dr_mat

Might be worth biting the bullet and going for whole new wishbones Jim. Plus a four-wheel alignment at the same time and it'll transform it.

Note that if full safety type-approval was applied to the small car manufacturers they wouldn't be in business, but the government realised it would be counter-productive to force such heavy costs upon low volume businesses. I can't help but think there will be a similar arrangement for very low volume parts, too. I suspect that it won't be quite as bad as you seem to say, tempest, but I can't help but think it would be good if there were *some* standards applied to suspension kits, aftermarket brakes, that sort of safety-critical items SHOULD be rigorously tested. I mean, even a set of Koni TA dampers only cost about £40 each to manufacture. Some of the rest of what they charge should rightly go on making sure their products are safe ..

The clutch will make a burning smell under those circumstances, particularly if it's new. You're burning off the initial surface of the friction plates, which you don't even come close to doing in normal driving (unless you're into slipping the clutch in third). If you were doing such extreme clutch slipping up a hill forwards you'd have the same result. Don't worry about it.

How about doing some basic tests with a multimeter (£4 in maplins) before you spend £100 on a an alternator? Engine running: - 13-14V across the battery terminals means your alternator is fine. Engine stopped: - 12.6V across the battery terminals means your battery is fine (and fully charged). - less than 11.75V across the battery terminals means your battery is fully discharged - less than 11V means you have dry/dead cells - time to replace the battery

Sounds like thermostat isn't closing.

.. which is something you can't account for with the standard load proportioning valve. Ideally you'd have a more sensitive setup that detects the smaller changes in ride height ..

Yeah, there's a special tool you can use from VW, or you can do it by eye .. I think there's some bolts one side of the valve's arm that will slide when you release them. You should set this when the car is standing on it's wheels, obviously, so an inspection pit would be handy ..

Has to be either the master or slave clutch cylinders. AFAIK all Corrados have hydraulic clutches, so you're looking in the right places. Though there's always a possibility that the clutch return springs are gone, that's very unusual so you definitely wanna be looking at the hydraulics first.

Yes. It's attached to the rear axle beam.

I have to say I think stuff like this is inevitable. Looking at the upside, it's going to make bullbars (at least aftermarket ones) completely illegal (and the pedestrian safety rules will even make the factory fit ones illegal). ;) There are more and more regulations about making cars safe for everyone (including pedestrians). I mean, no one worries about the MOT rules of not being able to have any exposed "sharp" edges of bodywork anymore, and in the same way we won't worry about these new regulations in the future .. as long as they are sensibly applied. PLUS none of this will apply to old cars. None of the regs ever do, because they can't retrospectively test cars that are no longer in production, it's simply not reasonable. And on top of all this, the car manufacturers have been making increasingly ugly (read "modified") cars anyway. The aftermarket stuff for modern cars is really now reduced to only being blue nipples and stick-on spoilers...

I like the tall 5th gear, it makes for a relaxed cruise (and good economy, as you say). Perhaps go for a six-speed box instead so you can have the best of both .. ? Or a 1-2-3-4-E type overdrive top gear? I think we're all of the opinion that the VR is flexible enough to cope with the wide spacing of the standard gearbox so you don't really *need* five shorter ratios .. four would do.

Fortunately they don't show you the front ends up close in those pictures...

All true. But despite these relatively modest statistics it does make a big difference to the way the car drives. That yawning chasm of flat spot between the low-rev pickup and the 3700 rpm surge is replaced by a surfeit of torque.. :) I like mine, anyway. :)

There appears to be a triple-posting virus going around ... Or, in fact, what's more commonly known as a "no-posting" broken forum by the look of it!

There appears to be a triple-posting virus going around ... Or, in fact, what's more commonly known as a "no-posting" broken forum by the look of it!

There appears to be a triple-posting virus going around ...

You should install one of these. I get 922 bhp at 11 rpm and 1.2 million lbft torque at 1 rpm by replacing the MAF sensor with this beauty. I can't believe no-one has thought of it before!

I'd look for voltage issues .. maybe ECU relay even ..

You never said your guage was behaving oddly before ... NOW I would agree with your garage. Gotta be an electrical issue with the gauge/senders.

Averaged 34 mpg on the way up to Stealth the other week in the VR ...

You were being shafted. Even in Reading (the home of over-charging), the local VW place will do an error code scan for 30 minutes labour, i.e. £45+VAT...

Oil at 116 is not that unusual, but water at anything over 100 is very unusual.

The "rev the crap outa it" procedure actually works BETTER at 6:30 in the morning on a residential street, because the seething anger from the residents who have been woken unceremoniously actually shames the tappets into quietening down more quickly.

I would imagine it's more likely the relay ... but the ECU scan would show a voltage too low error.

Expensive, not in terms of parts. Labour is an hour or so, it's fiddly but it's not terminal. Damage? Well you know low oil temp can cause problems.. But I'd get it sorted sooner rather than later, since it's only going to get colder this winter.