[iliketurtles]

Originally Posted by graaja

Wow Karan. Fantastic review. After reading your experience, I think I am going to take the same path when time comes to send the Jetta for the 3rd year service, come April.

Thanks man. I firmly believe you should. In your case particularly, it's notable to see that the car becomes a touch more refined and slightly less noisy, so to speak. That coupled with the extra power on tap is all the reason you need to go for the remap.

Originally Posted by Epic

Hey great review and congratulations on the remap. I guess out goes the warranty for sure. So what about when your car goes in for the scheduled service? Would they not scan the car and update the software again? Would you need to remap the car again of did I miss something in your post?

Hey, thanks. As far as the warranty goes, this would certainly void it, but in most cases they simply won't come across this and things will carry on as per usual. It's only if I take the car in for an engine related issue that they'll uncover the remap, so I reckon I'm good to go on the warranty front.

As far as I know, the car has now been marked as updated with VW and it's off the radar, so to speak. They will certainly scan the car (as is usual) when it goes in next time, but the update won't be applied. Although yes, if they were to hypothetically re-update it, another remap would be needed. That's one area where Tune-o-tronics scores via-à-vis Pete's; they'll apply the update again, although for a nominal fee, I imagine.

[BackInTheFold]

Originally Posted by iliketurtles

As far as I know, the car has now been marked as updated with VW and it's off the radar, so to speak. They will certainly scan the car (as is usual) when it goes in next time, but the update won't be applied. Although yes, if they were to hypothetically re-update it, another remap would be needed. That's one area where Tune-o-tronics scores via-à-vis Pete's; they'll apply the update again, although for a nominal fee, I imagine.

Check with your Pete's dealer. I got an assurance that he'd do the remap again for free if VW flashes the ECU after the first remap.

By the way, I'm going for my third service shortly and have already paid for the sweet Christmas deal. Remap to be done shortly after the third service

[iliketurtles]

Originally Posted by BackInTheFold

Check with your Pete's dealer. I got an assurance that he'd do the remap again for free if VW flashes the ECU after the first remap.

By the way, I'm going for my third service shortly and have already paid for the sweet Christmas deal. Remap to be done shortly after the third service

Ah, very interesting. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I'll have a chat with them about this. Good to know you're jumping on the remap boat too, at these prices it's hard to resist it's lure!

[iliketurtles]

Happy new year fellas. I just got back from a drive to Goa, and it suffices to say that I'd happily make that road trip again and again so long as I'm at the wheel.

For all the "kitna deti hai" public that are curious about the fuel economy (hah!) figures post the remap, here's the numbers up front and center. It goes without saying that all numbers are measured tankful to tankful.

1st fill-up, entirely within the city: 10.11 KMPL
2nd fill-up, after the drive to Goa: 13.28 KMPL
3rd fill-up, back in aamchi Mumbai: 13.41 KMPL

Those numbers don't look that impressive, but I'm not one to measure life in kilometres per litre. Anyways, let me try and put that in perspective for you.

1st fill-up: The car was getting used to the remap and I was getting used to having a grin in various shapes and forms plastered on my face

2nd fill-up: We encountered some bad, bad traffic in Lonavala and the ghats entering Goa, plus the driving was a touch enthusiastic

3rd fill-up: Enjoyed driving down the twisty stretch of the the old highway on the way back home, any extra fuel burnt was thus full paisa vasool

More than the drive into Goa, I enjoyed the drive back home. Yes, I had a FWD car at my disposal, and I had to be a touch mindful of that, but negotiating the twisties and getting on the power out of the corners (and into it) was a load of fun. This solidified in my mind the appeal of a BMW, a brand I have been drawn to since my childhood. All in good time.

The car itself performed flawlessly. The car was in 'D' virtually all the time save for a few spots where I just slotted it into 'S' for the giggles. Power delivery was a tad slower in 'D' as the car searched a bit for the right gear upon urgent downshifting but the extra power on tap was just so, so satisfying. That coupled with the fact that we drove up and down in comfort makes the duality of this car's nature a pleasure to own.

Mystifyingly, I am no longer able to stream Bluetooth audio over the head-unit, it's just stopped working. Calls are working just fine. So far I've tried

• Unpairing and re-pairing devices
  Deleting devices and adding them back
  Resetting the bluetooth settings from the MID
  Restoring the headunit to factory settings

However, nothing seems to work. I'm using the cable in the glove box and SD card to overcome this, but it's a bit of annoyance, one I'll have to figure out sooner or later. Streaming songs over Bluetooth is just too convenient to pass over.

