StuartFZR400

Saw the red G60 again today. JI67 OUL - I think. Normal BBS wheels. Big yellow steeringwheel lock. Not this one tho Jack.:(

I didn't like to be seen peeking at it too closely, but seemed to have BBS type wheels; they looked like the ones you often see on the G60 (can't remember what they are, but not the RAs). It's parked in arup. Edit: JI67 **L

Red G60, (J reg?) on Blythe Valley Park, Shirley, Solihull Nice to see one locally.

I've tried all sorts; Pilot Sport 2's, 3's, Uniroyal Rainsports, Coni Sport 2's, 3's and 5's, Proxes, Yokos. I'm now tempted by the Eagle F1 Assymetric 2, at £115 per corner. But some folk are saying Nankang's are great for the money - they're half the price of the premium brands; it'll save me £200. But someone also said they're the cheaper version of Yokohamas - if this is true I'll avoid them, as Im not a fan. Anyone got views on either the F1 Assymetrics, or the Nankang NS-2's? Thanks

Ballz of fire? LOL Depends on your goal; seems a lot of folk like the pose factor, which seems fine to me, as the C is a beautiful car to behold; think of all the slammed VW's you end up behind on the tiny roads leading into the GTi international (when it was in mids). But if you want best of both worlds, which it can offer, then agreed money needs to be well spent on the suspension as much as a new paintjob or leather interior. I personally would dream of both but settle for a wolf in sheeps clothing. If anyone is interested there is some fascinating litterature out there on suspension, what adjustments can be made and how those affects bazillions of factors, all which seem to boil down to needing a road test, feel good factor, and did it fail period; amazing stuff. Once you've read some, you'd probably not change too much, or maybe compromise. ps - back to practicality. Do you know the shocks are knackered, leaking, or springs are plain wrong? If not, search the forum for common problems with handling; bushes, top mounts etc can all lead to wobbly or crashy feel. Take it all apart, have a look, and be ready to dig deep or start saving (all relative I appreciate).

Hello, hello, hope you're all well. I'm glad the site is still going strong, as it truly is the best car site i've come across; practical, informative. Thanks for the replies. I was thinking of thumbing through GT5 just to get an idea of where we should be backing off; I'm guessing its not forgiving, and takes a long time to learn. I've vowed not to time or compare times etc; sounds chicken I know, but the main reason for this trip is to road trip, not grass/fence/wall trip. Ok, glad it's doable in a day :) Thereon, not sure if Stuttgart or similar is ambitious in same day. Probably. And also curious if the Autobahns are worth using (mate is adamant we try one) or if there are some nice flowing twisties. Maybe we'll aim for what 'looks good on a map' and see how that goes until we reach southern boarder with austria. I hear you need a pass or tax card or something to use their roads - or is that just the motorways? I'm well ta Jim; you've moved closer I see. I'll keep an eye out for your C then; I'm still in my hairdresser car for now; I'm torn between saving up for a modern tt or going small hot hatch, or Scirocco; its all money money.

Wicked, I'll have to look this up. But I wanted to go semi close to Innsbruck or at least the Neuschwanstein castle, and into Italy. I think your route migth add a day - but worth a look see to see if it will fit (i was thinking stuttgart to Vicenza was ambitious. More tips like this welcome :)

Same old questions hey. All the above advice is right, so best add it all up and try to conclude for your self. Buying twice is never nice tho. What do you want from your coilovers? You're not sure yet, as you dont know how well it handles, or was it a bag of nails when you bought it? In which case you should've parked some wonga for some nice suspension; but do you know whats wrong with it, and what you can afford? If you're short and cannot afford the full fix, maybe best to fix one bit at a time, with good stuff. As you'll be aware, coil spring over shock is exactly what the Corrado needs. Many people choose the more expensive adjustable coilies, which you dont need to feel is necessary to get a good setup; just the adjustables are good for track play. The gap in the arches looks huge on the C, so can feel your frustration, but realise that playing with suspension on any car is massively complex; so expect some odd results. Hearing a 'spoing' is never a good thing IMHO. A small drop should be sufficient, while almost giving you some practicality too. Bilstien, Koni etc are all good stuff. Remember, measure the drop you're making; so if the travel of standard is 100mm and you drop it 40mm, you've lost 40% travel, meaning you need to increase spring stiffness by at least the same percentage - so always buy springs for a Corrado, not a fiesta or something. There is a Tyre sticky thread if you're interested.

