Redfox

Mine too arrived quickly and safely. Fits perfect and is a real pleasure to run with. Now I can hear the g-lader, not something else. Thanks, Redfox.

Went to the bi-anual inspection today, and my Corrado G60 sailed right through the inspection. THe inspector remarked that he had not seen such a nice Corrado both technically and cosmetic, for 15 years ;) Happy days ;) Cheers, Redfox.

So, I changed the last engine Mount today, namely the one over the gearbox. What a "joy" to get to the last bolt. Anyway, the engine now sits firmly in it's seat, and I can accelerate faster ;) Plus I had a complete 4 Wheel correction and adjustment. Cornering is now also faster and more secure. Happy days ;) Cheers, Redfox.

Today I installed a new set of sound dampening mats that I bought off a member here. They are exactly as original ones, which are obsolete. Works very well, as almost no engine sound can be heard, apart from a ticking from my stainless exhaust system, a snarl from the G-lader, and a puf from the rear silencer on the back of the Corrado. Fits perfect. [ATTACH=CONFIG]81886[/ATTACH] Cheers, Redfox.

Hi, Yes, I have an Eibach, that fits perfectly from my former Golf Mk. II onto my 1991 Corrado G60. You don't need to move anything, just drill, protect, paint and install it. Well worth doing. Same goes for the Eibach front and rear arb kit, as well as the Weichers track arm stiffening bar. [ATTACH=CONFIG]81852[/ATTACH] Cheers, Redfox.

No, I'd say look carefully at how the are bolted on, and how wide they span between bolts of attatchment. The Eibach front one that I have, are the best design I've seen so far. For the rear, I tried a few, and ended with a Weichers. The undercar one, between the track arms is also a weichers. That comes in steel too, if one wants that. Otherwise in aluminium as I chose. Some comes with an adjustable length, but shouldn't be needed, unless something else is seriously out of spec. So I would also look for a bar, that in itself is as wide as possible. The Eibach springs to mind. There may be a problem though, as a few years ago, it was not offered for sale any more. I originally flew to England and bought mine at a local London VW tuner shop. Don't remember which. You can ask around, as some may have one NOS in the store, or apply for one on the web. This site springs to mind. Afaik Eibach made three versions originally. I have the later one. There is even a link about it somewhere on the web. Sometimes parts are made by someone else that the Company that Sells it. Same goes for racing suits, shoes etc. You could even make one yourself. I'd be happy to go measure mine up (front Eibach one), but in my country, I have to document the part's international approvement and certification, otherwise it's deemed illegal, therefore not allowed to install and use on public roads. But the UK have it quite different, it seems. Same goes for big brakes etc. Hope that answers your question. Currently working on some ideas of stiffening up the chassis on this one: [ATTACH=CONFIG]81838[/ATTACH] Cheers, Redfox.

Yes, that's what they are called: strut bars. Didn't remember. well, you are most wellcome Guys, it's just my Humble experience. Others may differ. I am sure I'll ask all of you something soon (going to renovate my G-lader myself. Sorry for the typos, I am not British by birth, and don't live in an English speaking country ;) [ATTACH=CONFIG]81832[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]81833[/ATTACH] Cheers, Redfox.

