as most of you know my fabia will be gone in days,its replacement will be either a mk2 16v or a mk3 vr6,i love mk2's and would love to be in one again,but the sensible side of me wants a vr6 as it is more modern comfortable with more standard toys and comforts,i know my way round a mk2 well enough but the mk3's i have never had anything to do with,so what is the general opinions on

1. which should i buy

2.what do i need to look for on a mk3 vr6?

loved my vr6 gary , got to watch the timing chains on them tho , its really expensive.

the heater matrix can be dodgy and are a total git to do as the whole dash has to come out.

other than that , only everyday stuff, handling is ok but needs to be lowered and rarb helps tons.

leathers nice in the highline but not grippy . rust may be a problem in the sills now . sunroof broke on mine and again wasnt an easy fix

go and look on the vr6oc , guy runs its called pete leese , know him reasonably well.

Gotta be a mk2 16v really. Nice as VR6's sound they're a bit lardy! Mate has a 16v with a power rohr inlet pipe, cone filter adapter plate (because of the k-jet) with a cold air relocation kit (home made) and Magnex cat-back oval exhaust and it used to sound awesome! Almost like it was supercharged! Plus they like to be revved which I doubt the VR6 really does only being a 12v. It's currently in bits being restored at the moment but it was seriously quick when it was on the road!

VR6, simply for the noise!

Matey-Matey Golf Buying Guide

Might be worth having a read through this. Definitely covers the Mk2, not sure about the Mk3.

I used to have a Mk2 Valver about 10 years ago & it really got me into the VAG scene.

K&N, K Star mapping, Magnex 4 branch manifold, Jetex full system. Sounded awesome.

Loved it...........still miss it..........that's why I want to another!

Or maybe a Mk1 Golf/Jetta & fit a 16V conversion........maybe on carbs..........or even bike carbs!!!

Oh sh!t, you've got me going now!

or , you could find a mk2 with vr6 motor , problem solved.

if you go down the vr6 route then stay well clear of the automatic ones, they are really problematic...

also the vr6 engine suffers really badly from cylinder wear on the thrust side of the pistons, so ones with high mileage will burn up a lot of oil

also as others have said, the timing chain is a gearbox out job too