Kevin Bacon

I did try and extract this information from Milton Keynes once and they kindly informed me they were unable to divulge such information. So the only way you can find out is through a dealer (they must have access to a centralised sales database) or through global clubs etc. I've also heard 9000 came to the UK, which sounds about right as 4000 came here by 1991, so a remaining 5000 from 92 to 96 sounds feasible. The Corrado never was a big seller in the UK. Whether that was down to VW deliberately throttling UK designations (happens a lot) or the car not attracting enough buyers remains to be seen, but either way, it's a good thing imo as it retains a level of exclusivity for us lucky owners :lol: Brits have always been taken for a ride by the Germans and the dealers seem to go along with it. Classic example being the early MK4 GTI. The rest of the world got the turbo engine and the UK got the weedy 2.0 8V. Such and equipped car over the pond was badged a GL. So why do we have such loyalty toward VW when they treat us like a bunch of thick idiots ? The remaining 88,479 of them must have therefore gone to the US/Canada and Europe. Kev 94 VR6

So if a car is attacked in the manner Majik's was and you've got the required thatcham gadgets fitted, will the ins company cough up for repairing the door/glass/interior etc? I guess you'd lose your no claims too, even though it was a non-fault claim? Bloody thieves/vandals. Oh how we'd love to catch them in the act :twisted: Kev VR6

Yep those parts are correct. They'll be a large black seal, a brass insert, an orange/brown plastic tube, a lower injector O ring (black) and an upper injector O ring (Green). EKTA is very vague but when getting the parts, check they match my descriptions before handing over the plastic! Replace all of them, 4 of each! Yeah the exhaust studs can break and the nuts are a softer metal anyway (copper I think), so should only be used once really. What usually happens is the stud and nut come out of the head together, rather than the nut just spinning off the stud, so use plenty of 'Plus-Gas' to presoak the nuts. Removing the head uses standard tools but the head bolts will need a large spline tool, 12mm I think, but you can buy a set of them. The lower inlet manifold is secure with 6mm hex bolts. You'll need a large torque wrench too. For removing valves, you'll need a special tool. It looks like a big G clamp and has a special slot in one end for inserting/removing valve stem collets. Halfords sell all these tools, so no worries. Or you can rent them from a tool hire shop. When the head is off, put some tape over the bores and coolant/oil ways to prevent crap getting in there as you'll need to lightly sand the block surface with some emery cloth. Use some solvent/carb cleaner to remove all traces of oil and other shite before putting the new head gasket on. Have fun! Kev 94 VR6

Pau1, what are those rear clusters you've got? They don't look like inPro's from this angle! Cheers Kev 94 VR6

Didn't realise that about the intermittent wipe. I always though the delay on mine was too long. Will have a play next time it rains. The rear wipe squirts water if you press forward and hold, it'll then go through it's wipe cycle (5 or 6 wipes) and then stop. Pulsing forward once for intermittent and repeat to stop. The headlights are annoying because you can't flash people without locking the beams on, so next time you switch the lights on, you blind people. Crap design. I prefer the tradtional flick forward for high beams instead of VW's rachet system. And yes the interior is pretty naff to be honest, especially the late heater controls which don't line up properly and feel flimsy. The sunroof control panel and glove box are also flimsy! For £24,000 (when new in 1994), you expect better. Kev 94 VR6

If the cooler pipe unions have one way barbs, don't use hose clips as they'll cut through the rubber. As mentioned before, wrap some PTFE tape around the cooler threads to avoid leaks and don't over tighten the unions. Kev

Haven't heard of premature wear problems yet but since the majority of VAG cars now use them, an updated blade is sure to follow. Speaking of Wipers, VW found that wipers always wear on one side as they rest on the same side when parked. So on the Bugatti Veyron, they've installed a system that lifts the arms every other wipe so that the both sides wear evenly, mad! Kev

I went to a different dealer and picked one up for £8.55+VAT and he even threw in a couple of decent clips too. Having changed it out this afternoon, it was clear the one on there was the original one (so much for dealer servicing). Cutting it open confirmed this, judging by the amount of crap in there! The new one instantly quitened the fuel pump. Nice one. Cheers Kev

Ah good old BBS RCs, very nice. Halfords are very reasonable on wheel and tyre packages at the moment, about £500 for a set of 16" BBS RDs (5 spoke) with Toyo Proxes tyres. I only wish you could get Speedlines in 16 or 17" size. Kev 94 VR6

Depends if it's the older 150bhp version or the later 180bhp flavour. The 150 bhp car is all boost at low revs and then dies off quite quickly. The 180 version gives more at the top end too. Kev 94 VR6

