Disapointed

[petrolh34d 0]

Ever since I can ever remember being into cars I've always wanted a VR6. I loved the idea of the brutal 6 pot lump in the comparatively small vehicles that it was available in. Loved the idea of it's conception; where it had to be designed so that it could be shoe-horned into the afore mentioned vehicles.

I've been driving 5 years now, and have owned a TD Vento, an Polo 6n 8v and a heavily tuned '87 Mk2 Gti 16v Golf, all of which were only stepping stones towards owning my much coveted VR6.

So I recently bought a '96 VR6 Highline in black, and I really like the car, it's 10 times the car that any of my previous motors were. The only thing is that I'm pretty unimpressed with the performance of the car :-|

I expected it to be a wild untameable beast, I expected driving it to be like pulling on a tiger's tail, I even expected it to scare me a bit. The the reality is that it just doesn't *-)

The only performance mod' is a Scorpion back box, and tbh I just find the car to be rather lazy and quite unsatisfying to drive. This coupled with the insane running costs for fuel and insurance just seem to make the car fall very short of my my expectations, and not worth while to keep .

I just wonder if anyone had any thoughts on this?

[The Monk 50]

I suppose it's a "marmite" car. You either love it or hate it.

I have to say that compared to my old 1.9gti 205, I found it lacking in excitement.

It sounds great, it goes well enough and yours isn't falling apart every day.

I expected incredible performance and jaw dropping speed. Does it live up to that?.... No.

I suppose you could equate it to a "cult" following.

It doesn't excite me, but I love the car, noise and the way it can power past other cars (sometimes), it's also not THAT common and I'm forever getting thumbs up from people that overtake, hear it and complaints from old dears in car parks when it's ticking over.

Knowing the cars that are out and about, I'd go for an R32 next, simply because it is a slightly higher powered VR6 with 4wd.

Sorry for babbling on, but that's my thoughts on the car. This praise coming from someone that hasn't gone for more than 1 week without needing something replaced or breaking.

[xyber 1]

Do a full service with new plugs and leads and give the hall sensor a clean, you could be very surprised at the result

[DanH 1]

i expected alot more low down grunt, but its gotta be revved like a valver.......tho when its being cained it does suprise me

tho i only bought it for the noise which im more than happy with!

[Dave_ciw 507]

She may not be the fastest thing out there far from it but the noise she makes on idle at the lights that forces the chav in the saxo beside you to pee himself slightly whilst his little barbie doll girl friend wishes she had her arse parked on your cream leather is outsdanding.

Everyone on this clube regardless of the state of their car loves it not just likes it, loves it and it is an addiction in terms of bhp per £ I think she is about the best and smilers per miles its second to none. She drinks alot and is only as powerful as some turbo deisels but they just dont sound the same.

[petrolh34d 0]

How much am I looking at for all those bits xyber?

I love the noise, it's sexual, but I really cannot justify paying the running costs that I do just for the noise.

I expected more low down grunt as well, but she really just dies until you get up past 3-3.5 on the rev counter, and at that point you can nearly watch the petrol hand going down hehe.

My mate dropped a 2.5 straight 6 out of an older 5 series into his e36 compact. Twas the first car with a bit of power that I'd ever driven. I thought the thing was gonna pull a feckin' wheely when I was taking off lol. But the difference in power between that 2.5 straight 6, and the VR6 is mind blowing.

Why is this? Did I hear correctly that VR6's are de-tuned?

[thegoth 5]

She may not be the fastest thing out there far from it but the noise she makes on idle at the lights that forces the chav in the saxo beside you to pee himself slightly whilst his little barbie doll girl friend wishes she had her arse parked on your cream leather is outsdanding.

I never get that feeling but then again I'd be old enough to be her Father, or in some places Grandfather ;-)

I agree with xybers advice, a bad hall sender signal can rob you of many horses.

[thegoth 5]

at launch it was restricted to 174bhp due to some german tax laws. later obd2 models tend to be more like 184 as standard.

news leads are roughly £70.. plugs vary greatly as some places only sell them in fours so you end up buying 2 more than you need. cleaning the hall sender is a diy job.

[xyber 1]

If you shop around you could get all the gear for around £100

oil £25ish

plugs £3 each

filter £10

then something like dubpower leads and clean the hall sensor with alcohol and a cotton bud

just fresh oil can make a big difference, if you have old plugs and leads, replacing then can help bottom end, but VRs aren't brilliant below 3500rpm anyway. It's also said a gunged up hall sensor could rob upto 30bhp!!

Also worth a quick fault code scan aswell because something a simple as a faulty £8 coolant temp sensor can cause fuelling issues and balls up the performance

[petrolh34d 0]

Thanks a lot for all the advice guys.

