic, my R32 never lets me down. Even now, I still wake up in the morning relishing my drive to work. I can’t imagine ever tiring of this car! I may well replace it in three years but when the time comes, it will be gone but never forgotten.
Whilst the car on its own offers great reward, I’ve found that being part of an owners club has genuinely added to the ownership experience. It’s great to be able to chat and meet with people who share your enthusiasm. From now on, whenever I buy a car I always join an owners club. Thank you to everyone on R32OC.
I wonder what I’ll be writing a year from now? Will I have written it off? Will I have been forced to sell? Will I have fitted a turbo? I have no idea but the anticipation of things to come excites me. One thing is for certain, I’m looking forward to starting another fantastic year of R32 ownership!
Thanks for reading.
Vw Golf R32 Artwork Vector
On and off in my spare time, I’ve been getting creative! It’s taken a while but I’m really pleased with the results. Thinking of getting it printed on A3 and framed.
It was done in Adobe Photoshop using a picture of my car (see below). I combined several variations of the “posterize” feature and then cleaned up the rough edges of every shape using the freehand tool. Very time consuming but I’m really pleased with the resulting effect. I then took it into Illustrator and did a full vector version.
Original Photo:
Colour Variations: (Feel free to take/use them for NON-COMMERCIAL USE)
Download Wallpapers: (1024×768. No larger sizes, sorry.)
R32 Blue | R32 Red | R32 Grey | R32 Silver | R32 White | R32 Black
MkV / Mk5 VW Golf R32 – Country Road (Short In-car)
Short video on the road I go to work via. Nothing exciting but thought I’d post it up. If I ever get a device that can handle recordings longer than 30 seconds at 640+ resolution and decent editing software I’ll hopefully make a quality one!
VW Golf R32 (MkV) – Entry 021
I’ve recently had my birthday, twenty eight years young! Or should that be old? It certainly feels that way. A little too close to thirty for my liking. I can no longer get away with being ‘mid twenties’. I’m a fair way off a crisis but new thoughts have started entering my head recently. Should I be looking for ‘wife material’ instead of researching suspension options? Should I be thinking about kids before people mistake me as a granddad when their in their teens? Probably but sod it, there’s still time. The celebrations were also shared with my pride and joy who was born on the 8/11/07. Happy first birthday V6 FFS!
Just over a week ago, I and ten or so fellow R32 owners plus a few GTI owners met at Weston Performance for the R32OC MkV Rolling Road Day. It was great to meet everyone and put a few names to faces. The day went well (despite it being cold) and I plan to organise another one next spring/summer. Next time we’ll aim for over 20 cars and hopefully see a good number of the MKIV owners there! The results were very interesting. The remapped GTI owners absolutely blew the R32’s away. The top car of the day being a 324bhp GTI Edition 30. Achieved from just a Bluefin Stage 2 remap and a full Milltek exhaust system. Thankfully (for us) there’s a lot more to performance modifying than just engine figures but one of the days’ biggest revelations was that trying to get more power from N/A modifications is even more difficult than anticipated. Whilst they improve drivability (better throttle response, smoother, earlier power etc…) they will disappoint anyone chasing peak figures. Changing the exhaust, intake, cams and a remap would appear to give you a 20bhp increase which works out at approximately £100 for every bhp gained. It’s certainly made me think. Maybe I need a comparative test drive before making a decision.
The other shock was with my run. Since my last trip to Weston, I’d had the Milltek cat-back fitted. I managed 253.5bhp which is almost 10bhp down on last time. There are many variables that can affect the figures (fuel, temperatures, tyre inflation etc…) and it could simply be that the first time was just inaccurate (although Weston doesn’t share this opinion). In my humble opinion, there’s also something to be said for parts ‘bedding in’, especially after working together for 14,000 miles. It has been suggested that the Milltek has altered the speed of the gas flow to the detriment of the top end. Comparing the graphs shows that power is almost identical until right at the top where it falls away on run number two. Maybe the engine now needs to be sucking in more air? Maybe I need a remap? Who knows, certainly not me at the moment! I think it’s fair to speculate that just fitting a Milltek with no other mods could well loose you peak power. The jury is still out at the moment.
There is one other thing I feel I should note. The new Michelin PS2’s really are outstanding! Tyres are often overlooked when modifying (they certainly were by me) but they’re the only part of the car that’s in direct contact with the road. It doesn’t matter how good your chassis is, or how much power the engine makes, traction is king. I’m tempted to say that upgrading from the 225/40/18 Dunlop’s to the 235/35/19 Michelins has been the most worthwhile modification I’ve done. I won’t because the Haldex Controller is awesome but paying that little bit more for the Michelins is well worth doing when it’s time for a new set!
Until next time, stay tuned!
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