dr_mat

2 and 3 I can answer 2) yes, it is. It's perfectly normal... Only worry if you're having difficulty getting gears. 3) yeah, also quite normal. At least, almost all VRs do it, so it can't be that bad.. The sunroof should work ok at any speed, can't explain why there's a difference there.

Your VR6 has almost no miles on it. It probably still smells of the factory, thinking the chains need doing is just mad!! And if you're trying to rub it in, don't!! :( However, if you really want a VR6 with chains that rattle, I'll happily swap you for my all-black with black leather VR6...

The big question - where is Clarkson going to put the Corrado on the "cool wall" ..??? I can guess what the consensus of opinion will be around here!! LOL! :)

Worse than that, I live in Reading, AKA "the village".. Who is number 1? ;)

Have we missed something? Top Gear hasn't started yet..

The rear bushes are theoretically simple.. But rarely so in practise.. They're usually completes gits to remove because they've been there for 8 years and everything's rusted up..

You'd probably benefit from new bushes then alone. Certainly the rears will probably be failing the MOT soon if they've not been done yet. The top mounts on the front tend to compress a fair bit over that sort of time aswell (from what I've been told - mine are still on originals at 115k, and could probably do with changing).

I couldn't comment on the after-market suspension, cos I've never compared the two. Other folks around here can give you more advice on that... How many miles has your VR6 done on it's original suspension?

Standard VR6 suspension isn't that "hard". It's definitely "harsh" over short-wavelength oscillations (pot-holes!), and that's pretty normal given it's age. This can be improved with new bushes all round, but it's still based on a 10-year old design, so you won't get up to modern standards of comfort. But long-wavelength stuff it's pretty soft, though I feel it's a nice compromise. Most after-market suspension setups are harder. Note that wheels larger than the original 15" will also make the ride much harsher by reducing the size of the tyre's side wall. HTH.

The Galaxy/Sharan uses a different part, AFAIK. It's a corrado-specific piece. At least that's what VW said.. Another 50k miles VR6 on the forum?? Which planet do all these low-miles VRs come from?! No, I wouldn't expect the engine mounts to be gone yet, but it's still worth checking them. The hose does just go through old age, but excess engine movement (particularly courtesy of a gone rear mount) can accelerate it by putting stress on the top side of the hose by the cylinder head.

It's the hose to the heater matrix, yes. Dealer-only part, I'm afraid. Neither GSF nor ECP will do these. £38 + VAT IIRC... :( Nice clean engine bay, by the way, clearly the hose hasn't deposited it's load of G12+ coolant completely yet... By the way, failure on this hose can often be a result of weak engine mounts, so I'd get them thoroughly checked out at some point soon. HTH. I may have a spare... Let me check.

The MFA does a rolling average temp reading, as I understand it, so it shouldn't be too badly affected by a sudden, completely stupid reading. But if the sensor is consistently wrong, there's not much the MFA can do but add the numbers up and display the result... In both your cases I'd definitely blame the temp sensor.

VAG COM can only be as accurate as the temperature sensors... Unless it does some clever calibration thing.. But I can't see how it *can*..

The aux water pump shouldn't make that much difference when the engine is running. The main pump should be plenty (particularly at tickover). Hope this helps, but you might find there's another reason aswell!

By the way, where on earth do all these 50k mile late VR6s live???

air con - some dealer-fit air con cars are kicking about, but it's rare, and not very good, by all accounts.

Quick answers: air con - no factory air con option for RHD cars. lumpy idle - there's many discussions on the VR lumpy idle on the forum, have a dig around. This can be for many many reasons, not always an indication that something is "wrong" battery - buy a new one!!! Make sure your alternator is charging it properly first. When you say "heaters" I hope you don't mean you had the seat heater on for 45 minutes?! Dunno how many watts they are, but if it's anything about 2-300 Watts you're looking at 16 amps current, which will drain a FULL 64 Ah battery in around 3-4 hours.

And don't forget to check out Vr6's excellent buying guide thread. :)

I live in Reading, can't find even non-VW-specialists for less than £30/hr. Back 'oop north' I used to pay a lot less, but that's deeply inconvenient.. And the answer to the "how do you afford".. I DON'T!!!! Hence no VSR/VGI or anything. In fact I've got to get a new exhaust, a new engine mount and probably new track rod ends fitted very soon. This car is killing me! Now, if you'd like to do that lot for me... ;)

Very bizzarre! Could be the timer circuit gone nuts I suppose, otherwise there might be something up with the power supply to the lamp, could be confusing the timer circuit.

Everyone knows putting cams in costs nothing if labour is essentially free (i.e. DIY). The rest of us have to pay £36/hour + VAT to get someone competent. Two reasons: 1) I don't have the tools or the space (not even a driveway) 2) I'm not competent!!! So to that £80 you'd have to add at least as much again to get the things fitted... And as for the Schrick, well that's a not inconsequential fitting job either!! Point taken about the VSR, but at least it was badged "VW motosport" at the time, which implies it had some official VW backing.

is it a regular flash, or irregular?

Because it's the "real thing". Not aftermarket... And it doesn't bash your bonnet, and you can still get access to the plugs. Minor points, I know, but there ya go! It's not going to happen anyway, as kev says, I can't afford it either! Anyway I thought the VSR worked out roughly the same price as the VGI, simply because they're *all* 2nd hand now? And I was under the impression that to get the best out of the VGI you have to put Shrick cams on it too, which adds plenty of £££ to the cost...

If you stand still the temp will climb. The VR produces a lot of heat, and needs the fan running even just at tickover almost constantly to keep the temps down. If I'm standing still I rarely see the needle move off 100 degrees at *all*. In extreme conditions I've seen it climb slightly above that, but not by much. I ought to know the temp limits of the car now - I sat for no less than three hours to move no more than 5 miles in a queue on the M1 north about two months ago. Engine running 95% of the time, but only at tickover... Majorly irritating, I can tell you!!

VGI/VSR - I know, ta for the history lesson Kev.. ;)