Phil-E

All sounds very dodgy. I honestly think it sounds like the driver was trying something dodgy. On a positive note my other half's bike was re-delivered by Hermes. And even though he told them several times not to tip it... they tipped it anyway as they couldn't be bothered to use the tail-lift. He took a photo of them tipping it. But thankfully everything was fine and no damage. And on the same day I got the email to say my bike was ready for collection. And our housemate also picked his E-Bike up the same day too. So we went for a ride out yesterday with the trailer attached to my bike for the dog and beer. It's such a lovely bike to ride and the boost from that motor is just pure joy 😁👍 I just have to be careful with "Turbo" mode. Setting off in anything under 4th gear and the front wheel lifts up! 😂🤣 But I generally find "eco" mode a good balance and kicks in nicely when I pedal harder. I used "Tour" mode a couple of times when going up-hill with the trailer (trailer weighs about 12kg, dog 15kg and a big cool bag with about 16 beers and food etc in).

I never saw any when I still lived there (May 2018) so I assume there must have been a boom since then. There has also been a boom here. With Corona, lockdown and now rising petrol and energy prices. It has unfortunately led to massive delivery times. I was looking at getting a Cube but you can forget it. Especially the bigger sizes. They have delivery times of "hopefully some time next year"!

Unbelievable. Can you really blame the person taking the bike in at the Uni. It's TNTs mistake and they will be paying for it I'm sure. Hermes are just as bad. My other half ordered an E-Bike a couple of weeks ago. It arrived via Hermes and the driver dragged the box out the van and chucked it on its side... Result was a bent mud guard and broken rear light! The old one is getting taken tomorrow and the new one also being delivered. Let's see if this one arrives in one piece.

I looked around on some UK sites and it seems you don't have a great choice over there. Over here in Germany they are super popular and all bike shops have a massive selection available. I've just ordered myself a KTM E-Bike through a work leasing scheme (salary sacrifice). Since my boss is putting £50 a month towards it it was a no-brainer. I had a test ride in the shop of a very similar one they had in my size. So 28" wheels and a 60cm frame size with 625wh battery and a Bosch motor with 85nm of torque.

Does the stereo support canbus? I also got a Junsun and it's shows the climate info on the screen and which door is open etc. I had to disconnect two wires on the back of mine to stop it staying on and use the canbus signals instead.

On my previous manual diesels they always felt nicer in 4th gear at 30mph when it was flat and 3rd being used if up or downhill or if there's traffic lights etc to slow down for. Otherwise 3rd on a straight open 30mph road just feels wrong. Or even 6th gear in my 7 speed petrol (approx 1,100rpm at 50km/h) at which it feels perfectly happy.

And you can easily replicate this behaviour and check. Into D, foot off the brake and let the car creep forward and the display should change to 2nd but if you concentrate on the feel of the car you can tell it's still actually creeping in 1st. Then apply very gentle throttle and it slips the clutch into 2nd and feels like a delay but with a torque boost (relative to the gentle throttle position). This is normal behaviour even on 7 speed boxes too.

Im thinking this could be the clutch slipping. The DSG introduce some clutch slip in 2nd and 3rd after slowing down under certain speeds and then applying throttle again. This is to smooth out the clutch biting rather than just completely closing the clutch and causing a jolt etc.

They are completely different gearboxes. The Tiptronic being a 6 speed torque converter automatic. And the DSG is a 7 speed dual clutch gearbox. The Tiptronic will be thirstier than the DSG and especially mated to the older tech 1.6 FSI. The 1.6 is obviously a much older engine design but also chain driven like the 1.2 TSI. The 1.2 TSI is a newer turbo charged engine and although a smaller engine it has more torque and paired to the much quicker and sharper DSG will be much nippier than the 1.6 Tiptronic.

Something else I've just throught that you haven't mentioned is the pollen filter. When was it last changed? This can have a massive impact on air conditioning performance. I remember when I bought a Seat Cordoba years back and the a/c performed poorly. Changed the pollen filter that was disgusting and hadn't been changed for years and it was blasting out icy cold air straight away.

I've tested both E5 95 and E10 95 since they're both still available here in Germany. There was basically no difference. The E10 actually seemed to give a few more Kms on shorter runs but the E5 performed better at high speed Autobahn runs. I've read before that turbo petrol engines actually like E10 due to ethanol being more knock-resistant and it tends to be older naturally aspirated engines that don't like the stuff.

It looks like this behaviour may occur if a bit of throttle is applied during an up change? Doesn't really look like slip and may just be to smooth out the gear change.

I start getting cold air within a few seconds of starting the engine on my 1.4 TSI and it was the same on my 1.9 TDI. I recently had it regassed as there was no record of it being done before.

