RE: VW Golf VR6 | Spotted

[nismo48]

bloomen said:

Test drove one of these. It felt like a wheezy blancmange on stilts. Maybe it was having an off day.

Mate at work had a K plate with induction kit and it sounded gorgeous.
Awful fuel consumption and average ride/handling..

[JackJarvis]

I had a cheap and very sheddy early one on a J reg. It was a terrible car in almost every way but the engine sounded glorious. It was quick enough for it's time but the engine sounded like it should've been much quicker than it was.

[Neil1323bolts]

I had one years ago , as others have said a right mixed bag sort of car , interesting thing for my vr6 the back end would break before the front so it made roundabouts fun! I thought the engine was superb silky smooth and powerful for the size of car, I reckon it was also quicker than the stated 0-60 because it would easily keep up with EP3 civic type R which was surprising maybe the extra cc played a part in that. Mine had quite a few miles on it and it leaked oil a lot , which couldn’t seem fixable for some reason, so I sold it and bought a saff cosworth for not much more , how things are different now ! On a whole I really enjoyed my Vr6 ownership

[Wren-went]

Over the years I've had multiple Golfs MK2s Mk4s and a Mk5 the MK3 I've never liked the look of and never fancied 1 but did own a K reg Carrado VR6 which I loved until the Head Gasket went.

This particular car in the article looks like a Standard 1.4 match with a decent set of alloys on it. Just does nothing for me & I usually love red cars.

[CABC]

I don't understand people arguing these weren't GTi competitors but long distance cruisers instead.
they were simply too front heavy and didn't handle in a way any Golf should. if I wanted a long distance GT car, I would never choose a Golf platform anyway.
The one a drove a few times was just 18mths old. horrible.

[epom]

CABC said:

I don't understand people arguing these weren't GTi competitors but long distance cruisers instead.
they were simply too front heavy and didn't handle in a way any Golf should. if I wanted a long distance GT car, I would never choose a Golf platform anyway.
The one a drove a few times was just 18mths old. horrible.

Not understanding is ok, it’s impossible to understand everyone.

[irish boy]

These weren’t slow in the day at less than 20 secs to 100.

This was 1992, 32 years ago. The same amount of time back from 1992 would have you at 1960.

[ManualOnly]

irish boy said:

These weren’t slow in the day at less than 20 secs to 100.

This was 1992, 32 years ago. The same amount of time back from 1992 would have you at 1960.

I agree.
Very very rose-tinted glasses are going to be used here
My first real car was a MY 1994 Golf VR6. Bought in Munich in 1998. Drove all 960 miles back to Schweden in one go. If I remember correctly I was only overtaken three times during the 560 miles of autobahn driving. The cars that left me behind was an E36 touring (damn, that car was really flying going up Kassel Hill. Maybe an Alpina), S-class and a BMW 3.0 which smoked at wide open throttle. Happy memories!
In it’s day I would say Golf VR6 was pretty fast!

Had the car for 4 years and had no big problems. I had to check the bulbs in the rear lights regarly because they definitely didn’t last forever.
Thirsty? Yes yes yes. Example: Going to a car meet, 4 up in the car, friend did the driving and he couldn’t make the 200 miles of A-roads without filling up. Averaging 15mpg. Okay, the pace was quite high which in this car meant 100mph+ most of the time but you just can’t call that efficient.

The tiny rear discs was a bit embarrassing even in the 90s.

The car had all the mandatory modifications. 2,5” exhaust with “DTM style” tips, cone filter, Bilstein dampers and lowering springs and of course 17” wheels.
Minidisc player, 2x 10” subs in the boot and tinted windows goes without saying I guess.
The soundtrack from the VR6 engine (using cone filter and sports exhaust) was much nicer then the E36 M3 evo I bought after the VR6.

They do look much better in 3-door, mine was unfortunately a 5-door.

[Msportman]

DUR57Y said:

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.

I remember those days! Central London got them but not outer. We were still stuck with Vectra 2.5 GSI then Rover 827 with the Honda V6. Turbine smooth but a barge!

We had several loan cars from a few manufacturers a Yellow BMW M3 and a couple of 968 Clubsport Porkers....only a few of us could drive them!

My VR6 had some fettling by AmD in Oxford....Schrick Big Valve head and 268 Cams, ECU and intake gave it 230bhp and I uprated the suspension to Koni & the later big brakes from the Corrado. Great memories and it was ok on track. Moved into several other Golf's the best being my 2 litre 16v with Quaiffe & 200bhp featured in VW Driver .....great all rounder and brilliant bang for buck on track.

I've still got the car to this day tucked up and a fettled 3 door 7R on Ohlins and a BBK......both great in what they do.

