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Kevin Bacon

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Posts posted by Kevin Bacon

  1. Posted

    It's drag strip ready as well with the Gemini gear set and uprated drive shafts :)

     

    Now that would controversial wouldn't it, someone buying it and running it up Santa Pod every weekend :lol:

     

    The crazy man repainted the car because he wasn't happy with VW's finish. Now that is seriously next level fastidiousness!

  2. Posted

    You don't need selant with the rubber gasket. Just make sure the mating surfaces are completely smooth and clean.

     

    The trick to it not leaking is making sure they're torqued consistently across all 25 odd bolts, and not over-tightened. It's quite easy to buckle the steel sump by over tightening the bolts, and then it leaks.

  3. Posted

    VR6s are very picky with MAF sensors, so you could try a new one of those. I found running it a lot richer than usual made it smoother at idle, but you can't do that without turning off the lambda and remapping it.

     

    It's just a very hot running grumpy engine and some of the fuel evaporates as it travels down the long runners to the rear bank.

  4. Posted

    Its true that the early vr used the fabric type gasket which used shorter bolts and the later rubber type gasket used the longer bolts

     

    I owe you an apology Mr Bowen. It's me who's talking rubbish :)

  5. Posted

    Definitely rubbish then :lol:

     

    Seriously though, I've never had an issue with VR6 sump bolts with rubber gaskets or ally sumps etc.

     

    But just to be safe, I would just get a bag of generic 4Motion / R32 sump bolts from the dealer. VAGs all use ally sumps now (thicker flange thickness) therefore plenty log enough. I might even have a load of them in my "Drawer O' old vag ****"

  7. Posted

    Agreed, it is a bit of a lazy advert.

     

    I gave it some consideration over the weekend because I know what's gone into this car. Spent many hours on the phone with Shaun during it's build and taking this on would feel like the car has come home, but it's way too mint for me. I like to use and abuse my cars and it would be peppered with stone chips in a matter of hours, which would be a crime of the highest magnitude!

     

    It needs to go to the right person to keep it unique and pristine.

     

    Anyone considering it, there's more than £16K in this car just in parts and labour.

  15. Posted

    The main problem with Chinese turbos is they're not very well balanced and the bearings are rubbish quality. Leave them as they are and yeah, it won't last long :lol:

     

    However, if you were to send your Chinese job off to somewhere like Turbo Dynamics to get it fitted with decent bearings and properly balanced, you'll still be coming in waaaaaaaaay cheaper than a genuine Garrett and it'll be a decent-ish unit. I prefer the real McCoy myself, but there are options to suit all wallets.

     

    As with everything Chinese, they will build to the quality you're prepared to pay for. iPhones are made over there don't forget, and the vast majority of other premium consumer electronics. They're just good at copying and reading the market. They've seen a market for cheap turbo kits and have filled it :)

     

    If anything, I would say the country to avoid for turbo kits is America. Now they really do knock out some crap, jesus. Stick to people like Schimmel, AEM, USRT and some of 034 Motorsport's stuff is OK.

  16. Posted

    I thought Heritage and Classic were the same thing, lol!

     

    I ordered a MK2 vinyl sill trim from Heritage recently and I did initially think the postage seemed a little steep, but it arrived the following morning and well packed, so didn't mind paying it.

     

    Unfortunately businesses have to find ways to keep themselves afloat and if they do it via postage costs, fair enough. Ebayers do the same thing. Dealers do it via parts. The labour rates just "keep the lights on" and pay the wages etc etc.

  18. Posted

    Hello m8 - my power output after stealth map was the same as yourself.....209.8 BHP IIRC & lb/ft not far off the same figure. I forgot to take pics of my ECU maps last night but will get them on here in next couple of days so you can see

     

    Vince mentioned that is about the usual overall output with those upgrades but he has had a couple of VR's that made approx 220bhp but had no idea why

     

    Your quite correct that the main difference is in the delivery & response, it is so much more urgent throughout the rev range.

     

    I had the pleasure of using my gf's storm during the 2 weeks my VR was last at stealth & it felt like mine was on red bull when i got my VR back lol

     

    And you get yet another zesty Red Bull kick when you add the G60 final drive to your VR's gearbox :D

     

    Honestly, I cannot believe how lethargic a bone stock VR6 is compared to one that's been 263'd and G60'd!

     

    Liking the 3 in a bed shot :)

  19. Posted

    lol, I tend to avoid launching but from a rolling start on dual carriagways/motorways (and mainly when they start 'giving it') some highlights include:

     

    996 Carrera 4S - completely destroyed multiple times, I'd let him catch up side by side and then we'd both go for it. Got a perplexed thumbs up for that :)

    Mercedes SL500 - Came steaming up behind me and tried to go for the undertake, shifted down as he got to my side and watched him disappear in my rear view mirror. Funnily enough he kept back after that!

    Mk4 1.8T - Obviously fettled, intercooler pipework sticking out and sounding fruity, similar to the SL500, but I didn't even shift out of 5th and still pulled away :lol: Driver didn't look happy!

