In factory stock form, the Mk IV Volkswagen Golf R32 is a bit like the Lexus LFA - the engineering masterpiece aura shines strong and yet the performance isn't at the top of the genre anymore.

Usually, you can tell what kind of engine a performance car has by the segment it occupies. Hot hatch? Usually a four-cylinder turbo. Large German premium sedan? Probably a 600 horsepower V8. But this ...

Viknesh Vijayenthiran March 22, 2008 Comment Now! The Golf R32 is by no means slow but the sheer number of tuning kits available for the torquey hot-hatch reveals there are a lot of people out there ...

We recently attended the SoCal R32 GTG near Los Angeles (see p78) where over 130 R32s gathered from across the US. There were cars of every hue, from Reflex silver, Tornado red and deep blue metallic ...

Volkswagen's Golf R has a deep following because of its impressive stock performance credentials, but that doesn't stop tuners from taking the hot hatch to the next level. Klaus Krenmayr of Turbo ...

Why do we do what we do? Not to get too philosophical here, but it’s a perfectly legitimate question. Perhaps more so when you consider what we do to our cars. Aside from the odd junkyard-save, we ...

A 735HP VW Golf 2 R32 Turbo with 4Motion AWD goes head-to-head with the iconic Nissan GT-R R35 in a brutal showdown of boost, grip, and speed. One’s a sleeper hatchback with supercar-killing power, ...

The regular Volkswagen Golf 4 was the German car maker’s attempt to move the model upmarket. A process that spawned one of the well-built and all-rounded compacts ever. The fact that there’s still ...

The original Volkswagen GTI is credited with starting the entire hot hatchback phenomenon. But somewhere along the line, the mad scientists at Volkswagen decided their hot Golf wasn't quite as hot as ...

Let's get this straight right off the bat: The Volkswagen R32 is not as fast as the Subaru Impreza WRX STI. Nor does it have the grip of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. But you know what? Who cares.

Viknesh Vijayenthiran February 13, 2008 Comment Now! If you were disappointed by VW’s decision not to shoehorn its potent 3.6L V6 into the Golf then you'll be glad to hear German company HGP has gone ...