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Old 31st March 2011, 16:45   #181
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re: My Fräulein arrives: Vento AT *Updated* 9000 km update"

Looking at these unbelievable FE figures, would you still suggest me to keep away from the Petrol MT?

My usage is pretty low and I somehow prefer the petrol over the diesel for multiple reasons. After spotting a Terra Biege Vento, the chances are getting even thicker.
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Old 31st March 2011, 21:33   #182
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re: My Fräulein arrives: Vento AT *Updated* 9000 km update"

Hey Noopster,
I know I am a litle late here - congratulations ! Have great fun with the Vento - Fraulein ! Well I see one (a white highline) couple of parking lots next to mine everyday and I keep admiring it.
In fact had tested one for a close friend of mine in Pune and gave him the full blown details etc. I really liked what I saw and experienced.

And what that bloke do ? Almost pays up for it -and then goes and picks up his second Scorpio. Friend indeed ! But coming to think of it I had recommended the Scorpio too, so can't blame him really, as I had a Scorpio then.

Enjoys miles and miles of companionship with a wonderful piece of German engineering !
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Old 1st April 2011, 15:51   #183
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re: My Fräulein arrives: Vento AT *Updated* 9000 km update"

Quote:
Originally Posted by ajay_satpute View Post
Looking at these unbelievable FE figures, would you still suggest me to keep away from the Petrol MT?

My usage is pretty low and I somehow prefer the petrol over the diesel for multiple reasons. After spotting a Terra Biege Vento, the chances are getting even thicker.
On the contrary I would urge you to buy a petrol MT. The short-throw smooth gearshift will make it a dream to drive. The ANHC is rated as a better engine by experts but I can tell you when it comes to build quality VW has no comapre. The MT petrol HL is possibly the most underrated car in its segment, overshadowed thoroughly its diesel sibling.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Guderian View Post
Hey Noopster,
I know I am a litle late here - congratulations ! Have great fun with the Vento - Fraulein ! Well I see one (a white highline) couple of parking lots next to mine everyday and I keep admiring it.
In fact had tested one for a close friend of mine in Pune and gave him the full blown details etc. I really liked what I saw and experienced.

And what that bloke do ? Almost pays up for it -and then goes and picks up his second Scorpio. Friend indeed ! But coming to think of it I had recommended the Scorpio too, so can't blame him really, as I had a Scorpio then.

Enjoys miles and miles of companionship with a wonderful piece of German engineering !
Welcome General! You know what they say: you can take the man out of the SUV but you can't take the SUV out of the man
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Old 2nd April 2011, 09:25   #184
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re: My Fräulein arrives: Vento AT *Updated* 9000 km update"

Hey Noopster - Unbelievable mileage figures! You know the interesting thing: you would get even higher if you maintain a 34-36 psi of air pressure. I've noticed that most Vento owners keep their car at 32 psi or lower, which is actually below the recommended.

BTW I had driven both the ANHC AT and Vento AT back to back, and liked the Vento AT better without reservations. Other than the edge in build quaility, IMO the gearbox of Vento is superior and meshes much better with the driving characteristics of the car. I noticed I could control the gearshifts with my right foot, and it was just far more comfortable to drive (even if the ANHC seemed slightly quicker).
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Old 5th April 2011, 20:47   #185
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re: My Fräulein arrives: Vento AT *Updated* 9000 km update"

@imjimmy- I agree with your assessment. IMHO the ANHC AT did not compare to the driving experience of a Vento. However the Civic AT surely did! But the price differential meant that Vento was pure VFM even in AT Highline avatar. So no regrets!

By the way, I have composed my Aurangabad trip travelogue and it should be up any moment now. 600 km averaging well over 60 overall and 100+ most of the way, it was a joyful ride for the Fräulein. Odo clocking over 3700 km as of today.

