Kevin Bacon

Yeah a low boost VRT is faster overall but 'Running rings around' is a slight exaggeration imo. Standard R32s have ~ 240lbft @ 2500rpm and using Stealth's Stage 1 360hp VRT as a comparison, it makes 190lbft at the same rpm and 240lbft is achieved by 3250rpm. Two corrados, one with a VRT and one with an R32, the R32 is definitely faster from a standstill to 3000+rpm. I already know this from experience, but some hard numbers to back it up doesn't hurt :) 3500rpm onwards is where VRTs have the advantage. And even then, a VRT at this level wouldn't walk past the R32 like it was standing still. I know there are much more powerful VRTs out there but Stealth's represents a well priced, decent, 'safe' power level kit that most folk would go for. I have raced Heresites in his R32 rado (280hp/260lbft), from a standstill, in my 400hp, 350lbft VRT rado. On paper I should have completely mullered him, but the reality was we were even until I saw 3700ishrpm, and then I started pulling away. And even then, I only kept with him below that rpm because his wasn't mapped to remove the torque delivery issues converted R32s have! I was quite surprised by that, given my shorter gearing, but it just goes to show that internet top trumps and the real world are very different. Don't get me wrong. Having built and run both as daily cars for 1000s of miles, I love them both. But the R32 is just way more flexible in day to day driving and you do need a long stretch of road to see the VRT's top end advantage. Who was it on here who pulled a 13.01 1/4 in their Rado R32? I'm sure Ben Walker on here (can't remember his forum name) managed a 13.5 or something in his 400+ VRT. Things are never black or white in the modding game ;)

I prefer the look of the leather Recaros if I'm honest, but if I take them out, my car will no longer be an R in a weird kind of way. I'm surprised too because a MK4 Golf wasn't even on my radar when looking at other cars. I actually stumbled onto my R32 on the AudiSRS classifieds whilst looking for a B5 RS4! I saw it and wondered why I'd forgotten about the little R as it's a natural progression from a Rado. I'm quietly confident I made the right choice :D Whilst RS4s, M5s and Z3Ms are no doubt far better cars, I dunno, I just wasn't drawn to them in the same way I was to the Golf. Nice! They just seem to hold you in all the right places don't they? Zero sliding around in these bad boys! The torso bolsters are mega!

I'm sure KipVR stripped his pump down and rebuilt it, but good to know there's options out there instead of VW's answer of £1000+ VAT. If not obsolete! I think this is a condition of not engaging the ABS frequently enough or possibly not changing the fluid often enough, which is ironic given it's a safety system. Imagine if air bags didn't deploy through lack of use :lol: Anyway, I think the valves must get sticky. Did you bleed the system in accordance with VAG's guidelines and did you bleed the 2 nippes on the ABS pump itself?

What seats did the 4Mo have in it? The Koenig seats go pretty low and the steering wheel has reach and height adjustment, so you can get a good driving position in an R :) Brisk, yeah, that's the right word! I love the R's short gearing and I reckon if a Corrado VR had similarly closely spaced gears, it would be a lot quicker! Cheers Alex and long time no speak! Already got a Blue controller, which I managed to aquire for a good price s/hand :) What's your opinion on HPA's "Competition" controller which keeps the rear wheels engaged under braking? I like the sound of it but it's too much for me at $1100 plus shipping and import clobbering. Yeah it is! Very boomy when it's hot. Odd for a factory system as they're normally quiet. It's on my to do list :) There appears to be bugger all sound deadening in the back of these cars, so adding some might help. I wonder if that was a deliberate move by VW to get some more noise into the cabin? Interestingly, mine doesn't bark like Rs normally do. I'll check the exhaust flapper is working! And yup, the top of the seat clouts the sun visor when you tilt it forward :lol: I don't know what VW were thinking with these seats tbh but they're easily the most comfortable VAG seats I've ever sat in, so I can forgive them! ---------- Post added at 9:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 9:51 AM ---------- You can't be considered a true enthusiast unless at least one room in the house is full of parts :) Spooky! I thought the MK4 was quite a small car overall, but even they make the Corrado look absolutely miniscule!!!

