Kevin Bacon

MK2 Golf GTI v Peugeot 205 GTI. Audi UR Quattro v Lancia Delta Intergrale. Clio 172 v Civic Type R. Renais Arnoux v Ayrton Senna. Not sure on the spelling there but what battles those two had on the F1 circuits! They make Shumacher and Montoya look like dullards by comparison! Kev

Well M3s, Caterhams, 911s etc are all 2WD and easily get to 60 in 5 seconds or less. There's been plenty of FWD cars dipping under 6 seconds too, as proven on the GTI International 1/4 mile strip. The trick is to avoid wheelspin on the take off and well setup suspension to prevent too much inertia throwing the weight backwards. As for handling....FWD can be quicker than 4WD. Maurice Reeves wiped the floor with an Audi RS4 at Castle Coombe in his MK2 Golf. Having said that, the 4x4 Audis were banned from competing in the BTCC because their traction sheer mechanical grip were deemed unfair by the competition. At the end of the day, any car can be made to challenge convention with the right amount of know-how and funding. The 911 and Corrado VR6 are classic cases of that. 911 - All that weight behind the rear axle acts like a pendulum and hampers progress - wrong. Years of development and evolution have produced one of the quickest A to B cars ever. VR6 - All that weight over the front wheels leads to major understeer - wrong. The extra weight actually helps the front tyres bite the tarmac harder and the passive rear steering bushes mean the rear end follows faithfully. I've yet to get my standard VR6 out of shape on demanding roads - and that's before I even contemplate bigger anti-roll bards and konis etc. Just my tuppence worth.... Kev

Is the original VW VR6 system stainless? The tailpipe certainly is, just wondering about the rest of it? Second question, is the Miltek one as quiet as the factory exhaust? I hate noisy exhausts and I want something as refined as the stock one. Any recommendations? Cheers Kev

I saw that car in Stealth's workshop last time I was there and thought the badges were there for a laugh. Didn't realise what leviathan lurked under the bonnet, until now! That must be awesomely fast. Kev

Yeah I know the parts you mean, they lift the roof liner as you say and yes you need one on each side! Mine works absolutely perfectly manually and it's gradually becoming less stiff since Mike Edwards recommended using some white grease (Comma, Halfords sell it). You know when you reassembled it, did you make sure the cables were synchronized? By that I mean both guides run exactly parallel to eachother. I didn't the first time round and it caused allsorts of panel twisting and groaning noises. To rectify this I removed the motor and made sure the two chrome peices with a little wheel and rubber end were in their detents (by moving them into postion by hand) and the reattached the motor. Perfectly sync'd now. Speaking of the rubber ends on the roof sliders, try using some bigger diameter rubber tubing. It helps a LOT! I will take some pics for you if you need me to? I also lined the roof behind the sunroof aperture with felt to stop the dreaded sunroof scratching too. It's all pretty solid now and functional, but just not motorised! Sod it, I don't care really, so long as it does open at all, I am happy! Kev

I guess you'd need some kind of logarithmic counter chip, such as the LM3914,3915 & 3916 series. These chips count events (such as hall sender pulses for instance) and can be made to do certain things against certain parameters, like displaying a grid of LEDs etc etc. You could just buy a tacho kit and take the circuit board out and run fly leads off the LED outputs and mount your own bulbs as you wish? Kev

My seal has a slit in it too. It has no affect on the aerial's stability as it's attached by a substantial serrated nut that 'bites' into the roof skin. It will not get blown off by the wind and water won't get in. You can get the aerial by pulling the horizonatal trim off (go easy, fragile clip alert) and then GENTLY pull the headlining down without breaking the two tabs. Kev

My mate had a probe V6, it was jinxed I swear....he woke up one morning with 3 flat tyres, a tree fell on it and then someone drove into it! It was one bland car to drive but was fully loaded. The Cougar is much, much better. Kev

Yep read that too but they did comment that for some reason the particular car they tested was slower than normal. It did win the handling test though. Probably has a cam sensor out, LOL!! Kev

The difference between 6.9 and 6.2 is barely noticeable in the real world. For arguments sake, let's take the average of the 3 Roddy's figures and that gives us 6.5, which even by today's standards, is still quick. The real important figures are the in gear acceleration times and that is where the VR6 excels. One magazine (can't remember which) quoted one of the VR6's incremental times of being the same as a Porsche 911 (non turbo), so overall, it's a nippy car. Kev

Anyone considered titanium exhausts? They're not as expensive as you might think and they weigh considerably less than mild or stainless steel systems. Not sure about the noise they make or tuning affect they have on the engine but they starting to become popular among the rice boys, so they must be pretty good. SuperSprint I can vouch for....very well made indeed. They're not loud (which I like) but do give off a really beefy (not boxy nova sound) tone from idle up to about 2000rpm. Kev

