[roadrunner_nv]

Originally Posted by F150

That makes three TDI DSG's from Pune. I own a 2015 Skoda Rapid TDI DSG Elegance Plus , with Black package.
I haven't driven a Vento or Sunny, but I wouldn't term the Rapid's suspension uncomfortable. May be my 195/60/R15 Michelin Primacy 3STs have some role to play.

Its not uncomfortable for me but for my family thats pampered with the Sunny. The Sunny seems to glide over irregular surfaces with ease

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

T
I hope there are more TDI DSG's out there in Pune from TBHP.

Brings me to the question - how about a Pune TBHP team-meet sometime in September?

Yes there are more. One more Rapid TDi DSG and a Vento TDi DSG in my circle. Both Team-BHPians and hardcore DSG fans!

[F150]

Originally Posted by roadrunner_nv

Yes there are more. One more Rapid TDi DSG and a Vento TDi DSG in my circle. Both Team-BHPians and hardcore DSG fans!

Very nice !! Guide them to this thread , we can form a 1.5 TDI DSG support group here on this thread.
@joshmachine, hope you don't mind.

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by roadrunner_nv

Yes there are more. One more Rapid TDi DSG and a Vento TDi DSG in my circle. Both Team-BHPians and hardcore DSG fans!

Super, maybe they can join us here.

Originally Posted by F150

Very nice !! Guide them to this thread , we can form a 1.5 TDI DSG support group here on this thread.
@joshmachine, hope you don't mind.

Absolutely not at all! Any manner in which we all can contribute to more information sharing, more knowledge dissemination etc will be helpful to wider TBHP community.

[braveheart_77]

Guys awaiting reply on my earlier message.(Also can any one of you can guide me how to get apple car play/android auto in RCD330 music system of the VW vento.)

Oth they introduced 6.5" touchscreen unit with apple car play and android auto in the rapid Monte Carlo edition.Maybe soon the vento will get it as well but by buy then my car would be home so the above query is still there.


Regards

Braveheart

[Brigadier]

Originally Posted by F150

That makes three TDI DSG's from Pune. I own a 2015 Skoda Rapid TDI DSG Elegance Plus , with Black package.
I haven't driven a Vento or Sunny, but I wouldn't term the Rapid's suspension uncomfortable. May be my 195/60/R15 Michelin Primacy 3STs have some role to play.

Hi F150, I am from Pune too, took delivery of Rapid DSG last month! So that makes 4 TDi DSGs from Pune

That's one great review! Keep up the good work. The blue color looks stunning!

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by Brigadier

Hi F150, I am from Pune too, took delivery of Rapid DSG last month! So that makes 4 TDi DSGs from Pune

That's one great review! Keep up the good work. The blue color looks stunning!

Welcome to the "Pune TDI DSG" Club, Brigadier

Congrats on your new ride! Am sure you must be running-in the beauty in this initial period to ensure a better engine life later on.
Do share your initial ownership experience with some pics here, or even better on your own thread!

[Brigadier]

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

Welcome to the "Pune TDI DSG" Club, Brigadier

Congrats on your new ride! Am sure you must be running-in the beauty in this initial period to ensure a better engine life later on.
Do share your initial ownership experience with some pics here, or even better on your own thread!

Thanks JoshMachine. Running-in period is over. The odo is at 1,500Km now. I did one run to Thane and 2 drives to Mahabaleshwar and Lavasa. I found the suspension to be a tad too soft , strange as everyone is saying its hard setup on this forum. Initial buying experience was brilliant indeed. It was actually better than my swift buying experience. I had asked a quick tour of the dealer's service center just to check, and they obliged.

Anyway let's start Pune TDI-DSG club online/offline to share our experiences and queries. Sounds good?

[roadrunner_nv]

Originally Posted by Brigadier

Thanks JoshMachine. Running-in period is over. The odo is at 1,500Km now. I did one run to Thane and 2 drives to Mahabaleshwar and Lavasa. I found the suspension to be a tad too soft , strange as everyone is saying its hard setup on this forum. Initial buying experience was brilliant indeed. It was actually better than my swift buying experience. I had asked a quick tour of the dealer's service center just to check, and they obliged.

Anyway let's start Pune TDI-DSG club online/offline to share our experiences and queries. Sounds good?

Fantastic! How about a late evening coffee meet at some place this weekend? I can have the others jump in as well.

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by Brigadier

Thanks JoshMachine. Running-in period is over. The odo is at 1,500Km now. I did one run to Thane and 2 drives to Mahabaleshwar and Lavasa. I found the suspension to be a tad too soft , strange as everyone is saying its hard setup on this forum. Initial buying experience was brilliant indeed. It was actually better than my swift buying experience. I had asked a quick tour of the dealer's service center just to check, and they obliged.
Anyway let's start Pune TDI-DSG club online/offline to share our experiences and queries. Sounds good?

Good to know, Brigadier. Thanks for sharing your initial views.
Will start a new thread for the Pune DSG Club.

Originally Posted by roadrunner_nv

Fantastic! How about a late evening coffee meet at some place this weekend? I can have the others jump in as well.

