Thanks :-)

I'm relieved to have this frustrating little episode over and done with. Complete waste of time. I mean the car's fine but it's meant a load of fancying about for no reason.

So, yesterday I got a chance to take the G40 around Rockingham, as part of the Guild of Motoring Writers 'Big Day Out' event. Essentially it was a track day where journalists, bloggers and writers could take their own cars out on track, do a spot of networking and drive some new models the manufacturers had brought along.

I had only ever driven Rockingham in the dry beforehand, in Honda press cars about four years ago, and that was huge fun. But at the briefing we were warned that the infield section of the track is incredibly slippery when it's wet. They weren't kidding. We'd had rainfall overnight and the track was covered in water, so everyone was slipping around even on the sighting lap.

With that in mind, I left it for about half an hour or so just to let some dry lines form then took the car out for some slow-ish laps. Baby steps, we were told, is the best way to learn the layout. I could get traction, which still surprises me given how awful it was in the wet before the Quaife went in, but the back end was twitching a bit for the first session.

The track got gradually drier through the morning, and my confidence picked up, as did my speeds on the banked section, though with plenty of water either side I decided against going flat out and kept the speed down to a comfortable 90mph before braking earlier than I normally would into the first two turns. The inside of the sharpest turns, the racing line, was a like driving on ice.

Pic by PoloDriver.com - love it!

My fifth (I think) and last run before lunch was pretty brilliant, going around the track following the dry lines and finally making use of the supercharger. Then sadly I hit a snag.

Not a big snag, but a snag.

The rubber ball had come off the top of the 'shift finger' - the bit which connects the gear linkage between the gearbox and the gearstick, which meant I couldn't get any gears. Luckily it happened in the pitlane.

This completely blindsided me. It's not something I'd ever even considered would wear out, but after 186,000 miles it was cracked, crumbling and I'm amazed it survived a morning on track. Although it's a £10 part, it's not something dealers keep in stock. I bodged a repair job on what was left of mine (gaffer tape and superglue) and with a 150 mile drive home I decided against chancing any more laps in my car.

Not a huge sacrifice, because several manufacturers had brought cars to drive. I ticked this off the bucket list, finally, and still want one:

Kia had brought one of the 'reasonably priced' Cee'ds so I took that out for a few laps, which was good fun. It had done 300 miles by the end of the day, which is over 150 hard laps of Rockingham's BTCC layout, and it didn't miss a beat. Speaks volumes for Korean build quality!

I also had a chance to get a few pax laps in, including a rapid VX220 Turbo, an Evo FQ400 and several with a mate in his MX-5, which was hilarious. Armfuls of opposite lock on almost every corner, made me want something with rear wheel drive.

As a bonus, my car was voted 'car which best captured the spirit of the day' and I won this, which I was really chuffed with!

Then I got a stroke of luck - I'd contacted Mark (aka Big Burt) to see if he had a spare part to get me home, as I knew he was local. He didn't, but he put me onto Pete (StinkyPete) who did, and offered to sort the car out on his drive so I could get home. LIFE SAVERS, the pair of them. Plus I got a chance to have a look around Pete's monster space framed breadvan, which is even more awesome in the metal than pics could ever convey!

Ironically, my repair job had turned the crumbling remains of the rubber ball into a rock solid block of glue and gaffer tape which had latched on so tightly it was able to support the metal bit underneath. I reckon it would've lasted the afternoon, wasn't worth chancing though.

I had a great drive home with the car repaired, it felt really strong, and it's made me a bit more philosophical about things. I'd started the day confessing to Jon that tracking my car makes me nervous, in case I bin it, but I came away feeling entirely different. It'll always be cheaper to take a chance that the G40 will break or get bent than it will to run a second car just in case, I don't tend to take chances anyway and it's plenty quick enough for me to enjoy hooning it about.

Actually, it's a shame not to track it, but I'll be a bit more thorough with pre-flight checks next time around. I can think of more expensive ways to learn that lesson.

Good update mate, glad you got the car sorted properly for the drive home too.

Rockingham is a weird track, like you say, slippery in the wet, when I was there last it was dry but found the infield ruined tyres on the cars I was there with, but it's good fun, slightly eary as there was literally 10 of us there, all the empty stands shadowing over you were a bit odd considering the last time id been in was packed out!

Bringing this to action then?

Everyone was saying it was chewing through fuel going around Rockingham as well. Judging by dry laps in the Kia you can hang onto quite a lot of speed through the infield section when it's dry.

I want to get up to Action but I'm not pre-booking, I'll probably come up on Saturday morning and do one night but it depends how I'm feeling on Friday. :)

Fair enough, I was up there with 4 or 5 F types, an XKRS GT and a RR sport IIRC, oh and some Cx75's, fuel and tyres were our main usage

Haha! Yeah I can imagine!

Sadly so far I've not had any pics turn up of my car going around Rockingham, but on Sunday I cleaned it and went to a local Volkswagen meet, then took the long route home. Gentle driving, just enjoying being back behind the wheel really.

So have some photos of it looking shiny and sat still instead:

Looking great after the repair work!

Yep, the new bumper is much nicer than the old one and the stripes aren't faded any more, both of which help :)

Updates are thin on the ground this month. I've had a silly month with deadlines and the Frankfurt Motor Show, so the Polo hasn't changed much. Flew through its MOT (as it should've done) at the start of the month and has done a few local miles since but not much.

I have modified my garage, though:

It's a charging point for an electric car, just in time for this to arrive:

My new long-termer, a Vauxhall Ampera. It's electric for 40-50 miles, then it has a petrol engine which works primarily as a generator to keep the battery topped up. It replaced the Civic I've had for six months, and this one goes back in March.

