New GTI questions

Two questions about my new GTI that hopefully you can help me out with.

1. First one, after picking up my car and with the real hot weather of the last couple of days I found that I was getting some form of lubricant / grease leaking from the rear windscreen wiper. This has run down the back of the car and now I have some light brown marks Any suggestions on what could be used to remove this?

2. Second question, I've noticed that the variance between what my speedo shows and what the car is doing seems to be greater than the standard 2km diff on Aus cars. ie car shows 100 and you are doing 98. I clocked mine at at lease a 5km diff on the way home on a worksite how fast are you going camera. Also when I'm doing say 70 km/h on the clock in Canberra in a 60 km/h zone I am still moving at the same speed as everyone else. Maybe Canberra drivers drive 5km + over the limit all the time but it feels weird going 10km+ over to keep up with the flow.

Also grrr to the 80, 100, 120 intervals on the speedo. Certainly not made for the 90 km/h and 110 km/h zones in Australia. Thank god I don't have this car in Victoria where they are they have a 3km/h tolerance. It'd be a real nightmare trying to stick to that tiny middle mark between 100 and 120 in the clock along say the Western Ring Road that is littered with cameras every km.

Feedback appreciated.

Must say I loved the mountain pass on the Illawara (sp) Hwy between Wollongong (sp) and Robertson coming home from Sydney.

my one feels fine.........well thats what i think lol

2) No idea if they have this problem in AU, but in north america there was a service bulletin out on how to correct a calibration value in the Speedometer. Mine was fast by 5-8mph. It was a vag-com/service dept fix. You might mention it to your dealer.

The speedo reading slower than actual speed issue has been covered a few times. It's normal. :thumbsup:

For the stains, perhaps try a mild polish like Autoglym Super Resin Polish (from autobarn Fyshwick), Meguiars Deep Crystal paint cleaner or wet look, both of which have very mild polishing ability. A simple Bug&Tar spray would also likely work well. Can all be found at autobarn, supercheap, kmart etc.

A better option would be an all in one acrylic sealant like Klasse All-in-one (AIO), Poly-lack or Carlack68. These are all essentially the same thing (I believe they're all made by the same company in Germany with slight formula differences), and combine very mild polishing capability, some filling quality (for any micro-marring) and a protectant that should last you around 4-6 months when topped with Klasse High gloss sealant glaze (or equivalent Carlack68 LLS or Poly-lack Nanoseal). Klasse AIO is the most famous, thanks to places like Autopia.org, but I've read that the Klasse is now the oldest formula and the Poly-lack and Carlack68 are more recent, advanced formulas that use nano beads to better fill paint imperfections and micromarring. The nano technology also reportedly makes for easier application and removal. The very latest acrylic sealant formula (again, reputedly from the same German factory as the others, and some even say Carlack68 is the same) is Jeffs Werkstatt Prime, but it's not available here yet (as Jeffs. It might be as Carlack68)

Klasse and Poly-lack are available from www.waxit.com.au (and the owner, Dave, is a dubber with an R32). Carlack68 is available from www.extrashine.com.au (the site is a little naff, but it's the product you're after), and is half the price of Klasse AIO. I've used Klasse AIO before and thought it was great, and I'm putting Carlack68 on the GTI tomorrow (With Polylack Nanoseal over the top). The distributor lives in Canberra and I picked up a 500ml bottle from his place for $20.

I've gone off on a tangent there, but anyway... :biggrin:

That really sucks with the speedo. I wish it was a bit more accuate. Is it possible to get it re-calibrated my a local mechanic or something like that?

I'll drop by autobarn and get one of the those cleaners in the next couple of days and give it a go.

The speedo being out by 5km is an issue for me too. My last car was dead accurate so it's a bit annoying. So to is the lack of 90kph marking but you'll get used to it. Being from Sydney, I drive at least 10kph over the limit anyway :thumbsup:

As for the brown stains, as Kirium metioned Autoglym SRP is a good product. If you buy it, I also recommend buying Autoglym's Extra Gloss Protection as a sealant and do the whole car with both products. SRP is a paint cleanser so if you don't want to try something as harsh, try a quick detailer first. Any of the products from Waxit are great value. I buy from there all the time.

I know I keep saying it, but having a car with a dead accurate speedo is the exception, rather than the rule. I had assumed, wrongly it seems, that car's having speedos reading under the "real" speed was accepted knowledge.

