Looking to possibly invest in a Vr-4, but I have some questions.

[J18A]

The power loss isn't very significant - on a dyno I think we use a 7% correction on an auto to guesstimate the flywheel power.

We did a day at Curborough a couple of years ago for Club VR-4's 10th anniversary, and I was the 3rd quickest VR-4, with a pretty much standard auto, other than slightly increased boost with a basic electronic boost controller.

I can't remember whether those who were faster than me were also auto, or whether they were manual - but, as I said before, once you know how to drive an auto, the limitations of it all but disappear

Oh right, yeah I guess so! Glad that yours was one of the quickest. Hope that I can do mine well when I get it. What's a reasonable price to pay for one of them? Oh and I know I've asked this question a few times now, but in regards to the auto, it can pretty much be up or down shifted whenever you like, given that the RPM isn't below idle or above redline, right?

[Confused]

I paid £2400 for mine 6.5 years ago...

They're still a similar kind of price today, condition is the most important thing, they're getting on a bit now, so it's probably better to pay a little more for one that's got good bodywork.

And yes, so long as the RPM won't go below idle or above the redline, you can shift up or down. It won't upshift automatically when you hit the rev limiter (it'll happily bounce off it all day long), but if your speed/revs drop too low for the gear you're in, it will automatically downshift a gear, but other than that, it'll do what you want it to.

[chris g]

And if you leave it in auto it will learn your style of driving - drive slower/more leisurely and it changes gear sooner - drive much quicker/pushing on and it holds gears for longer

[J18A]

I paid £2400 for mine 6.5 years ago...

They're still a similar kind of price today, condition is the most important thing, they're getting on a bit now, so it's probably better to pay a little more for one that's got good bodywork.

And yes, so long as the RPM won't go below idle or above the redline, you can shift up or down. It won't upshift automatically when you hit the rev limiter (it'll happily bounce off it all day long), but if your speed/revs drop too low for the gear you're in, it will automatically downshift a gear, but other than that, it'll do what you want it to.

Ahh that's really good! There's one on piston heads for 3k. Looks pretty good, but I'd have to wait for my NCB to come in.

And if you leave it in auto it will learn your style of driving - drive slower/more leisurely and it changes gear sooner - drive much quicker/pushing on and it holds gears for longer

From what you're saying, I can assume it can be rather economical then?

[giblet]

Mine should be up for sale in Feb/March. It's on 64k at the moment, has a few mods including an LPG conversion. Will probably fit my colour coded upgraded brembo calipers prior to the sale too.

[Dimes]

[QUOTE]From what you're saying, I can assume it can be rather economical then?/QUOTE]

I presume your tongue is firmly in your cheek....
From my experience the only time I got improved economy from my car was a trip to Whitby North Yorkshire where most of the journey was at 50mph

I probably felt very similar to you about the gearbox pre ownership of a VR4.
I've now had a complete manual conversion sitting in my garage for nearly 18 months with no thoughts of swapping, until the auto goes pop that is, then it'll be three pedal time.

Ben at quoted me £560 + VAT for the conversion. If my memory serves the manual conversion cost me £700

If you ever make it down to see JTA in Berkhamsted ( which I advise you do ), I'm only five minutes from John so feel free to give me a shout to.

Good luck in your search for a clean and tidy VR4. As many have said...... Buy on condition alone not milage or any so called service history, the right oils and service intervals are critical with these beasts. If it looks, sounds, smells and drives good it probably is. Providing you've checked for tin worm that is.........

P.s Another thing many others have said, buy club membership. Worth every penny of £20 imo

[J18A]

Mine should be up for sale in Feb/March. It's on 64k at the moment, has a few mods including an LPG conversion. Will probably fit my colour coded upgraded brembo calipers prior to the sale too.

Ahh nice! What sort of price range are you looking for?

From what you're saying, I can assume it can be rather economical then?

I presume your tongue is firmly in your cheek....
From my experience the only time I got improved economy from my car was a trip to Whitby North Yorkshire where most of the journey was at 50mph

I probably felt very similar to you about the gearbox pre ownership of a VR4.
I've now had a complete manual conversion sitting in my garage for nearly 18 months with no thoughts of swapping, until the auto goes pop that is, then it'll be three pedal time.

Ben at quoted me £560 + VAT for the conversion. If my memory serves the manual conversion cost me £700

If you ever make it down to see JTA in Berkhamsted ( which I advise you do ), I'm only five minutes from John so feel free to give me a shout to.

Good luck in your search for a clean and tidy VR4. As many have said...... Buy on condition alone not milage or any so called service history, the right oils and service intervals are critical with these beasts. If it looks, sounds, smells and drives good it probably is. Providing you've checked for tin worm that is.........

P.s Another thing many others have said, buy club membership. Worth every penny of £20 imo

Lol, I meant economical as in for a car of this engine size and spec. So the auto's that good? Wow, that's not bad at all. How much do LPG conversions cost on these? Yeah, I definitely will sometime next week! What does the club membership offer? Wouldn't mind given that I knew!

[giblet]

Ahh nice! What sort of price range are you looking for?

Probably £4000, I'll be posting an advert on here closer to the time.

[Dimes]

I figured you didn't mean economical in the conventional sense.
Just to give you some numbers without making you wince, you can work out the mpg if you wish but I don't need reminding. My best milage from a tank was 255 miles, I'm lucky to get 150 these days from a full tank of Nitro+.

I think @giblet mentioned earlier that an LPG conversion costs £1200, that was my previous understanding also. I plan on getting mine converted soon to.
There are definitely a few specialist fitters around the club somewhere and I've heard nothing but good things from those who run LPG cars.

Club membership if you're lucky offers you a modicum of respect from fellow members............Free stickers................ Then there's all the stuff the Brains Trust has put together that you can't see as a registered user which is very very useful.

[Grid]

............Free stickers................

what stickers. The knowledge base is amazing and membership is highly recommended though.

[J18A]

Probably £4000, I'll be posting an advert on here closer to the time.

Sure sounds good!

I figured you didn't mean economical in the conventional sense.
Just to give you some numbers without making you wince, you can work out the mpg if you wish but I don't need reminding. My best milage from a tank was 255 miles, I'm lucky to get 150 these days from a full tank of Nitro+.

I think @giblet mentioned earlier that an LPG conversion costs £1200, that was my previous understanding also. I plan on getting mine converted soon to.
There are definitely a few specialist fitters around the club somewhere and I've heard nothing but good things from those who run LPG cars.

Club membership if you're lucky offers you a modicum of respect from fellow members............Free stickers................ Then there's all the stuff the Brains Trust has put together that you can't see as a registered user which is very very useful.

Yeah, definitely. I'm so keen on the LPG conversion now. 150 for a full tank is pretty horrendous, haha. Hmm, I'll definitely consider it, thanks!

what stickers. The knowledge base is amazing and membership is highly recommended though.

Yeah, thanks! I'll look into it!

[J18A]

Got my full membership!

[Grid]

[foxdie]

Fuel economy varies wildly. In my last manual, after some tuning and hacking the Innovate MTX-L to run the car at 15.2:1 AFR at cruise I was seeing 30-32 MPG on motorway runs.

In my current completely stock auto that I've had just over a week I've filled it up 3 times and gotten 26 MPG (half long distance, half commute), 23.5 MPG (all commute) and 27.9 MPG (all long distance).

[J18A]

Fuel economy varies wildly. In my last manual, after some tuning and hacking the Innovate MTX-L to run the car at 15.2:1 AFR at cruise I was seeing 30-32 MPG on motorway runs.

In my current completely stock auto that I've had just over a week I've filled it up 3 times and gotten 26 MPG (half long distance, half commute), 23.5 MPG (all commute) and 27.9 MPG (all long distance).

That's not too bad for what the car is. I'm sure any other car with similar engine specifications would drink even more!

[Nick Mann]

Expect 18 mpg. If you expect 25 mpg there is a good chance that you will be disappointed.

[J18A]

Expect 18 mpg. If you expect 25 mpg there is a good chance that you will be disappointed.

Yes, of course! I'll be getting the LPG conversion done asap, so that shouldn't be much of an issue then!

[Davezj]

I will have a black pre facelift legnum with a factory manual box and stage II compaction clutch, LPG conversion, mapped ECU, raised boost and fuel cut, newly pro rebuilt and balanced turbo's, etec, etc , ready for sale early next year.

I will have a recaro Red interior and a brembo conversion for sale at the same time early next year.

[J18A]

I will have a black pre facelift legnum with a factory manual box and stage II compaction clutch, LPG conversion, mapped ECU, raised boost and fuel cut, newly pro rebuilt and balanced turbo's, etec, etc , ready for sale early next year.

I will have a recaro Red interior and a brembo conversion for sale at the same time early next year.

What sort of price range are you looking for?

[Davezj]

Not sure yet?