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AUTObiography: The Fiat Verde Chiaro Mk4 R32

Want your car featured in a VWvortex AUTObiography? Tell us what it means to be a Volkswagen enthusiast, and show us how you and your car demonstrate those ideals! Send this completed form with pictures to sbell@verticalscope.com.

Today we’re featuring forum-mod aar0n‘s 2004 Golf R32. This Fiat Verde Chiaro R32 was only ever supposed to be a daily driver, but one thing led to another, and now this is one of the more comprehensively modified cars we’ve featured since the glorious return of AUTObiography.

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How long have you owned this car? 5 years and change. I bought the R32 in February 2011 after selling my MK4 Jetta Wolfsburg—which I had owned for 7 years—about 2 months before.

Is there anything unique about the history of this car? Not in particular, though Tornado Red R32s had fairly low production numbers. I found it locally on Long Island and it had 4 previous owners and 91k miles, but the Carfax was clean and everything checked out. Like with all Tornado Red R32s, the clear coat was already peeling in spots when I bought it and it only got worse over the years. It’s also got a lower mileage (compared to the body) cammed motor from a friend’s totaled R32.

What drew you to this specific car? My old MK4 Jetta was pretty heavily modified by 2010 and I had hit the point where I wanted to really take it to the next level with an R32 motor swap or fully retrimmed interior. I had the opportunity to drive my friend’s MK4 R32 a few months before (fellow VWVortex moderator Mr. Rictus) and absolutely fell in love, so I knew I needed to have one as it was the pinnacle of VW engineering at the time and checked all the boxes that my Jetta didn’t.

What other cars did you consider? I did briefly think about an S2000 but the practicality and exhaust note of the R32 won me over.

What was your objective with this car? Originally it was to just have a fun daily driver and lightly modify it as time went on, but as you can see, I may have gone a little overboard haha.

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What tuning style would you describe this car as? Clean, early 2000s European style with some OEM+ in the mix, but there really wasn’t a specific style in mind. I just modified it as I saw fit with parts and aesthetics that appealed to me.

Who helped you build this car? This car wouldn’t sit the way it does today without the tremendous help of so many friends and people I’ve met in the 10+ years I’ve been involved with all things VW. Without them, the car would never look anything like it does today because there’s no way I could ever pay shop labor prices for the work that’s been done on the car and I can truly say that some of my closest friendships have developed as a result. There are definitely a whole lot more people than I can name in this space but a few that have had a big impact are:

Greg “Swoops,” of Hardlines by Swoops, cleaned up the engine bay, installed the second motor, fabricated a lot of the custom aluminum pieces in there, and overall just did a whole lot of work fixing odds and ends on the car as a whole over the years.

Dave Paster of SLAW did the amazing body and paint work. Truly incredible work and the various Best Paint awards the car has received over the past 2 years is a testament to the quality.

My friend Tim who is a tech at a local VW dealership (and also now a MK4 R32 owner). He’s my go-to for all maintenance and always willing to lend a hand and let me use his lift and tools at the shop when anything needs to be done.

DubCult family for the support, ideas, honesty, and always being able to lend a hand when needed.

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What makes your car special? There aren’t that many color changed MK4 R32s running around. I guess some people find it sacrilegious if it isn’t a factory color? But definitely the paint color and the small details that could be missed if not looking carefully. I guess it’s also considered pretty low for a MK4 R32 on coilovers (never wanted this car bagged even though my previous car was).

What is your favorite part/feature/function? The exterior color, custom coilovers, the wheels (owned them for 7 years now), and the exhaust note.

Who or what inspired the direction of modifications on this car? Just personal taste really, I can’t say there was a single car or design theme I was trying to follow.

What don’t you like about this car? As anyone who has thoroughly gone through and changed a lot on his or her car would say, you get to really learn about every aspect of your car in that process, and as such there are so many little imperfections here and there that most people wouldn’t bat an eye at, but they definitely stand out to me. Front end has rock chips and the undercarriage of the car is beat up both from being low and having always resided in the Northeast. It’s far from fast even with the bolt-ons but as a whole, I really don’t dislike anything about it!

What was your biggest obstacle in building this car? Just the time and having the patience to do everything correctly the first time around.

How did you overcome the issue? Being patient.

What would you change if you could? I’m pretty damn happy with it as it is!

On a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied are you with the outcome of this project? 9, because 10 would imply it’s perfect and doesn’t need any changes, but I think a project car is always evolving and has room for more.

What would you do to the car if money were no object? Fully retrim the interior in a dark brown leather with Recaro Sportster CS seats and definitely forced induction with a nice snail under the hood. Or maybe a 3.6 swap.

Who has been your biggest critic of this project? Probably me?

What do your family and friends say about this car? They all understand the passion and have seen the car change with me, so I like to think they see it as an extension of me and my personality (my favorite color is green). Otherwise I’d imagine most think it’s extremely loud and a slightly noticeable color.

