_leon_'s Corrado - R32/Gemini box now in progress

[_leon_ 0]

Briefly had word back from Star and the go ahead to collect it - made 203bhp - torque not yet sure of - should have got the charger ported when it was last serviced - but happy with that. Want to know what its done to the torque however. I can see myself spending a lot on petrol this weekend :lol:

 

how much difference did people notice after porting the charger? (got a 68mm pulley)

[CTWG60 0]

_leon_ send me post me your figures and I'll run it though my new Front wheel torque calculator. See this thread.

 

http://the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewtopic.php?t=56640

[_leon_ 0]

Will do - i'll post you them over the weekend once I get the car back :)

[_leon_ 0]

Got the car back - got a few thoughts and findings:

 

OVERALL POWER:

- Feels a good bit quicker than before - 203bhp at the flywheel, 195lbs/ft. My friends S3 was neck and neck. Another friends Elise gets away much quicker, by third I was catching up, given the distance - could pass with 4th. The torque in 2nd, 3rd and 4th now really is impressive - I am loving my G60. As said above, if the charger was ported, those figures would likely be different.

 

 

SUSPENSION:

- Very pleased with the Leda suspension, so much more controlled through the corners and soaks up the bumps very well. Feels well balanced. No crashing around like the horrible old setup. Need to start playing with the damping settings and seeing whats best. I could probably go stiffer springs and am keen to try a set of Eibach arbs. Bushes are (as before) new OEM items and will stay that way for now.

 

OIL COOLER

- Under hard driving oil temperatures now don't go over 104degrees with the Mocal unit. Previously I used to see anything up to 130degrees. With normal driving temperature stays around 94degrees. The original water/oil heater unit has been retained so oil temp rises and is then controlled via the thermostat.

 

 

 

BRAKING:

- This I feel lets the car down - I really don't think the standard G60 brakes cut it - they're not sharp enough and don't feel in balance with the power available. So this with the above handling touches have to be next inline. I can't see how I'll ever stretch to the AP kit I so badly want. But we'll see how saving goes.

 

FUELLING:

- I have checked the plugs and they seem to be a nice tan colour. The exhaust also has a light brown dust and not tons of black dust. So its doesn't appear to be overfuelling - but the MFA mpg is crazy - I'm getting readings as low as 18.5mpg... Could it be down to the car sitting off the road for 11 months and the MFA needing reset? Any thoughts? Perhaps something could be disconnected by accident - any suggestions?

 

GAUGES:

- SWG pod and gauge fitted - just need to plumb and wire it in now. Hopefully have the Audi needles in soon.

 

 

After a very hard day out - shes resting :)

 

 

 

 

Any comments and/or help as always appreciated...

[CTWG60 0]

Take some torque readings and I'll run the numbers! Let me know if you want to see any particular box or ratios. :wink:

 

your oil cooler temp results are in line with what I see with my own setup but i'm using a Mk1 golf take off plate and audi diesel oil cooler in the old intercooler cowl/position.

 

What temps do you get after 10mins doing 90mph or so?

 

Your torque curve looks good! Well done fella, it's aways a good feeling when you see good results after spending some serious money.

 

Your MFA might be out of wack due to the engine mods. If your manifold pressure is high due to cam and G60 fetling.

[_leon_ 0]

Take some torque readings and I'll run the numbers! Let me know if you want to see any particular box or ratios. :wink:

 

your oil cooler temp results are in line with what I see with my own setup but i'm using a Mk1 golf take off plate and audi diesel oil cooler in the old intercooler cowl/position.

 

http://the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewtopic. ... highlight=

 

What temps do you get after 10mins doing 90mph or so?

 

Your torque curve looks good! Well done fella, it's aways a good feeling when you see good results after spending some serious money.

 

Your MFA might be out of wack due to the engine mods. If your manifold pressure is high due to cam and G60 fetling.

 

What figures do you want me to get?

 

Around 90mph after 10 mins I'd see around 100-102 degreesC. But thats running at 3750-4000rpm so I would expect it to run reasonably hot.

 

The car was pinking slightly so the timing had to be retarded by 2 degrees - slightly lost its edge which is disappointing - but still much better than before.

 

Fitted Vibratechnics mounts all round now - Competition on the front, Fast Road on the two rears - feels more solid, without a doubt a lot less movement, gear shifting I feel is probably unchanged (but I don't particularly like the Corrado shifting anyway) - very slight additional vibration through to the cabin due to the stiffer gearbox mount, but barely noticeable. Should have done this ages ago.

