Tempest

More disappointment then: Not only have Audi doen a very similar looking concept car at last year's Japanese Motorshow, the Shooting Brake, but Skoda are presenting their almost similar looking Joyster concept car at the Paris Motorshow later this month. All part of the same group, so part- and body-sharing here we go ... Tempest

Might be, but wouldn't go amiss replacing the belt anyway, given that it's had a higher resistance from the rollers anyway. Tempest

I'd then definitely replace the plastic tensioner rollers. When I changed all the belts on my G60, I also tested the platic tensioner roller for the polyribbed belt, and they were still fine, no resistance, turned smoothly, no noises, but in your case you've got the symptonms of knackered rollers. Tempest

Not sure whether this is the right place, but I'm desperately looking for a place/garage in the West Midlands area, that can regas my aircon system, preferably with RS24 refrigerant, now that I've finished the repairs on the system. It used to run on R12, but RS24 is a drop-in gas that works fine. My local place in Coventry keep on messing me about (cancelling appointments), so I'm fed up with them and am looking for another place. Can't find anything in the Thomson or Yellow pages, so was wondering whether anyone can recommend a good and reasonably priced place that can refill while I wait. Ideally I would want this done tomorrow! I was banking on getting it done yesterday (my local garage then got flooded due to heavy rainfall and cancelled the appointment after I had actually called them up to find out :roll:, then said I could try today, phoned them up today and they cancelled again!!! :mad: ). Tempest

Unlike some other VWs from that period of time, the C actually was designed quite optimally with the oem set-up (suspension and wheel sizes), so diverting from that optimum will mean trade-offs or complete down-grades in other departments (looks, handling :lol:, etc.). Tempest

Didn't realise that a seemingly subjective statement (given away by the fact that I used words like perceived etc. and stated that to get any really valid comparison results one would have to conduct far more accurate tests of accelaration etc. with same tyres, same car, same conditions all round bar one tiny aspect like alloys, which is something NONE of us have ever done - correct me if I'm wrong) could cause so much love for (sp)ham (?). Anyway, as gsbellew has stated, and I quote: "Two things are going on there, lighter wheels are easier to turn, so they can be spun up quicker, for example, if wheel "A" spins up to x revolutions quicker than wheel "B" acceleration in a straight line on wheel "A" will be that bit quicker than wheel "B". " the 2 issues are related. Primarily, of course a smaller (and therefore often lighter, but not always as there are actually heavier 15" alloys out there than some 17", this is where I stated that I hadn't weighed any of my allotys other than that I had noticed a small difference in weight between the 17s and 16s on my C) wheel will accelerate quicker (angular acceleration), as the driveshafts outputting the same amount of torque will find less moment of inertia at their ends, hence resulting in quicker angular acceleration of the wheels (indeed a bit like lightened flywheels for those who've ever done that - my Mk1 has a lightened flywheel, where this principle is very noticable). This in turn has to mean that your C will also accelerate quicker in a straight line (makes sense, doesn't it when you think about it), wheel accelerating quicker, hence putting the power onto the road quicker must mean quicker staright line acceleration. BTW: Topic of "Putting shopping into the boot and not noticing the difference in straight line acceleration", I have noticed differences, perhaps not with shopping (where it would depend on how much, i.e. how much added weight), but stick in 3 other people and yes, I did notice a small difference, of course you would in any car, unless it's some 1000 bhp monster where the car's got so much power that it doesn't matter how much weight you throw into it. Yes, there are issues of increased rolling resistance due to wider tyres (I went from 7" to 7.5"), but I still perceived quicker acceleration, the word being perceived as in "never timed myself" or "never did any scientifically valid tests". Hence from a pure subjective point of view I am pleased that I took the decision of going down to 16s, as most other C drivers will have found themselves, unless they have chosen a much heavier 16" alloy than the 17" alloy they might have been running before, or their own purely subjective perception has proven otherwise, again the keyword being perceived. Without real tests on a track with set conditions etc. this will never be provable in real scientific terms. Tempest

Hmm, managed to clock up 300 miles on my Mk1 this season so far :oops: Then again, I've only taxed it as of June, and plan on putting it back on Sorn again end of this month. The Mk2 Rocco is at 1000 miles or so, and the Rado is at little under 5000 miles this year. Tha will change, too, as I intend to take the C off the road during winter this year. Tempest

Hamdling as in going around corners at what I perceived to be higher speeds without tendencies of the car breaking away. Hamdling as in being able to make directional changes rapidly (eg. object avoidance) and the C following my commands instantaneously - this I also felt had improved with the 16s compred to my previous 17s. I thought I perceived minor improvements in acceleration, which is most likely due to having to accelerate a little less weight. Mind you, a proper test would have taken into consideration things like weighing the wheels (which I haven't), and various other repeatable tests. Tempest

Yeah, WTF are you doing in your current job then ? :lol: I have to admit that I don't always like my job, as a large proportion of the population seem to start to get bored with their jobs over time, I presume, but overall I'm happy with what it is. There are far worse things out there (slave labouring in China for p*ss-poor salaries whilst the fruits of your labour go to some rich b*stard, ... erm have been reading too much on the Chinese threat to our Western economies again :lol:) Tempest

Must say that when I dropped from my 17x7 BKs with 205/40 tyres to 16x7.5 Momos with 205/45 Uniroyal tyres I noticed what I perceived to be a huge improvement in hamdling and even acceleration. Tempest

Trivial matters? These are questions of life and death (or should that be life or death? :lol:), well, to Rocco/Rado-fans at least :roll: Yes, it was actually a joint-venture, but would have been sold under the VW-logo. I suppose I can give VW some credit for at that point of time allowing an enthusiastic bunch of engineers (not accountants, that's for sure :lol:) to come up with dropping a K-Jet engine into a Mk1 Golf, creating the GTI icon as we now know it :-) True, but I wouldn't expect that sort of indifference from a ChipsAway or other bodyshop outlet, where the main business is to work on cars. Bit like going to PC World and them not knowing anything about computers ... :oops: bad example :lol: Tempest

It certainly is, Doug :-) I'm afraid to say, that that will continue to be the case for many more years to come. The Mk5 Goof despite the press raving about its handling being so similar to the Mk1 Goof still doesn't do it for me in the looks-department (it looks sh*te, to put it finely :lol:), let alone failing on that other major criterion for me: How easy is it to work on a car. That latter criterion makes up at least 50% of joy of ownership of a car for me (daily bangers excepted, where I simply wouldn't care). Simplicity of design and DIY-friendliness is blatantly missing from any new car these days, where you can't even change a light-bulb anymore without taking off the front wing (Merc A-class, new Beetle for example). On the Mk5 Goff you need to take the front wing off to reposition the doors :roll: That's one of the reasons why it takes VW no less than 40 hours average to build one compared to a competitor such as the Focus, which Ford knocks out in half the time (source: Boston Consulting who've analysed why VW is in such deep financial troubels, they've not recently heard of design-for-manufacture). Go figure. Tempest

Tasteless comments there :lol: Sciroccos never are and have never been VWs. They're Karmanns. But I too often let that one go through anyway :lol: If it hadn't been for Karmann we wouldn't have a Rocco, nor would we have a Rado for that matter, as VW never managed to build a sports car or coupe, ever. Ghia? Nope, a Karmann. 924? They gave up on that and gave it to Porsche. VW make Beetles and boring Goofs (where if pushed I'd be tempted by a Mk1, certainly none of the later ones). The rest they buy in (Bugatti, Lambo, Audi, yes even Audi was bought in end of 60s to finally be able to move away from their outdated aircooled rear wheel drive technology). Anyway, I just call anything with 4 wheels and a steering wheel which isn't a Rocco or Rado another bucket or shopping trolley or dustbin, no matter what it is, there being very very few exceptions. No valid comparison, as the Rocco and Rado were at least developed and sold in a free democratic society. Even Porsche did not necessarily approve of what was happening to his designs under the regime. But if pushed and given the way the statement was phrased (it's the wording that matters often as well as historical inaccuracies), the answer to your question would almost have to be yes. Now flame me, folks :lol: Tempest

Well, after I have acquired some bumper scuffs on my beloved Mk1 Rocco recently (my rear alley has been narrowed just where my garage happens to be :roll: cured as of last night, after the bumper scuffs have happened), I decided to try out one of these Chips Away franchises rather than having to leave my Mk1 in the (in)competent hands of a bodyshop. At least they come out to you where I can whack them, if they hurt my Mk1 :lol: Anyway, I phoned up my local franchise this morning, told the lady what car I have ... don't know what she's written down, though, as she already struggled to write down my surname when I spelt it out to her. Phoned back just a minute ago to find out whether I'd been given an appointment, and she replied: "Yes, yes, I remember the call this morning, you were the one with the .... erm ... erm ... old VW!" :lol: So there you have it folks, I no longer drive Sciroccos rather than just an old VW :roll: What the boys with the potentially new Scirocco in a few years time might say to that ... :lol: Tempest

