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Old 31st July 2022, 14:57   #1
rbk
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How I worked my way to the vRS dream

A Little Bit of History for Premise

Cars. An emotion that we all share at Team-BHP. I am no less an enthusiast. I was fortunate enough to have several cars at home as I grew up. To mention a few stalwarts from memory, there was a Maroon Contessa with the chrome bumper, a white Tata Sumo with the quintessential roof-mounted carrier, a Hyundai Accent GVS without ABS, a Wagon R Gen 2, an underpowered Hyundai Getz, a signature Green Gen 1 Ford Figo TDCi with surprisingly exciting speakers, a 3.0 TDCi Ford Endeavour Thunder+. All of these except the Figo and the Endeavour were more or less memories - as I was too young to drive.

But the first car that was daily driven and owned by me was a trusted Toyota Etios Cross. It still remains in our family clocking a solid 1.6+ lakh km on the ODO and going strong. When I passed the Etios on to my younger brother, I bought a grey Mahindra Thar CRDi. It was purely a go-by-the-heart kinda purchase - after I saw one climbing the snowy mountains on a trip to Himachal. But the bumpy ride, not so nice on the highway, inability to lock my belongings in the soft-top cabin and the almost never taking the car off-road made me realise it is time to part ways and go back to a sensible, affordable car. That is when I bought myself a Figo Blu Titanium TDCi. The car was fun to drive, the peppy 1.5 diesel was exciting and the interior screamed quality (of course, for the price tag). I was happily living with my dear Grey Figo.

Now for the Twist in the Tale

One of my close friends drops a bombshell. He was off to vacation in the Maldives for a few days and he offers to leave his less than an year old glittering Black BMW 330i with me. He said I can keep it until he's back. That is a once in a lifetime kind of offer. Those few days changed everything! Though I have driven a few premium, powerful Germans before, this was my first prolonged experience with a proper, well built, performing, exciting car. The car gave me haunting memories, even after I gave it went back to its owner. I should say the Beemer has spoilt me for good.

A few months passed and I had to get a second, bigger car because long distance work travel demanded it. Of course, a BMW was a farfetched dream, considering both affordability and ability to maintain one. So I went ahead and bought myself the King of No Frills - a Toyota Innova Crysta GX Automatic (Diesel). It was the perfect work horse that I wanted. But, the ghost of the Beemer still haunted me.

I sold my Figo to my cousin, and was all over OLX to find that "Fun German" that I could buy which wouldn't burn a big hole in my pocket. A well maintained, low milage used, German car is almost always a stretch on my budget. I gave up and decided I'll wait for an year or more before I can save up for a good car.

Now the Fun Part

A flashback: It was on the afternoon of 6/2/2020 that I first saw this car, not just any Octavia vRS 230, but this car, the one the story is about. A random call from an old time school friend, telling me that he was in the vicinity with his vRS and if I wanted I could come check it out. In no time I pulled over by his office in my Figo, and I could see this Corrida Red beauty sitting on the side of the road, making a statement - doing absolutely nothing.

Man, I fell in love with the car that instance. I was gawking over it - front to back, side to side, floor to roof. He gave me a short spin in the car and I was simply blown away. The pops and bangs from the exhaust, the roar of the 2 litre TSI still stays fresh in my head.

I know what car guys feel when someone asks else wants to drive your car! Especially if you are not very familiar with the other person’s driving skills. Knowing this I never ask anyone if I could drive their car however tempting they are. But out of the blue my friend asks me if I want to get behind the wheel. As hesitant as I was, it was an offer I couldn’t refuse. A brief jaw dropping sprint was enough for me to fall head over heels.

I come back home and start searching “vRs 230” on Olx, and as any car guy would know - it is a rare commodity. In the meanwhile the vRS 245 was launched in India but the On-Road-Price was looming around 45 lakhs! How much ever I stretch the budget there is not a chance it would stretch to 45 at the time!

Back to real time: approximately a month back from when I am writing this post. This is the time when I had almost given up on buying a new car and promised myself to wait until I can afford one. Through the years I had watched every vRS video on YouTube and read every thread about the car on TeamBHP (as any true enthusiast would). About 3 weeks back I again receive a call from my friend asking me if I want to come check out his gorgeous Merc 123. Towards the end of admiring the aesthetics of his well kept 123 he casually mentions that he MIGHT sell his vRS. Knowing my friend's cars to be as good as or even better than “showroom condition” I just couldn’t let this vRS slip away! I had convinced myself earlier that I am not going to buy a car now, but I knew if I pass on this chance, I may never sleep peacefully again.

I hurried back into my office and told the wife that I just need to figure out a way to buy this car. Cars like this don't come by every day, I told her! Convincing my wife that it was a vRS and not an every day "Octavia", hence the budget, was tricky. But one thing led to another and on the 30th of June 2022, the same car which now churns out an even heftier 309 herss-perrs (Donut Media reference) shares garage space with my Garnet Red Crysta.

And right before he handed over the keys to me, Anand says “I have never let anyone else randomly drive my vRS like I let you that day. I saw you gawking over it and went ‘well, wth’. Maybe it actually is destiny that you end up owning it”. And now I sleep peacefully.

TECH CORNER:

The Car has the Following Mods Done on it by Harmonixx, Bengaluru. My friend, the previous owner, had got it done it before I purchased it from him.
  • Stage 1 95 RON ECU Tune
  • IS20 TCU Tune
  • K&N OEM Replacement Air Filter
  • Dyno Figures: 309HP & 529Nm

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Mod Note : Post Edited. Smiley usage is restricted to two per post on Team-BHP. Please do NOT use more than 2 smileys in a post.

