RE: VW Golf VR6 | Spotted
Discussion
What goes round, comes round, it appears. Someone has reminded us on here about the ‘lemon’ condemnation and when Popular Mechanics did a rust survey in two large scrapyards they found ( and illustrated) the most appalling corrosion on Mk 3 Golfs. Other testers commented on lardy handling and bloated looks. When did all this change? (Yes, I know that there is always an odd dry- stored example.j
Had a P reg VR6 in the late 90s in Dragon Green for a few years. Stupidly didn't go for one with air con and the heat sink into the cabin was awful on a hot day, but that's my fault.
The thing I remember the most about the car was the engine being so creamily smooth, it felt like such a leap forward from the 4 cylinder cars I'd previously had.
I'd say the 2.8 VR6 engine in the MK3 Golf was better than the 3.2 VR6 engine I had in a MK5 Golf R32. It's certainly then engine I remember more.
The thing I remember the most about the car was the engine being so creamily smooth, it felt like such a leap forward from the 4 cylinder cars I'd previously had.
I'd say the 2.8 VR6 engine in the MK3 Golf was better than the 3.2 VR6 engine I had in a MK5 Golf R32. It's certainly then engine I remember more.
Aaaah what memories. Some things hit like an acid flashback 
I bought the most rotten red VR6 3 door in Britain in 2007 after I had just moved to the UK. £1000 max bid on ebay while at the pub, and when I got home I found I had won it for £980. I had no idea what an MOT was. I did however immediately order a Brembo brake kit and Bilstein B12 suspension kit. It may have looked rubbish but it went well.
I then had a mate join me for long euro trip - all down to Italy and back. It would use about 1.5l of oil per tank - the valve stems were definitely shot - coasting down alpine roads for ages and then coming on throttle would see a huge plume of smoke out the back. MPG was rubbish, but the soundtrack was perfect.
I spent an entire weekend ensuring there were nothing left of the old tires. It might have been a bit lardy, but it did very very well on the 'Ring - right up until I lost it massively through Hatzenbach corner and we managed to go from nearly hitting the armco on the left to nearly hitting the armco on the right. It later transpired the anti roll bar snapped.
Obligatory "if you know you know" photo.
I ran that car for 4 years and it only cost a few bits and pieces on ebay. I never even actually bought tires - as I put the smaller corrado wheels on they came with nearly new tires (£200 for all 4 wheels and tires). Ultimately ended up selling it to someone as a drag racing shell. I wonder how its doing?
I bought the most rotten red VR6 3 door in Britain in 2007 after I had just moved to the UK. £1000 max bid on ebay while at the pub, and when I got home I found I had won it for £980. I had no idea what an MOT was. I did however immediately order a Brembo brake kit and Bilstein B12 suspension kit. It may have looked rubbish but it went well.I then had a mate join me for long euro trip - all down to Italy and back. It would use about 1.5l of oil per tank - the valve stems were definitely shot - coasting down alpine roads for ages and then coming on throttle would see a huge plume of smoke out the back. MPG was rubbish, but the soundtrack was perfect.
I spent an entire weekend ensuring there were nothing left of the old tires. It might have been a bit lardy, but it did very very well on the 'Ring - right up until I lost it massively through Hatzenbach corner and we managed to go from nearly hitting the armco on the left to nearly hitting the armco on the right. It later transpired the anti roll bar snapped.
Obligatory "if you know you know" photo.
I ran that car for 4 years and it only cost a few bits and pieces on ebay. I never even actually bought tires - as I put the smaller corrado wheels on they came with nearly new tires (£200 for all 4 wheels and tires). Ultimately ended up selling it to someone as a drag racing shell. I wonder how its doing?
I never got the hate for the MK3 Golf. A GTI/VR6 is a decent looking car in my view. I have an old Autocar and Motor somewhere that reviewed the VR6 against some other hot hatches (Astra GSI and Escort RS2000) and they rated it higher than both. Personally, I'd have a 16V GTI, but I think the MK3 is way more respectable than the MK4 and, dare I say it, I'd probably prefer a MK3 to a MK2 as well.
WPA said:
So sold by the original owner for £6500 a short while ago plus has a 6 year gap in the mot's
https://www.tradeclassics.com/auctions/vw/1995-vw-...
I get the price complaint, but I don't see a problem with the MOT gap. If it's been off the road, why bother putting an MOT on it?https://www.tradeclassics.com/auctions/vw/1995-vw-...
nikaiyo2 said:
s
te when new, IMHO the worst hot hatch ever.
I had a P reg Highline in 2004/5 maybe. Seemed very very heavy, felt slow even by the standards of the day, drunk fuel like it was going out of fashion, not that reliable. Like I said ste.
Replaced it with a Clio 172, vastly incomparably better car in every respect. Why would anyone spend £10K on it now?
Talk about comparing apples with oranges - they're two totally different cars.te when new, IMHO the worst hot hatch ever. I had a P reg Highline in 2004/5 maybe. Seemed very very heavy, felt slow even by the standards of the day, drunk fuel like it was going out of fashion, not that reliable. Like I said s
te. Replaced it with a Clio 172, vastly incomparably better car in every respect. Why would anyone spend £10K on it now?
JJJ. said:
I'll never forget Car Magazine calling it a lemon in big bold print across the front cover of it's magazine. That was enough for me and stuck with Mk2 GTi's and Corrado's for the following few years.
A friend's father, who had a Mk2 16v, used to wax about how he wouldn't replace it with a Mk3 - for all the reasons that have effectively become tropes as the years have gone by. None of the criticism of the Mk3 are new. greenarrow said:
I don't think the MK3 Golf GTI and variants quite deserve the drubbing they get these days. If you search out the original Autocar road tests you will see that the 8 valve outscored most opposition and the 16 valve despatched its opposition too. Admittedly hot hatches were at an all time low ebb at the start of the 90s due to the insurance crisis, but its certainly not fair to say the Mk3s were totally awful and off the pace as some revisionists do now. Well, at least not until the hot 306s started appearing in about 1993 or 1994.
Trust me when I say, I had an 8v GTI and standard it was crap, suspension kit and lowering helped but 115bhp was nothing, just dull to drive and never deserved the GTI badge, it would have been better to badge it as a Sport. Joe M said:
Boom78 said:
I think people are harsh on the Golf VR6 when criticising its handling and general sportiness. It wasnt supposed to be a super hot racer, it was a cruiser and did it very well at it. Engine sounded great with an aftermarket cone filter too. Oddly the corrado VR6 gets plenty of plaudits and a cult following but was equally front heavy and not great at corners.
Corrado had a better weight distribution and handled way better. Also had a slightly larger 2.9 engine and shorter gearing... Made all the difference. Build quality was shocking though. I later briefly had a V5 Mk4 Golf and that had the same problem as the VR6 Mk3, a complete inability to put its power down. The Corrado would have happily taken another 30 horses.
I ran a black 5 door vr6 as a daily for about 3 years many moons ago. Was superb. Fast, comfortable, discrete and the perfect size. Very reliable too zero issues over 40k.
Sold it and got a 182 clio, it was great when you were in the mood but just felt like a buzz box after the golf. About a year later I saw my old car advertised so bought it back and ran it for another year before selling it to a friend.
Sold it and got a 182 clio, it was great when you were in the mood but just felt like a buzz box after the golf. About a year later I saw my old car advertised so bought it back and ran it for another year before selling it to a friend.
I had a few mk3 VR6 golf and corrado The early model golf’s were better to drive stiffer than the later one which were like a blamange to drive we once took a late model vr6 high line to a track day it was awfull far too soft and understeery and poor brakes.
The corrado vr6 was 100 x better fun to drive I think £10k for this would be a big disappointment for the new owner…
The corrado vr6 was 100 x better fun to drive I think £10k for this would be a big disappointment for the new owner…
I know the mk.3 is not well regarded but I remember some family friends (a brother and a sister) in our street having a Golf and a Vento VR6 in an incredible deep purple colour back in the day brand new when I was a young kid learning about cars and I've wanted one of each ever since then.
Edited by F1GTRUeno on Thursday 28th March 13:02
Late 1990's. North London.
My nick trialled 2 of these Mk111s in full Met. Police livery, with all the ICE removed and replaced with Met. comms and trackers. Maybe lowered and brakes uprated?
At the time, the quickest, most accomplished 'Area Cars' I'd ever driven. Straightline speed not great, but they were perfect for rapid start / stop pursuits and blistering, rock solid pace and stability between the speed bumps, junctions and tight pinchpoints of N1, N7 and EC1.
Sadly, they ran very hot and lacked kit space in the rear so they would never become a permanent fleet addition. But..... it was a very happy, busy year while they lasted.
My nick trialled 2 of these Mk111s in full Met. Police livery, with all the ICE removed and replaced with Met. comms and trackers. Maybe lowered and brakes uprated?
At the time, the quickest, most accomplished 'Area Cars' I'd ever driven. Straightline speed not great, but they were perfect for rapid start / stop pursuits and blistering, rock solid pace and stability between the speed bumps, junctions and tight pinchpoints of N1, N7 and EC1.
Sadly, they ran very hot and lacked kit space in the rear so they would never become a permanent fleet addition. But..... it was a very happy, busy year while they lasted.
Boom78 said:
I think people are harsh on the Golf VR6 when criticising its handling and general sportiness. It wasnt supposed to be a super hot racer, it was a cruiser and did it very well at it. Engine sounded great with an aftermarket cone filter too. Oddly the corrado VR6 gets plenty of plaudits and a cult following but was equally front heavy and not great at corners.
