Corrado VR6 – Modifications

My car had a continuous evolution of modifications, upgrades, and maintenance during the 14 years that I owned it, all within the ethos of “oem+”.

Just before I sold it, the car’s state of modification was as follows:

  • Schrick 268° cams.
  • High compression metal head gasket.
  • Schrick VGI (Variable Geometry Intake) dual-tract inlet manifold.
  • Gas-flowed enlarged throttle body (recently rebuilt).
  • Fidanza lightweight flywheel.
  • Custom engine remap to Super Unleaded and a raised rev limit.
  • Mocal oil cooler.
  • Vibratechnics front engine mount.
  • Custom Gaz Gold 2-way adjustable coil-over suspension (recently rebuilt).
  • New front wishbones and track end rods.
  • Vibratechnics front wishbone bushes.
  • 3.68 final drive to lower the gearing and improve acceleration.
  • 288mm front brake upgrade with Golf Mk3 callipers, Brembo discs, Mintex pads and Goodrich braided hoses.
  • Milltek sports exhaust.
  • Two sets of original alloys, one refurbished in gun metal with road tyres and the other in matte black with Toyo R888 track tyres.
  • Interior: Momo Millennium steering wheel, Momo gear knob, stainless steel sill kick plates, and upgraded stereo.

The last time I had the car rolling-roaded it was just after the last round of modifications, but on month-old 95RON unleaded and the standard exhaust. It produced 226 bhp at the flywheel and 205 lb ft of torque.

With 99RON Super Unleaded, bedding in time, and with the addition of the Milltek exhaust, I would estimate that the final output would have been in the high 230’s. It would have been nice to get it back onto a rolling road to see the exact figure, but I never got round to it.

Just before I sold the car, I removed the Schrick VGI manifold and replaced it with the original manifold. I would estimate that this dropped the output to somewhere in the upper 200’s for bhp, based on knowledge of Corrado VR6s in a similar state of tune. I certainly noticed the lack of low down torque afterwards.

I also reverted the stereo, the steering wheel, and the gear knob to the original factory items.

 

Engine bay showing VGI

Engine bay showing VGI

Minor interior changes
Minor interior changes

 

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