[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

I buy the Kamikaze stuff through esotericcarcare.com

Thanks for the links, can you give an idea how many of each should be ordered for a car like say 7 series?

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Thanks for the links, can you give an idea how many of each should be ordered for a car like say 7 series?

One bottle is enough for a big car.... The 30 ml Miyabi can be used for 2 layers on a big car like a 7-series. I am sure of it.

[Nikhilb2008]

A full review of my experience at TAFE is here:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post4371254

[Prateek19]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

I buy the Kamikaze stuff through esotericcarcare.com

http://www.esotericcarcare.com/kamikaze-ism-coat/

http://www.esotericcarcare.com/kamikaze-miyabi-coat/

http://www.esotericcarcare.com/kamikaze-over-coat/

Hi Nikhil, went through your whole ownership thread, from finalizing the vrs then commuting daily to the damage you got and in the end again happy with your ride after all the work done. You are really a good keeper of your car.
I want to ask about the kamikaze products. If we only put miyabi coat with over coat, whether the shine and water repelling power will be similar to ism coat+miyabi coat+over coat keeping cost consideration of ism coat. I went through several videos and found that both the products are individually good. If we only put an over coat to the existing paint then will there be any effects?

[Nikhilb2008]

Another great experience at TAFE.

My brake pads were quite worn after 19,500 kms. When I got my wheel alignment and road force balancing done, I noticed that the front pads were quite badly worn.

I checked with Skoda(on Wednesday) and they said they didnt have front brake pads for the vRS in stock but it was expected on Friday or Saturday.

I had to drive on Saturday, so it was going to be a close thing. I found out that a friend of mine already had a set of original Skoda vRS brake pads in his house. So, I picked those up and scheduled an appointment for this morning at TAFE.

I was in touch with Shankara Narayan, the spare parts manager and he arranged for Mr Neethan to attend to me this morning.

As soon as I reached, Mr Neethan was busy with a couple of other customers who had booked their appointments before me. In spite of that, Mr Venkat met me, drove the car inside the workshop and the technicians started working on my car immediately.

They also confirmed that their own consignment of new brake pads has reached and they would bill it and hand it over to me.

Opened the brake fluid container cap, removed the wheels, opened the calipers and then used a tool to push the piston back all the way inside.

Since the spares department usually takes some time to issue spares once the job card is opened, they installed the new brake pads I had in my boot. The brand new set, they handed it to me and I will return it to my friend. Or keep it as a stand by at home in case a fellow vRS owner suddenly needs pads and the dealership doesnt have it.

They installed the new pads very quickly and once it was done, Mr Venkat asked me if he could take my car for a test drive. Nothing against him, but I refused. I decided I could bed the brakes on my way back to office on NICE road.

I reached the dealership at 10:05 am, the car was taken into the workshop at 10:19, the work was completed at 10:45.

Billing, again, took more time than it should have and I left the dealership at 11:11.

To be honest, billing always takes time. Even in other workshops. But I've never experienced this speed of service that makes billing looks slow! Usually the time taken to work on the car is substantially higher. That's why here at TAFE, I feel billing is slow!

I didnt mind at all. I was anyway busy with some phone calls and didnt feel like I was wasting time.

Once again, I cant believe that a Skoda dealership is giving me the best service experience I've had. It's right there on par with Trident Hyundai and Honda (who I still rate as number 1).

My experience with Trident was much longer and spread out over multiple cars and locations. So, before putting TAFE on the same pedestal as them, I will wait! However, the initial signs are good.

I really hope for their sake that more and more of their customers feel the way I do.

Images:

All 4 new brake pads:



Comparing my worn out pads with brand new ones


The small notch at the bottom is where the sensor is connected. A little more running and the "Worn Brake Pads" indicator would have flashed up on my dashboard.



Invoice attached below:

Brake Pad Invoice.pdf

Originally Posted by Prateek19

Hi Nikhil, went through your whole ownership thread, from finalizing the vrs then commuting daily to the damage you got and in the end again happy with your ride after all the work done. You are really a good keeper of your car.
I want to ask about the kamikaze products. If we only put miyabi coat with over coat, whether the shine and water repelling power will be similar to ism coat+miyabi coat+over coat keeping cost consideration of ism coat. I went through several videos and found that both the products are individually good. If we only put an over coat to the existing paint then will there be any effects?

It depends. Miyabi and ISM is overkill for sure. But some detailers said it gives a different shine. ISM is great for water beading and overall protection and longevity. Miyabi is good for gloss and reflection.

Individually they are excellent coatings. Put together they are excellent-er!

I think Overcoat will work well even on a regular painted surface. It will act like a simple wax. But with better water beading properties(according to the videos I saw). My experience with Overcoat has been only on my coated car and it's excellent.

[Suraj25]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

Another great experience at TAFE.

My brake pads were quite worn after 19,500 kms. When I got my wheel alignment and road force balancing done, I noticed that the front pads were quite badly worn.

