S3 to R32 should I?

[-Ju-]

Now that we are a 2 car family, I've been considering changing the S3 for an R32 as the Audi spends most of the time in the garage.
I had a brief fling with a mk4 3yrs ago and would consider one of these again over the mk5.
Don't get me wrong I love the S3 and given a straight choice would take it over the R any day but the thought of saving a few quid is bringing out the Yorkshire man in me!
What do you think should I or shouldn't I?

 

[shariain]

I love my A3 3.2 v6, that noise is amazing and every time i drive her the honeymoon period start's again but if I could have afforded it I would have bought a S3 but that's just me.

The fuel economy/wife moaning about it is annoying with the v6 but I don't do enough miles to give a ****. The only other thing I would really worry about is the trend the government has about changing road tax bands my 2004 is a band L and I'm still paying the lower tax level but for how long.

But that noise

 

[warren_S5]

I love the Mk4, and I was sat in one the other day (leather / blue / 2 owners from new / 30k miles / weekend driver), and as much as I loved it, getting back in the S3 made the Mk4 feel a touch jaded. Of all the Golf R cars it's probably still my favourite, but the Golf owner even thinks the S3 feels quicker and more agile on the road. R32/4 sounds better by a long stretch, and is an absolute classic, but here today I'd take the S3 and accept that money isn't everything.

Obviously if money is tight then needs must, but I don't think you'd see a huge saving over the S3 in running costs or part-ex. Minters cost good money!

 

[-Ju-]

Moneys not tight Warren, it's just the thought of it sat there depreciating whereas a nice mint mk4 will always hold it's value as a classic, the 8P S3 on the other hand will never get that status no matter how accomplished it is.
In all probability the S3 will stay but I do miss that V6!

The fuel economy/wife moaning about it is annoying with the v6 but I don't do enough miles to give a ****. The only other thing I would really worry about is the trend the government has about changing road tax bands my 2004 is a band L and I'm still paying the lower tax level but for how long

The mpg isn't too dissimilar tbh and the extra tax is only £4 a week

 

[nluk100]

I think it might be false economy by swapping. You will lose money on your car (haggling, cr@p part-ex etc..). It will cost you more to run - petrol, servicing, road tax and you will lose the performance - those R32's are slooow and expensive to tune

 

[MrLapou]

Having had a MK5 Golf GTi, I'd go for a Mk5 R32 or even better the Mk6 Golf R. Both amazing cars and inho better than than a S3.

 

[crunchie]

I too have had similar thoughts about a MK4 R32.
I can't see me selling the S3 to get one tho and I sure ain't selling the MK2!
It has to be the best looking golf, right up there with the MK2(in pearl grey obviously lol)
I don't have the same lust for s MK5 R32, in fact I have no lust at all.
If it was a daily I'd maybe choose a MK5 purely because it's newer but as a 2nd/3rd car it would be a MK4 all day!

 

[-Ju-]

I don't class the Mk5 R32 as a better car tbh. The best thing about the car is the engine but it's also it's achilles heel and as such is flawed compared to an S3. As for the Mk6 R, that's a different story but also a lot more expensive and I'd rather take an S3 Sportback S-tronic over that as well. I respect your comments though as everyone has different views

 

[voorhees]

I say follow your heart and get the R32
My mate rings me and says hows things doing and etc. then the convo gets onto cars and he says "what you gonna get next ?" and before I answer its "R32 R32 R32 R32 R32" every time ha ha.
R32OC.com has some beauties.

 

[-Ju-]

I know what he means, the R gets under your skin in a way the Audi can't!

 

[Chris93]

If you think the s3 is uneconomical then you will be amazed by the r32! just eats fuel, sounds great though but basically the same car under the skin with a big v6 instead of a turbo 4

Chris

 

[-Ju-]

I spent 4 1/2yrs driving A3 3.2's m8 so I know the pitfalls! Check my username lol!

 

[marktdisport]

Love the s3 but just for the sounds it gotta be r32 lol....

 

[Brodster]

R32 is a nice car and sounds awesome. One of my customers had one then sold it for a Golf R which I remapped. The Golf R is beautiful looking car but even the owner wanted to swap his for mine........he thought the overall package of the S3 was better and felt slightly quicker. Go with your initial gut feeling.

 

[PH1L]

how about you become a 3 car family haha

 

[-Ju-]

how about you become a 3 car family haha

Stop it lol!

R32 is a nice car and sounds awesome. One of my customers had one then sold it for a Golf R which I remapped. The Golf R is beautiful looking car but even the owner wanted to swap his for mine........he thought the overall package of the S3 was better and felt slightly quicker. Go with your initial gut feeling.

Gut says S3, heart says mk4......might just have to go look at one just to get it out of my head!

