dr_mat

Tell me about it. I have to get my track rods replaced again cos the inner ball joints are a bit sticky.. 5000 miles hasn't loosened em up, so they gotta go. It'll be VW from now on.. Pity they're so damned extortionate, but I guess you get what you pay for.

Actually, my MOT warned on brake hoses the other week and I was thinking of getting some Goodridge ones for the VR too. AFAIK I have standard late VR rear brake calipers, so can I just go buy a Golf iii GTi set?

There's hundreds of "only £40 once every ten years" repairs to be done on Corrados. Which is a bit shite if you happen to have a ten year old Corrado!

An "independent review" said they were slightly better, but to be honest there's not much in it.

We sell Osram Silverstars too .. :wink: And 20p cheaper too! :)

The only fix is to replace them. Oh, you can't, cos VW don't have any. :roll: Shame. It's not going to leak, it's a purely cosmetic thing..

Spoiler sounds like it's getting stiff (oooerrr), as for the ABS the only sensible way to tell what's up with it is to scan the error codes. Most likely it's a problem with one of the front wheel sensors. They are often intermittent like you describe.

You should have been quicker off the mark.. ;)

Heh heh - I recall Jim saying he had to have a replacement insert after 4 years (I think?) on his VT front mount in the G60. I appreciate the improvement though, compared to my 8-year old OE mount the car DOES feel better to drive with the shiny new VT mount. How much of that is down to the shiny newness I will never know!

I guess we agree to differ, since this thread's going round in circles..

Great, I'll have two! Where do we get these from? How?

coolrado: the fundamental difference is that we actually pay this copper to drive fast on public roads, it's his job. Rally drivers are not paid to drive on open public roads. Skill is not the issue. I agree with Kev to some extent - this story should generate *persecution* which will make this guy's local constabulary put in place proper procedures to deal with their practice sessions. Even if he'd radioed back and said "mark me as being on a practice session for 30 minutes" he would have had some protection from all this fuss because there would be corroborated evidence that he was on an official practice session. That at least would have diverted the focus away from his actions and on to the broader issue of police driver training. (Which is really what this is all about.) The headline grabbing approach is too tempting for the tabloids, however, obviously.

I bloody well hope so...

You mean persecuted or prosecuted?? The other side of the morality argument is to say: when *do* we want these guys to do their vehicle familiarisation? Should it be announced in the local papers? They surely need to obtain some experience of driving at speed on public roads, cos that's what their job demands of them. Better they get that experience in a controlled manner at 4am on empty roads than have to learn quickly at 11:30 pm on busy roads...

And human beings are capable of amazing things. Like flying planes 100 feet off the ground at 600 mph. I would imagine that driving on the M54 at 160 mph is a doddle by comparison. Good job there's no speed limits in the sky, isn't it? I agree that on the evidence I have in front of me (i.e. anecdotal reports in the newspapers and tv) that I think 84 in a 30 zone was too fast, and I think he should get a major bollocking from his senior officers over that alone (even if just for bringing the service into disrepute), but since I do not possess all the facts, I do not deserve to state an opinion.. I certainly don't consider that I have a RIGHT to an opinion, since I don't know all the facts. I will therefore leave it up to the judge and the prosecuting officers who DO possess all the facts.

GSF do recon racks, but you can't buy brand new ones (not genuine ones, anyway) anywhere other than the dealer. I don't know exactly what you get in a rack repair kit. I would HOPE you get a new rack and pinion, and seals and bearings and so on, but I've never seen one.

"wheel moving side-to-side slightly" ... eh? The WHOLE wheel? Or just the bit on the ground? If it's the whole wheel it could be wheel bearings but if it's just one edge of the wheel (the bit in contact with the ground) you've got a buckled wheel, or it's not on right.

Did I mention that TWO independent police officers REFUSED to describe his driving as reckless or dangerous? Despite the 80 in a 30-zone.. (We all know how 30 zones get plastered around all kinds of big roads with no reason sometimes...) I'm sure I mentioned that... We need more facts to judge for ourselves. Preferably his in-car camera footage.

You can buy repair kits for the rack but I doubt it's something that you'd want to tackle without some experience. Plus you'd need to take the rack off the car in the first place and strip it down. Not an easy or quick job!

You or I are NOT trained police pursuit drivers, on duty in our single-purpose pursuit car. You and I are Joe Bloggs with a driving license we passed 10+ years ago where we never went above 50mph most likely. TWO independant police officers declined to describe the guy's driving as either dangerous or reckless. They did indicate that the speeds were much over the limits, but also indicated that there was no traffic and that the conditions were dry and clear. This guy is trained to do this. We paid for him to be trained, and then we gave him a powerful car, and we expect him to use it when we need him to, and that's what he does - he puts his OWN life on the line to stop idiots nicking OUR cars. What're ya gonna do??

maybe I don't..

The autocar tests have in-gear times recorded. I might have a copy somewhere....

Unless you're referring to the Universal joints that connect the bottom of the column assembly to the rack.. In which case I believe there's two different types - one for earlier cars one for later ones. Also expensive new, I've been told even they're over £200+VAT. There is a universal joint -type linkage in the column assembly itself if you have the adjustable height column (though it looks more like a CV joint than a standard universal joint). If you have the fixed column there's no such thing..

He has to record the speed for half a mile for it to be reliable evidence. If he stuck the flashers on straight away the perp would slow down and mess up the average speed calculation. The reason this guy "got away with it" is due to there being NO official policy in his police force for choosing when and where to do "practice" runs.. Therefore any trained pursuit driver can claim that he was on training between emergency calls when he gets caught speeding. It's not his fault, it's the force's fault for not having a procedure. Still think he should have been officially reprimanded for 80-ish in a 30 zone though, despite the legality of his actions.

I bought a 2nd hand one off ebay for £20, got it fitted at Stealth the other month for 2 hrs labour, and so far (touching all the local fibrous vegetable matter I can see) it's been fine...