And so, one incidentless update later, here we are again. Until next time, drive safe. Here's a parting shot for my fellow automotive aficionados.

[iliketurtles]

Man, where do I begin? The beginning sounds like a good place.

The plan was a simple one.

• Get a remap
• Get fresh rubber
• ????
• Profit

Action points A and B were ticked off by end January, with me opting for Michelin Pilot Sports 3’s in 225’s, as many on here have done. Which is why, after some 1500 kilometres on the tyres, I won’t do a deep dive and instead offer a quick summary of my thoughts.

Things that make me go wah

• Grippy grip grip contributes to excellent poise of the car
• Adds a nice little bit of heft to the steering
• Completes the cocoon of comfort for the Jetta
• Improves the stopping distance tremendously. No dramarama when you need to brake.
• Can you hear that? It’s the sound of silence

Things that make me go bah

• Can you hear that? It’s the sound of my bank account emptying

The Continental ContiMaxContact MC5 also came into the discussion, but with so little known about it, it’s always a better to deal with the known devil than an unknown commodity. Somewhere down the line, the idea of getting a ceramic coating done on the car (because nothing beats a shiny black car) was floating in my mind, along with a firm intention of getting Bilstein B6’s added to the car, just to negate some of the wafty behavior of the car that exists when driving at triple digit highway speeds and going over undulating sections of road. After all, tautness and teutonic ought to go together.

All of those plans came crashing down this Saturday when the car was involved in a fender bender that broke my heart. I’ll let the picture below do the talking for me on this one occasion.




Without Waxing eloquent (because I simply can’t get myself to do so), here are the broad facts of the matter

• Most importantly, zero injuries, far less casualties. Yay for German build quality. The wifey and I were both belted up, which probably helped too. Cannot stress this enough; always buckle up, even in the city.
• As it so often happens, an idiot was trying to take a u-turn with zero indication whatsoever and the car ahead of me (a Creta) zipped past him, as did I. As a reflex, I simply turned to glare at the fool while slowing down. Unfortunately for me, so did the Creta, except he came to a complete standstill. The second or two that it took me to look away and look back cost me, and the car, dearly. Lesson learnt, at a dear price.
• The damage to the car, as can be seen, is B-A-D. But after a civil discussion with the other gent involved, during which I refused to pay and asked him to claim his insurance as I would, we all went our separate ways.
• The car was taken to the Kurla workshop where Zeeshan, someone that usually handles my Jetta and a buddy’s too, called and confirmed the receipt of the car, but that he would be able to give me a complete prognosis only by Monday.
• Hindsight is 20-20, and a massive blunder on my part was to not opt for zero depreciation insurance to save a few pennies. You live and you learn from being penny wise and pound foolish. To all owners of German bred automobiles, I implore you to opt for zero depreciation policies as I will.
• While Zeeshan made some noises about a total loss (to which I politely, somewhat passionately and firmly put my foot down), I got a call later stating it would be repaired and he’d do everything he can for me, but that he can only give me a clearer picture by Monday.

Forgive me for not being too detailed in my description, because try as I might I’m still distraught and more than a touch depressed over the entire incident, and I’m no mood to pen down my thoughts. I’ll keep this thread updated with details, but believe me when I say I’ll fight tooth and nail to get the Mamba back. To my inexperienced eye, the damage is expensive, but not so much as to fundamentally affect the safety and structural integrity of the car. On that there can be no compromise, and this belief of mine is the only reason I’m not even going to entertain the idea of a total loss.

Yes, soppy sentimentality does come into it, but I do genuinely believe that once back on the road the car will be as safe as ever. I miss it greatly already, and I’m going to do everything in my power to get her back.

Peace out amigos.

[DeKay]

Originally Posted by iliketurtles

The damage to the car, as can be seen, is B-A-D.

Man, you have my sympathy. No one should have to see their baby in that condition.

But, how fast were you going? I glanced at the pictures before reading your post and to my eyes, it looked like you rear ended a truck or a BEST bus. On reading it was a Creta on the other side, I'm very surprised.

That looks like BKC. Is it?

