An Observation

[diarmaid16 1]

Afternoon all,

 

When I check the latest posts nowadays, it seems to be full of 24V this, 20V that, supercharging, turbocharging and so on.

 

I have no experience of any of these engines but have had 16v and vr corrados.

 

Why are people so unhappy with the standard corrado's?

 

Do people make these changes purely for power or is it to have a more reliable, refined car with more modern parts which are easier to get hold of?

 

Just an observation! Seems a lot of them are getting changed these days.

[VR6 Gar 10]

Probably a combination of factors.

I feel they just aren't fast enough in standard trim. Having owned a 400+ bhp S4 a VR feels painfully slow and does nothing for me anymore, so when the VRT came up for sale I had to have it as I still love the looks and handling characteristics. of the 'Rado.

[Sean_Jaymo 0]

My C had 192k on it and at that mileage, a rebuild is not an economical option when a more powerful, efficient and cheaper 24v is available. As you also say, spares and ease of maintenance is also a big consideration.

[Fanjita 1]

Exactly the same reason as Sean for me. Rebuild options seemed outrageously high and newer vr6 engines seem relatively easy to get hold of. For me it was a no brainer. I made sure the conversion is completely reversible though!

[Bullfinch 0]

IMHO members of the forum are obviously Corrado enthusiasts and many enjoy tinkering and improving the cars they have. If you have a stock VR or valver then any engine updates you would post would be along the lines of changed the oil or spark plugs. Not exactly gripping stuff. It's also why if you read the forum you would think the Corrado is the most unreliable car on earth as again you're not going to write about a daily commute from A to B which went perfectly well.

[Jon_vr6 1]

Mines standard apart from a few tasteful mods and thats how its staying fully rebuilt engine and if ever I came to sell it, it would be easier to sell than a 24v.

[CazzaVR 0]

Agree with Jon. Mine's the same. You lose the lovely VR sound with the 24v too...

[robrado974 1]

Mines standard as well apart from a racing head and a chip , love that Vr roar . More power is very nice , but where can you use it ? .

[Jon_vr6 1]

Each to their own though if people want to put a 24v/20vt in then by all means ive got nothing against it but for me a corrado is known for its VR6 engine and roar

[CazzaVR 0]

Yep, there are some fine conversions out there, and some have been as much through necessity as anything else. For example, it would've cost Jake (Swompy) more to have his VR6 rebuilt properly than have a 24v transplant. Not sure I'd ever be able to afford a full rebuild if mine went pop, but think I'd source a decent 12v replacement. Personal preferences. I can totally understand the 1.8T route for old valvers etc. Brian's car (DragonGreen) is superb 8)

[Swompy 0]

I can confirm the above is correct. Only reason I went for a 24v as it was a lt cheaper to do! Don't get me wrong i really do miss the vr6 roar but the 24v (2.8 ) is hell of a lot easier to drive, instant power and great torque in most parts of the rev range. But in the inside it doesn't sound any where as good as the old 12v! My 24v just sound like the old valves at the top end on the inside that is, from what I've been told and the couple of videos it does have a slight R32 sound to it from outside. ​ As for the 20vT conversions only reason I didn't go with that (more power easier to tune) was because mine was a vr6 to start with so wanted to stay with the 6 pot. If I had a valves I wouldn't have thought twice about a 20vT conversion!

[clumpy1 11]

Each to their own though if people want to put a 24v/20vt in then by all means ive got nothing against it but for me a corrado is known for its VR6 engine and roar

Get an R32 you want to hear the roar off one of them bad boy's :awesome:

[Jim Bowen 1]

Thing is in my mind you can rebuild a 12v and have a new engine you know the history of. Or take the chance buying a used 24v. How much does it cost to rebuild a 24v as that should be the comparison.

 

Its two different things. Rebuilding an engine vs swapping an engine. You can buy a used 12v that fits straight in. Is that cheapest of all?

[Swompy 0]

Buying a used 12v has the same problems as buying a used 24v! So that comparison is pretty redundant.

