To be fair, i think the MK4 R32 at least has to be praised for what was VAG's best 'out of the box' hatch for a hell of a long time. It had looks, a great engine, the sound and for the chassis it was on, handled incredibly well (if a little crashy).
It's a remarkably quick cross country car driven by the right person. The great thing is that in typical english weather it can be driven at 90% even in poor conditions, the grip is astonishing.
I love them, give it a couple of years and the used ones will be a seriously tempting buy.