handling???

[boab 0]

was out in car today, have to say i didnt feel all to comfortable with way it held road, road was reasonably dry and it felt as if back end was ready to throw out any minute i opened up, plus when i brake it feels the same way, im used to my civic, small fast and grips like glue! arent corrado supposed to be good on road? all the tyres are in good nick, anyone any ideas why this is happening?

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Sounds like tired rear axle bushes, which can affect the front end balance as well as the rear. Your rear calipers might be dead aswell which makes braking mid-bend feel very vague and iffy at the back. Decent calipers at the rear will enable the back tyres to have some purchase on the tarmac enabling the front end to haul itself round the corner properly.

 

I found out my rear calipers have never worked since I've had the car ( 14 months!). Imagine the difference of having new MK4 ones put on! I actually have brakes now and cornering is much better when feathering the brake pedal mid bend.

 

K

[dr_mat 0]

It was made in 1991, that's what's wrong!

There could be a million different things wrong with it. Check the rear axle bushes no. 1, rear shocks, front shocks, tracking, cast/camber, steering rack play, front wishbone bushes. Also make sure that the brakes aren't over-biasing towards the rear, a seized brake load proportioning valve, or even a badly adjusted one (particularly after lowering) can make the car feel really weird...

[boab 0]

how muuch does it cost to have bushes sorted out?? also can i fit any calipers and brakes off any more recent vws?? or am i better to get an aftermarket set?

[Kevin Bacon 5]

how muuch does it cost to have bushes sorted out?? also can i fit any calipers and brakes off any more recent vws?? or am i better to get an aftermarket set?

 

£25 for the bushes (pair) and about 2-3 hours labour.

 

MK4 calipers fit straight onto Corrado carriers and instantly give more bite, a nice handbrake and more resistance to corrosion related problems. You also need a pair of Goodridge conversion hoses which have a Corrado threaded end and a MK4 Banjo joint end.

 

There's no point going too mad on the rear brakes on FWD cars as they only provide 30-40% of the overall braking effort. Just make sure they're well maintained and that's enough.

 

K

[Ice White Socks 0]

I found out my rear calipers have never worked since I've had the car ( 14 months!).

Just out of interest Kev how did you notice this? was it that your pads weren't wearing at all or were you just noticing general braking problems. What was the reason for them not working? I only ask cos I am checking my discs/pads/shocks at the weekend- might as well give the calipers a check as well if they might not be working :shock:

 

Cheers

 

Mike

[corradovr6sc 0]

Think there is something similar wrong with my car, the backend skips over any small bumps in the road and it feels like there is a lack of damping at the rear and instability at speed. Braking hard from high speed, there's a load of banging from the rear brakes, like the calipers are not operating properly and handbrake is quite loose.

Knackered calipers and rear axle bushes?

[Kevin Bacon 5]

The calipers, both of them (typical), had siezed almost solid. There was just enough movement in the piston to clear the surface rust when the pedal was pressed. The handbrake was vague, but I didn't suspect the calipers because normally there is no resistance when lifting the handbrake if a caliper is seized solid, but my HB was OK-ish, so didn't think anything of it.

 

Another clue is a grinding noise coming from the rear and taking ages to go.

 

I also noticed massive wear on my 3 month old discs at the front, so they were doing 95% of the work. And also, the brakes felt completely shit and the car took ages to come to a stop. I went out in Supercharged's G60 and almost went through the screen! G60s have sharper brakes than the VR anyway, but that was silly, further indicating something wrong with mine.

 

With the MK4 rear brakes on and a brand new rear biasing valve, you can really feel the back brakes working and all the scoring and rust on the back discs has now gone :lol:

 

I would estimate a 30-40% reduction in stopping distance now (compared to not having rear brakes at all!) and the handbrake actually locks the wheels with one click.

 

If after a long journey the rear calipers and discs are luke warm, they're not doing anything. They should be hot!

 

If the rump feels twitchy when braking in a straight or round bends (at moderate speed - don't be scared to brake mid bend!), it's because the front brakes are doing all the work, which causes the front to dive, lifting the back end. With working rear calipers, the car doesn't dive half as much, keeping the rear tyres planted.

 

K

[daves16v 1]

Could this be a common problem cause my C behaves like this too.

 

I think my calipers are ok, it passed MOT last month and I know the brakes are checked. I had the Koni kit fitted 6 months back so can I put it down to axle bushes???

 

Car has done 76K

 

Cheers

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Oh and the reason they stopped working was just due to the seizing with corrosion. The rear calipers always were an achilles heel of the MK2, and since the Corrado is MK2 based....... VR6s got the MK3 calipers which were better and took longer to corrode, but they give up eventually!

 

MK4s last a lot longer.

 

K

[Supercharged 2]

I would estimate a 30-40% reduction in stopping distance now (compared to not having rear brakes at all!) and the handbrake actually locks the wheels with one click.

 

:? You like the new ones then! :wink:

[BlueVR6 0]

My VR's handling seems a bit suspect as well. i was going to be doing some work on my beast at the weekend and was wondering what i should look for when ckecking out my rear axle bushes?

 

Cheers

[Gaz154 0]

You also need a pair of Goodridge conversion hoses which have a Corrado threaded end and a MK4 Banjo joint end.

 

Where do you get these from mate my hand brake sucks have to pull it up very high with quite a lot of force to hold the car on a slope

[Supercharged 2]

If your rear brakes have siezed you just need new mk4 calipers from VW along with the aforementioned brake hoses...

 

But, it could just be your handbrake cables need adjusting!

[Gaz154 0]

yea i thought you would get the calipers from the stealer but where do you get the goodridge hoses?

[G60Dan 0]

Imo the corrado is one of the best handling front wheel drive cars I have driven. But then mine is slammed on a set of Coilovers. I have just changed my tyres all round to Eagle F1's & they have made the world of difference to the car. Before (mostly in the wet) the back of the car was sliding all over the place. Mine sorted it's self out with some decent tyres, could be your problem, but I guess there's going to be a handful of things it could be.

 

Just my 2p's worth

 

Dan

[corradophil 3]

My Corrado has never really impressed me with its handling, particularly when compared to previous my Golf GTIs, both of which were older with more miles.

The back end has always been twitchy, Its lowered 35mm with FK Springs and shocks.

Just recently it has gone from unimpressive to scary, it felt like driving with 500MPH crosswinds, weeving around in both directions, plus under acceleration it pulled to the right.

Firstly I found one of the slotted nuts which go on after the front top mounts was loose, tightening this helped, but only for a short while, I checked it again and it was lose again, but after further checks and re-tightening (cannot have been tight in the first place, because there is a second nut on top which would lock it) it was still weeving.

I then changed the top strut mounts on the front which reduced knocking and general harshness but had no effect on the handling.

Finally on Saturday after investigation I spotted excessive movement on the nearside wishbone, and have now fitted bugpack polyeurathane wishbone and antiroll bar bushes.

It now goes in a straight line, and handles far better.

The bushes did not increase vibration or noise either, so I would definately recommend them.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

yea i thought you would get the calipers from the stealer but where do you get the goodridge hoses?

 

Direct from Goodridge mate, or if any doubt, get Vince at Stealth Racing to get you a set.

 

K

[colinstubbs 0]

Polyeurathane bushes and Eagle-F1s are ace 8)

[Supercharged 2]

Gaz154 wrote:

yea i thought you would get the calipers from the stealer but where do you get the goodridge hoses?

 

 

Direct from Goodridge mate, or if any doubt, get Vince at Stealth Racing to get you a set.

 

Forgot, I asked C&R earlier, they do them for about £20 and have them in stock - 0115 9785740

 

They also do the calipers with the conversion hoses for £85 each inc vat.

[Gaz154 0]

They also do the calipers with the conversion hoses for £85 each inc vat.

 

magic thanks mate big boys toys were quoting £199.95 plus vat :shock:

[Ice White Socks 0]

I think my calipers are ok, it passed MOT last month and I know the brakes are checked

 

You know thats a very good point actually- It would be very easy to check for the rear caliper brake problems on one of those MOT jobbas that check the braking force on each wheel individually- Anyone know how braking force is measured on

these MOT tests, and what value would in indicate a problem (apart from zero obviously).