Yeah, aircon and/or power steering but I guess every car have power steering in this day and age.
Nope, didn’t even realise they did the 1.4 with air con, hell I would’ve waited a bit longer to find one with air con if I knew.
Ended up getting the correct belt in the end, never ordering online again
Placing anti-seize on the mounting surfaces beforehand can help with future disassembly when it comes to brakes. Otherwise get a hammer and don’t be afraid to hit it. (Just be careful not to hit the wheel stud, luckily the last one I did I was able to get it back in)
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Regarding brakes, got no idea if it’s on a Leon but some discs have a little cap in you can remove, then insert a certain sized bolt to gently pop the disc off.
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The brakes are all good now and have been for a while, forgot to change the title
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So a few weeks ago during the bad storm that hit England I was driving home on some pretty slick roads, I went to turn left at a junction and the car just went straight, I was powerless at that point and the car just went straight into a curb, braking did nothing and I found I glided across a huge puddle, luckily all the suspension components are fine… but I did do this
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Umm… stupid question… do alloys tear like that?
They do if you hit them hard enough 
heavy car + about 30mph would’ve been fine provided there wasn’t a puddle there
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Have you got to the root of the issue? Steering just cutting out like that sounds quite scary
It was down to cheap tyres and hydroplaning, it was quite a deep puddle, didn’t stick around for long though as I didn’t fancy getting struck by lightning while standing in an ankle deep puddle, limped home on it, there was nothing wrong with the car
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If it makes you feel better I’ve seen many steel rims used by police cars get bent. Methinks the curbs demand respect.
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Yep, they are not to be fucked with!
Good tires are always a must!
Never skimp on Tires or brakes, they will save your life.
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Yeah, I had never heard of ‘Mohawk’ brand tyres but they are obviously crap, maybe i’ll get some dunlops to match the ones on the back
I can say the same about a battery, I like being able to turn the key and start the car no matter what kind of weather I’m in. Even though I’ve gotten good at push starting a car by myself.
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Ouch… seeing aluminum tear like that is always cringe-worthy. Sadly about 90% of factory and about 75% of aftermarket wheels are just cast aluminum. It does the above.
Pressure-cast units fair a little better though; I know first hand from a little mishap after some road work. They cut a deep trench in the ground around a truck sized steel access hatch. I was forced to drive onto that hatch and then off of it… and I believe my wheel slipped off the corner of that hatch at an angle. The corner must have caught the inner lip of the wheel as the car’s weight fell on it, and bent the lip up enough to leak air. Not sure how it didn’t rip the tire. I had to have that wheel welded up because it cracked during repair. Wheel in question is an American Racing Avenger.
As for tires… expensive doesn’t always mean significantly better. I bought a set of Ohtsu (Falken) tires for my Altima for $53 usd a piece shipped. They are STICKY; and I say that coming from some sexy asymmetric Goodyear Eagle GTs. I know the Ohtsus won’t last too long, especially since they only quote 30,000 miles as their lifespan… but the point is that they work well during said lifespan because they’re such a soft compound. I prefer changing out cheap tires every 2-3 years for a fresh set, rather than driving on hard plastic for the next 5 years with expensive, long-lasting tires.
That said… the Ohtsu’s sidewalls could be a bit stiffer. I really miss the hard external sidewall rib of the Goodyears… it made the Altima feel lighter on her feet. The Ohtsus are actually sticker though; though not as responsive.
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Theynprobably are quite weak then, although the impact did give the front end of the car a bit of air time, hit the curb at a very awkward angle and sort of landed back on the corner of the curb, amazing thing is the tyre stayed on the whole way back home (about 10 miles) and is still fully inflated (got a steel wheel in place of the alloy now 
)
I read about the dangers of imitation alloys but damn I didn’t think something like that would happen to a VAG alloy at such a low speed, The Dunlop tyres I have on the back are premium tyres that I got on a deal for £149 for two and I have never felt the back end of the car lose it at all, on the old hankook tyres I had a bit of a looseness in the rear but I think that was down to the low tread
I’ve lost 2 tires and a rim to them (my Galant has steelies). Plus, a few weeks ago, my mom’s Honda Odyssey had to get it’s entire front right suspension replaced after being pushed into the curb by another motorist.
All of us petrol heads should smash our heads together and come up with a new type of curb that saves our alloys but still deflects the car away from the paths and buildings on the other side of it
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Pretty much all alloys shatter. It’s part of the treatment that goes into making aluminium tough enough to withstand the tensions required. When talking about metals, if you increase the strength, it usually comes at the cost of malleability
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