[ajay_satpute]

VW logo is the hottest thing in town, especially Pune. My friend has replaced 3 logos already on his Polo and what happens...it goes for the 4th time.

Now he is going to do some print and paste job instead of buying another logo. The logo costs a whopping 1700+ atleast for the Polo. No idea about Vento. My friend has spent 6K+ on logos on his less than 6 months old Polo. Damn!

[ritzy]

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

Now he is going to do some print and paste job instead of buying another logo.

Even I have seen one Jetta yesterday with the rear logo stolen!
What got my attention is that ,this guy has simply drwan the VW logo with a permanent blue glass marker.

[radek]

Please do not buy Logo from any other shop than your dealer. Probably this is where stolen logos come for resale.

Isn't there any way to fix the logos with some kind of welding? With this problem growing, all car manufacturers should come up with some solution (especially - VW, Skoda). Right now they are happily selling logos at such higher prices.

[evilshantanu]

Originally Posted by noopster

ARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGH!

It happened last night.

As a European car owner, you expect your logo to get flicked sooner or later. but not so soon. Not within 2 weeks. No.

If you park in a dark alley or hand your car over to some random valet at a shopping mall, sure. Not when you're parked in the safety of your apartment's covered parking. No.

Well, I can keep saying No as much as I want but it won't change the fact that our rear VW logo DID get flicked, from right under our noses and it's probably an inside job by one of the drivers/cleaners/maids in our apartment complex.

There is a place reserved in hell for people who steal and deal in stolen car logos.

Oops sorry to hear that, I can understand how it feels.

I dont think you can do much about it, maybe get a new one and move on....

[noopster]

I am not planning to replace the badge at all. Of course it looks horrible the way it is now with the gaping holes and the circular depression on the boot, so thinking of stickering it up or something.

[mdsaab]

@noopster
Buddy, reading about the logo definately angers me. You know what there isnt even a place in hell reserved for such folks who commit these crimes.

And that too parked in your own apartment complex. Thats just wrong. You definately have to bring it up with the commitee of your complex. Once word spreads in your complex, it is likely the inside job man will refrain from doing such an act again.

after you have done this and are certain word has spread. You HAVE to buy a new logo. Fraulein definately deserves it.

[noopster]

Took the Fraulein on her first long drive this weekend: Pune to Mumbai with the expressway. Man this thing can fly.

I was wary of the running in- still under 700km- but there are times when you just have to do justice to the 1.6 litre, 105 BHP, 153 Nm monster within. Most of the time I was Dr. Lightfoot personified!

Let's focus on the expressway part of the drive. 114km in 1 hour 40 minutes (including a 20 min stop to pick up goodies for the folks at home!) at an INCREDIBLE fuel efficiency of 16.6 kmpl! I have pics too but don't know how to upload them from my phone

The best stretch was Pune-Khalapur, 70km over which I *averaged* 18 kmpl. This was totally due to the light foot and keeping an eye on the FE monitor at all times. I pulled off the road when it hit 16, 17 and finally 18 kmpl and took snaps. After that I just let it rip.

Khalapur- Panvel which is the best stretch of the e-way I managed to average 110 km/hr, even hitting 140 a couple times (shifted her to manual mode to get the juices flowing a bit) and which explains why the mileage dropped the way it did (to 14.7 kmpl, from my back of the envelope calculations). But that's totally worth it!

After we exited the e-way at Panvel, the nightmare started. 60km to home in the northern suburbs took 3 hr 20 min. The display by the time we reached home was 12.5 kmplfor the entire trip! By my calculations the city stretch consumed 8.6 kmpl!

How you guys manage to survive in this city is a mystery to me! (and this from a guy who spent the first 25 years of his life here)

This is all in D-mode. I am planning to do the return trip in S mode to see like to like what the difference is.