Isnt 20k kms too early for a brake pad replacement? I had to replace the ones on my Abarth at 20k kms as well and supposedly it was pretty early and usually they last around 30k kms.

Another surprising thing is that the pads for the Abarth are rupees 2k more expensive than the ones for the vRS! Lower cost of ownership will be something to look forward to :P

[Prathiiik]

Hello Nikhil Sir,

Spotted your Octavia around 10 minutes back in Jayanagar. Great job by Tafe Access, from a distance, the diference in paint cannot even be noticed. .

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by Suraj25

Isnt 20k kms too early for a brake pad replacement? I had to replace the ones on my Abarth at 20k kms as well and supposedly it was pretty early and usually they last around 30k kms.

Another surprising thing is that the pads for the Abarth are rupees 2k more expensive than the ones for the vRS! Lower cost of ownership will be something to look forward to :P

The vRS has XDS. What it means is that during cornering, it brakes the inside wheel to improve grip and reduce wheelspin. I feel this causes the brakes to wear out a bit more.

I've seen vRS's change pads at 8k with very hard, aggressive driving. I'm very happy with 20k life.

Originally Posted by Prathiiik

Hello Nikhil Sir,

Spotted your Octavia around 10 minutes back in Jayanagar. Great job by Tafe Access, from a distance, the diference in paint cannot even be noticed. .

Hi, I think you're just trying to make me feel good. The car is so dirty, it looks like it's been painted brown!

Anyway, thank you! I am a Jayanagar boy through and through though I dont live there anymore!

[Nikhilb2008]

The next series of posts will cover various topics about the car that I've been wanting to report on.

My car completed 20,000 kms last week. This milestone was achieved in just a little bit more than 6.5 months.

I've been lucky to have a lot of opportunities to drive in the last few months. I feel, it may reduce in the next few months due to work and family commitments.



My first topic is the set of MRF Perfinza Tyres that I'm using on the car.

I have covered almost 12,000 kms on these tyres and I am very impressed.

There’s a term called Surefooted. Google defines this word as below.

• unlikely to stumble or slip.
• confident and competent.

The Perfinzas seem to demonstrate exactly that.

I have been very happy with the Perfinzas ever since I got them installed at an odo reading of 8383 kms. Today, having crossed 20k kms, I can also report on the wear and tear on the tyre.

A brand new Perfinza has a tread depth of approximately 8mm. My Perfinzas after 11,000 kms have a tread depth of 6mm. It is advisable to change tyres once the tread depth reaches 2mm. This is the legal limit in most Western countries. Knowing this, and assuming the wear on my Perfinzas continues at the same rate, this set should last for about 35k kms.

Which isnt bad for a heavy 2.0 litre turbo petrol with 350NM of torque!

Last week, I drove to MMST and back in a single day. The entire drive to MMST was done on wet roads thanks to overnight rains. On my return drive, the roads were dry for most of the time but at Krishnagiri, it started pouring. Some of the heaviest rain I’ve driven through in my life.

This was the first time I was driving the vRS with Perfinzas in wet conditions. I was absolutely blown away.

There were multiple times I hit huge standing pools of water expecting the car to aquaplane. However, the car didn’t. Clearly, the Perfinzas were doing a great job channeling water away from the tread and maximising the contact patch.

On wet slippery roads, I had to do some hard braking and quick lane changes and the tyres were rock solid. The behaved as well as they would have in the wet.

Coming to the surefooted feel…. The tyres gave me immense confidence. On my return journey, for example, the sun had set, it was raining heavily and I am a scaredy cat when it’s dark. So, I was driving slow-ish. But I was still maintaining a good pace and the tyres gave me total confidence that I could cruise at whatever speed I wanted. Whenever I needed something from the tyres, it was there. A couple of lane changes on soaked roads and it was done with ZERO drama. A couple of hard stops and it was done with no drama. Even when I was just braking to slow down, the car felt very planted and gave me an immense amount of confidence.

In the dry, I have of course been very happy. Even on this trip, I was following a truck and near the Arcot bridge, he had to brake very hard to avoid T-boning an idiot in an Etios. His tyres locked up and he slid in a straight line for a bit. I braked and then realised that I didn’t have to stand on the brakes. I just braked calmly and surely and stopped well before the truck.

The lateral grip in the wet was surprising. Lane changes or corners taken at triply digit speeds were easy. At the risk of repeating myself, the tyres gave me a lot of confidence. If I was a braver man, I may have even pushed harder.

I know this sounds like an advertisment, but believe me, I am as surprised as anyone reading this report.

I have had narrow escapes which could have been accidents if not for the Perfinzas.

I found the Perfinzas to be quite silent as well above 100 kmph. Around 80-100 I found them to be a bit noisy, but post that, somehow they seem very silent.

The tyre is comfortable too. However, I wouldn’t say much about it as I still find the vRS suspension to be a bit too stiff for Bangalore roads.

