The only VR6 ive driven that had a turn in response comparable to an ABF had an additional rear arb. The first time you turn in to a fast bend in a VR without one you make the initial input and then have an "oh shht" moment when you realise that wasnt enough and have to make a second stab Shame no one has a mk3 16v any more, they were all the rage once
Even when new the mk3 VR6 had woefully bad suspension, my mate had a P reg 'highline' when it was 3yrs old and 18,000miles, both the front dampers were shot/leaking and had as much bump resistance as a bicycle pump.. Agree with Matt that mk3s need a 28mm rear ARB, the front one is fine.
-3 degree camber + track tyres + Koni adjustables to make the VR handle Mk3 16v required 1 set of eibach springs, job done
I could have done the same thing if my car was used for the road only and I was just interesting in 'handling'. The settings I run along with the tyres ( Federal rubber) are to increase grip for track work. These have not been changed as road mileage on Der Ankor is shared with other vehicles. For pure road use, I have found, 1.5 deg camber with carefully chosen fixed dampers and spring rates would be sufficient along with road tyres from brands such as Uniroyal, Conti or Michelin. This will firm up the suspension significantly than stock and give the car more of a 'GTI' feel. This matters not if it is a 8v, 16v or VR6. For my preference, the Koni/Eibach combination that I drove first in a MK3 16v before purchase, was a bit stiffer than I have wanted for road (even on the softest setting) and certainly to 'skittish' with the ARB that was fitted to that car. As my car was to be used occasionally on track I settled on the strut/spring set as a compromise and have been running it ever since along with other tweaks such as increased camber etc to improve grip. I am quite happy with developments so far.
Now there was nooooo need for that! WRT the mk3, after all the fiddling with mine i found -2* camber nicest for me . Tried all sorted between 1.5-3.0 Memories
Has no one ever thought to point out that the VR is geared as a GT car not a GTi car. It's for cruising and sounding great.
I read resently in an old CAR mag, that when the mk3 came out back in the day this was their view of how VW had moved the golf on from a hot hatch to a grown up GT type car.
I loved the vr6 engine in my mk2 and it went pretty well. Once I got to know the engine I found myself enjoying the way it delivered the power/torque.
There seems to be lots of positive feedback on the V5 gearbox. I'd be interested to see some testing on the subject to find out the real world differences.
Welcome to about 10yrs ago. Nick Coles (RallyeVR6) had that box in his (and rigs) mk2 VR6 donkeys years ago, ace on track ,I drove it on the 'ring.
