foto2021

The wheels look great. Very good choice.

Thanks, Craig and James. Now I know what to look for.

Thanks Jon and Silver, looks like a different set of springs is needed. I want to lower by 40mm but retain as comfortable a ride as I can. On eBay there are sets from FK, LO, Ventura, Apex, Spax, Lesjofors, GMax, H&R. Are there any brands I should avoid?

I drive an Arosa Mk1. I want to lower the suspension and have bought a set of shortened shock absorbers from Germany. Now I need some lowered springs. I have been offered a set of unused springs from a VW Lupo GTi. Can anyone tell me how much lowering I would be likely to get using these springs compared to the standard Arosa springs? 40mm? 60mm? Thanks!

The grill looks home made from mesh. I like the "twin headlamps" though. Is that just a black overlay on the standard headlamps? It looks a lot better than the Morette twin headlamps that don't seem to fit very well.

I think what you need is a pair of "spring assisters". Search on eBay on the two words in " ". About £20 a pair. Job done.

I had the same symptom on one door. When opening the door, at about a quarter open, there was a loud CRACK! When closing the door, it made the same noise at the same point. But the cure was different. Where the door stay (which is what is making the noise) enters the door itself, it is secured by two nuts. One of these had come off. I found the nut where it had fallen, inside the door but accessible from the hinge area. I put it back on, tightened both nuts and the problem had gone.

I'm just trying to imagine "a dog on its last legs". LOL

Debadging and/or removal of side bump strips. You need: - dental floss to cut them off the bodywork (£2) - a fingernail or three to pick off the double sided adhesive tape/pad (free) - some sticky stuff remover to clean up the residue (£2) All for about £4. Job done!

No, they won't fit without modification, at least not the ones from from the Polo Mk 4. I have two sets of seats in my garage, one from a Polo Mk 4 GTi and the other from a SEAT Ibiza Cupra and neither will fit my Arosa without modification. The rear mounts that go into the runners are fine, but the front mount is completely different between the Polo and the Arosa. The Arosa front mount is identical to the VW Golf Mk 3 and Mk 4 with a central spigot and two Allen bolts, one each side of the spigot, which go into a bracket that's welded to the floor with 3 holes in a straight line. The Polo and Ibiza have a completely different arrangement at the front. You can fit seats from a Golf Mk 4, but the rear legs need modification as they sit too low for the Arosa and foul the floorpan, so you can't get them into the runners. The legs are steel tubes that need careful cutting and re-welding. So in summary, the seats that will fit your Arosa without any modification need to come from another Arosa or (I believe) from a Lupo.

I want one.

This is a review of the new SEAT Mii city car, which is closely based on the Volkswagen Up!. An interesting article which also mentions the Arosa. Plenty of pictures too. Looks good! http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/carreviews/firstdrives/275623/seat_mii.html

Parkers.co.uk suggests £1005 for a private sale but that is for an average mileage of 92,000. Yours has 40,000 miles less so is worth more. I would ask £1195 and hope to get something over £1000. If the alloy wheels are particularly sought after you may want to ask a little more. Be prepared for buyers to try to knock your price down if the remaining MOT is short or if the cam belt hasn't yet been replaced.

Looks like a good call on the pads - the Ferodo ones I recommended cost nearly three times as much. But do you really need new discs? Unless the old ones are badly scored, they should be fine. You can always take them to a machine shop and have them lightly skimmed for £20 or less. There seems to be a fashion for treating discs as something you replace every time you change pads, but they should last for two or three sets of pads at least.

Ventilated discs need new calipers. £££££. There's a cheaper way of getting improved braking performance. Just change the front disc pads for Ferodo or Mintex. Both brands offer a better and more progressive pedal feel and less brake fade. Anything else is going to cost you a lot more money, and is it really worth it on a 9 year old 1.0 litre car?