[srivatsahg]

Brilliant set of pics. Just so you know I stay right behind the Nandi temple. And I saw the line of Octavias on that day when you guys were clicking the pic. I almost dropped in but since I had to drive down to my hometown and I was running late. Next time you guys plan let me know

[BHPjunkie]

Man that's the most used vRS in the country probably. Kudos to you. Your car does not look driven 83k for sure. It is good to know that there has been no itch in driving those kms and the vehicle performed flawlessly.

The vRS is a special vehicle and wish I wish to own it someday.

[SouravS]

Wow! Congratulations Nikhilb2008… You have maintained it very well. The colour is also lovely. You could try a decent scratch remover for the dog & cat marks – might just go away.
Wish you many many more peaceful miles with your vRS.

Just love the vRS. It is indeed VVS (very very special). Haven’t had too much of a chance to drive it much though. Hope to have it someday…

[Nikhilb2008]

The car also met the only possible other car that I could theoretically upgrade to if budget and pandemic permitted



I also had a couple of quick meets with fellow TBHPians in Mangalore and Hyderabad.

In Hyderabad, I met up with Varun Reddy (thehexaguy) and Nishith and Aneesh Raman .



In Mangalore, Samarth(samaspire) got Dr Rajesh Nair (carfreak) and Dr Sundeep, to come to my hotel where we ended up spending more than an hour just chatting!


The vRS rarely gives good fuel efficiency inside the city, but when all the tsars and planets align and all the signals turn green just as you approach them, you can get almost double digit mileage on a holiday!



The vRS is really good to transport amazing sweets across long distances.

My colleague in Hyderabad gave me some paneer jalebi and badam halwa and other sweets to take back to Bangalore.






I ensured the sweets were cooled well in the front seat and also very secure during my "slow" drive back to BLR.

[Nikhilb2008]

Octane Rating Discussion and my experiences:

This is a hot topic online and on various whatsapp groups.

The fuel filler lid has a sticker saying 95 Octane is the minimum rating for the fuel in this car.

In 2017, there was no high octane rating for this car and I used it extensively with normal fuel itself. The only option was the Speed 97 but some people had a bad experience with the "RED DYE" which was supposedly causing gumming issues. Some images of a BMW petrol engine also circulated showing some supposed damage due to the red dye. Due to this, I never used Speed 97 in my car.

I didnt have any proof, but decided to play safe. Some people did tell me that Speed 97 was safe, but I didnt try.

In bits and pieces over the last 4 years, I have used Proctane to increase the octane rating of the normal fuel I filled up with.

First let me tell you about the fuel I used. I tried my level best to go to reputed petrol pumps in Bangalore. Some petrol pumps have a good reputation and they are well known for fair practices and clean fuel without adulteration. I stuck to such petrol pumps whether it was BP, IOCL, HP or Shell. I also used Power99 once in a way.

However, I must say 80% of the time I was using normal fuel and 10% of the time, the normal fuel was mixed with Proctane and later on Proctane Evo.

In the last few months, I switched over to XP95 almost completely.

As someone mentioned in another thread, I was avoiding IOCL like the devil (except for IOCL Swagat COCO pumps on the highways) but now I am happy to see IOCL flex their muscle. As the largest refiner in India and the largest network of pumps, I am glad they decided on a mass rollout of XP95.

It makes it very easy to drive long distance. I found XP95 in Hubli, Belgaum, Kolhapur, Bijapur. The only place I didnt find it recently was in Gulbarga.

Driving experiences:

First things first, dont let online reviews fool you. The vRS is blazingly fast on any sort of fuel. It will probably be faster than almost any car on Indian roads even if you fill it with the kerosene that many autorickshaws use. The engine is just beautiful and I have never thought to myself "Man, this car is slow and I need a remap"

So, from Day 1, when I was using normal fuel, I have alwasy been more than happy with the way the engine performs. I have always got decent mileage considering the kind of power and torque this engine has. So, I have never had that "keeda" to tune the car and get more power.

However, when I tried Proctane with normal petrol, I found that the push in my back when accelerating was harder. I found that the revs rose a bit more quickly. At lower speeds, I felt the engine idled more smoothly and the vibrations reduced.

The effects of Proctane were directly proportional to how much Proctane I added in the tank. 2 bottles gave me even better results as the final octane rating of the fuel load in my car's tank was much higher.

When I used Power 99, I had a similar result and experience. I felt(could be psychological) that Power99 was even smoother than Proctane. I felt Proctane gave me more of a kick in the lower back when accelerating whereas Power99 was more of a smooth but powerful torque wave. Not a kick but a constant push.

Now with XP95, I find the engine to be running very smoothly and I find the power and the acceleration to be on par with Power99.

Do remember I am only mentioning how I feel. I have never datalogged my car and checked what the ECU is doing to the timing or anything. I have been busy driving to bother over such things

However, I must say I am much happier now on the highways. IOCL has nailed the pricing on the XP95 and it does feel really nice.

There was also some chatter on some Whatsapp groups that XP95 is not really 95 octane and it's just Extra Premium again. Basically normal fuel with additives.

I am not sure what is true anymore (isnt that symbolic of the era we live in, where the mass media and people in power have been caught lying about so many things?) but all I can say is that XP95 makes my car feel closer to Power99 than anything else.

[Nikhilb2008]

This post is dedicated to highlighting the excellent fuel economy of this car during these times when petrol prices have increased drastically.

I did a quick two day tour to Chikmagalur and returned.

I filled up at a particular pump on Wednesday morning and filled up there again last night. No refuelling in between.

