corozin

Sorry... was there a GP last weekend? I must have dozed off...

Best thing about the M3 is its engine and agility. You cant say that about a M5 and 745D! I think I disagree to varying degrees with both those statements. The M5 isn't short of engine power or charisma and is at least as quick in a straight line. Both the E34 and E39 versions are surprisingly agile, and in fact if you park a E39 M5 alongside an E46 M3 you might be surprised how modest the difference in size is. The question remains : Is an M3 worth the extra money over the M5 considering the difference? My preference for E39 bimmers is well documented on here, and I remain totally convinced that it's the rarer, better car and a more sensible ownership proposition especially from a cost perspective. Now I won't deny the 7 is still a large car, but they are not the poor handling tanks they used to be. My point is that the big 7's are massively specc'd, and for the purposes of 98% of the driving you are likely to do, a chipped up 745d like the one pointed to me will be at least as quick as an M model. Now personally the E65 is just a bit big for my taste, but I mentioned it because - as my friend pointed out - it's an option you could at least consider, especially considering that you could find a much younger car than either an E46 or E39, with iDrive & all the toys and still have a car that's impressively quick. But I understand your points. I'm just throwing up ideas.

Here's the thought process for fast BMWs: Q1. Why buy an M3 when you can have an M5 for less money? The M5 is just as fast, less fragile, less expensive to fix if it does go wrong, and typically you'll find it's a lot cheaper to insure than an M3. Indeed many insurers won't even touch the E46 M3 as it's earned a reputation as a bit of a widow-maker in the industry. Q2. Why but an M5 when you can but a fast 7 series for even less money? Yeah I thought it was a stupid statement when it was said to me too. But then my friend (who is also en experienced BMW mechanic) pulled up a 2 year old E65 745D on Autotrader's website at just £9,500. Having told me the E65 was a lot lighter than previous 7s he then said "we can chip that to 500ft/lb easily"... Just a thought...

If the car's weight was left fully on the wheels you may want to consider having the tyres checked over. You should also watch out for seized brake calipers, particularly at the rear. I'd also look at getting ALL the fluids changed (oil, brake & hydraulic) after such a long layoff.

Quick peak showed I was at home that day. There it is, tucked away on the driveway. Photo is obviously a while old now, as the car's hasn't been aqua blue since last May.

I was around when they brought them out and in my view the ?ber cool model remains the original whale-tailed Sierra Cosworth. It's a shame they are just so rare these days but I saw what appeared to be an unmodified example in white on the A34 a couple of years ago (it was early Sunday morning and the car was really clean so I suspect it was travelling to a show as well!) and we did slow and admire it for a mile or so. Just amazing. I'm not sure about values now but 2-3 years ago the Sierras were a lot cheaper than the Escort Cosworths. I saw a very clean Sapphire Cosworth at Trax in 2006 for £7k but I suspect values have increased since then. It's just a shame that so many of them fell into the hands of the MaxPower brigade and were butchered, thrashed and crashed. That said, I know a few people who would argue that as a drivers car a MkII RS Escort beats any of the Cossies into a cocked hat. Judging by the residuals of those they may well have a point! We should be perhaps be grateful that a lot of the VW Community is still obsessed with MkI & MkII Golfs rather than Corrados & Sciroccos.

That probably applies to all of us who are ploughing money and love into (in my case) a 17 year old Corrados rather than follow the sheep and run something newer, more reliable and probably better! After I wrote that post I wondered if I might have been a little harsh but I'm pleased to see you read it as I intended - friendly and earnest advice with a smile. That said, don't all people in nuthouses have big grins? :nuts: Cheers John

Frankly there are so many perfectly working £500 bangers out there with valid tickets that I can't believe you are seriously entertaining the thought of handing over that much money for something that doesn't even have an MOT. If you buy this particular shed you should have your head MOT'd as well as the car.

Pah Mystic Blue is ok I suppose but it's not a patch on Telegrau. :D

At that money you could have an RS4 or even an RS6. Or a low mileage E46 M3, or Golf R32 (etc, etc...) The Cossies are great cars, and in my view a lot more desirable than they were maybe ten years ago but the prices are frankly ludicrous considering what else is available on the market. I mean at the end of the day it's only a Ford isn't it? John

The car might well be a Storm but Mystic Blue was never offered as a cost option on non-Storms. Don't ignore the possibility that the seller could be describing something like an Aqua blue car as Mystic just to grab a sell. I've seen it tried before. Of course the car could also have been resprayed in the colour. Also bear in mind that the heated leather and aircon were not exclusive to the Storms. Both were available as options on standard cars. If you like the (Solitude) wheels fitted to the Storm they're easily sourced as they were standard fitment to Golf VR6's for years. There is still a premium for Storms but more important these days is the condition of the actual car. Mr Ots for example has a lovely and beautifully looked after Storm, but I've seen a lot of knackered mingers too. You should expect nothing else on what is now (at it's youngest) a 14 year old car. John

It's a lot less work if you just get the inner arch lips removed rather than sodding about with rolling them. As long as you properly seal the metalwork afterwards. I have to admit when I got my current car I just couldn't be bothered to have the work done again to another car. Not running the car quite as low as the previous one was even cheaper still

They're also claiming only 70 carbons for too, which would be incredible considering the performance but like you I'm slightly suspicious of the claims. Will believe it when I see it tested on the road. But nevertheless a 490bhp V8 combined with a 215bhp hybrid motor, 90mph, 198mph and that design. I think the biggest problem is going to be me finding enough money to buy one :(

Forget those crappy G-whizz things, or the Tesla's which break down. Finally here's a proper hybrid. Wow. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/mot ... brids.html

I'm sure if he's on the E38 forum he won't have much trouble gathering some brothers to go round and sort them out. Life in the big city...

