Mk4 Golf V6 4Motion Highline
Discussion
Whilst dealing with the Trials & Tribulations of my TT 225, I had a brainwave.
What I like about the TT was the power - a 225 mapped to about 260bhp, with a Haldex Quattro system was a fun car to drive, and relatively lairy. What I wasn't so fond of, after driving one for a while, was that, although it had 2 seats in the rear, anyone with actual arms and legs, or an actual head, couldn't fit. The car is a good looking car and a design icon (IMHO of course) but practical? Not so much. Not for me, anyway, with 2 gangly kids.
So, I thought, why not get a Golf 4Mo - bolt on all the TT bits and make the best out of both worlds? The TT is essentially just a Golf Coupe anyway, right? I had the engine and all the K04 parts seen on TT's. I had one TT shell and one TT non-runner so out of everything, I could make good. A plan was formed.
I got on the hunt for a rolling 4Motion shell. I'm not aware of any 1.8t 4Motions sold in the UK (if they were, they're rare - and rare means expensive). So the most likely option was a V6 4Motion, with the 2.8l 24v VR6. I didn't nead the enfine, after all I was going down the 1,8t route.
I searched and searched but nothing popped up within reason - the V6's seem to have appreciated over the years and were asking a couple of grand these days. I was only looking to spend a few hundred quid.
After a while, one popped up. Messages were exchanged and a deal was struck. The kicker? Well, the sump was cracked so it was being sold as a non-runner. Perfect for what I want. I could maybe salvage some working parts off the engine and make some money back. The price for the car was good, only a few hundred quid. The car was in East London so I arranged a mate to have it delivered to me in South Wales.
Well, to my surprise, the driver pulled up, fired it up and reversed it off the trailer. He excitedly claimed it had an engine full of oil and ran fine. There was a small puddle of oil on the trailer, but nothing of concern (I'd driven cars daily with worse leaks).
In the daylight it looked alright. The interior was minging (no pics) as the owner was a smoker and it was stinking. Nothing a good hoover and a bit of Febreeze didn't sort though.
It arrived with some orrible, Need for Speed style lights which made me sick in my throat. So I sourced a set of GTI smoked rears for £20 and swapped them in.
Anyway, after some inspection, it turned out the sump was cracked, but it was the size of a gnats b
k.
I dropped the oil, cleaned the affected area and applied a liberal dashing of JB Weld
I let this set overnight, so I left myself a gentle reminder not to be a bellend and start it with no oil
I then set about making it look as clean as possible, which included remove the PINK GLITTER stty wrap on the nice wood panelling inside
Topped her up with oil, fitted a new oil filter and she was good to go.
It drove really nicely, these VR6's have a lovely throaty sound to compensate for their woeful lack of power. However, there was a bump in the road. Dropping the kids to school one day and the clutch pedal stuck to the floor, before slowly returning. But with a noise. There was something clearly up.
So, back on the drive it went, and we (with a little help from PH's Superchickenn) dropped the box to check for damage. I'd vowed, this year, that I wouldn't be spending time on the freezing wet floor working on cars this winter. Well, here I was.
With the box and transfer case dropped, the damage was clear. The clutch had concerted itself into a motorsport 3 piece little number. Not good.
After hoovering the now cloud like clutch material from the box and flywheel, it was time to refit. Luckily, I had a spare clutch that had done only a couple of hundred miles from my Audi TT that was a direct replacement. So, it didn't cost a penny - my kinda fix
A new dollop of gearbox oil as well as a new Ramair cone filter (they sound lovely on these VR6's) and she was good to go once more.
The only thing missing was some sound. If I'm going to drive a V6 lump about with so little oomph, the next best thing is to sound like it's making a commotion. So a dab with the stainless steel 'zorst stick saw a centre res delete and "sports" cat installation. Now the sound is worth the emasculating lack of power
What I like about the TT was the power - a 225 mapped to about 260bhp, with a Haldex Quattro system was a fun car to drive, and relatively lairy. What I wasn't so fond of, after driving one for a while, was that, although it had 2 seats in the rear, anyone with actual arms and legs, or an actual head, couldn't fit. The car is a good looking car and a design icon (IMHO of course) but practical? Not so much. Not for me, anyway, with 2 gangly kids.
So, I thought, why not get a Golf 4Mo - bolt on all the TT bits and make the best out of both worlds? The TT is essentially just a Golf Coupe anyway, right? I had the engine and all the K04 parts seen on TT's. I had one TT shell and one TT non-runner so out of everything, I could make good. A plan was formed.
I got on the hunt for a rolling 4Motion shell. I'm not aware of any 1.8t 4Motions sold in the UK (if they were, they're rare - and rare means expensive). So the most likely option was a V6 4Motion, with the 2.8l 24v VR6. I didn't nead the enfine, after all I was going down the 1,8t route.
I searched and searched but nothing popped up within reason - the V6's seem to have appreciated over the years and were asking a couple of grand these days. I was only looking to spend a few hundred quid.
After a while, one popped up. Messages were exchanged and a deal was struck. The kicker? Well, the sump was cracked so it was being sold as a non-runner. Perfect for what I want. I could maybe salvage some working parts off the engine and make some money back. The price for the car was good, only a few hundred quid. The car was in East London so I arranged a mate to have it delivered to me in South Wales.
Well, to my surprise, the driver pulled up, fired it up and reversed it off the trailer. He excitedly claimed it had an engine full of oil and ran fine. There was a small puddle of oil on the trailer, but nothing of concern (I'd driven cars daily with worse leaks).
In the daylight it looked alright. The interior was minging (no pics) as the owner was a smoker and it was stinking. Nothing a good hoover and a bit of Febreeze didn't sort though.