Thanks roadrunner.
Unfortunately, I am going to Nagpur for the next week or so, starting Saturday. I won't be able to make it this time but definitely we can try after that, if it suits all of us

[Brigadier]

[quote=JoshMachine;4257873]Good to know, Brigadier. Thanks for sharing your initial views.
Will start a new thread for the Pune DSG Club.
/QUOTE]

Yeah good idea to start a separate thread for Pune DSG club. Please start it, and we can also plan meets on that thread.
Cheers

[JoshMachine]

UPCOMING TRIP

Been waiting for this trip for some time now, visiting my folks in Nagpur:



Planned start tomorrow morning around 5 am. Total distance approx. 720 kms. Expected travel time around 12-13 hrs. No overnight halts planned. Passengers include my wife and kiddo.

As a prep for this reasonably medium haul trip, I have given my car for a general check-up at the service center this morning.

Asks from my side to the service center:

• All fluid check and top-up as applicable

• Front & rear suspension check

• Vehicle underbody check & wash to mitigate any monsoon surprises

• Wiper blade replacement (haven't changed this since the purchase 2 years ago so getting it done anyways)

• Interior GermKleen cleaning by 3M (an annual affair to get the interiors sanitized)

Will keep posting updates.

[roadrunner_nv]

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

UPCOMING TRIP

Been waiting for this trip for some time now, visiting my folks in Nagpur:

BTW..my wife is from Nagpur and I keep visiting Nagpur but only by air. How is the road to Nagpur? If its in good condition, I would like to explore a road travel option as well.

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by roadrunner_nv

BTW..my wife is from Nagpur and I keep visiting Nagpur but only by air. How is the road to Nagpur? If its in good condition, I would like to explore a road travel option as well.

Ok, good to know that even family places are also common

Reached Nagpur about 1.5 hrs ago. Had a great experience! This was my first road trip to Nagpur, I also used to go there by flight previously.

Out of the Pune-Nagpur total 730-odd kms, about 200 kms between Jalna and Karanja is 2-laned with road conditions slightly degraded by monsoon, but definitely drivable at 80 km/h speeds generally.

I will post a detailed note subsequently with more details.

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

UPCOMING TRIP

Been waiting for this trip for some time now, visiting my folks in Nagpur:

Will keep posting updates.

So, finally managed to complete this road trip on Saturday. And boy, was it an experience, with some fun along the way as is the case every time you embark upon a new route!

The Vento, true to its claim of a solid and robust product, stood true to the test. And with no whimpering at all. My respect and love for this vehicle is increasing with every such endeavor.

The total door-to-door distance from Pune to Nagpur was 741 km.
Left Pune at 6 am as compared to a planned start of 5 am. Well, family rules take precedence over personal

The final route plan selected was:
Pune > Ahmednagar (via city) > Aurangabad (bypass) > Jalna (bypass) > Sindkhed Raja (via city) > Karanja (bypass) > Amravati (bypass) > Nagpur


The entire journey was divided into various stages:-

Stage 1: Pune to Ahmednagar



This was perhaps the easiest stage, it being the first drive in the morning and the added pleasure of the asphalt condition very good.
We stopped at the famous "Smilestone" restaurant (location link). Good food, good service and good amenities.

Stage 2: Ahmednagar > Aurangabad bypass

[JoshMachine]

Stage 2: Ahmednagar > Aurangabad (bypass)



After we left Ahmednagar, I decided to put as much distance behind as possible.
So, we stopped at "Food Junction" restaurant (location link) for an early lunch, knowing that there was no other good option for the rest of the afternoon.
This restaurant is located on the Aurangabad-Jalna section, and falls on the right side of the highway if you are travelling from Aurangabad towards Jalna.

Superb place to stop by, with good food and amenities.
My kiddo was pleasantly surprised with this "return" gift:





Till about this time, the road condition was very good with 4-laned all the way from Pune.

Stage 3: Aurangabad (bypass) > Amravati (bypass)

From here onwards, the 2-laned state highway tested the Vento's suspension setup and the car responded brilliantly .We hardly felt any fatigue while driving on some patch road conditions.



We stopped for tea enroute at a roadside tapri to refresh ourselves.

And as we tried to bypass Karanja, the fun started.
Instead of taking a left towards Amravati bypass on SH199, we went straight ahead on SH207.

The reason for confusion: just after you cross Karanja bypass, there is a signboard which shows Amravati city to the left and Nagpur straight ahead. Thinking or rather assuming that the road ahead to Nagpur will eventually connect us to the Amravati bypass, we went straight. After driving for about 20-odd km, I started seeing Wardha signboards, and realized that something is amiss.

I quickly re-checked the maps and estimated that if I continued on this path, I might land up taking the middle route "grey" colored instead of the "blue" recommended and better option as shown in the below pic:



So did a course correction after confirming with few locals and finally managed to join the Amravati bypass highway section.

Stage 4: Amravati (bypass) > Nagpur

This was by far the best route of all.



Since it falls under the jurisdiction of NHAI, I had to shell out toll 3 times on this route. But again, the peace of mind was nothing as compared to this minor hiccup.

Conclusion: By the time I reached home after navigating the mad evening city traffic, it was about 7.30 pm.
The average FE on the MID showed 18.1 km/l for the 741 km journey, not too bad I would say.

All in all, a very good experience considering that almost 35% of the entire distance was 2-laned and not so good, but drivable. The rest was very good, surprising inspite of the monsoon season.

Will return back to Pune by the end of this week.