 

Loving the car now and gone through so much with it - but tried an Elise 111R this weekend and want to try a few other S1s and an earlier S2. Had mixed feelings from the 111R, but on the whole I really enjoyed it - and comparing each on track against my Corrado left me a bit saddened - they can't be matched. Focus is quickly moving towards having a track car - not sure the Corrado is the right tool. May be moving on this year.

[junkie 0]

I think once you start tuning the engine just ignore the mpg readings, not sure how far you have to tune it to start ignoring it but apparently when i nail mine im getting good returns which my fuel gauge disagrees with :)

 

Glad your enjoying it again.

[_leon_ 0]

Cheers :) I bet your mfa readings are a source of comedy ;)

 

I am enjoying the car now - much better than it ever has been - although after the work I've put in I should bl00dy hope so!! Got 2-3 test drives lined up this week in an assortment of Elises though. I'm in mid decision (when am I not with this car?) - spend £3-5k on the Corrado on brakes, handling mods (arbs, stiffer springs, different bushes, adjustable top mounts etc etc), gearbox, seats, cage and tyres - or just sell up and move on to an Elise (or similar variant). Hard to know just how much better a Corrado would be after that amount of work and with the suspension properly setup. Have seen what an Elise is capable of now. Need to get back out on track in the Corrado next month really.

[blue95 0]

NIce tidy motor dude!! 8)

 

I orginally wanted a G60 but I was broke :(

 

Intresting reading about the oil cooler...damn another thing for my shopping list!

[_leon_ 0]

may be putting the car up for sale in the next month.

[junkie 0]

How comes?

 

Something for the track?

[_leon_ 0]

Yeah I want a track car. I could go mad on the Corrado but don't think its the right car. An Elise is what I'm looking at now along with a £400 fiesta to get the bikes around :)

 

When I say go mad on the Corrado - I could easily spend another 3-5k on it on the right mods (generally handling, braking and gearing), but don't have an idea of how good the car will be after that moneys spent. At the moment its a perfect compromise. Instead of spending all that money, I could sell and buy an Elise with suspension etc etc already sorted out - and I already know how good they are on track so - I think my mind is made up. Spent loads on this car and mechanically its really superb - so will lose the benefit of that unfortunately.

 

PM me if interested.

[JMC 0]

Gutted that you're thinking of getting rid of the rado _leon_. You've done so much and got it working fab.

[_leon_ 0]

not 100% sure yet mate :) giving it some serious thought though!

[_leon_ 0]

havent updated in a while. But the cars not going on sale at all :)

 

Just fitted a 25mm H&R rear ARB - front being fitted Tuesday - went out for an hour doing b-roads and the difference is fantastic. Haven't played around with damper settings yet. The front doesn't actually feel too light - the rear however just follows, has less jittery behavior and helps keep things slightly more level on cornering. Can't wait to get the front on and have a play with settings. Well recommended.

 

Slimline fan being fitted just now. As are red rears, mods to the gear linkages, alarm and new stereo (thanks double-6s).

 

Long term plans are being made up. Have a picture in my head for colour, wheels and a few details. Also will be 1.8T'ing the car over the winter ready for next spring/summer - thats going to be lots of work as have quite a few things happening there. Ah.. got to love Corrados.

[junkie 0]

Glad you finally decided which way to go but im sure it will all change lol.....

 

You done the rear bushes to rid of the passive rear wheel steer, makes a huge difference just makes the back end feel solid and what size front roll bar you gone for.

[_leon_ 0]

The picture is clear now... :) took bloody long enough! Got a pretty solid plan now. Next thing to do is get a garage space to get started.

 

I changed all the bushes (front and rear) with OEM items - but still find it too soft - when changing steering direction (think S bends) theres too much movement in my opinion. So I'd like to try the Vibratechnics bushes not poly. The Vibratechnics mounts I fitted are bloody excellent.

 

Rear ARB is 25mm, front 22mm. I could have gone 28R/25F but thought that might have been a little OTT for normal driving now. Hope I don't regret it and want more later. Have you them fitted too? If so, what size?

[junkie 0]

I went 25mm neuspeed front and rear and cant fault them, rose jointed and the rear is adjustable needs to go on the stiffest setting, set on middle at the mo, fitted poly bushes to the back and thats what i mean like you say think s-bends, it sorts that out nicely, makes it less twitchy.