All of what has been said so far were contributing factors to the Corrado's demise and most of you will remember the spate of joy riders stealing high performance cars in the mid 90s, which sky rocketed insurance premiums. All high powered VWs were prime targets and the VR6 with it's grp 19 rating was just uninsurable. The mid 90s also saw a new era of 'green' cars and Ford with it's Cosworth and the VR6 were ditched for public relation reasons. These two reasons saw sales of high performance cars plummet. As C6 SVR stated, cost was another factor. In 1994 a VR6 would cost you £24,000. That would buy you well spec'd BMWs and Audis, so again, the C's future was looking doubtful. The C was also 8 years old when killed off, which is the maximum shelf life of any car producer. The VR engine passed the 3rd generation of emission regulations with ease when OBD2 was applied, but the Corrado was never to get that as it was being ceased. The fact it was killed off has done us all a favour in terms of desirability and exclusivity, especially as the world has gone power hungry again! Kev 94 VR6

No worries re the questions, that's what we're here for :lol: VW as with other manufacturers identify weaknesses and modify the parts as applicable. It was quite common for a 16V to lunch it's gasket, hence the newer design. I came across the steel gasket idea via Stealth when I had my 16V Golf Turbo. Yes it will fit your 1800 block as it's the same bolt pattern, all you need to do is file one of the locating lugs in the gasket and it'll slot on perfectly. You'll see what I'm talking about when you buy the part and offer it up to the block. If you haven't topped it up since November, it's just a mild 'sweat' rather than a full on leak. If the engine is healthy other than that, I'd be inclined to leaving it personally but it's never nice seeing oil leaks though. Yeah, lifters are also known as tappets :mad: Grinding valves is a simple case of using some gritted paste to 'lap' the valve lips and seats together to restore the gas tight seal. You can buy a valve grinding kit from any motor factors or Halfords. It's just a stick with a rubber bung on each end! You plunger it onto a valve with some paste and act like you're trying to light a fire with a stick! Skimming, providing they don't remove too much metal, is OK if to restore the mating surfaces. If you remove too much metal, you raise the compression ratio but the cam timing remains the same and the engine will run badly. Ideally you should use a vernier cam wheel to restore the cam timing, and then it's OK. The increase in CR plus the vernier should improve bottom end but as with high CRs, you increase the risk of pinking but Optimax should help you there. All you need the Haynes for is the head bolt torquing sequence! The rest is self explanatory but do ask if you get stuck. Good luck! Kev 94 VR6

The vibration damper is on the longer of the two driveshafts but not all Corrados have them. They usually work loose and some people cut them off. The pagid fast road pads work best with stock VAG discs and Pagid's own black grooved discs. It's a good combination offering excellent modulation and feel. Takes a lot to make them fade too. The Brembo conversion is a good value at £450 inc discs but you need bigger wheels and you also need to check your design of wheel won't foul the calipers as they're big old fellas. Always sand down the hub surface before fitting new discs to prevent premature warping. Kev 94 VR6

It isn't possible to disturb the stat when changing the aux pump but you may be unlucky in that the stat went during the operation! I'm glad the garage are doing the stat as I wouldn't wish that job on anyone! Luckily my radiator was out when I did mine so was a lot easier. Get them to test the new stat before putting it in as it's not unknown to have a new one not open. You have to keep an eye on VR6 temps as the heater matrix and the smaller hoses don't like getting too hot. Hope it gets sorted. Kev 94 VR6

229lb/ft is mighty impressive. Is that just from the mods listed above? I really fancy a Shrick VSR but they're just too expensive and they don't exist on the secondhand market :( Kev 94 VR6

Cheers Joe. I'd prefer to use genuine though as I've had bad experiences in the past with pattern filters. Cheers Kev

Please tell me my dealer is mistaken, but he quoted me £50+ vat for a sodding fuel filter for my VR today! It's only a small little thing for crisakes! Vince reckons it's the same as a Digifant MK2 Golf? Any ideas, part numbers etc? Cheers Kev 94 VR6

Are you sure the head gasket is leaking and not the rocker gasket? The little half-moon seal on the end (under cambelt cowling) often leaks. If you do need to do the gasket, it's a peice of cake and can be done in an afternoon. I would use a late MK3 2.0 16V gasket as it's steel and won't ever burst/leak again! Changing out all 8 injector seals, along with the brass seats and their seals + plastic injector guides is always a good idea on a valver. I would also get 8 new exhaust studs and nuts, 10 x Head bolts (mandatory), full rocker gasket set, 16 x lifters and a chain. If you're feeling confident, you can grind in the valves and change the stem seals whilst you're there but if there's loads of lateral play in the valves, you'll need to have the whole thing refurbed. Don't bother with skimming, 16V heads are hardened and shouldn't warp and skimming mucks up the CR and cam timing anyway. Just check for less than 0.5mm run-out and you'll be fine, just rub it down with some medium emery cloth. I would check the simple things first before getting into any of that! Kev 94 VR6

