GTI Upgrade!

[Draigflag]

Almost a year since my last update. Such is the love hate relationship of many cars, I kinda lost interest and neglected the GTi for a while, mainly because I had the Porsche to keep me entertained. It didn't even receive a wash until July this year. As a result, the car suffered somewhat, the front brake calipers seized up and I had virtually zero braking assistance. This is a common fault with the GTi's with the big brake upgrade, as Alcon use Chrome plated pistons that eventually corrode and become stuck inside the calipers.

There's a company that specialise in refurbishment, so I sent them away and they rebuilt the calipers using new stainless steel pistons. The pads were shot as a result so I replaced them too. I also had a paintless dent guy pull the dent on the wing, it's 99.9% gone now. Still need to have the paintwork done where the other damage was, and the wheels still need a refurb, but I'm happy the car is roadworthy again and I can enjoy it. I also had two new front tyres as one had a slow puncture, must be my 12 tyre in just 34k miles...

I recently gave the car a full valet and did a 446 mile round trip down to the south of England, she drives just great as I remember, giving around 40 MPG there and back. I managed the journey on one tank with about 24 miles to spare. It cost me £95 in fuel, as I still use E5 which is now a shocking 25p a litre more than regular E10. Who knows how many times I would have had to recharge an electric car for the same journey.

Just ticked over to 34k miles, no other faults so I'll be keeping her for a while yet until I find a similar replacement with similar power at a good price, although I feel those days are long gone now with current car prices...One pic after a wash, doesn't look too bad for a car almost 7 years old, maybe I'm too fussy about the paint and wheels.