But enough about FE. I fear I am turning into one of those "Kitnaa deti hai" obsessive-compulsives! So let's focus on the other things:

Noise levels: What's that? I was zipping at 100-120 most of the time and could hear the stereo fine without having it to turn it up like I do in the Swift. I don't know how the Tdi performs at high speed but the petrol is amazing. I am impressed.

Handling: The Vento feels so grounded, even at 140. The ride is impeccable. The steering feels good and provides enough feedback (no vagueness at all).

Tyres: I must confess I have been unfair to the OEM shoes on this thing (Appollo Acelere 185/65 R15). The only reason I hadn't already upgraded to 205s in Michelin or Yoko is that VW told me that would void the warranty. But the tyres performed amazingly- good grip, hardly any noise and overall felt just right.

Miscellaneous:

• The radio reception was awful on the e-way. Regulars would know that thanks to Mumbai and Pune both having FM channels on the same frequency, there is usually a tug of war between the 2 cities on the way. But the Vento's reception failed quite early- score one for the humble Swift!
• Front windscreen is a virtual greenhouse. I haven't put front film (it's coming with leathers, hopefully next week). We were headed into the setting sun so got slowly cooked.
• AC performed very well. I was worried on this front since the Climatronic took some getting used to in Pune's blow hot blow cold (literally!) climes. But all I did was set it on 21.5 deg C, switch on Auto mode, let in some fresh air once in a while and change to Recylce mode in the city. It did its job fine.
• Reception committee at home was impressed. Dad got in, looked around and said "Fabulous" with a big satisfied smile. I am still basking in the glow. My nephews were thrilled, a few of their friends also got a ride this morning! Sis is over the moon and certifies the AC as good (she is very sensitive to heat and there is no bigger compliment!) Little one slept comfortably in the back seat throughout.

Return trip updates early next week!

[cuteavaya]

Very well written noopster. One can feel your excitement reading every word.Glad you enjoyed your trip.

Sorry about the logo loss.Have heard its a big problem in Mumbai/Pune. I guess not so much in New delhi. Until and unless people stop buying stolen logos, they are going to be stolen.Its sick.Anyway, all you can do is move on.

PS: I have been able to expedite my delivery (long story how) but had to change the color from silver to white. Hope to get my car by feb end now.All I do the entire day now is research on the ICE setup. For now am not thinking of an amp as scared of cutting wires/installation. But will surely change the HU and the 4 speakers. Any suggestions folks?

[mdsaab]

@noopster
glad you made the e-way trip. Dr lightfoot you definately are those are some fantastic fuel efficiency figures. So i guess my theory is right that sometimes an AT car can do better on the highway than its manual sibling. Glad you stopped being mr kanjoos too and decided to let her fly. Being german i was sure that fraulein would be at home on the highway, these german babes are rock solid on the e-way. Look forward to your s mode review on your way back. Drive safe!

[dot]

Originally Posted by noopster

I am not planning to replace the badge at all. Of course it looks horrible the way it is now with the gaping holes and the circular depression on the boot, so thinking of stickering it up or something.

Cheers with the attitude man. This is the only way to reduce the epidemic which is worse than H1N1. If you have seen my post in the lost logo thread, you would have seen a very cheesy sticker on the trunk lid of my Civic. Like you, I lost the logo while the car was parked inside the society about two weeks back; and am not spending one paisa on a new logo.

[noopster]

Return trip was completely in S-mode. I realised that S-mode is almost exactly like I drive a manual, so immediately felt at home. Felt nice to see the odo rev up to 4K (that seems to be the cutoff for S mode with reasonably light foot). We left around 4.30 pm and beat the late Sunday traffic into Pune. The drive hardly took 3hours20min, including a break for batatwada and chai at Khopoli food plaza.

One problem I note with S mode is that it hardly ever shifts to 6th gear. Since we had kid and grandparents in the backseat, I was topping out at 110 kmph and the gearbox steadfastly remained in S5; I didn't want to cruise in anything but top gear so after a while shifted back to D and it immediately engaged D6.

