chazrad

Well done John. Thanks for compiling these. Alas, the hillclimbing events are great fun, but I think the Prescott days are a little too far for me to get to this year (and next), but will do my best to get to motorsport events as far afield as Silverstone, and 'Combe in the Summer. I've Brands Hatch on my doorstep now though... :D Will be back to look at the VW events list soon.

Looks very interesting and a neat design; but isn't this the benefit of the standard VR manifold over a short runner in the first place, Kev? I'll be interested to see how you find it.

Holy smokes! That's enormous! :shock: Is that for Graham's VR? I need to speak to him, actually. Do you have his mobile number, Dave? I tried the one I have for him and it didn't work.

Just my 2p worth, but I've had no problems at all with the powerflex bushes on my 'Rado. They've been on there for about 5 years. Powerflex bushes are firmer, there is no doubt; but I would have thought that if you are planning to fit coilovers, then comfort is not your first priority. Moreover, stiffer suspension will transfer greater loads to the other suspension components and you will want the peace of mind knowing that there only the minimum of movement in the geometry. BTW, fitting thicker (Eibach) anti-roll bars was the best mod I have ever did to my 'Rado, alongside swapping from 280 (standard) to 288mm brakes (from a late Mk3 VR Golf or Passat). I did the roll bars before uprating the suspension from standard springs and dampers, and the transformation over the standard car was huge. However, if you want to know what a well sorted VR6 feels like (and what you shopuld be aiming for (IMHO), with fresh bushes, KW V1s and anti-roll bars, then contact Fay (scarlet_vr6) who has just had hers all done. Her car has been transformed - the handling is pin sharp, and made me realise what a difference the ARBs make, when compared to my VR Golf which has Powerflex bushes and coilovers but no ARBs. Fay lives near you (Basingstoke I think). HTH

Good to see you on here again, Nick. See you soon. Charlie

Inlet is a cast ali HPA/HGP copy, cams are standard oem for driveability. The owner wants a seriously powerful but very drivable car. So cams are left alone and the turbo has been matched to ensure good bhp but minimal lag. It looks big but its actually quite small for this engine. Hope that helps.. Ben Glad to hear he's going for driveability and can have big power aswell. Give him my regards when you next speak to him. Would be good to meet up with you chaps again sometime. I'm moving house over your / GH's way very soon. :wink: Charlie

Hope all is well, Ben. This is going to be an absolute monster! :D I can't wait to see this some time on the future! :salute:

Agree with this. I have one of these and there have been no issues yet. The clutch is not really any heavier than standard either, which is nice! :D

Fitted a new beige leather gear gaiter last night then took the car for a 25 mile run to put some miles on it. Then it started to rain, so headed home. Still 880 miles before its run in. Should get some use come the weekend though... :grin:

Good on you, Karl. I'm really sorry to hear about all the hassle you've had over the ECU. Like others say, I hope it'll be resolved soon. You won't regret going down the 12v turbo avenue, matey. Its cost me alot of money but that's because I've had it all done for me and I've tried to tick all the boxes. There is definitely a cheaper way to do it, and you deserve to find that way, what with the various bits of bad luck you've had automotively and domestically over the last 12 months. :? Once mine's run in matey, I'd gladly take you out for a spin if our paths cross. I the mean time, good luck with growing your VRT parts collection. PS. Have you got a spacer plate (to lower compression) yet? I may have a Dubpower (8.5:1) one for sale shortly, if its salvageable once Tim has cleaned it up. :wink: edit: I meant to add that I saw the Oak Green Mk2 Gti with your R32 engine in, at the Phirm Open Day last Sunday. The install is a very neat job. It now needs the mapping sorted but Adam was there also, and he seemed happy with it.