What is your most memorable/humorous/embarrassing moment with this car?  When I managed to yank the front bumper off at H2Oi a couple of years ago after backing up on a grassy ditch. No damage but a big oops moment for sure!

What is your favorite story about this car? No single story comes to mind, but it’s always fun to see people pointing and smiling from other cars when I’m sitting in traffic.

Has this car competed in any events? I go to most east coast VW and other car shows. Waterfest, Show ‘n’ Go, H2Oi, First Class Fitment, etc. and it’s won a lot of best paint awards.

What is your favorite place to drive this car? A combination of highway (because these really are great cruising cars) and twisty single lane roads. My favorite driving experiences were definitely on the mountain roads outside of Helen, GA in SoWos of past.

What is your ideal day with this car? A sunny weekend day of cruising with friends and enjoying the entire experience.

Who gets to drive this car? I do, but I let friends who I can trust drive it at times, too.

What was your previous project? Black 2003 MK4 Jetta Wolfsburg 1.8T

What is your next project? I hope it’ll be a Porsche of some sort, either a Cayman S or a 997 911 C2S. I love air-cooled 911s, too, but with the recent ridiculous pricing swings upward, those have almost become unattainable.

What one word best describes your car? Loud

Any regrets? Tell us about it. It’s a bit nerve-wracking to drive/park the car anywhere now but at least it looks good!

Anything else you’d like to share? I think that a lot of people today get into the car modifying thing and see it as a competition or as a means to gain recognition and Instagram followers and do things solely to garner attention, regardless if it’s positive or negative. Things like poorly fitting wheels, excessive camber, purposely hacking up your car, etc. just scream “GIVE ME ATTENTION” to me and nothing else. This car is not the result of seeking recognition as that has never been my motivation at all. To me, it’s always been about the friendships you develop along the way and the feeling of accomplishment knowing that it was done with you and your friends. Having a cool car is a byproduct of all of that, but cars can be replaced and shouldn’t define who you are as a person.

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Owner Information:

Name– Aaron

Address- Hoboken, NJ

VWvortex Username- aar0n.

Instagram Username- aar0n0k

Occupation- Corporate software lemming

Club Affiliations- DubCult

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Vehicle Information:

Year- 2004

Make- VW

Model- R32

Mileage- 133k on body, 100k on motor

Color (Include original if applicable)- Fiat Verde Chiaro

Engine– 3.2 24v VR6

  • Engine Modifications
    • United Motorsports tune with Launch Control and No-Lift-Shift
    • Techtonic Tuning 264/260 camshafts
    • HardlinesbySwoops aluminum intake
    • HardlinesbySwoops aluminum inline coolant filler neck
    • HardlinesbySwoops aluminum reservoirs for power steering, coolant overflow, and brake fluid
    • HardlinesbySwoops steel oil pan (shortened, sectioned, baffled)
    • OEM VW MK5 R32 oil pump
    • Dieselgeek aluminum skid plate
    • VF Engineering motor mounts
    • 034 Track Density dog-bone mount
  • Exhaust Modifications
    • Ported OEM exhaust manifold
    • HPA downpipes
    • High-flow catalytic converters
    • Resonator/pancake pipe delete
    • Stock muffler with open flapper
  • Transmission Modifications
    • 42DD aluminum shifter bushings
    • HPA short shifter
  • Suspension Modifications
    • Custom-spec Broadway Static/Fortune Auto 500 series coilovers
    • Ground Control front camber plates
    • ECS adjustable rear LCAs
    • Hotchkis H-sport front and rear sway bars
  • Brake Modifications
    • Shaved front brake calipers for wheel clearance
    • Black painted calipers
  • Wheels and Tires
    • CCW K57. Brushed anodized titanium faces and brushed matte clear powdercoated lips (by Espos Powdercoating)
      • Front: 18×8.5 et15
      • Rear: 18×10 et27 with 15mm spacer (et12 final)
    • Hankook Ventus V12 Tires
      • Front: 215/40/18
      • Rear: 225/40/18
    • Exterior/Body Modifications
      • Full color change in Fiat Verde Chiaro by SLAW (door jambs, engine bay, etc.)
      • Filled hood notch
      • Filled front bumper sidemarkers and emblem notch
      • Shaved front fender markers
      • Shaved rear hatch handle and emblem
      • Shaved roof antenna
      • Shaved stock R32 hatch spoiler
      • Seat Cupra R front lip
      • OEM Euro HIDs (smoked)
      • OEM Lexan headlight covers
      • OEM Euro RSSR tail lights
      • OEM Euro stubby door mirrors
    • Interior Modifications
      • OEM Cloth R32 seats (car came with all leathers)
      • OEM Euroswitch
      • OEM leather armrest
      • OEM R32 Monster Mats
      • OEM R-Line Hood Bra
      • OEM Audi B5 S4 Homelink sun visor (functional)
  • Audio/Video
    • Pioneer AVIC FB90T Navigation/DVD head unit

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