corozin

Did you sign off on the AA recovery form without ensuring the the damage was mentioned?

Softness depends more on the spring rates used than the dampers. All the dampers do is control the rate of bound/rebound (or "bouncy" level if that's easier to understand) but if the suspension is basically crashy or too hard then you need to replace the springs somehow. Coilovers are a more expensive but ultimately better solution as most of them use a spring which is effectively two springs in one; a wider softer wind at one end to provide a softer element for small bump absorbsion and then a shorter, tighter, harder wind for firmness under hard cornering. I have Konis but there are a number of options (KW, H&W, Sachs, Bilstein, Leda) and each have thier fans. Each kit is different in feel and firmness, as the spring rates in each make differ but also the dampers too. The KW coilovers are very popular. I think Konis are better but they are also a lot more expensive. Leda is the most expensive but allow damper bound/rebound to be adjusted seperately (most of the kits mentioned allow just allow bound adjustment)

Formula One is kinda loud, but if you really want to screw your hearing up you need Top Fuel dragsters. But if you're going for a few days do take earplugs, because modern F1 cars don't really make a particularly great noise. They're noisy alright, but a GT1 Corvette has a much better sound. Get this type as they are the best design : http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Moldex-Rockets-Co ... 2c55f61d13 I bought a set at Le Mans years ago, and they enabled me to sleep quietly in Houx Annexe with not only the race going on around us, but also with the drunken Danes and Dutch setting off fireworks above the campsite at 4:30am - I could hardly hear a thing.

The car looks great. You really lucked out with that offer I'd say. As a suggestion to the studio though, the pictures would be improved a little if they diffused the overhead lights, as the light reflections on the upper surfaces of the car are quite harsh. If you compare these pictures with studio shots used in magazines you'll see what I mean. Please don't take this as criticism, the pics are great. I just think removing the strong reflections would make them even better. John

Top Gear hasn't been a traditional car show for ten years! It's pure entertainment, or in James May's famous words "three blokes cocking about all the time" I for one think the programme is better for it. I am old enough to remember the old TG (William Woollard, Chris Goffey anyone?) and it was dreadfully dull. The only reason we watched it was because there was nothing else for petrolheads on TV except GPs and the odd bit of Rallycross. Nobody was interested in serious road reviews of the Allegro. New TG twigged that from the outset. Nobody makes a buying decision based on what Clarkson thinks either. We just want to see unattainable, fast cars having the nuts thrashed off them the way we'd all want to if we were lent one for 10 minutes.

Well if your car is currently on standard suspension the nut should already be there. If it isn't you shouldn't be driving the car! But seriously if all else fails, go to VW. They won't be expensive.

The car's been modified over may years including it's previous owner. The blog gives a summary, but I don't have the photos needed to do a detailed build thread on it now.

Pictures are great. So how did the day go? How did you feel the car performed? Any tweaks you now want to make based on the track work? Any problems? If you could do a few words when you have a moment free that would be great. Admired the photos you posted on PH as well by the way :) Corrados have taken over that thread, LOL

If you look in the blog you'll find the answers. To be fair the car leads a robust life...

Been a while but I updated my Pistonheads car blog tonight. For a view of some truly eyewatering ownership costs : http://www.pistonheads.com/members/show ... arId=31711

Avoid the cheap Chinese kits from eBay. They were enticingly cheap but I bought two sets and the quality was... mixed... But I liked them whilst they actually worked. My local garage is selling better quality kits for around £130 which are supposedly much better quality, and I'll have a set installed before the winter sets in properly. One final thought on HID. When you buy them, the "K" number actually relates to the colour temperature, not the power of the kit. So ideally you want 6500k (H3) bulbs for white light, whereas the 8500k bulbs give you a more blue light.

There's no real trick to it, especially if you use black. Just make sure you really clean the surface first and then key the surface to be painted with something like 600 grit to make sure the paint really takes. You can do the spraying with the tyres in situ, but do take the trouble to tape off the rubber first. Two big cans of Halford satin black should just about see you right. John

Suggest you see if you can still get a Reiger eyebrow spoiler. Also consider upgrading the headlights with HID as the kit's aren't too expensive to do that now.

There's a chap in the VW Drag Owners Club (Spencer) who has a V8 engined Corrado running in the 8.90s class (what ever that's actually called). That car isn't fibreglass, it was modified from an original car. I think I recall from a conversation with Spencer years back that his car was actually capable of running in the 7's but even so this car above sounds like an absolute rocket. Just a shame they're in different continents. Would be great to see the two of them face off. :(

The dark blue is Moonlight Blue Pearl Effect, LC5M. Lovely. Had one myself. Still miss it.

That really is a scary photograph. I don't think I ever quite appreciated how utterly huge the new Scirocco actually is. A pretty shape, but what a tank.

Willing to bet it will be a special edition of the current shape Scirocco.

I kinda take your point there Tom but ten years ago a slammed Golf on some BBS wheels looked great and in my view it's still a pretty car today (unless of course it's a Mk3). I don't think most Vauxhalls from the 80s & 90s have withstood the test of time in the way that most German cars have, except perhaps the Opel Manta :) But one of the other posters hit the right point for me. Whether you like or dislike certain types of car or not is secondary to the people that own them. The VW scene is generally blessed with great people with the right attitude. Not all car groups are as lucky as we are (and that's not a pop at the VOC) but events like Trax make me shiver.

The nugget is that new photo is Yandards daily driver. I understand that seeing it close up scratched KipVW's long standing desire for a nugget of his own that he went and bought one of his own when he got back from Scotland. :D The 'silver' car on the right isn't silver. It's actually light grey.

You know I actually agree with you & BristolBaron on this point. Overall coilovers are probably the best single modification I've done on Corrados, even better than an induction kit or big brakes - that's how good coilys are. Good coilovers just transform the Corrado handling onto another level in my view, and in particular dial out lack of rear grip However the post subject was asking for the best pound-for-pound alteration, and with Koni coilovers at £700 a set, there are (frankly) better mods available for tiny money

Ok, here's another free one. Instead of buying an expensive induction kit, remove the complete airbox, grab a drill with a 2.5mm bit, and "swiss cheese" the LOWER half of the airbox around three sides. On my last Corrado I did this running a strip approx 4 holes vertically (around 2cm high) with holes spaced about every 5mm. Reassemble and refit. You'll have all the noise and giggles of an induction kit, for free (except for the pedants out there, the cost of the electricity used by your drill). Of course an induction kit provides improved flow and a few bhp, but we are talking free here and my BMC Carbon is still something like £175 new. Another nice aspect is that if you need to reverse the noise you can just run some electrical tape around the holes and voila - you're back to standard.

I've done tons of mods, but the best £4£ modification was breaking the little tab in the rear lights and inserting a bulb into the "non working" foglight holder so that you have two rear foglights instead of one. Cost : * Free *

My wheels are Compomotive MO, 7½x17 ET35 Brembos fit over them with almost 10mm of clearance to spare on a VR6.

Priceless - that really made me smile that did. Thank you :)