Cheers guys :) Yeah the chains. Common stretching issue on MK4s and early MK5s but rest assured, that job is already planned for the near future ;) I can keep an eye on the stretch with VCDS in measuring blocks 208 and 209 though. Actual snapping is very rare though and like anything else, preventative maintenance is key. I knew about the chains before I bought it and having done them on an R32 before, it's a simple job. It's a lot more work on a MK4/5 though. Full front end off, subframe down etc etc. 1.5 - 2 days labour for a professional. Yeah I don't see MK4 Rs on the road either. See plenty of MK5s though! I also think the MK4 will eventually become a classic like the Corrado. The last of the big engined hatchbacks from VW. Prices have pretty much floored on MK4s now. High milers start at around £5K and go up to £8K for low mileage minters. Versus a Corrado VR6. It's been so long since I drove a standard one, I honestly can't say! Plenty of VR6 owners say they can keep up with one and I'd say that's a fair assesment. Only 50 more hp to lug around an extra 300kg levels the playing field! What I would say though is, if an R gets the jump on a VR6 with it's mega bottom end torque, I think the VR6 would struggle to catch it again if both throttles were pinned. Remap an R to 260-270 and extend the rev limit to 7000, then I think the R would have the advantage but you'd need a massively long stretch of clear road to see it because the MK4 isn't as streamlined as the Corrado. I did consider an S3 as they can be tuned easily and understeer less, but I think the R is much better looking and both the R and the S3 can hit 280hp before things start getting expensive, so the charisma and smoothness of the V6 made it the better choice. Definitely a good car overall and there's so many toys available for it! A bigger rear arb apparently shifts all the understeer (which I haven't experienced yet under normal driving, wet or dry) and a number of Haldex mods can give you an R that oversteers on demand :) Cayene 6 pots bolt on, as do RS4 (b7) calipers and running 18s as standard, clearance isn't much of an issue. Speaking of 18s, I was surprised to find they are cheaper than 17s!! 225/40/18 is apparently a very common size these days. Happy days :) So today I did the seats... I can see why these cars are 1500kg, the front seats are bloody heavy, but anyway, here's one all stripped down. The seats are fully rebuildable but the leather covers are eye wateringly expensive. Just as well they wear well! Definitely a deja vu experience, having been here before with the Rado a a few times! More deja vu. A good example of why people shouldn't sit on the bolster when they climb aboard and get out! And the usual fix. Self adhesive felt from John Lewis's habberdashery department :) This stuff has cured many a rattle and fixed many a bolster over the years! The end result of all that faff was turning the seats from this.... ...into this. Much neater I'm sure you'll agree. The 3rd partition in the base should reduce any unsightly sagging as the miles pile on. That'll do for now! Cheers for the compliments guys :) ---------- Post added at 7:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 7:43 PM ---------- There are indeed. 2 things to check when buying an R (or any Haldex equipped VAG):- 1) That you can establish comms with the Haldex ECU with VAG-COM. If you can't, it's not the end of the world as you can pick up used ECUs (has the pump etc built in as one unit) pretty cheaply and a good excuse to upgrade to a blue controller (more aggressive torque transfer to the rear wheels). 2) Drive the car very slowly at full lock in both directions (and reverse) and listen for horrible noises and a rear wheel skipping. If this happens, the haldex is shot. But it could also be a dodgy handbrake switch as lifting the handbrake one notch disengages the Haldex, so it could just be a simple thing. 9 times in 10 though, it's the Haldex. It's not that common to suffer these problems though and so long as the car hasn't been abused and the haldex oil and filter changed every 20K, it'll be fine.

