New R32 Golf

jayok

bmoferrall, thanks for the videos, just finished downloading and viewing them all.

The one with Vicki Butler-whatever was interesting as she thought that 220bhp was the max for the front wheel system as well!

I just checked the specs and it puts out 300Nm of torque at 4,800 rpm with 250bhp at 6,200rpm. How the hell do the front wheels handle this? Is there softer compund tyres (there must be) on the front for extra grip? I know the ASR, tracation control systems are there, but ultimately the adhesion between the tyre and ground is the key element.

Do you own one bmoferall?

Sorry for bringing this off topic!

bmoferrall

jayok wrote:

bmoferrall, thanks for the videos, just finished downloading and viewing them all.

The one with Vicki Butler-whatever was interesting as she thought that 220bhp was the max for the front wheel system as well!

I just checked the specs and it puts out 300Nm of torque at 4,800 rpm with 250bhp at 6,200rpm. How the hell do the front wheels handle this? Is there softer compund tyres (there must be) on the front for extra grip? I know the ASR, tracation control systems are there, but ultimately the adhesion between the tyre and ground is the key element.

Not really sure (I only have a 'Joe public' knowledge of cars). I guess it's a combination of the ASR, low-profile sport tyres, and suspension set up (as VBH said in the clip, the Alfa engineers find it hard to explain on account of its complexity). The recommended tyres are 17in Michelin PS2's which obviously help with grip. The V6 engine is pretty heavy so I suppose that helps with traction, while contributing to understeer in corners. The Mondello clips kind of speak for themselves as regards the handling of the car (albeit a modified one).

Do you own one bmoferall?

Yes, I've owned one for 3 years. It's a great all round car: practical (proper back seats), good looking, understated, quick when you need it to be, good motorway cruiser, great engine sound, relatively good economy (25mpg - all suburban driving), very reliable (so far) and not too expensive to run (apart from tax).
Very few people seem to know about the car so you can have some fun on the road, particularly with agressive BMW and Merc drivers.
You'll find some pictures of my car here:
http://www.datapage.ie/images/gta/

Sorry for bringing this off topic!

Yes, apologies to the original poster. Actually, the first Top Gear clip above contains a reference to the R32 so we might be ok.

unkel

bmoferrall wrote:

Yes, I've owned one for 3 years. It's a great all round car: practical (proper back seats), good looking, understated, quick when you need it to be, good motorway cruiser, great engine sound, relatively good economy (25mpg - all suburban driving), very reliable (so far) and not too expensive to run (apart from tax)

It's a great car all around except for depreciation. But hey, look at it like this: when buying a 156 GTA new, you get 80% of a BMW M3 for just 60% of its price

bmoferrall

unkel wrote:

It's a great car all around except for depreciation. But hey, look at it like this: when buying a 156 GTA new, you get 80% of a BMW M3 for just 60% of its price

I would have bought a second-hand example had there been any available at the time. I suppose I could have waited a year or two, but I rather innocently thought the GTA would hold its value better than similar cars, given that it was a limited edition and, at least to me, very special; plus, I just hadn't the patience to wait. To be honest, I was a bit wet around the ears at the time car-wise; although I tried to defend my decision to buy new in another thread I would never do it again, regardless of the type of car. Having said that, I'd think twice about buying this type of car second-hand in Ireland, given the state of our roads and our relatively slap-dash approach to car care.

bmoferrall

unkel wrote:

It's a great car all around except for depreciation. But hey, look at it like this: when buying a 156 GTA new, you get 80% of a BMW M3 for just 60% of its price

More consolation:

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=277715

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=277728

I guess there are few exceptions to the big-engined depreciation rule in this country.

ciarsd

bmoferrall wrote:

Yes, apologies to the original poster. Actually, the first Top Gear clip above contains a reference to the R32 so we might be ok.

not at all lads.. I was merely informing you of the latest R32 to hit the streets - this is a good conversation, with some good info spilling from it. since the vids referenced the older R32 I think the mods should leave this as is :cool:

@ BMoferrall or TB, i want a spin in ur cars :eek:

bmoferrall

ciarsd wrote:

@ BMoferrall or TB, i want a spin in ur cars :eek:

I'd like a spin in TB's car too - it's a lot quicker than mine, which is standard.
He's pretty generous about giving passenger rides on track days though (not sure if he browses this forum).
I'm very tempted to sample some of Autodelta's catalogue; however, I'd be wary of being sucked into a black hole of endless expenditure, trying to keep up with those quicker RWD and AWD cars.

Have you still got your 147 ciarsd? If not, what do you drive now?

ciarsd

bmoferrall wrote:

I'd like a spin in TB's car too

agreed

bmoferrall wrote:

He's pretty generous about giving passenger rides on track days though (not sure if he browses this forum).

everytime I've been this year, i've only copped his car the once i think TB's over on IPC quite a bit

bmoferrall wrote:

Have you still got your 147 ciarsd? If not, what do you drive now?

my younger brother wants to buy it. im just back from a stint away with work so the ball is rolling for him to shift his and take mine.
im really not sure what to go for, the car is running super and now im kinda sad to let it go. i've got a lot of car both inside and out and im afraid there is not much competition in the replacement stakes at the moment