It arrived with some orrible, Need for Speed style lights which made me sick in my throat. So I sourced a set of GTI smoked rears for £20 and swapped them in.
Anyway, after some inspection, it turned out the sump was cracked, but it was the size of a gnats b
k. I dropped the oil, cleaned the affected area and applied a liberal dashing of JB Weld
I let this set overnight, so I left myself a gentle reminder not to be a bellend and start it with no oil
I then set about making it look as clean as possible, which included remove the PINK GLITTER s
tty wrap on the nice wood panelling insideTopped her up with oil, fitted a new oil filter and she was good to go.
It drove really nicely, these VR6's have a lovely throaty sound to compensate for their woeful lack of power. However, there was a bump in the road. Dropping the kids to school one day and the clutch pedal stuck to the floor, before slowly returning. But with a noise. There was something clearly up.
So, back on the drive it went, and we (with a little help from PH's Superchickenn) dropped the box to check for damage. I'd vowed, this year, that I wouldn't be spending time on the freezing wet floor working on cars this winter. Well, here I was.
With the box and transfer case dropped, the damage was clear. The clutch had concerted itself into a motorsport 3 piece little number. Not good.
After hoovering the now cloud like clutch material from the box and flywheel, it was time to refit. Luckily, I had a spare clutch that had done only a couple of hundred miles from my Audi TT that was a direct replacement. So, it didn't cost a penny - my kinda fix
A new dollop of gearbox oil as well as a new Ramair cone filter (they sound lovely on these VR6's) and she was good to go once more.
The only thing missing was some sound. If I'm going to drive a V6 lump about with so little oomph, the next best thing is to sound like it's making a commotion. So a dab with the stainless steel 'zorst stick saw a centre res delete and "sports" cat installation. Now the sound is worth the emasculating lack of power
Nice find! Think mwstewart had a thread on uprating a golf with TT bits to make it OEM+ from a driving perspective, so have a little search for that. As always, he is incredibly thorough with his posts, so there may be a nice bit of info there for you.
As for the pink interior trim, horrid rear lights and general state of the interior, well done for getting it all back to normal and look forward to future updates. That motor is worth more than you paid for the car.
As for the pink interior trim, horrid rear lights and general state of the interior, well done for getting it all back to normal and look forward to future updates. That motor is worth more than you paid for the car.
Over over under steer said:
Nice find! Think mwstewart had a thread on uprating a golf with TT bits to make it OEM+ from a driving perspective, so have a little search for that. As always, he is incredibly thorough with his posts, so there may be a nice bit of info there for you.
As for the pink interior trim, horrid rear lights and general state of the interior, well done for getting it all back to normal and look forward to future updates. That motor is worth more than you paid for the car.
Thanks - very familiar with the thread, he's a force of nature that man. As for the pink interior trim, horrid rear lights and general state of the interior, well done for getting it all back to normal and look forward to future updates. That motor is worth more than you paid for the car.
I've owned Mk4 platform cars for the last 11 or so years (since I was 19) so know them pretty well. Between myself and my mate Craig (Superchickenn on here) we have a plethora of spares and usually have at least 4/5 of these platform cars to play with. Albeit, usually either PD130 diesels or 1.8t engines. This is a first for a Mk4 Golf VR6 engine although I did have a Mk3 VR6 for a while
I sold the rear lights for £20 to someone whose exact words were "Oh yeah, they're pretty, I like 'em" :rollseyes:
ChrisCh86 said:
Love it, keep the updates coming! 
Thanks 
My plans for it in the near future are:
- Haldex oil and filter service
- New plugs
- Fuel filter replacement
- TT front suspension (lower arms, hubs, struts and quick ratio steering rack), all polybushed
- Polybushed dogbone gearbox mount.
- Potentially some 17" wheels after winter.
Long term - who knows. I might venture into some subtle OEM+ mods such as black headlining and associated trim panels. I'm not a fan of the 4 spoke Highline steering wheel with integrated controls. So I may swap that out for a 3 spoke sports wheel. The only thing is I'd need to swap the indicator stalk for one with integrated cruise controls as all the controls are on the Highline steering wheel.
Eventually, it may need the timing chain looking at. But at that stage I may coincide it with upgraded cams. I've even been toying with the idea of droping a 3.2 VR6 engine from a TT.
Watch this space
I had a mk4 V6 4motion in silver identical to that but with cloth seats. Nice looking and comfy but by far the worst car I've ever owned in regards to handlng, interior rattles and creaks as well as regular sensors failing.
I often wonder if the R32 was a sharper car as they still look good today. Well it couldn't be any more blunt or rolly polly anyway.
I often wonder if the R32 was a sharper car as they still look good today. Well it couldn't be any more blunt or rolly polly anyway.
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 23 December 04:28
Thanks all.
Handling wise, the Mk4 Golf isn't renowned for it's B Road greatness. However, there're some excellent OEM bolt-ons that can transform the handling. Someone mentioned mwstewart's PD130 thread earlier and he did a great job of using TT parts to improve the Golf. Which is exactly what I intend on doing.
R32 are largely the same. They use a lot of the similar parts found on the TT 225 and V6 - mainly tighter rubber bits and tweaked geomentry. All of which are possible on any Mk4 Golf shell.
Handling wise, the Mk4 Golf isn't renowned for it's B Road greatness. However, there're some excellent OEM bolt-ons that can transform the handling. Someone mentioned mwstewart's PD130 thread earlier and he did a great job of using TT parts to improve the Golf. Which is exactly what I intend on doing.
R32 are largely the same. They use a lot of the similar parts found on the TT 225 and V6 - mainly tighter rubber bits and tweaked geomentry. All of which are possible on any Mk4 Golf shell.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff