CorradoWannabe

Looking at the build thread Ben got extremely busy towards the end of the build and then focused on getting essentials fixed to sell on. The owner I bought from had several other cars (including another Corrado) and this was part of the reason he was selling it. When the remapping was done around August 2009 (that famous YouTube video) the mileage was said to be 9k - the mileage on it now is 9,429 miles - so 2 years of very little use it seems. I hope I can tidy bits and pieces up and help 'finish' the car from a cosmetic point of view. Engine wise - she is booked in for a session as Emerald (car is running K3 ECU) on Tuesday. I am hoping this will help a lot with some of the issues I've seen at low revs - and also give some official figures about the power the car is putting out. ---------- Post added at 04:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:19 PM ---------- It does look scary when you first see it! I thought car had been vandalised! As the car is running the Emerald K3 ECU it requires far fewer inputs in to it (I think!) than the standard ECU does - hence those unconnected wires

The idea of the following post is NOT to de-value my car - or knock previous owners at all - just to try and illustrate how it is need of some TLC and some tidy up! There are some detailed engine shots included. It is kind of ironic how massive engine replacement work has been done and a major respray, yet little things, like clearing dead leaves out of the rear tailgate have not. It will be getting a full clean - inside and out - as soon as I've sorted out a house move and managed to get some time away from the wife and kids (meant in the nicest way in case you ever read this wifey!) i'll be sure to give it some attention. (Taken on a borrowed SLR)

Congrats Henny!

Wow - I have a double

Thanks for that link KAD - I'm now reading that thread in detail and learning loads about the car! ---------- Post added at 10:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:44 PM ---------- Just seen that I actually posted on Ben's build thread on the 14th April 2009

I can confirm that fortunately this was not me. Sad story to read :(

This was when I first moved in to my own place - and found an old mattress in the balcony that needed chucking!

Wifey bought the pictured items for me and our two daughters (one is just over 2 and the other is 4 months) - I love them!

Today I was killing time at the in laws - we are up here for Christmas - and I had a go at creatinga basic website about my recent car purchase - and possibly other R32 Corrados. I tried using a website builder tool and an off the shelf photo gallery - overall result is not bad - a start at least.. http://www.corrador32.co.uk Let me know your thoughts / suggestions / comments I will be adding proper links to this forum and other sources of information shortly

KADVR6 - you are right - looking at the specs it does have a modified throttle body to run a cable. Funny how others know this car better than me!

I thought it was about me getting used to the car - but something is definitely not right. When you first press the accelerator down the revs drop - rather than go up - and the engine almost cuts out. Reminds me of when I had a loose connection to the MAF on the VR6. Need to check connections / hoses when I get a chance.

I can now share a photo of my CD from 4 years ago that I found in the CD changer! Suitably embarrassing :)

Just had Andy (http://www.trim-wizard.co.uk) fit my a Cobra alarm to my car - he also got my interior lights and sunroof working as a bonus - very happy! Excellent install and nice Corrado chat also :)

Jon - you are a genius - thanks for this! It was indeed the passenger heated seat - which has never worked anyway! :) ---------- Post added at 09:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:58 PM ---------- Cobra alarm fitted today by Andy - did an excellent job - very please (http://www.trim-wizard.co.uk) - he also replaced a fuse which fixed interior lights and the sunroof. I can now get in to the car and start it without setting the alarm off and feeling an idiot! Major issue now is the hesitation when first pulling away - today was the first time I was driving in town and this was a nightmare! Hoping for a trip to Stealth in the new year and also to get lots of photos up here, along with some videos.