Answer part 2: Hello Again Thursdave. Here is the last bit ;) - original Corrado G60 15" Wheels from vw (I think they are calleed Sebring). Not too heavy but carrying 195/50-15, they react somewhat comfortable and slow to steering). - No name 16" x 7" with 215/45/16" (I think). Better straight control and less floppy tires, but also heavy to turn. The Wheels themselves are very heavy and not totallly precise made. May hit the inner Arches. - BBS RM 15" x 6,5" with 195/50-15. Very much better. rounder and more precise handleing. Lighter. - BBS RS001 15 x 7" with 195/50-15. Better still, Forged and lighter. Sharper steering. - BBS RS (forged) 16 x 7,5" with 215/45-16. Much better. Light and better steering. Less comfortable, but better than the slow heavy Wheels as they are actually round and stays that way. - BBS RC (forged version) 8" x 17" with 205/40-17". By far the best driving. More precise and very very light. Super steering. Doesn't hit anything in the arches. At least with my ride. Remember that heavy Wheels are unsprung weight, and badly affects your car. And they may crack or explode under heavy load. I've seen some examples on a specialists workshop, when having mine measured and trued also for being perfectly round and straight. Never ever use bad Wheels. Hmm, the same can be said About tires ;) Never use old or bad rubber. Same goes for girls ;) ;) ;) Note: don't lower your car so much that you have negative angle on your track arms. 20-30mm is more than enough to enhance the steering and control and directness of the car. If you go over the horizontal angle on the track arms (arms should point downwards from center of car, towards Wheels, or not lower than level), you upset the reaction of the Corrado, and it becomes dangerous to drive in an unforseen situation and can spin around. Next is a special bar between the Track arms underneath the front. The way that vw designed the front suspension makes for a okay ride quality and reaction and gives secure feeling. But under heay load, the track arms can change their distance and create a sloppy indirect feeling plus more oversteer. Generally the Corrado oversteers to make it safer for ordinaly Mrs. douchebag to drive it, though being better than many other cars in this department. To counteract this, Companies like for example Weichers made a smart aluminium bar (also in steel), that is bolted in between the track arms and the front beam, and prevents the movement of these in unwished directions. By installing that, I enhanced the precision under heavy load, and gained a sharper control of the car in turns. Recommended. Finally, I wil have to mention your seats. The Corrado seats standard, is a re-revision of the old Golf GTI seat, which is okay. The Corrado Recaro seat is better holding your body. I had a Edition One interrior in my old Golf II and it held my torso perfectly. This gives much more feeling with the car and makes you feel less roll, though not actually changing this, only your own lean angle. The more firm your are stuck in the car, the better you will experience the driving precision. In the Corrado, being a low and americanised car, vw chose to make the entry easier, by slimming Down the upper torso support to being smaller, thereby worsening your body's position in curves. Further more Recaro made 3 different width's of their seat, and some have the narrow one, some the middle and so on. I have the narrow one, which is fine for me, as I am slim and tall. I decided to recreate the Corrado Recaro seats (front) by taking the complete foam piece from the seat back (or rather all around on the sides of the seatback) of the Edition One seats, and built this onto the Corrado Recaro deats. It demands that you transfer the small bracket inside the foam to the Corrado Recaro seatback as well. This makes the upper torso support MUCH better, being like the Edition One Golf II. I also bought two BMW Recaro seats, slaughtered them and adopted their inflatable lumbar support, into the Carrado Recaro seat backs, while I reassembeled them. New leather on by the Recaro importer, and voila, I have the perfect electrically hight and back adjusted Corrado Recaro seat, that also have the much better support from the Edition One Golf II, and the inflatable lubmar support if I need that during long drives, say 2500km in one straight drive (done it a number of times) while also being heated. The look is as per original Corrado Recar seats. So no silly racing seats in a normal sportscar, which Wear Down in one year, and is too low and is not adjustable and so on. By doing this I gained much more control over the Corrado, enhancing my driving experience much more that I would have thought. I simply feel much more planted in the car, and can better experience what the Wheels are doing. Highly recommended. In total, if you do this like I have, you will have a transformed Corrado. While still being a good ride, somewhat firmer of course, it handles so much better, that it is actually another car. Next to zero bodyroll, precise Sharp handeling, and predictable Sharp direct steering, while having much less weight transfer during curves, that can unsettle the car (important), which eventually drops the joy and makes for a slower speed in corners (and straights). Highly recommended!!! I hope my brief explanation, which I stress is my own experience, may be of help to you. Some may think differently. You are wellcome to write back about it, or pm me if so needed. And to add to what goldfinger said, I will second that: don't buy cheap susension, see my answer above. Save up some dough and do the right thing. You'll not look back, just smile ;) I can follow faster cars like the local Lotus Club fairly well on local trips, though it's not as good as my Esprit Turbo SE, of course. But as they said in Top Gear, the Corrado is one of those 25 cars in the World you have to drive! And that says a lot. And that is BEFORE any changes for the better... Btw, if budget is tight, just buy the arb's and suspension Tower stiffening bars, second hand, They don't worsen with age. Saves you a fair bit! Cheers, Redfox. edit: as an example of the effect of these changes, I can testify, that before, my wife was perfectly well with me driving the Corrado hard, but now, after all the changes, she get's ill and Dizzy and wants to throw up. Not because of for example a soft suspension (mine is not) like in a normal car, but because it's now firm and direct, and I can drive quicker ;) he he. I almost never fill the gastank more than half.

