dr_mat

Ahem, "k" as in short for kilo, as in £70,000 ... Sorry, I'm being pedantic unnecessarily. I'll shut up and let people answer your questions... ;)

£70k? Sounds a lot for a Passat... ;)

IMHO most people looking at that kind of money for a track car are looking at spending slightly more and getting into turbo/super charging, I would have thought that's a better bet. Flexibility isn't so important on the track, it's outright power at high revs that's required...

Hmm - there's a wide enough torque curve to keep the engine on the boil, but admittedly due to the tall gearing slow corners are a problem, and there's not a lot of overlap on the gear selection (yes you have to change gear mid corner on the fast sweepers sometimes). I suspect it's 50/50 gearbox or VSR. The VSR will give you more flexibility to stick with a gear rather than change down, but then a 6-speed g/box conversion would give you the ability to select a more suitable gear for every corner. And the pricing is about the same, from what I've heard. (A new VGI is going to set you back £1200+, whilst the gearbox mod is probably similar.)

Nope, all Corrados are OBD1, the VSR is OBD1 only, the VGI is available in either. As for your track experience, why not just change down...? 96 should be top of 3rd gear, drop it into 4th you're right back on the boil.

Must do something similar...

...all of which is more or less what Kev said... (more, mostly.. ;) )

Hmm, not sure if this has been done to death or not, but.. VSR is the WV Motorsport (/Pierburg) originally developed variable inlet manifold. yes, much more torque below 4000rpm than the standard manifold, and "normal" performance above 4000 rpm. VGI is the Schrick aftermarket version of the same product. It has a few subtle differences, and is said to give slightly more torque and more flow at high revs than the VSR, but I've never seen a VSR vs VGI plot on the same engine so can't really say whether you'd notice the difference. The biggests pro for the VSR is it's "VW"-ness it's a really nice fit for the car, it's identical in size to the original manifold and allows you access to the spark plug holes in the same way as the OE manifold. The VGI, on the other hand, blocks off the front three plugs access points, and is physically larger than the original, resulting in less space under the bonnet, and the necessity to rework a part of the bonnet to get it into a Corrado. Not only this but it pulls the throttle body further away from the engine, which pulls the air intake box away from it's housing. (I discovered this this weekend, and wonder if that's got something to do with the sitting-in-traffic heatsoak..)

Bosch refurbs are ok tho - don't worry about those. They basically retain the same casing and replace all the bushes, windings, bearings, cables etc etc. The casing is acid cleaned and repainted. Can't comment on other manufacturers..

I'm not sure if Sarah is talking about the infamous VW REAR calipers, actually. I think maybe she meant the fronts? ("G60 extra sized"?)

I would agree. The copper current strap that goes from the solenoid to the starter is a non-repairable item (except in a factory refurb), and they corrode over time. For the extra £50 over a 2nd hand one, I'd say it's well worth getting a new one.

.. and of course (to finish off the set), GSF do genuine Bosch parts too.

It also depends on where you are... ooop north it's not so pricey...

neither... bushes, or even brake compensator valve!

Good prices, done by a good shop, seem to start at around £185 for a single panel. I would imagine that both front wings and the bonnet counts as more than a single panel, so I'd expect it to be significantly more than that..

Seems cheap to me.....

Could well be your MAF not reading correctly too. The MAF and O2 sensors make up the basis for most of the engine's decisions about fuelling. If the MAF is lying about incoming air levels, but the O2 sensor (lambda) is working fine, it's 50/50 as to which error code comes up. I'd suggest you beg/steal/borrow another MAF and try resetting the codes again before checking VAGCOM. Seemingly perfectly ok MAFs have often proved to be the culprit for running problems. Even Bosch have trouble figuring out if a MAF is truly ok or not.. 4 minutes disconnected should be enough. I think bentley says 30, but that's overkill... Yes, if it's genuinely reset the ECU it also loses record of any stored faults.

The codes will be permanently stored, true, but once the problem has been fixed, the ABS light will go out. Just make sure next time you take it the garage they don't read off old codes and replace the bits you've already replaced... :)

So there ya go - another front engine mount gives way. More ammo for the Vibratechnics brigade (you know who you are, kev..).. :)

The handbook also says that the ABS is disabled whenever the light is on, but mine's never thrown a pedal position sensor fault so I can't confirm or deny... (Erm, yet.)

Temp sensors? Not sure if this circuit is controlled from the temp switch in the radiator or not, but from the sound of it bridging the sensor doesn't work, so it sounds like the run-on control relay is bust or an alien living in your engine doesn't like the noise when the engine's not running.

Check the copper current strap from the battery to the solenoid, THEN check the copper current strap from the solenoid to the starter. This gave way on mine, so I was just getting TICK, TICK on trying to engage the starter, but no actual rotation..

Ahem, looks a bit matchbox with the wheels sticking out like that so much...

Kev, I think the slam panel was nearer 700 + VAT, actually!!

Sounds like it's just reading 10 degrees under... So you're sitting at between 80 and 100, just like everyone elses...