Chris71

Yep, 'fraid so. I used to work for Ford (for my sins) and after a few years blatting around in hotter Focuses and Mondeos I was expecting a little more from the base spec car. Might be the tyre choice or something on mine to be fair, it understeers pretty determindly and has less than impressive feedback.

How difficult is it to fix faulty sunroofs and spoilers? I'm considering buying a Corrado at the moment and a lot have at least one of these faults. I'm not convinced by the ads that suggest it's 'just a fuse' or something to that effect, but just how big a job is it? How much do you thing a working sunroof and spoiler adds to the value of a car (or conversely how much less would an otherwise mint car with these not working be worth?) Cheers, Chris

Can you give me an idea of the differences in maintenance costs? I realise a G60 will be different to a VR6 (like I'm after), but the engine seems to be one of the more reliable areas on the Corrado, so hopefully it's still a relevant comparison?

Jeez, I wish my Focus did that! :) I've got a 1.6 petrol Focus as a runaround currently and it struggles to better 35mpg, irrespective of how I drive it. My driving style usually seems to produce quite good MPG figures (it's not as if I boot it everywhere) but I've been a bit dissapointed with the figures the Focus has returned. It's not that 30-something MPG is at all bad, it's just unexceptional from a bland 1.6 hatchback. I even got high 20s out of my old TVR on a run.

that's not being an exception, that's normal! That's what I'm afraid of! :)

I had one, yes, but my current day-to-day car is a 1.6 Focus! :) Fuel costs don't worry me too much as I cycle to work and only do about 7,000 miles a year - a lot of it on the motorway. What worries me is the cost of maintaing one in good condition (and to a lesser extent insurance - best quote I've had so far is £750). Realistically though any performance car is going to be more than the Focus, the question is how much more. That's why I'm so interested in the comparison with the GTi6 (4-cylinder hot hatch plays 6-cylinder coupe...) If the Corrado was significantly more to run than the Pug it would become a no-brainer I'm afraid, but if they were going to be the same I'd go for the Corrado any day. In between... well, I'm not sure yet!

Yep, the Corrado is definitely different to a Focus! I had my first drive in one a few days ago (thanks to one of the guys on this forum) and it has a really nice driving position. I'm quite fortunate in that I get to drive quite a few interesting cars through work and yet the Corrado has one of the best seating positions I've come across. I've also driven a GTi6 in the past, but that was quite a long time ago. From memory it's much as you'd expect really - the 306 felt more nimble and pointy whereas the 'Rado is a bit more solid (also mirrored in the controls and the gearchange); the VR6 feels significantly faster in a straight line, sounds a lot nicer and is arguably more comfortable. I guess in summary the 306 felt like a very good example of an old school hot hatch, the Corrado felt like something a bit more exotic - I used to have a 944 and I can see a few similarities to that, for example. The main thing is cost though. I've heard suggestions that the GTi6 wouldn't really cost that much more to run than any other 4-cylinder hatchback (barring a little more on fuel and insurance), whereas I've heard some quite high figures for keeping a VR6 in decent shape. There's no question I'd rather have the Corrado all things being equel, but it's not as if the Pug is an unnapealing prospect - I quite fancy one of those too and the running costs might tip the balance.

This might sound like a slightly random question on a Corrado forum, but has anyone here ever owned a 306 GTi6? The reason I ask is I've narrowed it down to that or a VR6 for my next toy. I'm interested in any comparisions, but particularly costs. It's a head versus heart thing really. Both appeal, but the Corrado is probably my favourite. However the GTi6 is a bit more practical and (being an ordinary 4-cylinder hot hatch) is presumably going to be cheaper to run. It's a question of how much cheaper really.

I misread the original info, so £4000 is not correct. That included depreciation and all sorts of upgrades. It seems the basic figure - £700 on servicing and repairs, £111 (averaged over a year) on tyres, plus VED, insurance (£750), MOT and 7000 mile's of super unleaded comes out at more like £3,250. That's everything barring upgrades (and depreciation as mentioned, but if anything decent Corrados must be heading up by now?)

Hi, Can someone give me a feeling for the running costs of a decent Corrado VR6? Within reason I'm not too fussed about fuel as I only do about 7,000 miles a year and a lot of it is motorway work. However, maintenance is a big issue. One run down I've seen puts the figure at about £4,000 a year to run a VR6 for 9,000 miles (all in, with fuel, insurance etc.) Chris

Oh - great tip I forgot to mention in the previous post - see if your local furniture/bed shop can give you one of the ginat plastic bags they deliver double mattresses in! Not got round to blagging one, but I'm told they're very tough and will swallow an MTB frame whole!

Depends what's out there. It'd have to be a VR6 in good mechanical condition. Ideally tan leather with everything (spoiler, sunroof etc) still working! I'm not too fussed about the cosmetics. A nice shiny car would be a bonus, but the way it drives is very important so I guess I'd be looking for refreshed bushes/dampers etc. ...not that I'm fussy. :D

I went to have a look at a very nice Storm last night and I'd be very surprised if you couldnb't get a couple of bikes in with relative ease. The seats folded flatter than I expected (I don't know if they're different to the earlier models perhaps?) and the length and width of the loading area was as good as a mid sized hatchback. Okay, it's not quite as deep, but I can't see it being a problem at all. That was a pleasant surprise - I'd been led to believe it might be a real squeeze. By the way I'd second the bag idea. I used to carry a huge number of bin liners when transporting the bike in my Quantum - one for each wheel, one to go over the chain/rear swing arm (single pivot Orange fortunately!) and one to go over the tip of the forks, then a dust sheet. Nobody quite believed you could get a large frame full susser in the back of this with the hard top on:

Hi, Where are the best places to look for Corrados for sale? I'm keeping a good eye on the Pistonheads classifieds and take the occasional glance at the for sale section on here and the Autotrader website. Is there anywhere else I should check? Thanks, Chris

Cool, sounds encouraging! I vaguely remember hearing that the interiors are different on some models and some rear seats fold flatter than others - is this true, and if so which is which? I look forward to the challenge. My first car was a 2 seater (well 2+2) Quantum kit car that I managed to stow my Sub 5 in by sticking the frame behind the seats and dumping the wheels and seatpost in the boot, so I have 'form' in secreting bikes in seemingly small cars! People couldn't quite believe that the bike would fit in!