[charged]

Hellooo

So I'm looking at getting something new but I can't decide what. I currently drive a MK5 1.9 tdi which has been fairly extensively modified over the years i've had it. I often get comments on how much better it looks than regular GTI's and it's pushing 150bhp /quite alot of torque...purely because the stock clutch can't handle much more. Already has an uprated intercooler and exhaust so with a new clutch it could be remapped to 200+.

Anyway. My budget is around £10K but I would go higher for the right car. I'm not looking to modify too much this time around.

What i'm looking for:
-Good looks, modern shape
-Considerable power upgrade from current car
-A great noise....so preferably petrol
-Heated leather seats + xenons
-DSG
-RWD or FWD
-'Grown up'....No Focus ST's please.
-Reliability / low amount of expensive common faults
-Good fuel economy would be a plus but i'm not too fussed

What I've been looking at:
-MK5 R32- (obvi) Ticks all my boxes...Had an obsession with this car for a long time. My only concern is that 250hp seems low for the 3.2, and 300 miles to the tank is going to be hard to justify as I'm currently getting 500.On the plus side...no turbos means there's less to go wrong...and dat noise doe. I have considered an edition 30 golf, but let's be honest...it still doesn't look or sound anywhere near as good. I also feel it's probably worth at least trying a NA car at some point in my life.

-BMW 335i/335d- Because....twin pipes.....slidey fun time. Really concerned about one of the turbos failing though as it's common. Also, with BMW being tight fcuks with the extras...it's really hard to find one specced to your preference. Will need some modifying from stock to look mean.

-Audi S3- Nothing special to look at...will be the same platform as my MK5....no twin pipes or epic noise....fast i'm sure...but...meh.

-Audi RS....Nevermind...

I'm really leaning towards the R32 at this stage. Is it the right choice though?

Any input much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[matsu]

Have you driven any of them? I had a mk5 Gti fairly modded,loved it regretted selling but I test drove the mk5 Rand the mk4 R...... Did not want to get out of the 4. Not as modern a cabin but a great place to be...
My mate owns an M3 convertible about tens years old and prefers it to any of his considerable "better" cars, it just "fits"
Get in them , you,ll know!
Just my tuppence
Matsu

 

[charged]

Have you driven any of them? I had a mk5 Gti fairly modded,loved it regretted selling but I test drove the mk5 Rand the mk4 R...... Did not want to get out of the 4. Not as modern a cabin but a great place to be...
My mate owns an M3 convertible about tens years old and prefers it to any of his considerable "better" cars, it just "fits"
Get in them , you,ll know!
Just my tuppence
Matsu

Honestly....no. Stupid question maybe...what's the best way to get test driving them? No R32's or 335's on respective dealer sites.

 

[matsu]

I would say any dealers/ mates that have , or similar?
I can only speak for me I would have to eliminate cars based on my driving experience.
I bought a focus st3 brand new via my sister who works for ford without test driving.mBIG mistake. Hated it! After 9months I chopped it in for the fester st2, which I find a much better fun car to use, not as raw fast, but much more fun.
I drove both mk4 and 5 R's... Loved both but the 4 felt like home!
Matsu

 

[JamesBaby]

Find a mint well looked after mk4 r32. Or hunt for a good mk5 R32 in your budget.

Nothing else fits the bill until you go into RS3456 territory.

 

[PaulW]

335d for sure. Mines 370bhp 700nm torque and 0-60 in 4.7 returning 38mpg

 

[charged]

335d for sure. Mines 370bhp 700nm torque and 0-60 in 4.7 returning 38mpg

Nice....what's the mileage? Any problems? Does it drift?

 

[SunnySingh]

If i had a budget of 10k i'd buy an S3. Although it looks like any other A3 the build quality is on a different level compared to the R32 and more refined overall,not to mention the performance aspect and its tuning potential.

