Jim

Got to love drunk posting ;)

Badass :) Storm with cream leather recaro's and BBS CH's... dribble... do nothing else to it - it's perfection.

That's what this forum is all about :) Good work guys.

Bit of useful info in this thread from the Corrado Club of Canada... we've had similar discussions on here in the past but can't lay my hands on the thread for some reason.. http://www.corrado-club.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4479 Specifically the issue about the pin holding the column in place.

Damn - I wish I'd gotten commission off that sale! :)

Looks like you can get away with the same size as mine... just different fitment on the wheels.... MyTyres has a car selector thing to find the wheels suitable for your car. Worth mentioning I only got 91H tyres so limited to 130MPH. Can't say I've ever been that quick in the Octavia though so shouldn't be a problem.. especially on icy roads. Check it out here: http://www.mytyres.co.uk/Steel_wheels.html

Might be worth checking on some BMW forums or even checking with the dealer if they offer a winter steels package of some kind, so you can find out what size you need. My car normally runs on 18's but checking a popular Skoda forum I was able to establish that 205/55/16's would be correct for my car and 16's would indeed clear the callipers :)

MyTyres do a steel wheel / winter tyre combo.... pretty reasonably priced. I just got a set of 16" steels and 205/55/16 Michelin Alpin A4's ordered for my Octavia for £534 delivered. Could have bought that right down if I got some more generic tyres (down to about £420). Pretty painful but then figured I'll be able to use these for the next 2-3 years all being well so spreading that cost over three years softens the pain somewhat.

I saw about 128 when I took my 16v out on the track once and nothing blew up thankfully... :)

If anyone decides to go for this in the Midlands area, I go up to Grimsby from time to time for the football (Grimsby Town supporter!) so could pick these up from Chris and hand them to you at a meet / show / whatever.

To be honest I don't think you'll really be going anywhere in an automatic BMW when it snows... they're normally the first cars I see abandoned on the roadside when the bad weather comes! :(

Yeah but is that from the speedo or GPS verified? :)

Actually I read that AFTER ordering the tyres - and thought to myself "Bring it on" ;)

Yeah - did a fair bit of reading up as I was concerned about brake clearance and whole bunch of guys on Briskoda are running that size wheel and tyre on their VRS's so should be all good :)

On non-snowy roads, in conditions like we have currently, how did you find handling and road noise compared to normal all season tyres? I've never driven on winter tyres so have no idea what to expect.

Well this year I decided I'd had enough of dreading the arrival of the snow. And what with wanting to visit family over christmas, and some family members with health problems I needed to remain "road worthy" as much as I could be so took the plunge - not on the Corrado though I should point out. Gone for some 205/55/16 Michelin Alpin A4's (get very good reviews) for my Octavia - going to be interesting dropping from 18" to 16" (I've gone with the tyre and steel wheel combo from MyTyres) but will give some thoughts on them as and when they're on the car - and of course when (if) it snows.

Good to meet you guys yesterday (EJ Taylor / wapadrand) - good little meet :) Shame it was so horrid and cold outside - not much chance to poke around the cars! I actually only ran over to my car to get my coat because I was freezing rather than mean I was leaving but seemed a good time to wrap up. Hopefully see you guys again at the next one (or a future one).

Magnex did sell the backbox separately I believe - so it could be a full system, or just a backbox...

Agreed. And on later cars it seems the door is slightly wider at the top just above the bump strips - and so usually the door will actually hit the wall or another car before the bump strip does! Another vote for the de-wipered rear... really cleans up the back end for some reason!

Excellent! Nice rarity :) Keep us updated with progress!

If the genuine one ever falls apart, it'll be the TT I import. As you say, there are just so few good exhaust systems available in this country for the Corrado :(

To be fair the TechTonics one does sound amazing.. just the hassle of getting it imported from the states :( I drove Mic VR's car when it had it fitted and the sound was perfect.

The Project Essential was the one I was thinking of getting when I recently started picking up a few albums on vinyl but in the end a mate of mine got me some freebie job. I only ever saw good reviews of that one though so must be worth a punt!

We really could do with compiling an FAQ of the most common questions.. I know there was the wiki but obviously that's been neglected for quite a while. We could have a sticky thread at the top of each main subforum (e.g. interior, etc) with threads containing links to the most common problems. Lots of forums do this and I think it' a good idea... Once I've got this issue of the Sprinter out of the way I might think about making a start on something like that?

If I can get to the garage in time I'll dig out the Corrado, but most likely will have to be the Octavia. See you there for 7pm!