dr_mat

That's a front top mount, isn't it Mike? And I think those mounts are upside down? The castelated section sits in the top of the turret? Do the rears go so obviously "squished"?

I am in the middle of going through the same sequence, smiff, only with my '95 VR6. I got a set of OE-style gas dampers direct from the manufacturer (SACHS) at a humungous discount, so I'm definitely not going the lowering route. I'm also replacing the front top mounts and am thinking I may as well do the bump stops at the same time. The only remaining questions I have are really - is it worth getting VW bump stops, or will GSF do? - and is it worth replacing the rear top mounts. If so - again - is it worth getting VW ones and how much are they. (I'd hope not too much as the front pair only cost about £25 from VW.) And finally - is there anything else in there that's worth swapping while we're at it? (I wasn't planning on changing any springs, unless they are found to be broken when they're removed from the car. 115k miles, mostly motorway shouldn't kill springs.)

Ok. If you sit stationary for long enough that the fan comes on, what does the water temp read? If the fan never comes on and you see steam pressure building, then there's a problem with the fan temp switch. If the fan comes on as normal, and your gauge is *still* reading only 75 or so, then you've either got a dying temp sensor, or your gauge pod has voltage problems (or the temp gauge itself is fubar). Or if you're saying the radiator fan is ALWAYS on - i.e. it comes on when the ignition does, then your rad fan switch is gebuggered - get a new one.

Ok, here we go: I took the car to the auto windscreens place they said "lovely cars mate, we won't charge you just for those tiny chips, don't worry about it" I was speaking to a guy at a party who said "I always wanted one of those" - he worked in insurance therefore realised it was futile!! ;) A guy dropping off my shock absorbers complimented the cars, saying they were great.. A guy driving past in a Golf 2 GTi drove really slowly past the car, gazing at it all the way. ("I couldn't afford one of those probably!") ... There's been others but nothing really major. Everyone says what a nice car they are, aren't they great, and then something goes wrong with the damn thing and I wind up spending another small fortune on it. It *is* a nice feeling though, knowing that those in the know hold it in such high esteem. I couldn't care less what the nova boys say..

Ok, but I was under the impression that the passat handles don't die like the Corrado ones do. Maybe I'm wrong, but if they're going to last much longer (like the life of the car would be nice), then it's got to be worth paying the cash, if that's what it takes.

Clutch lifetime is 100% dependant on how it's driven. Could be 400k miles if the owner doesn't slip it much, but it could be 20k miles if they're doing burn out starts all the time! Personally I find the VR torquey enough that when pulling away, 1200 revs is more than enough to get off the line smartly and once you've got your foot off the clutch, you can plant the loud pedal and make that glorious noise.... :D

By the way - most people I've heard of are using the passat *rear* handles for that de-locked look, but if you have success using the passat *front* handles (with locks), we'd all be interested to know that they fit. No-one can think of a reason they wouldn't, just that AFAIK no-one's tried it..

There's no prescribed interval. Change 'em when it gets noisy, cos the guides and tensioners wear out before the chains. When the guides and tensioners are gone or on their way you get a nice metallic clattering noise that is most audible at about 1200rpm (for some resonance reason, presumably). They very very rarely break altogether, but they have been known to slip a tooth on occasions when the tensioners have gone. If the sound is anything to go by (it is) my tensioners are pretty knacked at 116k miles.. I'm saving up to get it done.... :(

They don't ask people to carry out research, they just check their own databases. Low risk drivers: older people (they drive less on average and are more careful on average), families (no-one's going to drive like a loon with little kids in the car), women (yeah yeah, but stastically it's true - or at least the average woman's accident costs less than the average man's accident).. The thing about putting another driver on the insurance is also clever social engineering. I'm sure the insurance companies never sat down and thought "hmm, this will make the person less likely to make a claim", they simply saw that their statistics showed that young drivers with only one person on the policy are more likely to have accidents than those that have another person on the policy as a named driver - even if that person is a higher risk. I suppose the reason may be about shared responsibility - if you share a car, you're less likely to take risks in it as it's not just you that has to lose out...

Could always get an OE exhaust, and get a custom downpipe if necessary. The VR6 exhaust should be plenty capable of quietening the air flow from a 20VT.

Ah, disposable cars... Marvelous! :)

Not to everyone's taste, but as a result the Jetta can be a very god buy. Not many around any more though I suppose..

Jeez that turbo VR has some guts. 180lbft at 2k rpm? Climbing to 470lbft!!! Meanwhile the 20vt doesn't even keep up with the stock 4-motion till 5k rpm...

Depends on your cover level. The basic package just include 10-mile tow, anything above that includeds tow for as far as you like. Plus of course you can call them out to tow you somewhere else afterwards.. An idea forms.. Why not get them to tow you ten miles... wait 20 minutes, call them again... get them to tow you another 10 miles... wait 20 minutes... and so on.. It might take all night, but they'll tow you home!!

... well I have reason to believe the shocks are iffy, and I was advised that fitting new top mounts is nice and cheap, so thought I may aswell do that at the same time. Several garages have said there's nothing wrong with my wishbone bushes, but I realise that's not definitive... It's next, don't worry. Was thinking of Vibratechnics anyway, not poly.. And they're about £100 the pair!! :shock: Anyone know how much standard VAG ones are? Or do you have to buy a new wishbone with bushes already built in?

It'd be worth the extra wedge for the VW one, from what I hear.

Too much to float and too little to dent a stone wall, why? ;) VR6 is about 1200kg, 2.0 16v is about 1100 - 1140, earlier cars are very slightly lighter, but only by about 50kg.

And a VW is about £40.

It's funny - I've had the same thing with mine as an on-going issue, or roughly this. I've had a succession of disastrous things that have been contributory: 1) tyre pressure problems 2) tyres not balanced 3) wheel bolts loose!! Since eliminating those, I've taken the slightly drastic step of buying some shocks and top mounts (as everything else has been checked) to be fitted on the off-chance that that's it (can't be a bad thing to replace after nearly 120k miles anyway), and I'm tempted to get some new wishbone bushes fitted too. But this sort of problem *could* be all kinds of things. It's hard to say for sure.. :(

Boge turbogas are the same as the Sachs Advantage. They were standard fit on the VR6, but they represent an "upgrade" for the oil-only shocks that were fitted to the rest of the range. Or at least, that's what sachs boge uk tells me...

I would concur. The VR only feels sloppy at the front end if you've got the tyre pressures too low, or you're under heavy braking, IMHO. In all other circumstances (powering round a bend at 80 in 3rd for example :) ) it feels simply sublime...

You have an auto-up feature??

Picked up my stealer rear shocks today - they are the original OEM red SACHS parts - complete with the SACHS and VW stamps in the casings. Look good. Not noticeably soft, but you can tell they're gas shocks cos of the way the strut goes to full extension when it's left to it's own devices... Not bad for £53 all inclusive!! :) Excellent, that's good news that they are indeed the same then.

I have to say - I have a non-original gearbox mount and kev's comment about the transmission whine is spot on. I'm actually considering getting it swapped for a new VW part it's getting on my wick so much. It makes it sound like a damn Fiesta!!! :( :( This is supposed to be the cream of the £20k coupe crop and it's whining like a Fiat Cinquecento!! :(

90 degrees ain't enough to boil any dissolved water out of the oil... Also, there's a small plastic shield that protects the filler cap from being sprayed with hot oil, so you really have to do some significant miles to clear the mayo once it starts to form. My rocker gasket is seeping slightly too, and yes I get the odd whiff of oil burn, along with the odd whiff of unburnt petrol (mainly from VERY cold starts), so none of these things is unusual. Just the way it is.