Having said that, ever since i sold my Mk4 R32 last month i instantly regretted it. Admittedly its not the quickest car on the road but its fast enough for me and its got soul and character. Theres nothing else like it on the road and the noise is fantastic, people constantly look at it.

i've never been a fan of the mk5 R32 but they're slowly growing on me, i feel like its for the mature and grown up person. I would also consider buying a well looked after mk4 and either super charging or turbo'ing it. Job done.

 

[charged]

If i had a budget of 10k i'd buy an S3. Although it looks like any other A3 the build quality is on a different level compared to the R32 and more refined overall,not to mention the performance aspect and its tuning potential.

Having said that, ever since i sold my Mk4 R32 last month i instantly regretted it. Admittedly its not the quickest car on the road but its fast enough for me and its got soul and character. Theres nothing else like it on the road and the noise is fantastic, people constantly look at it.

i've never been a fan of the mk5 R32 but they're slowly growing on me, i feel like its for the mature and grown up person. I would also consider buying a well looked after mk4 and either super charging or turbo'ing it. Job done.

I may have to look more into the S3...but I really want the twin pipes at the back for some reason.

I did actually see a supercharged mk4 for £10K. I'm sure it would be great but I'd be worried if something went wrong it would cost me the world to fix?

 

[SunnySingh]

I may have to look more into the S3...but I really want the twin pipes at the back for some reason.

I did actually see a supercharged mk4 for £10K. I'm sure it would be great but I'd be worried if something went wrong it would cost me the world to fix?

I know what you mean about the twin pipes, they're just better to look at.

If you go through the classifieds on here, theres one or two supercharged R32;s all done by reputable tuners. The thing is when you come to sell a modded car chances are you';l never make the money back that you spent on it, it just doesnt appeal to a wider audience.

 

[PaulW]

Nice....what's the mileage? Any problems? Does it drift?

80k, nah preventative maintenance.

Check that the oil separator has been changed every 30k £55 DIY job

Pressure convertors fail, 3 of these £100 each. Revised and bullet proof now

Vac lines, £15 for 10 meters, DIY time consuming

Oil feed pipes, get braided ones from hel £20 each x3

Service the box, supposed to be ok for the lifetime but anything that gets hot and cold isn't lifetime service free. £300 for that

Tyres £100 a corner

Red intercooler boost hose will fail, forge sell an uprated one £112

Force regen the dpf and get the soot under 7g

All of the above will endure a problem free car.

It does drift...... Apparently. To busy doing 30-130 pulls

 

[SplitPersonality]

^^^^^haha, it's all there from Paul by the sounds of it

 

[db/ocd]

I have a 435d I know its not in the price range you are looking at but can certainly vouch for the performance and torque of the 3 litre BMW diesels 0-60 in 4.5 and quite easy to increase with a remap or plug in
I still love driving my mk5 but after the refinement of the BWM I cant help feeling its all noise and not enough go !
Handling wise the R32 feels more planted but then maybe that's because the BMW is hitting the bends at higher speed and on run flat tyres

 

[andyy]

I may have to look more into the S3...but I really want the twin pipes at the back for some reason.

I did actually see a supercharged mk4 for £10K. I'm sure it would be great but I'd be worried if something went wrong it would cost me the world to fix?

Just go for the charged mk4

No point in worrying about things going wrong.. All cars have expensive issues in one way or another. If you're that worried about not being able to afford a repair or general maintenance costs, you're looking at the wrong type of car.

 

[charged]

So I drove the MK5 r32 today, had been pissing down all morning so was interested to see how it handled on the greasy roads.

It had allegedly had only one owner but it did seem they hadn't taken great care of it. The computers average mpg showed 24mpg so bit better than I was expecting. The salesman claimed 40mpg on the motorway....lol.

Power was smooth and linear. Not blown away but I'm sure it would suffice. Stuck to the roundabouts nicely. Interior was a nice place to be.

