Greetings to all you Audi owning peeps. Just bought an '09 A3 1.4 TFSI and as a biker I've always joined the owners forums as they're invariably far better than dealers as a source of genuine, no-bullsh*t advice.

Welcome John.

If you're from the Western Isles, then your first job should be to Lanoguard the underside of your A3. I've got family from that part of the world too, so know all about the salt-air, and the destruction that it will ultimately do to your car, never mind the local council salt and gritting the roads.

Wash the car as normal. Remove each wheel and jet-wash under arches, etc. If you want to be thorough, then remove the inner wheel arch liners too and make sure you remove soil and other road detritus which will be lurking in the base of the wings. Let the car dry. For any crusty areas underneath on the subframe - you can use a wire brush. Spray Lanoguard (basically lanolin) on all exposed metalwork except the exhaust and watch going near the brakes.

A decent dry sunny day is perfect. Leave for a few hours to harden. Repeat annually. If you're doing it on your drive, or lock-block or such like, stick down a tarp first. If it's bare ground - crack on.

Edited September 10, 2025Sep 10 by spartacus 68

Welcome to the forum you'll find the members on here are a friendly and helpful bunch 🙂 

Thanks for the gen spartacus, very useful... although I'm slightly confused as to what a "decent dry sunny day" is. 😂

Edited September 12, 2025Sep 12 by Cougar377

Greetings fellow Audi Owner and Biker. Enjoy the company here - a vat of wisdom unless you ask a silly question... 

 

1 hour ago, Envy said:

Greetings fellow Audi Owner and Biker. Enjoy the company here - a vat of wisdom unless you ask a silly question... 

 

Greetings Earthling. What bike(s) have you got.? 

Edited September 12, 2025Sep 12 by Cougar377

I have just the one bike - Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RS. Had it a couple of years now. Been to Spain one year and Hungary last year. Going to Assen, NL this weekend got British Superbikes Round. Have to say the Bike is more of a Summer indulgence. 

 

9 minutes ago, Envy said:

I have just the one bike - Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RS. Had it a couple of years now. Been to Spain one year and Hungary last year. Going to Assen, NL this weekend got British Superbikes Round. Have to say the Bike is more of a Summer indulgence. 

 

I got rid of mine 2 years ago, before we moved to the Western Isles...a Blackbird, a Ducati 750SS and a Fazer 600 (plus an RX8). We've still got the wife's bike (Ninja 400) as we can share that. Biking up here is heavily weather dependent, plus the salt atmosphere can eat vehicles in record time.

Assen is a great circuit. I've seen some memorable WSB races there years ago.

 

On 9/12/2025 at 2:38 PM, Cougar377 said:

 although I'm slightly confused as to what a "decent dry sunny day" is. 😂

I distinctly remember one dry sunny day in the Hebrides about 25 years ago, though it must be admitted the rest of my time there was wet.

Ninja 400 is a cracking package - not like the Blackbird. Must have been a sad day when you saw them leave the drive. Its been a while since I was last at Assen. Have seen Moto GP and WSB there in the past. I resw up on East Coast of Scotland and the weather was hit or miss there. Western Isles have a beauty all of their own although do Amazon deliver? 

 

7 minutes ago, Envy said:

Ninja 400 is a cracking package - not like the Blackbird. Must have been a sad day when you saw them leave the drive. Its been a while since I was last at Assen. Have seen Moto GP and WSB there in the past. I resw up on East Coast of Scotland and the weather was hit or miss there. Western Isles have a beauty all of their own although do Amazon deliver? 

 

Yeah, I was pretty gutted, but it was either ride them up one at a time, or fork out a substantial amount to have them transported up. After some heart searching I decided I couldn't justify the Blackbird as a commuter bike (totally OTT for up here) and I don't tour anymore anyway. The Ducati would've melted before my eyes with the salt in the air and the Fazer was a winter hack and was getting long in the tooth anyway.

Same with the RX8. There aren't the roads here (Uist) to justify having a sporty 4 wheeler with stiff suspension.

The wife's Ninja is a nice compromise, but now that Kawasaki have brought out a 4 cylinder, high power version, it might be next.

Amazon deliver up here and surprisingly quickly too. Believe it or not, we've had next day deliveries on occasion. It all depends on whether it makes it onto the aircraft, but even if it goes road freight it's typically only 2 or 3 days....unless the ferries don't sail due to the weather.