Wierd wheelarch liner's

[VolksGolf]

Went to clean the arch liners at the local garage with a spray car wash and I found some sort of non plastic there? What's the logic behind that?

(I seem to be posting endlessly on here - I apologise for that but my old mk IV - V site I used to go on, although there is a MK VI section, seems to be full of young-uns with their newly acquired MKIV's - so the MK VI section appears to be very empty )

[ollli]

it's sound insulation to help reduce noise in the cabin.

oli

[VolksGolf]

But won't it hold the moisture from the wet against the metal of the wings?

[VolksGolf]

And also - what about the cow muck etc I drive through - Must stick in the insulation liner for longer than in the plastic one. Can't help the logevity of the components or in the short term, the smell

[vwcabriolet1971]

It looks like roofing felt to me. Not as durable as the plastic moulded variety. This was one area of my new MK6 Golf that I thought was reduced quality compared to my old MK4 golf which had the heavy PVC coating ( under the paint ) on the wheel arch areas in addition to the precision moulded plastic liners . The MK6 Golf has no PVC coating and the roofing felt type material liner does not fit so precisely around the wheel arch leaving gaps that will be vunerable to to stone chipping. This was a backward step by VW in my opinion but I suppose we should have expected this kind of thing as VW cut costs to compete with the Ford Focus. Owners of MK6s should be warned about jet washing the wheel arches as I think a few jet washes in this area could destroy the roofing felt.
How far will VW continue to cut costs at the expense of quality / durabilty ?

[david25]

They are also installed to stop water freezing behind the panel, the resulting ice then pushing the panel apart.

[percymon]

And they reduce spray in wet weather. Mercedes have used similar materials for over 8 years so I wouldn't worry too much.

[Keithuk]

Yes it is like a felting material and as you say it would absorb more water than the plastic ones. If you remove it you'll find 2 more felt blocks. One is up in the corner by the A frame and the other is directly vertical from the top of the wheel arch. These too will absorb water if water gets in there. I just coated mine in waxoyl and stuck them back. Its obviously for sound proofing. ;)

[vwcabriolet1971]

Never had any ice formation damage due to ice behind the plastic wheel arches in 11 years of ownership of a MK4 Golf. I did take one wheel arch liner off to improve servicing accessabilty and found pristine factory fresh gleaming paintwork on top of the PVC coating. This was on an 11 year car. If you do a visible comparison between the MK 4 & MK 6 then I think you will agree that the durabilty of the MK6 looks compromised by this change . But time will tell.
I don't think the change was made for noise reduction reasons . It was obviously more expensive to apply the PVC coating . This was applied to quite a few areas and not just to the wheel arches and of course was a lot heavier than the roofing felt. Mercedes have had quite a few rust problems in the last few years, particulary in the wheel arch areas. so I don't think that is a particulary good recommendation.

[ollli]

Has or can anyone see how it's listed in vw parts liner or insulation?

They do say that after the mk4 they had to reduce build time and cost this was quiet well hidden in the mk5 but now you see it more in the mk6.

oli

[vwcabriolet1971]

I'm sure that the MK6 car is quieter with the roofing felt than without it, but I don't think it would be appreciably quieter than with the PVC and plastic liner . This change was done for cost reasons not for acoustics. The significant acoustic improvements were made in other areas. I would willing exchange a slight increase in noise level for extended durabilty.