Jammed stat possibly, but most likely an air-lock was introduced when installing the electric pump. Not many people know this but the sure fire way of avoiding air-locks is to fill the coolant system through the radiator top hose, and *NOT* through the expansion tank. My stat was well and truly jammed and it's a real bast to change out. VR6's should sit at or just below 90 deg on the temp guage when healthy. They usually climb to 100 sitting in traffic but the twin fans should reign in any temps that go above that. Are your fans switching on? The engine will moan out of protest because the temp sensors will confuse the Motronic brain. Same happens when the engine is undercooled. it feels sluggish and hesitant at certain revs. Kev 94 VR6

The fact so many VRs have 100K plus under their belts is a testament to their driver appeal and longevity. These have always been two of VW's endearing qualities since the MK1 Golf GTi. VW's just do it better, for longer. Period. The spoiler trigger threshold is irrelevant really, checking it raises at all is more important! I've seen several VR engines in pieces and like James says, wear on the thrust sides is prevelant, but no more so than any of 1800 lumps. Number 6 cylinder has a habit of going first. No one knows why but I suspect there is a cooling weakness in that area. VW are not excluded from cock-ups. Vince showed me a standard VR engine that had it's conrods fitted back to front in the factory and early 16V heads had horrendous cooling channel design faults. At the end of the day, if the engine pulls well, doesn't drink oil and doesn't make any strange noises, it's a good un. Common to all VAG engines is tappet rattle, but these are cheap and fairly easy to replace. Knocking noises when cold are due to piston slap and common to all engines, especially 6 cylinder ones. All my 6 cyl BMWs used to sound like diesels for a few seconds in the morning but the engines were confirmed as healthy and well within tolerance. I would let the engine idle for a minute before driving off in the morning to allow the ultra acidic vapours to disperse. Thrashing a cold engine will kill it quickly. Kev

All front wheel drive cars have one shaft thicker than the other (except some Citroens and the Alfa Romeo Alfasud). The long shaft is tubular and the short one is solid. The reason for this is due to the location of the gearbox preventing equal length shafts. The tubular shaft is therefore as torsionally strong as the solid one to reduce torque-steer. If the long shaft was solid it would twist. All perfectly normal. As for the oil, I bet it's just leaks from previous oil filter changes. The sump gaskets can weep but nothing serious. Just wipe it and keep an eye on it. One leak you do want to look for is from the head. Look around all for sides of the block and make sure the head gasket isn't seeping. Kev 94 VR6

Yes definitley. If MK2 Golf VR6 boys can get their cars to handle well, you can certainly get a Corrado VR6 to handle well, especially as it has the Plus running gear on it's side. It's just a matter of matching quality dampers with good springs and anti-roll bars. Yes we VR drivers are constantly aware of that dead weight over the wheels but in real world scenarios, it's not that big a deal and we're not far behind you 4 bangers in the bends :lol: Kev

My 76K VR6 is already at 200bhp (193lb/ft) on 95 UL and it's standard. Vince of stealth reckons the VR is in it's prime between 70 & 80,000 miles. Vince has rollered another standard VR and that showed 212bhp! As with many makes and models, power output varies from car to car but the main reason VR6s can feel sluggish is when the Cam position sensor packs up. You lose 30bhp straight away and because you get used to the power loss so quickly, you don't realise until you either roller it or plug in VAG COM. A lot of how much you can hike the power by depends on the health of the engine. Obviously engines like mine and that 212hp example would respond well to mods and produce good results. I've seen Cammed up and flowed VR6s producing barely better than standard outputs. It would be nice to try before you buy, eh? Kev 94 VR6

SACHs are pretty good. I had one put in my VR6 a month or so ago. They seem a lot lighter than the factory fit LUK ones, but mine was pretty worn though! From reading some posts on here, it seems a standard VR clutch has all the strength you'll need. 'Power' clutches aren't much stronger than standard. It's the 'Sporting' clutches that are made to handle big power. Brands such as Helix Autosport, SACHs & AP racing all make such clutches. Helix use a SACHs sporting pressure plate and there own friction material (less generous than standard though) and they are heavy and expensive, £350 plus. Kev

What happened to the Supercar VW penned? Can't remember it's name but it was a huge red thing with a W12 engine in it and it was stunning. Kev