What have you done with your Polo so far (and today)

[gavs]

The new bits to be installed on Thursday



Being allowed underneath while its all being installed to get some photos for the forum as well.

Nice! Now to wait for mine to arrive and if the that one actually fits seeing as it's technically for the last model polo....

[Trepid4tion]

Nice! Now to wait for mine to arrive and if the that one actually fits seeing as it's technically for the last model polo....

Yeah i was a little worried about it, got under and attempted to try it myself, really need a hoist, the bracket the strut sits in where the bolt for the sway bar goes, doesnt have anything to stop the strut from firing downwards when the bolt is removed. All will be revealed on Thursday, will have detailed photos hopefully. If anything, I'm worried about the possiblity of vibration from the new rear engine mount bushing, but shouldnt be to much, its only the 70k not the 80k (the competition one).

And if there are any photos of the underneath that people what, let me know and ill try my best when its up on the hoist?

[gavs]

Yeah, same as Mk4 Golf which i had, it's really easy and it's easy as pie to do it so long as you have a pair of jackstands. The rear shocks aren't that hard to compress after they extend so really, you could do it at home pretty easily Snowy did a great write-up in the Mk4 Golf FAQ / DIY section with heaps of photos etc

[Trepid4tion]

Had the Rear Sway Bar and Rear Engine Mount Bushing installed today, there are definitely positives and negatives... Also, before i start on the install information, get your new polo's wheel alignments checked, when they put mine up to be done, they noticed the front assembly had been configured for Left Hand Drive (which explained the drifting to the left since Ive had the car), but was rectified with a ratchet strap and some undoing of bolts , now on to the fun stuff!

Kinda forgot to put the instructions in for the Rear Sway, so we kinda winged it to get it fitted, but turns out we were spot on , and i finally agree with a majority of people that this thing is the best bang for buck suspension mod you can do, rear end sits nice and flat through turns and not as much roll as before.

The rear engine mount bushing on the other hand was a different story, we took off the rear engine mount, pressed out the old rubber, and fitted the new polyurethane. An interesting thing we found was the engine has a fair bit of movement when its unbolted from the rear engine mount, and there's a fair bit of play with the original rubber that sits in it. Was really worried when i cranked it over for the first time in the drivers seat, there was a lot of noticeable vibration, but not in the steering wheel, the cabin was producing it, it was like the drone you get from exhaust resonance (like my last car, a automatic wagon... with its stupid cannon on it, the drone was horrid), so at this point i was very very reluctant to drive off... But i did, and was very very happy once i did. The shifting has been improved so very much (especially in 1st and 2nd) and the vibration was only evident at idle, and a weird surging vibration at idle when the AC was on. But as the day went on and with more driving the vibration is getting less and less (have read on a couple of forums that this is the case with the polyurethane bushings and that it can "bed in" and vibrations "can" disappear.) The car also has the feeling of a much bigger engine under the hood (NOT with regards to power gain, but more feel from the engine)

Going to re-evaluate the rear engine mount bushing in a couple of weeks, to see if the vibration has disappeared or greatly reduced (which it already has started to), and decide whether to swap back out to the OEM Bushing.

Now for some obligatory happy snaps, apologies for the quality, were taken on my phone, the DSLR was in the car, and forgot to get it out before it went up on the hoist.

Also, there's a factory front sway bar...


The Speckled Savannah Yellow Paint... (she needs a wash) and the Whiteline Rear Sway Bar


Bottom of the 1.2 TSI Manual Engine...


The Dog Leg Rear Engine Mount, complete with Super Pro Polyurethane Bushing.

Apologies for the dodgy write up (or if I'm a bit all over the place, been sick the last couple of days and the brains still catching up)

[Frostee]

get your new polo's wheel alignments checked, when they put mine up to be done, they noticed the front assembly had been configured for Left Hand Drive (which explained the drifting to the left since Ive had the car), but was rectified with a ratchet strap and some undoing of bolts , now on to the fun stuff!

Does anyone know if a wheel alignment is part of regular Dealer Delivery? I might just ask the question of the Dealer. Seems to me that it is very reasonable to expect that an alignment is performed pre-delivery.

[Hail22]

Frostee, wheel Alignments are conducted by a 3rd party company that do the vehicle inspection and ADR compliancy usually Stevedores provides said service.

Best to ask to double check but this is what was done with my car when it arrived.

[Frostee]

Thanks for that Hail22.

I've sent an e-mail to my Dealer, so will let you know what sort of response I get.

[Trepid4tion]

when i questioned the guys at fulcrum a couple of weekends ago at a suspension day about it (whether cars are aligned properly from factory) i was assured that they were. But obviously not in my case, hoping I'm the only one that will have this issue... Do you think its a good idea to email the dealer i purchased mine from to let them know?

[noone]

I've heard a few stories about alignment being way out on delivery. For $60, I'd get it checked. If it is out, I'd be asking the dealer to pay for it.

[Frostee]

when i questioned the guys at fulcrum a couple of weekends ago at a suspension day about it (whether cars are aligned properly from factory) i was assured that they were. But obviously not in my case, hoping I'm the only one that will have this issue... Do you think its a good idea to email the dealer i purchased mine from to let them know?

Certainly can't hurt to let them know. If it's an oversight on their part they might be interested to understand where their processes aren't robust enough to ensure this doesn't happen.

My dealer came back to me and said that the alignment is checked in pre-delivery, and if required alignment is performed.

[gavs]

Just remember guys, the only thing that can be "aligned" on these cars is the toe in/out. Camber is set, as is castor. The ONLY way you can change your camber is to shift the whole front subframe which as you can appreciate, will move both struts accordingly. So any place that says "your camber was out and we adjusted it", question them as to how and then if they don't say they adjusted the subframe to give then an equal setting side to side, they are lying and you should not pay them.

There are old reports getting around that some places like the "No Bull" joint have told customers with Mk4 golfs etc that their cars have been in an accident because they can't adjust teh camber, so the alignment is out..... Be vary wary, but most places now know what they are doing....

[alias_vw]

Washed with APC, clayed and applied Nanolex paint sealant. I'll probably give it a once over with a quick detailer a bit later (Fast Clean and Shine) after the Nanolex has had a chance to rest for a few hours.

[PoloDave]

went creative with some yellow foil, didn't quite look like I was expecting so took it off again. For those who want to know what it looked like:

(link due to pic size)

http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/6377/imag0184a.jpg

[sVWatt]

went creative with some yellow foil, didn't quite look like I was expecting so took it off again. For those who want to know what it looked like:

(link due to pic size)

http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/6377/imag0184a.jpg

If you decide you want to take those wheels off too - I'll take them .... v.nice PoloDave. What make are they ?
Recon they'd look awesome on my grey vehicle.

[gavs]

Good move taking the yellow cellophane off, looked like a bed recreation of a ran AE86!