snattrass

OK I have now replaced the old crappy headlight loom with one I made myself along the lines of that laid out by DavidWort in his excellent project notes. BUT, after I finished it and turned on the main beam it blew the 15A fuse (and a replacement) I used from the battery to the relay. Further to fitting a 20A fuse it seems to be holding OK now, but I am concerned that it should need a 20A fuse when 15A should be adequate - can anyone help? I cant understand it! Could moisture be a factor (it was raining when I was fitting it)? Also I noticed that since doing the job the passenger side dipped beam is brighter than the drivers side dipped beam! Is this because I have positioned the 2 twin output relays I have used (1 for main, 1 for dipped) on the passenger side right behind the passenger lights causing voltage drop to occur along the wires that tranverse the radiator to the drivers lights? Doesnt seem like there should be any appreciable difference over such a short distance ( I have used 30A rated wire). Or could it just be that the drivers headlight bulb is not so new and I just never noticed the difference before? There is a definite difference! Makes me wonder whether I should have used 4 seperate relays instead of the 2 twin output relays I have used. Cheers, Simon

OK I have now replaced the old crappy headlight loom with one I made myself along the lines of that laid out by DavidWort in his excellent project notes. BUT, after I finished it and turned on the main beam it blew the 15A fuse (and a replacement) I used from the battery to the relay. Further to fitting a 20A fuse it seems to be holding OK now, but I am concerned that it should need a 20A fuse when 15A should be adequate - can anyone help? I cant understand it! Could moisture be a factor (it was raining when I was fitting it)? Also I noticed that since doing the job the passenger side dipped beam is brighter than the drivers side dipped beam! Is this because I have positioned the 2 twin output relays I have used (1 for main, 1 for dipped) on the passenger side right behind the passenger lights causing voltage drop to occur along the wires that tranverse the radiator to the drivers lights? Doesnt seem like there should be any appreciable difference over such a short distance ( I have used 30A rated wire). Or could it just be that the drivers headlight bulb is not so new and I just never noticed the difference before? There is a definite difference! Makes me wonder whether I should have used 4 seperate relays instead of the 2 twin output relays I have used. Cheers, Simon

Fabulous guide David and great complimenting document Dec! David, just wondering where to position everything. Did u use both the passenger side and drivers side switch feeds (dip and main beam) to switch the passenger and driver side relays respectively or did u simply tape up the drivers side switching feeds and take both the passenger and drivers side feeds from the passenger side where the relays are planned to be housed? Is there any advantage in using all of the 4 feeds as u have portrayed in ur diagram? It just seems unnecessarily duplicating for the wires to go from the drivers side lamps to the relays next to the battery and then all the way back again. The wire that I am using is heavier gauge than is necessary. Also since I have a couple of relays with twin outs (to the lights) is there any disadvantage in just going ahead and using these rather 4 relays? Thank u, Simon

Yes 215's on 17's on Koni adjustables and PI springs. Couldn't stand the 4x4 look of the thing as standard so yes point taken looks better handles worse although I have the feeling that if I put the same suspension / wheels on my old valver it wouldnt effect the cornering to the same extent. What an enigma the corrado is: u can have a faster one that doesnt handle as well and u can have one that looks and sits as it should do with the correct cosmetic height but again doesnt handle as well!! Seems doomed from the beginning! Maybe when I've tackled the disfunctional after market headlights booster I will look at the sorting out the air filter situation. It came with the K&N cone and no original. Can't belive people fit crap when it just comes back to bite u and take more time and hassle in the end anyway.

it's a cone!

Thanks. There is one on ebay advertised for a VR and e friend of mine has a chipped (or is it remapped i'm not sure) 2.8 Golf which is super fast (mind u he has removed the cat as well) You know what i think takes away from my enjoyment of the VR? It's the K&N air filter on it. I mean it sounds loud and beastie esp when I let rip but really it's only at 5k+ revs that I am only able to hear the nice refined engine purr as the K&N noise dies down. I think these filters are drowning out the VR music! Do they really make em go faster or what? Or is it just to boom the street to death?

