Castro

My insurance company wrote my VR off earlier this year when I destroyed a deer. Needed new wing, light, bonnett and door. Bought it back off them, sourced secondhand parts, got them sprayed up and fixed it myself. Made about £1500 profit. I felt like crying at the time but getting it back on the road 6 months later (VR bonnetts are ard to find) it felt like I had just bought the car all over again.

I think it's got something to do with the fuel, aswell. I only ever use Optimax, and now V-Power. Having had to fill up on standard 95RON one time, I struggled to get over 30mpg.

You should be good for at least 400 miles, based on the fact I filled up with 13.6 gallons whilst the needle was showing completely empty. Obviously a fair bit in reserve.

Funny that this should come up today, as I have just made some calculations to judge the accuracy of the MFA on my VR. I filled up this morning with 62 litres (13.6 UK gallons) of Shell's finest, having travelled 430 miles since the last fill. The trip was displaying 31.8 MPG when I filled, and my calculations make it 31.6, so actually my computer seems to be surprisingly accurate. The most I have ever had from a tank was 510 miles, which was keeping a steady 70-80 on the motorway most of the time. I think the VR can be surprisingly frugal if you're not murdering it all the time.

I'd like to think I'm pretty well qualified to comment on this subject. I'm currently in the middle of converting my 1.9 to accomodate the Mi16 16V engine from the 405. This job is including stripping the entire car and rebuilding from the ground up. Things I have discovered so far include...the whole front panel that forms the front part of the engine bay and which sits behind the headlamps and front bumper, had to be replaced due to corrosion. Also one of the sills had to be repaired for the same reason. Apart from this there were no real structural problems of any note (a few other minor blemishes here and there). Mechanically they are surprisingly robust. In the time that I have had the car (since 1997) there have been no real problems. I'm trying to think if there has been anything at all but I don't think there has. My buying advise would be to go for an earlier car as, as has already been mentioned they don't have power steering (you don't want it in this car unless you're a girl) and also they don't have the catalytic converter which robs the car of a full 10bhp. The 1.9 should have 130 bhp and 119 lbft of torque. Other than this it's dificult to give advise because it's such an old car now and every one could be hugely different in terms of condition. I hope you find a good one, as if you do you will fall in love with it. Its driving dynamics are in a different class to even the haloed Corrado (and that's saying something). Let me know if I can be of further assistance (if I have been of any assistance). Mark

Anybody else find that when you're following a car with LED rear lights in the dark, if you move your eyes across the car, or as you flick between the car in front and your dials, the lights cause a 'trace' in your vision? It's as if the lights are flashing on and off very quickly, rather than being switched on constantly. Is this just something that LEDs do? Anyone else witnessed this, or am I really as special as my mum tells me I am?

All I know is that they are damned fine looking and with the right engine fast aswell. Can't comment on running costs/reliability though. 20v Turbo gets 5* in Evo's The Knowledge. Can't be a bad thing...

I recently replaced a wing and is not a difficult job (I'm not an experienced DIYer). It's not welded, there are bolts inside the bonnett, behind the door, and one just under the sill behind the wheel. Also you need to detach the wheelarch liner. After that you need to unbolt the front bumper (2 large bolts that you need to go underneath to get to) and there's one more bolt on the side to remove the wing. It should come off quite easily now. Mark

That's no way for a car like that to go out. What a shame.

What's been done to those headlights? Is it an insert that's been painted or something? I didn't like it at first, but it's growing on me.

I haven't read this thread in it's entirety, but if anyone's interested in my views on the Koni Coilovers I've got fitted to my VR6, they are thus; Dropped the car by about 50mm front 70mm rear, and with the original 15" Speedlines it now looks how it should have looked all along. Set the dampers all the way soft, then a half turn hard and on normal roads the added composure was unexpected at first. Also body roll is hugely reduced. However, on particularly poor surfaces it can become a little jarring at times. I see this as a problem with our roads, rather than a problem with the setup (I have to tell myself this, don't I). All in all I was only looking to improve the look of the car when I made the swap, but with the added control and cornering prowess there's no way I would go back. Might be nice to get someone who knows what they're doing to set it up though. Mark

Sorted! If only everything was as easy to fix as that. Turned out to be the boot light wasn't fitted securely and was shorting on the metal behind the carpet boot liner. Thanks to all who advised. Mark

There it is on page 102 of the Owner's manual...never would have thought to look in there. Cheers

Thanks for the welcome and for the advice. Now for my next question; what manual are you refering to? There's no Haynes manual that I'm aware of, and surely the owner's manual doesn't give that sort of info does it? Is it a workshop manual that you've got? I need to know what else is on the same circuit. MFA memory, interior light & sunroof I know because they don't work. Cigar lighter & sunvisor mirror light have also been suggested (I wouldn't have noticed since I don't use these). Any suggestions regarding the wiring (apologies if I'm covering old ground here) Thanks

I have the exact same problem right now and I identified the offending fuse no worries. However when I try to insert a new fuse (20amp) it blows even as I'm putting it in. Do I need to follow some proceedure to insert the new fuse, or where should I look to find the root of the problem? Could it be one of the relays already mentioned above? This is my first ever post, so please be nice! Mark