VR6 REPUTATION

[Rsjvr6 1]

Hello all,

As a bit of VW car enthusiast I regulary surf the net on various forums to see what the general opinion of the VR6 is. I only search the Golf VR6 (although the corrado does come into it on occassions).

When comparing the VR6 to other cars, it seems to be slated quiet a bit. Comments such as "its underpowered for 2.8" come up quite regulary. I came across an interesting forum a few weeks ago where a guy in a BMW 328I was racing a VR6 and the VR6 beat him and buy the sounds of it, pretty comfortably as well. The BMW community immeadiately went on the defensive and said the VR must have been modded etc. The same thing I have seen on a Honda Civic Type R forum.

This sort of thing comes up quite a lot. Now as a VR owner, my question is, are the manufacturer figures (or parkers etc) actually accurate, as most people normally use these as a benchmark.

Also I have seen quarter mile figures posted for the Golf VR to range from 14.5 sec to 15.7 secs, and these again are for standard cars I presume.

So it leads me to the question, is the Golf VR6 actually faster than whats quoted on paper?

Sitting inside the car and driving it, it seems to have alot more muscle than the paper comparison?

I quite enjoy having a B road blast up against various cars, and sometimes you win, sometimes you loose its all in the name of fun.

Thoughts please?

[bonesvr6 0]

to be honest, as mines near enough standard, its not the fastest car ive owned, not by a long shot, ive had quite a few cars arond the 200bhp mark aswell and they all seemed a bit sort of punchier and more revvy, but at the end of the day its a V6 (a verry narrow V6 granted) and in NA form V engines tend to be quite lazy anyway.

But they still suprise quite a few people, ive suprised a few in mine, and i havent got it badged up at all on the back so no one knows what it is from behind!

[editionmatt 1]

i have always tthought this, mine is completely standard and beats my mates a3 1.8t which has been mapped, full exhaust system and lightweight expensive recaros and stripped out. its kickin just over 200 bhp, wats with tht :S

[The Monk 50]

Mine, when it worked!, felt quick.

One thing I stand by is the Torque. The Golf was lovely to drive. I loved being able to keep up with Clio 180 sports, 206 gti180's ect ect. If your VR is healthy with maybe a cat back exhaust and decat, you're only going to see cars near, equal to or more powerful than say, an RS focus being able to destroy you.

Most cars nowadays, even diesels, can destroy VR's. Go back 16 years and I'll bet you there wasn't much could leave a VR behind.

I've always thought I've had the VR quicker 0 - 62 than on paper. I think the times they post on spec sites are pessimistic. I owned a rover that I hit 60 in 9 secs. The Manufacturer said it was 12.3 seconds.

By the way, ALL duels, drags ect ect boil down to the Individual Driver. People can own a VR and get destroyed by 1.8 GTI mk 2 Golfs for example..... just because people own a m ore powerful car, does not mean they can change gear properly or launch correctly.

[adam.pah 0]

Its the guy in the drivers seat that makes the difference imo. The vr engine seems quite lazy but if you get the revs up it will shift. As far as published figures go, i would think that by now (over a decade since they were published) most VRs will vary depending on how they were run in, how well they have been serviced, milage, etc.. even the petrol used in it will effect performance over time so i don't think the figures would be very accurate now. Thats only my opinion though.

[Rsjvr6 1]

HMMM some interesting replies -

Ok heres more food for thought- a mate of mine has a T reg audi a3 which is re mapped to 200bhp (with an exhaust etc) and 235 lbs/ft torque.

He can even keep up with my VR even though he has more power more torque and the weight of the car is near enough the same.

He always gets a better start than me, even if we are rolling start at 30 mph - by the time I am in third, Im shifting and he is stuggling....

Now looking at some figures - An audi a3, mk4 1,8t etc... all peak torque at 1800 rpm where as the vr6 comes in at about 3500 rpm, so as you are going up the gears in his a3 1.8t most of the power is underneath where his tacho needle is (as the speed builds so do the revs) so he runs out of puff while I am still ready to go...

