As an American muscle car fan, my inception to EIP Tuning on March first has been rather awkward. Just to let the audience know, EIP is Volkswagen performance headquarters in the world and is located conveniently on the east coast in Westminster, MD.

So, to the point of the post.....There is a limited edition Volkswagen GTI called the R32 that is a brand new model. It will only have 5000 of it's kind on American soil. It is a 3.2 liter (R32), naturally aspirated, 241 horse, VR6 engine mated to a six-speed tranny on an all-wheel-drive platform with Recaro leather racing seats, and fully loaded, etc. The price tag is $30,000 plus some dealers are charging thousands over MSRP for these GTI's.

I've driven one from the front of EIP back into the shop and it was very peppy and solid. Also, it was exceptionally comfortable and supportive; a great platform for serious modification. Regardless, EIP sells turbo kits for VW's and, of course, we had to start on production of an R32 turbo kit. So, one was fabricated and installed on the R32 and it dynoed slightly over 300 wheel horsepower at only 5 psi to the front wheels (the awd feature can be electronically disconnected).

Even though EIP hasn't finished the turbo kit for production, the kit with the installation and tuning to the R32 would be approximately $8,000. The R32 is a daily driver for one of EIP's owners and it hasn't experienced any problems.

I've seen the vehicle in action, yet have never received a ride in it yet. The sound that comes from it is like an audio track from the 5th layer of Hell, with its incredible howling like nothing else. There is no hesitation, curteousy of the AWD feature, when motivated by the right foot. Rocket ship, torpedo, stealth bomber are some accurate descriptions of the turbo R32. And this is only stage 1....

Damn son is all i have to say.

Jeremy

Seriously, if you are going to fork out that amount of cash for the car and then the upgrades... Why not go the STI or EVO route. Save yourself a lot of trouble.

Besides, both the STI or EVO have kickass looks and the HP to back it all up!

Tom

Yeah but from what i read about the R32 i believe that sinking this sort of money into it will make it a beast of a car. The STI and EVO are quite nice, but i think the R32 has more potential for upgrading.

Jeremy

is that the same r32 as in skyline r32 i thought so but vw is of course german and nissan is i believe japanese either way a turbochrged 6 cyl in a vw golf almost changes the term to weight to power ratio

The R32 has no relation to the Skyline R32. The VW R32 is a 2 door golf with an Audi TT drivetrain of 4wd, 3.2 liter VR6 engine making 240 horses at the engine with a 6-speed tranny.

oh ....yeah i saw the one at EIP it looks cool. id drive it!