PeteC

Flux came up best for me too.

Great to see you back on track. Mine needed uprated sparks so defo goin in the right direction with that. I'd also recomend you slip in a 70 deg. thermo. Now I know there has been quite alot written about that but basically if once you have got used to the new power you drive arround like I do the engine will need all the help it can get to keep the combustion chambers in their temp envelope. Your also welcome to have a go in mine if you ever stray west a bit!

You need to clarify whether you just changed the coolant or also the stat. Old stats tend to corrode and stick a little so it's not a surprise to see slightly elevated temps such as yours, a new stat would explain the temp changes. If it's only the coolant you've changed then I would speculate that the change is because the anti corrosion additives have cleared a restriction in the system, stat or rad probably.

80 Deg. is fine for the standard engine. The 70 Deg. items are avaliable primarily for track applications or for high power road motors where the combustion chambers will be running much hotter than they would during normal road use. Same thing really goes for plugs, std. are fine/best for normal use but one grade cooler is very usefull when combustion temperatures are up from std. One thing I've realised in the short time that I've been adding coment is that the 'what's best' question really needs to be clearly defined wrt the state of tune and application, otherwise it's easy to upset a generally well ballanced OE solution.

Maybe important to clarify the two diferent scenarios. 1. Std. engines being used for normal use. 2. modified motors. For normal use the stardard cooling arrangements work reasonably well given the nescessary compromises. So if a standard engine is evidently running hotter than it should do the first thing to resolve are the problems not modify the setup. However if the goal is to optimise the cooling system as part of other power increase mods, things become a little diferent. lowering head and manifold temperature become key objectives. Insulating the external hot parts limit convected and radiated heat but decoupling the manifold and droping thermostat threshold are well published methods to maximise power. It's dificult to notice a few % of power increase in isolation but cumulative to other contributions they all add up. The function of the throttle heater is discussed in an old thread 'Throttle body heater pipes'.

The fastest way to drop the manifold temperature is to disconect the throttle body heating tubes and install a 70 Deg. thermostat. That keeps the VR runing where it likes to be, warmed up but not hot. I'm sure we all agree that's when they are most lively. This is due in part to the real temperature drop but I believe it's also due to the ECU running a slightly richer AFR when it sees those temperature inputs.

My other half has a late pre-Storm VR that is as near to original spec. It's interesting to have it that way as it provides a usefull benchmark to compare power and ride etc. I guess I should sort out some pics (where do the days go), anyway hers is metalic blue/purple with black leather including heated seats etc. Blew the motor so that's been relaced for a similar but otherwise nice example. Exaust is really the bigest diference but in fact even that follows the cut oval OE factory style - just updated a little.

The normally aspirated R32 that Storm developments did made 275 BHp at the recent VR6OC RR day, that was running stand-alone and had the VVT hooked up some how. The torque from that thing is very diferent from a std. VR, starts big from very low down. I think you'll also need to run a non-motorised throttle with the Emerald but that's no real bother to sort out.

Don't sell it ! Talk to the Storm Boys, I've just spoken with them and they help u sort this one out. There will be much writen about Rotrex kits very soon but Kev is right they are an animal and that means you need to proceed with caution.

VR's fitted as original in vehicles (ie not a transplant) should by law have a CAT fitted for the MOT, but the irony is that the emmissions levels for those years are not as high as for new cars today so in fact any VR which is running corectly will pass anyway even if the CAT is shot ! As a result of this the pressence of the cat can be often overlooked as long as the numbers are OK. This means there are lots of options in practice depending on who will test the car. No CAT, Cat with the insides taken out etc. As far as I know it's not against the law to drive the car on the road without a CAT but u need to watch the insurance situation as they will look for any excuse not to cough. Removing the CAT would definately be classed as a modification !

Steve, Martyn Culley runs a back box only on his VR Vento VW Cup car ! - so probably that a little extreem for the road and you have made the right descision to include something else. Only thing I'm not clear about is why u want to change the system -just to make a bit more noise? :)

If you plan to stick with the G-ladder the only thing you may have not fully considered is that ultimately the (fixed displacement) compressor has a finite Kg/sec air mass limit. Increasing the swept volume of the engine will result in the same amount of air but at lower boost and essentially similar performance results. If you plan to change the charger then your compressor type will somewhat be determined by what type of car you want to build. Consequently I sugest you clarify this before you finaslise your CR etc.