[Saint_Krish]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Welcome to TBHP Krish!

Do familiarize with the rules of the forum and the posting etiquette. The first 25 posts are moderated and go live only after a moderator approves it. Just for info sakes.

Trust me, I learnt about following the team-bhp rules the hard way. The first time I applied, I assumed that the rules are not so very strict! I also see the names of guys who were Banned and it truly scares me.

I am glad the ownership thread helped you. You should pen down one for your car too.

On the way! I unfortunately do not have good quality photos, so gathering a few.

Bangalore meets happen often and BHPian RSUDARSANAN organizes a lot of meets. You should keep an eye out for the meets section.

I'll thank you for all this last

Do check if the reflector bowls are aligned properly. Sometimes they aren’t and as a result, the throw isn’t great. Aligning the bowls are very simple and an allen key is all that’s needed.

My bike's allen key got stolen/fell off. This would be an alert to my fellow bikers.

Finally, thanks to you for the info! You would soon need to a new "Thanks" button man, its going to be worn out soon!

Karun

[VeyronSuperSprt]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

- Had to top up the engine oil by 250 mL approx. Checked out the level last Sunday and it was at the bottom of the dipstick’s gauge. So topped it by a quarter of the Castrol Edge 5W 40 bottle stored in the boot. The level is near the middle of the gauge now. Pretty surprising the engine continues to drink oil despite crossing the 20k mark!

It's a good practice to top it up to the max mark - this should take about 500 ml. As a good practice do not allow the oil to fall below the halfway mark between min and max mark. If you can top it up before that its even better.

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

- The front tires began to deflate slowly. Noticed this yesterday and turns out, both the wheels had some punctures. The co-driver side had two each and the driver side had one. The pierced objects were removed and the holes were plugged. I am not sure how much longer these Aceleres will last this way. Judging by the snaps below, I hope the treads haven’t worn out entirely?

Judging from your pics, your tires would easily do another 20K mark - they have a lot of life left in them and its a long way to go before you need to replace them. Unless you feel like an upgrade which really isn't necessary.

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

I am taking the car to our company’s yard too often which might be one of the reasons why the tires are getting punctured often. I suppose I should prefer walking now.

Spot on - that is the reason.

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

- While braking, I am experiencing a slight judder. I am guessing the brake pads have worn out and might require replacements soon. If it lasts until the 30k service, well and good.

Brake judder has no connection to brake wear. You do not need a replacement. Take your car on a good clear road and apply the brakes forcefully from a speed of 60 - 80 kmph. This will clean the rotors and you will find the judder is much less. The judder may reappear after some time which means that you would have to repeat the forceful brake application until you find the right brake modulation levels which will prevent the judder from reappearing. This is relevant in the Polo GT, Rapid and Vento because the rotor metallurgy hasn't been perfected despite the feedbacks given to the plant. Fixing new rotors and pads will give you a judder free drive for sometime after which it will reappear.

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

- The mud flaps were removed since they do not serve the purpose for the next couple of seasons. Will have them replaced when monsoons are here.

Not necessary to do this.

[Gannu_1]

Breached the 25k mark today morn whilst on my way to work.



No problems so far. *touchwood* The apartment rules do not allow me to wash cars within the compound. The only choice is to let the watchman take care of it. I handed him a couple of microfiber towels so he can wash the car with those. This has resulted in a lot of swirls visible under direct sunlight. Unfortunately, I don’t have a choice. Waterless wash is out of question since I reach home around 7:30 PM every day and I’ve to help the missus with the cooking.

Received the quarter inch plastic tubing from eBay yesterday. Will apply it on the door’s beadings this weekend (reference to the DIY posted by d_himan) and see if there’s a change in the NVH levels inside the cabin. Fortunately, I haven’t had any of the rattling issues or the wind noise creeping in so no idea if this tubing would help. Shall post the results later.

Originally Posted by VeyronSuperSprt

It's a good practice to top it up to the max mark - this should take about 500 ml. As a good practice do not allow the oil to fall below the halfway mark between min and max mark. If you can top it up before that its even better.

How long would these VAG engines keep drinking oil?!

Originally Posted by VeyronSuperSprt

Judging from your pics, your tires would easily do another 20K mark - they have a lot of life left in them and its a long way to go before you need to replace them. Unless you feel like an upgrade which really isn't necessary.

Absolutely. I am planning to keep these as long as the tread wears out. I am only worried of the side bulges - hasn’t happened so far.

Originally Posted by VeyronSuperSprt

Fixing new rotors and pads will give you a judder free drive for sometime after which it will reappear.

