dr_mat

Close one. He'll be two car lengths ahead thanks to RWD from the start, but you've got some spare bhp/tonne over him, so it's tough to call. Of course, it's more about who is prepared to push their car harder, and changes gear quicker etc etc..

Funny that, Pug said exactly the same thing about my missus' 206, and it was the immobiliser reader coil, a £12 part.

I note the appearance of the US flag ... I suppose that answers my question, and therefore I answered your question. At least it looks like there's no long term damage.

Sounds like it's shutting down for self-protection or due to overheating. Check that the speakers are all wired correctly and none of them are shorting out. If that's all ok, you'll need to either turn your music down or get an external power amp..

The C has the same suspension setup as either a mk2 golf or a mk3 GTi Golf, depending on which model C it is. No big tricks to setting it up. Find a garage that knows what they're doing!!

The battery is the voltage regulator for the car, effectively. You run risk of frying all kinds of stuff with voltage spikes, or voltage drops. No wonder the ABS light was on, it was probably screaming about voltage issues. Get your battery charged up if you think it's iffy (stick a voltmeter on it - if it's showing more than 12.0 V it should be fine), and get the ECU scanned to see what's up with the electronics. Also - where are you? If your C is left hand drive, the ABS pump provides brake assistance, which might explain why your brake pedal is so heavy now. RHD cars use vacuum from the engine to assist.

Yowser, for the sake of £30 for a cheap battery put one in rather than risk frying all the electrics jumping it and running it without one!

But it's in the daily mail?! Therefore it's nonsense, obviously! :)

Not unless you broke something whilst removing/fitting the two batteries.. The ABS would register the loss of power, but that would not be a permanent fault, only a temporary one.

If by that random collection of letters "anti-spind" you mean the EDL traction control ;) yes, afaik all VR6s had the same ABS setup, which includes EDL traction control. Not that it's very effective.

From your description, Euan, I think my VR sounds the same. I've mentioned it repeatedly to Vince at Stealth (me being a bit paranoid about this type of thing) and he has always said "they're all like that" ... I suspect it's something worn in the head, but am not inclined to worry about it too much, since I don't fancy the prospect of a head rebuild just to make the engine quieter..

Got a laptop? Get a cable off ebay ...

Strictly speaking, more torque just means more torque. More power comes from either increasing torque *at high revs* or from increasing the revs that the engine can achieve. The most effective way to achieve a good wide torque curve is probably a turbo or supercharger, but it's not cheap...

It *is* all in the ECU on the VRs.

I think they're obsolete from VW UK, too, so maybe GPC can still get 'em in Germany, but .. don't all rush at once, eh...?

Amazing. Never thought it would happen: "insurer uses sensible evidence in policy decision shocker" ... :)

Not sure how a faulty starter can cause the engine to cut out when it's already running ..? Anyway, cutting out while accelerating is bad, usually points to ECU relay or ignition switch - worth the look on these items anyway, since they're the cheapest things you might have to replace anyway..

Uh oh, did the baby blue VR skip a beat? MFA showing 99.9 mpg on the VR was usually mentioned as one of the "signs" that the car had been tampered with (read: clocked). But as stated, it's driven by the ECU itself, so not 100% sure how it can go wrong if the engine still runs right unless some wire to the dash is AWOL.

Thought there were only 20 automatic Storms, actually. 10 of each colour...

500ml over 2k miles ish? (there is no blue smoke, except a slight puff on overrun) Which cylinders share the same coils in a coilpack then? Can't remember. Look at the coil pack - note that the HT leads that are stacked vertically come from the same coil (there's three, obviously). 500ml oil over 2k miles is not a problem at all. Sounds more likely you've got spark or fuelling issues based on that.

Is that a fact? I would assume that a bypassed MAF (which you'd know about straight away in VAGCOM by the way) would kill the car's performance a lot more than 15-20bhp. I would expect it to run incredibly rich. And that's assuming your throttle position sensor is working really well. If it's not the car won't run at all. If the MAF is just "dodgy", which by many tales on here can happen then anything could happen. Lean running. Rich running. Anything and everything in between. It's worth trying, but simple statements such as this do not come anywhere near reflecting the reality.

Check the hose that goes from the back of the cylinder head to the heater matrix, down near the head. That's the first hose to die on a VR, and because of the location, it's hard to spot - it's under the HT lead guide panels.

Not really. As stated, coil pack does two cylinders at a turn, so if the CP is gone, you tend to lose two cylinders. 1 and 6 don't share the same coil in the CP though, so don't think this can be the CP. How much oil does the car use?

Does it need to be *clean* .. ? :)

You can get spark testers in Halfrauds (or in a reputable car parts place). Just plug it on the top of the plug and then plug the lead into *it*. It'll flash each time you get spark. This will confirm that the spark is arcing across the plug *when fitted*. (Don't forget the current has to earth to the cylinder head and back to the battery.) You could also have a dodgy injector if it's flooding the cylinder. I've heard of one or two others, but you're right it's rare.