Well, I've got it back...again!! Having taken the car back to the Phirm for its first (post running-in) oil change, the car was mapped and dynoed on the rolling road. As a precautionary check to ensure all was well with the engine, before calling me to come and collect it, Tim did a compression test on the cylinders, only to discover a couple of the cylinders were approx 20psi down. Hmmm. So took a look inside with a borescope but could not see anything wrong: no score marks. Having slept on the issue, he decided that the only thing to do was to take the head off and find out the cause of the compression losses. This is where it got interesting... He discovered on removing the pistons that they were all cracked between the rings. There was no damage to the crowns and no discolouration; just bits of metal that were in some cases coming away from the pistons between the rings. The pistons were new Mahle oversized (82.5mm) cast pistons that Vince put in when he rebuilt the engine to standard (bottom end) spec in 2006, although they apparently have shorter skirts than a standard OE VW piston. When Tim put the uprated conrods in, in preparation for the turbo earlier this year, there was obviously no visible signs of fatigue in the pistons, or they would have been replaced then and there (with uprated ones). It seems though, that the cracks that must have already been there at that stage were internal and might only have been spotted by ultrasound or x-raying them. It seems those pistons could only really have been up to standard NA cylinder pressures, as they damage must have started when the 'charger was on; even so they were only 7-8000 miles old. The amazing thing is that no other damage was done at all to any other component. So, after a call to TSR Performance, (and a week's wait), a shiny set of Wossner low comp pistons appeared, and after rehoning the bores they're now in and running. I've obviously been able to ditch the Dubpower 8.5:1 spacer plate, and will see if it is in a serviceable condition once its been cleaned up, in which case I'll offer it up for sale, as it may be of use to someone else doing a VRT conversion. As it is, Tim and the team at the Phirm were working silly hours ( :salute: ) last week to get a host of cars ready for the Open Day they held at their new premises yesterday. Amongst them was mine, and I was delighted to be able to collect it on the day, and drive it home last night! :clap: The only issue now is another '1000 mile at max 3000rpm' running-in period before I can really open the old girl up; however, limited extensions of my right foot (for short periods) indicate it'll be worth the wait. By 3000rpm at 1.2 bar, its absolutely taking off! :cuckoo: Its loads smoother as well (as well as feeling alot quicker), which is clearly down to improvements in the refinement of the mapping, and perhaps the pistons as well? 900 miles to do and counting down!! :D (At the risk of sounding sycophantic) I just want to say a public thank you to the Phirm for all the incredibly hard work, long hours (on occasion 5am starts and 1am finishes) and attention to detail that has been lavished on my car - among others - over the last year. It has been treated as if it were your own,and it truly is appreciated, fellas. The Open Day yesterday proved what a loyal following you have as a company and how widely your product is respected. ....and I don't even want to think about what might have happened to the engine, had Tim not followed up his concern about the compression drops and taken the head off. :notworthy: ...Oh, and the old pistons are currently still in the boot of the car; but they are going to be used as ashtrays around the house. However, I need to start smoking, so I can make use of them! :grin:

Inspirational stuff, Doug. Keep up the outstanding work. As Kip says, this is one of the most interesting cars to read about at the moment.

My wife just phoned me to say she's seen a green 16v sitting in the carpark at Sainsbury's in Kidlington nr Oxford. Running on BBS 15's and had a CCGB sticker in the window. Reg no. Jxxx TRO. She reckoned it looked tidy. (she's well trained, the ol' trouble and strife, you know!! :lol: :lol: )

Sounds fantastic Ben, excellent work. :D

Great job on the boot, Fay. Is it hard to remove the rear door cards? I should inspect behind mine really. I've never had them out. :?

Tom, I agree with everything you say here. I too really enjoyed the Grand Challenge articles, and its that kind of thing that I wish they would do more of, but realise they must dedicate time and space to testing the cars many people aspire to owning. I also used to really like reading the Fast Fleet sections, particularly Simon George's experiences with his Lambos. Its just that I've got to the stage of not reading everyone cover to cover as I once used to. I've even fallen behind and have a couple of month's worth of magazines sitting waiting to be opened - a sign that I've fallen out of love with Evo, at least for the moment. I note your comments about PPC.

Parts of it are, James. I have used the boost pipework that is on display and the Spearco 'cooler. The rest is all new/custom made.

There may be a bit of lag Shaun. It is difficult for me to judge as I have no reference. The boost pipework is certainly longer than your chargecooler and SRI setup, but that was always going to be the case when running the standard manifold. From that perspective, there is bound to be more lag than in your case. What I do know is that the turbo has spooled up by 2,500rpm and if I cruise off-boost at 2,500rpm, the turbo spools up pretty quickly when I plant my right foot. I'll know more when the car is run-in properly and I can squeeze the loud pedal with abandon right through the rev range! The reasoning behind two intercoolers was that the Spearco one is good for about 250-300bhp, so would not be up to the task of 400. The RS one was always good for 200bhp on Sierras. Whether combining them means you can add their potential together, I doubt, but two is bound to be better than one - allowing for the effect on boost pipework length. ...and my screamer pipe sounds ace! :D

I've finally cancelled my subscription after getting every issue of Evo since the start... all down to the sameness of each issue - yet another new Porsche or Ferrari. I got bored of reading about endless cars I shall never be able to afford to own. I reckon Practical Performance Car is the replacement. Like John says though, I shall miss the photography.

Oh, and one of the turbo nestled down the back of the engine. It sits pretty low - almost in the air flow under the car. The boost pipework then comes forward underneath the sump and round into the RS 'cooler then the Spearco - the two being in series.

Finally took some pictures of the engine bay today. I'm pretty pleased with the way it looks at the moment. The car is still being run in atm, so limited to 3000rpm, which is galling as the turbo has spooled up to its 0.5 bar setting by 2,500rpm so its starting to take off!! Hey ho, it'll be worth the wait though... The car goes back after a 1000 miles for more mapping refinement and a trip onto the rollers for figures, so I'll let you all know in due course. Its still running abit rich at the moment, and the cold start mapping needs some more work as its not that easy to start. A work in progress...

Ben, glad to see the car has gone to a good home. Marcus looked after that car well. He took me out in it last year and even let me drive it. It gave me the final push I needed to turbo my VR! Personally, I really like the colour of the wheels and would be in no hurry to change them. I liked the R32 seats as well as they were really supportive in fast corners, but each to his own. IMO, its the torque of the turbo VR which really matters, not the bhp. Your car may only have made 296 on the rollers recently but what torque figure did you record? That's what matters in real world driving. As I recall, Marcus RR'd the car early last year and saw a higher torque figure than bhp (350lb/ft and 340bhp rings a bell), which was the highest torque figure of the day! That's the beauty of retaining the original inlet manifold.. Enjoy!! :D

I remember this car when it was magazine featured and owned by Tom Ingram. I've got the article in a folder here at home. I recall seeing the MJ Interiors alcantara interior come up for sale somewhere quite recently too (on here?). Was always a lovely car, fitted with BBS 301s and that gorgeous BBS steering wheel. What happened to that? Glad you have sorted out the running problems, matey. Running lean is BAD! Pleased Vince sorted it out for you. What size pulley are you running to get 265bhp? Was that recorded on Vince's rollers? Looks like tha car is well cared for with a good garage to hide her in, and I like your choice of rims. I owned a set of those (although not 9s) for a time until last Summer, and I still miss them. Enjoy.

Its a massive improvement over their last premises - all white, bright and clean. They have already really settled in, and its a much more pleasant working environment for them all to work in - and sooo much more light in the workshop as well. As stated above, it also means your car doesn't get a) covered in mud in winter driving up the farm track, or b) covered in dust in summer driving up the farm track!! :D :lol: And its soo much easier to get to. They're visible from the road on the A30. Its a real shame about Chessy the dog though..she died recently.

Just read through this thread. Wow, superb job! You must have spent a small fortune on new fixtures and fastenings alone!! and your powdercoater has probably been able to put an extension on his house for the amount you've spent with him :lol: . Great to see a true enthusiast rescue another Corrado from oblivion...well done, matey!