Thinking of purchasing a car the missus can drive as well and was thinking of selling the Lexus and getting a Golf R32.

Has anyone got one or driven one? If so what did you think?

Interested in hearing the opinion of someone not trying to sell me one i.e. a VW dealer.

i had the mk IV golf r32 and loved it to death.

you wont ever look back ;)

I only sold it because i needed the cash to invest more money into things.


faster/ awesome build/better handling/ and its pretty damn luxurious.

the is250 isnt any slouch as a luxury car has pretty much the same options.

but handling/quickness wise r32 hands down.

Theres also a fair bit of tuning options now aswell.

I love my Lexus's, I would personally prefer the New Gold GTi over the R32 because of the cool colour schemes :),

I drove the new R32 today and it is bloody awesome.

However after you add in all the options it does come in at around $70K which I thought was a bit much for a VW.

there are some almost brand new "second-hand" ones around, price is always NEGO! VW Golf R32 got too much boy-racer styling, IS250 is classic and sporty

recently saw an very old lady in a 2-dr R32 silver in Richmond VIC, never see "strange-looking" people in IS250, IS250 would be better for everyday, otherwise new Audi S3 would be a better choice, maybe EVO X with "DSG" alike auto box
:)

spoken by clearly someone who hasnt driven one.

70k is abit much if you want the recaro seats and what not.

but there are cheap near new 2nd hand ones available as i am part of the vw club theres a couple i know with the leather option and stuff going for like 50k with low kms.

Theres no comparing build quality of a european car sorry to say but it is true.

It just sounds and feels solid all round. Safety features are very good.

The vw golf r32 weighs about 1600kg for a hatch and why? cos its jammed packed with gismos and a big torquey motor to haul it.

in stock form my old golf ran a 14.545 @ 93.8mph with a 60ft time of 1.9 with my sound system in it.

Not bad for something that weighs a lot and is N/A.

The VW DSG gearbox is very very good.

I've seen more old people in a Lexus is250 and Audi S3 than i have seen in an R32.

Anyways,

In response to the poster of this thread.

My recommendation is to pick up a slightly used 2nd hand golf R32 if you really want one.

Otherwise next best choice would be to get a Golf GTI very good for what they are and theres heaps of mods for them to push some big power.

Have you also considered maybe a Passat 3.6L or 3.2L? Its more luxurious its a sedan and usees the same motor and drivetrain as the R32.


R36 Passat


ABT tuning GTI


Stock R32



R32 Recaro seats.

Whhaaatt!! get those overweight fast-assed things outta here!!

Stick to RWD, the missus can always go drifting... :lol:

never drive a R32 and R36 (not in Australia?); but you don't see "strange-looking" people driving Lexus IS250! Audi and VW's option items' prices are very expensive as normal.

You can drift with 4WD and FWD cars. Greeneyes!

Wait for Nissan new GTR and EVO X, VW are "rubbish" (short-term ownership is ok, not for long-term), we have brand new Polo auto, Golf Sports Line manual and Passat TDi DSG Wagon at the moment for work, having some electrical issues with the brand new Polo, fixed once by dealer, power mirrors don't work again as soon as you are trying to use 12V power for GPS :( DON"T BUY VW! We only bought them becasue of the huge business discounts, maybe Audi next time :lol:

what the hell does "strange looking people" got to do with buying a car? Do they look at you google eyed or something?

Keith theres a chip you can get for the R32 which makes it RWD bias. ;)

and vw have converted a couple R32's for promotional purposes to RWD just like Mitsubishi did with their evo for Fast n Furious Tokyo Drift.

My mate owns a VW GTi, (current shape) and I rekon its awesome!! Personally I would pick it over a is250 but thats subjective though. Yeha it's true that German cars are built with a excellent quality, but to me, so does Lexus, ie when I slam the door, or grab the steering wheel and turn it just feels so solid. Lexus gets alot of crap about being glorified toyotas but I rekon they are definatley up there.

But if I had the cash. AUDI all the way :) I love the massive grill

RS4>M3 all the way!

rs4 avant !!!!!! FTW

I think that regardless of label, lexus's have a very high build quality.
What matter's is how the car that you are choosing feels like, not a brand's history.
I haven't personally driven a r32 but can say that i prefer the is250 interior look to the golf r32

The golf is defenatively going to be the more fun car, but when you try to acsessories it to match the is250's list of features you will be pushing a pretty high price bracket which really make's you think if it would be better to be considering a different car all together with a higher retail price that is built to suit your needs better.

how much is an is250 with all its options?

I know most of the vw owners picked up most of the options and paid less than 60k. Dont think any of them got the recaro option but the normal seats are pretty darn good.

most of the new features the is250 has a european car would already have.

when the is250 first came out there was a couple features however that caught my eye but i cant remember what that was.