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Last edited by Aditya : 2nd August 2022 at 05:01. Reason: Typo
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Old 31st July 2022, 17:16   #2
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re: How I worked my way to the vRS dream

Quote:
Originally Posted by rbk View Post
And right before he handed over the keys to me, Anand says “I have never let anyone else randomly drive my vRS like I let you that day. I saw you gawking over it and went ‘well, wth’. Maybe it actually is destiny that you end up owning it”. And now I sleep peacefully.
  • Stage 1 95 RON ECU Tune
  • IS20 TCU Tune
  • K&N OEM Replacement Air Filter
  • Dyno Figures: 309HP & 529Nm
Brilliant first post. Those are some serious figures right there, wow! Congratulations and welcome to Team-BHP. The EA888 motor has endless tuning potential, and it's nice to see that your car taps into it. Hope to see you around here sometime; enjoy your vRS!

Last edited by Aditya : 2nd August 2022 at 05:01. Reason: Quoted text edited
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Old 31st July 2022, 17:44   #3
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Re: How I worked my way to the vRS dream

Quote:
Originally Posted by GForceEnjoyer View Post
Brilliant first post. Those are some serious figures right there, wow! Congratulations and welcome to Team-BHP. The EA888 motor has endless tuning potential, and it's nice to see that your car taps into it. Hope to see you around here sometime; enjoy your vRS!
Thank you so much! So glad to hear that. Looking forward to share more of my vRS stories on Team-BHP as and when I find the time.
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Old 1st August 2022, 16:40   #4
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Re: How I worked my way to the vRS dream

Opportunity came knocking at the door.The ability to unlock additional horsepower with a performance engine tune without any other changes from stock is remarkably easy, cost-effective, and with proper care and maintenance, very reliable is only possible on EA888 engine.
Great looking car mate, you can cherish it for many more years to come, with all that horses and timeless looks. Looking forward for more threads from you with respect to this car.
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Old 1st August 2022, 16:40   #5
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Re: How I worked my way to the vRS dream

Congrats rbk!

I have no doubt you are going to enjoy the car for many years to come. Here's wishing you a million miles with this beast!
Do keep updating the thread.

And that car looks super familiar. I think we have a mutual friend here.

Cheers
Krishna
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Old 1st August 2022, 17:06   #6
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Re: How I worked my way to the vRS dream

An absolute gorgeous looking ride. The old gen octavia(the one you just bought) is a blend of sporty yet classy looks. It has an aggressive character with elegance in design. The current gen octavia looks a bit too curvy and non aggressive to my liking. Moreover, Octavia has always had grande interiors amongst D segment cars (except the 8th gen Civic).

How much did you pay for this, if you don't mind me asking?
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Old 1st August 2022, 18:37   #7
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Re: How I worked my way to the vRS dream

That is one heck of a first post fellow Trivian.

An Innova and a readymade modded vRS. That is a garage!!!

And with the Figo D and Thar 1st gen done with, the itch for a pocket rocket and off-roader would have been scratched.

Happy revvin' !!!
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Old 1st August 2022, 23:18   #8
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Re: How I worked my way to the vRS dream

Man, what can I say! All I can say is I ENVY YOU

Looks like a well maintained VRS and on top of it you got a modded one too. I am sure it would have costed some good money for you, but I am also sure its worth every penny. Cars like this wont come easily.

Have many miles of exciting drives
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Old 1st August 2022, 23:55   #9
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Re: How I worked my way to the vRS dream

Thank you everyone for the overwhelming response to my first ever post on Team-BHP. I never expected this to be honest! Such is the Team-BHP brotherhood I see. Also thank you to the Moderators to feature my post on the 'News' section!

It has just been a few weeks since I got the car. The car was in immaculate condition when I got it, both mechanically and cosmetically. There were no significant swirl marks or scratches on the car, except for very few ones here and there - which were visible only under direct sunlight and if you've got a keen eye. I must say the previous owner took real good care of this baby! But I felt like I needed a fresh start. I wanted the interiors to be deep cleaned and also wanted a wipe-down of the engine bay and the tough to reach spots. So I took the car to Edge Detailing in Thiruvananthapuram (where I am based).

Monish who owns Edge Detailing is an ardent professional I should say. Before taking the car in, he gave me a thorough briefing about what will be done on the car. The do's and don't's and even tips on how I can protect car's paint in the long run. I got nano-coating done. If you are in Trivandrum and is on the lookout for a professional detailing studio, I definitely would recommend Edge.

I am not posting Before and After photos here, because you hardly can tell the difference - if any at all. Like I said the deep cleaning was my No.1 priority. In fact the photos from my original post has photos from both 'Before' and 'After'!

The upcoming couple of weeks are going to be busy on the work side - so I may not be able to post much. But I am sure I will give you a personal review of the car soon, once work settles. I am excited to share with you the 'feels' the legendary vRS has on offer!

I also post videos and photos of the car on an Instagram handle: @vrs_8999
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Old 2nd August 2022, 14:08   #10
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Re: How I worked my way to the vRS dream

Awesome Stuff ! How many kms has it done ? and what tune is it running ?
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Old 2nd August 2022, 15:44   #11
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Re: How I worked my way to the vRS dream

The car looks absolutely wicked in red. 309 BHP and 529 NM? That's the most torque I've ever seen in an Octavia; phewww!!

P. S: You've got some great friends! Where can I order them from?
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Old 2nd August 2022, 20:33   #12
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Re: How I worked my way to the vRS dream

Many congratulations!!!

You have an ideal garage now. Never out of choice according to number of people traveling with you.

Hitting a six on right ball- that’s what I can say about this opportunity you got to own this phenomenal machine. The numbers you shared are already exciting- would love to read from you about the thrills you will be going through.

And please be safe handling this power.

Welcome to Team bhp buddy.

Cheers
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