VR6 in auto or manual?

[dj_daniel88]

i know usualy its personal preferance, but most people here seem to want manual. is there any reason for this other than the fast take off and that it is more fun to drive (:P) .. bad auto transmission?

i'm not sure which would be the better way to go, but i will be driving the car regularly and i think i might get sick of manual, especially when driving in the city and in traffic!

anyway what do you guys think of the differences between auto and manual in a vr6? i wouldn't think power difference would be too much difference because its a bigger engine??

[Tim]

from what i have heard the autos can be problematic.

[Golf Loon]

If you need an auto, why bother with a vr6. Get yourself a nice cruisy 1.6 or 2L. You could even get a pink one :oops:

[dj_daniel88]

what do you mean why bother? im not really interested in a 4 cylinder... i dont need an auto, but im considering getting it in auto. if auto is no good, i'll go manual. but i'm wanting to know why they are no good (if they are)??

[golfvr6]

i think loon is just having a lend of you....

anyway - i have a manual vr6 - i prefer to have the torque and acceleration under my control - but yes sometimes it is a pain driving in peak hour in Sydney (especially when i am coming home from work and i just want to cruise) which is where 95% of my mileage occurs - but it pays off in spades when you need and want the extra power to dart in to closing spaces.

haven't driven an auto version, but auto is auto - i think you'll choose it for convenience or your missus!

[imported_brackie]

I get the feeling that this was the reason behind the original post. Audi autos are definitely suspect (take a look on ebay any time!) but is this also true of VR6 autos? That is the question. It is definitely more noble to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous gear changing than to fork our for a new auto! Some of us (Golf Loon and myself for example) like to drive our cars so we prefer manuals, but there's a place in this world for autos (ask any Commodore driver!) and it's usually in the city traffic. Glad I'm not there! Oh.. My father-in-law left his Camry here while he spends some time in NZ. It's an auto Whitegoods-on-Wheels but my mrs loves it. I give myself a tetanus shot even if I have to move it in the driveway!

[Golfwise]

VW make great gearboxes manual or auto.
Go the vr6 Auto a very quick car and reliable too.
As with any problem that may never arise ,tackle it at the time.
It won't be long before manual gearboxes are extinct.
VWs latest auto is magnificent
so is M Schumaker's auto Fi Ferrari. :wink:
Says it all really.
Those with clutches come into the 21st century , we've come a long way since the EK Holden hydramatic.
And in reference to early Audi autos its poor maintenance that kills them.not the box itself. :roll:

[dj_daniel88]

Thanks golfwise... thats what i was waiting to hear! lol. i do like driving manual but i think i will get sick of it at times and auto will be more convenient.

im gonna go test drive one tomorro, hopefully all goes well. this one is decently priced too.

[DVR68U]

auto only does 0-100 in like 9 something, man in 7.5, makes the choice easy i think
cheers brenton

[dj_daniel88]

went to look at this car today... the dealer seemed a bit dodgy, they lied about the year, advertised as '96 but was a '94, told me it had two owners, in fact it had had 4 owners and was registered 3 times! and said it had been serviced regularly, but it hadn't had a service since 2000.

the cars interior and mechanics were in fairly poor condition. the leather was scratched up (almost cut in some places), a lot of wear and tear and damage to all plastics and it rattled like crazy. the roof lining was also falling down. there was a knocking noise coming from the engine, i'm not sure what exactly was wrong with it, but there were a lot of things that weren't right under the hood. when you drove it, it did not feel or sound right. it always skipped a beat. the guy was dreaming, he wanted $11k for it. i took some pictures of the car inside and out on my phone if your interested to see.

was a shame, the car had a hard life. i do have a couple of questions: where is the cruise control located? i thought this was a standard feature on all vr6, but this one seemed to have an aftermarket installed.

with the auto, how long is it supposed to hold onto the gears for? i'm pretty sure the transmission wasnt right on this one coz it seemed to want to hold on to gears and have it screaming at me. it didnt seem right.. or is this how vr6 autos are geared?

what year did vw update the vr6 and give it body coloured bumpers?

is a leather bound steering wheel standard on vr6? this had the original steering wheel but it didnt seem to have leather around it... there was no stitching and i couldnt tell if the seam was plastic or joint leather??

well back to looking. i've got a budget of $10k and i'd prefer auto. i think that manuals are more sought after though??

[Tim]

the VR6 got its update in 96. Coloured bumpers. bigger brakes. no fender flares.

The autos from what i have heard are a bit of a lazy thing. and prone to weird shifting patterns and are hard to diagnose.

steering wheel should have stitching around the inside of the rim. they do tend to lose their grain after a bit of wear and look very smooth.