Some teasers: I got fined by the cops for an illegal U-turn, I got hit hard by a fort (not the T Fort, thankfully!) and saw 2 Taj Mahals: one real, one fake in one weekend. Go read the TL now!
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Old 6th April 2011, 13:40   #186
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re: My Fräulein arrives: Vento AT *Updated* 9000 km update"

My Aurangabad travelogue is up!

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...i-vent-oh.html
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Old 6th April 2011, 15:24   #187
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re: My Fräulein arrives: Vento AT *Updated* 9000 km update"

Quote:
Originally Posted by noopster View Post
Nice, pithy travelogue noopster ! Yes, the Daulatabad Fort sure is majestic.

And yes, you are right about the right kind of fort hitting you - for if it were a T Fort then you wouldn't be very charitable on the Admiral's thread !
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Old 10th April 2011, 12:59   #188
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re: My Fräulein arrives: Vento AT *Updated* 9000 km update"

My Fräulein completes 4000 km sometime this week. Yay!

Got a chance to visit the VW Factory at Chakan recently, thanks to a kind fellow BHPian. Bunch of us went and visited and had a whale of a time. For obvious reasons, no photographs, but I learned some cool stuff about my car:
  • The 1.6 litre petrol engine in my Vento is imported from South Africa. The 1.6 diesel comes straight from Germany.
  • My disk brakes apparently are also from South Africa. Localistion of this starts soon.
  • The auto tranny on my baby comes from South Africa as well.
I figure I should walk around with a stern expression and start clipping my syllables about now.

Ok let me not Boer you guys anymore. Some more neat stuff:
  • The car in all its avatars is called the Polo. I knew this because the factory stickers on my car & the manual call it that but this visit confirmed it. "Vento" is Marketing-speke for Polo sedan in India alone.
  • Saw the new Passat! It's not produced in this plant- the CKD and CBU stuff comes from Aurangabad- but there were a couple parked and we took a peek. Gorgeous! The lines on the bonnet give it a feline look.
  • Saw a -gasp- GTI in the flesh! Boy what a monster-this one had 17" killer alloys(each of those reputed to cost 1.5 lac!), honeycomb grille and all-black interiors with amazing large dials and smelt like heaven inside. Don't know if VW India plans to sell some of these as special editions. That would rock!
  • Highlight for me was to see the South Africa spec Polo sedan. Main differences from our Vento are the all-black interiors (nice!), the smoked headlaps (to die for!) and the white MID instead of red. All add up to make look a lot classier than the one on our shores. Apparently the India unit exports a bunch of these to South Africa these days. Talk about taking coals to Newcastle!
  • The plant is impeccable and it's obvious the Germans have spared no expense in making it world-class. There are robots everywhere and the attention to detail and quality consciousness is very evident. I have new respect for my car now.
  • Appreciate that the company encourages visitors to come have a look. Apparently they've had visits from B-school students and even some from a local international school recently. Public access is restricted to the sections housing the Polo Race cars and the yet-to-be-launched Fabia sedan on Vento platform codenamed SK251. Pity!
  • Apparently the Fabia sedan looks nothing like those photo-shopped pics floating on another thread, in fact it is rumoured to look much more masculine than the Vento thanks to the rugged lines on bonnet and Skoda logo. Can't wait!
No post complete without pics, so here's a couple we took from outside the factory. One of us was in a hurry to get back to an important engagement so we couldn't do the trek up the hill to get pan shots. Maybe next time!
Attached Thumbnails
My Fräulein arrives - VW Vento AT. EDIT: 10 years and 135,000 km up!-dsc01741.jpg  

My Fräulein arrives - VW Vento AT. EDIT: 10 years and 135,000 km up!-dsc01742.jpg  


Last edited by noopster : 10th April 2011 at 13:08.
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Old 10th April 2011, 14:04   #189
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re: My Fräulein arrives: Vento AT *Updated* 9000 km update"

Firstly, big thanks to @noopster for inviting me, @mdsaab and @Reminton Steele as well. mdsaab could not make it finally. Also, lot of thanks to the fellow BHpian who made it possible for us to take a look.

To add to noopster's take on VW factory.

1. Kudos to VW who has built a modern 130000 vehicle p.a. plant in about three years from scratch.

2. Was amazed to see that Polo, Vento and Fabia carry a plastic layered composite fuel tank. This is done to save weight. Know that composite fuel tank has been in production in China. But a car manufactured in India carrying such a fuel tank was new to me.

3. All production vehicles passes through several quality control tests, including a roller test at high speed and a shower test. Apparently other OEMs select samples, not the entire population. We also the test track where all vehicles travel through a series of road conditions and meet requirements.

4. VW uses several technologies to battle rattles. They include spot welding at frames, chassis and body points, laser welding on roof and lavish use of adhesive and sealants at several joints and points.

5. No need for VW owners to go for underbody rust proof coatings. Currently VW employs copious volumes of coating material for the same reason.

6. Great to see VW using better quality plastic parts for the internal plastic articles. Saw ABS-PC parts where easily PP blended parts could have been used.

Had a great day. I was in a hurry to come back. So sorry, we could not take more pictures from outside due to this.

Finally Nokia OVI GPS proved reliable and brought us home in quick time using a different route.

Last edited by dot : 10th April 2011 at 14:09.
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Old 10th April 2011, 21:47   #190
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re: My Fräulein arrives: Vento AT *Updated* 9000 km update"

Quote:
Originally Posted by noopster View Post
Ok let me not Boer you guys anymore.
Very neat pun...ha ha ha ! Man after my own heart !
And a neat visit report.

Quote:
Originally Posted by dot View Post
To add to noopster's take on VW factory.
Dot - Nice add on report.
The Chakhan factory of VW is indeed a delight to visit and walk around. Also delightful is to spot many other auto component companies as you drive in and out from the area - Minda, Lumax etc were the some I could spot.
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Old 11th April 2011, 19:12   #191
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re: My Fräulein arrives: Vento AT *Updated* 9000 km update"

Nice details on the visit. Bravo. Looks like we have a bunch VW hard cores now

Quote:
Highlight for me was to see the South Africa spec Polo sedan. Main differences from our Vento are the all-black interiors (nice!), the smoked headlaps (to die for!) and the white MID instead of red. All add up to make look a lot classier than the one on our shores. Apparently the India unit exports a bunch of these to South Africa these days. Talk about taking coals to Newcastle!
I would love to have a Vento with all black interiors and smoked head lamps.. They have only trendlines and comfortlines in India!!
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Old 12th April 2011, 00:30   #192
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re: My Fräulein arrives: Vento AT *Updated* 9000 km update"

@Noopster: Thanks for inviting me although I was the last minute inclusion. As I told you I just didn't want to miss it so, kind of allowed the circumstances to get manipulated.

Thanks to both of you, Dot and Noopster for making me feel comfortable inspite of meeting you guys for the first time.
.

Adding to the report:
  • The plant campus is huge encomapssing right from the captive body panel press shop - finished car storage location -to- Dealer Sales/Marketing Training Academy.
  • Some more area in the campus is being levelled & developed, roumoured to be a one more full fledged test track coming up.
  • Got to see a -1 Generation Phaeton rusting in pieces; Felt bad looking at the accumulated dust and grim on such a great piece of work.
  • It was a great fun walking on the shop floors almost from in between the assembly lines to see the car coming alive.
  • Saw the various marriage / meeting points on the assembly line. Was explained how if the marriage fails the and White Car may get a black door :-)
  • The whole Robotic action & sync was real fun to watch; it reminded more of Transformers than Rajani Sir.
  • Came to know something like VW is the only manufacturer which Laser welds Cars Top while "THE Other Manufacturers" spot weld it.
  • Saw how the dash board is pre-assembled outside and then the whole unit as a whole gets in the car for getting mounted.
  • Saw the actual laser welding on LCD panel just out the chamber it was being done.
  • Saw the plastic composite fuel tank. Couldn't belive it houses 55 litres in it.
  • Learnt that indigensation is high on Priority, heard some plans for 2012 and 2015 scope of implementation.
  • Learnt one more thing which "THE Other Manufacturers" don't do, VW has a strong relationship with Arcellor-Mittal for the automotive steel. These are special quality steel specially made for VW worldwide, VW uses it of 1500 (some unit), where as other use it of 900 (some unit) for its tensile strength. This whole thing gives it the build quality which they are known for.
  • The Polo 1.6 aka Vento of South Africa looked more ravishing with its smoked dual headlamp units, just hope these headlamp units comes to its Indian avatar.
After going thru all this I saw Noopster inching 2 inches higher as he discovered the new found respect for his White AT baby.
Dot was his ownself enjoying & analysing the materials, the Glue chemicals, the composites, the spot weldings, the seat foams, the rattle supressing fillers etc.

Cheers

Last edited by ajmat : 12th April 2011 at 09:49.
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Old 12th April 2011, 14:34   #193
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First Accident Report

Sorry to report Fraulein got into her first street scrap (rather scrape) today. We were peacfully minding our own business in crawl-speed traffic while all of a sudden I feel a thump and look behind to see this dark blue Alto, driven by a bearded chap, with his snout attached to my rear right bumper

Put the car in P, got out and noticed that the guy was actually straddling both lanes while he could have driven on safely in either without causing any incident. I asked him, Kya huaa boss? and he didn't have anything to say except, Sorry sorry a couple of times.

Checked the damage- the Alto must have been doing 10 kmph and I was at standstill so thankfully no denting. But why oh why did that cursed Alto have to be dark blue?

Anyway, no visible damage apart from he ugly paint scratch and thankfully no harm done to me or anyone else, so just shook my head in disgust and got back in my car and drove off. Once on teh road again, all sorts of things occured to me: what if there was a serious problem that I hadn't noticed and it costs me thousands to repair. I should have at least taken his car and contact details so that I can claim insurance, etc. etc.

Pulled into my office parking and re-assessed the damage. At first glance it looked awful:

My Fräulein arrives - VW Vento AT. EDIT: 10 years and 135,000 km up!-photo0240.jpg

My Fräulein arrives - VW Vento AT. EDIT: 10 years and 135,000 km up!-photo0242.jpg

I gave it a quick rubdown with chamois and water and to my relief most of the paint scratches vanished

My Fräulein arrives - VW Vento AT. EDIT: 10 years and 135,000 km up!-photo0243.jpg


Will ask my cleaner guy to do a more thorough job with Amway car wash and hopefully all should be well.

Got me in a blue funk and I had this session to take with my team today. Thankfully that went well and my mood is restored.

Questions:
  • I don't suppose a mild bump like that caused any damage but do you think I should get it checked anyway?
  • Should I take it into VW or friendly neighbourhood body shop?
  • When I restarted driving, noticed some groans and moans from Fraulein that didn't seem to be there before. Am I imagining things?

Last edited by noopster : 12th April 2011 at 14:36.
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Old 12th April 2011, 14:44   #194
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re: My Fräulein arrives: Vento AT *Updated* 9000 km update"

What do you mean by groans and moans?

Does not look to be a major impact. However please get the car on a hoist and see if there is any damage behind the bumper. The Alto may have hit the bumper but afterwards the bumper might have popped back out. So you wont know if there is any damage to body panels behind the bumper.
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Old 12th April 2011, 14:45   #195
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Re: First Accident Report

Quote:
Originally Posted by noopster View Post


Questions:
  • I don't suppose a mild bump like that caused any damage but do you think I should get it checked anyway?
  • Should I take it into VW or friendly neighbourhood body shop?
  • When I restarted driving, noticed some groans and moans from Fraulein that didn't seem to be there before. Am I imagining things?
Dont worry, similar happened with my Vento in the car park, and the paint from the black car went after a little rubbing polish

I dont think you need to get it checked....
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