Hello old and new, I'm appealing to those that may have driven over to the ring and beyond. I know a lot of you will have driven over to the Nurburg Ring. Questions: 1. Is it easy to drive over there in a single day? 2. Any odd German road laws to watch out for? 3. Any tolls or roads worth avoiding? Or using? We're planning on driving on a bit more after that. Possibly Stuttgart. Then through Austria onto northern Italy. The pass through Austria looks limited, there seems to be a lovely windy motorway - beautiful scenery - but bound to be a toll; I notice a small road beside it.... are these smaller roads in Austrian north italy rubbish, pot-holey, slow etc, or good? (you been that far south Tempest?) 4. ibis tends to be basic. I prefer a Campanile where possible; will often arrive late and nice to have meals on site. Therefore what equivalent they have in Germany? Or much better to venture into town and find a bar? 5. Any good spots worth stopping, staying, sleeping? Many thanks in advance :)

(having real problems with this site) I'm ordering some SC2's, £131/each fitted, 225/40/18. I've ignored the SC3's as they dont live as long, and for you I would imagine they're too soft compared to the SC2, going by what you are saying. The P Zeros are hard, i know. Yes put new tyres on rear, you'll be fine. Im off before my text fails again.

Think you'll find its all of the factors that are making the car feel nervous or twitchy or tail happy, whatever it is you're getting; the deep 8mm new treat doesn't help stability for the first 1k. I used to have 195's on my 15 rims and put some new 205's on the front. Felt odd, and the back kept stepping out; tried the 195's on the front and it was marginally better. Ithink having balanced tyres all round does help; be it make, size and even age. Just popped on here for some feedback and consensus on good sporty tyres. I've had a real mixture over the past few years and must say it's hard to choose. The Uniroyals were great in dry & wet (after the initial 8mm tread worse down they felt more stale), but soft tyre wall, and also they didn't last long. Then my next car had some Michelin Sports on, very nice and stable; tempted. Then some Pilot Sport 2's, which I managed to trash very quickly; as new the shoulders only had 4mm to begin with; total tosh. Then Some Contact 2's; loved them. Then Contact 3's but didnt last as long as the 2's. And currently running some P Zero's, which seem to slide all over the shop, no confidence in rain, and have lasted less than 10k. So... what next... lol

Do they have to be steel - not just some cheap tatt off fleabay, pref with legal rubber on?

Wanted to grab some good knowledge, whilst being polite. Went over to the TTOC forum and found one of my query posts deleted; rude. Anyhow, lots of you guys seem to have daily runners, or simply a second car, and many have tried the Audi's. Does anyone have good or bad experience with the 3.2 engine; any exp with the quattro, and anyone has probs with the DSG? Would you steer clear of the DSG? Cheers guys (nice to see the forum still going).

Is that an 05 R32 (guessing near £10k) or the mk4 ? The latter being much cheaper on TAX? Will the R32 not be ragged? Are dirty diesels out of the questions? I'm in a similar boat so watching this thread with great interest.

Good luck; I'd be looking out for lowering springs on ebay (new) or bargin price somewhere. You'll find them and they'll work, as long as they're spec'd for the car; part numbers are easy to check on decent brands.

