kebabman

Not bothered about the look so much, as long as it doesn't look down right stupid, I already have bubblicious paint flaky speedlines :lol: I just want to go faster and overtake more of those 306's on track (damn fast they are, not to be under-estimated!) :twisted:

Just been on a trackday at Croft which was ace, very pleased with the way the car pulled and the brakes were spot on :D But....(there's always a but isn't there) the suspension was very soft which made the car wallow and lean a LOT. Let one of the instructors have a go, he had driven the VR6 when it was released (at croft as well, they got 3 to test lucky b'stards), now that one only had 100 miles on the clock but he also thought my car was very soft compared to them. It's probably on original suspension at 125k so it must be very tired, although the dampers still seem to work nicely as it only rebounds once. So my question is, what suspension should i go for? I want less body roll and a firmer setup but without being too crashy on the roads....I do about 2-3 track days a year so not too many, is it worth splashing out the extra (and lets face it, it's a lot) on Koni adjustables? Are they THAT good? :? Have to say, the car did fare favorabley still, I overtook one guy in a really loud type-r a few times :twisted: there were a lot of 306 gti6's there and I think that they slightly outclassed me on the corners, I'd catch up on the straights, but a well driven one would pull conistantly away over the course of a few laps....what i found was that where my car would understeer or drift if i went in too hot, they could lift and the back end would come round allowing them to use oversteer to get round. Will new suspension solve this? Or is the 306 a better handling (more chuckable) car than the VR6? Of course it could be my driving lol :oops: but i did get past the ones driven by less experienced/confident people. ;)

RIght haven't replaced the header tank cap yet so it could still be that, but I ran the engine until it was hot enough for the fans to come on (a couple of times) and there were no hissing/coolant steam escaping noises or smells anywhere I could see....checked the hoses between the head and the bulkhead (heater matrix feed) and they seem fine. :?

Could be a knackered coil?

I had thought about the head gasket but it's got none of the other symptoms of it failing....I'll check the filler cap cheers, but wouldn't there be staining around the area from coolant drying off?

My VR is losing water, I'd say about a pint a month, seems to lose more if i leave the car standing more but that could be my mind playing tricks i guess :?, I had thought it was just low from the previous owner but i DEFINITELY topped it up to the Max line last time and sure enough it's on Min again now.... Thing is i've jacked it up and looked everywhere i can think and there's no sign of a leak, there's no water on the ground and none of the pipes, the rad itself or the area below the rad look wet. The only place i could see that looked vaguely wet was a drip of what looked like water at the bottom of the flat bit that sticks out where the gearbox joins the engine, but i looked thoroughly above this and there don't seem to be any coolant pipe joins etc in the right area. So, is there a usual place the VR is prone to losing coolant? And just how bad would using a product like Radweld to cure this minor but hidden leak be? Cheers :)

Have you got a photo of the whole new style dash? I've got a late '94 VR and i'm interested to see the difference :wink:

Hmmm my ABS light comes on every so often, had the codes read and it said it was the brake pedal sensor, i've tested it and found that when the abs light is on the ABS doesn't work....mines a late 94 VR.

Thanks guys 8)

You have a PM :)

Right yet another problem with my C that i want to get sorted, good job i love this damn car i tell you because it's getting quite expensive! :lol: Basically the ABS light comes on about 1 in 2 drives, switching the ignition on and off is usually enough to fix it but it's annoying having to stop! I've had the fault code read and it reports an error on the ABS pedal position sensor, how much and how hard are these to change? I've had a grub around in the footwell and can't see anything that glaringly obviously looks like a switch/sensor. :? Cheers!

Right T1-R's aren't available in standard VR6 fitment eiter :roll: so i'm going with a set of Bridgestone Potenza RE720's @ £58/corner from mytyres.co.uk. Never tried them before, will report back on my findings when they're fitted and scrubbed (am at croft on the 21st sept as well so i'll really put them to the test then :twisted:),

Think i may have the same problem you described, I noticed the engine was missfiring slightly on idle when hot, popped the bonnet and could hear a definite TICK each time it was cutting out...looked all over the shop to find the source of said noise and noticed that a spark was exiting through the side of the HT lead on cylinder 5 (through the black rubber part just before the metal plug holder) and grounding on what looks like the exhaust manifold heat shield...i.e. the closest peice of metal to the plug. Will just replacing the lead cure the problem? Can you buy them individually from the likes of GSF?

How much are the Bridgestones Kev? They sound good! Was at Santapod this weekend and noticed that the stunt driver was using the new Toyo T1-Rs ,so they must be pretty good, might give them a try and report back :)

Don't really want to deviate from standard tyre size though, handles beautifully....guess I'll just have to pay more :(

I've got a VR6 on the standard speedline rims, 205/50/R15s....i know places like mytyres.co.uk seem cheap, but everywhere charges loads for fitting tyres bought elsewhere, in my experience it's actually worked out more expensive overall. £186 for four F1s sounds very cheap! :shock: Who's that from?

