What have you done to your MK 7 today ?

[madstaff]

Nothing to mine, but pulled the silica bag in the expansion tank out of a Golf R for the lad who works next door to me. 

[LSBristol]

Nothing to mine, but pulled the silica bag in the expansion tank out of a Golf R for the lad who works next door to me. 

Is this actually something that needs doing? Or is it a case of a small number of failures on forums making it seem scarier than it is?

Am I right in saying the downside of removing is you then have to replace the coolant every so often whereas with the bag it supposedly doesn't need changing?

Is there a risk of splitting it when removing it and causing the issue yourself or is it quite straightforward?

[madstaff]

Nothing to mine, but pulled the silica bag in the expansion tank out of a Golf R for the lad who works next door to me. 

Is this actually something that needs doing? Or is it a case of a small number of failures on forums making it seem scarier than it is?

Am I right in saying the downside of removing is you then have to replace the coolant every so often whereas with the bag it supposedly doesn't need changing?

Is there a risk of splitting it when removing it and causing the issue yourself or is it quite straightforward?

There have been some cases of the bag splitting, probably not a massive percentage, but if if does split all the little silica beads potentially block the heater matrix up.
If that happens, to sort it out is a bit of a job, far easier IMO to remove the silica bag and every couple of years perhaps empty the expansion tank of coolant and add fresh to give it a boost.
Quite easy to pull the bag out, but I would advise to clamp off the pipe on the bottom of the tank just in case the bag splits whilst your trying to remove it.

[jaceyboy]

Cleaned the wheels and protected them....

[sjw]

Does anyone know if there will be an appreciable power loss by mounting the plate here?

[DCmk3]

Does anyone know if there will be an appreciable power loss by mounting the plate here?

It will definitely affect the intercoolers efficiency being that it is already mounted behind the aircon condenser, now restricting even more flow to both the intercooler and radiator by effectively blocking off 30-40%+- of the flow it usually sees.

I have never understood the idea of blocking the radiator by moving a plate over the grills and away from the bumper where it doesn't cause any sort of restriction to airflow.. I assume some like to be "different".

[sjw]

I must admit I do think it looks pretty cool (would look better with a shorter plate) but I don't personally think it's worth it, limiting a performance car with something as minor as a number plate.

I assume the "clips" mentioned in the relevant post allow for the plate to be easily removed for photos. 

[SRGTD]

I must admit I do think it looks pretty cool (would look better with a shorter plate) but I don't personally think it's worth it, limiting a performance car with something as minor as a number plate.

I assume the "clips" mentioned in the relevant post allow for the plate to be easily removed for photos.

A number plate positioned to the side isn’t really my cup of tea - unless it’s an Alfa Romeo - but it’s good we don’t all like the same things.

If I did relocate the number plate, my car OCD wouldn’t let me leave the original number plate fixing holes in the bumper exposed - I’d have to get the holes filled and the bumper repainted. I really like the wheels though in the first picture that @SionOnTheCob posted.

[willni]

After 2 weeks of sitting caked in dirt broke out the wash mitt, no fun driving either as the roads are that greasy at the minute it's an accident waiting to happen.

[Watts]

After 2 weeks of sitting caked in dirt broke out the wash mitt, no fun driving either as the roads are that greasy at the minute it's an accident waiting to happen.

Looks fantastic! Two weeks though between washing is nothing, mine was last cleaned in August I wanted to do it on my last day off but I was put off when I went out to find the door handles were frozen! It's got to be done soon though, the rear plate is getting a bit difficult to read....