Throbbe
02-01-2007, 12:49 PM
Well, after an initial slight sense of disappointment, I've now fallen in love. It's fast in a different way to a lightweight tuned fwd car, and I just needed to get used to it.
We drove from Cambridgeshire to Cornwall for a short break over xmas, and as a long distance cruiser it's fantastic. I even got suprisingly good mpg figures by sticking to 70-ish. Mrs Throbbe has even come round to allowing me to keep it having done most of the drive down herself. She wouldn't even get in the Scirocco as a passenger!
The brakes seem to be the weak point. Not necessarily bad, but not confidence inspiring. I'm desperately trying to avoid the temptation of the Brembo conversion, which since new wheels would be required is going to be too costly. There's only about 3mm left on the pads, and pending a loan/purchase of a micrometer it may need new disks too, so a suitable upgrade is on the cards.
So, other niggles so far:
Child seat. Had another more violent attempt at fitting (with my 100kg balancing on the seat!) and worked out the ratchet lock so it's all secure.
The bloody ticking! Seems to be fairly standard anyway. I've got an order from Don on the way, so I'll see what happens with an oil change.
Transmission noise. Louder than I expected, although my 4wd experience is limited to Land Rovers, and it's not that bad! Fluid seems pretty clean, so I'll leave a full flush until the next 9000 mile service, but hopefully the 4500 bits this weekend will help.
Power steering leak. Haven't been able to trace it yet, but will have a proper look when the car's up in the air as the hoses/connections look fine from the top. Just topping up at the moment as necessary.
Possible accident damage? There's a slight colour mismatch on the rear hatch. Paint looks original rather than respray, but could have been replaced from another car. Had a look behind the rear bumper, and if it has been repaired it's been done very well, as I can't see any obvious welding/filler. There is some light paint cracking on the rear bumper, which might indicate excessive flexing, or just not enough plasticiser in the original paint.
Needs a damn good clean! Being a bit of a cleaning obsessive I'm more picky than most. Once the weather inproves I'll break out the polisher and give it a good seeing to.
The alloys have probably never been cleaned apart from the faces! Very thick layer of baked on brake dust and misc. rubbish. Megiuars Wheel Brightener made some inroads, but it can wait for warmer weather. It least I know there is some silver under all the black! There's a fair bit of kerbing too, so a refurb may happen at a future date (must not buy new wheels, must not buy new wheels, etc).
Half arsed attempt at painting the brake calipers is annoying me out of all proportion too. Currently, just the bits facing the outside world are done. Needs new pads soon, so I'll probably do the job properly then.
Lack of space. That's a seriously crowded engine bay! Now I can see why dealer services cost so much. :thinking: I must remember to order some patience with my next Amsoil purchase.
Oooops! That's a bit of a long list, but really it's not that bad. :scholar:
I was a little suprised to find what appear to be damping adjusters. Is the stock setup adjustable, or am I looking at aftermarket? Doesn't appear to have been lowered, which I'd normally expect to see hand in hand with top adjustable jobbies.
We drove from Cambridgeshire to Cornwall for a short break over xmas, and as a long distance cruiser it's fantastic. I even got suprisingly good mpg figures by sticking to 70-ish. Mrs Throbbe has even come round to allowing me to keep it having done most of the drive down herself. She wouldn't even get in the Scirocco as a passenger!
The brakes seem to be the weak point. Not necessarily bad, but not confidence inspiring. I'm desperately trying to avoid the temptation of the Brembo conversion, which since new wheels would be required is going to be too costly. There's only about 3mm left on the pads, and pending a loan/purchase of a micrometer it may need new disks too, so a suitable upgrade is on the cards.
So, other niggles so far:
Child seat. Had another more violent attempt at fitting (with my 100kg balancing on the seat!) and worked out the ratchet lock so it's all secure.
The bloody ticking! Seems to be fairly standard anyway. I've got an order from Don on the way, so I'll see what happens with an oil change.
Transmission noise. Louder than I expected, although my 4wd experience is limited to Land Rovers, and it's not that bad! Fluid seems pretty clean, so I'll leave a full flush until the next 9000 mile service, but hopefully the 4500 bits this weekend will help.
Power steering leak. Haven't been able to trace it yet, but will have a proper look when the car's up in the air as the hoses/connections look fine from the top. Just topping up at the moment as necessary.
Possible accident damage? There's a slight colour mismatch on the rear hatch. Paint looks original rather than respray, but could have been replaced from another car. Had a look behind the rear bumper, and if it has been repaired it's been done very well, as I can't see any obvious welding/filler. There is some light paint cracking on the rear bumper, which might indicate excessive flexing, or just not enough plasticiser in the original paint.
Needs a damn good clean! Being a bit of a cleaning obsessive I'm more picky than most. Once the weather inproves I'll break out the polisher and give it a good seeing to.
The alloys have probably never been cleaned apart from the faces! Very thick layer of baked on brake dust and misc. rubbish. Megiuars Wheel Brightener made some inroads, but it can wait for warmer weather. It least I know there is some silver under all the black! There's a fair bit of kerbing too, so a refurb may happen at a future date (must not buy new wheels, must not buy new wheels, etc).
Half arsed attempt at painting the brake calipers is annoying me out of all proportion too. Currently, just the bits facing the outside world are done. Needs new pads soon, so I'll probably do the job properly then.
Lack of space. That's a seriously crowded engine bay! Now I can see why dealer services cost so much. :thinking: I must remember to order some patience with my next Amsoil purchase.
Oooops! That's a bit of a long list, but really it's not that bad. :scholar:
I was a little suprised to find what appear to be damping adjusters. Is the stock setup adjustable, or am I looking at aftermarket? Doesn't appear to have been lowered, which I'd normally expect to see hand in hand with top adjustable jobbies.