Last weekend I was driving in a terrible head/crosswind (50-80 km/h average with gusts above 120 km/h
). While passing a truck I noticed something flying over my hood - it was my upper grille block. It wasn't screwed on, just slipped behind the license plate and under the hood. Thankfully it didn't cause any harm (it was among the smaller and lighter things flying around that day), but I didn't want to go back and look for it in the dark and rain. Plus it was temporary version 1.0, which was never expected to be on for more than 1-2 months.
One thing that helped me guess what had happened was coolant temperature: within a minute it was 12-15°C lower, back to what I was seeing with only the lower block. Also, warm-up times were slightly longer the next morning (slept at a friend's with no way to plug in the engine heater).
The lighter wheels do make driving on Polish landmine fields (which the gov't keeps calling "roads" for some reason) easier - less bumpy and quieter - but that's not 100% objective since the rear seats were installed for this trip, which deadens sound from the rear.
The brakes (or something else
) up front keeps squeeling at all sorts of random speeds, I think I have to figure out how to get
springs on the brake pads.
Or drive more often than every 2-3 weeks to keep the brakes "fresh".
Or devise wheel covers to keep the dog from peeing on them.