there was a guy at our autocross w a blue R32. he owned allllllll of us. and i mean owned us. all he has was basic mild coil over kit, but hes getting, or got, bigger turbo now. but when i t was stock w coilovers, that thing handled like a mofo and got some crazy times, he was wayy ahead of us all in porsches
i grew up in europe, and i love VWs, i wanna get a 1st gen really bad.
good luck in your search, but go for a few test drives and see the difference for yourself.