Following the tankful method, I got an average fuel economy of 13.2 kmpl (595 kms and 45.03 litres). The on board computer shows 13.6. Pretty accurate I would say.







The total trip distance was a bit higher and I felt the fuel economy was pretty good again.



The below pic shows only the driving for yesterday. Chikmagalaur to Bangalore via multiple stops in Chikmagalur and Hassan.



The below pic shows the total trip stats for my drive from BLR to Chikmagalur with stops in Hassan, Belur, Mudigere and Chikmagalur.



The next pic is the total distance between the petrol pump in BLR (about 2-3 kms from my house) and Hassan.



The best fuel economy I saw was when I stopped for a quick break on the highway and also clicked this pics.





A fuel economy of 16.6 kmpl on a 2.0 litre turbo petrol with 230 bhp is pretty amazing.

I did drive with a light foot but I cant say I was too slow. I tried to maintain my speeds and planned braking and overtaking a little bit in advance to ensure I was efficient.

This is something I've learned from a fellow TBHPian and vRS owner -- Zebo. He drives smoothly and efficiently and doesnt brake or accelerate unnecessarily. I try to incorporate some of his ideas and it ends up with me having a much higher fuel economy and a better average speed.

[corvus corax]

I see it that the ambient temperature hovers between 18 and 21 degrees which may have contributed to better fuel economy. Here, I haven't seen the temperature going below 24 degrees and my baby tsi consistently shows 12 km/pl in average economy 2.

[OffRoadFun]

Wow! 13kmpl+ for 230HP is excellent. I wish I could get anywhere closer to that on my 2.0T (211hp).

I get around 9kmpl on highway and 6kmpl in city. How much has technology changed in last decade!

Of course, mine is a bit heavier, has more air resistance due to SUV shape but more than that I drive with heavy foot on accelerator ( and consequenty brake too!) and at generally higher speed on highway.

Still, hoping to see a double digit FE one day via a more disciplined driving!

[Floyd de Souza]

Awesome mileage and I feel the answer lies in the average speed vs economy which appears to be inversely proportional. An average speed of 70-80 kmph would be probably be the sweet spot. This would translate to approximately 70/30 highway/city.

[amar.madhavan]

Hello Nikhil,

A BIG THANKS for You and your staff at Madhus.

I had been to Bangalore from Trivandrum in my VRS. I reached on 29th Dec and with the plan to return on 01st Jan. Almost 100kms from Bangalore during my onward journey, my car threw up the ABS sensor error. I drove slowly to Bangalore. I immediately booked an appointment at TAFE and took my car there on 30th. While they tried their best to help me, they did not have the spare sensor (Front Right Speed Sensor) at any of their warehouses.

I then contacted a few others to see if they could help me out. However, all were in vein. I called up Madhus to see if could get to speak with you and if you could help me with any of your Skoda contacts there. I was promptly helped by your manager/staffs at Madhus. They immediately collected the details from me and called me back with the contact at PPS Skoda, Hennur Main Road. I was able to share the sensor details and PPS Skoda helped me with the sensor replacement on 31st. I was able to do my return journey (750 kms) to Trivandrum as planned on 01st Jan itself.

Thank You once again!

[akki5069]

Hey Nikhil,

Wonderful thread and I might be late to congratulate, while congratulations for being a proud owner of the Beautiful Blue VRS.

I have been driving a Skoda Laura Vrs since some time now and I believe I have made my mind for VRS 230 since the car seems a wonderful package in the Price band it was sold for. I believe I have to go for a pre owned one.

Would you or anyone here help throw some light on a comparison between a 245 vs 230, a 15 bhp gain from a distinct motor and gearbox, was it worth an additional spend of 7-8 lakhs from the quoted price ?

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by akki5069

Would you or anyone here help throw some light on a comparison between a 245 vs 230, a 15 bhp gain from a distinct motor and gearbox, was it worth an additional spend of 7-8 lakhs from the quoted price ?

Your best bet is to examine all the comparison reviews available on the Net like this one: https://www.overdrive.in/amp/news-ca...d-tuners-take/

In my humble opinion, the 245 is definitely worth it over the 230 with the more powerful & strengthened engine, 7S wet clutch DSG, VAQ e-differential, bigger brakes, bigger wheels and possibly a more configurable power-suspension-steering setup.

[sachinjoseph]

Hey a quick question to the VRS owners. Do u think it’s a good idea to change a VRS for a 330i M sport? I’m really struggling to convince myself but would like to hear if anyone else has done this change and their opinion.

Thanks in advance.

[shahbaz63]

Originally Posted by sachinjoseph

Hey a quick question to the VRS owners. Do u think it’s a good idea to change a VRS for a 330i M sport? I’m really struggling to convince myself but would like to hear if anyone else has done this change and their opinion.

Thanks in advance.

It's not a big leap of faith but can be a good option for VRS owners. I would choose BMW for - RWD, Brand Value and the extra "second" advantage over VRS.

PS: Not a VRS owner.

[sachinjoseph]

Originally Posted by shahbaz63

It's not a big leap of faith but can be a good option for VRS owners. I would choose BMW for - RWD, Brand Value and the extra "second" advantage over VRS.

PS: Not a VRS owner.

So after i posted this question, I took a TD of the 330i, with a heavy heart thinking ill have to let go of the VRS. And after the TD, I said to myself no ways im selling the VRS for the 330i. Yes the BMW has the brand image and the extra comfort and the RWD and the added features, but nowhere comparable to the raw power a VRS gives you. That smile it gives is something else.

Anyways, thanks a ton for your 2 cents. Cheers