1990-1993 LX Torana … speedo was stupidly out
1993-2001 Pulsar SSS … speedo was out
2001-2004 Mk4 GTI … speedo was out
2003-2006 Subaru Outback … speedo was out
2004– MINI Cooper S … speedo is out
2006– Mk5 GTI … speedo is out

I'm used to it. :laugh:

minigolf said:

I know I keep saying it, but having a car with a dead accurate speedo is the exception, rather than the rule. I had assumed, wrongly it seems, that car's having speedos reading under the "real" speed was accepted knowledge.

1990-1993 LX Torana … speedo was stupidly out
1993-2001 Pulsar SSS … speedo was out
2001-2004 Mk4 GTI … speedo was out
2003-2006 Subaru Outback … speedo was out
2004– MINI Cooper S … speedo is out
2006– Mk5 GTI … speedo is out

I'm used to it. :laugh:

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Yes, dead accurate speedos are very rare. You're right, it's more the exception than the rule. I think I've just been spoilt by the past two cars being spot on.

My wife's Hyundai Excell is in the stupidly out category. I've used the portable GPS to see how much by but there doesn't seem to be any set amount so I gave up trying to work out the margin. We are thinking about buying her a Polo GTI soon anyway.

Surely this would cause problems in states that have a fixed speeding tolerance of say 3km/h.

Is it something that you could ask to get fixed up before warranty expires :iono:

It's not a problem with speeding tolerance because the implementation by manufacturers is to have the speedo always read faster than you're actually going.

I don't think any dealer will modify it because it's not a fault of the speedo. It's intentional, for a variety of reasons.

Sledz said:

Surely this would cause problems in states that have a fixed speeding tolerance of say 3km/h.

Is it something that you could ask to get fixed up before warranty expires :iono:

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Vic Government's view is;

They believe that most modem speedometers are already more accurate than that required in ADR 18 (+/- 10% of the indicated speed). This is also the setting for NSW speed cameras. Do 66+ kph past a 60 zone speed camera and you'll get done.

However, the Commonwealth Government has adopted a policy of
aligning the Australian Design Rules (ADR) with the International United Nations (UN) ECE Regulations. The Department of Transport and Regional Services is evaluating a proposal to adopt the UN ECE Regulation on speedometer accuracy.

The ECE Regulation offers a number of advantages over the current ADR that would help ensure that, in future, speedometers would not indicate less than the vehicle's actual speed.

This will only affect vehicles manufactured after the introduction of the new ADR.

Now as far as I'm aware, we still operate under ADR 18. In NSW, you can legally be fined for driving 3kms over the limit however the Police here are a lot more tolerant than their Victorian counterparts.

I just read that we are aligned with the ECE Regulation as of 1 July this year

The speedo on my old Rav was dead on (checked with GPS and the police a long time ago)

The Golf is about 5kmh faster than actual speed. Have saved me from getting done a couple of times already so I'm not complaining about that, although the change from 70, to 80, to 100, to 120 on the speedo is horrible for Australian road conditions I'd rather they rip off the 300kmh mark and expand the scale a bit.

Sledz said:

Surely this would cause problems in states that have a fixed speeding tolerance of say 3km/h.

Is it something that you could ask to get fixed up before warranty expires :iono:

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Speedo is hard to get use to given the spread of numbers, but you can use the Speed Alert on the seetings to warn you. I set to 75 for all as most areas are around 70 so 75 lets me know I am getting close, of course this is a problem for the 60 zone, but then you know you are goin slow....haha:thumbup:

nike61 said:

but you can use the Speed Alert on the seetings to warn you. I set to 75 for all as most areas are around 70 so 75 lets me know I am getting close, of course this is a problem for the 60 zone, but then you know you are goin slow....haha:thumbup:

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I ended up setting mine at 125kph as I got sick of the missus looking over at the speedo every time she heard the 'ding' :bellyroll:

Sledz said:

1. First one, after picking up my car and with the real hot weather of the last couple of days I found that I was getting some form of lubricant / grease leaking from the rear windscreen wiper. This has run down the back of the car and now I have some light brown marks Any suggestions on what could be used to remove this?

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My car also had this stuff leaking from the rear washer and I now have a large yellow/brown stain on my paintwork. VW has said they dont understand what it could be as they only put washer fluid in it at the factory but they have had a few other cases of this happening. The dealer has flushed the line and refilled it so hopefully it wont happen again. However they were unable to get rid of the huge ugly stain and are therefore going to have to respray the boot. My advice to you is get it back to the dealer as its there responsability to make sure you are supplied with a pristine vehicle. At least make them aware of the issue.