Hi Miles, I ran 17x8 MIM Amalfis for 4 years on a 205 section tyre on a -50mm drop. It was fine in normal driving but I did end up having the front arch lips removed (and the inner arch linings removed) at a bodyshop and after that it was just perfect - even in trackday use. No rubbing at all except at the rear when I hit a bump with passengers in the back of the car. The main thing I think will be to ensure you run the correct ET35 offset. If you get that right 8's should be no problem at all I think. Obviously if you run a 205 tyre there will be a modest tyre stretch (maybe ¼") but frankly that look worked on my car and modern low profile tyres are still safe with some stretch on them. I'll finish by saying I absolutely love the CH design. It's my favourite BBS wheel. Cheers John

I don't even think a Tracker is even as much use as you might have thought given what I was reading earlier in the week (link below). Gangs are now starting to use GPS scrambling devices which render Trackers useless. Frankly although your car is your pride & joy, in financial terms it's worth less than a new Micra. Keep some perspective. A Corrado is now a very old car indeed to most crims, so they aren't really being stolen to order (or even for parts) anymore. Your biggest adversary is probably the local pond life. My advise is a) Ensure it's got a decent CAT1 system on it. Most insurers require that these days anyway for Gp19 cars b) Don't drive it anywhere near your home in a manner likely to draw attention to it's special qualities. And don't brag about the Turbo either. c) Ensure you use a decent insurance company and if necessary agree a valuation with them. That way if it does get nicked, at least you're not out of pocket. If someone is really determined they will have the car away regardless of the precautions you take. Use of recovery vehicles is not at all unusual. Putting a wheel clamp on the car is just an advertisement to thieves IMHO. Link to GPS jammer story : http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/02/23 ... t_gps_jam/ HTH, John

It sounds to me like the scrappy man was pulling your plonker. And you utterly fell for it...

If I'm not mistaken John, a VR would take an E-Type, on paper. Not seen it in reality though! :D You're right. A VR6 is a lot quicker than an E-type in every way. Mind you there's something like 20 years between the two cars so it's a bit unfair to compare them really. In it's day the E-type was a pretty quick piece of kit. Most cars (even sports cars) in the 1960s could hardly make 100mph, let alone the 140mph(ish ) that the E-type did in it's day. By way of an analogy I was at he MSE track day at Keevil yesterday and my (very modified) Corrado was about par performance with a friend's bog standard Clio 172. In a straight line he was pulling away from me! In an unmodified Clio! It just goes to illustrate what a big difference there is between a car designed in the late 80s (Corrado) and one designed in the late 90s (Clio 172). Compared to the other cars of the same age as mine I was a fair bit quicker than the track prepared 205s, Golfs and E30 BMW's which were there.

Anyone who buys one at that price is just an idiot. Anyone notice that by comparison RS6 badges are just £6.99 in his shop? I hope all you guys with 16v's are supergluing your badges to your grilles if these badges are worth anything like the price being asked here.

The fact that your VR6 has failed on emissions should give rise to some concern, as aside from the pain of having to get the car through MOT it indicates that all is not well with your car. You haven't provided any detail on which part of the emissions test it failed. If the car has failed due to particulates or excessive smoke then you have a significant problem which won't be quickly fixed. This is often caused by something like oil burning as a result of worn piston rings. Not a small job. Alternatively a failed CO2/gases test shows that the combustion isn't right with the car. If you've modified the engine and haven't had the ECU map reset then that could be a cause, but it could also be down to worn spark plugs, a sensor problem (e.g. MAF), electrical problem (sensor connection to ECU), or possibly even something like a compression problem. The MOT limit for CO2 on a VR6 is 225g and a good running standard VR6 doesn't come in a lot under that so small problems with the combustion can easily push you outside the limit required by the MOT test. The fact that your car is running de-catted just makes things worse for you. If you're sure the car is running fine and you need a cat problem then had a replacement sports cat made up and fitted at my local powerflow dealer a couple of years ago for under £350 which I think you'll find is less than a new cat would cost you from VW, and is more efficient too. Personally I wouldn't buy a secondhand cat unless you are truly desperate to spend as little as possible as it's very hard to determine what state it's in without fitting & retesting it. I'm also pretty sure that Magnex went bust a while back and they'd stopped making Corrado systems well before that happened, which is a shame as they were easily the best systems you could get. I have one myself and it's still in great condition after 10 years use. Hope this helps, and good luck John

Live rear axle, same as a Transit van. I think they called them "live" rear axles because of the "lively" handling they produced. Bit like a cattle trailer with 160bhp !

wasnt it the 2.8 with the pepperpot wheels???? I'm sure it was the RS 3.1 Nope. Pepperpot wheels were a 1980's design, and found thier way onto 2.8 Capris, XR2s, XR3s and some Orions from around 1981-84. The 3.0 Capris didn't have those wheels The 2.8 Capri was the car of it's time, and was usurped by the Sierra Cosworth when it came out in around 1984. Although the 3.1RS Capri was quicker, nobody actually bought the RS3.1 because of the extra cost. The 3.0s was a lot more common and my Dad's friend had one in John Player Special livery which is still a cool look IMHO. @Fla - the 2.8 Capri was a much better car than the 3.0, but it's about 5 years later than the period I'm reminiscing about! As a 17 year old I had two friends who owned 2.8 Capris (they were brothers actually) and I can't forget how fast they felt at the time. Of course in reality a G60 or VR6 would murder a 2.8 Capri in a straight line - shows you how far things have progressed in 30 years.

I can remember the time before the Golf GTi, when the Capri 3.0S was king of the road.

Front ABS sensors. Volkswagen Dealer = £61 each German & Swedish = £16.75 each 'nuff said... I saved almost £90 on the pair I bought today. Same Bosch part.