Differences

[colVR4]

Now that I have had the VR4 for a while I thought I would comment on some of the differences between it and the V6 Sport.

The recaro seats are very comfortable and really feel like they are holding you in, especially when moving quickly round corners. But I still would prefer to have my leather interior from my V6 in the car. I still may do it, I haven't decided yet.

So, first main comparison..the auto box. I think that the box in the V6 is a lot smoother than the VR4 and the gearing seems better. The VR4 is geared very low in 1st and 2nd so much so that they really aren't that useable above about 20-25 mph. The VR4 seems to like to stay in 1st and 2nd a long time when pulling away whereas the V6 changes up as soon as it can unless you are putting your foot to the floor. Is this common with the VR4 or is it just my car? /Hmmm Once it is out of the low gears it gets up to 5th quite quickly though, so maybe it justs needs a reset.

The initial throttle response and torque seemed better in the V6, which suprised me. The VR4 doesn't seem to pull well from a standing start as well as the V6 for the first half a second... again is that just something perculiar with my car or a standard thing with the VR4?

As for the cornering, yes it corners a lot flatter than the V6 and initially I thought that it was cornering no better than the V6 on my favourite twisties...however, that was until I applied some power round the corners /Steeringw :smug: it was amazing. It just steered the car round like it was on rails!!!

The only downside is the fuel economy. Although saying that I managed to get 197.5 miles from 46.7 litres. I think that works out at 23 mpg. It was after a week doing my daily commute and only burying the throttle a couple of times to get past a few slow movers. As long as I can keep that up I won't be too displeased.

A slight niggle is the lack of split rear seats. I have lost count of the amount of times that I had the seats down in the V6 to carry stuff so it does reduce its load carrying capacity, especially for the trips down to Homebase for DIY stuff.

But at the end of the day it is an awesome machine and a big difference from the V6 in terms of power and handling. :evil2:

One quick question. There are two sets of driving lights at the front. Do they both come on with the single switch or is there a separate switch for each set of lights? :thumbsup:

[SGHOM]

One quick question. There are two sets of driving lights at the front. Do they both come on with the single switch or is there a separate switch for each set of lights? :thumbsup:

inner one's.... driving lights. outer one's come on with your indicators so you can see round corners !! /Steeringw :thumbsup:

[colVR4]

Ta. Has anyone wired them in together so that they all come on with the single switch?

[ritch_w]

you are probably just missing the bulbs on the outers - i just fitted bulbs and hey presto they work (with indicators and side lights on)

[bernmc]

WRT the box - mine spends very little time in 1st, so you probably just need a reset. Surprised about the change quality - have you filled up with proper ATF? Again, even though mine is currently doing it's best to empty itself on the drive regularly, shifts are virtually unnoticable unless I'm flooring it.

Your lack of initial response may just be the brief wait for those teeny tiny turbo's to spool up...

[colVR4]

The shifts are generally quite smooth, it just lingers in 1st and 2nd a while. I think it hasn't got used to my driving style. I also think that the car hasn't been used very much by the previous owner and was sat around a lot.

I think you are right about the pickup, still better than those single turbo motors :D I still think it may be lacking something in the power department so I am going to check all the pipes and stuff to make sure there aren't any leaks.

Another question, when I floor it in second or third, get big spool up with the turbos and then quickly take my foot off the accelerator there is a whoosh, like a quiet dump valve. Has the VR4 got a dump valve as part of the standard fit?

[bradc]

Yes it's got a small internal dump valve. I always drive in tiptronic mode, quite often I will drive like it is a manual, lift off the throttle, change gear, then hit the throttle again. It makes a nice wooshing noise :D

The lights on the bumper work exactly as SGHOM/Interlec said. I intend to get all 4 lights hooked up to be on all the time, it should make the car look evil when I have the foglights turned on ;) Just flicked the foglight switch on, and have a look at the 2 lights going, then turn an indicator on, and see what happens.

You probably need to disconnect the battery for 5min or so, that will get it to learn your driving style.

I've found the gear changes to be a little bit rougher than in my GDI, I assume it is because of the much larger amount of torque the transmission has to handle.

I've also noticed nothing much happens for the first second or so when you floor it, it's just the turbos spooling up. An easy way to stop this is to have it in drive, use one foot on the brake to hold the car still, and lightly touch the throttle to get it to about 1500rpm. When you want to get going just floor the throttle, and lift off the brake, you will go rocketing forward.

[Kenneth]

Rubbish!

The slight loss of power on acceleration from stopped is NOT turbo lag.

Turbos do not DECREASE power, they INCREASE it. So in effect, your engine is putting out standard power until the turbos start working.

You might have a little less power off standing starts due to a lower compression ratio and possibly a less than optimal Air Fuel Ratio, but thats all.

You also have automatics. Autos have a torque converter which uses fluid to bind it and give power. you loose a bit of response as a result. (unless you power launch)

[nick-f1]

Well mine is manual and has no turbo lag, first gear is low but pulls like a train for about 1 1/2 secs before you have to change up! Having watched most of the track vids on this forum autos seem slow changing imo or at least compared to mine ( but thats another can of worms on here) so there is bound to be some losses.
But for me the beauty of the power is the huge mid range torque, I rarely redline mine even when" Driving spiritedly" shall we say :scholar: Mustn`t mention racing!
As for split rear seats mine has them but leather `spose recaros dont?

[caishanvr4]

My car also feels gutless in 1st & 2nd gears /Hmmm but it seems even slower now since putting in unleaded after the Jtuner thrash. I have since put in shell optimax and unplugged both battery terminals but nothing happened, no revving to learn my driving style :bigcry:wwhhyy wwhhhyy
Ok, how can i fix it ?

[colVR4]

When first started with a cold box, it stays in 1st and 2nd a long time. Then when it warms up it becomes a lot better and by the end of a 40 min drive it acts just fine. But if I leave it for a couple of hours (not enough time for the box to cool significantly) it goes back to square one again.

Is there any chance that it is reverting back to the original setting each time for some reason?

[locost_bryan]

IIRC, the VR4 and the V6 have the same INVECS controller for the auto. It is likely that the computer will restrict performance until everything is up to full operating temperature (same as Subaru WRX), this is likely to be more noticable with the turbo motor. I would expect a significant drop in temperatures over 2 hours - enough to require a warmup period for the turbos.

IIRC the VR4 has a significantly lower compression ratio than the V6 - there would be a marked difference in the power curves. I would expect the VR4 to have less torque until the turbos have spooled up - subjectively, it may feel slower until then, but objectively they may be very close but the VR4 will surge away after that.