It was too heavy, and while it did have a pretty banging engine, it’s overpriced and only thing you can compare it to would be an EVO or STI that perform better than it.

Oh and just for argument sakes, when you have e 24k FWD Cobalt SS stock beating a R32 you know you need to be faster… Ok that’s all I’ll say…

Now if VW was smart… And it sounds like it may be something if they don’t bring over the Scirocco over they would make the GTI a little cheaper and offer those same parts (like they are supposedly doing with the GTI-R) and just offer two GTI’s, one in the low 20’s and the “R” in the upper 20’s…

I agreed that VW prices have gotten away from their initial mission as the “peoples car”. However, put their offerings up against the so called competition, and alot of their cars come out ahead in my opinion.

I drive a GTI, and yes, I paid around 23K for it. But what is the competition? While the competition may be able to best a GTI around the track for the same price point, no one can match the overall quality of the GTI, certainly not interior quality.

Cobalt SS? Fast as hell, but still a cobalt with a cheap build. Less practicality

Mazdaspeed3? Probably the only other car I would consider in this class, but no good dealers in my area (my VW dealer is excellent, believe it or not). Again build quality not up to the VW.

Civic Si? Interior not nearly as nice, high strung N/A engine makes for expensive mods. My chipped GTI will spank a Si any day of the week. Less practicality

I believe that similar comparisons can be made for the Jetta, Eos, and even the Tiguan/Toureg. People need to get over brand names and buy based on which is truly the better car. But alas, I do understand that people have a hard time dealing with this, just look at what happened to the Phaeton.

A GTI for $23k… Beetle for $25k… Passat nearly $40k… Touraeg for $50k… the new “small” Tiguan knocking on the door of $30k… even the Routan, a rebadged Chrysler minivan, is above $35k.

What the crap are these things… Caddilacs? They are all priced $3000 – $6000 above the competition. No wonder VW is cutting back on models… they can’t sell the stuff.

Why on earth would I buy the Passat when I can go right down the street to Chevy and get a Malibu for $25k… or to Toyota and get a Camry with every option for under $30,000.

I thought VW was supposed to be an everyman car… not a cheap luxury marque.

In E urope whent the Ford Focus ST was released, Ford said that its ST model was sufficient enough not to bring an RS version out, however that changed after about 3 years, so hopefully an R36 will come out in time, although my R32 did cost in the range of £32,000 ($60,000), a little pricey i must admit.

Awell, bye enyways

Before the MkV R32’s became available, a number of enthusiasts were eagerly anticipating an R36, and it seemed like a logical step to take, with most vehicles in this segment boasting around 300 bhp. To everyone’s disappointment, the end product was a car with the same level of power as the previous model, but with extra weight and no manual transmission option.

Here’s hoping they see the light next time around and fit a 3.6 liter engine in the next gen, or even fit twin k03’s or k04’s onto the 3.2 liter mill.