In my Passat, I found that by just going with the Koni FSD shocks, I got much more neutral handling and better cornering turn-in.
Volkswagen Passat parts reviews
I bought a set for the B4 Passat I traded in earlier this year, and reviewed them in that thread starting on 22 April; they weren't bad -- far better than the stock NA headlights.
I have had both sets on cars I have owned. the kh16 is more of a highway tire, it grips good in all weather conditions. The LX platinum is good in all conditions accept snow, it gets ok traction because of the softer rubber used. It grips better than any tire I have had for the price of them in dry conditions
We choose to wrap the wheels in Nexen N3000 235/35/19. To be honest they were the cheapest Tires I could find. Another review will come after Jen racks a couple of miles on them.
The thermostat I pulled out was probably original, but wasn't stuck. After replacing the timing belt and thermostat, I filled the car back up with coolant and started it up. It did come up to operating temperature quicker
A large part of the noise is indeed the tires. They are the OEM contintental touring 235/45-17 and they were inflated to 38lbs. I dropped them to the recommended 35 and the noise and ride improved. I am now realizing that 50% of the sound I'm hearing that is objectionable is indeed these tires.
I've happily used UHP 235/45R17 tires on my Passat and Beetle 18T convertible with nothing but smooth cruising. I tried 38 psi but backed off, the slightly tauter steering wasn't worth the harshness on SoCal's crumbling surface streets. Mine were all German origin.
My RE50s were also loud at 16K. I replaced them with Falken Ziex RE 912s at 20k and they are very quiet.
They're not great but they are somewhat better than the Michelin MXV4 Plus tires that came with my Passat. I had HX MXM4's on 17\" Long Beaches from my 1.8T Jetta that I have been using on my TDI. Now that they've worn out, I've just replaced them with Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Positions. These should give me the kind of cornering and wet weather grip the Michelins lacked.
My W8 wagon had fuel leaks a couple of times. A few months ago, it started leaking again, on the driver's side near front of tank. There was a crack in tank, mechanic said "this is a common failure" on Passat tanks.
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