[noopster]

Originally Posted by dot

Where are you getting it done, if it is ok. We changed the seat covers to art leather recently and I am not very happy about it. I am fishing for a good leather option in Pune.

Sorry to hear about the front logo. What a sorry state of affairs.
Nowadays, after locking my car for the night, I give a last look at my car's front logo, as if, it is in a terminal state of cancer.

dotty let me get them first and will share all details after that. Don't want to jinx it!

The trip is confirmed! 500 km in a single day. Should be tiring but fun.

[dot]

Originally Posted by noopster

dotty let me get them first and will share all details after that. Don't want to jinx it!

ok, ok, will eagerly wait for details. dont want to jinx a good charm!

Originally Posted by noopster

The trip is confirmed! 500 km in a single day. Should be tiring but fun.

Solapur highway should be an interesting drive, hope you have a good time.

[noopster]

Got my leather seating installed! Much excitement. It's a beige shade almost matching the original fabric colour. I opted for 100% leather (none of that touch stuff for me ).





It's 1.2mm satin leather which to touch feels a little better (at least to me) than the 0.9mm classic leather I've seen installed in some cars.

Wifey was impressed! I didn't expect this reaction since she was anti-leather (some hangover from too much rexine exposure in her childhood perhaps). She kept saying it smells wonderful and asked why doesn't it smell like leather? (my answer: because what you think leather smells like is actually fake leather!)

Fit is perfect OEM stuff, though I was a little unhappy with the way the joints at the top of the seat are looking: uneven and a little lumpy. But my leather guy assures me that's the way all of them look, so will take his word for it.





I was also keen on getting leather door pads done a la the Laura, but this was shelved in the end. I don't really care. The Vento's door pads are fine the way they are, on second thoughts!





The front and rear armrest feels wonderful to the touch now (I use the front one almost always while driving). I got the feeling thigh support is now better thanks to the additional thickness but this may just be flight of fancy!





The whole job set me back a pretty bundle (PM me for details). But it's about 35% cheaper than the Stanley quotes I got in the same spec, so not complaining!

Took some more pics with the new debadged look. This is growing on me now!





Also got a front windscreen film done. Am seriously thinking of plonking in a 2DIN DVD/MP3/Mp4/GPS/Bluetooth unit in there. The stock stero is pretty sad, doesn't even show the name of the song when I play an MP3 CD!

Some more pics to round it off:

[jesal]

nice work on the seats but why the steering wheel. it was already leather the work on wheel is very shabby. seats look wicked now.

[mdsaab]

Hey noopster
first of all congratulations. Just had to stop by.
The seats are definately drool material. And i like the fit and finish. I understand where you feel its a bit lumpy but overall its a fab job. Frauleins door pads look great already and the colour matches the leather perfectly, so overall your better off he didnt do the pads. The padding looks good and can imagine this taking seat comfort up a few notches. Also with your solapur highway drive around the corner. Its good that you got the front windscreen done. Well am in a bit of a hurry, you know why.
Have a safe highway drive!

[shamanth]

Leather work looks great, But the work on steering is real let down.

[himanshu_j]

Impeccable job on those leather seats! though IMO the fitting on the steering wheel is a real letdown. Why did you need it in the first place as I reckon the Highline Vento already comes with a leather lined steering?

[noopster]

Thanks folks. I didn't get the steering leather-wrapped, this is an over the counter "genuine" leather steering cover from China that cost 700 bucks . I didn't like the feel of the original Vento steering wheel and wanted some extra grip. May get rid of it sooner or later.

Glad you liked the seats. Believe me it feels heavenly. Am going to test it with back seat passengers on tomorrow's long drive- will keep you all posted.

[himanshu_j]

How about getting your steering wheel wrapped in suede for greater grip? As is available in supercars like aston martin et al!

[avishar]

No offense but not really digging the debadged look.Those VW logos look brilliant,which sadly is why they get stolen so much!Do try and get new badges.

Wonderful and very luxurious interiors,leather work looks very well done!

You have one handsome car.

[evilshantanu]

Originally Posted by noopster

Thanks folks. I didn't get the steering leather-wrapped, this is an over the counter "genuine" leather steering cover from China that cost 700 bucks . I didn't like the feel of the original Vento steering wheel and wanted some extra grip. May get rid of it sooner or later.

Glad you liked the seats. Believe me it feels heavenly. Am going to test it with back seat passengers on tomorrow's long drive- will keep you all posted.

Yes I think you should get rid of the steering wheel cover. Its spoiling the entire feel which the new leather covers have given!

Its looking amazing! Congrats!

And BTW I like the de-badged rear

[naveen.raju]

Awesome leather noops. Really liked the shade. As other had mentioned, I didnt like the steering wheel leather, looks a bit out of shape and large.

BTW, do you remove the VW logo or got that stolen?

Also, kms clocked till now?

[noopster]

Thanks for all the wonderful comments and PMs!

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

BTW, do you remove the VW logo or got that stolen?

Also, kms clocked till now?

naveen, my logos got stolen one at a time within a couple of weeks of me getting the car.
Clocked 1882 km as of last night- 540 of them in one day (yesterday!)

Originally Posted by evilshantanu

And BTW I like the de-badged rear

Hehe.

