By EWAN KENNEDY
31 July 2006

Volkswagen has launched the R32 in Australia. The hottest variant of them all in the fifth-generation Golf series, it is now a permanent part of the Australian automotive landscape.

VW Group Australia tried a toe-in-the-water exercise of the R32 in Golf 4 format in 2004, bringing in just 200 examples. All were snapped up rapidly despite being priced at a lofty $63,000.

This time around the R32 will be brought in on a routine basis with numbers limited only by what is available from the factory. Even better is the news that prices will begin at a moderate $54,990.

Power comes from a sensational 3.2-litre V6 engine, which is where the 32 in the title comes from in case you haven’t already guessed. It puts out a sensational 250 horsepower, or 184 kW in metric speak. Peak torque is 320 Nm, and VW's engineers should be complemented for having achieved the difficult mark of 100 Nm per litre.

Volkswagen's 4Motion all-wheel-drive system is used to put the power to the ground with maximum effect.

Interestingly, Golf 5 R32 is being built in both three- and five-door bodies. The reasoning being that the young hotshots will opt for the sportier look offered by having just one door per side, but the older hotshots may appreciate the convenience of extra doors. The five-door is priced at only $1500 over the three-door.

The aforementioned starting price of $54,990 is for the three-door with a six-speed full-manual gearbox. An automated-manual, or DSG in VW parlance, adds $2300. In most other sporting cars our choice is always for a full-manual ‘box but we are so rapt in the added performance of the DSG and that’s the one we would buy.

These prices put the German hot-hatch within spitting distance of its Japanese competitors, the Subaru WRX STi and Mitsubishi Evo.

Body styling is strong but perhaps more restrained than we had anticipated. Those who know their cars will have not trouble in spotting the new front grille and bumper treatment, but the wider door sills are subtle and the spoiler doesn’t jump out the way some of the young hot 4s guys would have liked.

Eighteen-inch wheels are perhaps the most radical part of the body restyle thanks to their aggressive open-spoke design. The wheels carry seriously sporty 225/40 R18 tyres.

Combined with lowered ride height and firmer suspension the appearance is more that of a grand touring car than a semi-race machine as was the case with the Golf 4 R32.

And that’s how it feels on the road. Where the previous R32 was aimed at the boy racer and could become rather tiring on long trips due to its hard ride, the new car is more compliant.

During our initial 250 km test drive it was only caught out by one bad bump, which bottomed out the suspension and put a real judder through the body. The rest of the time it was surprisingly comfortable to ride in for a car in this sporting class. There's a fair bit of tyre noise on coarse surfaces, but again it’s easy enough to live with.

That aforementioned initial drive finished up with plenty of driving excitement at the Phillip Island race circuit where we were really able to push the car to its limits. It didn’t disappoint, having huge grip on the smooth surfaces, offered plenty of feedback through the steering and proved very controllable as it reached its limits.

Engine performance is virtually instantaneous, which is always a major benefit of having a large capacity engine instead of a smaller one that’s force fed by a turbocharger.