After selling the Corrado last septemberish, I've been tooling around in a Rover 25 and an Alfa 147 (ex family cars) whilst slowly researching a Rado replacement. It was nice having cars I didn't care about and could leave anywhere and not tinker with, but I would steer anyone away from Alfas. Complete money pits. Even the dull ones! £450 for a cambelt change, £180 spark plugs, 28 mpg average (150hp 2.0!!), mega thirst for 10W/60 and so on... I test drove and researched several cars, including an E34 M5 which blew it's head gasket and rear brake lines on the test run, which was slightly amusing :) Anyway, when it came down to it, VWs are in my blood, so that's what I've stuck with. So here it is, a 2004 MK4 R32 with 52K on the clock. I went for a silver one as the blue and black ones are a bit too blingy for me. I like subtle Standard toys are: Auto wipers, auto dim mirror, xenons & climatronic. This car has the following options: sunroof, full heated leather and cruise control. I've never really been interested in MK4s in the past but R32s have a real character and is quite a good looking car imo :) It was completely standard when I got it but I got it remapped at Stealth last weekend. Unfortunately their rollers were broken on the day, so no power run :( It feels about 260ish on my butt dyno though. Mods to do:- Very rare 3 panel seat bases. I believe they are US spec and weren't available in Europe. I stumbled on them on the R32OC and snapped them up. Reason being, I hate the way the 2 panel bases sag, like this.... They are otherwise hard wearing seats and are extremely comfortable, but these will fix the sagging :) The wires are for the heating. Even the bolsters are heated. Another mod is a common one. A cooling fan resistor pack. The fans on these cars are 2 speed. Climatronic turns the low speed on when the AC is on to keep the condenser cool (aka A/C radiator) but the resistors built into the fans burn out, so no fans! £400 fix from VW, or a this £45 fix :) Not even the newer VWs are free of fan problems! Maintenance work so far has just been the replacement of the driver's side door lock module, which is another common fault that causes the C/L, fuel pump priming, puddle lights and interior lights to do odd things. What I like about it is I can go into a dealer and they know what a MK4 Golf is and parts are readily available and sensibly priced. I wish that were true of the Corrado! Having had the pleasure of driving Pat McCrotch's MK5 R32 DSG, the MK4 is a noticable step down in quality, but to me it drives better and you don't notice the engine weight as much as you do in the MK5 or a Rado VR6. Mainly because it's so firmly sprung and damped. MUCH stiffer than either car! There's a few rattles and squeaks I need to tackle but that'll be easy with my experience of doing the same to the Corrado and missing clips and interior panels/parts are readily available! It's nowhere near as fast as the Corrado was (in it's R32 form) but it can certainly corner faster and flatter though. It's a decieving car in as much as it makes a lot of fruity noises, but you look at the speedo and think "Is that all??!" It was the other way round in the Corrado! The speedo climbed round nearly as fast as the tacho :) Still, knowing me, it probably won't be long before a turbo finds it's way under the bonnet! But for now, it's fast enough as a daily hack. If you like Corrados and want to move up to something a bit more modern and has great handling out of the box, you can do a lot worse than a MK4 R! As ever, my tinkering will be fully documented ;)

Yeah got one. It was working when I took it out so should be fine. I always changed it when swapping cams as a matter of course! PM your address and I'll post it on Monday.

I think there's talk of that engine fitting in R32s on the Vortex, so might also fit in Corrados too. Now that would be an engine conversion!!

Defo want a 6 pot? Of all the things I've done to my Corrado, a 24V conversion was the biggest faff by far, especially when it came to getting the ME7 managment in and working. Could be time to try something different? ;) The only way to ensure a smooth transition is to get a heavily rear ended car as already suggested. You can't rely on ebay people to supply everything you need.

Yup, the white ones dude. All they are missing is "Kall Kwik" stickers down the side, or "Dominos Pizza".

4Motion has a much weaker inlet manifold than the R32. Having scoured the Vortex and R32OC for a few years now, it would seem most folk get away with 15psi with the stock R32 intake. It's when pushing their luck at 18+psi, that's when it can burst, but further research shows they only really blow apart due to backfires from shoddy tuning. TBH, the main reason for me buying an R32 was to try another turbo project, but this time with traction and gearbox strength as standard. Nothing on the market currently appeals. HPA make a nice exhaust manifold but the rest of their stuff seems pretty average and over priced. Not sure what stuff I'll use yet but prolly base it around that mani, but it'll defo be a built to last project as before and as OE as possible! Yeah you do need to decomp them. It's bit of a pain on the R / BDE because you need a longer chain. Dropping the CR from 11 to 8 needs quite a thick spacer. About 5mm IIRC. It'll be a great engine when turboed. You'll still get your 240 odd torque between 2000-3000rpm and by then the turbo should be spooling, so by 4K where you normally get a step in the R32 power delivery, you'll just get the same insane thrust as you do from 2K, but it'll keep going to 7K!

Might have one in my tool box. I'll check tonight.