The exhaust was stock but still made a decent noise, especially drawing attention when downshifting the DSG. Milltek would have to be done.

So having driven it I'm still interested, could see myself in one. Just need to test the BMW, S3 and maybe a supercharged mk4 and see if I think they'd be worth the extra dosh.

 

[Connor]

Check mine out in the for sale section, where are you based? If you've got a 10k budget buy it and look at supercharged route

 

[charged]

I'm thinking about going to look as this particular R32...

http://www.autotrade..._3-9l&logcode=p

Has everything that I'm looking for....only problem in my eyes is the 100K mileage, my plan if I bought it would be to pay to get it fully inspected somewhere and claim for anything wrong under warranty...

Also wondering how you guys feel about the highlighted below:

"4 brand new Continental contact 3 tyres,new brake pads,new shafts and mounts,new links,spark plugs,flexi pipes,oil change etc.Full gearbox upgrade done last year included ecu upgrade(common fault),dsg oil change with sump and gaskets,solenoid and gearbox adaptation with over 2k bill."

They say it was a gearbox rebuild/refurb which wasn't done at VW (can't remember the name he said) and that it has a separate warranty with the company that did the work.

Thanks!

 

[Redemption]

I'm thinking about going to look as this particular R32...

http://www.autotrade..._3-9l&logcode=p

Has everything that I'm looking for....only problem in my eyes is the 100K mileage, my plan if I bought it would be to pay to get it fully inspected somewhere and claim for anything wrong under warranty...

Also wondering how you guys feel about the highlighted below:

"4 brand new Continental contact 3 tyres,new brake pads,new shafts and mounts,new links,spark plugs,flexi pipes,oil change etc.Full gearbox upgrade done last year included ecu upgrade(common fault),dsg oil change with sump and gaskets,solenoid and gearbox adaptation with over 2k bill."

They say it was a gearbox rebuild/refurb which wasn't done at VW (can't remember the name he said) and that it has a separate warranty with the company that did the work.

Thanks!

Mileage is quite high but if the gearbox has had a couple of grand spent on it that's not a bad thing. I'd imagine it would have had clutch packs and/or mechatronics replaced along with a software update. With the other bits also being done it looks like it's been maintained and money spent on it.

Worth going to see as it's a good spec although the carpet mats etc aren't OEM.

 

[charged]

Mileage is quite high but if the gearbox has had a couple of grand spent on it that's not a bad thing. I'd imagine it would have had clutch packs and/or mechatronics replaced along with a software update. With the other bits also being done it looks like it's been maintained and money spent on it.

Worth going to see as it's a good spec although the carpet mats etc aren't OEM.

Thanks for your reply. Indeed it does seem like it's been well looked after...and having been hunting for a while I don't think i'm going to find one this well spec'd with Miltek for ages. The seat bolsters are in better condition than a lot of cars with half the mileage as well! It's had 5 owners so pretty normal for a car of this age/mileage.

Well spotted on the carpet mats, they don't look half bad to be fair though. I do actually have genuine R32 mats in my current golf so I could just swap them over.

Did you see the modification that's been made to the flappy paddles? Presumably they are just attached to the teeny stock ones? Don't think id have a problem with that.

 

[Redemption]

Thanks for your reply. Indeed it does seem like it's been well looked after...and having been hunting for a while I don't think i'm going to find one this well spec'd with Miltek for ages. The seat bolsters are in better condition than a lot of cars with half the mileage as well! It's had 5 owners so pretty normal for a car of this age/mileage.

Well spotted on the carpet mats, they don't look half bad to be fair though. I do actually have genuine R32 mats in my current golf so I could just swap them over.

Did you see the modification that's been made to the flappy paddles? Presumably they are just attached to the teeny stock ones? Don't think id have a problem with that.

Those paddles are stuck on with 3M pads. I've got them in my car.

I tried searching for it's MOT history but nothing comes up for that reg number so I suspect it's been on a private plate.