Trim the Ride 1ered Are you sure you didn't buy a scooby on the sly? :lol:

I'll throw in a 10 penny worth and clarify the above observations that are true. There are different types of spring; most have variable compression rate within one spring, in that some coils are open (giving little resistance and thus lots of travel) and then you tend to get close knit coils (where it tends to stiffen up and allow less travel). It depends on where you plan to cut your coils; cutting the close knit coils is a finite and very unadvisable business, as you can easily lead your self to bottoming-out; ie cornering hard and you hit a bump, instead of having lots of travel or a progressive absorbtion, instead you will hit the stop and lift the car clear off the road for a split second. Chopping the open coils still has the same idea of risk, but less so for the same drop. But just realise that if you bought Lowering springs, that while they are shorter, they have been manufactured to take the weight of your Corrado (they're stiffer/stronger) and give you typical absorbtion rate - whereas a cut coil certainly does not give the same absorbtion. Handling will certainly be hindered on the road IMHO; and on track it will simply aid lowering/balancing(compared to front) the centre of gravity of the car, but it certainly does not give a stiffer/firm/planted ride - you are loosing resistance with each chop. Try clicky link for pic of examples of different types; some are close sprung both ends: http://www.lunaticfringe.org/vwfox/mod/RearSprings.jpg How much are rear springs? And you want to do this because... it looks better?

Have you been moonlighting on unsuitable forums again Kev? Sounds like a scooby comment. LOL I don't get the forums where they talk about one upmanship; today I beat a Ferrari and all that nonsense. Either the otehr driver was not interested / he was bedding in his £5k tyres / or he was a really poor driver. In eitehr case it reflects nothing upon your skill or your car when you nip past/away from what is clearly a quicker car - even with yuor clipon halfords exhaust tip. :cuckoo: Kev, rear hub; is it the case that you can jack the rear up, and give the wheel a waggle - trying to make it turn. If you feel any play/knock then it needs a tiny nip up? (based on we've ascertained his bearings are new). Too much and the bearings will soon crack up?

Ok, I'll remove foot out of my mouth, lol. First things first you need to check those bushes, they are public enemy number 1. But I do mean check only. If they need doing, they they need doing - simple (give it a shake). New bushes and you still feel a bit wobbly, its my experience that odd tyres really hinder - when I had the back end stepping out, I had Dunlop 9000's on the rear and something better on the front. When I went to x4 rainsports, it felt better like I said (although slightly like marbles for the first 2000 miles, but thereon very planted/stable/onrails). Oh, and talking of wobbly parts, seems Kev has a good idea too; basically looking for all bearing type of object that can wear after age... come on, the rado is getting on a bit now; some tlc required. I try to work in order of cheapest first though; or easiest to diagnose. The bushes, although not cheap, hopefully will be a detectable item, whereas the tyres are somewhat a mystery until you tried alternatives (costly). Good luck :) It reminds me of a time when i heard a knocking on the Golf. Jacked up the engine by an inch or two, close to the noise, and sure enough the engine mount spewed out brown muck (shagged); thankfully an easy job and not a knackered driveshaft or gearbox or something.

^ theres your adviec on time; I've heard its a big job. As for the feel of new tyres; I can't really say, as I've not fully appreciated what you're saying. But I do doubt it as an idea, it was really idea number 3 in order. As a comparison, I had well worn rears (say 2mm left) and the back didn't just feel like its moving, it made big steps out a couple times. I swapped all 4 tyres to brand new Rainsports and it omitted the stepping out problem by a mile, but it did feel like marbles in the twisties for about 2k miles on all four corners - being the Corrado it just felt like the whole thing was loose, but balanced; thereon, with less tread, it felt mega stable and planted.

