My son got a new mini monster

[Penstarpurist]

While I'm not the biggest vw fan beyond the original bugs, beetles and bajas my son was in the need for a reliable daily driver. As he flogged the crap out of his sti and grenaded the transmission, he found at the local vw dealer a 2008 VW R32. AWD 250 hp VR6 from the factory. Its there version basically of Subarus wrx/sti, a very limited edition vehicle as they built 5000 of them initially in 2004, based off the then Golf platform, then not again until the 2008 Golf platform, again only a 5000 car run for the U.S market, and only in the 2 door model. I believe in the Euro market there are both 2 and 4 door models. Quite the fun little machine, all leather, dual climate control, automatic transmission with the selector for steering wheel paddle shifting, heated seats, hatchback car. I'll get some good pics of it, and add them. The best part is that 99% of people think it's just a vw golf, its definitely a little sleeper. Hopefully he stays with his plans of leaving it bone stock so it will last and stay reliable. I think seeing so much time and money sitting next to the shop broken with his sti keeps him reminded of that. The sti will live again, just got to find a donor parts car to get it swapped out.

 

[70chall440]

Sounds like a fun car.

 

[DentalDart]

I may have had a 2004, 2008 and 2017 one of these...heres the 2017 and they are indeed a bunch of fun! A simple piggy back tune gave me close to 400hp/tq add in awd they little rockets.

 

[diymirage]

always liked VWs, specially the sciroccos

ive had two passats as family haulers before
especially the 1.8T was a blast
like dental mentioned, easy to get more power out of it
not sure what kind of voodoo it took but i connected a laptop to it, downloaded a filed, uploaded another and went from 7PSI to 17PSI (with the fuel maps to support it)

easiest power upgrade i ever did
(not counting putting decals on a ricer)

 

[Penstarpurist]

He loves the car, been dealing with a leaky windshield or I guess the sunroof drain. Took it to the dealer to get them to fix it. They had it for a day and said all was good. Rained two days later and leaking worse. Lol. They have done the work so far for free, which is good as he bought it no warranty (114,000 miles on it). So hopefully they are willing to give the repair another attempt. I am optimistic as my brother in law is one of their technicians that they will stand behind it as it started leaking less than 24 hours after buying it. They are the largest vw dealer in a 500 mile radius, lol, they say anyway. I am really hoping he can leave it completely stock.

 

[pishta]

400HP/TQ, 30 mpg and A/C? And were spending money and time getting our V8s to get 300HP/TQ. What are we doing wrong?........I guess its called progress.

 

[DentalDart]

He loves the car, been dealing with a leaky windshield or I guess the sunroof drain. Took it to the dealer to get them to fix it. They had it for a day and said all was good. Rained two days later and leaking worse. Lol. They have done the work so far for free, which is good as he bought it no warranty (114,000 miles on it). So hopefully they are willing to give the repair another attempt. I am optimistic as my brother in law is one of their technicians that they will stand behind it as it started leaking less than 24 hours after buying it. They are the largest vw dealer in a 500 mile radius, lol, they say anyway. I am really hoping he can leave it completely stock.

The new alltracks have been coming straight from the factory with leaking sunroofs and VWoA has not been able to identify and fix the culprit. So for 2 years new owners have been getting hosed with leaking sunroof issues .

 

[DentalDart]

400HP/TQ, 30 mpg and A/C? And were spending money and time getting our V8s to get 300HP/TQ. What are we doing wrong?........I guess its called progress.

Haha right. But I also paid 45k for my Golf R, my Dart I have about 1/4 of that in it including the purchase of the car. The cheaper, older, louder one also gets more looks from the ladies

 

[Penstarpurist]

I may have had a 2004, 2008 and 2017 one of these...heres the 2017 and they are indeed a bunch of fun! A simple piggy back tune gave me close to 400hp/tq add in awd they little rockets.

View attachment 1715462027

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I just noticed that yours is the four door, it's the exact same color as my sons 2dr '08, love that color. Is yours the R32? I know my son would have preferred a 4dr car as he likes the extra room. Its amazing how small of a car the 2 doors are. I have been joking with him that it's like a car only smaller. Lol But does pack a big punch for its size.

 

[Penstarpurist]

This is the dealer pic of the car, my son doesn't let it sit long enough for me to get pics of it at home. Plus the weather has been a nightmare of high wind and rain lately. Not doing his car any favors taking on water.

 

[DentalDart]

I just noticed that yours is the four door, it's the exact same color as my sons 2dr '08, love that color. Is yours the R32? I know my son would have preferred a 4dr car as he likes the extra room. Its amazing how small of a car the 2 doors are. I have been joking with him that it's like a car only smaller. Lol But does pack a big punch for its size.

R32 was built first in 2004 and only came in 2 door with a 6 speed manual and Vr6 engine. In 2008 it was an R32 and paired with a Vr6 engine but automatic transmission. In 2012 it was renamed a Golf R and you could get a 2 door or 4 door. 2016 and only 4 doors were available and they are produced yearly.

IMO 2004 is the best year. I have had an 04 R32 and the blue one above was a 2017 Golf R with a 6spd manual.

 

[Penstarpurist]

Well got the car back to the dealer, they are going to give the leak repair another attempt. Plus its throwing a p2098 code for lean running on bank 2. When I asked them what they charge to run their scan tool on it to narrow down the possibilities of what's wrong as theres literally 100 things that can be wrong under that code, they said no worries they will diagnose it for no cost. Fingers crossed they fix it too at no cost, lol, but I don't want to get greedy.