    E46 M3 - too easy from rolling. It sounded awesome though

     

    Another highlight is having fun with a Yamaha R1 on the way to work Vone morning. Yes, this guy would have absolutely wiped the floor with me but I decided to have a go anyway (I was still very much in the VRT honeymoon phase). Got to silly speeds and all of a sudden he backs off (Outside lane, nowhere for him to overtake). He later catches up with me and follows me in to my office car park. As I get out of the car he approaches and I'm gearing up for a verbal assault, but it turns out he was a petrolhead from my office who came to ask me what the hell I had under my bonnet, and that he only backed off as there were flames popping out of my exhaust :nuts:

     

    Those are just some that have stuck in my mind. There have been countless GTIs, VXRs, Type Rs, Beemers, etc that have been embarrassed but nothing really worth writing about. I think to most people it looks like a sh*tty old VW. I've also found that most people in exotica don't even want to bother having a play, probably due to that reason. I do remember my maiden voyage from picking the car up from Stealth though. The road leading up to the M40 was fairly busy, and I had some idiot in an Vectra glued to my rear bumper despite there being other cars in front of me. Turn on to the slip road (which was clear), put my foot down and held on for dear life as he vanished from my periphery. That first day that I drove the turbo made all of the money and waiting worthwhile and I'd recommend it to anyone - you will love it! That ballistic surge of boost never gets old :norty:

     

    May need to borrow that GoPro now! :)

     

    The car has barely broken into a sweat in most of my encounters, although some Caterham variant did come past me once on a twisty road and I couldn't even catch up with it once he took the first corner! In that instance it was I who backed off and did the drive of shame ;)

     

    This post may portray me as some kind of road hooligan, but I assure you in most cases it's either been a mutual play or I'm getting harassed from the rear (quiet at the back!)

     

    Yeah I can relate to all that :D

     

    Glad you're still enjoying it. So many people sell on VRTs after building them. The people who got the Stealth Racing package or built and mapped their own, hung onto them. I'll leave people to draw their own conclusions from that :D

     

    This is an analogy that's been used in Top Gear before, so I apologise for pilfering it but it's especially true of the VR Turbo.. it's not that it's fast which is so shocking, but it's the surprise of the performance. When you're used to how a Corrado VR6 performs and feels, the first time you get behind the wheel of a VR6 turbo and put your foot down it's like everything you know about how the cars personality goes out of the window. You're in a Corrado, those same seats, that same steering wheel and instrumentation - except it's going like it's just been launched by a steam catapult from the deck of an aircraft carrier! You're simply not prepared for it.

     

    Yeah that was Clarkson driving the Corvette. Sums it up quite nicely :) You really do expect a 90s Corrado VRT (especially a visually standard one) to have 90s VW performance!

     

    Yeah B5's price have not changed in the last few years. Probably getting harder to get a good one now though as a few have fallen into some hands that dont look after them. If you get a standard one budget on another £5kish to get it to a reliable 450-500bhp.

     

    FYI here is a comprison between my cam'd VR, the VRT and the RS all on the same dyno. Rs weighs a lot more but doesnt half haul ass. Would be nice to compare the two on the road at the same time, dont think there would be much in it in all honesty.

     

    That's a mega torque curve for the RS4!!

  22. Posted

    TBH I've not encountered any spring clamps on a VR6 / R32 engine that couldn't be accessed with a normal plier tool. The heat exchanger ones are awkward to get at with mole grips etc, but the proper pliers make them a doddle.

  23. Posted

    Haha, VRTs do tend to do schitt on things quite easily, and without running silly boost pressures either :D

     

    Nothing compares to the old school savagery of a VRT. Modern turbo cars are nice enough, but they're too civilised and linear. I like to wait a bit for my boost. Get comfy in the seat, make sure my grip on the wheel is tight, and then the flood of craziness arrives and you hear the front wheels scrabbling. You just don't get any of that drama from a TSI Golf, and the noise, the noise! :D

     

    One of best car memories ever is hammering my VRT along a 1 mile tree lined road and then stamping on the APs at the end of it. The sensation of speed because of the trees was immense and the brakes were the cherry on top to finish off the tasty slice of boost.

     

    Hmmmm, I need to do something. The R32 just isn't a car I take out for the hell of it like I did the Corrado. In fact I haven't done that once in the 18 months I've had it. 4WD is nice though :)

  24. Posted

    Nothing wrong with WAGs handling one's tool :)

     

    Jubilees are just crap and shouldn't be used anywhere on the engine, imo. The spring clamps are fit and forget and keep a constant tension on the joint, which is exactly what you want.

     

    Cheap jubilees rust and you can't get them off again. Better jubilees are still rubbish because people either over tighten them and cut the hose, or too loose and hoses come off. Remember the cooling system operates at around 15-18psi pressure. Not only that, the tension on a jubilee clamped joint relaxes because there's no spring tension to compensate, so you have to periodically check them.

     

    They're junk, don't use them guys :)

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