Answer part 1: Thursdave, I'll pass on my own experiences from working 4 years on my Corrado G60 and 13 years of working on my former Golf II. Generally speaking the Corrado is in close relation to the Gof II, and certain parts interchange. It is my direct experience, that the Golf II body is not as stiff from factory, as the Corrado. The fact that the Corrado is lower, the front screen is glued in (also on the Golf II G60), and it is from factory designed to be a small sports car 2+2. The same goes for what ever change you may do to both cars. The Corrado will still be sportier than the Golf II. There are a long list of Things you can do to your Corrado. First of all, I'd say you have a good point of starting, as you chose a G60 instead of a VR6, as that is the more American market model, meant to be cruising unstressed along loooong highways, hence the bigger displacement. It is the more nose heavy of the two. So I vote for the G60: it steers quicker, shifts less weight under hard curve-taking, and is lighter. Still, as you have discovered, there is always a line of compromises, that a factory have to introduce, more so vw, as their cars are comfort oriented, not pure sports like say a Lotus or Lamborghini. So, therefore I chose to build first my Golf II and later my Corrado, to be sharper handling, better powertransfer to the road, and a bit quicker. First of all, I will note, that even though I tuned my Golf II more than 80 percent, that wasn't the point of the tuning. It was merely to turn a slow car into a faster car, albeit not superfast or anything like that. Here's my observations and experiences with my Corrado (which is not tuned). My G60 is a late 1991 and is born with a better cylinderhead and better manifolds, plus a late type G-lader, which all in all gives 178 Hp, not the 160. I only added a special made exhaust and sportscat which I cut up and changed too, adding to 192 Hp. I have done this confirmed by a conservatively set up rolling road, together with probably the most experienced tuned and dyno guy in my country. I have changed the front anti roll bar (front arb) to a fatter one from Eibach. That stiffens up the front end of the car. In the set is also poly bushings for the installation on the car. This also takes up some slop, that soft rubber gives. So in effectiveness it stiffens up the car, and creates less body roll. But if only the front arb is enhanced from standard thin to the fatter Eibach, it unsettles the balance of the car. Therefore you have to install the rear arb too, from the Eibach set. Also with poly bushings in the box. As the rear arb from factory is welded in, I left it in place. This stiffens the rear of the car, and neutralise the steering effect, so you are in balance between front and rear, Again. The total effect of this set is, that you have much less bodyroll in total. The car steers much more direct, and quicker to steering input. One may say in a popular way, that it makes the Corrado handle more gocart like. The downside of this total set is that as you have less body roll, you will as a driver, have less of a warning, before the car skids out. Being a front Wheel drive, there is by comparison to say my Lotus Esprit Turbo SE, MUCH more time to react and contrasteer. The fact that it's a front Wheel drive Corrado (unless youhave built on a vw 4-wheel drive, like asyncro or newer), makes it harder to give hard gas, being in a Sharp turn. Less so in a wide curve. More so, if you have tuned your engine. Next thing to do is to look at stiffening the body. Unless you want to fully weld all body panels and install a fully welded roll Cage. This makes for a superstiff car, I tried it racing in some beginner series for a short period, and it's not for street driving. It it super noisy and stiff, and a cigarette paper becomes a high bump to pass (in your back). SO, forgetting that, you may install suspension Tower struts (what ever it's called in English). It is a stiffening bar between the two suspension Towers in the engine compartment, and similar between the two rear suspension Towers, in the rear luggage compartment. I have tried a few, and to the best of my experience, the Eibach front model, is the best. That is because is is a flat wide bar, light (aluminium), but mostly because it bolts widely. By that I mean, that the base you install (bolt) to each suspension Tower, is wide, and full circular. Not a small bracket or similar. The wider your base is on each suspension Tower, the better. THe Eibach one is the best in this department. I must also say that steel did not enhance the stiffness, so aluminium is just fine. Some of the carbon ones are just glued to an aluminium bar, so is just for looks. I installed the Eibach front one, and voila, more directness and less bodyroll, and btw. also less squeaking form the Corrado's plastic interrior like the b- and c-pillar coverings. What you also gain is a stiffening by less twist in the rear of