Exactly this. The Golf VR6 was designed to be a motorway cruiser, to take on the BMW 325i. It wasn't supposed to be a Hot Hatch. The Golf VR6 was a good car and actually it's braking system (ABS and front calipers) were better than the Corrado. Ironically the Corrado VR6, which was wildly acclaimed to one of the best FWD cars of its era has EXACTLY the same:
Rear axle and bushes (a myth that the Corrado is passat based here)
Front subframe, whishbone and bushes (a myth the 5x100 VR6 Corrado is based on the mk2 Golf)
Driveshafts, bearing and hub assemblies.
It differs on shock and spring combo and of course bodyshell where the Corrado is stiffer and overall a lower COG.
I know this becuase I have a Corrado VR6 and have had a Golf 3 16v and refurbished the undersides on both cars myself. All part numbers are identical, easily searchable here https://www.lllparts.co.uk/catalogs/vw
And the rust comment on Mk3s makes me laugh..... anyone seen how rusty the Mk5 Golf platform gets? They were having full sill replacements at 10 years old and that has become common place today.
Mk3s were unloved becuase VW went in a different direction from the mk2. The UK market didn't like it (mk3s are popular everywhere else) and VW should never have badged the 8v as a GTI.
This meant when rust repairs were needed that cost easily outweighed the price of the car. The mk5 was more accepted in the UK and their values are higher making rust repairs more palatable. Either way the Mk3 wasn't a rot box at 10 years old like the mk5, and as it is starting to materialise, mk7 is today at 10 years old.
Mk3s were unloved becuase VW went in a different direction from the mk2. The UK market didn't like it (mk3s are popular everywhere else) and VW should never have badged the 8v as a GTI.
This meant when rust repairs were needed that cost easily outweighed the price of the car. The mk5 was more accepted in the UK and their values are higher making rust repairs more palatable. Either way the Mk3 wasn't a rot box at 10 years old like the mk5, and as it is starting to materialise, mk7 is today at 10 years old.
Back when I was a nipper I can remember by neighbour bringing one of these home around 1994? It was black metallic and had BBS rims, I thought it looked the nuts.
I had a couple of Corrado VR6s myself and thought they were superb. 2.9 190bhp rather than the 2.8 174bhp used in the Golf but my biggest frustration with the engine was how flat it felt low down. You really needed to wind them up to make an decent progress. Apparently they were originally designed to have a variable intake manifold installed which gets round the issue but was scrapped due to penny pinching. Schrick did a version which was copied from the original VW Motorsport manifold (very rare) but it's big money.
I think the price is pretty decent myself but you would really want to have one to spend that amount.
I had a couple of Corrado VR6s myself and thought they were superb. 2.9 190bhp rather than the 2.8 174bhp used in the Golf but my biggest frustration with the engine was how flat it felt low down. You really needed to wind them up to make an decent progress. Apparently they were originally designed to have a variable intake manifold installed which gets round the issue but was scrapped due to penny pinching. Schrick did a version which was copied from the original VW Motorsport manifold (very rare) but it's big money.
I think the price is pretty decent myself but you would really want to have one to spend that amount.
I've had a few of these and still have a track car mulberry VR6 highline on the drive.
In Standard trim the are a wobbly saggy drive, being that they were a comfy crusier, and due to the suspension being from a Mk4 Diesel on the later VR6s, but stick some coil overs on and decent ARB, and they are great drive, if a little nose heavy.
Performance today isn't much, but in their day they were quick.
A friend of mine had a D reg 10V Quattro in the mid 90s, and he got beaten in a drag race onto the motorway, by a then new VR6 on trade plates! (he was gutted)
So in the mid 90s they were fast hatch, posting an equal 0 to 60mph time and slightly faster 100mph time than a 10v Quattro, and no one ever said the Quattro was slow, even the 20v quattro only posted a 100 mph time of 18.2sec vs the VR6s 18.6sec.
My first VR6 was pretty much neck and neck with my mates standard 4x4 Cosworth to 100mph on a few occasions, especially if I got a good start.
The main downside for me is the VR6 has the fuel consumption of a V8 but without the Performance.
They have great reliability and lovely noise.
They aren't everyone's cup of tea but they do have a charm about them, over the 4 cylinder versions.
In Standard trim the are a wobbly saggy drive, being that they were a comfy crusier, and due to the suspension being from a Mk4 Diesel on the later VR6s, but stick some coil overs on and decent ARB, and they are great drive, if a little nose heavy.
Performance today isn't much, but in their day they were quick.
A friend of mine had a D reg 10V Quattro in the mid 90s, and he got beaten in a drag race onto the motorway, by a then new VR6 on trade plates! (he was gutted)
So in the mid 90s they were fast hatch, posting an equal 0 to 60mph time and slightly faster 100mph time than a 10v Quattro, and no one ever said the Quattro was slow, even the 20v quattro only posted a 100 mph time of 18.2sec vs the VR6s 18.6sec.
My first VR6 was pretty much neck and neck with my mates standard 4x4 Cosworth to 100mph on a few occasions, especially if I got a good start.
The main downside for me is the VR6 has the fuel consumption of a V8 but without the Performance.
They have great reliability and lovely noise.
They aren't everyone's cup of tea but they do have a charm about them, over the 4 cylinder versions.
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