Automatic VR6's... any good?

[t5matty 10]

Hi all,

 

*Newbie first question alert!* LOL

 

I've been looking around for a VR6 Corrado for a few months now with the intention of buying one early in the new year to replace my daily driver mk4 Golf.

 

One thing I've noticed is that you can pick up automatic VR6's for a lot less money than geared VR6's. Why is that? Is there something really bad about them that I should be aware of? I've only managed to find a handful of posts regarding them but they've all been quite positive in terms of performance and economy.

 

Would be interesting to hear from people who have owned / driven both to see how they compare.

 

Matt

[coullstar 0]

Slower and gearbox is more prone to ****ting itself. Best thing to do is drive one and see if you like it.

[VR6Pete 0]

dont bother :)

[PeteL 0]

I had one for 18 months and yes it is never going to be as involving or as quick as the manual (or as good as a modern auto box) but I spent 95% of my time in traffic so i enjoyed having it but I'd still take a manual everytime. Fuel consumption was a little higher but not much as you tend to drive it differently to a manual.

 

As said best to drive one and see what you think.

 

Mine had a £2k rebuild just before I bought it so I had some piece of mind so its worth taking this into account.

 

---------- Post added at 02:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:08 PM ----------

 

PS. My manual VR6 is currently in the classifieds ;-)

[VR6Pete 0]

most of the automatic gearboxes last upto about 65 - 68k...

[t5matty 10]

Thanks for all the input so far guys. Much appreciated.

 

Think I'll continue my hunt for a geared one then.

[Diesel Junior 0]

Hola t5, well my beloved departed VR6 was an auto and when i lost my marbles and sold it it had done 126,000km and never gave me a hint of a problem at any time. Having driven a manual that would be my preference as at the end of the day the car is a sports car but I would buy another, in fact there is one in Seville with only 68,000km on and i am tempted.......as the others said the best is to drive both. IIRC Townsend have some of both at the minute, different strokes for different folks as they say. Happy hunting!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

but I spent 95% of my time in traffic so i enjoyed having it but I'd still take a manual everytime.

 

This!

 

My daily is an auto and they really are the best ever car for the daily grind. Corrados definitely are better suited to a manual box :D It's just the nature of the beast. A slow reacting auto box (it is, imo, compared to other autos of the period) just doesn't suit the car. Probably why it was never a big seller :lol:

[Diesel Junior 0]

Dead right, it is slow to react and compared with the DSG of this Golf its ancient history...still a great car but manual it has to be...

[Stonejag 10]

Takes all sorts, I really like mine! Try one out and see how you like it. (Hey, come and try mine if you want ;))

 

The auto boxes mainly suffer from VW's idiotic 'lifetime' transmission fluid. They mean lifetime of the warranty, not the car - so really by the time they crap out they've had years of crud accumulating in the sump, a blocked filter and they're half empty. Why provide a dipstick if you aren't going to provide a drain plug? :bonk:

 

Flushing the fluid is an easy job (I managed fine and I'm a mechanical newbie) and massively improves the shifting - IMO you can't say you don't like the auto box unless you've driven one that's been properly maintained. A lot of people are just anti-auto; they take quite a different driving style to manuals and you do have to get used to them. They'll seem slow if you're driving them gently because they change up to 4th early to take advantage of the torque converter lockup (so no wasted power in moving the fluid around unnecessarily) - if you want to drive it sportily then just put your foot down a bit harder/faster! In sport mode mine changes from 2nd to 3rd at 80mph and 3rd to 4th at 120mph - and if you kickdown hard when it's in fourth it'll drop two gears instead of one so you get a huge lump of torque. Yes, they're not going to be quite as quick or precisely-controlled around a track, but most of your miles are going to be on roads. They still have oodles of power for overtaking and they'll rev to 6000+ after a kickdown so you're not missing out - having less gears also means more torque available in each so you get plenty of beans at lower (normal?) speeds. You do lose a bit of top speed but mine will still do 140...

 

At the end of the day, if you want to drive it like a manual you can still lock it into each gear - if you're revving above the normal value for the gear you're in then it'll change as soon as you move the stick, and the changes are consistently very quick. Since there's a detent on position 1, if you put it in 2 it's a bit like having launch control from 0-80 :lol:

 

Try one and see. I wouldn't want a clutched one as a daily driver. Then again you could ask fla - he must have converted his for a reason!

 

[edit: mine had 79500 miles on when I bought it, and it did do all the stereotypical auto things - snatchy changes, rolling back on hills...all fixed with fluid flush]

 

Stone

Edited December 5, 2011 by Stonejag

[Walesy 0]

Ive gotta agree that the VW autos are miles behind other boxes of the same era, I drove autos for 7 years as a cabby (mainly Vauxhall) so i'm certainly not against them, I just think the boxes in rados (and other 90's VWS) are shockingly bad, I'd steer clear and go for a manual.

[Diesel Junior 0]

Thats brought back a few memories Stone thanks! Maybe i should go and have a look at this one since the miles are genuine http://www.autoscout24.es/Details.aspx?id=189295442 you are right about it always wanting to move up to fourth asap i had forgotten that. Good call on the fluid, when i first got mine in 2007 the changes were a bit jerky so i took it to VW in Benidorm who looked at me as if i was a fool and said 'lifetime fluid'. A quick trip to the Spanish Corrado forum put me on the right track and a change and drain of the fluid (a cinch and i am no mechanic.....) and the car was 100% better.....

[fla 9]

i must admit mine was pretty good - had a slight issue when i first got it, but as above a fluid flush a few times and a nice additive and the changes were really very nice. I only converted mine after having driven a manual, but in general, the engines on an auto get less of a thrashing than a manual, so you could potentially look at it as a longer term project, if you really run into problems with the auto box. I enjoyed mine an awful lot and sometimes i wish i had left it an auto. But there is no question, the manual is a lot more fun, but conversely a pain to drive in stop-start traffic. Auto to manual is not a majorly difficult project tbh.

[Stonejag 10]

Also autos are rarer ;) Mostly I like it for the convenience - my gf only has an auto license so I got used to driving them, plus it gives my dodgy knee a bit of a break. You can always put your foot down if you want it to shift! They get very aggressive on the shifts when the fluid is low and really bang into gear, especially 1st->2nd - I think the trick is finding one that hasn't been mangled by the abuse because as you say they're expensive to fix. That said, when I wasn't sure if new fluid would fix it I was quoted £800 for a full teardown with all the seals replaced and the valve body cleaned out, with £300 on top to rebuild the torque converter - you could easily spend a grand paying someone to sort out a manual gearbox so they aren't quite as bad value as you might expect.

 

That Spanish one looks very original - much better than mine when I got it. Maybe it's the weather, rain always makes my paint look good :lol:

 

Stone

[SamG40 0]

Our VR is an auto and yes the box isnt the best but you do learn to drive around it somewhat. You do have to plan overtakes a bit more and it can be frustrating but I still enjoy a good blast out in the car. Its just takes a bit of a different driving style. Our car is now on 130k or thereabouts and we've had a solenoid replaced and the gearbox had some money spent on it before we bought it but its been fine for the 40k we've done in it. Just keep an eye on the fluid colour and dip it every once in a while and I'm sure that helps as has been mentioned.