94 Golf vr6 colour concept- questions

[capitalk]

H new friends...
i've been reading this forum for a little while as i've been considering a VW purchase since about this time last year.
recently i test drove a VR6.. 129,000 kms...
log book, paint in great condition (in royal blue wit matching bklue inserts in the interior)
interior was fair to good
$5500.


my main and only gripe is the auto gearbox..

now this is the first VR6 i've had an oppertunity to drive, and ever my gf was dissapointed with the performance!

i drive a stock VT comodore (go easy on me, it was a gift from dad!) and when i hopped back in it, i realised how much i wanted to drive the golf home... until i put my foot on the accelerator.

Being that this is a limited edition model, and the price/kms are wuite reasonable, should i be looking into a conversion to manual?

how hard is it, how much?
is there a VW guy in Adelaide that could look at it?

i've got a manual lined up for a test drive next week.. cloth interior... maroon... not as appealing, but i expect the performance will be much better... your thoughts?

a mate of mine said "the narrow 6 is tightly wound, and the auto looses the compression. there would be no way to get the performance out of it." is this correct?

thank you for your feedback in advance!

[Lorenz]

Hi mate and welcome. Not many Colour Concepts kicking around, especially in Adelaide. Only ever seen and heard of one (yellow one) locally.
Best person to speak to regarding a manual conversion would be Tim at Volkstorque down south.
6 Ellemsea Circuit, Lonsdale 8382 0900

[capitalk]

thanks for the advise. i'll give Tim a buzz.
yea, the seller didn't even list it as such... i just rocked up and there was the blues car i ever saw!
i was a bit taken back at first, but within the 20 mins i had with her, i was sorry to see it in my rear view mirror.

[Ben J]

A manual conversion would be a few thousand easy, taking a look at a manual one would definately be worth it. I think i heard the manual is meant to be like 2 seconds faster too 100, which wouldnt suprise me. I havent driven an auto vr so cant really comment though.]

Have also heard the auto's can be prone to failing and being expensive to fix, but if its looked after it might not be too much trouble, again this is all stuff i think ive heard so could all be completely wrong

[capitalk]

i've heard those stats too. i realy felt like the auto let this car down. as i've read in other threads, 1st gear just held on for ages and wasn't smooth at all... but then again, it seemed to take ages to break 60 kph. and what is the point of an auto if it's not smooth? horrible.....

there were no identifiable issues with how the engine itsaelf was running... purred nicely, no unwanted noises


after i posted i found something on this forum that suggested the conversion would be $3.5k with a brand new clutch.

i guess i keep going back and forth about it because the colour concept was really cool/unique. but $5.5k plus conversion = $9k, which could buy good VR6 with all the work done.


i think i just answered my own question.
stupid blue car. i feel like i need to buy it and save it from the restraint sof the slush box. it would be doing a service to the VW community....
is there any government subsidy for that? haha....

[team_v]

I would sacrifice the colour concept option for a manual VR6.

Then get some shrick go fast bits and breathing parts and it should be a bit quicker

[Ben J]

yea for $9000 you could buy a manual in nice condition and give it a hell of a lot more power then the pretty blue one with a manual conversion. the rarity of the colour concept does give it a sort of specialness though

[capitalk]

yea, the concept.... what a heart break.

i got some advise that maybe i'm expecting too much from a VR6.
126 kw for such a small car, should kick some serious but...
my stock VT is 147kw at best.. and mine hasn't really been treated thaaaat well. it gets a service... every now and then. it feels pretty reasonable off the line. not super fast, but compared to the VR6 auto.... felt like a rocket.

do i have this all wrong? the VR6 has charm and carisma... but is that all?
i sudenly feel like i'm going to be dissapointed when i drive this other car...

what would be a reasonable amount to spend on "go faster bits"? and how much will it affect feul consumption?
basically, my gf is going to drive this car to work every day, but i want to buy one to hold on to, and when we buy a more modern car for her later (when the mortgage is looking less scary) the VR6 will get work done. t seems like it is pretty versitile as to what you can do with mods.

long story short, i dont want her to continue to shell $70 a week in fuel to travel 110 kms...
i've convinced her this is the right car for us... dont make a liar out of me VR6!!

[Ben J]

When i drove my first vr6 i must admit i was also a bit dissapointed, had built it up so much in my mind and it just didnt come anywhere near my expectations. These cars arent brand new any more, so most have "lost" a bit of power, think most stock vr's this age put out like 90-100kw at the wheels. The second one i drove though felt much faster (as Matt was telling us when we were looking at the green vr he had down there, some of them are a fair bit faster then others), and really started to enjoy the noise and feel. I also find it hard to really get the revs up and actually feel the real power these cars make when driving someone elses car

[capitalk]

hmmmm....
well i guess i'll wait and see with this other car....
if there was a variation in 2 different manual VR6's ( i assume both that you are talking about are man.?) then there may be a pretty big difference in the performance of this next car.
i sure hope so, i've totally sold myself the idea that i'm buying a VR6....

otherwise, i'm gonna need to find another $6k to buy a Bora 4motion...

[Ben J]

yea i drove a few manuals, the difference wasnt huge but could feel it. Although it was probably due to having 2 extra passengers in the first one i drove, to the one i ended up buying. Hate driving my car around full of people, feels so slow