Originally Posted by avishar

No offense but not really digging the debadged look.Those VW logos look brilliant,which sadly is why they get stolen so much!Do try and get new badges.

I hate to drive around with gaping holes in front and back. Truth be told I do have a spare set of original logos with me but am scared to put them on and tempt those thieves again. More than the logo loss, it's the damage they cause to the boot and front grille when prying it out (mostly with screwdrivers) that hurts.

Originally Posted by himanshu_j

How about getting your steering wheel wrapped in suede for greater grip? As is available in supercars like aston martin et al!

Now that's a suggestion! Genuine leather wrapping costs about 4-5K and they need to keep the VW in the shop for 4-5 days while they detach the steering wheel and send it to Bangy for wrapping (according to the VW accessories chap). Sounded like too much trouble and nobody notices it but me (and you guys!) so it's Hindi-Cheeni buy buy for now!

The Solapur trip was awesome: 540 km that took most part of the day (13 hours 08 mins driving time as per my MID). We started at 5.00 am and by the time everyone was picked up, it was quarter to six when we hit the NH9. I drove for about halfway then swapped with my pal in his TJet till we reached. Left back around 2.30 after lunch and paan and was home again at 9.30 pm.

A few observations (Linea TJet vs Vento AT)

• For sheer driving pleasure, there is no comparison even. The TJet's turbocharged petrol engine pulls and pulls in 5th gear, while my baby is much more sedate. I left my own car choking far behind in the dust!
• Ride and handling, I rate the Vento higher, though not by much. It feels more planted somehow and shocks are absorbed better. But the Linea has 205 tyres standard to Vento's 185 which is a different feeling totally.
• Interiors wise the TJet isn't bad at all, though the silver finish on the ICE is not one I like- for some reason it made me want to wipe it with a clean moist cloth. Also, shiny-shiny plastics and a very dark shade of beige on the side doors left me cold. But Fiat flashiness (versus VW understatedness) grows on one!
• Ergonomicaly VW has done everything right. Except that monstrous handbrake positioning under the front armrest, that is! The Linea's ergs are all screwed up: opening the front window one needs to strettttch the arm a good way, for example. And the dead pedal feels weird- not enough of a gap between that and the clutch and I had to improvise a new way of raising my foot to depress the clutch. Also, I couldn't reach the ICE volume knob with my left hand and was being smug about this till I realised I'd forgotten about the...
• STEERING MOUNTED ICE CONTROLS- Whoa, awesome! I loved that the "mute" button needs to be pressed firmer than the rest to prevent accidental muting. Now I know what I am missing in my Vento- but just heard that the next version planned by VW has this feature, which is good for the car if not for me!
• Gearshift of the Linea is not that great: felt rubbery and long throws put me off. A slick, short-throw box is what this car is crying for.
• FE is lower than what my Vento offers which is not that surprising now that I have driven it myself. This trip alone I got 12.7 kmpl. My friend says he is hard pressed to get 10.
• It's apparent Fiat has built this car for the enthusiast and I would have no hesitation in recommending one to anyone who genuinely loves driving.

A pic of the two beauties side by side:



Traffic on Solapur Road was quite heavy- trucks all the way and the four laning really slows progress down as had been warned by Ashish Pallod and others on the NH9 thread. Plus we got a couple of bad jams on the way thanks to the idiots who think they can cut across into the oncoming lane and then point their snout back in, blocking an entire lane.

Thanks to the AT I don't have any lingering aches and pains today but the effort for so many hours on the road at a stretch took its toll and my friend (not the TJet owner) offered to take over for a couple of hours on the way back. He is single handedly responsible for bringing the FE down!
The point was reinforced about how lightfootedly I drive yet again: am sure I would have managed to keep it above 13 if I had continued. He was driving an AT for the first time but is a good driver and learnt fast, especially loving the kickdown and using it at every overtaking opportunity. But he was doing a nice job overall so I even managed to catch a little shut-eye and regain my energy for the last stint into the city.

We were 6 of us playing musical chairs between the two cars and had a great time bonding over things like cricket and Amitabh Bachchan movies, not things you normally get a chance to discuss. The trip was to another friend's wedding and he was touched that we made the "commute". Of course we had an ulterior motive but didn't tell him that!

Edit @ Ajay Satpute:
No more pics sorry man. We were focused on reaching in time and there really aren't too many scenic spots on NH9 to stop and click. The Vento definitely feels more planted than the TJet- maybe the weight is better distributed, or something.

[ajay_satpute]

What a trip!

A T-Jet and a Vento AT. Dream team I would say.

Also glad to read that T-Jet's interiors aren't "bad at all". I am just a little more curious to know why you felt Vento being more planted than the T-Jet. I am surprised because the T-Jet is bigger, wider, heavier than the Vento.

Do you any more pics dude? Would really love to see the dream team's photos.

[mmxylorider]

Nice Noopster Nice! The seat covers have really added a nice touch to the interiors.

IIRC, there is no rear sensor or kind in the Vento (might be mistaken) - How is the feel after moving from your Swift to Vento. Is the bigger bulk causing any problems while reversing?

Another Q> How is the GC in the Vento? Couple of speed breakers on our commute are really cause for worry. You probably would've faced diversions on your Solapur drive and rough roads too. Any concerns there?