I guess it also comes down to how the car makes power - he is able to overtake far more effectively than me in traffic because he has more torque available.

Now talking about Focus ST's a 5 cylcinder turbo charged 2.5 producing 225 bhp - hits 15.2 sec quarter mile (info from teh net) . So a golf vr6 was hitting these figures a good 15 years before the ST came out - standard escort cossies were 15 seconds so again a standard VR6 will hold its own...

I still fail to see why VR's are always getting slated.... book figures dont really mean anything ie... i guess the best way to see how good or fast a car is to take down the quarter mile strip.

Other cars again - R32 MK4 14.5 sec quarter, golf gti mk5 14.7 sec quarter, Type R civic 14.7, Celica TSport 190 15.5 sec, cupra r (old shape) 15 sec quarter. Although all these figures are from the net these cars are all alot newer than a VR.

Dont get me wrong any piece of fast machinery is fun and we all have our loyalties to a badge or a car, and Im not disrespecting any car/make out there. The point is to have fun and drive fast in any car which is capable of doing it. I guess Im a little biased when it comes to a VR and dont like people slating it, if they dont know too much about it.

Another interesting thing is I read a few months back that the VR6 had the same torque and rolling road acceration times (eg 30-50. 50-70) as a Sierra Cosworth which in my mind is pretty impressive. I just wish I could find that article again and post a link here to it, im sure some of you will find it interesting....

[bungy 2]

Torque and power delivery makes for a better driving car in the real world. Power is for braggers and torque is for drivers....imo

[bonesvr6 0]

i agree with whats been said about it being the driver not the car, no good having silly power and big chunks of torque if you cant shake off the pensioner with a blu rinse thats right up your trumpet trying to get to church on sunday! if im over taking from around 40ish and im needing to get past quick i go into second, (they pull pretty quick then:-d) even though ill have to change possibly half way through, its a good point in the rev range and 3rd being the weak gear in vrs dont want to go giving it death to overtake, but if theres plenty of room it gets third.

[gavinvr6 0]

put simply these idiot's dont like being beaten by cars that are 15+ yrs old and hit same or similar 1/4 miles and can be bought for a grand as apposed to a 5+ grand, i've lost against stripped out hot hatches yet clung onto the bumpers of 30 grand car's. and even if i beat a guy in a hot hatch they dont mind, where as someone who's car is worth over 10 times mine dont like it coz he thinks he's a flash git till i show em up.

it's generic bully tactic's. pic on someone else to draw the attention away from your own failing's or should i say your cars.

i dont care what other drivers say, im stomping on the loud pedal and holding on 4 dear life, if you can keep up then good luck to you. if you cant then laters 'mug'.

[Lukey. 381]

mine keeps up fine with my brothers phase2 clio 172, and in most situations will see it off, due to you dont have to cane it to 7.5k to get anywhere, its much more driveable, i love the vr6 driving style, leave it in 5th and just soldier on, driving a focus 1.6 on a regular basis really highlights the effortlessness of the vr6, its brilliant.

round here people dont have this view of VR6s, they command respect and if you do have a play with someone whatever the outcome everyones grinning and most are impressed the old girl can still do what it does regardless, other week on the shell forecourt i had a guy whos just got a Mk6 GTI approach me and start complementing the car and how hes had every hot golf and even though the Mk6 GTI was in his opinion the best so far (I would too if id just spent circa £24k on it! lol), the VR6 was runner up

and the question of power output, most can actually put out ~190 even though they are quoted as 174, but VW are known to underestimate outputs, ive seen 130PD engines make up to 150 bone stock

[motocrossmad 0]

I am under no illusion, time has left the VR6 behind a little, i have had very depressing goes with TDI golfs etc, once with a 535d BMW - that thing made me look silly!!

However I still enjoy the car when i use it because of what it was in its day and for being a car, lets face it, you hardly see anymore! Nothing like having something rare, its ok having a civic type R but, come on who hasn't had one - hardly exclusive!! Same as my 5cyl S6's.

