Driving Mk4 R32 at the track

[bostonaudi]

Got to drive a factory stock Mk4 R32 at Roebling last weekend, this car is fun. I've driven em before, but never at a high speed event. Its a little heavy, but handles remarkably well, even stock. Stock 240 hp gets the car moving reasonably well, and the cars ability to rotate is pretty good. On a hard corner, the front starts to scrub (as usual for front heavy dub), and then your thinking oh great, the usual understeer, but then the Haldex kicks in and the rear comes around, giving it really pretty decent ability to get around a track. Stability control is fully defeatable, and you need it off, otherwise it constantly interferes. With real track tires, perhaps a set of Bilsteins or Koni's on the stock spring, and good pads this car would do quite well. I'd imagine the Haldex sport controller might make it even better too, and there are a ton of Mk4 suspension mods from H2Sport and others. Throw an HPA turbo on it and you'd have a little track monster. If you are considering getting one of these for a track build, I think it could be a lot of fun. The N/A VR6 seems unstressed and it took track sessions all weekend no prob. You can score higher mileage R32's for fairly easy money now too, if its already a little beaten why not make it a track car.

 

[LOUCFUR]

That's kool. I've always thought the mkiv r32 was sexy ...

 

[lippyjump]

Its getting harder to not buy an R32 given they're around 7k with 120k on them... The VR6 never got half of the credit it deserved. Now imagine it with a turbo...

Given your experience Boston, do you think it would be a better investment to build a B5 Audi S4 2.7tt or build a MK4 R32? S4 is a bit cheaper and it seems to be a better tuner on paper. Your thoughts?

 

[LOUCFUR]

I'm gonna guess the r32. They both have about the same weight distribution (~60/40). But the r32 is 200-300 lbs lighter ...

 

[Bunnspeed]

Also, while the S4 might be cheaper to make fast, the R32 would likely be far, far cheaper to maintain as a tuner car. The 2.7t has its share of issues and they cost a fortune to address. The R32 costs a lot to make significantly faster, but it's still the car is rather use as a track car or weekend warrior in the twisties. They're bulletproof.

My friend has one with about 150k miles and he's been driving the piss out of it since he bought it new in 04. It runs strong and burns zero oil and the engine and tranny have never needed any work. It has cams, a tune, intake, haldex controller, coilovers, poly bushings, sways, bracing, and Z1 Star Specs on 18x8 Superturismos. He also owns a Cayman R PDK. I drove both back to back in the oceanside twisties outside San Fran, and the modded R32, while much slower in the straights, had no trouble matching the pace of the stock Cayman R in the twisties.

I much preferred driving the R because it was so mechanical and visceral. That exhaust/ induction note and bright red TR paint gave it presence galore. What a fun car. I'm gonna drive both cars again when I visit him in 3 weeks.

 

[MKV Aaron]

Don't go into a 7k R32 or a cheaper B5 S4 expecting for them to be bargain purchases.

Both will be costly, the S4, much more so.

 

[bostonaudi]

^ for sure

Personally I don't like Audi's at the track at all, they just feel completely out of their space. A TT-S would probably be the most affordable newer Audi that could be made to go well, and would still be expensive. Forge occasionally brings a TT-S to Roebling and they seem to get it to go well. It has all the good stuff we like to bolt on to our GTI's.

I bought a B5 S4 brand new back in 2000 (see my garage, a beautiful Cactus Green I special ordered), it was expensive when stuff broke, and it struck me as being heavy for this sort of thing. It was fast as hell straight line with just a chip, but as a track performance car, most any BMW would take it in terms of lap times. You could probably get it to go well with some development, but you'd have to strip it and get the weight out. The engines had a reputation for turbos going bad when chipped at low mileage, tracking it a lot might make for expensive weekends. And the turbos cannot be changed without removing the engine, then you might was well go K04, then you are talking many many thousands of dollars.

The MK4 R32 has a lot of potential. With forced induction this car could stay with some pretty fast machinery. I had the same feeling driving it, just a lot of fun, and great sounds! Plain stock it goes great, and as said the R32 not nearly as costly to fix as an Audi. The front is the same old strut suspension, as long as the Haldex system doesn't fly apart the rest isn't that different to fix or maintain and I've rarely heard of failures with AWD.

My only real negative with the Mk4 R32, if you are tall (I'm 6'5") the seats don't fit well, they just aren't proportioned right. If 6'2" or less I'm guessing they are fine. I'm not fat, but the seat backs are cut for shorter folks.

The Mk5 R32 is supposed to be quite a bit faster around a track than a Mk4, but I think the 6 sp and smaller body more fun and visceral.

 

[GTIRaider]

Good info Boston

 

[telaio]

MkIV benefits much more from Unibraces than the MkV - these are a must for a MkIV track car.

 

[miamirice]

If VW is what your after why would you not buy something more like this, am I missing something? It's class record holder, log booked and comes with 3 wheel sets.

http://home.comcast.net/~kendall36/site/?/photos/

 

[telaio]

BTW why would a MkV R32 be faster than an MkIV? Stiffness of chassis comes to mind but is there something else going on too?

 

[darkorb]

MK5 is heavier, but pretty sure DSG is the reason.

 

[GTI_Speed]

Where are you guys seeing $7K R32's? Cheapest I can find is like $15k?

 

[bostonaudi]

On the other hand, this is pretty damn good power for a B5 S4:

http://www.034motorsport.com/turbochargers-and-accessories-turbo-kits-turbo-kit-b5-audi-s4-c5-a6allroad-27t-stage-rs4-k04-p-23410.html?utm_source=034Motorsport+Complete+2.7T+Stage+3+Turbo+Kits+-+%24800+Off%21+Limited+Time+Only%21&utm_campaign=2.7T+K04+Kit&utm_medium=email

 

[LOUCFUR]

^ not bad ... But u would also need to do rods on the car ...