In person? These are perfect. Even by the sky high standards of VR6 motors, out of the box they sound absurd:
Like they came straight from Wolfsburg with a Corsa exhaust on them. An angry screaming bundle of snakes; not heard so viciously in a normal car since the original Taurus SHO and something that can go hit for hit with an NSX.
And the body. After an increasingly lardy maturation period for the Golf since Guigaro's original it was a bolt of lightning to the Mk IV; which was a somewhat better-proportioned but nonetheless hopelessly dumpy car whose best looking example was probably the Cabriolet (itself just a Mk III with a Mk IV front end on it); all under a rather hopeless lardass chassis that no amount of VW throwing more and more power at could hope to help help.
So what if they threw even
more power at it? Retuned the suspension even beyond the improved 4Motion setup. Chiseled out those aerodynamics. Take the 18s that already perfectly fit the wheel wells of the GTI, and push them as far out to the fenders as possible. Lower the car. Stance it from the factory. Double up the pipes for a glorious stereo VR6 soundtrack. Give it a
mean look, a presence that no hot hatch of the time short of an M Coupe could hope to compare to. In person they are stunning; and a crazy transformation from the 98% similar normal-ass Mk IV. A BTCC car for the road. And finally,
finally, the Mk IV will get props for driving fun. Yeah, it's absurdly heavy for a car that is dwarfed by a contemporary 911. To weigh 3300 pounds while being so small is pure insanity. Yeah the fuel economy is piss poor, even for the standards of the time where nobody cared. No, it wasn't that much faster than the 25th Anniversary Mk IV GTI or (especially) the VR6 4Motion in a straight line; most of which of those that are still on the road undoubtedly have been modified to ape the R32. Yes, it's the poster dream car for every new member on VWVortex with a TDi automatic. No, I don't think I would want to be tasked with keeping it on the road.
Who cares?
10 Joses out of 10.