 

I would have loved to have stayed with the 12v just for the noise but when you get down the nuts and bolts the 24v is newer and is a lot better engine to use every day in my opinion. There is no waiting for the 12v to "wind" up where as the 24v has power on tap. My torque graph looks exactly like table mountain! Comes straight in and is flat through out ad at 220lbft I'm not complaining one bit about the lack of induction roar!

[Dox 23]

To add to the mix, some of these 24v engines are now 10+ years old, many have done similar mileages to the VRs they will be replacing. The VVT stuff is very expensive, 300+ for the sprockets and similar for the solonoids and mounting block (only available as a complete unit), cam sensors £100 many have been abused and service intervals ignored, wrong oil used and because there values are low run into the ground.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

The 24V thread has ballooned recently because more members are doing it and going through the usual pre and post installation blues :D

 

And yes, Corrados are way too slow these days. Christ, I was following a boggo standard base spec Corsa the other day (current shape) in my R32 and I had to give it more throttle than expected to keep up with it! Pretty mundane cars are getting pretty darn quick these days and stock valvers and VR6s are just left floundering against modern torque curves.

 

Agree with Jon. Mine's the same. You lose the lovely VR sound with the 24v too...

 

Agreed, but what you lose in intake roar you gain in exhaust note with the 24Vs :D

 

Can't beat a 12V on full chat though. Such a lovely noise and completely in character with the car

[mic_VR 3]

Have to say that both my 24v conversion (that I also did instead of a rebuild) and the R32 I've got now sound brilliant. If I get a chance I'll put a clip up of both.

 

I think I'd like an original one though, to keep for a long time, something to appreciate hopefully.

[GrahamU 6]

My rado had 170k mls on it and I had a freshly rebuilt 1.8T in the garage so it was a bit of a no brainer for me.

 

I believe the newer systems are more reliable than the old k jet injections aswell and without stressing the engine and turbo to much I can get nearly 100bhp more than the old 1.8 16v with just a remap.

[mic_VR 3]

 

My old 24v

[fonzooorooo 10]

It's funny, we've got 4 cars at the moment, (mk1 GTI cab, mk2 8v GTI, B4 passat TDI and the 'rado) .... so the 2L 8V 'rado's the quickest. I've found myself effortlessly speeding on country lanes in it, I barely use motorways, and find that most of the time, my top speed is limited by a little Hyundai something-or-other, or a smokey (broken) modern diesel struggling along at 45 in a 60 zone... If I use a dual carriageway, there're either trucks "overtaking" each other or enough traffic to keep me under 70...

 

Now the councils seem to cut the verge grass about twice a year, it's normally about 3 feet tall, restricting vision so much as to make overtaking unsafe, pretty much regardless of power. (I think there was ONE occasion last year, I was out in the 90BHP-when-it-was-new-passat and thought I could've passed something if I'd had more power!)

 

My mate got pulled the other day for spinning the wheels (in North Derbys, up a steep hill, round a corner, in the wet!) in a Merc SPRINTER.

 

Upshot is: If I had 24V, it'd just be an extra 16 to go wrong!

[diarmaid16 1]

Interesting repies.

 

I'm not one of those people who are mad for power in a car.I'd be quite happy with the standard power in corrado's. Plenty of poke for spirited runs on country roads, where they really put the smile on your face imo. I just don't see how you can use the power in these modified cars. Fair enough if you do track days and things like that but for day to day driving, I don't see the benefit. An RS4 went by me on the motorway the other day at 100mph+ and 30 secs later the police went by in chase.

 

Don't get me wrong, I like powerful cars but just don't see how you can use them what they were designed for in day to day life.

 

For me with corrados, suspension and maybe an exhaust is the extent of modifications I would carry out and general maintenance which is plenty!

 

Each to their own though. I enjoy reading the threads on engine conversions and admire the guys that take it on as it's something I would never be brave enough to tackle!

[Jim Bowen 1]

Buying a used 12v has the same problems as buying a used 24v! So that comparison is pretty redundant.

 

 

That's kinda my point. Its rebuilding a 12v engine vs buying a used 24v.

[Swompy 0]

Indeed, all depends how deep your pockets are at the end of day. Unfortunately for me they weren't deep enough to rebuild the 12v or to get an R32 :D