My family wagon, vw passat
My family wagon, vw passat
Author
Discussion

C. Grimsley

Original Poster:

1,381 posts

223 months

Friday 24th September 2010
quotequote all
Well after having a top of the range 2003 Renault laguna for 5 years i decided a change was on the cards, the Renault was a good car but poor of fuel and we had the odd electrical gremlin as they do.

I then went out and bought a vw Passat estate 140tdi, great car but just look a bit poo in standard stance, well untill i did this.

Well i took the family work horse to work today and managed to lower the car all round 30mm on a set of eibach springs, whilst fiddling with the nmessy stuff i repainted the centre of the brake disc's as they were starting to show signs of corrosion and as anal as it may sound i even repainted the wheel bolt covers matt black as these had gone a weird creamy colour.

Here is the car how she started out-





After struggling to get it on the ramp, (messy garage)-




These are the choice for the lowered stance, eibach -30mm, not cheap at £180 :x




Whilst stripping the springs out etc, i noticed the brake disc centres were looking scabby-



After a quick scotch and clean, redone with some etch primer-



Whilst i had the rattle cans out i also sprayed the wheel nut covers back black as they had gone weird-




The wheels of choice-





Spent most of the day on the car cleaning it, carying out a service etc, have to say i am over the moon with it.

Car now sits and looks spot on in my eyes.

I took lots of photos but the camera died, here are a few i had to tke with my camera phone, the finished article-








Totally transforms the look of the car and it really does drive exactly the same, its great having a car that can manage 50mpg, coming out of the laguna that did 25 at best this has the best of both worlds, power and fuel economy.

Anyone want to guess the cars mileage?

Many thanks, Carl

Edited by C. Grimsley on Friday 24th September 08:18

andyp74199

141 posts

219 months

Friday 24th September 2010
quotequote all
Looking good, nice subtle approach appeals to me. R32 alloys keeping it oem always way better than cheap aftermarkets. I'll go with 50k miles...?

White-Noise

5,500 posts

276 months

Friday 24th September 2010
quotequote all
Liking that, I would love one of these to get around in.

Did you get primer on the discs?!!

ambuletz

11,712 posts

209 months

Friday 24th September 2010
quotequote all
White-Noise said:
Did you get primer on the discs?!!
Looks like that to me. Seems as though he didn't tape anything up confused

5potTurbo

13,613 posts

196 months

Friday 24th September 2010
quotequote all
The car looks much better. thumbup

I think it could look nicer still if the black sections of the bumpers (front and rear) and the black sections along the side were silver too?

ambuletz said:
White-Noise said:
Did you get primer on the discs?!!
Looks like that to me. Seems as though he didn't tape anything up confused
No masking? confused

I guess the (huge amounts of) overspray would come off quickly as soon as the brakes are used, but I was sure to mask off the discs when I painted my calipers.

Mileage: 150k?

Edited by 5potTurbo on Friday 24th September 09:41

150bhp

908 posts

200 months

Friday 24th September 2010
quotequote all
Looks good to me thumbup

Dino D

1,953 posts

249 months

Friday 24th September 2010
quotequote all
Looks great - does it really ride as comfortably as before? I've heard good things about Eibach and that they give better handling without ruining the ride but about those low profile tyres?

Are those R36 wheels?

mpm1987

755 posts

213 months

Friday 24th September 2010
quotequote all
Wheels suit it much better.

Im guessing mileage is around 80k?

LeoZwalf

2,802 posts

258 months

Friday 24th September 2010
quotequote all
The car looks much improved, nice work smile

As for the milage, I am going to assume it is some kind of trick question and is either mega low or moon-and-back. Going with the latter, I'm going to guess at 235,000 miles :P

MadRob6

3,594 posts

248 months

Friday 24th September 2010
quotequote all
Looks much nicer now. I struggle to get 50mpg out of my 140tdi sport but I put that down to me being impatient and sticky tyres.

Interesting to hear it rides the same, mine has the sports shocks which make sure you feel every slight bump which gets tedious after a while.

DaveyBoyWonder

3,802 posts

202 months

Friday 24th September 2010
quotequote all
Pretty much exactly what we're looking to get - SE model? What kit do you get with it, 6 speed box? Looks decent - how easy were the springs to fit?

Ash From Flux

1,138 posts

196 months

Friday 24th September 2010
quotequote all
Those mods make such a big difference it looks much better. I've ordered some lowering springs for my Twingo and was wondering how much I would be looking to pay a garage to lower the car for me. I tried my local bush tyres and they were saying £35 an hour and would take about 3 hours. That seemed a little steep to me.

ManOpener

12,467 posts

197 months

Friday 24th September 2010
quotequote all
Dino D said:
Looks great - does it really ride as comfortably as before? I've heard good things about Eibach and that they give better handling without ruining the ride but about those low profile tyres?

Are those R36 wheels?
Mk5 R32 wheels.

chrissyr32

736 posts

211 months

Friday 24th September 2010
quotequote all
Looking good..i like VAG wagons with subtle mods...
are they 18 or 19 inch?

C. Grimsley

Original Poster:

1,381 posts

223 months

Friday 24th September 2010
quotequote all
DaveyBoyWonder said:
Pretty much exactly what we're looking to get - SE model? What kit do you get with it, 6 speed box? Looks decent - how easy were the springs to fit?
Its an se spec car, has aircon, cruise, 4 x electric windows, decent cd sterio, 6 speed gear box etc.



The current mileage is 143k but is spotless inside and out with no wera anywhere really, a gem of a car to drive. The wheels are 18 inch version, 19 in my eyes where a bit risky with the other half driving it alot more.

Thanks for all the comment people, have tried to answer as many of your questions in this post.

Cheers, Carl

Edited by C. Grimsley on Friday 24th September 17:34