Corrados are mechanically as tough as any other VW but it's just the crap interior quality (93 on cars)....weak sunroof mechanisms, brittle dashboard components, rattles, easily scratched glass etc and not to mention utterly useless engine mounts! You don't get any of those problems on the Calibra. Don't get me wrong, I love my Corrado to bits and it's all those little foibles that keep me busy, but sometimes I just yearn for things to work on stay in one peice! The 2WD Calibras are no match for the Corrado's deft handling. The 4x4s I'm not so sure about but I remember when I had my MK2 16V, a Calibra turbo in front of me pulled away like I was standing still and shot round a bend at a ridiculous speed. They are under-rated cars. Kev

Ooops, I meant to quote Daddycool, doh! Kev

LOL, sounds like we have a challenge boys!! I've no qaulms about that. The Vauxhalls would probably hold together longer than the Corrados, except the 4x4 Turbos when their diffs seize, LOL! My mate's old Turbo 4x4 transmission siezed giving it some welly off a roundabout! Quite a common problem on them but other than that they are solid and very fast. Kev

Yes indeed I have but I failed in getting it working properly! The problem in my case is that the sunroof was never used from new (judging by the lack of wear marks on the runners) and when I attempted to use it, the cable guide snapped. Consequently, those new cable guides are mega stiff in the guide rails and the motor cannot overcome it. So I just use the roof manually with the emergency crank (supplied under the motor cover). Over time I will apply grease and crank it back and forth daily and one day, hopefully, it will free off a bit so that the motor can take over. Wishful thinking I fear but at least it works and it does so beautifully, tilting and sliding as new.....just by hand!! I've have taken pictures of the whole process and will get round to doing a guide at some point. My advice is to fit the cable guides first (click on pics below), once you've stripped the subframe, and run them up and down by hand until there is little resistance, otherwise the motor will struggle. You may need to sand them down a little but not too much or the roof will rattle. Another top tip is to replace the little rubber ends on the chrome slide stops with some bigger bore rubber tubing as it's these stops that prevent the roof sliding back. Let me know if you need any more tips and hints. Ta Kev

He did say he loved his Corrado but probably got fed up with all it's inherent problems! The Vauxhall is far more reliable by comparison and not a bad looking car. I wouldn't say it is a head turner though! Kev

LOL, hats off to him for trying! Dimensionally it's all wrong but from a distance, you might be fooled. Kev

A couple of other things...the G60 requires a different cable but details and prices are here:- http://www.vag-com.co.uk If you order from the states (Ross-tech), you'll incur import duty with order, which for one cable, equates to a fiver or £7.70 if you buy an extension cable for desktop PCs too. The software needs registering to realise the full functionality also, which you can only do upon purchasing the lead. Kev

For the VR6, you need this cable. Observe the surface mount circuit board inside, which is difficult to replicate and I wouldn't recommend it since this circuitry protects your ECU. If you do make one and it blows the ECU, you have no comeback and you'll probably be sued for breach of copyright if found out.

Are you sure that's not just tappets or piston slap? The tensioners are just sprung loaded orange nylon or some other similar low wear material. If the engine oil is kept at maximum and changed before it turns into treacle, the chain and tensioners shouldn't need doing. Kev

Erm, almost...the control panel is mounted behind the centre console insert (bit that holds the radio and swtichgear), so that'll have to come out aswell. Be very careful when you ease it out as the plastic is very brittle and you don't want to snap the plastic where the cable retainer clips sit, as mine did :cry: I've just disconnected the screen vent cable and manually opened the flap fully. This is the most important vent area imo so happy to lose the control over my feet. The face vents still work. It's a very fragile system and you may find, as I did, that the bottom flap jumped several teeth, which will need resetting. Kev

Definitely the cam position sensor (it's above and to the right of the coil pack). My VR went on Stealths rollers shortly after I aquired it and it only gave 174Bhp on the first run. Vince knew straight away what it was, stuck a new sensor in and it immediately jumped to 200bhp with 193lb/ft torque on 95 Unleaded. That's 10 up on standard for both measurements. Dunno why as it's 100% standard but I'm not complaining! Kev

The only thing that will significantly boost the low down pull is a Shrick VGI manifold or a Supercharger. The chip irons out peaks and troughs in the torque curve, so if the factory map is lacking fuel at a certain point in the map, or giving too much, the new chip will correct that meaning a smoother drive and better pull. But in answer to your question, yes VR6s are quite flat below 4000rpm. It's quite a lazy power unit but nothing a short ratio gearbox and a Shrick can't sort out :D Kev

No way, not without inspecting the car first. Corrados are quite low and getting it on the low-loader may break the front spoiler. It's just a trust thing, I would personally get a mate to drive you to the car's location and drive it back, no matter how far away it is. I've found most mates would oblige when it comes to picking up a car. Kev

Nope, no deadlocks. You'd have a two-stage lock like on BMWs or Vauxhalls if it did. From inside the car, you should be able to pull the knob up, which will unlock the doors. Have you got a Clifford alarm? Sometimes they can go haywire affecting the central locking, requiring a few up-and-downs on the knob to open the doors. Kev