[Earthdweller]

Msportman said:

DUR57Y said:

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.

I remember those days! Central London got them but not outer. We were still stuck with Vectra 2.5 GSI then Rover 827 with the Honda V6. Turbine smooth but a barge!

We had several loan cars from a few manufacturers a Yellow BMW M3 and a couple of 968 Clubsport Porkers....only a few of us could drive them!

My VR6 had some fettling by AmD in Oxford....Schrick Big Valve head and 268 Cams, ECU and intake gave it 230bhp and I uprated the suspension to Koni & the later big brakes from the Corrado. Great memories and it was ok on track. Moved into several other Golf's the best being my 2 litre 16v with Quaiffe & 200bhp featured in VW Driver .....great all rounder and brilliant bang for buck on track.

I've still got the car to this day tucked up and a fettled 3 door 7R on Ohlins and a BBK......both great in what they do.

They weren’t trial cars they were the standard RT car for inner city divisions for about 3 years

The first were on a L plate, but most were in batches on N, P, R plates

The only modification they had was the fitting of an auto gearbox rather than the standard manual as the Met specification was for an auto pursuit car. Oddly enough we had a maroon Vento VR6 manual as a Q car though

The gearbox came from the lesser golf’s and couldn’t handle the power which meant they were continually breaking, and yes they were constantly overheating and the brakes were crap

Overall the car was pretty good around town door handling through traffic but it was crap on speed humps and they went through sumps for fun and nowhere near as quick nor as well handling as the Vectra V6

They were very unreliable though in service and most ended up as workshop spares being replaced by Vectra V6 autos

Both November One/two @ ND/NI were Golf’s as was Yankee One at YR and Yankee 3 at YS plus numerous elsewhere

Traffic also had a few as unmarked enforcement cars at various garages

Out of interest what unit were you on Msportman to drive the Porsche’s?

My favourite was the unmarked red 911 and the Supra twin turbo

[s m]

irish boy said:

These weren’t slow in the day at less than 20 secs to 100.

This was 1992, 32 years ago. The same amount of time back from 1992 would have you at 1960.

They are the same performance as the similar power but heavier GT86 - pretty good for a fwd car from 2 decades before

Still, everything is measured against a Tesla now where even a Veyron struggles

[greenarrow]

s m said:

irish boy said:

These weren’t slow in the day at less than 20 secs to 100.

This was 1992, 32 years ago. The same amount of time back from 1992 would have you at 1960.

They are the same performance as the similar power but heavier GT86 - pretty good for a fwd car from 2 decades before

Still, everything is measured against a Tesla now where even a Veyron struggles

So true....

And to be fair your 32 year old VR6 will make very decent progress today on UK roads. Won't hold anyone up - quite the opposite - and more than capable of doing quick overtakes on A roads. Which is more than your 1962 equivalent car wouldve done in 1994....

[MrSpoon73]

Was a toss up between a Golf VR6 and a Calibra Turbo back in 2002 for an imminent blast to the Nurburgring.

No contest in the end, the Vauxhall offered far more bang for the buck, IMO looked better, and was a natural step up from the Calibra 4x4 Redtop i already had. Cost me £3300 IIRC for '94 model in metallic Black.

Still own the Calibra Turbo to this day!

Edited by MrSpoon73 on Sunday 31st March 18:38

[Mr Tidy]

Congratulations, the Calibra was a real looker.

My sister bought an 8V in a dark Metallic Blue as a family car in the 90s for some reason!

I had a 1992 Cavalier SRi at the time that was also a great car, and owned a MK2 Golf 16V a few years later that I loved.

But the MK3 Golf never appealed to me for some reason, possibly not helped by the reviews at the time.

[Msportman]

Earthdweller said:

They weren’t trial cars they were the standard RT car for inner city divisions for about 3 years

The first were on a L plate, but most were in batches on N, P, R plates

The only modification they had was the fitting of an auto gearbox rather than the standard manual as the Met specification was for an auto pursuit car. Oddly enough we had a maroon Vento VR6 manual as a Q car though

The gearbox came from the lesser golf’s and couldn’t handle the power which meant they were continually breaking, and yes they were constantly overheating and the brakes were crap

Overall the car was pretty good around town door handling through traffic but it was crap on speed humps and they went through sumps for fun and nowhere near as quick nor as well handling as the Vectra V6

They were very unreliable though in service and most ended up as workshop spares being replaced by Vectra V6 autos

Both November One/two @ ND/NI were Golf’s as was Yankee One at YR and Yankee 3 at YS plus numerous elsewhere

Traffic also had a few as unmarked enforcement cars at various garages

Out of interest what unit were you on Msportman to drive the Porsche’s?

