emax

When I bought my VR it had Eibach lowering springs combined with standard shocks. Bearing in mind that the car had done 85k the standard shocks were pretty tired. The car was pretty awful with this combo and the front end would bounce over bumps/undulations in the road. 18 months ago, I fitted Bilstein dampers and it transformed the poise of the car over bumps and improved the ride too. As others have already said though, you do get what you pay for but ideally you want to upgrade your dampers so that they are matched to your springs to avoid the problems I had.

On a VR, there isn't much to choose between them. Both are quite subtle systems but, from the two Milltek and two Magnex equipped cars I've heard, the Magnex seemed slightly quieter. Neither system should be much louder than the OEM system and certainly couldn't be classed as a Chav system! Best thing to do is see if any VR owner local to you will let you have a listen, preferrably on a car with standard induction if subtlety is your thing.

The general consensus on here would be either Milltek or Magnex. both excellent systems. I went for Magnex after experiencing both systems first hand and certainly haven't regretted it. Given your location, it's going to be a little harder to do this!!! Both of the above (if fitted correctly) aren't much louder than the OEM system on a VR6 although I've heard that they are louder on the 4 cylinder cars (perhaps some 16v and G60 owners would like to comment) What are your priorities? Cosmetics? Fit? Sound (or lack of it!)?

In that first picture, it has a resemblence to a 3 door Allegro

marcus, the Milltek is generally not a loud system on the VR6. I've heard it on two Milltek's on VRs and these and it sounded really good; nice and subtle. Not sure what it sounds like on a G60 though but keep us posted. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

It was a very close call for me between a Milltek and a Magnex. Both very similar systems. I looked and listened to both on VRs and was impressed. My Magnex is louder than the OEM system below 3,000. Not particularly boomy though, just a nice warble. Strangely, this is louder on a part-throttle through 2-2,500 revs than it is if you floor it. Once up above 3,000, the exhaust is no louder than the OEM system. Fit of the Magnex is also spot on.

Nice one Kev. How much was it all-in with fitting? If my compression woes turn out to be nothing too major (ie. rings), I might treat myself ;-)

As I said before, I didn't get the head taken off right away because if it is the worst-case scenario, piston rings, I'd probably be more cost-effective getting another engine. I need to do as much diagnosis as possible without removing the head which means another compression test and probably a leak down test. I didn't get the figures from Star so I'm not sure how low #2 was but one thing occurred to me; compression tests should ideally be carried out when the engine is warm. On a VGI'd engine, you can't get access to 3 of the plugs until you remove the Schrick so you'd have to let the engine cool first so that you don't burn yourself when removing the VGI. So it is probably best to temporarily re-fit the OEM manifold so that I can carry out accurate compression and leak down tests first before going taking the head off. I am not very experienced under the bonnet but was keen to try switching the manifolds over myself. Would I be able to leave the wiring and vacuum pumps in situ when I refit the OEM manifold? I'm really praying it isn't the rings. I had the car out for a run tonight and it is running really well. Not down on power and revs smoothly all the way to the red. Just keeping an eye on the fluids and temps in the meantime.

My car is pinking a lot less now too. I'm assuming that it is the colder temperatures that are helping the symptoms?

Well, got the car back earlier in the week but haven't driven it much yet as the baby arrived on Saturday. Car fires up much better on the refurbed injectors but not always on the first turn of the crank. Main difference seems to be the revs rise to about 2,000rpm as soon as the engine catches and then settles to a normal idle. Car still showing some slightly rough symptoms when starting from cold after a few days but much less pronounced than before and seems to fire on all 6 once it catches. No significant performance difference but the hesitation at low revs is gone and the car feels smoother.

Yes, the owner booked it into AmD to get the mess sorted. It made only 158bhp before they sorted it and that's on AmD's not exactly pessimistic rollers! Afterwards it was up to 198bhp though (158 at the wheels). He got a full refund from VW for the initial mess though.

Just a quick update. I've decided to postpone any work on this car based on the advice some of you have given. The car is still driveable and as it is pretty much a second car just now, I'll nurse it home and use it as little as possible and drive it gently too. I'd like to have time to think over the options first rather than just dive in. Besides, with a house move, a baby arriving and having just fitted a new exhaust to both cars plus getting the injectors fitted, I've had less expensive months!!! Thanks for all your advice so far.

Due tomorrow too??! Best of luck!

I've just mailed them to ask for a leak down test prior to removing the head. With a baby due imminently (tomorrow!), I don't really have time to find and take the car for a second opinion just now :-( Besides Star definitely have the knowledge/experience and I do trust them. Just found the receipts for the old work: The Head gasket was replaced by VW Listers in Coventry at 71,360 miles. AmD replaced the Hydraulic Lifters at 74,500 miles. They found at this point that VW had fitted the cam bearing caps the wrong way round and the rear cam one gear tooth over-adjusted!!! No damage done though. We're now sitting on 108,500ish.

The original head was replaced by VW when the car was owned by the previous owner. They replaced it due to a mis-diagnosis and he got a full refund! Basically, he kept seeing the occasional puff of steam appear from under the bonnet. VW diagnosed the head gasket and replaced it. On picking the car up, he drove about 20 miles and saw another puff of steam rise from under the bonnet! Turned out to be a split coolant hose!!! The head is coming off tomorrow and they'll assess the problem from there. I'm hoping that it is "just" the gasket; if it is the rings, I don't know if it is worth spending close to £2k and I'd need to give this some serious thought. While the head is off and provided the rings are ok, I'm going to get them to replace the tappets too so I reckon that all in (with the injectors being refurbed too) that I'll be looking at a bill of four figures. If it were piston rings, what symptoms would I be seeing? I am seriously hoping it isn't!

Thanks for the info. Mileage is 108k and the head gasket was replaced before, at about 70k. As I said before, it doesn't use a lot of oil and it has been running well overall. A bit of hesitation at low revs sometime and it does seem to have the odd "off day" but when on song it is certainly putting out more than 200bhp. Fingers crossed it is the right side of £2000!

I know what you're saying Kev but Stealth is quite some distance away from Scotland so it isn't really an option right now. Esp as my girlfriend is due to give birth tomorrow! I've every confidence in Star too though so I'll let them do the necessary. I've got to go back there later on to give them my OEM wipers back as the lupo ones are going to fail the MOT. The driver's side one doesn't wipe a section of the screen just above the line of site for some strange reason.

I didn't get the compression results off him. As far as I remember, all other cylinders were high (at least the adjacent ones were). Oil consumption would be in the order of 1.5 litres every 5000 miles so well within tolerance for the VR. No signs of cross-contamination in the oil. Oh, and the car wasn't using much, if any water either. Strange or what!

It would seem that if the rings are away it would be more cost-effective to get another block? I can't believe this. The car wasn't exactly running badly! Also, I'm hoping it isn't the rings as I have never seen any smoke of any kind out the back when going back on the gas after running at high revs on the overrun. Fingers crossed it is the head gasket :roll:

I put my car into Star to investigate some pinking with the Schrick and to refurbish the injectors and just got a call from them - it isn't looking good... They have run a compression test on the engine and found that cylinder 2 is low on compression so the head is going to come off. They're suspecting either the head gasket or piston rings. I am surprised to find this as the car certainly doesn't feel down on power. How much does it cost for a head gasket replacement? £600ish? How much more for piston rings?? While the head is off, anything else I should get done at the same time? This is a total disaster!!!

Got the platinum plugs in mine. I'll try switching over to Optimax or this Esso fuel to see if there is any difference. I'll keep you posted. It's interesting however that quite a few of us with the Schrick are experiencing the same symptoms though.

Will definitely provide an update. Thanks for the help.

Interestingly, I've only really noticed it in the summer months too. I run the car exclusively on either Optimax or BP Ultimate. Star Performance are also very experienced with the remapping either and I don't doubt their professionalism but I'll mention it to them when I take the car in next week. Interesing what you're saying about "off days". I thought it was psychological but some days my car feels a little down on power and other days it absolutely flies! No real pattern to it but there is a definite difference day on day. I guess a dodgy tank of fuel could cause this too though...

Great, I'll give that a try if Star can't take the car back in before MOT date (when, most likely I'll get the injectors refurbished on the basis of what you said in your first reply). Thanks for your help.

Yes, the car is chipped. Had it done when my Schrick was fitted. I might speak to them to see if they can look at this when it is in for its MOT. It certainly didn't do it when it was first mapped although I have noticed it more over the last few thousand miles. Would this indicate that the car might need another remap??