I'd say hold out for an S3 if that's your plan. Depends on what you want from the deal. R32s sound good, but aren't very tunable, and no sat-nav doesn't sound very "fully loaded" to me... what else does it not have? Bare in mind that it's not just tax and fuel, the R is going to be a lot more to run in every way - insurance, tax, fuel, oil, tyres, brakes, plugs... everything.
If you're wanting to try a Golf, and are swaying towards petrol, get a GTI or even an ED30. They're both mappable to beyond R32 power, and is the better car in every way except sound and only FWD (which isn't always a bad thing).