My favourite was the unmarked red 911 and the Supra twin turbo

I was at TD , TF and TG and did a spell at Hampton TG.
We had a big problem with cross border smash and grabs in Surrey and Thames Valley so I worked on a Tri Force Unit with FIB at Barnes.
We had some good equipment at the time as the stolen high performance stuff always ended up in Heathrow area to avoid being followed by air support ( I 99) as civil aviation took priority over the Police Copter following stolen HP cars.

Yes I remember terrible reliability on the auto box on VR6.

Scotts Audi in Square had a Nothelle VR6 which was sent to Germany bored out to 3.2 was stolen from their compound alongside a RS2 which we recovered but it ended up being featured on Volkswagen Audi Car before it got stolen by our crew!

Interesting days.


Apart from being. Class 1 the FIB Fast Car Course for Surveillance was good at Hereford.😉

[Olivera]

Anyone else look at flawed but interesting cars like the VR6 and think I'd rather have a shot of that down a B road than some vastly bloated overweight EV?

[Don Roque]

Olivera said:

Anyone else look at flawed but interesting cars like the VR6 and think I'd rather have a shot of that down a B road than some vastly bloated overweight EV?

Absolutely.

[kambites]

Olivera said:

Anyone else look at flawed but interesting cars like the VR6 and think I'd rather have a shot of that down a B road than some vastly bloated overweight EV?

I'd probably prefer to drive this down a B road than any vastly bloated overweight car, whatever type drive-train it has. IMO modern cars just generally focus too much on "fast" and not enough on "character" or "fun".

Give me one of these over a current Golf-R any day. Especially if I can keep some of the difference in price for some careful upgrades.

[s m]

Don Roque said:

Olivera said:

Anyone else look at flawed but interesting cars like the VR6 and think I'd rather have a shot of that down a B road than some vastly bloated overweight EV?

Absolutely.

I only really remember the CAR article being not particularly complimentary at the time. The rest of the mainstream press like Autocar, Performance Car and Fast Lane seemed to say it wasn’t bad at all, praising the handling in some articles. These were the early press cars and there seems to be some uncertainty over whether the suspension was softened/changed in later years looking at some of the later articles I’ve read. Not the first time that’s happened to a car where early criticism of a stiff ride might have been taken on board

Autocar certainly found the handling to their liking





Performance Car seemed to find it acceptable too apart from not being as good as the best French stuff like the 309Gti on a B-road ( was any other fwd hatch though? )






Fast Lane similarly gave it a decent review I thought





They also managed to get it to 60 in a Renault 5 GT Turbo/Astra GTE 16v equalling 6.9 seconds, pretty much as quick as fwd hatches got in the late 80s/early 90s



Surprised people found them slow for a car of this weight/power…….but then maybe not healthy examples that were commented on?

[greenarrow]

s m said:

I only really remember the CAR article being not particularly complimentary at the time. The rest of the mainstream press like Autocar, Performance Car and Fast Lane seemed to say it wasn’t bad at all, praising the handling in some articles. These were the early press cars and there seems to be some uncertainty over whether the suspension was softened/changed in later years looking at some of the later articles I’ve read. Not the first time that’s happened to a car where early criticism of a stiff ride might have been taken on board

Autocar certainly found the handling to their liking





Performance Car seemed to find it acceptable too apart from not being as good as the best French stuff like the 309Gti on a B-road ( was any other fwd hatch though? )






Fast Lane similarly gave it a decent review I thought





They also managed to get it to 60 in a Renault 5 GT Turbo/Astra GTE 16v equalling 6.9 seconds, pretty much as quick as fwd hatches got in the late 80s/early 90s



Surprised people found them slow for a car of this weight/power…….but then maybe not healthy examples that were commented on?

Good articles there as always SM

Yeah, the VR6 was never slow in its day. In 1996, Autocar lined one up against the new GTI-6 and found the VR6 noticeably quicker in a straight-line (not bad given that the 306 was only 7 BHP down on power) but the GTI-6 murdered it in the twisties (not a surprise to be fair).

The early E36 325i didnt have the best reviews so not a great surprise Autocar preferred the Golf. I think the tables were turned when the 328i turned up, which was much punchier and had a few chassis mods.

Definitely something to be said for a car which has "just enough" performance. I like cars in this performance bracket. Quick enough to despatch dawdlers on A or B roads, but slow enough to allow you to wring out the lower gears and not immediately be up the arse of the car in front, or 50% over the posted speed limit. If you ever watch a Harry's Garage video, on many moderns, he literally has his foot down for 3-4 seconds before he lifts off, because he has reached the NSL so quickly from 30 MPH.