Justin Fivella
Contributor
R32
The R32's motor is sufficient but always leaves you wanting for more. Torque is great out of corners, but never really sets you back in the seat. The exhaust note is amazing, though. The transmission is good, offering clean shifts and no complaints, other than not being able to downshift above 4500rpm.
You can feel the car's heft and the "resistance" of the AWD. It's both the car's blessing and curse as the AWD creates great handling but also makes it understeer at the limit. However, the car rotates well when prompted by the brakes, but there's simply too much weight.
The car inspires confidence. Sloppy drivers like myself can get away with murder in the R32. The combo of AWD, weight and VR6 required more effort when hustling in the tight stuff, but because of the AWD it never seemed to come unraveled. The brakes are amazing too!
Overall, the car is a great package and the chassis is good enough for another 100hp (something this car needs).
While the brakes are great, there's sometimes too much initial bite on the street, tending to jerk you forward.
Stock GTI
Against all the odds, this car surprised me. It danced around on its suspension, didn't have the most grip, but managed to hustle through the twisties faster than I expected. It rotated well and had decent power once on boost.
My gripes would be the lack of low-end torque, no character from the stock 2.0FSI and the brakes. Coming out of the R32, the brakes weren't up to the task (although this was a well-flogged example).
Something else you notice is how light the car feels after the R32. Turn-in is way faster, and the car wants to change direction more easily. You can really appreciate the lack of weight, especially up front.
Although the GTI leans, pitches and rolls more than the other cars, once you're used to it, it's almost transparent.
Modified GTI
This car was great. The added power gave the 2.0T more character, while the exhaust gave it the voice it needed; I found myself downshifting just to hear the sound.
While the car had a staggered tire setup that promoted understeer, the grip of the bigger/stickier tires was impressive, and provided you were smooth, it didn't plow.
The suspension was also great, making you realize how good aftermarket coilovers can be - solid under braking yet compliant on mid-corner bumps. The brakes were fantastic, too - fade free, with lots of bite.
It's hard to admit this, because I am the diehard VR6 guy in the office, but I enjoyed this car the most! It's the velvet hammer that only needs a turbo swap to become lethal.
BMW 135i
The 135i was superb. It stops, pulls and handles great. For the money, it's hard to beat and has insane tuning potential if you have the money. I'm not ashamed to say I was intimidated by the expensive RWD car, but despite its potential to bite me around every corner, the car never gave any indication it would get out of hand. However, you had to be gentle on the throttle when exiting corners in second and third gears because you felt it could get out of hand in a hurry. That said, the grip was amazing but I didn't like the fat steering wheel.