I like it. The white makes it quite a head-turner, and it's surprisingly quick. Comfortable and very stable at high speeds, too, though it's about 1,700kg (!) due to the battery, which means it's prone to squealing its tyres and feels a little heavy if it's driven with much gusto.

They're a fairly unlikely pairing, mind:

That said, so is my car's semi-permanent stablemate. Caroline's Z4. I'd hazard a guess most would assume that it's mine, and that it's the quicker of the two...

It's not going to be around for long, though. We're having a baby next March, so the Z4 is making way for something with five doors and room for a child seat. Not sure what yet, though. Exciting times!

You just know that an RS6 is the PERFECT car for the job Alex.
No questions, just get an RS6

I saw your last mag feature with the 2 page spread really good build mate keep up the good work!

Wicked to see this looking good as ever man. I miss mine loads!!

Haven't updated this in a while, but I guess I haven't had much call to!

My car now has its PPP exhaust fitted. And very nice it is too!

If you're wondering, the branded boost hose will be rotated back around to hide the writing and I'm aware that the red silicone hose at the top is looking out of place, and that the cold air feed needs to be replaced too. Time!

I've had new exhaust hangers made up to replace the Polo ones, and it's been shifted around to get as much clearance as possible. I don't catch the centre box getting into the garage any more, haha!

Subtle tailpipe at the back:

I've not had a chance to drive it in anger since it came back, so I can't vouch for power gains yet but the fit and quality is amazing. Highly recommended!

The rest of the driveway is due for a change. Ampera goes back to Vauxhall in March, and the Z4 is now up for sale for an off-season price as we've just bought a Kia Sportage as a family carrier. Anyone interested in a Beemer for the summer?

Edited 24 January, 201412 yr by Alex

Alex, when i see that picture, a shiver is running down my spine.

Plz, plz Alex, plz tell me, when you use the jack, that you put something soft on the metalplate... pleeeeeeeeeaseeeeeeeeeeee.

cheers

Christian

Yes. A block of wood.

I had it in my hand when I took the photo.

Forgot to post a pic of the manifold before it was fitted:

Decent engine pic:

Some noise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Knomz_HH9F0

And the newest addition to my scale model collection - 1:18 scale Polo G40 Genesis.

Your polo is one of the best mk3s around.

Thanks :)

All change on the driveway this weekend - we've sold the Z4, I've swapped the Ampera so now have this Leon (2.0 TDI 150 FR) and we have two Spanish-build VW Group cars for a few days. The new Golf chassis is fantastic!

Love reading the progress in pvw most months! What sort of bhp is this putting out?

HI Alex do you still have the

Duostyling AFRM Gauge ? and do you wnat to part with it?

Hopefully they'll be in by this time tomorrow!

To fill in the gaps from earlier, it's now got:

- a Stack wideband lambda gauge, which is a bit lovely. I've got it in the centre console where the voltmeter used to be, not sure where to re-house the voltmeter though.
- PPP nylon rear beam bushes, which my mechanic warned might be quite firm. But having spent a bit of time driving around today they don't seem bad at all, and the car feels a little tighter than it did before which is good. I've not really thrashed it yet, the tank had old fuel inside which I want to use up.
- fresh service parts, the usual
- treated tank straps - stainless ones on the way, possibly

All the gauges are plumbed in now - the oil temperature gauge has been disconnected for about three years - and the wiring has been thoroughly tidied up. The old Duostyling air fuel gauge has been taken out.

I've also had new alarm switches for the door shuts. The old ones had given up the ghost.

And a couple of bits of surface rust treated - thankfully it seems the fuel tank is fine. Good news!

If the weather holds I'll give it a wash tomorrow and start re-fitting the interior.

Edited 29 April, 201412 yr by Jake

Delayed reply, sorry.

Reckon it's around the 150bhp mark. I should RR it at some point really.

Glad you like the PVW updates, there's another one in this month's mag.

So, updates. Kinda.

The car has taken second place to the new "project" in the household. Name: Jenson.

He's being raised properly:

We have a new daily - it's a bit grown up and (with a seven year warranty) won't be modified. But with 18s, touch screen ICE and Infinity audio, heated leather etc etc it's not necessary. It's also 4WD so has tow car potential.

I'm waiting on a few invoices to come through for some freelance work (I've been writing loads for Japanese Performance mag recently) which will open the doors to some more money for the Polo. But it is being used, not loads, but it does go out whenever i get a chance. I have scenery like this on my doorstep so it'd be rude not to:

Work's been ridiculously busy, I guess because I'm now cramming it in around constant baby care. I drove this to Germany and back in two days in May:

The aim was to see what sort of fuel economy we could get out of it without hypermiling. Brussels traffic and a French headwind screwed up the 73mpg we saw for the first half, but you'd struggle to sniff at this. That's on one tank of fuel, by the way:

Before you tell me I've changed, I haven't. I offset my the carbon saving with a couple of days in Austria recently driving this:

I now wish I lived a bit closer, because Austria is mind blowingly amazing.

The Polo is due a trip to the garage for some tying up of loose ends, along the following lines:

- softer front springs for the coilovers (I've decided I'm too old for bone shaking)

- a dimmer for the gauges, as they're too bright

- repairs to the uprated wiring loom - I'll probably do this myself

- some extra cutting for the front tunnel brace as the exhaust taps it occasionally

- a new clutch (whoops)

- and a service

I don't expect to make any shows this year with Jenson so young, but we'll see. I'm not taking him out in the Polo until he's a bit older.

Edited 30 June, 201412 yr by Alex