According to several German newspaper articles talk is still very much on an entry-level price of 22k Euros. What's entry-level is anyone's guess, 1.0 Liter engine in a 2 ton car? :lol: Tempest

That must have been the slightly younger lad, he is chattier indeed :-) He's also the one who sounded more interested when I told him tht I was off to Berlin, after he'd shown me the latest version of Etka on their systems :-) Tempest

Whilst this is true, we were assured by Dr Bernhard himself in Berlin, that the final version of the new Scirocco would be very identical indeed to what we were presented with in Berlin. Of course this doesn't mean that a guy working at the parts counter of a VW dealer shouldn't at least have heard or read about this whole new thing, especially as even the British press have slowly started to mention the Iroc (the German one has been all full of it fir the last 2 weeks, and will be again, no doubt, as soon as the Paris Autosalon will commence later this month, where VW will be presenting the Iroc design concept to a wider audience). Tempest

Oh well, might as well add: Since Wednesday eve, when my neighbour dropped off the new rad, that had arived for my C, I worked on fitting that and the new aircon condenser, refitted slam panel etc., but used the extra pair of hands offered by 2cc and Jim to get the friggin bumper with some really adventurous wiring (previous owner skimped on wiring lengths :-() back on and aligned up again, before the thermoswitch for the rad fan had to be given some more TLC, as during the first start-up, water p*ssed out at that point :oops: Hope the aircon system is tight and sealed ready for a regas, so that I might still be able to enjoy the last few summery bits in an aircon Rado :shock: Tempest

Went to my local VW parts man today to get some parts for my recent rad and aircon condenser change projects, and tried to have a chat with him about the Iroc, that I had gone to see the mega-launch event for in Berlin 2 weeks ago. I asked him what they though of it. "Wait and see." Erm ... no opions then? I might be interested in buying one to complement my Rocco-collection. "We might not get it any time soon, as it may be classed as a premium car, like the Phaeton, which we never got either." I reminded him that Listers did get one of the 6 Campaign Corrados, however. "Yes, things have changed since then." I simply stated that VW are looking at launching the Iroc as an affordable sports coupe, so it can't be a premium car, surely. "Wait and see." End of that conversation. How do your dealers react to the topic of Iroc / new Scirocco? Tempest

Yeah apart from the slight inaccuracies with respect to phasing out the Mk2 Rocco and start date sales of the C, it's a perfect article. Nice avatar there Ryan :-) Tempest

Correwct me if I'm wrong: You're looking at driving a good 450 miles without a rad? Erm, don't do it. That would be your ignition coil, easy to remove, just undo 2 nuts in the scuttle area, and you'll have easier access to the 2 coolant hoses sticking out from the firewall. Tempest

Ah, good to hear you're getting there. The only real reason that I took the scraper was so that I could liberally spray that lovely fish-smelling paint stripper stuff onto your car, hmmm, delicious ;-) Thanks too for helping me out with the final removal stage of the aircon condenser. The C's all naked on the front again, sitting in my garage, waiting for a new rad. Was a good weekend, nice Chinese food, too :-) Nearly forgot that copy of "Lube News" :lol: Tempest

MK1? And there was I thinking Mk1 unanimously on a Corradoforum (coupe, not hatch) meant Scirocco Mk1, as that's the only Mk1 in my books. The rest are Goofs, albeit that the Mk1 is the nicest (also designed by Giugiaro) :-) Tempest

Just like all my mates over in Germany, my luggage has been packed (suit and tie), swimming trunks included (have a look at the luxurious pool at the Grand Hyatt in Berlin, folks), camera packed (dead battery :-(, so need to get new batteries asap tomorrow), ticket and passport packed, just one more hour at work tomorrow, and we're off to Berlin to give VW the thumbs up or down on their Iroc, the new Scirocco prototype :-) Will I be able to sleep tonight? The excitement ... Tempest

Jim and me will be in Germany again, but by plane, and not anywhere near to Dortmund alas. Sorry, can't help this time. Tempest