HIT FOR SIX

A V6 helped make the four-wheel-drive Mk5 Golf R32 a hit. Jack Warrick reports

- Jack Warrick

Does the Volkswagen Golf’s serial appeal rule it out of being considered a ‘cult hero’? Not in the case of the Mk5 Golf R32, a car that blazed the trail for today’s Golf R with its GTI-trumping performance, a chassis you can trust implicitly and the sure-footed confidence of four-wheel drive. Throw in a 3.2-litre V6 engine and the model’s appealing balance of scarcity and availability – there are just under 2500 Mk5 R32s on UK roads, according to howmanyleft.com – and it has ‘cult hero’ written all over it.

The Mk5 R32 arrived in 2005 as an alternative for drivers who thought the firm’s popular GTI was just a little bit too sensible, but questions were immediately asked about whether it could justify its £4000 premium over Volkswagen’s stalwart performance offering. It was the second Golf to brandish the R32 badge – the Mk4 Golf was the first – and it was a significantly improved package.

Its 3.2-litre V6 petrol engine produced 247bhp and 236lb ft of torque – a hefty increase over the 197bhp and 206lb ft of the contemporary Golf GTI. It also had two driven axles to the GTI’s one and its four-wheel drive came courtesy of Volkswagen’s Haldex 4Motion system. Drivers had the choice of a six-speed manual or a dual-clutch automatic (DSG) gearbox. Unlike in modern dual-clutch set-ups, the manual was the quicker of the two. It gave a 0-62mph time of 6.2sec, which rose to a still-pretty-brisk 6.5sec for the DSG.