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VR6


Guest Anonymous

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Guest Anonymous

I had the idea when driving a family members jetta today, why not drop a VR6 in? They have suprizing toruqe, only problem I see right off is that their setup for FF drivelines, can you stick a FR tranny on em?

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Sorry bro - but a VR6 in a Z? Huh. :confused: Don't think you would get a tranny to work, plus the torque isn't all that great. VR6s are notorious for electrical troubles, I wouldn't touch one with a 6ft pole. My friend works for VW Head Office and they will be killing the VR6 pretty soon. The 1.8L 5valve turbo is much superior engine.

 

Yasin

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Guest Anonymous

No problems with a VR6 yet, the torque is awesome on them, the clutch is light and I often find myself not comensating for it and watching traction kick in so as I don't slide around a corner and spin the wheels... unintentionally that is.

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Guest Anonymous
they will be killing the VR6 pretty soon.
Not really. It's actually a very good engine design packaging wise since it's narrower than a standard V6 and shorter than a straight six.

 

In fact, VW has just released a new 200hp version and will soon be releasing (in the US) a 240hp-250hp 3.2L VR6. The 1.8T has been a successful engine, but it doesn't mean the VR6 is going to be phased out. Quite a few current and future VW/AUDI models are going to be using VR6 including the Jetta/Golf, Audi TT, VW Touareg (SUV), next gen Passat, etc....

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Guest Ian turbo240
VR6s are notorious for electrical troubles, I wouldn't touch one with a 6ft pole. My friend works for VW Head Office and they will be killing the VR6 pretty soon.
I sure would like to know what troubles you are talking about. I am an ASE Master Tech at a independent repair shop that specializes in VW. I have rarely seen electrical problems on the VR6 engine. Electrical problems with the VW cars are usually not engine related.

 

The 1.8L 5valve turbo is much superior engine
Have you ever seen one break a timing belt? Thats about a $3000.00 job. The turbo is so small that it's a joke that it's even there. The 1.8T has a great potential, but that potential is only realized with a big (warranty voiding) turbo. Who's gonna want to void the warranty on their new car by putting a T3/T4 hybrid turbo on? Even using the stock Audi TT turbo will void the warranty on a Golf, Jetta, Passat, or A4 1.8T. I personally think the 1.8T is a joke. Why use 5 valves per cylinder if you choke it down with a tiny turbo suited for a Geo Metro 3cyl?

 

My friend works for VW Head Office and they will be killing the VR6 pretty soon
I think you have been given the wrong info. VW has recently released a 24-valve version of the VR6 now available in the Eurovan. It will soon show up in Golf's and Jetta's. The VR6 is here for a while. Even if they do sh!+-can it, the W8 and W12 will take over with the same concept/technology.

 

To my knowledge, the only problems with the VR6 have been with the emissions. Major engine failures that I have seen have been caused by the user/driver.

 

Mr. Death, you won't be able to use a VR6 in a RWD application without making some sort of adaptor for a RWD trans. There are no RWD VR6 powered cars. Also, the timing chain is driven off of the rear of the engine, so this may cause some difficulty with the adaptor plate.

 

Ian

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A VR6 does not really offer much in the way of a performance upgrade if you have done a very simple ZXT motor swap; and that is practically a bolt-in. I'm not knocking the VR6's; they are very nice motors, but I think there are much better, easier alternatives for a Z car, like V8's and turbo motors, which will always be faster anyway.

 

You are thinking creatively, which is good, but it should always make good sense in terms of benefit gained from the time & money spent in the swap. Most swaps are geared toward a goal of performance increases--would the VR6 swap have a significant effect on performance over another alternative? That is the question to answer.

 

Davy

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a company called kennedy engineered performance makes vw engine adaptors.they also make a mazda rotory/borg t5 bellhousing.they might be able to make a vr6/t5 adaptor.my brother has a 2000 vr6 jetta that he uses to sell real estate .no problems with the car.these engines will make big power with a turbo and are light.

