GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk6 => Topic started by: mkviken on 31 July 2012, 20:33
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Went for a little jaunt today in the GTI
been a while since its moved but decided to make the most of the dry weather before it changes again so went thru the A689/B6285 which is a nice driving road, relatively well surfaced etc.
i decided to come home thru Blanchland/derwent reservoir which used to be a nice road but over the past few years has become horrendous as its just not maintained properly. it national speed limit but over the years anything more than 30mph is torture.
My GTI is pretty damn good with the help of bilsteins - the damping and body control are superb but this road just takes the piss even out of a comfortable car/well dampened.
the thing is you can back off for poor road surfaces etc but even in the good surfaced areas a massive hump, bump or hole in the road would bite you in the arse. literally invisible even when pottering along due to the amount of chip pings etc.
the worst are the close together bumps - when the car has reacted to one bump you have no travel left in the strut and when you hit the 2nd bump you've got nothing left except bump stops.
you just don't have a chance on the roads these days. they're a frigging nightmare and a waste of our road tax.
how can the councils/government think its acceptable to let roads go to rat sh!t then pretend they're maintaining them by pouring tons of chippings down?
the last 3 times I've driven my car I've had to do a U turn in the road and divert due to not wanting to drive thru tons of freshly poured chippings and tar.
and i wonder why i don't really enjoy driving anymore.... :angry:
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Don't get me started I'm quandering wether to pursue Lafarge after one of their bellend drivers overtook me over some clippings and chipped my windscreen. They've accepted liability but I'm worried that if I start messing it may cause other issues. No paint damage fortunately!
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same happened to me last week but i was in the focus
just washed the damn thing, driving along the A1, some tit in a highway maintenance wagon decides he wants to be in the outside lane and pulls in front of me - i back right off immediately to try and stop stone chips but there is water dripping out the wagon - get to where I'm going and find the front end of the car covered in kind cement
so I'm back home washing the sh!te of the car for the 2nd time that day at about 9pm looking the right tool.
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Know what road you mean. Those roads up there are nice roads for a bit spirited drive.
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yeah its a nice road - one of the few which is maintained really.
wolsingham - middleton in teesdale - alston used to be my favourite route but the road surface after high force is horrendous now.
also bellingham-kielder road is knackered now.
we are an endangered species i think
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Yeah. Try the one from Stanhope over to Middleton. Over the tops. Fun road. Managed to cook a set of 1.4 brakes along that road :)
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Yeah. Try the one from Stanhope over to Middleton. Over the tops. Fun road. Managed to cook a set of 1.4 brakes along that road :)
yeah thats a great road - the sheep are a bit mental along there though!
another good road is barnard castle- middleton in teesdale too. really nice tarmac and well sighted road. once you get to middleton turn back on yourself and do the road in reverse but come off for reeth. thats a great road and takes you to the lakes if you keep going!
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Bad roads are not just confined to the Midlands/North... Down here in Kent they're pretty dire if you leave the motorway behind!
I have to drive to Herne Bay on a regular basis and have decided that if I actually lived there the GTD would just have to go! The pot holes, dips, cracks and other traffic calming 'features' would make driving a logistic nightmare trying to plan alternative routes everywhere!
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Getting bad in north yorks aswell. :cry:
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Just take a trip to France and Germany and you will realise that all our roads are crap in comparison.
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Roads are terrible, staying with 16's on my car I'd love 18's but there really is no point with the roads in the state they are these days!
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Roads are terrible, staying with 16's on my car I'd love 18's but there really is no point with the roads in the state they are these days!
18's are no problem, GTI's even ride well enough, so unless you have a bad back there is no excuse not to make the most of your Golf :smiley:
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The problem with the 18s is the weight. They're a really heavy wheel and the suspension has a hard time controlling that much mass.
The positive thing though is their big spoke design makes them very strong. Not heard of any bent monza 2's where as 18 focus ST rims are notorious for getting buckled on bad roads
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18's are no problem, GTI's even ride well enough, so unless you have a bad back there is no excuse not to make the most of your Golf :smiley:
Quite fancy R32 alloys but the roads are so bad, also a lot are country lanes/dirt tracks round here, had lowered cars etc before but it was a nightmare most of the time, I'd also need a steel sump guard if lowering.
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The problem with the 18s is the weight. They're a really heavy wheel and the suspension has a hard time controlling that much mass.
The positive thing though is their big spoke design makes them very strong. Not heard of any bent monza 2's where as 18 focus ST rims are notorious for getting buckled on bad roads
I just don't buy into this the ED30, ED35 and R are speced with 18's as std and 19's are optional on the current models and I have not experienced any issues with unsprung weight with my road driving.
It might be a different story on the track and then the need to modify to get the best out of the car which is understandable.
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i test drove 4 GTI's - 2 with very basic spec, manual and 17"s
2 were tarted up, DSG, leather and 18"s etc
the 17"s definitely handle better and to me the car felt lighter on its feet. i still went for the 18"s though as they look a lot better
if i can be bothered i might change to some light wheels log OZ ultraleggera or something. there 5kg a corner lighter than monza shadows.
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I dont get why people dont just club together and keep driving the roads like it and then go to the council with a bill for a new paint job on the front bumper. It does my head in why we are paying so much road tax these days and yet the roads are such a bad state.
What annoys me is cars that dont have to pay road tax, it just shows that the money isnt going to repairing roads. I mean these cars are still using the UK roads and still causing damage to the roads so where do they pay it back??
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I dont get why people dont just club together and keep driving the roads like it and then go to the council with a bill for a new paint job on the front bumper. It does my head in why we are paying so much road tax these days and yet the roads are such a bad state.
What annoys me is cars that dont have to pay road tax, it just shows that the money isnt going to repairing roads. I mean these cars are still using the UK roads and still causing damage to the roads so where do they pay it back??
I burst an alloy and tyre by hitting a pot hole many years ago. I was raging and went to see my local MP.
That was my opening line about paying road tax and the state of the roads to which he replied, road tax had nothing to do with the state of the roads. None of the money from road tax went back into the local councils. The state of the roads was out a completely different budget. So the fact some cars don't pay road tax has no bearing at all on the roads.
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I dont get why people dont just club together and keep driving the roads like it and then go to the council with a bill for a new paint job on the front bumper. It does my head in why we are paying so much road tax these days and yet the roads are such a bad state.
What annoys me is cars that dont have to pay road tax, it just shows that the money isnt going to repairing roads. I mean these cars are still using the UK roads and still causing damage to the roads so where do they pay it back??
I burst an alloy and tyre by hitting a pot hole many years ago. I was raging and went to see my local MP.
That was my opening line about paying road tax and the state of the roads to which he replied, road tax had nothing to do with the state of the roads. None of the money from road tax went back into the local councils. The state of the roads was out a completely different budget. So the fact some cars don't pay road tax has no bearing at all on the roads.
Had no idea, just assumed that road tax helped to pay the cost of repair!!
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Had no idea, just assumed that road tax helped to pay the cost of repair!!
I think most people do assume that and rightly so but its their local council they want to berate about it.
http://www.potholes.co.uk/
http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/
Has some useful info. I managed to get my money back for a new alloy and tyre but it was a drawn out process that I'd hate to go through again.