I went vibratechnics competition all round and agree they are spot on only thing that moves is the exhaust now, just need a good solution to that, i dont want it solid but something better than standard vw rubber.

 

I have a solid and clear plan everyday which changes daily :D 1 day show car with full leather etc next its stripped and caged, best to have a plan that can be changed along the way i think

[_leon_ 0]

I was going to get the Neuspeeds - but the price put me off. H&Rs seemed good and were about £100 less. I did want the adjustable rear too - but since I wasn't 100% sure of what to expect from the ARBS chickened out on the fatter ones ;)

 

I've the competition insert up front and fast road rears - really can't complain about them. I was getting a lot of exhaust movement - so changed the bungees to Powerflex ones - people on here seemingly don't rate them. But my car sees plenty hard driving and I've not had a problem with them in the year I've used them.

 

My plan was changing constantly - to the point I didn't know what I want from the car. But it seems to have found some ground now and as soon as I'm Edinburgh and have a garage the cars being taken apart - when it goes back together again it should satisfy what I've been wanting from it. Going to keep the leather interior, but get a second set of seats for track days - need to consider harnesses but I'll leave that till later. Same with wheels - will get some nice ones for day use, 15" mo's for track use with sticky semi slicks on. Just too hard to find compromises for everything. But the Corrado is every bit as usable as other shopping trolley cars I've had - so don't really want to lose the boot for a flat floor. Getting the paint sorted - colour change too with some nice details planned. In love with the Graphite colour used on the mk5 gti's. Red rear lights, carbon fibre spoiler, silver multispokes - awesome. Black mo's of course. :) Hope I don't read this in 6 months and say wtf was I thinking! LOL!!

[_leon_ 0]

front arb fitted - bloody hell what a difference. cornering ability is so much better. i honestly think its better with both. had a good hard drive with just the rear fitted, then the front and rear fitted - i think both is better...

[junkie 0]

Ha ha glad you enjoy it more, how much more precise is the steering and more chuckable and stable does it feel? Just wait till you do the bushes out back it will feel nice and solid all the way through the car and you can actually feel confident of what the back end will do, it just removes the twitchyness.

 

So after driving the Elise and fitting the roll bars, are you glad you kept the c :D

[craigowl 0]

O/t

You are "moving to Edinburgh", _leon_?

 

New job, or what?

[_leon_ 0]

Ha ha glad you enjoy it more, how much more precise is the steering and more chuckable and stable does it feel? Just wait till you do the bushes out back it will feel nice and solid all the way through the car and you can actually feel confident of what the back end will do, it just removes the twitchyness.

 

So after driving the Elise and fitting the roll bars, are you glad you kept the c :D

 

The steering feels just as direct, but its the ability to retain composure through the corners without hopping around a bit and drifting - they're an excellent mod! Bushes - yeah will get those done soon - keen to remove all the play in the back end. Stability - yeah I had noticed it a lot when braking and cornering - like what we said above - S bends.

 

Hmm I still want an Elise! I won't get rid of the Corrado - I just like it too much - but next year may get another car - been looking at others. Would love an S1 Exige as I adore them - but think an S1 160 or an S2 111s/135 would be the right car...

[_leon_ 0]

O/t

You are "moving to Edinburgh", _leon_?

 

New job, or what?

 

 

Yes I've moved to Edinburgh now - I'm renting in Broxburn at the moment - will find somewhere to buy soon I hope... Got a new job through here as I was bored of Dundee and the job up there. Miss it a bit but will get over it!

[craigowl 0]

O/t

You are "moving to Edinburgh", _leon_?

 

New job, or what?

 

 

Yes I've moved to Edinburgh now - I'm renting in Broxburn at the moment - will find somewhere to buy soon I hope... Got a new job through here as I was bored of Dundee and the job up there. Miss it a bit but will get over it!

 

Cool 8) .

I have lived seven miles from Broxburn - in LInlithgow since 1978 - and worked in Edinburgh 1978-1990.

 

Let me know if you need any local advice. Pop over with the C - or I can find you in Broxburn if you like.

 

My eldest son (35) is in his second Edinburgh house and our youngest lad (32) who works in Edinburgh ("The Scotsman" group) has just moved into his second house in Polmont which is cheaper (but rising fast) than Edinburgh and has a railway station on the main Edinburgh line. Our daughter (26) commutes to Edinburgh Park by car from near Polmont, too.

Linlithgow is very expensive, too, now.