Quick update - 1 week in. Wifey keeps making little digging comments about the car! "You can take it to the mechanic near my mum's - he'll tell you that it is a silly car!" "I thought you were joking about going to your parents place??" (When I wanted to go there to see the car - as I'd not seen / driven it for a few days after buying it) "Yes, I did tell you to buy it - but I didnt think you actually would!" (Oopsie) "How was she? Your 2nd wife..." (After I got back from a drive!) She'll get used to it I think! Some updates on the car itself. I've only driven it about 3 times since buying it - balancing work and family during the week is tough - and finding time for the toy is not easy! Today the main item on to the Corrado todo list was filling it up with petrol - sounds easy but had its challenges - which are related to some issues i'm having with the car. I'll list out the issues here 1. Alarm - the remote has stopped working. There is a port within the car that you can push the fob in to that turns the immobiliser and alarm off - however it sometimes work, sometimes doesn't, often takes a bit of fiddling! This means anytime I want to use the car initially there will be a few minutes of me fidling around - the alarm going off - before it finally fires up... which takes me to the next issue... 2. Cold Idle - when the car is cold (it has been very cold this week right?) the idle is too low and car keeps stalling. Looking at the Emerald ECU manual it looks like the idle RPM can be changed for a range of coolant temperatures - so as an initial guess I think that needs tweaking. When first starting the car - then - I need some high-revs and need to wait a few minutes before letting it idle. There's still a chance of it stalling though. I've twice driven to the end of the road and it has cut out - which means power steering drops out too! Firing it back up again works fine though - but stressful driving a car that may stall at any moment! (i'm sure we've all been there!) 3. Behaviour at Low Revs - when just starting to rev the car between 1k and 2k the car behaves strangely - the revs sometimes dip a bit before racing up. It feels like the car did many years ago when I had issues with the MAF (a wire had disconnected) - so either MAF again, or fuel delivery, or maybe a mapping / set up issue. The above 3 are the main items. I am getting a CAT1 alarm fitted on Tuesday - so that should sort out the first item. Both #2 and #3 I think can be fixed by taking the car to a garage - what I'd like to do is take it to a garage with a rolling road and have a proper tuning session with a print out of the power afterwards. Minor Items: 1. Interior lights don't come on - none of the interior lights work! Probably fuses 2. Sunroof does not tilt or slide - I'm guessing that is a fuse too 3. Clicking/ Buzzing noise from around back left passenger seat - I think we've concluded this is a central locking motor causing this - may get the opinion of the alarm fitting guy 4. Cleaning - the car has been sat almost untouched for months and months - it would benefit from a proper clean inside and out. The cream leathers are not looking their best. I really need to focus on moving home over the next few weeks now though - the car must take a back seat - I've spent the day sorting out some storage and taking boxes to and fro (not in the Corrado of course - but in the 'family' car - mk4 Golf GTi) although I did get to drive the R32 Corrado a bit after getting petrol. The above sounds a but negative! Let me say once the car has been started up - and it has warmed up - and the revs are past that sticky patch from 1k - 2k the car is an absolute monster!! 20mph - 60mph in 2nd gear is just stunning - and the sound is something very special. I remember the VR6 before - the lazy power of it - the great noise from the car. This R32 beast just sounds angry when you accelerate - that is the best way to describe it. Next Tuesday - new alarm being fitted - looking forward to that - it should make things a lot easier, and annoy the neighbours a lot less :)

Thanks everyone for all the comments - really nice to be amongst a group of people who appreciate the car - I've had a fair bit of stick over the purchase from people like family - and no one really 'getting' why I just had to buy the car. ollievr6 - that video is indeed the same car - I used to watch that video too with a mixture of awe & jealouosy! Portent - the car is right now on the drive at my parents place - which is even closer to you - it is KT3. The CD in the car? To do it full justice I'll take a photo and post up here...

I'll apologise now for the length of this post - it is a bit of a long story! In 2005 I found a VW Corrado Storm on ebay with 225k miles on the clock! I sent the seller a message saying if he had any issues with the sale to let me know. Well, turns out the winning bidder did in fact pull out - and the seller went on holiday immediately afterwards. A couple weeks later he got in touch and said the car was available. I went to see it and immediately loved it. So much car for just £2,500. It had the leather interior, had A/C - a fully working sunroof and a gorgeous sounding VR6 engine with a full miltek SS exhaust system. The seller and I chatted about if it had 125k on the clock it would have fetched about 5k (this was in 2005 - pre-credit crunch!) and I did feel I got a very good deal. Looking at the history one of the previous owners had worked at VW and was doing 40k miles a year - but also servicing it every 10k - with free labour (judging from receipts). The car - overall - had been very well looked after. I just remembered it was also on 17" allows at the time! I was happy! After 2 years of very happy ownership I decided it was time to move on. It was not easy to modify the car for more power and I wanted to move on. I had been in Corrado ownership since 2004 - it was time for a change. I went for a Fiat Coupe 20VT. A very decent car - the one I bought had just 50k on the clock too. Eventually I sold the storm - and it was bought by biggerben from the forum. He told me there were plans to use it as a shell for a project. I didnt hear much about this - then one day, after about 2 years, I logged on to the forum and saw Ben had posted pics of the R32 conversion of my old car. It was a bit surreal seeing it all. It looked a very thorough job - the body work was fixed all over. I saw a video of them mapping the car around then too, that was also surreal! That was 2009. By 2009 I was driving a 5 door golf and had a wife and a baby. In August this year we had another baby - Corrado ownership could not have felt further away... I still had a soft spot for them.. but didnt think I'd own another one - not for another 10 year or so at least. Then - this week, while waiting for my daughter to finally fall asleep I was killing time on my phone and searched for 'Corrado' on ebay - something I tend to do every few months or so - just out of curiosity. Up popped a Corrado R32 Storm - I had a look at the pics - and it was INDEED my old car! I jumped up and went and told my wife and her mum (who was staying over at the time). I was in no position to buy the car really - I now have 2 kids - Leyla is just over 2 and Elisha is 4 months old - really I should be looking at estates or mini-mpvs! Seeing my old car though brought back memories - and the idea of owning it again - this time as an R32 was just too much for me to resist! I tried hard - I eventually sent the seller a message just to say "good luck" and that I wish I could have bought it - but not in a position to. Well, I spoke to a few people about it - and they were very positive - even my wife told me to go for it - and that I'd end up buying one at some point, so may as well get my old one. Today I went to pick up the car. We had issues with the alarm - with the immobiliser and then with the battery itself - but by 3pm this evening I was home with the Corrado R32 having driven it home about 90 odd miles. The verdict so far is.. wow! Sure, the car could do with some cosmetic tidying up - a wash and clean with a hoover - also in 1st and 2nd gear at low revs it behaves a bit strangely - but when you put your foot down in that thing it is an experience! The torque levels are crazy - the noise from the car - is something else. All this in my old car that I had owned and loved, yet sold 4 years ago. It was seriously emotional!!! The first few bursts of 20mph - 60mph in 2nd gear were something I'll never forget. I went from laughing to myself almost hysterically to almost crying! Later on in the day I did a quick 40-80mph test - well the car sailed on to hit 100mph in 3rd gear and felt like it was just accelerating faster - no idea what the top speed this thing is capable of. There's some things I need to sort out - like getting a CAT1 alarm fitted and washing it and cleaning it up - after which it should be even better. There were some lighter hearted moments too like: 1. Doing a 3-point turn and thinking 'I forgot how bad the visibility out the back is in these!' 2. Finding one of my CDs in the CD changer - from 4 years ago! 3. Knowing more about how to get the car started when the alarm fob is not working than the current owner due to previous experience :) (just involved plugging the alarm fob in to a port near the glove box) 4. Seeing that the box the service history is kept in was an old box I had used for years - with my writing still all over it 5. My youngest brother's reaction when I told him the car was running at an estimated 280bhp Well, life seems back to normal again this evening, I'm in doors with a kid on each knee being dribbled on as I type this - but for a few hours today I was in another self-indulgent world - and I hope I can slip in to that world every now and again when I get time to myself to enjoy the R32 Corrado :) I will get some proper pics soon - but here are one or two from today - featuring my 60+ dad dressed like a teenager!

Provisionally sold to me :) sadly it is currently SORN and seller only available on Sundays (or Friday - which does not work for me) so by the time I've got v5 slip, insurance covernote & got it taxed again ready to drive it will be next weekend....must be patient..

Brentacre took 2 hours to come back to me - but worth the wait - they quoted £780 (up to 280BHP) & on the condition that it is fitted with a CAT 1 alarm / immobiliser... the R32 Corrado dream is back alive again for me :) Going to try the classic car insurance route now with Footman James...

Greenlight - (using an tool on their website) unable to provide competitive quote due to your postcode - I'm in SW20 Adrian Flux - £2,960!! Told that it is high as it would be my first year of ownership! Totally threw me! Brentacre - waiting for them to call me back...

That £350 - 1k helps - I'll be calling up a few places tomorrow morning - just wondered about ballpark figure. Thanks for the tip about the alarm too. Will definitely look in to it.

Should have added that - I'm 29 with 6 years NCB

A very newbie question here but I've read different things. The Corrado I'm after has Milltek 2.5” stainless steel exhaust (de-cat) - now i've seen some people say that you cannot get an MoT if you have de-cat your exhaust? Is this true? Are some garages stricter than others? Will emissions test etc still pass?

So planning ahead here - anyone have an idea about how much it costs to insure an R32 Corrado? Any example quotes or recommendations for places to try would be useful! I asked the current owner of the one I am after and he said the car is currently insured as a VR6 Corrado - not something I want to continue. Mods / details are below: R32 CORRADO STORM FOR SALE 96 Corrado Storm N registration Classic green with beige leather interior ENGINE + RUNNING GEAR - Mk5 R32 engine transplant. (engine has only covered just over 9,000 miles) Emerald K3 ECU. (mapped to an estimated 280bhp) Aeromotive adjustable FPR Dubpower polished 6 branch stainless steel exhaust manifold Milltek 2.5” stainless steel exhaust (de-cat) Modified R32 throttle body to run a cable New VR6 clutch Slimline 290mm pacet fans BODY - Resprayed in original classic green (LC6U) FK rear lights CHASSIS - Lowered 40mm with uprated shocks R888 tyres. (front only (Feels odd posting back on the forum after many years of not having a Corrado / not looking for one)

I'd recommend you drop the seller a note via ebay - always worth a try. I found my VR6 Corrado via ebay - I did not bid on it and it was sold to someone else - i contacted the seller saying to let me know if they have issues with the sale and that I was interested. The buyer did pull out and things worked out for me - so maybe worth a try.