vr6 should i buy

[Guest callumlj]

i currently have a e36 325 which i am starting growing a bit bored off. i have been looking at the vr6 and alot of people say that they are not that powerful. will one of these be quicker than a 325. is there anything resonable price u can do to them to get them quicker.

Also i will have about 3k to buy one is the highline worth the extra money. what is the highest spec u can get in these eg leather seats and that.

thanks for all the help

[Seademon 0]

Well the VR6 is smaller and lighter than a BMW and the engine is a 2.8 compared to your Bm's 2.5 - may not be as powerful on paper but on the road the VR6 will win I think in every way - handling, acceleration the lot - I've had a few motorway run ins with 325's and whooped them every time!

[antera309 3]

I had an E36 325i (Convertible) before I bought my VR6. The VR6 was quicker, but there wasn't much in it.

The VR6 has 174BHP to the 325i's 192BHP, but is a LOT lighter.

Despite this, I found that fuel economy was about the same.

[ Edited Tue Feb 01 2005, 08:57AM ]

[cliveyp 0]

As for the specs, the VR6 Highline comes in Black Magic and Mulbeery. The black one has black heated leather, the mulberry has purple. They come with aircon, e/w, e/s/r and e/m along with a few little styling changes. "Normal" VR6's can also come with leather and aircon as it was still an option, they could also come with Recaro's. Standard equipment is full electrics.

Post 96 models (Highlines and normal ones) have OBD2 management which tends to allow more power than the OBD1 models. Although the stock figure is 174bhp, they always seems to give more like 180-185 minimum when running right. £3k can buy you a bargain, or it can buy you a shed. Choose carefully.

[binliner 0]

£3k isn't really enough to get a decent highline... £3.5-£4k will get you one with highish mileage but you need a budget of about £5k for the better ones

[vdubgirl 3]

You might be able to find a bargin one for 3k but you may have to sift though a lot of dogs to find one!

TBH there are better spec'd vr's out there which have more packed in them than the highline but finding those ones which the first owner ticked all the optional extra boxes and there now up for sale for 3k - well they might be hard to find :-)

[Seademon 0]

I paid £5.5k for mine with 65k miles, fvwsh etc, it came with a few mods too, saved me spending out on them once i bought the car.

[cliveyp 0]

i paid 4k for mine with 105k, fsh and too many owners to be true, but i like it! I also found it easier to find a Highline at that price than a high spec VR.

[acf8181 0]

i was in the situation of e36 325 or bmw....they felt very similar to drive, performance wise...but the golf felt much newer.

£3k should be able to get you a decent vr6 these days....but will prob be best to find a low mileage early car, a decent late one is prob out your budget, and forget highlines.

be aware that timing chains need changing at around 100-120k (at cost of £600 if dont professionally - gearbox out job), so make sure its been done on any you think of around that mileage.

[Guest callumlj]

what small things can u do to get these quicker eg chip and that. price and gains if u can thanks

[VR6Pete 1,455]

there arent really any small things you can do to a VR6... schick VGI manifold if ur going down the n/a route, but if ur going for a forced inducion then you'll get more BHP per £

[acf8181 0]

yeah, not much cheap stuff to improve performance...though a suspension kit is the first thing anyway, which can be fairly cost effective.

[Guest callumlj]

how much are a chip for this and what gains

how much does forced induction start of at fitted price

eg turbo supercharger

do these cars grip coz they are fwd

[Eat this 2]

i got an off the shelf chip fitted for £176 but stealth do 1 with a remap for about £400 i think

imho they have great grip for fwd but mine does have uprated suspension

[ Edited Wed Feb 02 2005, 08:42AM ]

[acf8181 0]

grip depends on the tyres....with a good set of tyres (such as uniroyals) they have very very good traction. with poor tyres it makes it feel like the car has poor traction. worth noting that vr6's are equipt with EDL (electronic dif lock), a kind of primitive traction control.

once a susp kit is fitted they have very good lateral grip, but on standard susp it's not the best...mainly due to poor body roll control.

[ Edited Wed Feb 02 2005, 10:09AM ]

[cliveyp 0]

The traction control ain't shit hot either tbh. It's still very easy to spin up on shite tyres. Trust me, i have them!!

IMO, chip's (on OBD2 cars anyway) are a waste of time unless your other mods determine the need for one. Mine has a chip and all it has done is cause majot pinking problems at higher revs. There is also another member on here with similar problems, that could be chip related.

The forced induction route is one that many have gone down, and one that i was going to follow myself too. Superchargers start from around £2k new, but secondhand ones can fetch 1000-1500 quid easy. These normally see the good side of 250-260bhp plus. Turbo's tend to be a lot more.

[acf8181 0]

i find the EDL makes a lot of difference on decent tyres...but on poor tyres its barely noticeable.

[pete8tch 0]

you really need to test drive a car you are thinking about, its not just about performance, its ergonomics ,feel, practicality, and how much the car appeals to you personally and image comes into it as well . my vr6 suits me ilike the driving position the feel of the car etc, i have driven a subaru which had 350 bhp but it was to focussed for everyday driving the vr for me at least gives a n exellent mix of what i want from a car