Even the thick swathes of mist hanging low around Klagenfurt’s mountainsides seem to move at speed today – wherever the black Golf IV suddenly appears and zips by. ‘Vrrooaarr!’ and ‘vrroom’ it goes, revving from low pitch to high, making the valley echo. It’s a special sound: genuine, unadulterated R32. Fully present, but in no way obtrusive.
There can only be one ...
There can be few other cars as deeply rooted in the lives of its drivers as the Golf. ‘It’s my Life’; a series introducing people who drive the Golf – and who eat and breath Golf. In part 4, the Austrian Ronny Pitz from Klagenfurt explains why a 2004 Golf MK IV R32 is the perfect car for him.
Knows his way around here and knows every hairpin by name: Ronny Pitz, out for a spin in his Golf R32
Ronny Pitz also goes ‘Vrrooaarr!’ and ‘vrroom!’ A youthful 30-year-old, the Klagenfurter sitting behind the tri-spoked wheel of the R32 can actually imitate the voice of his Golf, and he does it to perfection: truly unbelievable. He does it whenever he feels like it – which it is quite often. He says it, utters a quiet ‘vrrooarr’, switches down a gear, and uses his right foot and the 240 PS engine to produce the exact same pitch.
Full torque still on tap
Built in 2004, this perfectly preserved, all-original Golf is one of the last mark IV R32s. It’s clocked up 259,000 kilometres since it first rolled of the line, but its full torque is still on tap. Its only modification: spacers, to make the Golf sit a little lower in its wheel arches. “A dream!” says Ronny, who, naturally, attends all the meets in his home region between St. Margareten and Ferlach, as well as the big fan gathering down at Wörthersee.
The magic of IV
His first car in 2009 was a Golf IV R32. That then got updated at regular intervals: Golf R marks V, VI and VII, crowned by the Golf VII GTI Clubsport02 – what more could you want? “Another mark IV R32,” says Ronny admiringly, as if it were the most logical thing in the world. “When I sold my first Golf IV R32, I sat in my room and cried for half an hour,” he says without a hint of shame. “And although I had the latest R model parked in my garage ever since, I was always looking out for Mark IVs. The latest models appealed, but the magic of the IV remained.”
Packs a punch: 3.2 litre VR6 engine, 240 PS, 320 Nm at 2,800 rpm, 4MOTION – it moves …
Then, in autumn 2018, the time came for Ronny to sell his Clubsport and set off with his best Golf buddy, Patrick, on the eight-hour ride to Jena, to collect a Golf IV R32 advertised there. It was the very same black example in which he now does the rounds here in his Carinthian home, where the roads weave like the intake pipes around an engine block, where one bend already announces the next.
259,000 kilometres don’t show on this Golf R32
Eternal passion: the Mark IV R32 never let Ronny Pitz go
In a word: “perfect!”
The R32 moves through the landscape, making its fulsome sound up the narrow, steep Schmarrnstieg to the hill the locals call Wofferaner Horn. Ronny knows his way around here, and he knows every hairpin by name. His steering is calm, precise, experienced. Asked how he would best describe his R32, he responds without hesitation: “My Golf IV R 32 is – perfect!”
Mountains, valleys, bends: ideal conditions for a Golf R32
The best thing about driving this car is something that happens often: “When you whiz past someone in the unassuming R32 and look in the rear-view mirror to see them mouthing: ‘What was that?’ – then at the next traffic light, you watch with amusement as they read the answer on your tailgate: R32!”
“What was that!?” Ronny Pitz enjoys surprising other drivers with his R32
The ultimate relaxation
“If I need some peace and quiet, I take my R32 for a spin around the locality,” says the young Carinthian, who never wants to part from his black Golf. Brakes, clutch, gear-change, clutch, gas: ‘Vrrooaarr!’ – ‘Vrrooarr...,’ echoes Ronny. And he’s right. He definitely looks more relaxed behind the wheel.
And the mist lifts.
