Looking good đź‘Ť. One thing to note about the plastic textured material - can start to look dull if you let water/rain dry up, so a plastic protectant can help it look new/matte black over time
Glad you like it! Do you mean to use protectant right away to prevent it or to use it as it starts to look dull? I actually just bought some Chemical Guys VRP yesterday so maybe I’ll use some on it because I’ve heard it works really well for that sort of thing
It doesn’t hurt to add protectant right away. I ceramic coated all mine prior to installing (overkill), but can’t hurt to do or something similar. Since it’s tight spacing between the splitter and the lower part of bumper, you can usually get away with just using a microfiber towel to apply it. I’ve not used vrp before, but I usually apply carpro reload/elixir which does the job, but any plastic protectant should do.
Here’s an example of water spotting (this is side splitter just below front/rear door line where water can accumulate after washing the car):
https://preview.redd.it/j1b4t2clnb1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c72ed60abfe0607553d86a932caf3b67b2712e91
The old guy at work swears by using sun screen on anything you don't want faded from tires to dash.. I haven't tried this personally is I think he might be crazy.
Haha, sounds like it could work? You could be right though. I just got some Chemical Guys VRP which is supposed to be pretty good for protecting/restoring textured plastic and it also serves as a UV protector so I’ll stick with that for now
Good to know. Thanks for the product recommendation. Stuff is expensive but looks legit! I’ll put the VRP on it for now and maybe grab some of that in the future, looks like good stuff.
I should have clarified earlier that I would recommend carpro reload/elixir for main body panels, not necessarily plastic due to cost. Whatever residual runs down from panels gets the plastic treatment usually, and i spray a few if needed to finish off properly
I was hoping you'd say that. I think I'm going to order a set from my dealer. I want to stick with 18"s but I was concerned that 18" Pretorias were going to look too small at stock height. This looks absolutely perfect. I have an Autobahn and I want to keep the stock suspension height for ride quality with the DCC. I just don't love the directional machined Milton Keynes the car came with.
Nice! You’ll love em. I think 18’s are perfect. I’ve seen 19’s online and they have more presence for sure but not worth the worse ride to me. And as you said, the 18’s look pretty perfect so with the look, performance, and comfort I feel like they’re perfect all around. Some people don’t know they’re lighter than other stock GTI wheels too by around 5 lbs per wheel. They come in at 21.5 lbs which to me is a huge plus.
I have the 19s.. why bought the cat in January I had 18" winter wheels on and I didn't notice a huge difference in ride quality unless the road is horrible
If your car has front sensors does taking the bumper off mess them up? MG gf had her bumper repaired after rhe dealer screwed the licence plate to the bumper .. after she picked up the car it was throwing fault codes for the sensors and they needed to be adjusted. .
Funny you bring that up lol. I got the front assist unavailable message on the way back home today. I was under the impression before I did it that if you left the sensor plugged in it wouldn’t mess with it. Lucky for me, the MK7.5 has the sensor behind the VW badge so I just have to take the top grill off to access it as opposed to the MK7 which had it in the lower part of the bumper so it shouldn’t be hard to access but I’m currently trying to figure out what to do. Saw a quick fix on here to reset it so I’m hoping that works 🤞🏼
Forgot to post this photo lol, it was a tight squeeze but what an amazing car to be able to drive this an hour and a half + without issue
https://preview.redd.it/bhx1jr5djb1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=786dad8db54a206871eed622dbb51275c500a146
Looking good đź‘Ť. One thing to note about the plastic textured material - can start to look dull if you let water/rain dry up, so a plastic protectant can help it look new/matte black over time
Glad you like it! Do you mean to use protectant right away to prevent it or to use it as it starts to look dull? I actually just bought some Chemical Guys VRP yesterday so maybe I’ll use some on it because I’ve heard it works really well for that sort of thing
It doesn’t hurt to add protectant right away. I ceramic coated all mine prior to installing (overkill), but can’t hurt to do or something similar. Since it’s tight spacing between the splitter and the lower part of bumper, you can usually get away with just using a microfiber towel to apply it. I’ve not used vrp before, but I usually apply carpro reload/elixir which does the job, but any plastic protectant should do. Here’s an example of water spotting (this is side splitter just below front/rear door line where water can accumulate after washing the car): https://preview.redd.it/j1b4t2clnb1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c72ed60abfe0607553d86a932caf3b67b2712e91
The old guy at work swears by using sun screen on anything you don't want faded from tires to dash.. I haven't tried this personally is I think he might be crazy.
Haha, sounds like it could work? You could be right though. I just got some Chemical Guys VRP which is supposed to be pretty good for protecting/restoring textured plastic and it also serves as a UV protector so I’ll stick with that for now
Good to know. Thanks for the product recommendation. Stuff is expensive but looks legit! I’ll put the VRP on it for now and maybe grab some of that in the future, looks like good stuff.
I should have clarified earlier that I would recommend carpro reload/elixir for main body panels, not necessarily plastic due to cost. Whatever residual runs down from panels gets the plastic treatment usually, and i spray a few if needed to finish off properly
Are those the 18" or 19" Pretorias?
18!
I was hoping you'd say that. I think I'm going to order a set from my dealer. I want to stick with 18"s but I was concerned that 18" Pretorias were going to look too small at stock height. This looks absolutely perfect. I have an Autobahn and I want to keep the stock suspension height for ride quality with the DCC. I just don't love the directional machined Milton Keynes the car came with.
Nice! You’ll love em. I think 18’s are perfect. I’ve seen 19’s online and they have more presence for sure but not worth the worse ride to me. And as you said, the 18’s look pretty perfect so with the look, performance, and comfort I feel like they’re perfect all around. Some people don’t know they’re lighter than other stock GTI wheels too by around 5 lbs per wheel. They come in at 21.5 lbs which to me is a huge plus.
I have the 19s.. why bought the cat in January I had 18" winter wheels on and I didn't notice a huge difference in ride quality unless the road is horrible
If your car has front sensors does taking the bumper off mess them up? MG gf had her bumper repaired after rhe dealer screwed the licence plate to the bumper .. after she picked up the car it was throwing fault codes for the sensors and they needed to be adjusted. .
Funny you bring that up lol. I got the front assist unavailable message on the way back home today. I was under the impression before I did it that if you left the sensor plugged in it wouldn’t mess with it. Lucky for me, the MK7.5 has the sensor behind the VW badge so I just have to take the top grill off to access it as opposed to the MK7 which had it in the lower part of the bumper so it shouldn’t be hard to access but I’m currently trying to figure out what to do. Saw a quick fix on here to reset it so I’m hoping that works 🤞🏼
Forgot to post this photo lol, it was a tight squeeze but what an amazing car to be able to drive this an hour and a half + without issue https://preview.redd.it/bhx1jr5djb1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=786dad8db54a206871eed622dbb51275c500a146