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Ian - My buddy who works for VW Head Office had and has a total of 5 VWs - makes sense as he works for them and is a die hard VW owner. He would get all the reports back from various dealerships that did warranty work on the first gen VR6s, and they had problems with the EFI systems and other related electrical problems. I cannot specifically say what the problem were as this is going back several years.

 

VW probably addressed these issues and the newer gen. VR6s are probably as reliable as anything out there. But as an aside, the VW mechanics used to call the VR6 Jettas "Grettas" due to their temperanmental problems. My buddy's personal VR6 auto Jetta seemed like it spent more time at the dealer to get warranty work done, than him enjoying it and I know he is not the exception. Mind you the car ran well, when it was in full song.

 

As an aside the 1.8T 5 valver has been deliberately sandbagged in terms of hp by VW. As they wanted the VR6 to remain their top of the range motor. My buddy dyno's his bone stock (down to the exhaust & filter) 1.8T and it kicked 168hp at the wheels! Which means its just as powerful as the VR6, naturally VW does not want to promote that as it will rob sales of the VR6, as the VR6 option is quite lofty.

 

I stand corrected on VW wanting to kill the VR6, they were initally thinking about doing this, but decided to up the ante and get some more hp out it, thereby still making it their creme de la creme engine and distancing it from the 1.8T.

 

You make some great points otherwise and thanks for the healthy discussion.

 

Regards - Yasin

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Guest Anonymous

I'm sorry, but a 6 cynlder is not going to be outdone by a 1.8 litre four. HP is a byproduct of torque, the VR6 is suprizingly torquey and deadly quick, I'm not looking for 600 HP, if I wanted big power I'd swap in a 2jz with BPU, I'm just looking for an application that handles well, good acceleration and top speed. Something along the lines of a 1jz, but the VR6 is just a theory, thanks much for the replys.

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Guest Anonymous

I am a vw fan and would just like to bring up the EIP Tuning (in Maryland)kits that are out there to bring th vr6 into the 500hp range and not to terribly expensive for what all you get ( I have been looking into this for a possible 944 transplant )kick butt little engine. Anyway the W8 is a better deal and so is the W12 in Bugatti trim with Turbos (vw owns them too along with Lamborghini)

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Originally posted by Mr.Death:

I'm sorry, but a 6 cynlder is not going to be outdone by a 1.8 litre four

Correct yourself. There are many 4's that will out-do 6's all day and all night long. BTW, the "1.8 liter four" your comment is focused on, is a factory turbo engine. Yes, the power is almost the same as the VR6. Do some research before you post.
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agreed. the 1.8t is born turbo, which means you can do more to it to make power easier than the na motor. the t28 kit for it can make 280hp, and the vr6 would have need head work cams and ecu upgrades to mess with that, then all the turbo guy has to do is hit the nasty switch. but then again, i hate em both equally, its jspec or aspec for me.

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Guest Anonymous

The 1.8 is a nice engine, when our Pssat is out of warranty I'm planning on doing the upgraded turbo, for roughly 2500 bucks you can bolt on almost 100HP (including ecu reprogramming). I'd probably go with an FMIC for that too though since the stock one's a bit smallish and stuck down in front of the drivers side front tire. The newer Passats with the drive by wire throttle are supposedly able to take a full bar of boost without a problem and without any internal work.

 

The factory torque curve on these things feels like a V6, and it's flat at 160 lb ft or so from 1800 RPM up to like 5000 or so (just going from memory). We've got a manual transmission on ours and that thing pulls like you wouldn't believe for a base engine in a relatively inexpensive car. I really couldn't see why you'd pay several thousand more for the V6 when it's only rated for about 10 horsepower more than the 1.8 is.

 

I love driving the damn thing and finding a wrecked one to pull the engine from to swap into a 510 or something would be just awesome. Other than adapting the transmission it probably would be fairly easy, but at least the engine's a longitudinal mount so that's one less hurdle to clear.

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