As a Nokian retialer I'd say they are a better tire. That also comes from personal experience with clients cars and the bad years. Get the XL ones as they will last a lot longer.

Oiled filters are a BAD idea. They let lots of particulate through and will DESTROY turbos by slowly sand blasting them to death.

The other issue is they destroy very expensive mass air flow...

What a load....

As a mechanic you eed to rotate them. If you don't they do set in funny and wear out MORE quickly. Plus they get really odd handling characteristics. The issue comes from idiots...

Actually, no. While I liked the casr a lot and still do compared to the new ride I have a 96 vw passat TDI variant or B4V. (station wagon in the u.s.) Since I repair TDI's for a living it makes sence...

The bar weight 80 lbs or so but that will not make a 5cm difference in ride height. You can feel the weight slung over the rear end if you are in tune with the car and the before and after driving...

Ok.....so I don't own my XC any longer....actually for some time. That said I have had a BUNCH of people PM me about the instruction pics of the factory hitch install I did in 02'. Some many months...

Just the part that comes out of the hitch and connects to the trailer. 2" size. For the nice ROUND recievered hitch.

$25 + shipping anywhere. Even has a storage bag!

Synthetic oil only and a good cool down after hard driving is a VERY good idea. Like they said either rebuild or replacement of the turbo is probably required. turbos don't like to be idled for long...

It's due to you idling. Turbo cars don't like to sit idle. You draw oil past the seals in the turbo when sitting. The seals needs positive boost to seal correctly. If the car is cooled off, just shut...

For those of you that would like the factory hitch I have a CD FULL of photos of the install as well as a copy of the instruction on there. I COULD send you then by email if you have a broadband...

I went 12K miles on one. Then installed the Sylvania Cool Blues. had tose for a year ubtil we sold the car. Silverstars are not known for their longjevity. The cool Blues run about 80% of the life of...

Well, A lot has changed in 2 years. I go to school full time and moved to WI. Finishing a BS degree I should have finished 15 years ago and Going to go to P.A school.

Just Like I said when I installed them in the fall of 02'! Perfect tire for this car. Been running them and other Nokians for many years on the other cars as well.

They must have got the fans from the same manufacturer as BMW. In the 2000-2001 time frame they had tons of vehicles burning to the ground from defective cooling fans.

The throttle boddy and the Maf should be covered under emmisions warranty. Look in the owners guide book.

Some are just louder than others. If the exhaust is going a bit you can hear them from the back too. I have had several different turbos on my VW TDI and they all sounded different, even the same...

If the alignment checks out you could have them add about .3-.5 deg of toe in to help with the wandering. It will slighly increase tire wear but help in directional stability quite a lot.

We...

A light clunk from the "overall" drivetrain is the slack getting taken up. All AWD cars do it. Our Passat 4motion does it as well. If there is a CLUNK that can be the center diff trying to figure out...

You won't be seeing the regualr manuals for too much longer except in the cheapest of cars or work trucks. Everyone is going to DSG as VW calls it. They are clutch pedalless manuals that use dual...

Flat is a pretty popular term in the midwest too. Always heard it since I was a kid.

I ran them too when we owned our XC. they are indeed more quiet. I also run them on our VW and had them on a BMW 3ser convertible. Great all-around tire.

Also in hot weather the batteries use water. They may be "sealed" but they still need an occasional shot of distilled water. Reverse Osmosis water will work too as it is real low in PPM garbage...

You also loose some past the turbo seals in the turbo. As Others have stated you should use a bit of oil. 1qt per 5K miles is perfectly fine. Rebuilds come to mind about a quart every 1000 miles or...

Very impressive indeed! I was about 50% wear at 30K.

Welcome to warranties. I had one on the TDI. Had being the opertune word. I modded the suspension with VW factory parts. VW!!!!! the warranty company came in to inspect a bad engine component. They...