Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

brother-in-law had one. i fucking hated it. quick sure but so loud inside when driving it. felt very very cheap

i do love how practical the boot is on these

i never remember the mk6 being that well rated so haven't looked at them

Iirc the "issue" with the mk6 is that it was largely a face-lift mk5, whereas the mk7 was a new platform. There were new engines I think, but basically there's no fanfare - whereas the mk5 was a proper departure from mk4.

Do your own research on this next comment as I may be talking out of my arse....

... Given the mk6 was a shorter run, then there will be fewer, so I think a mk6 GTI has a chance of holding it's value better.

Also mk6 is a bit newer so I think you'd get some better mod cons.

all valid points. i am more tempted by a mk6 R because you just see very very few of them. however the haldex system puts me off

Tad more expensive but R36?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304824340139?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=ndwt8ngxrq-&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=9cfbyGwdQ6K&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

These are actually quite nice inside, and sound incredible. Never driven one though, only been a passenger.

Audi S4 Wagon? Top of the list for my next "practical car"

Both R36 and S4 have quite a high bork factor though, don't they?

If a hatchback will cut it from a carrying bikes perspective then you can go round in circles for ages but inevitably come back to a GTI. Rs are generally driven by absolute knobbers, Haldex adds cost, complexity and weight and unless you're tracking it when are you really gonna use the additional performance of the R?

additional performance

Again someone call me out on this, but can't you easily and comparatively cheaply tune a gti to r spec? Obviously excluding the 4x4. I thought it was basically just a remap and an exhaust.

Yeah, the various generations of the EA888 engine (EA113 in the Mk5 to a lesser extent I think) do respond well to a re-map and Stage 1 gets you near the R power and torque figures. But, what's the point?

I had two Seat Leon Curpas over the past 5 years or so, 300bhp stock through the front wheels. You just can't use that power on the road, there's no point. Different ballgame if you're tracking it or regularly hitting the autobahn.

Disclaimer: the Curpas were cheap lease deals, significantly cheaper than GTIs would have been at the time.

@swedeee

Have been through the same exercise as you with my 2013 Audi A4 Avant and have decided just to hold onto it and pay the charges when I use it (which isn’t often)
It’s only done 20k in the last 8 years.
Plus it’s held it’s value well - I think outside of Ulez world there’s still demand for non compliant hatches.

I've been having an issue with my ancient Subaru Outback where the front brake calipers keep seizing on. I've now fitted 3 sets of discs, multiple pads and 1 set of calipers. Kind of at a loss. Is there anything obvious I've missed?

Flex hoses? They can collapse and trap fluid so they act more like valves than hoses. Brother of BiL in the US had that with his Subaru.

Yes! YouTube just said the same thing so have ordered 2 x flex hoses. Finger's crossed, never knew this was a thing.

Good luck!

I need to learn to drive, intensive course kinda thing, as soon as possible.
The companies I've contacted say no tests are available until the end of August.
Any way to get a test booked sooner? Fly to the outer Hebrides? Grease someone's palm?
Thanks folks

Some people sell their spots, otherwise keep refreshing the website for cancellations is you best bet IIRC.

Some people sell their spots

great, any recommendations for where to buy them?

Sturgeon, is that you?

haha I wish!
just someone with a rare fortnight off trying to put it to good use, and shut up the people that told me I should have learnt to drive 10 years ago, etc.

I need to clean my engine so that I can more easily diagnose an oil leak that has been bugging me since roughly 300 pages ago. I was told a steam cleaner. Anyone done this and how did they go about it? Do you have to hire a special steam cleaner?

I've not steam cleaned, but I have used snowfoam and a jet wash. I've seen the results of a steam cleaner and it looked to be much more effective than the method I used.

I believe you can just use a normal steam cleaner, Karcher etc, I'd also try and use a brush to agitate after steaming once, then steam again to get rid of the agitated dirt/grease/oil.

I'd have thought any steam cleaner would do - fundamentally you're trying to heat sticky old oil.

Personally I would spray some de greaser get a paint brush and work it in a bit first.

If you do this, can you post some pics about how you got on?

I also need to do this.

Has anyone changed brake pads?

(in my case rear ones on a mk6 Golf)

MOT showed rear drivers side as worn, so need to get it done.

Would that be ULEZ compliant?