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Niche

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  1. Niche

    VW Lupo Sinkhole

    Was it you? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-26010192
  2. I was aware of the common faults related to the car...I just wasn't expecting the whole car to fall apart. Lol.
  3. and VW's are quality compared to a 206? my sport was a complete and utter failure... 60k with shagged pistons, shagged valve seals, broken pedal box, leaking shock absorbers, shagged wishbone bushes, broken gearbox, broken catalytic converter, broken thermostat, broken electric sunroof, broken clutch cable and clutch, broken door check straps, broken door locking mechanism, broken button for electric windows and the stupid valve in the backbox rusted away and fell off inside making the car sound like a lawnmower. Even when I traded it into VW the starter motor packed up. Also premature water pump failure. i couldn't care less if the interior on a french car falls apart, that's fixable...at least the rest of it won't die. newer vw's aren't any better either. polo mk6 2002-2005 which has failed wishbone bushes, broken ARB bush carriers, weak timing chain tensioner, broken windscreen wiper mechanisms, burnt out EGR valves, premature ignition coil failures. The only reliable VW I've ever owned was my 20 year old Polo mk2, nothing went wrong with that in the year I had it. I've test driven many GTI180's and I have to say it puts the underpowered Lupo GTI to shame. Don't think I am a French Peugeot fan because I am not, I've only ever owned VW's in my life.
  4. you topped up your gearbox oil on a Lupo 1.4 AFK? bahahhahhhahahaa. yeah i done that on my AFK. then decided to change the oil completely...when i drained it the new oil hadn't mixed with the old black sludge that was in there before... sorry but your gearbox oil will have to be changed like...now. you can only top up gearbox oil on the newer revised gearboxes such as those found in the Polo (2002 onwards). I drained the oil in that and it looked brand new.
  5. Lupo GTI's are great cars but if you want more power for less bite the bullet and buy a 206GTI 180 or get a Honda Integra 98 spec (though they are a little old now) and genuine parts take months to come through from dealers.
  6. Mirrors on the Lupo are weak. The ones on the Polo 9N (2002-2005) are tough, I've had two incidents in two years with them and they still work 100%. One was I got too confident with the diameters of my car and ended up smashing into a bollard at 20mph on a restricted width road. The plastic cover came off but there was no damage, it just popped back on, tough as you like. Electric mirrors and heaters still worked. Another incident included a van driver thinking he had the right of way, he decided to floor it, his wing mirror smashed into my wing mirror. His one fell off and mine didn't budge, I laughed for the rest of the day. You really need plastic covers these days in London. The newer Polo (2006-2009) have gone back to weak, who's bright idea was it to stick the signal light on the mirror instead of the wing.
  7. I had this on my Sport, though in my case it was throwing out tiny chunks of black dirt. The standard backbox has a section which stores dirty oil which has passed through the exhaust system, perhaps this section is simply full and dirty oil is being passed through this section and out the back. After 4 oil changes with Quantum Gold and an engine cleaner (once) in 10k miles and a new stainless steel backbox which doesn't have this stupid oil section, all was fine. The only build up after that was just light black dusting on the tip which built up a little bit after two weeks. My Sport does use oil but thinking about it logically they designed the backbox like that knowing these engines pass through oil. It does say in the book that they can consume up to a litre of oil per 1,000km or something silly like that depending on how you drive the car. Nothing to worry about.
  8. The only modification I done to the suspension of my Lupo Sport was to fit KYB gas shocks on the front. After that the boat feeling disappeared and it handled like a dream with the right set of tyres. If I had had the money back then I would have put KYB shocks on the rear and lowered the car 30-40mm. KYB shocks aren't hard, they are firm and the end result is a comfortable car to drive with all the handling of a supermini. KYB do different variants of their shocks, go for the slightly better ones if you can. Great shocks, never had anything like them.
  9. Niche

    Left Foot Braking

    I think that justifies itself. And what exactly do you intend on breaking with your left foot?
  10. Niche

    Left Foot Braking

    I only pointed out that it's not safe to practice racing techniques on public roads which we pay to drive on and in my case pay to park on. I haven't insulted anyone but if other people want to take something to heart for no reason I can think of then please do lock this thread. Thanks.
  11. Niche

    Left Foot Braking

    hardly good practice and i wouldn't recommend it as "1 Litre Screamer" pointed it out if you haven't done it before. practising driving techniques in any situation isn't something you should be suggesting to do on a forum regardless as to whether if it is good or not. Public roads are not test tracks. None the less that didn't stop me from trying it whilst doing 60mph down my private road. I think I almost went through the windscreen.
  12. If your after just the sound, the long life guarantee and the cheapness of an exhaust then I'd be going for a Jetex aluminised steel exhaust system. If your after just the sound and long life then the same as above but a stainless steel version. If you just want a cheap back box then visit a scrap yard.
  13. Niche

    Left Foot Braking

    I remember watching a Forumla One race sometime last year and there was mention of which foot should be used for braking. Some F1 drivers use their right foot for both. E.g. Jenson Button, this is why they say he's smooth on the throttle and smooth on the brakes. Other F1 drivers use their left foot for braking. The results were of particular interest because the digital screens showed that the drivers who used their left foot to brake and their right to accelerate often ended up overheating their brakes quicker because they had the tendancy to brake and accelerate partially at the same time. So the answer to this question is entirely dependant on the type of car you are racing. F1 drivers can do it if they want to because their clutch is on the steering wheel. If anything on a car with a clutch pedal you should be using your right foot to accelerate and brake "heel and toe" style. Take a look on YouTube at the Japanese drivers who race in the Honda Integra Type R's. It's quite effective but as I say...it doesn't suit all Sports. For road use just your right foot is sufficient to apply the throttle and brakes independantly rather than heel and toe.
  14. Doesn't seem to matter whether if the Sports are ragged or not, high mileage or low mileage. The fact of the matter is that they used cheap parts. (valve stem seals, guides, piston rings etc.) When I part exchanged my Lupo Sport at VW for a Polo I spoke to a few of the mechanics and they all said the same thing. One of them bought a Lupo 3L in with a broken gearbox...ha! This is why they mention in the manual that engine oil consumption may be anywhere near 1 litre / 1,000km. Thanks god newer cars aren't like that! My 3 pot can run on either 5w-40 synta gold with the occasional minor top up every 3,000km or I can run it on 5w-30 synta longlife which is the most expensive oil ever since records began but it never needs to be topped up as it doesn't burn. I'm currently running the gold but I'm looking to change over to the longlife very shortly for the winter period.
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