Any recommendations for plugs and leads.

Also sorry to sound like a noob, believe me I'm no stranger to a spanner, but where's the Hall sensor?

[thegoth 5]

VW leads are perfectly adaquate and reasonable priced. Megnacors are also rated. anything bigger than 7 or 8 mm won't fit into the plastic engine covers.

brk5eup springs to mind for the plug code, but that could just be jibberish ;-)

the hall sender is at the passanger end. behind the coil pack. There is a detailed guide in the premium members knowledge vault ;-)

[Jamesr_VR6 0]

I havent found a VR to buy yet but my heart is so set on it its unreal, i check every car sale website at least 10 times a day...

I kow its not the fastest i could buy, i know i could by a turbo diesel and pay penies for a remap and it would be quicker and more economical than a VR.

I know i could by a few luxo barges cheap that would be faster than the VR

Why dont i??

Its a golf, the most iconic hot hatch of the last century, its a sheep in wolfs clothing is the VR

You ride around in a debadged VR and the most likely conclusion by other people is its a GTI, and what a surprise they get!!!!

I cant wait to own one, even if its a shitter, or isnt as fast as my mates scooby, its a VR and it wont mater!

[thegoth 5]

its a sheep in wolfs clothing is the VR

you should try getting a, nearly, 18 year old one. people never expect it to do what it does. :-)

Down side is very few people get out of the way of a J reg Golf believing it to be a £50 shed.

[craggsy 91]

Nearly right Nige

BKR5EKUP

[MikeJVV 0]

put it in a mk2, that should sort out your problems.

Haha.

Failing that...... F/I

[Ben Seabrook 4]

Down side is very few people get out of the way of a J reg Golf believing it to be a £50 shed.

ha ha so true no one ever moves out the way !!

well mate the VR was originally developed as a long distance motorway cruiser rather than a B road blaster so you shouldn't really expect it to be one out the box - also the power is slightly lacking for the size of engine in such a small car. That said with a few choice mods - suspension, general overhaul, exhaust then it should be able to hold its own and once you start adding chargers in to the mix it does become the car it always should have been

[petrolh34d 0]

Yeah Ben, I certainly does fit the bill of a motorway cruiser, I mean I love the nice smooth ride and the subtle note of power that's always in the background when she's out on the open road.

I've heard that tuning can reap serious rewards, but how does this affect fuel consumption? In standard guise, I would rate the VR6 as being pretty bad as far as bang for your fuel buck goes.

[Jamesr_VR6 0]

^^ Find me an economical car that is fast and fun to drive that isnt a diesel??

Renault megane cups can get 30mpg ish but then your stuck driving a piece of french tat

VW build qaulity, VW heritage, VW styling

splash a few grand out on a charger and youve got a seriously quick car.

once the overall outlay for the charger/turbo is done then you will struggle to find a more powerful car out of the box for the money you spent.

If i remember ive seen a thread on here i think is Jim potters turbo?? cant remember but prety sure he turbo'd his for around a grand and is nockin out 400bhp+?

i may stand corrected though

[cabrioman 6]

nope james ur right 400 bhp plus for around 1.5k .... and as said its a beast need to be a passanger to really understand it

[Ben Seabrook 4]

Yeah Ben' date=' I certainly does fit the bill of a motorway cruiser, I mean I love the nice smooth ride and the subtle note of power that's always in the background when she's out on the open road.

I've heard that tuning can reap serious rewards, but how does this affect fuel consumption? In standard guise, I would rate the VR6 as being pretty bad as far as bang for your fuel buck goes.

[/quote']

well mate if you are getting bad mpg at the moment I would look to sure that first !! there are several things you can check / clean in the premium members section which can affect mpg - have a quick search mate

I was getting around 30mpg on mine on a standard A&B road drive and up to 35ish on motorway driving - now that it's supercharged the mpg on those sort of drives has actually gone up a little bit - obviously if I thrash it the mpg is pretty bad but just cruising around it's normally 30-35 ish still

[Jamesr_VR6 0]

type into youtube "vrsick" and the first video to come up is a supercharged vr6, it sounds the nuts!!! and more than likely goes like it to!!

[cabrioman 6]

that be jakes firsof many nutter cars i think .... but yeha ull get the idea lol

[Jamesr_VR6 0]

came across it by accident earlier haha, have watched it 5 times now!?!

theres also a video called "devil shadow remus" that sounds absolutely awesum, but cant tell if its hte make of exhaust system giving the noise or if the car is modified somewhat

[xyber 1]

[cabrioman 6]

there is also somevids on here of me a jim racing at the pod ...