+1 All manner of VAGs scanned and you can do some nifty stuff with it on the later cars :)

I thought there was only 1 Scirocco? Don't like them in white at all. Seems to be the default colour for VAGs these days, ever since the colour became trendy with Ugg boot wearing, orange make-up boys and girls because of "The only way is Essex". The road outside my work usually has 3 or 4 white A3s and A4s parked on it every day. All of them 2.0TDIs with the gun metal wheel option ticked. Bloody sheep. I think that's defo prevalent with Audi, VW & Seat these days. Trendy cars for call centre team leaders, hair dressers & estate agents. The thinking man's VW for the more discerning motorist is now Skoda. And the rich man's VW is Bentley and the Billionaire playboy can buy a Bugatti. The VAG machine has every market cornered mate. I just wish I saw more Bugattis than essex white A3s.

You lot are clogging up Stealth's workshop with your dead / dying bloody Corrados! Vince can't fit me in until May because of it!

In 35 years no one will be able to afford the fuel to drive to said fields :) The MK1 Focus RS will always attract a following, despite having the most hideous interior known to man. As for Corsas, well, maybe the VXR might attract some picnic blanket action?

Why not be the first to do a TFSI conversion? Plenty of them about. More economical than a VR6, torquier than a VR6, lighter than a VR6, faster than a VR6. Benefits all round as far as I can see. Only negative being it doesn't sound like a VR6 but you can't have your cake and eat it :)

You can get 25% off parts at Eurocarparts if you join the R32OC and lanbdas are about 80 quid if you shop around - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-GOLF-R32-LAMBDA-SENSOR-OXY-022906262AG-NEW-GENUINE-/380320738647 MAFs are about £90 from EuroCP, or £150 from VW. I don't recommend hunting around for missing parts either, having been there myself, and engines sold as complete should be complete!! Anyway, your most common engine code choices are: BFH (MK4 R32), BDB (Audi A3), BUB (MK5 R32) plus Audi TT, but I don't know the code for it. The MK1 TT DSG would be a lovely engine to get as it gets the bigger MK4 style airbox (as per KipVR's) and some very sexy downpipes. Missing lambdas and MAFs etc is annoying, but correctable. The biggest ball buster is a missing in-car harness. Very few conversion sellers supply it and it's not cheap from VW. It was about £600 last time I enquired. It's the harness that controls all the numerous power supply functions, the pedal, and a few other bits n bobs.

New? It's been around for years! I think Kip sums it up well: Stodgy looking. It does feel very well made inside and I like the frameless doors, but other than that. No ta. It's just another fashion car like the TT.

Good stuff! I've had to take a rear cam down to a tyre place before to get the bolt air gunned off! The bolt shoulder grips onto the cam trigger's washer.

Costs me £350 to insure my 3 door :)

He said 4 door, so I'm guessing hatchbacks are out.

I'm guessing fuel economy isn't a primary concern and it has to be a 4 door saloon, so no 5 door hatchbacks? Monaros must be getting down to that sort of money now? Well I was in the same boat as you. Looked at M5s, B5 RS4s, Honda Integras, S2000s, very early Boxsters, Subarus etc etc but when it came down to it, it was better the devil I know and got an R32 (MK4).

Blimey, how often do you use the vanity mirrors? Neither of mine blew over 9 years / 140K :) Power steering belt! FFS, that's just ridiculous. I have no idea why we are so loyal to VW. You can still get belts for Mercs and BMWs dating back to the 70s!!

That is unlucky as the VR6 and R32 engines are not ones that attract air locks in my experience, unless something else is wrong. When you say water pump, do you mean the electric one? Can you hear it buzzing when the car is off? It's preferable to leave all 12V fan stuff in place when doing this conversion and then the after run pump should stay working. How old is the engine? The main pumps can wear out with age and the another thing that makes VRs/24Vs run hot is an old radiator that's lost it's cooling efficiency. Could be silted up. Is it the original MK3 rad? Just the front 2 mate and the rears disabled in software. You need a front sensor per bank so that the front and rear banks get the same fuelling. I thought the dubpower mani had both sensor bungs in it already? The R32 runs 4 sensors as standard. 2 widebands before the cats (1 per bank) and 2 narrowbands after the cats (1 per cat). Yeah I was going to try that before I sold the car! Some kind of wind shield around the t peice!