I should've done a wiki for this; I changed the pins on mine a long time ago. Ensuring its not the carrier big bolts into the beam, then yeh its cheap & simple to replace the carrier slider pins. Problem is that if someone has done up the rear bolt-head (screw) without placing an open ender spanner on the inner nut, the rubber sheeth tends to twist and rip; thus letting in water, which washes off the grease and it rusts up - often leading to a non-moving caliper and stuck on brake and unused piston. The kit comes with new pins (thus bolt head integral), new screws (you'd call bolts maybe) with a hint of blue locktite, the rubber boot and a sachet of grease I think. Cost me £11 back in the day too. If you were unable to get hold of new pins, you would most certainly need new rubber sleeves/boots. The pins can sometimes be cleaned up, very carefully. Be very aware they have a flat side; this cannot be lost or buchered; it marries up with the caliper that obviously has a flat spot too. Ensure your rusty old caliper is cleaned out and new grease squirted in. And as said, you are tightening the bolts against the inner slim nut(part of the pin) - use correct torque and it should stay on forever, whilst allowing good easy sliding. I found upon assembley that the grease oozed out a tad, and then gave an airtight sucksion on the pin.

Presumably you replaced the top mounts at the same time as those new shocks? Worthwhile checking they were correctly nipped up. Also, this been happening over the last couple months? Maybe the big 8mm tread on those T1R's? Unlikely, but possible if you're running different tyres on the front; I can't tell how much movement you're getting. But most of all, yeh as you guess, bushes seem most likely. They were last done when? Never? Good luck !!

Hello; can i ask what you're looking at next? I've just ripped through a set of Contact 3's and wondering how to spend less yet get the dry and wet grip. Equally I was looking for something a bit more square; these SC3 and the previous Pilot Sprt 2's both came brand new with 8mm in centre tread and only 4mm on the edges... a good 1.5 inch wide band on outer and inner shoulders. A while later and Im bald on the edges and just hit 2mm on the centre. (the Mich PS2 were much worse). I was pondering; cheap tyres (Star who?) that you've not heard of are just untested waters; T1R's; the Eagle F1's GSD3 i hear loads of good news off close mates, but other forums sugest the sidewalls are incredibly soft. Talking of soft, and V shape pattern, I'm almost wondering if the Uni Rainsport 2's are worth a shout... :confused4: Im low on tread and hear the GSD3's are are limited in stock.

Yeh, but that goes back to my initial point that those Average Joes would be well advised to use the tyres in the extreme conditions (where 10mph results); but they're not going to buy spare sets for those rare days - instead they should stay at home. But then you're missing work; so everyone makes an effort to get to work... slowly. The amount of common mercs/bm's and other RWD guff, then yeh, those folk should take heed and consider a purchase. I personally would buy a set of steelies, if I wasn't planning on selling this year. How longs the shelf life though? I guess you'd get 5 years say? Worth it at £60/corner - £48/year.

One small tip for the cautious lot of you; if you're putting on better rubber, don't expect those around you to stop in the same distance. I hate our local driving habits and would be highly warey of those tailgating you. Kev, I know the article makes mention of same tyre width, but going by ralley cars, surely a narrow tyre is one step better still whean dealing with snow/slush- idea being you cut through the stuff, rather than float on top. Whereas a wide tread would be fine if just on an icey road. Personally I'd go for something slightly narrower if possible. If brakes allowed it, I wouldn't be interested in low profiles either as a secondary thought. You got any feedback on which is the best alrounder for winter? ie something that is soft, grips snow, but also manages to displace slush/water? Sticking (pardon pun) with the soft tyres; yeh somewhat a thing some bikers chase. But what you should also realise is that come a sunny warmer day, you can soon trash your lovely set of winters in a few mile; round of those nice square blocks. Depends on just how soft they are. I'd imaine good road ones will be reasonably sturdy. I can't see average joe swapping to wintyer tyres in extreme conditions; we dont get enough of it. If you're talking about the inbetween conditions, then of course the likes of you lot would take keenly to feeling some soft slippers under foot, but your average joe... dont think for one second they are 'feeling for grip', so come the day the swap back to summer tyres, but a cold snap hits, they'll be lost. I'd rather they just drove slowly. IMHO