Thing is though at the end of the day they are 2 different cars and what you want from a car is definately what matters. Both are luxurious.

And both have good build quality.

all comes down to if you want the performance side of things because the R32 would leave the is250 hands down and on track would leave would out handle a lot of sports cars out there around a track.

But if you dont need performance then it should be fine.

Tenji is right, in the end it comes down to what you want, (or your Missus in this matter)

If she likes the sporty look and feel, go the Golf,

If she likes the more prestigous look and more prestigous brand then go the lexus.
(not saying golf isn't a prestigous car, ie it is expensive but only because its european, when most people think of luxury cars they think of merc, lex, bmw, audi)

So yeah ask her what she wants :P,

look at the new gs430 dad just got one, its sooooo nice :D:D:D:D:D

Nothing prestigeous about a Golf!

Dime a dozen in South Africa, in line with Mazda 3's for people over there, and Mrs Greeneyes (who is a SAF) was amused to see how highly VW were regarded in NZ.

Still, they are two different cars aimed at two different markets...

tenji- I love that idea of the RWD chip!! That could get me into front wheel drives!! :lol:

hehe my best friend is south african.

r32 isnt released there though hahaa.

yeah the chip is for the r32 it makes the awd system (haldex) more rwd bias.

theres also one for an evo.

In the end Art, what does your missus want? since your buying the car for her!

If she likes sporty, go Veedub

If she likes prestige, keep the IS250

I'm from SAF (The Republic) too and yes the R32 golf is available there !!

got friends that drive one and works for VW and he love them !!! his got the new 07 shape (Golf V)

ok u guys got the golf V r32 now.

u guys didnt have the mk iv though.

in my honest opinion i like the iv better than the v.

Thank you for all your advice.

Taking everything everyone said into account and the fact she couldn't make up her mind on what she wanted, I decided to give the missus the IS250 and went down to my Lexus dealership and handed over my $1000 deposit for the IS-F for myself.

Now it's down to eating every second day to make sure I have the money to pay for it when it finally arrives...

Wait for the new Nissan GTR? are you serious?

I don't have a spare $200K plus people are saying it will go on sale for here in Australia and even if I did, I think I would rather spend that on a Porsche 911 any day.

:woot:

We'll have to start a special forum for it!!

Maybe although they said Australia might only get 30 cars.

sounds a bit like the 998 GT3RS they are only bringing in a few and theres a whole heap of ppl on the waiting list.

WHAT!!!! Only 30 cars thats a disgrace why only 30!

Who knows? That's what they said. Maybe the mean an initial release of 30 just to test the waters...

dealers always say this is the last or there will be no more or they will only have to get you to buy it now.

:P

Art, how much is the IS-F and what color are you going for?

Also, the R32 Golf vs 250 is a mismatch as the R32 is at the high end performance car.

No idea on the price but I am assuming it will be around 130K or 140K.

I think anything above that and you would have to start considering the BMW M3. Looking at the blue or black maybe.

The R32 is a nice car but it's lacking a lot of the driver comforts you get used to when you have a Lexus.

To be honest i'm not a fan of Golfs, no matter how potent they can be. they just don't have the class for their prices.

It is hard to choose between the F and M3 but the M3 will set u back 160K odd, too much $$$ if you think about it. I'd prefer an Elise which goes just a fast for much less.

Fast cars just doesnt have a place in the suburb no more, now that there are 40km/hr limits around schools and permanent 50/60 zones.

I'm happy with my 250 with just 19s and lowered.

Yeah I know but on the weekends it's always nice to get out of Sydney and onto the quiet country roads and actually drive.

Would you still need to lower it if you got 19's. Wouldn't the ride be too firm then?

The car needs to be lowered on 19s, otherwise it'll look hell ugly woundn't you say?

18s are ok, but 19s will look ideal.

I've been wanting to do this for some time now but, atm kinda need money so i have to wait longer (let me know if there is a partime job somewhere :) ).

ldc ask bmalar he has 18's or 19's i'm not sure, but has lowered it using racing logic coilovers..

http://picasaweb.google.com/p.p.puri/Lexus...216630641377138

I prolly won't do the whole system, just rims and lowering springs.

it's noyBmalar'sIS250

It's jason's Is250.

You really should join us on our next drive day, Art! :D

I'll hopefully be testdriving an R32 Golf in the coming weeks. I'm very keen to see if they are worth the hype. The electronic diff certainly sounds interesting, particularly since Haltech offer an ECU & valve upgrade for it so you can switch it to rear wheel drive :woot:

I can tell you that it drives very nicely, the power comes on early and the exhaust note is will sound great. It's quite a driver's car that's why it get rated highly in comparo tests.

If it was me, wanting a sports cars in that category, i'd get an evo.

I wanted to go the last one but was interstate. I will try and make the next one.

Have fun with the R32. Definitely and fun car to drive.