the car. I then installed a rear suspension Tower bar, first in steel, then in Aluminium. The later from Weichers. Again less bodyroll, and quicker steering. More direct transfer of all input, so to speak. Totally, these two stiffening bars, plus the two arb's plus polybushings in the set, gives a very direct car, and next to zero body roll. I then went on to install a better suspension set. I have tried various brands, and I ended up with a KW, which is a bit on the soft side for me, but retains an acceptable degree of comfort. The more expensive ones have adjustable damping and return, so you can get exactly the behaviour you are looking for, and if going for say a trackday, can set it up harder. A streetcar will feel quite sloppy on a track, because you really push it, and usually the asphalt is flat and even. On a street, there have to be a certain degree of forgiveness, unless you want your Wheels to jump in the air all the time, and that is looseing traction and steering, and can be quite dangerous. The presprings, helps the dampers to straighten themselves after an input of opposite direction, that is when the damper extends. Eventually, you can have the springs or even the valveing set to your liking. But youneed some driving experience with that, to know what to wish for. But I will stress, that a good quality set of coilovers are a must (to me at least). Easy to adjust, easy to rebuild and have good polishing of the internals, so there is less stiction in each damper (that a damper have more or less internal friction, therefore creating slower imprecise reaction and movement). The cheap ones are Waste of Money and often makes your car handle worse and makes for a very crashy ride, and loss of roadcontact... The downside of a coilover set is usually that you Loose a bit of comfort, but not compared to say only lowering springs. I will stress, that some people set their suspension too hard, and Loose roadcontrol. It is not a positive thing to have as hard a suspension, as possible. Don't fall for the temptation to install lowering sprng to the original dampers, as they need to be shorter in their body, to Work within their normal range when driving. Don't do it! Next is bushings. I've tried a few, and powerflex normal versions (not Black ones) are fine. Ther are bushings for the track arms, and for me, they take some slop out of the equation. So rubber bushings quickly deteriorates and becomes softer, thereby changing the firmness and reaction of your car. THe poly ones (to a degree) makes this a bit (or much more) harder, while staying on to that point. It does not change over time. One time install (usually). Remember to lube them liberally with copperslip, when installing to avoid Wear and squeaking. The two bushings on each track arm helps your steering angles and track Width to stay the same during not only straight ahead driving, but more so under load in a curve, or better still: a series of say s-curves. Highly recommended. Next is the front cross member bushings in poly. They add to the lesser Flex in the whole chassis, and may give a slightly more hard ride. I mean minor. The suspension bushings can be changed to poly as well, and gives less slop in the suspension movement, and more predictable reactions in the travel, as they are harder, and keep their value over time. Remember that a car have to be able to absorb vibrations and bumps to a certain degree, and usually this is also incorperated into the rubber bushings all over the car. It can become too much. I experience the normal powerflex are just perfect for enhanced backroad driving. Not the Black very hard ones. They are for track use. I would not change the rear beam ones,as they are meant to move and control the rearwheel movement. Next is engine mounts and gearbox Mount. It can be changed to new original ones or similar, or harder ones. I felt the rear engine one made more vibrations in my car, very irritating. Just put in fresh ones to original spec. Many seem to add a stiffer one in the front middle Mount, as this have the greatest effect on the engine movement. Haven't done that (yet). Will do though. This removes too much engine movement, and you will not believe how mmuch better a Corrado feels. Highly recommended. Btw. it also helps your gearchange to be more precise. Next is gearchange. This can be changed a bit, so that it is more direct and shorter. I bought a revised gearstick on here, and it really felt better and faster, without violating your box. Gives a better control of the car, and less time shifting weight in hard curves, while changing gear upwards and accelerating. Don't underestimate this. Next is Wheels. Some people may think that as long they have the widest or largest in the block, they perform better. Not so. I have experienced a variety of Wheels, and I will mention a few here. See answer part 2. See part two below, as I couldn't write more than 10000 characters... ;) Cheers, Redfox.