This one sounds like a car to definately walk away from. there are still quite a few low km vr6s out there. and theyre still in good nick. Decent service history id say is a must.
Personally id be looking privately. I think you will find a better loved car.

[evorobin]

I don't work in the city anymore and if I have to go there I'd take the wife's new auto magna. Manuals are a pain in traffic. Then again I fang the GTI to work everyday so a change of pace is nice :shock:

[lyle-act]

i went nuts driving my old Auto commo. It was damn sweet in the mornings with peak hour, but for the rest of the time it just pissed me off.

I hate it when you're going around a corner and it all of a sudden kicks back... feels so sus.

Im sure a auto VR wouldn't be to bad though, crap loads better than a 4cyl auto anyway.

[golfvr6]

from what i know cruise control is on one of the stalks

ditto on leather wheel - should have stitching. roof lining falling?? mines a 94-5 and no problems there.

yep - one to stay away from

[Tim]

cruise is on the left hand stalk. same as indicator

[dj_daniel88]

http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/3628/image0374zx.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/4020/image0361xw.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/6715/image0402sx.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/4724/image0443xw.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

here are some pics of the car i took with my phone. the leather is in really bad shape, the body was alright, but the cruise control is an after market i believe?? (under the indicator)

[Golf Loon]

Mate, thats what leather looks like after 10 years in the Aussie sun. Get one without leather, as the cloth was hard wearing, get a retrim, or just polish up the leather, There are lots of products to do it.

I`d be more interested in the engine and transmission.

Body looks alright though.

[dj_daniel88]

Yea the body was pretty good. I know that weather wears, but this is another reason which makes me come to the conclusion that it has been neglected. If it was taken care of, and re-conditioned every so often it would not look like that. Like you said it can be treated...

I noticed that the disc brakes were rusted, and the original wheels were taken off a later model Golf?

See the cruise control under the left side indicator? Aftermarket??

Body might look deceiving, but the engine and transmission were completely stuffed .

[golfvr6]

funny that the paint is good but the leather is not so - i would think these go hand in hand, unless the car has had a good touch up and polish on the outside.

aftermarket cruise for sure.

wheels hmm - why would you take off the cross spoke bbs unless you went for something bigger or better - those are pretty lamo wheels in my opinion ... stolen perhaps??

[Tim]

most peoples BBS rims are starting to look quite tired by now as they are hard work to keep clean. very easy to curb the faces of them as well if you cant drive too well :p

Thats the main reason i replaced mine with aftermarket rims.

[DVR68U]

also the front indicators should be the clear/white ones not the base spec amber ones.

[Golf Loon]

also the front indicators should be the clear/white ones not the base spec amber ones.

Although everyone knows how well they are secured in :lol:

[golfvr6]

front indicators should be the clear/white ones not the base spec amber ones.

i think you will find that what he has on the front bumper are oem front fogs (the ones with the circles in them) plus an infill reflector plus amber indicator. only a few vr6's were shipped to australia with these fogs. this may be one or an aftermarket addition. the standard clear infill reflector is probably always clear ie always was shipped on european models (not amber) but i am sure you can get other colours.

the common vr6 like gl like cl had a one piece dummy reflector next to an amber indicator, instead of the fog plus infill reflector bits here.

[The Seater]

I believe I have seen this car before. Identifiable by the plain ugly alloys and fog lamps. Paid particular attention to it when I was in the market for a VR6. It looked like it had had a major whack on the right front, the front right panel was dented and front right wheel had massive amounts of positive camber. Definitely one to stay away from

[dj_daniel88]

So do the autos common to have a lot of problems? I keep reading that they usualy need a rebuild at around 80,000 kms. If that is the case I might be better safe than sorry and go manual... I have a choice between the two, because I'm seriously considering two different VR6's, one auto and one manual. The manual is at 160,000kms 1996 model for $11k. Auto at 80,000kms 1997 model for $11.5k... Both in great condition.

What do you guys think?

[Golf Loon]

A VR6 is a hot hatch drivers car. Why spoil that by getting a slush box coupled to the great engine. And the manual is faster. I wouldn`t even be considering the Auto. And the Manual box is less likely to break.

[ausgolfer]

Also the auto VR6's are ever moreso notoriously heavy, apparently it takes 3 people to lift the auto box. If you wanted to change the suspension(shocks/springs) it would be more difficult to get parts, I remember reading in one of my old golf uk mags that UK dubbers even have difficulty finding uprated suspension for their auto VR6's.
Just a thought if you had modifying it in mind. :wink: