dxg

Something else to further complicate it: Before you remove them, remember to mark the position of the original wipers on the screen with something like masking tape so you can be sure that you're putting the new ones onto the splines at the right angle. Deek.

I completely agree that this taxation burden is wrong and note that the rising carbon rhetoric will be used to bring it in, but I would be very wary of signing a web-based device to make your voice heard. This is why: Two or three years ago when ID cards were still at the consultation stage I, along with 5,000 other people, each wrote our own objections to these proposals (my case was centred on information creep, but that's an aside). How did the Government react to so many objections from the public? Well, they counted 5,000 individual objections (bear in minds these are full letters each arguing a different case, not just signatures on a petition) as - guess what? 1. Had all the objections been counted, the paper could not have left conulsation in its current form. However, because the Government (still) wants ID cards to happen, they chose to count all these objections as a single objection stating they were part of a single "organised campaign". I would post the Hansard link for this, but oddly, it's dissappeared. You'll have to make do with the article at the bottom of this page: http://www.fipr.org/sandsnews/archives/cat_id_cards.html If the Government wants it to happen, it will happen. Forget about acting on behalf of the people; these days it's simple control of the people. Just my 2p. Still going to sign that, anyway. Deek.

That's rather nice! You'll have to come out to meet the Scottish folks -- there seems to be a good few of us up this way. Maybe it's time for a mini-meet. If you've got a PC, maybe you could show us all how to actually use one - I'm thinking of buying one, but just don't know how easy / difficult they are to use... £200+ from a UK supplier is a bit much to shell out on a flyer... Deek. (And if you do swap out the stereo, can I have first dibs on the CD player??)

Well, it does seem to be the wing mirror. The duck tape over the gap btwn the wing mirro mount and the glass did its job and the car was dry this morning, depsite last night being one of the wetest and windest I can remember. So next weekend is trying work out something pernament. I'm thinking of just filling the back of the wing mirror with silicon selant, doing what I can to "water proof" the back of the speaker and again siliconing the speaker surround into the door. We'll see how it pans out... Derek.

Thanks for the moral support, guys. It's parked outside on what is supposed to be the wetest and windest night so far (40mm of rain forecast!!). I've duck taped up the gap where I think the water's coming through th wing mirror, so it will either be dry tomorrow morning or it won't. Looking out at it, I can see the windows are still a bit steamed up, but hopefully that's just residual dampness... Wish me luck. I'll have to leave it until next weekend now, anyway. It's booked in at VW toghave the battery changed on Friday morning, so I'll try to get their opinion... Deek.

We're paying the price for our ignorance in the ninities, imho. While stuff like savage garden was all fine and well the first time round, it was all so terribly bland - and now we've got generic remixes of generic songs... What were we thinking when we let stuff like this: slip us by? Deek.

So, in the last couple of weeks my passenger side footweels (front and rear) have been absolutely saturated. It's so bad, that I can't see out the windows in the dark due to all the condensation. This is somewhat of a problem, as I have to commute everyday in the dark. Faced with VW's request for 7 hours at £52 an hour to fix this, I picked myself off the floor and I thought I would try to find out what's going on myself... This summarised the magnitude of the problem: border="0" class="linked-image" /> border="0" alt="" /> ^^ how can you drive in the dark when the windows keep doing that? The lightest touch on the carpets would cause water to squeeze out. Not at all nice and I really have to get to the bottom of it, if only to stop things going mouldy and smelly. So, I've completely stripped the passenger side - all trim gone from the c-pillar to the a-pillar base, door panels off, passenger seat out and sodden sound absorbency lifted out the back and cut out the front. Rear seat bases out so I can lift the carpet. (Aside: I thought GTIs have side airbags - I don't? I do have "dummy" sensors on the cross beams - plastic housing and cut out in the carpet, but no cabling - weird...) Next was to try to work out just where the water was coming from. From what I can gather, most people seem to have it through the bulkhead, either due to their extra cabling leaking through the grommets or the scuttle drains being blocked. But depsite some time with the hose I couldn't get water to come through from there. Instead, it's coming through my speaker!! The back of the speaker and the felt round the cables also saturated. All the rust suggests this has been happening for some time. So do the tide marks on the carpet!! border="0" class="linked-image" /> border="0" alt="" /> border="0" class="linked-image" /> border="0" alt="" /> Because the water that comes through the speaker is above the door seal, it just flows straight over the top and into the footwell. My driving style border="0" class="linked-image" /> border="0" alt="" /> border="0" class="linked-image" /> border="0" alt="" /> So, the water appears to be coming through the wing mirror mounting as this was the only way I could get these puddles to form using a hose. Aiming the hose at the wing mirror, you can hear the water flowing down through the door before it seems to build up and then flow into the car in one great rush. So, does anyone have any thoughts on how to solve this? The drains at the bottom of the door are unblocked and water seems to flow out them fine. As far as I can tell, there's no water lying inside the door - taking the speaker out and feeling around and everything's dry apart from the speaker itself! Maybe I should try to get the wing mirror off and then cram it full of silicon sealent (i.e. to stop the water getting into the top of the door). There's a gap of about 1mm bewteen the seal behind the mirror mounting pices and the window glass, but it's the same on the driver's side and no (afaik) leaks over there... I'm a bit stuck... Does the trailing vertical edge of the wing mirrors firmly press against the glass in your cars? I'm going to duck tape that wing mirror up anyway and see if it continues to leak over the coming week... Deek. (Btw, how much fun is it to drive something with half the interior missing?! You can really hear the road noise, the fuel pump speeding up and slowing down with the acceleration - not much difference in exhaust noise - oddly...)

I concur, although I must enquire as to your spolier....

It gets interesting about a minute in... http://www.blinkerfluid.org/video/T1inLaSource-2.wmv style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":blink:" border="0" alt="blink.gif" /> Deek.

http://pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t...mp;f=63&h=0 Worth a read. Deek.

So, VW to be lumped in with Seat and Skoda and the rest hived off into a luxury arm... Maybe we'll get back to the routes of the people's car (but even Skoda have left that behind with the Octovia 2 and the forthcoming Fabia 2...) Fun times! Source Deek.

This was a post about tyre recommendations, but I'm faced with a problem it's almost too embarrasing to admit -- I can't work out what size my wheels are!! border="0" class="linked-image" /> border="0" alt="" /> What to me looks like 16 inches diameter: border="0" class="linked-image" /> border="0" alt="" /> And this seems to be 7 inches width: border="0" class="linked-image" /> border="0" alt="" /> Oh yes, -- any tyre recommendations? I have Toyo TR1s on the standard wheels which: (i) I'm halfway through after only 3000 miles!; and (ii) are understeering all over the shop in the wet. Am looking for all season (or maybe winter) in that an appropriate size (what size??). Price is an issue, but lifespan and grip moreso. Thanks and sorry for asking such a fundamental question, Deek.

Yes! It's filthy, still has the dealer's sticker in it and all that bird sh*t will be etching the paint. (Oh wait, you mean the lights...) Deek.

PM sent.

Er, um, not sure I should admit this, but I am a QS and I *teach* the subject (among other things) in a Scottish institution. PM me if you want to know which courses are worth thinking about (and the likely state of the industry in three year's time). FWIW, at the moment, the industry is crying out for QS's. Large PQS firms are employing non-cognates, it's that bad. I could also point out a few of the key employers likely to have an office nearby, if you want... Anyway, PM me if you want to know more... Deek.

Hmm... You're right. Interesting as - sex scandals and mandatory extra unpaid hours for german workers aisde - Pischetsrieder was generally thought to be doing "good things" for the brand. Didn't VW just release better-than-everyone-else profits? This is all VW have to say about it: Deek.

1/ With the car parked, grab the wheel and try to rock it on the vertical axis as hard as you can. If it moves (i.e. its camber changes) - wheel bearing (or "suspension"). 2/ Simplier method. Go for a bit of a drive. Park up and put your hand on the hub of each wheel. If any is markedly hotter than the others - wheel bearing. If you have worn your brake pads through then - get them cnanged now because: (1) it's dangerous; and (2) they'll currently be wearing grooves into your discs so you could end up having to replace them as well. If you really have worn them through you should be able to feel the grinding through the brake pedal. Deek.

The engine cover looks absolutely fantastic! Nice and subtle, but then also not! I'm also loving the MK1 GTI strips on the Loop, nicely centred around the swage line. I had planned to do that myself - you beat me to it! Are they the ones that Awesome sell? Deek.

Deek.

VW first, Lupo second. While I absolutely love mine, there are better looking cars out there. Deek.

Do it now, then get a nice layer or two of wax on to keep the salt off the paint. That's what I did anyway. Will tackle the horrendess swirl marks that came courtesy of the last owner in the Spring. Deek.

Is this just the machine? Is an invertor (or even product) provided? Deek.

Autobild have proven to be reasonably accurate with their visuals for the past few years, so I'm putting considerable faith in this: http://www.autobild.de/heftarchiv/vorschau...daUPcjOAw%3D%3D Note the new Sirocco-esque front end. Target price is 6,500 euros. Deek.

Comes out next year sometime - the next Simon Pegg and Nick Frost vehicle. Have a look at the trailers and see what you think. I'm thinking I'm definately looking forward to it... http://www.workingtitlefilms.com/trailers/...ser1_xlarge.htm http://www.workingtitlefilms.com/trailers/...ser2_xlarge.htm Deek.

Are the images at the top of this thread still available? I'm having thoughts along these lines... Cheers, Deek.