[androdev]

That hurts. Really unfortunate. The hood makes it look like it went under a truck. How did Creta manage to push the hood so far up? Hope you get it back on the road soon. Did airbags deploy?

[iliketurtles]

Originally Posted by DeKay

But, how fast were you going?

I don't have an exact idea, but my guesstimate is somewhere near 50 or so. Couldn't have been going much quicker given that there was light traffic ahead of me at the time.

Originally Posted by DeKay

I glanced at the pictures before reading your post and to my eyes, it looked like you rear ended a truck or a BEST bus. On reading it was a Creta on the other side, I'm very surprised.

You're not the first one. I was as gobsmacked as you are, and everyone that saw it said the exact same thing.

Originally Posted by DeKay

That looks like BKC. Is it?

Nope, this is near IJMIMA complex in Malad, the lane approaching Infiniti mall.

Originally Posted by androdev

The hood makes it look like it went under a truck. How did Creta manage to push the hood so far up? Hope you get it back on the road soon. Did airbags deploy?

Your guess is as good as mine man. The only explanation that comes to my mind is a low-slung sedan and the raised rear profile of even an urban SUV is bound to end badly due to the relative ride heights of both. Even so, it's mystifying.

Originally Posted by androdev

Did airbags deploy?

Nope. Not one. This is something I intend to press VW on further, but the initial explanation given to me is that the sensors for the airbags lie lower in the car and
the damage was only to the top of the bonnet, hence the airbags didn't deploy. Doesn't quite add up for me, and I do intend to get a definitive answer for this.

[Tanveer_2558]

We will get her back on the road soon man and just like as if nothing at all happened, The damage looks massive since the impact was from bonnet and upwards, The bumper is still in pretty okay shape if you see and AFAIK, The crash sensor for the front airbags are located behind the front bumper, The impact at the bumper wasn't enough for it to trigger the airbags, Anyways we should be actually happy in a way that the airbags din't pop, Would have again increased the bill by a lot, In the end, No one injured, You'll have your car back soon and everything would be like before, Things looked worst at first when i saw the car too! Was probably inches closer to a total loss!

[Strella]

Sorry to hear about the mishap. The good thing is that there was no injury to anyone. Hope the car is back fast and up and running like new.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by iliketurtles

Man, where do I begin? The beginning sounds like a good place.

Man! I feel for you. I hate to see even a scratch on my car and to see this was painful. Hope you get your car back in shape soon. And yeah, thanks for sharing this, we're with you man.

[BackInTheFold]

Sorry to hear about the accident. Glad that both of you are OK. The car did its job in keeping you safe.

My $0.02 would be to evaluate the damage and take a call on the next steps, be it fixing it or moving on, with a cool head. I was in a similar position about 4 years back and found that it's best to reason this out rather than hang a coat on an emotional peg. Sounds like you have a good SA at VW. I'm sure this too will pass.

While the car is parked awaiting insurance appraisal etc, please remove valuables and ensure that things like spare tire, toolkit are accounted for and secured.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[graaja]

Oh man. That hurts. Thank God you and your wife are totally safe. I can totally understand how bad you should be feeling. Hope everything is resolved soon, and you get your car back in perfect shape. Though the car has taken a beating, the most important thing is you are safe. Take care mate!

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by iliketurtles

Nope. Not one. This is something I intend to press VW on further, but the initial explanation given to me is that the sensors for the airbags lie lower in the car and
the damage was only to the top of the bonnet, hence the airbags didn't deploy. Doesn't quite add up for me, and I do intend to get a definitive answer for this.

Don't bother. I've said this before as well for similar accidents. Just looking at the front you can see the front horizontal beam is intact with minor distortion. The sensor is located on the perpendicular beam where this horizontal beam is bolted on. The perpendicular beam needs to be deformed for the sensor to go off.

And you are lucky airbags did not go off. For such cases the belt which is the primary system works. You need a lot more force for the airbags to deploy.

The bill with airbags would have been more and the airbags also cause cause minor injuries when deployed.

Sad to see the car in such a state and after reading you don't have zero dep, this is going to be very heavy on the wallet for you. My commiserations. Hope to see the car as good as new back on the road ASAP.

[iron]

Looks scary. Happy to read both occupants of the Jetta are safe.

Where you able to click pictures of the damage done to Creta?

Did it have a Bullbar or something ??

Keep us posted.