I might switch to Brembo rotors and TVS-Girling pads around the 30k mark. There are no issues w.r.t. braking performance.

Thanks for the tips VeyronSuperSprt! Much appreciated!

Originally Posted by Saint_Krish

I also see the names of guys who were Banned and it truly scares me.

Haha! Don't be. Go by the rules and don’t post here just for the heck of it. As for me, 1621 posts, zero warnings and zero infractions!

[Gannu_1]

I wanted to buy a portable tire inflator which can be stored in the boot. Searched several websites online (eBay, Snapdeal etc.) and the only options were Coido and the lookalikes from China. A colleague has a Coido unit which did not work satisfactorily and would get heated up quickly. The pressure gauge was also erratic.

I searched elsewhere and noticed that the VAG group bundles portable compressors with some of their cars (A5, Q5, Q7, Touareg, Yeti and such). This is kept in the Styrofoam module inside the spare wheel like this:



Feedback from the owners appeared positive with these bundled units. I placed an order for one from eBay Germany. Part number is 8P0012615A. Here are some images from the ECS Tuning link:







The unit is manufactured by an Austrian firm Ventrex.

Cost me Rs. 4300. Shall post the results once I receive the inflator here. ETA must be around 3 weeks. I received the tail lamps from Germany with the same turnaround time and did not have to pay any customs duties. *fingers crossed*

[tabrez]

Been in the same boat for sometime now, Gannu. Your feedback on Coido concurs with what
I could gather from forum members & generic online postings. So I was looking at some
of those from Amazon.com wherein they could ship to my place (Bangalore) - this was the
Viair branded Compressors with decent customer feedback, might have been slightly easier
on pocket in comparison to the one you ordered.

do you have the possibility of storing this in GT in manner you speak of ? The
styrofoam module.

[Gannu_1]

Originally Posted by tabrez

do you have the possibility of storing this in GT in manner you speak of ? The styrofoam module.

Nope. That wouldn’t be possible since the module has slots for the screw jack, wrench and the tow hook. No slot for this box. But that’s okay. I’ve kept the fire extinguisher in the boot now secured to the mats using Velcro. Can stow this one that way.

[Gannu_1]

Another small mod-job coming up!

Windshield washer fluid low level warning symbol and message. Like this:


Image source: Briskoda

Since I have upgraded the instrument cluster, this symbol and the message should show up. What is missing from the system is a sensor (+ o-ring) in the tank, the associated plug and wiring loom. Looked it up on Partsbase and placed the order online.

Shall post the results once I get it installed.

There’s another one - dashboard illumination adjuster. VW buggers conveniently omitted this one for the Indian models while the ones abroad get this. Saved it for the next one.

[H_Dogg72]

That's some nice stuff planned.
Although I don't miss the illumination control. I would like it if the MID can be at full brightness with the parking lights on. Faux DRL without losing out on brightness.

[VeyronSuperSprt]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Received the quarter inch plastic tubing from eBay yesterday. Will apply it on the door’s beadings this weekend .....Fortunately, I haven’t had any of the rattling issues or the wind noise creeping in so no idea if this tubing would help.

Wouldn't advise this especially as you don't have any rattles. The root cause of the rattle is the lack of rigidity in the door frames and inserting the tubing would further reduce the rigidity on account of the extra load that is exerted on them. This is at best a bad stop gap arrangement.

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

How long would these VAG engines keep drinking oil?!

Throughout its life except during the first 5K - 10K when the consumption would be higher. If your consumption is ~ 250 ml for 5k - 7k kms you're doing very well.

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Thanks for the tips VeyronSuperSprt! Much appreciated!

You're welcome. Happy motoring!

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Received the quarter inch plastic tubing from eBay yesterday. Will apply it on the door’s beadings this weekend (reference to the DIY posted by d_himan) and see if there’s a change in the NVH levels inside the cabin. Fortunately, I haven’t had any of the rattling issues or the wind noise creeping in so no idea if this tubing would help. Shall post the results later.

I did have these weird creaking noises from the door frames especially when in situations when the chassis twists a bit. It was more noticeable when the car was new. To be frank I was mad at VW for such a simple problem on a new car. I also found that it was a common problem worldwide and people had a range of DIY fixes starting from taping the door frames.

What I understand is that unlike Japanese cars that have a rubber to rubber contact when you shut the door further up on the door frame, VWs have their beading placed deeper inside on the door frame which leaves an sizable metallic area of the door frame directly facing the metallic area on the chassis. This occasionally comes in contact when you negotiate a deep puddle etc on one side of the car.

i do not notice the sound nowadays - don't know whether it is due to the stereo, the familiarity or the sound lessened somehow. It did not affect the NVH levels though. Windows up the NVH is much better than the Swift.