The number of morons and maniacs on the e-way never fails to surprise me. There was this Santro reg no 7170 who was tailgating me in the middle lane with high beams on for quite a distance. I gave him enough opportunity to overtake, finally lowered my window and gave hm the old fashioned "overtake karo" hand signal. After he got ahead of me, I switched on my high beams for a km or two then felt guilty and backed off.

FE on return trip was almost same as the onward: 12.7 kmpl. But it's an unfair comparison since we wasted a lot of fuel on the way in. The run upto Panvel yielded about 11 kmpl this time around (compared to 8.6 on Saturday). The slow traffic at Lonavala ghat coupled with the zippy S mode I estimate subtracted 1 kmpl from the FE.

Spotted a nice white Q7 driven by some political guys (all white and starchy) and was able to admire it while munching my batatawada. We also noticed a hell of a lot of white (non-taxi) cars and cars with logos missing, mostly Skodas. At Andheri flyover, a white Polo gestured to my wife to roll down her window and commiserated for the logo loss, which felt very good.

Originally Posted by dot

Cheers with the attitude man. This is the only way to reduce the epidemic which is worse than H1N1. If you have seen my post in the lost logo thread, you would have seen a very cheesy sticker on the trunk lid of my Civic. Like you, I lost the logo while the car was parked inside the society about two weeks back; and am not spending one paisa on a new logo.

I have seen that sticker and don't think it's cheesy at all. I need a nice round sticker to fit in where the logo goes. Mods- if you're listening, please add this to the TBHP set!

Originally Posted by cuteavaya

Hope to get my car by feb end now.All I do the entire day now is research on the ICE setup. For now am not thinking of an amp as scared of cutting wires/installation. But will surely change the HU and the 4 speakers. Any suggestions folks?

Good luck- white looks awesome and you'll not regret it! Check out jesal's Vento ownership thread on ICEing the Vento. Also AnkitParashar has done an absolutely fab job ICEing his Polo 1.6 with a low(er)-cost Chinese option:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post2108522

[ajay_satpute]

Good one Noopster!

I can feel all the excitement in your words.

I think thats a great FE delivered by the White babe.

Hoping to see the photographs uploaded soon.

Wishing you many more happy KMs with her.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by noopster

One problem I note with S mode is that it hardly ever shifts to 6th gear. Since we had kid and grandparents in the backseat, I was topping out at 110 kmph and the gearbox steadfastly remained in S5; I didn't want to cruise in anything but top gear so after a while shifted back to D and it immediately engaged D6.

Did you not try shifting it manually to the 6th gear? Anything above 60 kmph, you should be able to do that.

[noopster]

^^ Guna there is no manual option in "S" mode. You have to engage D for that.

[dot]

Originally Posted by noopster

One problem I note with S mode is that it hardly ever shifts to 6th gear. Since we had kid and grandparents in the backseat, I was topping out at 110 kmph and the gearbox steadfastly remained in S5; I didn't want to cruise in anything but top gear so after a while shifted back to D and it immediately engaged D6.

Thats funny. Does the manual shed any light on this aspect. Maybe the load on the car was forcing the tranny to kickdown, rather remain in lower gear. It happens in Civic also, specially while climbing ghats, the tranny refuses to go to M5 even at scheduled speeds when using S mode. But why would the D mode then make it go back to 6th gear. Maybe some experts can shed a light here.

Originally Posted by noopster

The number of morons and maniacs on the e-way never fails to surprise me.

Which is why we see the gruesome pictures every second day on papers. Why do people play with their lives?

Originally Posted by noopster

At Andheri flyover, a white Polo gestured to my wife to roll down her window and commiserated for the logo loss, which felt very good.

How nice of them.

Originally Posted by noopster

I have seen that sticker and don't think it's cheesy at all. I need a nice round sticker to fit in where the logo goes. Mods- if you're listening, please add this to the TBHP set!

Thanks.
Yeah, TBHP stickers tailormade to fit in VW or Skoda or Honda logo areas will be good, very good.