That looks good and very planted in that turn. Cheers, Redfox.

HI all, Post a Picture of your Corrado here, if you like. I'll start: Mid June 2015, 12 degrees and strong Wind... [ATTACH=CONFIG]81822[/ATTACH] Cheers, Redfox.

Hmmm, okay today I managed to change the rear engine Mount, so only miss the gearbox Mount. I made a few small guides on my members thread: "The Rising". Kind regards, Redfox.

Okay, today I managed to change the rear engine Mount on my Corrado G60. I did it like this: - Open the bonnet, and in the left side (seen fron headlights), Deep Down is the rear engine Mount. - Undo the Electric connector on top of it. - undo the small nut that is screwed Down into one of the three bigger 13mm bolts, with two or three long 3/8" extensions on a socket and a ratchet. - turn the connector and it's bracket aside. - Undo the three big flat clips that holds the heat shield Down. 1 clip on top, two on one side. USe a long plier and it's easy. - Lift away the heat shield. It's fragile, so take care. - Connect three long ½" extenders from a socket set, and undo the three 13mm bolts on top of the engine Mount. - lift the car slightly, after having loosened the left Wheel (seen from headlights). - undo the Wheel. - Lift the car on the left side (seen from headlight), as much as the Jack can do, after having pulled the handbrake and a piece of lumber behind the rear Wheels. - I also inserted two steel Wheels under the side of the car, to be safer. - insert another Jack underneath the gearbox with a piece of Wood in between. I tried that, but had to move it to the oil pan. Only just support it. - look into the wheelarch and locate the engine Mount. Underneath it, you can see two 17mm bolts. The one that is NOT vertical, goes into one side of the underside of the engine Mount. Undo that. - You don't need to undo the suspension, front arb or anything else. There is exactly enough Space to wiggle it out with a normal 17mm spanner. It's a short bolt. - behind it, on the other side of the engine Mount, is a similar bolt, except it's long. A normal short extension on a ½" socket set, will do. You may have to use a Little bit of force. Mine was easy enough to undo. - raise the Jack under the engine/gearbox slightly, so you have a bit of Space between the engine and the engine Mount. - From above, you can now simply lift up the old engine Mount, and inser a new one. - do it all in reverse, and after having let the engine do a Little idleing, tighten the top three bolts to spec. I will note, hat my new engine Mount is a normal one, not a harder one from a tuning Company. Still I get a Little more vibration in the car afterwards. I expect to loosen all bolts on all three engine mounts (top bolts), idle the car or shake the engine slightly, and retighten. After a period of driving. I expect the vibration to settle to less. It's not overly much, but can be felt in idle, not when driving. I cleaned all bolts and gave them a dab of copperslip. I hope that someone can use this guide in the future. Cheers, Redfox. Edit: After I took the old one out and inspected for failures, I noted, that I could easily tilt and turn the lower part, compared to the new one. The old one I took out is the original from vw and is from 1991! Surely softer.

Hi all, I need to change all three, and I simply cannot figure out how to take them off and reinstall. Are there someone out there WHO could describe to me, what parts to loosen/take off etc? Much appreciated. Kind regards, Redfox.

Thanks, I think I'll try them out, then. Cheers, REdfox.