2006 Volkswagen Golf R32

Droplets of rain freeze on their way to the ground before landing on the rain-soaked superhighway that stretches through the northernmost reaches of eastern Germany.

With left blinker flashing I roar past the last car in a long string of diesel heaps that hug the right lane. Clicking down a gear, I push the pedal into the floor and an unmistakable bark erupts from under the hood as a big-hearted VR6 powers us to the shiny side of 220 km/h. To my amazement, the R32 has no idea it's even raining outside; it remains composed enough to make me wonder if it's bored with the whole thing.

The R32's suspension feels perfectly damped and precise at autobahn speeds. Which is good because it is 20mm lower than a stock Golf and a bit bone crushing on the rugged roads around downtown Berlin. The stiff ride is nothing an enthusiast should mind, but the R32 is said to be built for the affluent businessperson who is unwilling to compromise everyday civility (or navigation and leather for that matter) in exchange for hard-core performance.

You wouldn't know the car was designed to be yuppie transport by driving it, though. The squared-off, F1-style steering wheel needs a scant 2.9 turns to get from lock to lock, making the car feel alert and flickable. The sharp steering works in unison with a well-composed chassis that breaks into a slow, neutral slide when pushed past the breakaway point, an effect that is easy to initiate in these wet conditions.

Whether you choose to exit corners in a tidy slide or culminating an apex-clipping arc, the real kick in the pants comes afterward, when the brilliantly vociferous VR6 howls to redline, following the millisecond click of each new gear. Downshifting through the Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG) for an approaching corner is equally spine tingling-this is truly one of the great sounding engines of our day. Gear changes are instant and authoritative, accompanied by a wonderful metallic crack from the center-mounted exhaust on execution.

It's debatable whether an electronically-controlled transmission of any type should be on an enthusiast's checklist, but if it just has to be an auto, it has got to be the system in this car. Not only does the DSG perform sweet little tricks like throttle-blipped downshifts, it shifts faster and cleaner than any human possibly could-VW claims DSG R32s hit 60 mph three-tenths of a second faster than 6-speed manual versions, at 6.2 seconds. And you retro grouches can relax; when the shift lever is in sport mode, there is zero electronic nannying to compete with-the R32 will happily sit at any rpm, in whichever gear you choose.

Northeast Germany isn't known for its balmy weather in the dead of February. During our test drive, we met with rain, ice, and masses of standing water big enough to be dinosaur lap pools. We were thankful for our winter tires, but it was difficult to really explore the handling limits, especially on mostly straight roads. Not to mention that each car was loaded down with the luggage of its two occupants and all associated camera gear.

Through some of the wetter, less than paved corners we encountered while bouncing down 700-year old village roads, it was possible to feel the Haldex all-wheel-drive system frantically shuffling torque around in order preserve the intended direction of the car. The system is capable of dishing 100 percent of the torque to either the front or the rear wheels. We did not pull onto an iced over, tank-paved road to try this. Because we didn't, we don't know first hand that the torque is delivered to the wheels with the least traction.