My best friend has an R32. He paid a little over 2k more than my MS3's price for his car brand new.
the 3.2 VR6 isn't breathing very hard. It's understressed. There are a fair number of people putting some decent boost to them with stock internals and head gaskets with reliable results.
His car buries mine in fit and finish. He has a blue flame cat back, GIAC remap, and some other odds and ends. From the dig he leaves me hard. Once we get rolling I check out pretty quickly.
Both are small hatchbacks but both are different enough to have strengths and weaknesses. I am sure he's happy with his purchase just as I am happy with mine.