Andy665

Just got a clean bill of health on the G60 - thats 3 MOTs now and all passed with no advises - not bad for a 1 year old car thats done 25,000 miles in that time :D

Just been listening to the proposed / recommended changes to the driving test, which are basically: No passengers between 11pm and 6am for drivers under 25 Zero alcohol limit Raising minimum age to 18 Been thinking about it and think it could / should be far more wide reaching, I think something like: Tiered system, by bhp, say: Tier 1 - Initial limit of 60bhp for two years of passing test - any accidents (deemed to be yor fault) / convictions and you start again in terms of the two year probation Tier 2 - 61bhp - 110bhp - have to be at this leave for min of 12 months with no accidents / convictions Tier 3 - 111bhp - 180bhp - have to be at this leave for min of 12 months with no accidents / max of 3 points Tier 4 - 181bhp - 250bhp - have to be at this leave for min of 12 months with no more than 1 accident / max of 6 points Tier 5 - 251bhp + - reviewed every three years, more than 1 accident and / or 9 points and you get knocked back 1 / 2 levels You would need to pass a more advanced test to progress up the ladder, including skid pan etc at the higher levels All of the above combined with a greatly enhanced police presence on the roads, looking for poor quality driving that won't necessarily be picked up by damned cameras - middle lane hogging, jumping lights etc etc I think that having the right to drive a powerful car on the public road is a not a right but a privilege that needs to be earned Your thoughts /ideas

I doubt it but its something that some manufacturers seem to be constantly getting wrong. I wrote the European launch material for the Mazda RX8 - Mazda in Japan insisted that I state that it had 17" front brakes even though thats a physical impossibility when the car only had 18" wheels. Obviously done for marketing reasons and there is obviously a way by which they can legally say this but the RX8 definitely did not have 433mm front discs and I'd bet my life on it that the new S3 doesn't either

From what I've seen on other cars with Milteks (including my wifes Bora and my previous Leon Cupra) I'd agree on the quality variance Also noticed that the Miltek on my Aqua G60 seemed to be a better fit than on the Nugget G60, if they are jig mounted I can't see why there should be any variance - unless of course the variance is on the car and not on the exhaust which I'd doubt.

I think most people on this forum would accept that a good specialist service history is at the very least as good as a main dealer history - on a purely personal basis I would not pay more for a Corrado with a main dealer history than one with a specialist history

Very smart, I love the big car comfort and relaxation that a Passat gives you - my V6 Syncro, even with Eibach springs and dampers is still a wallowly old thing but incredibly comfortable

Plus the VAT don't forget, thats about the national average for Volkswagen, I know at least two who are over the £100 + VAT mark. You'd struggle to find a technician in the network who was ever trained to work on the Corrado so paying the inflated labour rate is a total waste of time in my opinion

Typical VW labour rate is now about £85 per hour + VAT. A good specialist will be a lot less and they'll actually know something about the car they're working on. Wouldn't go near a main dealer with a bargepole and I work for Volkswagen :lol:

Why would anyone slag you off for voicing your opinion - surely everyones entitled to one and no one is forced into agreeing with it I am aware of this, I was making the point that re-fitting the Miltek on my car got rid of the resonance :) I'd certainly say that giving Miltek a call and getting some guidance would be a good place to start - not had any direct experience of dealing with them so have no idea what their aftersales attitude / support is like but you'd think that they would be keen to help a dissatisfied customer

My Nugget G60 had a Miltek fitted when I bought it - no apparent leaks etc but it was much the same - had a really bad resonance at about 75mph, got it re-fitted by a Miltek agent and its been perfect ever since

Doesn't sound right at all. Had Milteks on 4 different cars now and although far from silent they are usually pretty civilised - correct fitting is critical, it does seem as if Milteks are not necessarily the easiest to get fitted properly. I'd take it back and get it re-fitted.

My favoured route is Option 4. - would hope to be able to be back at least twice a year and would want to use it whilst over, would allow me to get the car how I've always wanted to get it as well

It often amazes me howlow some peoples average MPG can be, my old Aqua Blue G60 averaged 34.6mpg over the 50,000 miles that I had it for - not taken from the MFA but calculating it properly. Even now with my lardy Passat V6 with the added drag and friction of 4wd I'm averaging just over 30 :lol:

With the prospect / opportunity of moving to Dubai becomes more real by the day I'm starting to thing about what I'd do with the G60, currently toying with four options: 1. Sell it - leat preferred option but would be the least hassle option 2. Take it with me - not sure how suitable a 16 year old car with no air con is for Dubai 3. Store it for when I came back - fairly straightforward and at least car would not deteriorate if stored properly 4. Store it but put it through a gradual refurb process involving a total re-paint, engine re-build including Rotrex charger etc - would be in a position to afford some good quality refurb work and would be great to have use of a top quality car whenever I came back for holidays etc As always, your comments appreciated / considered

Couple of nice ones you have there :lol: Great turn out for your national meeting as well Will definitely have a look at your website

I had an RX8 for use when I was running the launch event out in Vienna for Mazda, it was one of the final development cars and it had been hammered, mileage was approaching 100,000km (just over 60k miles) and it used no more oil than a new one. The rotary is incredibly simple, only having three moving parts and as long as the owners have kept the oil level at a decent level (the $64000 question) then a high mileage RX8 would cause me no more concern than a similar mileage VR or G60.

Welcome on board, you've certainly got a bit of a bargain with the VR

Apparently, Z*mol are now actively scouring forums etc for professional detailers who dare utter the hallowed name - I suppose their inflated prices have allowed them to invest their profits into such activities

I have used Z*mol products for a good few years now and although not exactly cheap I have always found them to be top quality and they do last for ages. They have now started to get really heavy handed with "Detailers" who speak openly about using Zymol to the public and their customers, classing it as unauthorised advertising. According to a couple of people I know who Detail for a living, promoting the use of this companys products is only allowed if you become an authorised Zymol user which apparently involves handing over a large sum of money and promising not to use other companys products - can't believe the utter madness of their decision, after all surely people talking (positively) about a product is free advertising and can only help improve sales

Mine is still on original OE mats that were in the car from new - 16 years later they still look immaculate

How many miles a year does she do. If its less than 15,000 and she's buying new it is cheaper to buy petrol

You would be better off with a nice E30, something like this would be ideal: http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2007/06/bm ... p-bmw.html

And mine

He's probably French - not that it makes it any more excusable

The problem with a lot of the driving days is the very limited amount of time you get behind the wheel due to the large group sizes. I got my wife the Ultimate Trackday last year from http://www.Driversdreamdays.co.uk which was superb if a touch expensive, maximum group size of 8 so loads of time in each car. If you are looking for learning about how to drive better I'd recommend something like a Bill Gwynne rallyschool day, I did a full day recently in a MK2 Escort and found it extremely useful