 

[Kelza]

Yeah have both, i was thinking of getting this as a second car..the price dropped to under 6k ...
2003 Golf R32 DPB

 

[batch]

My S3 IS my toy! Fortunately for all of us they can be the B-Road weapon, the perfect prestige car for a long weekend away or the shopping car...
A Mk1 XR2 has caught my eye again though, crying out for a cage and a 2ltr Zetec!

Back on topic, I've never driven an R32 but I've always wanted to. Not sure you'll be that much better off though...?

 

[MartayMcFly]

Mk5 R32 is a side-ways step from your S3, but the Mk4 is the better car (and better value etc). The S3 trumps the R32 in everything but noise, so it's just a personal preference - do you want a bit of extra money and some note? Or do you want proper pace and a nice interior?

Does it also mean you'd be selling those lovely lovely rims?

 

[-Ju-]

Does it also mean you'd be selling those lovely lovely rims?

I can feel the vultures circling already lol.

I'm just exploring different options atm though as all I seem to be doing the last few years is paying depreciation off!

 

[Kelza]

I know how you feel mate ,i owe 18k on audi finance ,i want 18k for it in a private sale , no one wants to pay that ,so i,m just going to keep mine, keep my head down , for the next 2 years ,then just buy and pay off the finance ,then keep it for track days.

 

[tcardio]

I wish you lived in California as the red one's for sale


MK4 R32 was the only R32 in my book

 

[Sheikh]

R32's are good for one thing and one thing alone. Sound.

I've never really got a buzz from one and the fact that my 330Cd kept up side by side with my mates MK4 says it all.

S3 all the way!

 

[james_rims]

Love the mk4, had one for four odd years, but I must admit, the S3 is a better all round car. I do miss that V6 sound track though..

 

[-Ju-]

That red one does look hot!

 

[-Ju-]

Love the mk4, had one for four odd years, but I must admit, the S3 is a better all round car. I do miss that V6 sound track though..

There's no doubt the S3 is a far more accomplished car but that's not really the point tbh.
The mk4 is a piece of motoring history in my eyes and quite a rare sight mixed in among all the boring town cars that fill the roads now.
Not saying I'll get one as I'm happy in the S3, but I'm tempted to give it a go and save myself a few quid over the next couple of years or so!

 

[-Ju-]

I've never really got a buzz from one and the fact that my 330Cd kept up side by side with my mates MK4 says it all

I remember my 330cd. Loved it for the first few months until I got bored of the driving characteristics, the interior and the smell of crayons in the boot.
Also spending a grand on a new turbo and all the talk of failing swirl flaps put me off it!

 

[paddy]

My guess is the problem Ju has is having had a 3.2 the S3 is...well........ok but nothing special. In stock form they are about the same, for normal driving i think my 3.2 was quicker because of the instant throttle response and bottom end power. I put a stage 1 revo on the S3 and it came alive and is pretty quick but it has no soul. Bottom line is a V6 is as quick as you need to be 99% of the time on the roads these days and it has the driving flexibility and fun you just cant get from a 4 cylinder IMHO.
I've been offered 22k from we buy any car for mine which i think is quite good. Maybe if i take it along to show them they will drop the price although mine is spotless immaculate with only 12k miles.

 

[The Cardinal]

I haven't read this thread very thoroughly as I'm in a bit of a hurry (10 week old baby and 2.5 year old!), but I gather the swap is to a Mk4 rather than Mk5 R32.

Although not completely relevant, I think it's useful to add that I have looked at going to a later Mk5 R32 several times in great depth...at least in spreadsheet terms. I really love the package that the R32 gives, not least because it's the last big-engined N/A Golf.

Any of us thinking of going to a Mk5 need to be aware that the overall ownership costs including all running costs, fuel, insurance, contingency for bills, servicing etc *is the same* for a late 2008/9 MK5 R32 as it is for a 2010/11 S3.

By all means do your own sums, but unless the outlay is very significantly cheaper then the running costs will catch up with you. This is my calculation for a late £15k Mk5 R32 DSG versus my current 2010 S3, assuming £2k in business mileage rebate and £500 contingency on the R32 for being out of warranty:

	S3	R32 Mk5
Miles	12,000	12,000
Mpg	26.3	24
Ppl	1.40	1.40
Ppg	6.3644	6.3644
Costs (p/a)
Deposit	1,000	1,000
Fuel	2,904	3,182
Tax	250	480
Insurance	400	400
Servicing	0	250
Tyres	250	250
Other	500	1,000
Payments	5,294	3,720
Retained	0	0
Gross Costs	10,598	10,282
Income
Allowance	0	0
3.5k @58.3p	2,041	2,041
Bal @ 22.6p	565	565
Fuel @ 15p	0	0
Rebate	2,606	2,606
Net Costs	7,992	7,677
Diff p/a	0	-315
Cost pcm	666	640
Diff pcm	0	-13

 

[paddy]

I bet you are fun at party's Ben

TBH my 3.2 did the same MPG as my S3 and the S3 has lost in its first year more than the total value of a 3.2.....Thankfully its not about money or we wouldn't be looking at either of these cars. with the price of oil about to rocket it will not make sense to run a petrol car full stop soon. ( not that it does now really.)

