Making Improvements to my VR suggestions please

[hellsVR6 0]

Right, the time has come for me to start spending money on my car. I know I need the following:

1. Most important job - tensioner belt, is in on Friday to be fixed up as I'm worried about this noise now and don't want it pinging on me when i'm on the road.

2. I know I need new rear tyres x 2, but also wheel balancing/tracking cos it is pulling when I brake hard.

3. Also looking to get brakes machined or perish the thought, replaced, as occasional squeak on front brakes. Not metal on metal, more dirt in between pad and disc.

4. Here's where you lot come in. And no, please, no suggestions of anything remotely chavvy.

I want to improve performance perhaps and have read up on these induction kit gubbins. Or should I just replace air box for one of these cone filter thingys (seemingly cheaper). I've no intention of taking it round the Nurburgring *just yet* but the drive is just a bit lumpy and laboured now and again.

Should I lower it, just a teensy bit? On a crappy road surface, the ride is just too hard sometimes. Or just change the shocks for something different?

What kind of money should I be spending, i.e. paying the right price for the right jobs.

As a point I have enlisted the services of Awesome GTi in Irlam cos it's only about 15mins away from where I live and the nice lady on the phone promised to look after me which is nice!

Now you have to remember a) I'm a girl and barely know my way round an engine so BE KIND PLEASE! I'm just learning my way round this here car.......

Thanks!!

[craggsy 91]

I'd get all the things sorted that are bugging you first.

Then get a stainless steel exhaust and a filter of some description.

Then a good setup is KONI shocks and Eibach springs will lower it about 30mm

[hellsVR6 0]

Thanks. Already have SS exhaust (see pic) if that's what you're referring to.

If you can see it

So, how much is this suspension malarky likely to cost? And do you mean a new air filter, yes? I can see the potential for that what with the colder air getting in etc. What I'm after is how much it all costs to fit, easy enough to find the cost of parts etc online but have any of you had to do what I have and literally pay someone to do these jobs for you, that's what I need to budget for over the coming months.

Ta for help though!

[motormadj 0]

decat, rims?

[hellsVR6 0]

???? What cat? soz...thicko here.

And I like my BBS's, nice and standard. They're not too shoddy either.

[mike 6]

de-cat...meaning pipe that replaces your catalic converter...iv heard it doesnt you need to replace your cat at mot time. i dont liek teh standard bbs personly, too smallm de-badged grill..diffent headluight? rear lights? german plates?

[hellsVR6 0]

Riiight...lol

Erm, they're just the things I'm NOT looking to do to be honest. I don't want these 'angel eyes' things nor a debadged grill, sorry! That's going down the chavvy road IMO (sorry if you like this stuff but it's not for me). Keeping it as standard as possible but want to really make sure I keep it alive more than anything. Sorry if i misled or anything!

German style plates are a maybe yes, everyone seems to have them at the mo.

[mike 6]

de-badged grill isnt chavy! i dont have angel eyes i have mk4 style headlights, and crystal fogs... or they do smoke normal ones, altho i dont like them. ram air induction kit is nice btw.

[H19LNE 0]

Smack a charger on and leave d rest standard.

[VRob6 0]

standard grill with blacked out (diy easy) badge is the way forward.

i want people to be able to instantly recognise at a glance in their rear view what just had them.

im happy with my car being vw. the badge stays.

'pretuned by german engineers' style! lol

Rob

[Karr-Man 0]

i want people to be able to instantly recognise at a glance in their rear view what just had them.

surely by that stage it should be you looking in your rear view mirror???

btw nothing chavvy about debadged grille:)

[binliner 0]

i want people to be able to instantly recognise at a glance in their rear view what just had them.

im happy with my car being vw. the badge stays.

surely if they're looking in their rear view mirror you're still behind them?!

edit: oops just seen that's already posted, didnt notice there was a page 2!

[Ben Seabrook 4]

If it was me I would get all the little bits done that you need first then see how much cash you have left.

The first mod I would get is new suspension, makes a huge difference to the car and you are able to get the power down that little bit quicker have a search about but probably about £350 for a good set. After that if you want to keep it standard - things like an induction kit ( about £100 depending on which one you go for £150 for a BMC ) can be done whenever.

[hellsVR6 0]

Thanks Ben!

As you can see from my Poorly VW thread, I've ALREADY had to part with cash today......boo hoo

Can anyone tell me what's the difference with just buying one of these K&N air filters and/or having a full induction kit (looked at this Pipercross one but expensive) fitted. Or do I have to do both at the same time to get the benefit?

Ta!

[tonk 0]

I put a set of g-max shocks and springs on mine when i first got it, lowwered it about 30mm and i cant tell you enought what a differance it makes.

I then ripped the air box out and fitted a cone filter from halfords which cost me £26 + a bit more for a cold air feed my wife says she can hear me coming from 2 miles away if im giving it some or if im trying to save petrol and just tap the throtal you cant hear it at all so you gat the best of both worlds.

As for external styaling its totaly up to you, i love my be-badged grill and angel eyes and i dont think they look chavy at all....you should see my brother in-laws vectra......thats chav!!!

[lightbox=../../e107_files/public/1187637852_5687_FT190477_abcd0012.jpg][/lightbox]

[stusnook 0]

To answer your question HellsVR6, you'd buy either a replacement air-filter OR an induction kit, not both.

An induction kit will replace the air-box that currently houses the standard air-filter.

(The air-box is the big black plastic box on the far left hand side when you look at the engine)

There are various prices for induction kits, they're meant to improve performance a little bit but the reason I'll be fitting one is just for improved sound (read: louder).

[hellsVR6 0]

Coolio! thanks for that mate. So really I could fit this air filter myself I guess? I am reckoning on the benefit of colder air getting into engine so cleaner/a bit better fuel consumption but not necessarily any more horses from it?

Thanks, you're most helpful. Tis what I like about this place!

[SiGainey 1]

Fitting a new air filter (cone or panel replacement) is about 5 minutes work and only requires you to undo one jubilee clip and two very basic clips. Very very easy job - give it a go:)

[tinny22 11]

come to sunny blackpool if you gets the parts like air filter i will put them on for you

tinny22

[stusnook 0]

I think the main theory behind a replacement air-filter or induction kit being better than the original equipment is that they're meant to allow more air into the engine, whilst still filtering out potentially damaging air particles.

The colder the air that is supplied to engine the better. Personally, I think while its a nice ideal, the reality is that the difference it makes is minimal so when I fit an induction kit I'll see how it is without any cold-air ducting (sounds like a faff to fit!) and only add later if I'm not happy with the initial results.

There is a lot of advice about which induction kit to get already posted on this site. I'm sure I've read it all [!!] and for me, because I can't afford to pay £180 on the recommended Carbon fibre shielded BMC (which may also require an additional purchase of a £10 pipe to actually fit it according to one post I've read) I'm going to go for the K&N 57i. I've gone for this because:

1. I've read that its one of the noisier ones (and I love the sound of the VR6 engine). The car can still be driven quietly, but you get additional noise when you floor it and let the revs rise beyond 3-4,000 rpm.

2. prices for induction kits range from £26 to £180 or more so £95 incl Vat/Delivery for the K&N one seems like good value

3. the filtration quality is known to be excellent - so there is no risk of damage to the engine

4. K&N are a very well established and well known brand.

5. the only 'risk' is that the oil that the filter is soaked on can, over time, make the MAF dirty causing a bit of rough running (but there is a guide on the members area on here that details how to clean it - and it looks easy enough to do!)

6. K&N have produced a thorough fitting guide specific to the VR6 which shows exactly how easy a job it is to fit. You can find it here:

http://www.kandn.com/instructions/57-0073-1.pdf

I don't work for K&N or the motor industry at all and ultimately its down to personal preference, just thought I'd share my thoughts on how I reached my decision. 8-|

EDIT: I've now fitted the K&N 57i induction kit (haven't bothered with cold air-feed yet) and it was as easy as I thought it would be. It took about 20mins. The increase in noise is significant when you floor it - just as quiet as before when you don't. I love it!

[hellsVR6 0]

come to sunny blackpool if you gets the parts like air filter i will put them on for you

tinny22

Thanks for the kind offer! May take you up on that if I can't fit it myself. But if I balls it up I won't be able to get to Blackpool though...errr..lol

Has anyone seen "Touch me I'm Karen Taylor" on BBC3? I'm kind of like that character that messes things up and then just shouts "Maaaaaaaan! Maaaaaaaaan!" when it needs fixing. Well where cars are concerned. Oh and gardening.

I can do just about everything else a bloke can do DIY wise, I'm not a complete bimbo! LOL

And can fix computers better than any bloke I know! :-)

[matth76 1]

Only thing you have to be careful of is an exposed induction kit with no kind of heat shield to protect it from the hot air in the engine bay. I've got a BMC induction kit (pricey at £150 but very good quality) that is fully enclosed inside a "heat shield" protecting it from the hot air. Either way though it doesn't make too much of a difference whether it is fully enclosed or not - once you are moving there is a lot of cold air coming in from at the side of the head light. I put my vr on a rolling road before and after fitting a full exhaust system and my induction kit and it made very little increase in power. The vr is already in a very high state of tune. Up to you though if you get one or not - does make it sound good even if they don't give much power increase! Personally I would put your dosh into a GMAX kit (only £200 for the parts and approx £150 to get a decent garage to fit it and align it all properly afterwards)... makes a HUGE difference to the soggy standard handling and looks how it should have looked from the factory, without it being too low to look chavy but looks just right.. lowers it approx 35-45mm. Ver good value in my opinion.

If you have more money left over I'd put a set of second hand 268 cams in (I got some Eurospec ones for around £200 from a member on here) and took around 3 hours for a garage to fit them - get new tappets at the same time. You will need to budget in a custom remap at Stealth (£300) but this is very important to get the fuelling spot on and will get the most power from your mods too - and stealth's remap is all done on the rolling road so you get a power readout and diagnostic too. The remap should be done last after everything else is done. If your car is an obd1 (pre-1996) then I would also get an enlarged butterfly on your throttlebody - only around £50 but makes a big difference.

Good luck with it all. Handling would be my first place to start.

[Ben Seabrook 4]

As you can see from my Poorly VW thread' date=' I've ALREADY had to part with cash today......boo hoo

Can anyone tell me what's the difference with just buying one of these K&N air filters and/or having a full induction kit (looked at this Pipercross one but expensive) fitted. Or do I have to do both at the same time to get the benefit?

[/quote']

I read the other thread and am sorry to hear about that :-(

As explained you buy one or the other not both but personally I would go with a full induction kit - you are right it probably wont give you anymore horses but it does help, I think, with letting you rev a bit easier and gives you more instant power at higher speeds - again in my opinion

Also they are dead easy to fit its only a case of undoing a few clips and taking the old one out and then sticking the new one of your choice in

Hope you get the car fixed quickly

[Buzzark 0]

Heh - chavvy debadged front grills. Wouldn't do to be all the same now would it?!

Following on from Tinny's offer I think I'm a bit nearer so I can give you a hand with parts etc.

[hellsVR6 0]

Oh dear...well what I meant was...the idea of keeping it standard for me is (rem the Toyota ad..this is the same but in reverse) .........the car you see in your rear view mirror is a VW. Which is going to be overtaking you any minute at high speed so get out of my bleedin way! Hahaha!