Motor: pulls hard all the way to redline Exterior: European class Interior: More class Handling: Faultless Cruise control: Never thought it would be useful in a manual but comes in handy to save the drivers licence!

Rear legroom - only room for 2 short people No spare - just a repair kit! Boot is OK for 2 peoples weekend luggage only. 8 speaker sound system is adequate but nothing impressive. Pedals look awesome but are slippery with wet shoes

Gidday from Oz! We just got 200 of these gems in Australia and as luck would have it I got my hands on one! I was also in the market for the usual STI, Evo etc but being a VW fan from way back decided to give the R32 a try. Sure glad I did, this is one awesome car. I'm still trying to run it in and even when I can control the throttle foot the car pulls hard with such little effort. It's also easy to handle in low revs and easily plods around in 5-6 gear at 60km/h (40mph?) and will pull well from here to...well I haven't pushed it to the limit yet! I read it described as the mature man's boy racer, which I think is spot on. If you're looking for a car that feels like a luxury car but has you grining ear to ear when you crank it up then this is the car. We have a lot of crap roads here and I was very worried about how rough the car would be, no worries though the ride is ultra firm but the car handles rough bitumen effortlessly. Mind you on a test drive I did hit a pot hole and thought I'd left a diff behind. I had to stop and check, no apparent damage. The seats are amazing, very supportive but they are huge so even though the back seat is comfy there is no rear legroom but room in the front is typical VW - built for those big Germans. Having taken a few of the turbo competitors for test drives there was no choice for me. The turbo gives you that unpredictable whoosh which feels nice but the R32 gives you constant pull in any gear through 0rpm to redline which I find is more satisfying to real driving. That is what this car is about, it's a heavy thing so if you only want to drag from lights then it's a waste of money, this car is designed for touring and corners. The 4motion and ESP system is also amazing, with it turned on you just can't lose the car but the threshold is set so high that you can get some wheel spin powering into corners without it cutting in. I think it will be quite a few car repayments before I am game to turn it off! I was tossing up between the blue and black, the blue is a great colour but I ended up with black which is nice as it makes it more a "sleeper". Mind you VW fans go nuts when seeing it and I was kinda proud when a Ferrari crept up behind me with the driver having a good perve at the car (or was it my girl). Conclusion? It's the ultimate VW and is up there with any of the competition. If you want the M3 feel for a fraction of the price this is the car. If you want a go cart then you can't beat the standard WRX and safe some cash (sorry Subbie fans, I love the Roos too but this car is just more class) Oh if you need more room and can handle a little less performance then try the 6 cylinder Subaru Liberty wagon.

Similar Products Used:

Subaru WRX - still a good car Subaru Liberty 6 cylinder - Great car when I'm a little older

241 horsepower 236 LB-FT of torque close-ratio 6 speed factory 18" OZ wheels factory Goodyear F1 HI-PO tires leather Konig seating all options come with the car high 5-low 6 second 0-60 times all day-no waiting for the turbo to spool up/ heat soaked intercooler to worry about low, low 14's in the quarter all wheel drive w/ electronic center diff. understated design-aka "super sleeper" under $30k if your negotiating skills are good higher resale value than many competitors

Like I wrote earlier, I've only had the car a few short days, so come read this review in about a year and I'll let you know

Having purchased the car only a little over a week ago,I can already say that this is one SERIOUS driver's car. I have owned several sport compact/ high performance cars and this is without a doubt the most dialed in, buckled down road burner I have ever driven. 241 HP, 236 LB-FT of torque, all wheel drive, close ratio 6 speed transmission, 18 inch OZ racing wheels with Goodyear F1 ultra-high performance rubber, tuned intake and dual outlet exhaust, Konig leather racing seats, etc, etc. The spec list of this car reads like an enthusiast's wet dream. Once you twist the key and hear the dual exhaust, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. The seats wrap around you like they were tailor made just for your own body. The clutch is butter smooth and the shifter is so easy to manipulate, you honestly have to feel it to believe it. I know what you're thinking-"this guy sounds like a car salesman"- but I'm not. I can't stand car sales people. Thankfully, when I stopped to look at this car, the salesman I dealt with was very laid back and personable. He let me drive the car with no hassle at all. As soon as I fired this puppy up, I knew I was going to buy it. I owned a WRX sport wagon at the time, and I was also looking at the Lancer EVO, RX-8, WRX STI, and even the new GTO. The WRX I had must have been a lemon because I was getting ready to put the 3rd transmission in it. It was still under warranty, but this would have been the 2nd time in less than a year that the tranny was getting fixed. I loved driving the car and surprising the hell out of unsuspecting mustang GT's, RSX type S's and so forth, but enough was enough. I can say without a doubt that the R32 can easily keep pace with my (former) WRX in a straight line, and it will walk all over it in the twisties. The technology that has been put into the R32 is more advanced than the WRX and EVO, and is on par with the STI , RX-8 and even the euro and jdm EVO VIII. I test drove the EVO and I can tell you the quality of the engineering, the quality of the interior, ride, etc. is way better in the R32 than in the EVO. I'm not saying the R32 will smoke an EVO from stoplight to stoplight, but the quality is several levels above the EVO . Just go to a dealer and sit in any of the cars I've mentioned and then sit in the R32 and you will know exactly what I'm talking about. I would've loved to drive the STI and the RX-8, but none of the dealers near my home had an STI in stock,or if the did, they wanted $3k above sticker. As far as the RX-8 was concerned, the dealers I went to wouldn't let me near one unless I was " serious about buying it tonight", even though I told them I was interested in several different cars and wanted to drive every one of them before I made a decision. So see you later, RX-8! Same with the GTO. See you later, Pontiac! OK,enough blabbing- back to the driving experience. If you are in the market for a sporty,great looking and sweet handling car,I highly recomend that you look into this car. Let me put it this way- my best freind has a 350Z and he can NOT lose me when the road starts getting twisty. I may have owned high performance cars for most of my adult life and I may be a slightly better driver than most, but that statement is not B.S. And the coolest thing is, I can take all my camping, fishing or hunting gear and STILL bring a couple friends along! So if you are still reading this, it tells me you are serious about driving. Go check out this car- if you can find one.

Similar Products Used:

5spd man Tauras SHO '98 Nissan Sentra SE(4 door SE-R) '99 Civic SI '02 WRX sport wagon