New Guy - Leicestershire

[perarduapropatria]

Not a bad price at all

I've heard about the issues they experience. Pretty bad really given how much they were new

Yeah and the rest... haha

Tensioners are a big job - but if they fail it's a new engine.

Sits at just under 400Bhp. The biggest failing is that it's an auto-box - I miss that 4th to 3rd gear drop as you overtake!

I'm presuming it likes a drink?!

4.0 V8 - you're not wrong. I get 12-18mpg around here. 25-35mpg on a long run. £95 or so, to fill I filled the Polo up yesterday and still had money left in the bank.

Normally I only fill it with half a tank, otherwise you're carrying around about 25kg of fuel you don't need to.

[vc-10]

Bet it's worth it though when you hit the loud pedal!

Nice efficient little Polo for sitting in traffic jams, lovely Jag for enjoying yourself.

[RUM4MO]

Did someone mention HIDs, surely not!

Anyway, my good old 2000MY Passat 4Motion was spec'd with Xenons at factory, and they lasted for the 13 years I had it, needed a new washer pump though, excellent lights. VW's pre-launch bumph for 9N Polo said Xenons were available as an optional extra, they lied, when wife's 9N Polo arrived in late 2002, Philips best bright bulbs were fitted and replaced as they failed every few years - still a lot better than standard bulbs. My B8 S4 has Xenons as standard, wife's new Polo is on order with LED as standard, so I hope that they are good enough.

Xenons with projector lens = good, Xenons with ordinary reflectors = a bit nasty for other road users, can't say that I've been aware of seeing any of the "better" HID units that have a mask that makes them more suitable for use with reflectors.

Is fitting blue HIDs the same as "blue sky thinking"?

[perarduapropatria]

Did someone mention HIDs, surely not!

Is fitting blue HIDs the same as "blue sky thinking"?

The Jaguar has projector lights, plus a washer system. Pretty forward thinking for 1998....

Here's a fabulous fact I learnt today, on the subject of the sky, to kill this blooming HID discussion :

Pigs are so well evolved as ground feeders that they are unable to look up at the sky.

[Tooks]

Pigs are so well evolved as ground feeders that they are unable to look up at the sky.

What about if they're laying on their backs?

[perarduapropatria]

Pigs are so well evolved as ground feeders that they are unable to look up at the sky.

What about if they're laying on their backs?

I like the idea of pigs going to the effort of laying on their backs simply to be able to watch the clouds.

On a different topic, I was changing the bulbs to Philips Xtreme vision last night. How on earth do the headlight connectors come out?! The manual isn't exactly clear. It was very hard to get the new bulbs secured into the main beam.

[RUM4MO]

Changing bulbs should be easy, my experience of changing headlamp bulbs on wife's 9N Polo dip and main are not very "good"! Luckily I have small "girlie style" hands and don't mind getting cuts, but it is never easy or foolproof. Quite a bit of that applies to the rear lamps on that car, made worse by the sprung contacts being too strong and crushing the lead contact points on the bulbs. I think that there is legislation out now that demands that positional and illumination bulbs must be able to be replaced at the side of the road, luckily most new cars are drifting across to LED lights.

[perarduapropatria]

Changing bulbs should be easy, my experience of changing headlamp bulbs on wife's 9N Polo dip and main are not very "good"! Luckily I have small "girlie style" hands and don't mind getting cuts, but it is never easy or foolproof. Quite a bit of that applies to the rear lamps on that car, made worse by the sprung contacts being too strong and crushing the lead contact points on the bulbs. I think that there is legislation out now that demands that positional and illumination bulbs must be able to be replaced at the side of the road, luckily most new cars are drifting across to LED lights.

Doing dipped beam was fairly easy, although it would've been easier if some d1ck hadn't bent the fitting in the past. I managed those without having to remove the electrical connector.

Tackling the main beam I find that I can't get the angle to see into the socket, and so I want to remove the connector from the headlamp assembly in order to be able to fully remove the headlight from the car. Is there a particular knack to it?