Drive on,
Shibu.

[Gannu_1]

Had been on an official visit to Karad last week and we drove down citing the unavailability of bus/tatkal tickets.

We had been on this route twice before and it was a good drive except for the stretch between Pune and Satara which is plagued with diversions due to flyover constructions and potholes! Started from Surat on Wednesday morn around 5:45 AM, touched the Mumbai-Pune expressway around 11:00 AM and reached Karad at 4:45 PM. Bypassed Bombay through Airoli-Navi Mumbai-Panvel Sion expressway. Started back to Surat on Friday evening around 4 PM, took a stopover at Lonavla and reached there around 8:30 PM (experienced a mad rush as we entered Pune!), departed Lonavla the next day at 5 AM, reached Hotel Fountain (Vasai creek) at 7:30 AM for breakfast and reached Surat around 12 PM. Lovely drive. Enjoyed it. No hiccups.

Started to work today morn and experienced some terrible fogging! Visibility at some areas were limited to a couple of meters and we were nearly crawling around 30 kmph! Had never experienced this kind of fogging before and TBH, I was worried if someone would bang the rear of the car. Luckily all went well and we reached the workplace safely although late by over half an hour. Some snaps clicked by my pool partner:











30k service is coming up shortly.

[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Started to work today morn and experienced some terrible fogging! Visibility at some areas were limited to a couple of meters and we were nearly crawling around 30 kmph!

30k service is coming up shortly.

Woah Gannu I know its a thought to ponder over, but:

Do you drive so much because you have the GT TDi or Vice Versa ??

I wanted to post this question to you, but now I think is the right time. With all that fog:

1. How was the throw from the HID ?

2. I have experienced an almost "White Curtain" sort of view while driving through fog with 90/100 bulbs on my previous car. Was it any better with those HID's on your GT ?

3. Have you had 'Paint Chipping' issues on your GT due to small stray stones during highway drives ? If yes, how have you been dealing with these ?

Appreciate your time in answering these queries.

[Gannu_1]

Originally Posted by Vik0728

Do you drive so much because you have the GT TDi or Vice Versa ??

Originally Posted by Vik0728

1. How was the throw from the HID ?

You meant during the fog yesterday morn? It wasn't helping and so were the fog lights with the stock bulbs because it was day time. We turned them on just to make our presence on the road felt.

Otherwise, the throw is really good for driving during the night and I rarely use high beams now. Those green reflective traffic signs on the highways 150-200 m straight ahead, light up brightly if I flick the high beam stalk. Just to give you a rough estimate of the throw of these projectors.

Originally Posted by Vik0728

2. I have experienced an almost "White Curtain" sort of view while driving through fog with 90/100 bulbs on my previous car. Was it any better with those HID's on your GT ?

If the fog is dense and if it happens during the day time, any amount of light is not going to help IMO. This was the case yesterday. In some areas, the visibility was reduced to 1-2 m! We nearly stopped at one location for a moment.

Originally Posted by Vik0728

3. Have you had 'Paint Chipping' issues on your GT due to small stray stones during highway drives ? If yes, how have you been dealing with these ?

Yes. The front bumper and the bonnet has taken quite a hit. Unfortunately, I haven’t done much in this regard and have let it stay for now. A sure shot way of protecting this would be to get the 3M’s Scotchgard PPF (paint protection film) applied on the front bumper and the bonnet. 3M Car Care outlets do this and if applied properly without the bubbles getting trapped inside, it is hard to make out if the film is applied.

[aurelino]

Originally Posted by Gannu1

Cost me Rs. 4300. Shall post the results once I receive the inflator here. ETA must be around 3 weeks. I received the tail lamps from Germany with the same turnaround time and did not have to pay any customs duties. *fingers crossed*

Hey Gannu, did you get this delivered? If so, how is it? Reading about it on the ebay link, I found that it can only fill up to 36 psi. Is this correct? I am considering buying the same so thought I'll check with you first.

[Gannu_1]

Originally Posted by aurelino

Hey Gannu, did you get this delivered?

Nope not yet. Should be delivered tomorrow or the next week going by the status of the shipment tracking:

Originally Posted by aurelino

Reading about it on the ebay link, I found that it can only fill up to 36 psi. Is this correct?

I am assuming yes, as per the snaps posted on the eBay link. I usually fill the tires to 32 psi for normal day-to-day drives and with the boot loaded and 5 adults onboard (which rarely happens), it is 35 psi.

Either way, shall update the thread with the feedback once I receive it.