When I got the Road Force Balancing done, 3 tyres had very low road force variation. I think I’ve explained earlier in one of my posts that a high end tyre generally has very low road force variation. The readings for the MRF was on par with any foreign made tyre after 11k kms.

Please do not ask me how the Perfinza fares in comparison to any other tyre. I have only used the Hankooks and after 8k kms on the Hankooks and 12k on the MRFs, I can say it’s a no-contest. With regard to any other tyre, I cant compare. I am reviewing the Perfinzas and I am thrilled that they have met my expectations.

I drive my car hard, I drive my car fast, I corner fast and at times, I brake hard and the Perfinzas have kept me happy.

If this was a Michelin or any other big name brand, we wouldn’t be this surprised. However, an MRF, made in-India tyre being this good is surely surprising. I can only hope MRF continues to make good tyres so that in a few years, this sort of a review isnt a surprise anymore!

DISCLAIMER:
While I am very happy with my Perfinzas, other people may have a different experience. Every car behaves differently. Please understand this is MY experience with the Perfinzas.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

If this was a Michelin or any other big name brand, we wouldn’t be this surprised. However, an MRF, made in-India tyre being this good is surely surprising. I can only hope MRF continues to make good tyres so that in a few years, this sort of a review isnt a surprise anymore!

Delighted to read that Nikhil. Looks like MRF surely has started producing world class stuff. If the ZLO was a step in the right direction, they surely seems to have marked their arrival with the Perfinza.

Congrats on the 20k milestone.

Was following the vandalism episode all along but did not comment as I typed a long reply once and then deleted it out of sheer frustration at such people who get joy when seeing others cry. I had been through a similar experience when I found deep scratch marks on the bonnet of my car just the very next day after a detailing. Clearly from one of the jealous neighbours no doubt.

What is indeed heartening though was your response to it - and how fast you restored your car to its former glory. On the other hand, I was terribly disappointed and left that mark for over a year till I finally got it repaired recently at Trend automobiles. I felt like I lost all my initial craze towards detailing and frankly haven't done any expensive detailing stuff afterwards (though we were all regular visitors at 3M HSR earlier). My detailing has been limited to whatever I could do myself at home. Glad you didn't fall into that trap.

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Was following the vandalism episode all along but did not comment as I typed a long reply once and then deleted it out of sheer frustration at such people who get joy when seeing others cry. I had been through a similar experience when I found deep scratch marks on the bonnet of my car just the very next day after a detailing. Clearly from one of the jealous neighbours no doubt.

What is indeed heartening though was your response to it - and how fast you restored your car to its former glory. On the other hand, I was terribly disappointed and left that mark for over a year till I finally got it repaired recently at Trend automobiles. I felt like I lost all my initial craze towards detailing and frankly haven't done any expensive detailing stuff afterwards (though we were all regular visitors at 3M HSR earlier). My detailing has been limited to whatever I could do myself at home. Glad you didn't fall into that trap.

Thanks buddy!

For me, the vandalism incident is done and dusted now. I know TAFE did the best they could. If there's a slight mismatch in the paint, so be it. I'm not going to obsess over it anymore. I feel I was compensated fairly, TAFE did the best they could and from my side I will do the best detailing I can to bring it back to the original glory.

Now, it's time to drive and just enjoy the drive again!

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

My first topic is the set of MRF Perfinza Tyres that I'm using on the car.

I have covered almost 12,000 kms on these tyres and I am very impressed.

There’s a term called Surefooted. Google defines this word as below.

• unlikely to stumble or slip.
• confident and competent.

The Perfinzas seem to demonstrate exactly that.

Good to hear about the high quality Perfinzas! Now I am confused (and you know why )
First the ZLO and now the Perfinza. Looks like MRF is rapidly climbing the quality and premium tyre chain.

Another related point is how are Apollo doing with their high-end tyres especially after they took over Vredestein? The Alnac 4G was also well reviewed but haven't heard much after that.
They have some lovely looking treads: https://www.vredestein.com/car-suv-v...-finder/tyres/

[Hells Bells]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

Please do not ask me how the Perfinza fares in comparison to any other tyre.

Crap, just when I was all set to ask you to compare them to PS4 again On a serious note, any views on who run more silent & supple between these two as from a capability point of view, I don't think much separates these two tyres?

[itwasntme]

Nikhil, on a somewhat tangential note, can I fit spacers to make my 1.8's stance better? The facelift has wider rear hubs which make the rears look much better. Can I replicate a wider / fatter stance with quality spacers?

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Nikhil, on a somewhat tangential note, can I fit spacers to make my 1.8's stance better? The facelift has wider rear hubs which make the rears look much better. Can I replicate a wider / fatter stance with quality spacers?

You can, but I have a mental hangup about spacers. It's just for looks. Doesnt really aid the performance much (irrespective of what the marketing blurbs claim).

If you have researched well(and I havent), and you think it's good, go for it. Go for a reputed brand like H&R or similar.