It's amazing the difference it makes. I very rarely do much more than 130km/h these days. Still amazes me how many people race around even with these fuel prices. What gets me are those that fly past and accelerate towards red traffic lights. With a little forward planning you can squeeze a hell of a lot more miles per tank out.

It could be that the Garage also performed Basic settings on the gearbox. That involves using diagnostic equipment with the engine running, holding the brake and the gearbox runs through a self calibration and re-learns the clutch biting points etc.

Hi. Sorry only just seen this. No I didn't. Decided not to go for it in the end as had other priorities etc.

So I've started with the essentials - WiFi and entertainment! Lol Rather than buying an expensive router with 4g/5g built in etc I've gone and bought a cheap older FritzBox. FritzBox's are the go-to router here in Germany. They're made by a German company and have loads of features built in. The one I got for example (for just 15€ off eBay) has 2 USB ports and supports USB modems and even USB tethering from an Android phone. We both have unlimited data plans so can just plug the phone in to charge and share the internet. This also then allows me to use it as a media sever with a 1TB HDD I had lying around and be able to stream films and music etc either in the bedroom or sitting area. For the dining area I've decided to go with a small projector from Philips that also have a built in battery. The projector screen will then likely go at the front in front of the two chairs swivelled round. Also got the coffee side of things sorted and ordered a Tassimo since they were on offer for 27€.

No I can't bloody wait. Lol. I've started buying stuff already. At least it doesn't all have to bought at once then. And just have to wrap my head round the process of registering it too. It's a little complicated registering a brand new vehicle in Germany it seems than the UK. I need to get temporary plates on it to pick it up and then physically take it to the vehicle registrations office for them to cross-check the VIN etc.

Hi Guys, After much deliberation we've decided to take to plunge and get ourselves a new campervan/mobile home. We previously had an old Fiat based LMC camper from the 1980's that was gidted to us by family. We really enjoyed our trips away but missed some creature comforts with it being a little old. The ancient 2.5 diesel with only 70ps got a little tiresome lugging around over 3000kg! After that we got a caravan but sold this when we moved to Germany. We've since sold our house in the UK and made a tidy profit from it and since we're in no rush to buy something here (still on the cards) we've taken the plunge and ordered a brand new campervan. It's a Miller branded camper based on a Citroen Jumper 2.2 Euro 6 with 165ps and 6 speed manual gearbox. See if I can figure out the whole AdBlue situation. Thankfully you can fill up at most petrol stations here. They have AdBlue pumps for normal cars/vans and not just lorries. We went for the upgraded power (165 vs 120/140) as we're more than likely to be mostly up to or at the 3,500kg limit. We did want an automatic but that would have meant takinfg the Fiat Ducato for €3,500 plus the 9 speed ZF for €3,000! So we just stuck with manual. We've also specced it up a bit from the base spec: - DAB / Navigation with reversing camera - 4m awning - Gas oven - fly screens - Turbo-Vent (powerful fan in skylight to aid with cooling - the A/C was an 1,900€ option and added over 50kg) - 100w Solar - Blinds for the windscreen/side windows and a few other bits and bobs. Got a big shopping list to kit it out (plates and kitchen stuff etc) and also want to fit a couple of TVs (didn't fancy paying 900€ for 2x tiny 18" TVs from them). Delivery expected around August. Super excited!

If you have the maxidot cluster then you can enable the second speed display and it will show a digital MPH.

I literally pushed the pedal as hard as I could and it felt my face was going to fall off. Lol. I'd say a rough estimate I only needed about 50m to stop from about 110-120kmh. The road was dry and it's a very rarely used road as it's closed most days as it crosses through a British army barracks training ground.

I also had a similar issue. Brakes squeaking a lot on the rear and a slight judder/pulsing. Also a careful driver and plan ahead a lot with lights etc. I took it the other day down a quiet country roads and did a few emergency stops from 100kmh+. For a start I'll say how amazed I was at just how quick the car came to a stop and not even a hint of ABS. I'm on all season Hankook tyres and very impressed with them. Well anyway the squeak and judder have gone. Have to just be more abusive with them from time to time it seems.

Sounds like the high beam needs adjusting. The few times I've used it I've found it very good and lights up well into the distance. Done often need to use it. Most of the time I'm either just in town/city or on the motorway where the xenons seem to do a good enough job of lighting the way. I also have the full AFS II activated which also adapts the lights for motorway driving.

I recently bought a 2012 Octavia with factory xenons. Although the lights were fine and plenty bright enough, I still had a set of Osram cool blue intense bulbs from my Saab that had only covered about 20k miles and 2 years so I fitted them. There was still a noticeable increase in output and a much whiter light. I do also have adaptive xenons where they adjust at lower and higher speeds etc which also helps to throw the light out.

In Germany the grant is 9,000€. So you can pick up a new Dacia Spring for 10,000€ (after the grants).