Having my bottom handed to me by cars I can't keep with.

[The Monk 50]

Right, I made a comment on a previous post that I was beaten by a 206 gti and some of you said that a 180 would kick my backside.

My friends stock 1.6 8v astra keeps up with me, I was completely thrashed by a new clio 182 sport earlier from stand still and then again from a rolling 30mph while I was in 2nd gear.

The other day I was left by a 1.8 stock escort and also being kept up with by a 68bhp 1.2 nova stock.

A mark 3 astra 1.6 16v sport kicked my ass too.

My vehicle has, 1,234 miles ago, had a complete head rebuild, new valves...the whole deal and I have never taken it above 2.5 - 3000 revs for the first 1k miles and it's had an oil change.

It has a strait through cat, scorpion twin pipe back box, rip...airfilter with direct cold air feed.

I can drive very well and used to race my previous 1.6 dohc rover and 1.8 8v mk 3 golf and left people standing sometimes.

I've gone over all the sensors, and made sure they are where they should be and tightened correctly. I've rechecked the head bolts and timing....all as it should be.

However, one thing I always get, even though it's a VR6, is ver low mpg.....usually in the 16 - 21 on a normal motorway drive.

I'm beginning to wonder if I do infact, as pete suggested, need a remap. That is the only thing I can think of now.

I'm also beginning to lose faith in the car and it's engine....not all it's cracked up to be. It isn't a duff engine and I've also measured the bore of the cylinders against the diameter of the pistons.....everything has been checked thouroughly

Any ideas? :-(

[bulldog 2]

I'd take it to Slealth, Storm to name a few to have it sorted mate, it aint running right if it's that slow and doing those mpg, my last VR6 was standard and was pretty much the same as my mates 182 when rolling.

They aint as fast IMO as a 2.8 should be they seem a bit lazy and need thrashing but they should easily beat the escorts and astras you mentioned, they feel slower than they are because they are smoother and less frantic than a 4 cylinder 16Valve motor.

If I get another VR6 it wil defenatly be getting charged to make it what it should have been to start with.

[rodney 17]

Dude that milage on a motorway drive is PANTS.... That would point to a serious fuel issue.

Is the Lambda/MAF working properly?

Do you have good and clean Plugs which are gapped correctly?

Are you injectors and fuel system working correctly??? (Not blocked)

Is your Clutch Slipping??

Can you drive ??? LOL (Only joking )

I think it may be worth checking those things as a starter for 10.

Also just because you put zorst and things on doesn't mean extra get up and go. Dependent upon the system you fit it could take low end and give you high end for example. If you are after real performance then you should look at the flow as a system and not separates

So may well be worth a map as you say.... once you have checked they are all as should be.

It is also worth remembering the VR6 is not typically an off the line beast.. It is a once up an running at speed beast. That's where the torques come in to play.. more so

I hope this helps a little as it does sound like you are not running as you should be..

good luck

[The Monk 50]

Lambda was working properly, so was maf....though I had them replaced with the same results.

Plugs are new, leads are new, coil pack is new.

Fuel system working properly, but in all fairness, I do thing the pump and filter need changing.

I understand about the exhaust and I do want a cat back system with good flow but I have no idea which to go for....plus it needs to be worked on to replace with a cat before an MOT.

I don't know, maybe with all the stuff I read on here and vids I watched, I must have just got myself into a dream that wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Don't get me wrong though, the sound is incredible, comfy car/ride and it still pulls better than any car I've owned....granted the most hp I've had in a car was my rover 416 16v with 111bhp lol, pathetic I know.

I'm going to keep her anyway, just try to iron out any problems and make her quick.

Also, thanks for your response bulldog. I'm going to go for F.I super charger, when I have the money.

[gti-r-vr6 0]

The only time my vr6 was running that slow was when the hall sencer/cam posion sencer or what ever its called was messing about.

Tbh the vr6 is no rocket ship but when you get to 4000rpm ish it should pull pretty well all the way to the redline.

How does yours pull? Is it flat all the way through or do you get a noticeable step up in power after 4000rpm?

[The Monk 50]

Slight Step up.

It is possible that I might need a new sensor. It is the original and I know of them messing up.

It is also a possibility that the timing is slightly out and I'm not getting the correct valve opening time causing too little air/fuel mixture to get in but with the mpg I get, I'm guessing it is over fueling.

One thing I have noticed is that I havn't mentioned is that after 3.5k revs it misfires a couple of times before hitting 5 or 6k and that could also be causing a loss in speed. So I may need to upgrade my leads, replace the cam positioning sensor or use premium instead of regular.

[xyber 1]

Coilpack could be another culprit

[Knightrider 1]

Clearly something badly wrong (sorry, stating the bleeding obvious!). I did 75 miles Reading to East Grinstead on Wednesday, not caning it, M4, thru Bracknell, M3, M25 and some country roads and the puter said 33mpg. Mine rarely drops below about 24mpg. Standard car.

[Dave_ciw 507]

Can contend with that, I have some awesome B roads to work every day 30 min drive for most 15 in the VR and i mean thrashing it at 5:30 am and she is doing 25mpg.

If I have my wife and kids in the car fully loaded on a long journey shes running between 30mpg and 33mpg. I am no mechanic but you seem to know a bit, but there is a thread ere about cleaning the cam sensor in the tech downloads. I did this and noticed a severe improvement in the way my car ran.

The bloke who owned my vr before me didnt even replace the oil and he used it as a fast dog limmo but shes sorted now. These astras and escorts you speak of I have thrashed in my Mk2 1.8 gti with no worries from standing starts and rolling starts and she only had minor tweaks. I was worried about making the step from mk2 2 to mk3 vr6 until I drove the thing and the torque swayed me. So try not to loose faith in one of the best engines VW has produced because once you get her sorted you will be knocked sideways, if you think you car is running as it should now.

Hope you get her sorted soon m8

[ingham 5]

what fuel are you using?

mine is poor on normal unleaded, but much smoother and powerful on opimax

[jims13 6]

lol, i dont ebven get that with my tubo'd vr.. i stil get a averga of 28 mpg around town.. id get it on vagcom and start checking sensors..or the timing.. they should pull clean and well to the limiter, with some urgency about them..if they aint you have a problem

[cabrioman 6]

lol 28 mpg would be nice ... my timimg was out on mine and did seam a little flat ... is easy to get the timing out on a vr ..... mind u i did have a blower so didnt really notice it lol

[The Monk 50]

Well I timed mine up properly, twice lol.

My investigations will continue on monday I'll keep you updated, even if you're not intrested

[bulldog 2]

Save yourself tome and heart ache and get a proffesional to sort it and have it set right, it'll never be spot on if yoor just clutching at straw as to what it my be.

Go on you know it makes sence.

[craggsy 91]

You're not far from stealth so get on over and let Vince have a look

[The Monk 50]

I will tomoz I think. Cheers craggsy.

Thanks for the input chaps.

[golfgirlvr6 0]

Whats the latest on the VR? Still not feeling well? I'm new to vr's but i've gotta say there no slouch!! Ask the owner of his brand new S-Class Merc with my partner driving my beast! Gotta love annoying people with expensive cars lol! Hope you get it sorted!!

[The Monk 50]

I had to go up to leeds today all day, just got back. Am going to ring vince at stealth tomorrow and see what he can do.

Popping quite a lot when changing gear but extremely loud anyway, great noise anyway.