Thank guys. nice to see u Tom! I got it nicely lowered now thanks for your help / advice. I'll post some pics sometime soon. Any recommendation for a decent lights booster / links? Just had a look at others similar problems with these devices. It seems a lot of people who have fitted them have been having similar problems as i have been having. Also it seems that moisture can also be a cause of problems and I just pressure washed my engine bay too so that will not have helped. In any case it seems like mine is inferior quality and only has a single relay compared with others i've been reading up about which seem more sophisticated. cheer, S

Are these SNS chips any good for just simply bolting onto my VR for a few extra horses? How much do they cost? Can anyone send me a link for them or recommend a chip for my VR?

Last night after dark during a spirited country lane rally, not for the first time, my headlights suddenly went out leaving me with just the moon and my sidelights for illumination which, after getting home, regardless of repeated attempts to switch off, even after turning off the ignition, stubbornly refused to go out. Only with the engine idling and the stereo switched off did I finally manage to get the sidelights to switch off. Sometime later in the small hours [after answering a call of nature] I noticed that the sidelights had [again not for the first time] "magically" come back on. This time I was only able to turn the sidelights off by running the engine after first eliminating the aftermarket headlights boosting circuit [fitted by a previous owner]. As expected, the wiring on the boosting circuit was extremely hot and the [20A] fuse that I removed from the booster circuit was so hot that it had been melting the see-through plastic housing at the top of the fuse, not surprising after the previous fuse that I replaced had pretty much completely disintegrated. I know my lights swtiches are working fine as I replaced them a while ago [unless the booster circuit has damaged them by pushing too much current through them - but that would surely cause the fuses to break] so, unless anyone can advise me of a better plan, I plan to remove the booster circuit, which is basically a fuse, a relay and a few connecting wires, and install a new booster - recommendations appreciated! Any thoughts / ideas? Common / similar experiences. Solutions / suggestions? Thank you, Simon.

We'll see. I will keep it [the VR] for another year and try to become more accustomed to it's wayward front end. Maybe in this time I can go someway towards mastering it - as I say just not as completely throwable into corners as my 1.8 16Ver thats all. As suggested I should really have driven more models although it's not as if u can test drive someones forsale car like a track event. Not that it's a bad car by any means. It looks great and I do like the beast of an engine. By the way what's this SNS chip that I read about for extracting a few more horses out of it the engine? Seems these are the quickest and easiest and most cost effective way of boosting my power - anyone know anything about this? Si

I have owned a 16v and now a VR6. When I owned the 1.8 16v I loved driving it especially round country lanes and roundabouts where almost no matter how hard I pushed it through the corners it would still behave impeccably maintaining perfectly neutral line with very little understear or oversteer either way. However, I always thought the VR6 being so much swifter would be so much better and everyone always raved on about them being the model of choice. Now that have owned a nice VR for a year or so I have to say as a driving experience I am beginning to prefer my old valver. Sure the VR is faster straight line and sounds beastie when revved but try to put it through it's paces on the same corners and bends and the front end just slides completley away (I have Koni struts, PI springs and 215's on 17 inch split rims). Maybe I have yet to get used to it's handling so that I can properly put it through it's paces (I have just recently changed the suspension etc and started sporty driving it) but I would say through a tight twisty road a valver would see off a VR no problem. All of which leaves me to ask you guys which model do we think is the best mix of handling and performance? Is it the lighter G60? How much would it cost to make the lighter G60 upto a similar BHP to the VR? What would need doing? Can the G60 house 16valves or is that silly? I know the G60 is faster at lower revs and the valver faster at higher revs. It's all a bit confusing really and I feel that although my VR looks the part and sounds the part and is the part in a straight line it is not the part on the corners where the valver was so much impeccable fun to drive all of which is making me seriously consider swapping my VR for a different model maybe another 16ver or a G60. I've probaly forgotten how much slower my valver was esp in overtaking etc but when it was warmed up it used to really purr on the motorway and willingly accelerate in 5th gear over the limit. Advice please? Simon

My lowering is exactly the same as yours. Slightly lower one side than other. Have I over tightened the lower nut over tightening the bearings? My top mounts are slightly proud on the top of the inner wing as your are!!!

I think it is more than just the road camber. And yes the tyre was actually low on pressure but after returning it to full normal pressure and after checking the tracking lasor and setting the tracking correctly it still pulls to the side. I wonder whether the tracking mechanic set the lasor sensors correctly on the wheels but who knows? The main thing I need to do is correct the negative camber but I would like to get it all set up correctly when I put uprated shocks on as right now it's on standard ones with PI lowering springs (i know not good - ask my teeth!). I will try to find the print out of the lasor values for u guys to maybe comment on. Thanks again. Simon.

CheeseWire it is pulling fairly noticeably to the left like - and the tracking has been lasor set. What does that mean?

I am looking for an economical way to mate my PI lowering springs with decent shocks and have been told (on this board) that Koni T/A's would be an ideal match. And how much do they Koni T/A's or a decent equivalent retail at? Cheers, Si

Dinkus: I wonder y cheesewire stipulated a castor setting range of - +3.25 +/- 0.30 if it can't be adjusted? (I still don't understand how u laser check that reading!) When I fitted the lowering springs I don't remember there being hardly any room for adjustment on the strut bottom mounts. Certainly not enough to pull my diagonal looking front wheels in (the back are fine), but I'll have another look to double check. Could do with an exploded view of this castor business for possible adjustments if indeed it is possible, anyone...? Cheers, Si

Cheers KADVR6! Where's the chrapest place to buy Koni T/A's? How much do they cost?

But how do they test castor? I don't recall the laser print out including the castor reading! And the laser sensors are placed on the wheels so how do they test for castor alignment? Cheers.

Boost Monkey, Cheesewire, How can I say it politely, that's flipin sexual that mate those settings r really doing it for me! Hiking with a map now mate - no mind blowingly frustrating guess work! This forum is sooo good! Thanks so much! Toad mate - loving her! Just need to iron out these wrinkles etc! Si

Dinkus, Dr Mat thank you! Finally, someone tells me what on earth I need to do to pull it in at the bottom. Actually today a local garage man told me something simliar after every other garage I asked told me that's just what to expect when u lower it but, of course, I never really believed that and it's better and more reassuring to hear it off u guys on this board! Is there an exploded diagram or something showing me the caster angle bit to move or show the camber mechanic which bit to do. Now all I need to do is decide what shocks to put on with the PI springs that I currently have on to make the ride half decent (on the current ride I have no teeth!). Just want something inexpensive but half decent and then I can get the whole thing properly put together and straight and solid! Cheers guys. Very much appreciated. Simon.

Thanks guys! (Didn't mean to start a WMD type debate!) I think u r right that it's most likely to be the camber. But y is the camber so much out after lowering it? I mean I've had laser alignment readings but there's really no camber adjustment for the front struts is there? Just 2 bolts at the bottom and that's it? And after lowering it mine is miles into negative camber - miles in at the top! Maybe I have to make slots in the bottom strut mounting to enable them to pull in more at the bottom! Frutstrated!

For VW corrado/golf VR6 apparently lowers the car approx 40mm. R these any good for lowering my VR6? Opinions please. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... :IT&ih=018 Currently have PI lowering springs on standard shocks. Although it looks mean and low the ride is shite so am looking to improve economically.passat climatronic wiring diags.pdfPicture 021.jpg[/attachment:2xm76gpm]climatronic wiring-Golf from May 01.pdfPicture 020.jpg[/attachment:2xm76gpm]2.8l 24v Climatronic system.pdfPicture 023.jpg[/attachment:2xm76gpm]Picture 022.jpg[/attachment:2xm76gpm]

Accelerating reasonably hard esp in first I'm spinning the front wheels in a way that I never used to. Does this mean my traction control is shagged? Or is it because I've got loads of negative camber on the front wheels (leaning in at the top) after I fitted lowering springs resulting in a lesser tyre to road footprint? It's pissing me off! As they say power is nothing without control! Cheers guys, Simon.

3corsameal you might have noticed on another thread I've just finished this job and just to confirm there's only bearing. Make sure you get it the right way up, unless someone corrects me, with the curved plastic bit on the top side sitting neatly in the rubber mounting. When I took mine apart it had been installed the wrong way round - no wonder the plastic had all disintegrated and it also caused the car to sit even higher than normal standard VR6's. By the way can you tell me where that diagram comes from because it's very good and would have been very helpful to me when doing my suspension and looks like what I need for future jobs. Thanks, Simon.

Just fitted PI springs and it looks great just right. (Will get some pix up when I can). Should I have trimmed the bump stops while I was at it? I'll sort out some new sports shocks when I get the chance.