If you want to do a sum, work out how much 1ltr of petrol actually costs you after you have paid 20% income tax, 12% NI, and 63% duty and VAT then apply that % mark up to anything else you need to use in daily life and see whether you would stand for it ?

 

[KentKid]

Hello mate, I'm a bit late to the party on this one but I thought I'd offer my bit anyway...

I've owned my S3 for over 2 years now, and my previous car was a mk4 Deep Pearl Blue VW Golf R32 - which I owned for 3 very happy years!

The R32 was a great car, and ticked a lot of boxes - it looked great, had strong perfromance, it wasn't a car you saw on the roads all that often, has a good reputation, sounds fantastic, has 4-wheel drive and handles well, and the interior is very decent and well built as well.

I loved my R32, but it was a noticeable step up in performance when I got the S3.

That was the biggest diffeerence for me. The R32 was a decent performer, but you don't get the same progressive surge in the R32 as you do in the S3. The mk5 would be closer performance-wise, but the mk4 would probably feel a little sluggish to be honest. I think you may also find the whole 'experience' of driving a mk4 R32 after an S3 a little disappointing as well - as it's a bigger, bulkier, and less agile feeling car.

As I mentioned earlier, the R32 ticked a lot of boxes and I loved mine, but I think you might struggle with the difference in performance, although it did sound absolutely BRUTAL when you put your foot down! God I miss that sound...

Another thing worth noting is that fact that unless you're looking at a pre March 06 R32, tax will cost you over £400 a year - and with regards to MPG, you're not going to save an awful lot because I pretty much got the same MPG from My R32 and I'm currently getting with my S3 - it may have actually even been a little bit worse...

Good luck mate, I'm sure you'll make the right choice...

 

[-Ju-]

Thanks for your informed post, I am aware of the difference in performance and fuel consumption as I did own one for 6 weeks, 3 years ago and I have had 2 3.2 A3's albeit in dsg guise.
The only benefit a mk5 has is the dsg aspect of it other than that it's mk4 all the way and cost wise it makes no sense in changing to a mk5 as the savings, if any, are negligible. I view the S3 as the better car anyway.
I'll keep my eye out for a nice one mk4 and see how it feels.
Thanks for all your help!

 

[-Ju-]

TBH my 3.2 did the same MPG as my S3 and the S3 has lost in its first year more than the total value of a 3.2.....Thankfully its not about money or we wouldn't be looking at either of these cars.

That's what niggles at me Paddy, when I look back over the last say 10 years, I've bought and run newer cars and it's probably cost me somewhere in the region of £30k in depreciation, trade in prices etc. before actual running costs are factored in.
The wife has just bought an 03 Cooper S fully loaded, has a few miles on the clock, but it's a cracker of a car and just has me wondering why I spend so much on depreciation!

 

[Cossie_boy]

We have a few R32's in when I was in sales and they always used to leave me feeling disappointed, however these were MK5 models so cant really comment on the MK4's, I do recall taking a MK4 in part exchange and when I got in it thinking how small it was inside and a bit dated, then again the R32 would be a lot nicer inside!

I saw a MK1 XR2 at a show this year, spotless it was!

 

[shady-ninja]

i love the soundtrack of the R32.
at idle midrange or full trottle.
when im at the traffic light even
if i know i can beat an R32 off the
lights or the R32 can beat me off the lights
i still love the sound track.
when im playing music in my car
and i come up to an R32, i just turn
down my music and taunt the R32
driver with the hope that he or she
could just squeeze that trottle
so i can hear the sound like the one in this link.
Kurtis' 2004 VW R32 [HQ] - YouTube

Supercharged VW R32 Milltek Exhaust. - YouTube

 

[shariain]

Think this might be a repost but I don't care love the sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVfiDJXIYlw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[mojo555]

I have many thoughts about owning a Mk4 R, i had a mk5 for about a year and that was a great car, i only think of getting one as a keeper as you say a good example will hold its value and eventually go up as the mk4 will be a classic, soi for me i would still have to have my S3 and get an r as a second car to keep in the garage....

 

[-Ju-]

Well I've bitten the bullet and put a deposit down on a nice VW V6, although it's not an R32.............it's its big brother, an R36. Should get it next weekend all being well.
A bit apprehensive leaving the Audi fold as the S3 is a great car, but I've always fancied one so why not.

 

[MartayMcFly]

I wish they did an R36 CC.

 

[S3 Rav]

R36 are rare! Will be nice to see pics when you get them.