Well, picked it up yesterday morning. As soon as I saw it I had the biggest grin on my face

The paint looked really good (black magic) and the car was really nicely prepared all round really. No smear marks, scratches, dirt etc... Had done 12.6 miles. I was expecting some sort of blemish, but it was perfect.

I've done about 400 miles in 2 days, and all I can say is WOW! What a car. It handles a treat, really quick, lovely spec, comfy... But none of thats new to most of the people on here!

My only queries are as follows...

1 - The Xenons seem to flicker when going over bumps. Is this normal? I am very impressed with the quality of the light (really crisp) and they seem to be a good height! Just worried about the flickering...

2 - The tyres are Bridgestone Turanza. They are W rated, but I was a little disappointed. They don't have rim protectors . I haven't heard any reviews of them, but they seem grippy, but VERY noisy on all surfaces. Anyone got any experience of these tyres?

3 - The wierd noise when its being driven briskly at about 2200rpm for about 500revs... It sounds nice but don't know what it is... Assuming something to do with the turbo?

4 - The brakes seem quite poor really. Do they get better with age?

All in all, well chuffed!

Thanks in advance

3. If it's a whistling noise, then its the turbo.

3. It might be sound of turbo boost but it should be heard earlier (say 1800 rpm). if it sounds nice its probably turbo

4. Well it should slightly improve but dont expect much because its already been said that brakes are poor quality. Try searching there are various upgrade options.

It'll get quicker too - I drove a demo with 10k on recently to see if mine was ok, and it was noticably quicker - dealer said it's about 20bhp more by 6k!!

1 - The Xenons seem to flicker when going over bumps. Is this normal? I am very impressed with the quality of the light (really crisp) and they seem to be a good height! Just worried about the flickering...

Xenon lamps are self adjusting and thus try and adjust constantly to maintain that height, however you shouldn't really be able to notice it ?

2 - The tyres are Bridgestone Turanza. They are W rated, but I was a little disappointed. They don't have rim protectors . I haven't heard any reviews of them, but they seem grippy, but VERY noisy on all surfaces. Anyone got any experience of these tyres?

I have exactly the same tyres, without rim protectors also, but they are extramly nosiy i have to agree, but all weather grip is breath taking !

3 - The wierd noise when its being driven briskly at about 2200rpm for about 500revs... It sounds nice but don't know what it is... Assuming something to do with the turbo?

This is the turbo, it reminds me of the sound you hear old s1 RS turbo's making through the exhasut, like a little scream

4 - The brakes seem quite poor really. Do they get better with age?

I think mine are quite good, but i used to drive an auto volvo, so that might make a difference

The sound at 2000rpm is probably the turbo as people have said (whistling sound).

Just so you know though, lots of people on this forum have also reported a slight transmission whine at about this rpm. This is normally audible at low speeds in second gear and is very quiet and high pitched. This is the case on my Vrs and as far as i know its perfectly normal. (I quite like it, its a bit rally car )

Happy driving.

BTW the engine does get much better with age, now done 15,000 miles in mine and can hit sixty in 7.8sec (completely standard)

Thanks for all your replies guys...

1 - The Xenons have a definite flicker over anything other than the smallest of bumps/potholes. I'd like to go out in someone elses to compare before I take it to the dealer... Any offers?

2 - I thought I might be the only one with the Turanzas... After some B road blasting yesterday (trying to stick to running in regime, but not quite sticking to it!) I found the tyres very grippy indeed. The roads round here are quite muddy and slippery, so I was very impressed indeed! Just a little disappointed about not having rim protectors and the noise. Ah well, thats what the stereo is for I suppose!

3 - I thought it was the turbo, I just wasn't expecting it to be noisy on a standard car! My friend says its called chatter. :confused:

4 - I just think the brakes aren't as good as I'd hoped. My last car was an '03 Megane DCi Privilege, and the brakes on that were mind blowing... Pin sharp with lots of feel, and extremely powerful - they never gave even a hint of fade. Guess I'll be upgrading soon then...

Cheers guys & gals!

The brakes do get better with some extra miles on them, dont forget you should really bed the brakes in aswell

Mine in tuned and I still have the standard brakes and to be honest they are still upto the job unless you start gettin silly speeds! Though saying that I'll be upgrading in the near future

dealer said it's about 20bhp more by 6k!!

Do they have any evidence to back that claim up?!

Chris

The brakes do get better with some extra miles on them, dont forget you should really bed the brakes in aswell

Is there a technique for this? I have just been using them cautiously...

Brake hard from time to time to bed them in dude...also, use downshifting methods. Always helps. And with the tight gearing of the vRS, it will help when you brake in general.

Is there a technique for this? I have just been using them cautiously...

Check out this site: http://www.elises.co.uk/components/s2/brakes/

Chris

The brakes are rubbish when the car is new. I drove a 1.9 TDI Elegance Furby when mine was being hand-free kitted by the dealer and the brakes appeared way better. Will definitely keep an eye on it. Not had any trouble with fading but I suppose it's been cold.

As for the Xenons flickering - yep they sure do. It is very much noticable when you're jumping those speedbumps/potholes/etc.etc.

I'm not worried about it though, I have seen it on other manufacturers' cars too, and they don't turn off or anything like that, which would be a bad thing.

@Mike - how many miles of 'normal' driving would you say it needs before the brakes are bedded in? Also, spotted some posts about the brake fluid not being the best and boiling up rather easily?

Strange, the brakes arent perfect, but they are much better than some people on here say IMHO. I use them pretty hard though, maybe babying them makes them not bed in properly or something.

Strange, the brakes arent perfect, but they are much better than some people on here say IMHO. I use them pretty hard though, maybe babying them makes them not bed in properly or something.

I agree...mine feel better the harder they are used....upto a point

The only time they feel bad is when they are cold, wet and lightly used. Even then they are still better than my old 106 eh hemmm

3. Small bonnet burrowing squirrel????

Suppose I'll do a search on bedding them in then and try that out when it's dry on the roads again

I find they're powerful, but do suffer from fade when the car's driven hard.