RE: SOTW: VW Corrado VR6
Discussion
zebedee said:
have been considering one of these for a while, albeit not a tatty one. Was it draining wallet just through fuel, or other problems? One of the attractions for me is the VW reliability and standard relatively mass-produced parts. Am I barking up the wrong tree? If just fuel costs, any idea what the mpg is on a VR6? Is the G60 any less thirsty/reliable?
You can expect to average somewhere around 25mpg; maybe a little higher or lower depending on what kind of driving you do. You will want to drive it hard, just for the noise. 30mpg is probably possible if you try, but you wont. My 16v didn't really go wrong much, but the suspension bushes wore out and it was beyond economical repair to replace them so I sold it to someone who wanted the shell. Parts costs vary; most of the mechanical bits are standard VW stuff (at least on the 1.8, I can't see why the VR6 would be different) but Corrado specific parts are expensive and can take a while to get hold of.
The G60 needs occasional supercharger rebuilds, which cost a fair bit and obviously doesn't sound as good. No idea on fuel economy, but given that the 1.8 16v only gives around 30-35mpg, I can't see the G60 giving above 30 on a regular basis. I actually preferred the handling of the I4 cars, the VR6 felt a little nose-heavy to me.
Edited by kambites on Friday 4th February 11:15
zebedee said:
If just fuel costs, any idea what the mpg is on a VR6? Is the G60 any less thirsty/reliable?
I ran this for 3 years;
Got around 30mpg with out a lot of motorway use.
Only problems are Timing chain and tensioner need replacing and higher miles which is ideally engine out. Not a hard job but time consuming esp if your paying by the hour...
Other than that I replaced a starter motor and serviced mine and it needed nothing else...
Proud owner of two Corrado's here, one of which is a VR6. Just a great motor in so many ways.. absolutely adore it! And despite being just short of 3 litres, still returns pretty respectable economy (33MPG+ on a long run).
And will actually hit over 150MPH.. we've done a few owners club trips to Germany in the last few years and folks are often keen to see what the VR will do on the Autobahns!
And will actually hit over 150MPH.. we've done a few owners club trips to Germany in the last few years and folks are often keen to see what the VR will do on the Autobahns!
After owning and regretting selling my Golf VR6, I bought a one-owner garage queen for £3k last May. Although it was cosmetically almost perfect (recent respray & wheel refurb), I've since spent upwards of £3k getting it sorted mechanically with very few modifications/upgrades. It still needs a multitude of things sorting before I would deem it an excellent example, but the main problem now is that almost all Corrado-specific parts are obsolete and those that aren't are an absolute fortune from VW.
Still love it though, I can understand why it was such a revelation in the 90s.
Still love it though, I can understand why it was such a revelation in the 90s.
zebedee said:
Twincam16 said:
At that price there must be something wrong with it! I shopped around for Corrados once, thinking they'd be shed money, and was surprised at how well they'd kept their value.
Lovely noise though. A mate of mine used to drive one, but had to get rid of it as it was draining his wallet. He then bought a Mazda RX-8...
have been considering one of these for a while, albeit not a tatty one. Was it draining wallet just through fuel, or other problems? One of the attractions for me is the VW reliability and standard relatively mass-produced parts. Am I barking up the wrong tree? If just fuel costs, any idea what the mpg is on a VR6? Is the G60 any less thirsty/reliable?Lovely noise though. A mate of mine used to drive one, but had to get rid of it as it was draining his wallet. He then bought a Mazda RX-8...
Amusingly, he bought the RX-8 because Mazda's data told him he'd get better mpg
mk1chopper said:
Love raddo's, they just look great, never drove a vr6 just the valvers. At 1k id guess the electric sunroof doesnt work along with the rear spoiler (common faults). The VR6 is known to wear the bores on cylinders 1 and 6 iirc too. Still at a 1k your getting a great car
The spoiler actually is one of the more resilient / reliable parts of the car in my experience, despite it being a one-off for the Corrado. It's uncommon that they fail, and usually when they do it's one of a few specific things that have caused it. The most common is that the mechanism gets dry / gunked up with age. Eventually will keep blowing the fuse. Needs dismantling and re-greasing (not a big job) and a new fuse again.Sunroofs are a common problem. They need lubricating as part of the service schedule but almost universally never get done (Full VW Service History is a fallacy!) - if it does go you can either buy the sunroof repair kit and repair it yourself (about £70) or swap in the entire moonroof assembly from a similar era Passat..
zebedee said:
have been considering one of these for a while, albeit not a tatty one. Was it draining wallet just through fuel, or other problems? One of the attractions for me is the VW reliability and standard relatively mass-produced parts. Am I barking up the wrong tree? If just fuel costs, any idea what the mpg is on a VR6? Is the G60 any less thirsty/reliable?
You are kind of on the right lines. Many of the corrado parts are from mk2 golfs and B3 Passats and these parts tend to be reasonably cheap and easily obtainable. Only the panels on Corrados are unique so these can be expensive. On the whole though my corrados are more relaible and feel much more solid and well built compared to my Mk2 golfs, if you drove my 65k mk2 then my 92k G60 you would not believe they are the same age.
If you go for a 16v corrado then there are plenty of 16v spares around as the engines have been used in many golf, passats as well as Seats and Audis, parts an service items are very cheap. 2.0l models with 1.8 cams are good for over 150hp and much more torque compared to 1.8s which makes them easier to drive but they lack the buzz of a 1.8
If you go for a G60 then there are more specialist parts and these engines only appeared in a much smaller number of cars, second hand chargers for instance range from £300-1000 but the engine has a unique sound and character which never fails to entertain. A supercharger whine really does turn heads!
VR6, well the most expensive job you will end up doing on one is the cam chains and tensioners which when combined with a clutch change (as gearbox needs to be removed to do the job) comes in at circa £600-800.
In terms of MPG there isnt really a massive difference between the VR6 an G60 when you are giving them beans but when cruising i can push my G60 up to 35mpg where as my Vr6 will hit 27 at very best (its been better since i had it remapped)
One thing though is that the G60 is a much better drivers car, the suspension geometry set up and steering feels much sharper on the G compared to the plus axle (wide track less camber) set up of the VR6 which doesn't feel quite as good on turn in. Also in real world driving the short 1st an 2nd gears of a G60 are quite annoying but 3rd makes it great to hustle cross country in NSL areas where as the overly long gears on a VR6 allow you to go way over the speed limit in 3rd.
DAVE
nonegiven said:
Oh no, what a quandary...
I have an exam near Reading later today, should I take a couple of monkeys in my back pocket for good luck?
I'm pretty sure I know of this car- there was certainly a slightly tatty but mechanically sound green VR6 that I used to see regularly when I lived in Reading-think it's the same one. If so, the poor paint quality is due to several years of bird sI have an exam near Reading later today, should I take a couple of monkeys in my back pocket for good luck?
t, it having been parked under a large tree.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff