Just got back from the Phirm today woth some new pics so thought it was about time to start the story from the begining on my journey to building my Mk4 R32 Turbo.
The story goes back to me owning a Black Corrado VR6. She was my baby for 7 superb years. My original intention towards the end of my ownership was to turbo charge it and install 4wd. However one day I just thought it was time for a change, the Corrado was starting to 'feel' quite old. I bought her with 50k on the clock and sold her with 130k. So my search for a new car was on.
I drove everything out there. M3's, TVR's, Boxter's etc. Although the TVR's (Tamora + T350C) I were looking at were awesome, they were just too much work for every day. Then in one garage I saw a Subaru Impreza P1. I did not know too much about it but after a test drive knew that a P1 would be my next car. So after extensive research I found the perfect example which was running about 330BHP.
All was good but I soon realised that to keep my pride and joy in the A1 condition I like them to be in, I had to buy a second car as a daily run around. I was too scared to leave the P1 anywhere, it stuck out like a sore thumb!! Plus it only had 25k on the clock and was in day 1 factory condition.
I then bought a Golf Mk1 Cabriolet as my daily runner - a superb car but thats another story all in itself!!
In one journey in the P1, I came up against a Mk4 R32. I must be honest and say that I really made him look like he was going backwards!! There was absolutely no contest in speed.
After about a year I realised I was not 100% 'in love' with my car like I was with my Corrado. It was probably because I did not drive it that much and when I did I was paranoid to leave it anywhere. So the decision was made to sell it and look for a suitable alternative.....
The new search meant my options were now tweaked to only include cars that did not 'stick out like a sore thumb'!!! I also wanted 4wd, and would not entertain anything else. Although I was very tempted by a BMW M Coupe but to be honest I felt too claustrophobic inside it.
I did think about the R32 - When it first came out I had a deposit on one. However the Dealer at the time told me it would only be coming in Blue and I wanted Black so it was cancelled. When I found out they then allowed different colours I decided to stick with my Corrado.
Then I test drove an R32 that had been turbo'd. It was I think the 1st or 2nd one in the UK to use the EIP kit - yes I know before you all shout about EIP!!
The R32 was in Volkswagen Driver April 2006 and basically the guy fitted the kit himself with help from VR6 Specialist in Netherlands. I read the article and then went to drive the car and was seriously impressed. Unfortunately it had unexplained repaired damage that I was not happy about and the guy was not impressed with my offer, which I thought was more than fair at the time.
So I then thought about building my own. This was January 2008.
In February my hunt for the perfect R32 then led me to ebay and something I have never ever done.....bought a car without seeing it!!
There was an R32 in Black, full leather and 14k on the clock. It was being sold from a Police compound. After much research into the situation I later found out that the car was taken off someone as part of an asset seizure and it then sat in a Police compound for just over 2 years. They were then allowed to sell it and it was put up for auction.
There was 2 days left on the auction and it was in Blackpool, some 5 hours away from me so no chance in viewing it - especially as you had to pre-book with the Police!
So I took the gamble. I thought, the price with that mileage in good condition would have been about 16k / 17k at the time so even if there is a bit of damage I could pay to get it repaired and it would still be a good price. I put my bid in at £11,500. And I was the winning bidder with I think £11,250!!! Oh my god start the heart pumping, what have I done?? You have just spent 11k on a car without even seeing it!! And I'm meant to be a Financial Adviser!!
So then it was a long drive to pick up my new baby and trailor it to Tim at the Phirm. Tim then checked the car all over, MOT'd it and gave it a clean bill of health. The only problem was a scratch down the passenger rear quarter panel and that was it, so not too bad at all!! It turned out to be the right decision.
Now the hunt was on for a Turbo. Tim at the Phirm had looked after all my cars for a lomng time so he was always going to be the person to do all the work and advise me what was going to work best.
A turbo kit became available which just happend to be a brand new yet to be fitted EIP kit. I discussed my concerns with Tim about EIP but after talking to him and doing some research it quickly became apparent that the actual quality of the kit was great and I knew Tim knew what he was doing so was happy to leave him to it.
Due to a few communication issues, work was a little delayed on the R. The first mod I actually carried out was the Diamond Cut and Polished alloys with new R centre caps. I originally had these done to my Corrado and was very pleased with the finish that I now have. I opted to have the inserts painted in black to match the body work. These were then fitted to the car in about October of last year.
In June of this year my car was then taken to the Phirm. I was actually going to be the first car to be worked on in their brand new workshop. I was really impressed with the new place much better than before!
I went to see the car after a month or so and all the pipe work for the intercooler had been done. Tim had just finished all the work he was doing on the manifolds. All the work is custom to fit specifically for my car. The work gone into what Tim has done is amazing, it really is a piece of arwork seeing all the intricate cuts and welds he had to make.
I had to then buy a new stereo as Tim was going to remove the factory one to make room for some new guages! I really like the clean original look so liked Tim's suggestion in putting in a single din stereo and then housing the guages above. I have not got any pics of this yet but I will post them up as soon as I do. They will light up to exactly the same colour as the dials already there so will tie in quite nicely at night time.
The brakes was a long process in working out what to have. I have seen what a lot of people have fitted and tried a few different R's to see how they feel. But in the end I wanted what I had in my Subaru, AP Racing. They really are the best in my opinion.
However, AP do not make a setup for the R, only an upgrade for the GTi. If I go for that I actually decrease the size of my disc, not good!
So I believe what we have now is an AP Racing setup for an Audi RS4. I will then have the AP Racing 6 pot callipers that I was aftter and 362mm discs. I can't wait to try these babies out.
Today I was at the Phirm to take some pics of all the bits I have had ceramic coated from Zircotec. I am amazed at what they can do and after doing some reaearch and speaking to them, decided to get all the manifolds done, turbo housing, down pipe and boost pipe.
These arrived back yesterday so it can all go back together now. Once Tim has done this I will be hopefully going down soonish to then test drive and then take down to the rollers!
I have put some pics in to give you an idea of what has been happening.
I hope you enjoy reading and I will be posting updates as soon as the arrive!! Hopefully the next update will be pics of the completed install and then a roadtest!
Regards
James
The story goes back to me owning a Black Corrado VR6. She was my baby for 7 superb years. My original intention towards the end of my ownership was to turbo charge it and install 4wd. However one day I just thought it was time for a change, the Corrado was starting to 'feel' quite old. I bought her with 50k on the clock and sold her with 130k. So my search for a new car was on.
I drove everything out there. M3's, TVR's, Boxter's etc. Although the TVR's (Tamora + T350C) I were looking at were awesome, they were just too much work for every day. Then in one garage I saw a Subaru Impreza P1. I did not know too much about it but after a test drive knew that a P1 would be my next car. So after extensive research I found the perfect example which was running about 330BHP.
All was good but I soon realised that to keep my pride and joy in the A1 condition I like them to be in, I had to buy a second car as a daily run around. I was too scared to leave the P1 anywhere, it stuck out like a sore thumb!! Plus it only had 25k on the clock and was in day 1 factory condition.
I then bought a Golf Mk1 Cabriolet as my daily runner - a superb car but thats another story all in itself!!
In one journey in the P1, I came up against a Mk4 R32. I must be honest and say that I really made him look like he was going backwards!! There was absolutely no contest in speed.
After about a year I realised I was not 100% 'in love' with my car like I was with my Corrado. It was probably because I did not drive it that much and when I did I was paranoid to leave it anywhere. So the decision was made to sell it and look for a suitable alternative.....
The new search meant my options were now tweaked to only include cars that did not 'stick out like a sore thumb'!!! I also wanted 4wd, and would not entertain anything else. Although I was very tempted by a BMW M Coupe but to be honest I felt too claustrophobic inside it.
I did think about the R32 - When it first came out I had a deposit on one. However the Dealer at the time told me it would only be coming in Blue and I wanted Black so it was cancelled. When I found out they then allowed different colours I decided to stick with my Corrado.
Then I test drove an R32 that had been turbo'd. It was I think the 1st or 2nd one in the UK to use the EIP kit - yes I know before you all shout about EIP!!
The R32 was in Volkswagen Driver April 2006 and basically the guy fitted the kit himself with help from VR6 Specialist in Netherlands. I read the article and then went to drive the car and was seriously impressed. Unfortunately it had unexplained repaired damage that I was not happy about and the guy was not impressed with my offer, which I thought was more than fair at the time.
So I then thought about building my own. This was January 2008.
In February my hunt for the perfect R32 then led me to ebay and something I have never ever done.....bought a car without seeing it!!
There was an R32 in Black, full leather and 14k on the clock. It was being sold from a Police compound. After much research into the situation I later found out that the car was taken off someone as part of an asset seizure and it then sat in a Police compound for just over 2 years. They were then allowed to sell it and it was put up for auction.
There was 2 days left on the auction and it was in Blackpool, some 5 hours away from me so no chance in viewing it - especially as you had to pre-book with the Police!
So I took the gamble. I thought, the price with that mileage in good condition would have been about 16k / 17k at the time so even if there is a bit of damage I could pay to get it repaired and it would still be a good price. I put my bid in at £11,500. And I was the winning bidder with I think £11,250!!! Oh my god start the heart pumping, what have I done?? You have just spent 11k on a car without even seeing it!! And I'm meant to be a Financial Adviser!!
So then it was a long drive to pick up my new baby and trailor it to Tim at the Phirm. Tim then checked the car all over, MOT'd it and gave it a clean bill of health. The only problem was a scratch down the passenger rear quarter panel and that was it, so not too bad at all!! It turned out to be the right decision.
Now the hunt was on for a Turbo. Tim at the Phirm had looked after all my cars for a lomng time so he was always going to be the person to do all the work and advise me what was going to work best.
A turbo kit became available which just happend to be a brand new yet to be fitted EIP kit. I discussed my concerns with Tim about EIP but after talking to him and doing some research it quickly became apparent that the actual quality of the kit was great and I knew Tim knew what he was doing so was happy to leave him to it.
Due to a few communication issues, work was a little delayed on the R. The first mod I actually carried out was the Diamond Cut and Polished alloys with new R centre caps. I originally had these done to my Corrado and was very pleased with the finish that I now have. I opted to have the inserts painted in black to match the body work. These were then fitted to the car in about October of last year.
In June of this year my car was then taken to the Phirm. I was actually going to be the first car to be worked on in their brand new workshop. I was really impressed with the new place much better than before!
I went to see the car after a month or so and all the pipe work for the intercooler had been done. Tim had just finished all the work he was doing on the manifolds. All the work is custom to fit specifically for my car. The work gone into what Tim has done is amazing, it really is a piece of arwork seeing all the intricate cuts and welds he had to make.
I had to then buy a new stereo as Tim was going to remove the factory one to make room for some new guages! I really like the clean original look so liked Tim's suggestion in putting in a single din stereo and then housing the guages above. I have not got any pics of this yet but I will post them up as soon as I do. They will light up to exactly the same colour as the dials already there so will tie in quite nicely at night time.
The brakes was a long process in working out what to have. I have seen what a lot of people have fitted and tried a few different R's to see how they feel. But in the end I wanted what I had in my Subaru, AP Racing. They really are the best in my opinion.
However, AP do not make a setup for the R, only an upgrade for the GTi. If I go for that I actually decrease the size of my disc, not good!
So I believe what we have now is an AP Racing setup for an Audi RS4. I will then have the AP Racing 6 pot callipers that I was aftter and 362mm discs. I can't wait to try these babies out.
Today I was at the Phirm to take some pics of all the bits I have had ceramic coated from Zircotec. I am amazed at what they can do and after doing some reaearch and speaking to them, decided to get all the manifolds done, turbo housing, down pipe and boost pipe.
These arrived back yesterday so it can all go back together now. Once Tim has done this I will be hopefully going down soonish to then test drive and then take down to the rollers!
I have put some pics in to give you an idea of what has been happening.
I hope you enjoy reading and I will be posting updates as soon as the arrive!! Hopefully the next update will be pics of the completed install and then a roadtest!
Regards
James
