Blair

But a Capri has a saggy arse, the Corrado's is nice and pert :D

Hi Turbogirlie - yep, that was me :)

Do you live in Ludlow Turbogirlie?!? My parents & sister live there, I'm over fairly often...I'm sure I've seen a Corrado over there (but can't remember the details of colour, model or anything!) If you see a Moonlight Blue Pearl J-plate G60 it might be me :) I've also seen a gorgeous lhasa green Mk1 GTI over there on a few occasions, always up waiting at the pedestrian crossing outside Powerhouse. Don't suppose you know who that is do you? God I want that car :)

Good point - just for the record, on motorway/A-road long journeys I'll get 35mpg if I use a light right foot, 30mpg if I submit to the occasional urge to "boot it" :) I drove from the Midlands down to London (Oxford St) then back out via Richmond to the M3 and down to Winchester on Monday (occasional sustained periods of heavy right foot, must be my lumbago) and still averaged 31mpg. Not bad, considering the time I spent crawling through London.

I'm in the same boat, but chose to sell the Corrado rather than run it into the ground (had it 6.5 years anyway, it's time for a change I think!). In terms of maintenance, mine has been expensive recently - over 400 quid spent on top mounts, rack gaiter replacement, water pump, cam belt and tensioner - but in general it has been pretty good. I don't find the parts too expensive, apart from of course the charger.

Haven't read all the replies (no time at this time of night), but the original post rings some bells with me. I haven't "fallen out" with my Corrado - still love it. Sure, it's a 13 year old car and has some niggles, but it's still a bloody good car (once I find out why the head's a bit noisy...). But the upshot is I need something newer, since I'm taking the car allowance from work and I'm supposed to have something relatively new as a result :D I tested another V6 4Motion on Monday but I only got 22mpg out of it - and I wasn't even booting it particularly!!! I was shocked. I'll admit, that really put me off - 22mpg is p***-poor by anyone's standards. Maybe the dealership just got hold of a dog, but I was expecting at least 5mpg above that the way I was driving it (a couple of quick blasts but about 7 miles of cruising around that, mostly at 60-70 on decent roads). Pleased to hear Phat is getting 27m;pg out of his R32 lump - maybe the one I drove was a tad...erm...knackered?

Too bloody right! I used to love those, but looking at it now, it's like being 12 and fancying your mum's foxy mid-30s friend, then seeing her again when you're 30 and she's mid-50s. Something of a disappointment :D But by God, hasn't the Corrado aged well?!?

It would have to be a pretty wide range for 95 RON regular unleaded to actually average at 92 though (between 89 and 95, on a purely simplistic basis without taking into account relative volumes). Since there's a difference in performance between 95 and 97 RON, I'd hate to think I'd ever had a tankful of 89 RON in my C... :)

I like that - only thing I'm not sure about is the front bumper, quite happy with the rest though :)

US fuel runs around 92 RON as well (or it used to - can't imaging it has drastically changed) so that would affect the mapping as well I'd guess.

Saw a lowered blackberry Corrado on Saturday going the other way through Little Hereford...? Looked nice!

Most embarrassing? Getting it seriously sideways on the roundabout 300 yards down the road from work in front of several large queues of traffic :) After a bit of over-correction (followed by a quick over-correction back again, then a bit of accurate correction) I actually left on the correct exit and went home. I do however remember the wide-eyed looks from those in the queue :) In my defence, it was early days of Corrado ownership and a wet roundabout - in the Mk1 I had just sold lift-off oversteer was hard to provoke. I found out it's a tad easier in the C... :)

Knackers. Just when I thought I had grown up enough to be sensible with my next car purchase, I just keep reading stuff like this and knowing I'd hate to be a non-Corrado owner :( If anyone can come up with a plan how I can run a C and something for work on 300 quid a month (including buying the other car), let me know!

Indeed! When I first got mine, one of my (middle-aged) neighbours came out to the street and said "I always wanted one of those, that's the best-looking car in the world". And I also notice the swivel-headed looks of Mk2 owners :)

That must fly! My g/f's Ibiza 130 is fun enough, that must be a riot :)

My mate used to work for BRM - I'll ask him!

The passive rear steering is (as far as I know, but I could be wrong!) down to the design of the rear axle bushes isn't it? I don't think there's any edjustment there at all

Dual-clutch auto boxes, shift quicker than the human eye! Apparently they knock close to half a second off the new GTIs 0-60 sprint. Also apparently (having never driven either derivative of the GTI!) they're a bit uninvolving - one road-tester said it was so good you just tended to leave it in full auto mode, but then that left you without the involvement of changing gear. I can see the attraction though...

And make sure to get it sorted before your MoT or it will fail - mine did (bastard light came on a few days before!) Cheap fix though even if it needs a new sensor (just don't go to VAG to do it!)

I think Silverline Tyres in Warwick have 4-wheel laser alignment. They charge big bucks (I think it was around 65 quid) for the privelige, but worth giving them a go. They're normally pretty good for prices on tyres as well... (And when I first saw "in Stratford" and saw your location as Clapham I thought you meant Stratford, not Stratford-on-Avon!!!)

How easy is it to stick a regular 5-speed manual VR6 'box in there? Obviously the linkage & gearshift handle have to go in, but is it really a nightmare?

Good idea Jim! And...you're not the first to come up with the idea of chav culling ;)

I know what you mean Jim...but then zero depreciation has its benefits... :) Now if only I could get a rate like that!!!! Rodders, any chance you could tell them I'm your cousin? :D

Hey, just remember that thanks to our excessive fuel duty we have a public transport system that is the envy of the rest of the world. and means we don't actually need cars! (Kev - this issue is why the PD150 is still on the shortlist! ;) )

Well, if someone builds one and sticks it in a decent car, I'll give it a good trial :)