Just enjoy for being different, they may even be considered a collectors car one day

[jimmyb 2]

lol,like the thread;) well my opinion on this is they are a performance car for decent money,ive been neck and neck with a focus rs(old shape) beat type r`s lost to type r`s,neck and neck with my mates mk4 gttdi(200bhp) even beat subaru`s (not the 270bhp tho) although i think if i wanted i was quicker in my mk2 gti,i just used to love chuckin it into islands etc,lol (oops)

my conclusion is for a 180ish bhp car a vr6 is a good car with lovely sound loads of grunt and super reliable.

PS I DONT THINK THE PEOPLE WHO SLATE THEM OFF HAVE EVER HAD 1 OR BEEN IN 1,THEY ARE PROBABLY THE 1S WHOS GOT SMOKED BY A VR6 AND BECAUSE THEY WISH THEY BOUGHT 1 IN THE FIRST PLACE THEY DECIDE TO HAVE A DIG INSTEAD,

[FishWick 21]

I am under no illusion' date=' time has left the VR6 behind a little, i have had very depressing goes with TDI golfs etc, once with a 535d BMW - that thing made me look silly!!

[/quote']

That is nothing to be ashamed of or depressed about!. 413lb-ft @ 2000rpm will give even a VR6 Turbo a hard time.

As mentioned before, it's all about the other driver. What you never see is how many gears the guy in front, or behind, has dropped down, or what's under the bonnet.

Since turboing mine I obviously suffer no such defeats, but when it was standard, the amount of gearbox rowing it needed to keep up with things was frustrating....and mildly embarrassing at times. And this is a Corrado remember, with the bigger, more powerful engine and sleeker, sportier looks.

People who slate the Golf miss the point of the car. It was never made as a hot hatch, but rather a cruiser with a smooth engine.

And don't forget, during the 90s in Germany, cars with over 200hp were clobbered with high insurance and tax.

This is why the 328i and VR6 oddly enough fall under the 200hp bracket. Remove the shackles from both engines and they will easily deliver more power.

Oh and the VR6 was designed in the 1980s and is an engine design only VW could get to work reliably, so don't feel ashamed of your VR6, feel proud ;-)

[Rsjvr6 1]

To be honest mate - I am still of the opinion that the VR6 hasnt been left behind, and can still give reasonably priced hot hatches/fast cars a run for their money...

[rodney 17]

I think most of the stuff has been covered really...

It's an old car meant to chill on the autobahns with no effort 'til the cows come home..

My type-R is faster of the mark but it has a close ratio box and I have to go through 3or4 gears whilst I am just doing the one change in the VR6.. That said... (okay I'm not standard)... but my VR6 was always better one rolling - even before the mods..

Right gear at the right speed and it will hold its' own everyday of the week.. and the chances are you only paid £1500 for the fun vs a lot more for others...

In summary...

I just like mine - the sound. the stealth, the cheapness etc etc....

[FishWick 21]

To be honest mate - I am still of the opinion that the VR6 hasnt been left behind' date=' and can still give reasonably priced hot hatches/fast cars a run for their money...

[/quote']

My friend owned both a Corrado VR6 and a MK5 R32. The Corrado has gone now but it was interesting to see it had no trouble keeping up with the R32, which was remapped to 270ish hp. I know weight is a factor. The Corrado is some 300kg lighter, but it's also 16 years old. So I completely agree, the VR6 is far from past it.

[Mackenzie 6]

I read afew years back the the vr6 was quicker from 30 - 70mph then a bmw M5 from the same time period.

[bigchap59 0]

iv owned mine for 2 years now and i love it, my m8 had a type r and off a rollin start i stayed with him until he got in to 6th gear. iv got a couple of mods but nothing major (de-cat back miltek ,lightweight racing flywheel, and a k&n). iv also had 100mph from 3rd gear with mt brother in the car and we big boys, like i read in a previos note when trhe vr was first about it was a very fast car and in my opinion still is