Ok, I've finally destroyed my trusty old BF Goorich Profiler G's so i'm tryin gto decide what to replace them with.... All in all i've been very happy with them (despite them being american :lol:) so i've looked at the new version, the imaginativly titled, 'G profile', which i can get for £68 a corner. The new Toyo T1-R's are the same price, and Goodyear F1's are more at £87 a corner because they only come in the next speed rating up. The last place I called offered me Avon Milleniums for £50 a corner which is very tempteing! He recon'd that they were virtually identical in performance to the BF's and Toyos but had slightly more road noise....so i'm tempted. Guess i'm just looking for some opinions really....anyone tried these makes? Are the avons crap? Is it pointless paying more for the higher speed rated F1s? :? Any thought appreciated, Cheers :)

It was Farmoor Garage, just down the Eynsham road from Botley, just couple of old guys but they seem to really know what they are doing! Half the price of motorworld as well 8) They put some slip on the plugs to stop them sticking again, so hopefully, if i manage to track down this tool, I'll be able to get them out myself next time :lol: Did you try VW Motorworld kidlington? p.s. my car was in for a service at the above stealer last week, and they clearly didn't even remove the plugs to inspect them, i thought this would've been part of a 12 month/10,000mile service!? :|

Its out! :D Local VW specialist got it out in under an hour, and replaced all the other plugs at the same time. He used what looked like a thick backwards screw, but with a hexagonal back so you could fit a socket over it, not sure if it was an EZ-out, he called it a 'snap-on' or something....did the trick anyway! He said he needed a 3 foot wrench to get enough leverage on the thread to get it out, which also made me feel a bit better about snapping the plug :lol: So....£102, including towing the car from my house, getting the snapped plug out and fitting 6 new plugs, I'm happy with that :) Also having got the car back i realise that the reason I found it so hard to get the HT leads off is that my plastic tool thing is missing, wheres the best place to go for one of these? Stealer only? Cheers for all the advice lads! 8)

Lol i have to admit to being a bit of a 'newb' to the ABV engine, but I'm alright with a spanner in general, just this engine is quirky! Being an ex-pug man I'm used to inline fours alright, you know how it is, you get used to working on a particular engine :oops: The only thing I'm worried about is snapping a tap off in there and making the situation ten times worse, getting taps etc isnt a problem as my uncle is a machineist, but i wouldn't like to try and drill a hardened steel tool bit out from an ally head even with it off the car! It's gone off to the garage this afternoon to see if they can extract it, if not, well i guess I've got a lot of learning to do :lol:

Thanks for the moral support guys :) A friend mentioned EZ-outs as well but didn't think it would work as the plugs are too deep on the VR, I'm guessing they're at least 25cm deep although i haven't actually measured.. Whats the maximum depth an EZ-out will work to? I've got the whole plug bar the thread, the ceramic centre electrode came out fine, so there is a whole straight through to the cylinder.... So annoying how such a stupid thing can cripple the whole car, it still runs but it sprays fuel-air mix about 15ft in the air so i don't think i'll be driving it! ;)

Local VW specialist thinks he will be able to remove it with a stud extractor, think i should risk letting him, or just bite the bullet and take the head off? Never taken the plugs out on this car before, wish i hadn't bothered trying now (thank previous owner!) , although i guess they would've had to have come out at some point.... *sigh*

Cheers for the advice guys, The plug has sheared in two where the hexagonal bolt attaches to the thread, so i have the whole plug....minus the thread! Hence there is no bolt to get it out with, really not sure what to do.....have been told it would be best to take the head off as its a deep hole and will be impossible to get all the swarf out which could get down the side of the piston, which i know isn't going to be good.....what to do? :?

Was removing the (very stuck) spark plugs on my VR this afternoon to give them a clean and check they're condition, firstly those plug leads are a crap design! Do VW have a special tool to remove them or something? They're so deep and hard to pull off, feels like you're going to tear the lead from the back of the connector! :shock: Anyway, after much struggling i managed to get out plugs 1-5 out, got to plug 6 and and liek the others it was stuck but then it suddenly came free really easily....only to my horror when i lifted it out i only had half a plug! :cry: Comparing it to the others, i've got the ceramic electrode, but the thread and the two metal electrodes attached to it are still very much stuck in the head! How the hell am i going to get that out?! I've used an M12 tap and some thread lock to remove plugs before but these are so deep looks really hard, i'm worried about snapping the tap off in there and making the situation worse :( So....Suggestions? Cost estimations for getting the garage to get it out for me? Do you think they'd be willing to drill it out and re-tap the thread in-situ? Or is this going to be a head off job? :cry: Have since been told my a mate that it's important to warm the engine before removing plugs on a ally head....thought they seemed hella tight, feel like a total twat now :( Cheers, (a very pissed off) Alex

Thanks for the advice guys, I've had a look at it myself now and it's not split! It's just a bit perished looking....no grease escaping at all as far as i can see! Cheeky feckers VW :x Bought the kit now however, and it does look as if it may split sometime soon-ish i suppose so will have a bash at doing it myself, now theres no rush....or pay the £40 if i don't get round to it, either way VW arn't getting another penny out of me :lol: