qrugh

I would say chosing between a VR6 and a G60 really depends on where your passion lies. Speaking from experience (I used to have a VR6 and now I have a G60) the VR6 is awesome in the way it pulls from low revs, all that power and torque is just great. However, the 'lump' up front is heavy which does require a bit more caution on cornering (although that can easily be sorted with suspension mods). If your main interest is in going out for a burn on normal 'A' roads, you mainly want straight-line acceleration and that 'back in the seat' feel then the VR6 is a great car. However, if you want to waste everything in sight (without spending a fortune) and you are more of a twisty 'B' road kinda driver then the G60 is for you. I know a lot of people are going to disagree with these comments, but thats how I feel about the C and why I decided to stick with my G60. I'm hoping to get it up to 250bhp eventually (*starry dream eyes*) but I might have to give Darren a LOT of my money to get there! The good news (for me) is that I think it would cost a great deal more to get 250bhp out of a VR6. Bottom line - whichever car you buy you are going to love it. Just for crying out loud don't buy a Calibra!

I think I have this right but just wanted to check so someone please tell me or put me right. I'm in the process of ripping my carbon filter out, as described. I also have a boost gauge which I want to install. If I read all this correctly I can connect the tubing for that up to where pipe #3 (on the annotated diagram) was removed from? Is that right? Will my boost gauge run okay off of that? Thanks!

Thanks - I think a trip back to the garage is required. Hopefully it will be nothing serious. :(

It was clean as a whistle after the service (as you would expect after a steam clean). I did check it at the time but probably haven't looked at it that much since. To be honest, the car isn't getting used all that much at the moment, just a few runs around town plus a run up to my parents last week (c.300 mile round trip). Previously the engine was wet with oil and it would drip onto the ground underneath the car so the leak was very obvious. Now it is really only noticeable as a discolouration on the engine and surrounding parts. If I hadn't looked closely I would have just thought it was dirty but it is a thin sheen of oil. Once I had spotted that I looked more closely and realised that the back of the alternator and supercharger were also covered and that there was some spray marks on the underside of the bonnet. Best answer probably is to take it back to my mechanic, but he is 30 mins drive away which is a pain. I guess I could take the rocker cover off myself and check the gasket. I just hope it is not a sign of something more serious.

Apologies to anyone who also got this via the e-group but I wanted to try both avenues for any advice. Call me paranoid if you like! When I got my C it had a lot of oil down the driver's side end of the engine so I had my mechanic look at it when it was serviced. He steam cleaned the engine and replaced the rocker cover gasket which he said was knackered. This was a few weeks ago. I was just under the bonnet today (looking at the removal of my carbon filter) and I noticed that I have a film of oil all over the front of the engine (i.e. the bit facing the front of the car) behind the supercharger. The plug lead nearest that end of the engine is liberally covered in it, with the coverage declining till about half-way along the engine where it stops. The rest of the engine is clean. There is oil on the back of the alternator and supercharger and some on the underside of the bonnet in two places (which was also clean so it is very noticeable). It looks very much like oil is spraying out under pressure, probably not in great amounts but enough to cause discolouration and be obvious when I look closely. Any ideas anyone? Seems a bit odd when I know the gasket has just been replaced. TIA

I'm no expert on this but the rear brakes on the Corrado have a special bias adjustment that detects how much the rear suspension is lowered. If there is a lot of weight in the back of the car is shifts the bias towards the back to compensate. If the car has been lowered and this adjuster has not been correctly re-set then the result can be a dramatic (and quite dangerous) shift in brake bias towards the rear of the car as the sensor thinks that your lower ride height is a result of excess weight in the back. Probably you already know all about this and have done the adjustment, I just thought I would mention it as what you are describing is the exact sympton from this problem. HTH

I thought that with the G60 there was a risk of the s/c sucking the guts out of a foam filter and ingesting it? That's why I was advised to stick with cotton ones. Is this not the case?

I admit to being new to the forced induction world so maybe this is beginner stuff but if I don't ask I will never learn. My brother has the 200SX with the 1.8 Turbo engine and he went from the stock c.170bhp up to 211bhp by just replacing the intercooler, installing an induction kit and swapping the exhaust for a performance one. If you did the same mods on a Corrado G60 (i.e. nice fat intercooler mounted at the front, induction kit, exhaust) would you realise the same kind of power increase? I ask mainly as this is what I plan to do to my Corrado before I start playing with pulleys and chips etc.

Now let's not get nasty about BMW drivers - some of us are just fine! What always amazes me is how I find someone doing something stupid and I get so annoyed about it that I end up doing something stupid. :mad: Then I look back and think, "in what way am I better than that idiot?" :oops: Nearly wrote my 'C' off overtaking someone on a roundabout because I had been stuck behind them on an A road for 30 mins at 45 mph. Car kept me in one piece (gotta love that handling) but lesson well learned. Of course I NEVER drive like that now ... errrmm ... ahem. :?

Well worth a fiver every now and again! I think I may have just done it twice though (*&^%$ computers). :agrue: :lol:

I could be wrong but by my calculations 205/40/17 gives a rolling diameter of 23.6" rather than the 'standard' diameter of 22.6" (195/50/15). This already means you have 12mm less gap between your tyre and wheelarch so I guess it would be the equivalent of a 50-55mm drop? Not sure if this really makes a difference. I only spotted it because I was looking at 17s the other day and I worked out that I would need 205/35 profile tyres to maintain the same rolling diameter. I think the fact that it is rubbing only on one side is a concern though. Was the car lowered with an uprated spring kit? No chopped springs in there I hope? (Its amazing what people will do.)

Isn't that what everyone does? Thought I was normal! :lol:

According to the Bentley guide (section 15.4) the compression on the G60 (PG) engine should be between 116-174psi when new with a permissible difference between all for cylinders of 43.5psi and a wear limit of 87psi. Replacing your piston rings would be the first job IMO - it can even be done yourself if you are mechanically minded. (However, I have never done it on a car for which a Haynes manual was not available so don't tale my work for it!) If that doesn't fix the trouble then you need to look at the head I guess (not good news).

Hmmm...when I change up anywhere above 5k RPM I get a kind of 'whoooo' noise as the engine decelerates. Its not very loud, although it is noticeable, and I guess I just assumed the engine was supposed to sound like that. Are you saying this is something I should be worried about? (Hopes not) I ran the boost test using the MFA and got an indicated reading of 10psi which I know is a little low but I assumed that was just error in the MFA? Unfortunately as I live in Essex there does not appear to be anywhere I can just 'pop the car in to' and have it checked out quickly. :( I'm a total learner at forced induction but I guess I will check the bits you mentioned and see if I can spot anything.

Ack - I hate you lot. Every time I think the 'got to have' list for my car is stabilised you go and throw up something else I can't live without. :mad: Now I just have to decide whether white or clear would look better on my car (probably clear I think). Its lucky I don't have any cash right now I guess! Some nice looking cars though!

I hope to come along a meet a few of you but I think I will park my car a few minutes walk away so I don't have to suffer the embarrassment of seeing my 'project' alongside all your well sorted rides! :oops:

Ummm...sorry if this is a dumb question, I'm still on a steep learning curve with superchargers. That photograph (from Jon G60) shows a cone performance air filter. I thought they were a 'no no' on G60 engines for some reason?

After another visit to the exhaust people my rattle is now fixed. Apparently the back box had moved (or not been fitted properly) so it was re-mounted and now all is silent - apart from that nice burble which is what I want to hear!

I remember hearing a valuable piece of wisdom many years ago. Most cars go through a period when they are between 10-12 years old when all the major things and lots of minor things break or go wrong. This is a generalisation I know but I have found it to be quite accurate. Moral of the story: if you are not interested in having to do lots of work on a car then buy one that is either less than 10 years old (with the intention of selling it before it gets to that age) or one that is more than 12 years old (by which time most things should already have broken and then been fixed). Personally I would rather buy a car that is just entering this 'difficult age' as it gives me the opportunity to take it through this stage myself and so at the end I will know it is all properly sorted. If you buy someone else's car then you always run the risk of inheriting all their problems. I should point out that my Corrado is 12 years old and everything it just starting to break! Please don't anyone tell my wife what lies ahead!!! :twisted:

In case this helps (although I think I'm just backing up everyone else) I had exactly the same problem on my Golf. It became a really bad starter, would keep stalling at roundabouts, was generally unpleasant to drive. That was also a split vacuum hose. I should point out that it took the dealers two tries to find it then two more days to order the part! Grrr... So glad I swapped the Golf for a sensible car like a Corrado! :lol:

Seems from reading this thread that there is a problem getting a new ignition lock with the same keying as the outgoing one? I just find that odd as the ignition lock on my Corrado went a couple of months ago (when the car was with my Dad) and a mechanic friend of his (i.e. not even a VW specialist) just swapped it out for a new one. I promise you that the same ignition key still works fine so I can only assume that there is no great issue with getting a new lock made up to the same key? Maybe I misunderstood the discussion? :oops:

Sounds like a very similar problem. The real issue I have is that where the tailpipe comes out of the backbox it has a very pronounced upward angle between the box and the outlet. As a result the exhaust has had to be slung pretty low (probably as low as they could get it) but the tailpipe is still very high. I guess I could just have the backbox replaced with something that has a less aggressive upward angle on the last section of pipe but it is a brand new exhaust, fitted less than six months ago, and I can't really afford to shell out a couple of hundred quid when I have more important things on the 'to do' list.

The ignition switch was recently replaced. According to my Dad (who has had the car for the past three years) it has always had this annoying problem with the MFA. It would be nice to think it was something as simple as the battery but I think probably not. I never have any problems starting or anything like that. (Unlike my BMW which is currently 'eating' a high-power battery every 8-10 months while everyone assures me they cannot find any fault! Bah!) It is tempting to throw in a new battery and see what happens but I am already getting 'that look' from the other half with regard to the amount of money that is going on 'the yellow peril'. I guess if I wait a few months and the battery is on the way out then I will know for certain soon enough!

Cat? Ummm...don't have one of those! (:D) It seems to have vanished when the new exhaust went on. I'll take a look at my heat shields tomorrow but I'm betting on the rear valance. When the car is up on ramps if the exhaust is swung it smacks nicely into the valance and while it has to move quite a bit to do that I'm putting my money on that being the problem. Someone did suggest spacing out the last hanger but I'm already a touch worried about clearance over the rear axle so that may not be the best solution. I'm actually not at all impressed with the fit of this exhaust but as I didn't pay for it (or to have it fitted) I guess I can't complain too much. Plus, I do rather like the way it looks and sounds!

I have a smiliar problem on my G60. Unfortunately it is intermittent which is a very bad sign. You can sit in the car and see the clock is set, then you turn the key and as the engine starts the clock, MFA, and trip all reset to zero. If it happened every time it would be easier to live with but it just happens maybe once a week. I'm betting on some loose contact somewhere. Probably we have the same problem, just that I am in the early stages and you are at the logical conclusion. If I ever find anything out I will let you know.