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Red Heat: 2008 Volkswagen R32 A bright Tornado Red 2008 VW R32 whirled into the garage at Motor Trend Towers this week. As an acknowledged GTI fan, and someone with only a little wheel time in the new top-model R32 (which VW has been shamefully withholding from U.S. buyers for some two years), I rudely shoved my way to the front of the signup line and snatched the keys for an extended romp with VeeDub?s hottest hatch. The immediate impression upon climbing aboard the R32 is how sumptuous it is. This may be a small, two-door hatchback, but it?s lavishly equipped: heated leather sport seats (they?re simply fabulous), dual-zone climate control, Sirius Satellite Radio, glass moonroof, cool ?F1″ flat-bottom leather wheel, optional navigation. The cockpit fits me like a wetsuit; it?s tight but ? for me at least ? ideally proportioned. I love the meaty feel of the three-spoke wheel, the right-on placement of the dead pedal, the icy glow of the blue instruments. The radio is a little slow to respond to tuning inputs, and the climate-control dials feel a bit cheap, but, c?mon ? these are trifling quibbles. This is how you build an enthusiast-car cockpit. Instead of the GTI?s 2.0-liter turbo four, as you likely know, the R32 boasts VW?s narrow-angle, 3.2-liter V-6 ? producing 250 horsepower (up 50 horses over the GTI) and 236 pound-feet of torque (up 29 pound-feet). While the 2.0 has just a bit of turbo lag, the 3.2, of course, has none. It revs sweetly and pulls hard, putting all of its might down without hiccups ? thanks to standard 4Motion all-wheel drive. Performance is increased over the GTI, but not as much as you might think; the AWD system and larger engine, among other things, add roughly 300 pounds to the bottom line. You don?t notice the added mass so much in straight-line sprints, but you do in corners. Whereas the GTI is a scalpel on twisting roads ? neat, precise, light to the touch ? the R32 is a power saw: It does its work effortlessly, but it?s a more brutal tool and you?ll flex your muscles more moving it around. The ride also is stiffer than I remembered from my earlier quick drive ? not harsh, but you?ll never forget you?re piloting an enthusiast?s car. The one and only transmission is VW?s brilliant six-speed DSG automatic. Man, do I love this shifter. The shift paddles are small flanges mounted behind the wheel; they?re unobtrusive but lie in perfect reach of your fingertips: paddle right shifts up, paddle left shifts down. Each paddle articulates only a fraction of an inch, adding to the high-precision feel. And, of course, the twin-clutch direct-shift gearbox is as blinding quick as a camera flash; you can run up and down the six closely spaced ratios like a Grand Prix ace. I?ve always thought of myself as a manual-transmission purist, but it?s hard to ignore the zoomy charms of this DSG. Besides, when the traffic clogs (and when you?re out trying to flog a bright-red sports coupe, doesn?t it always clog?), you can just throw the lever into ?D? and let the transmission do all the work for you. So . . . bottom line is, the R32 is one sweet hot hatch! Read more: http:--blogs.motortrend.com-red-heat-2008-volkswagen-r32-1165.html