[souravc]

Originally Posted by oxyzen

Now coming to the point if the Yoko S drives top out at 160, I think it is no way an overkill. And how is S drives an overkill. Just because it has more grip? Whats wrong in that?
Yes you will not get the sublime ride quality of the C drives nor its whispering abilities but it will still have its share of customers.

Originally Posted by nileshch

@oxyzen, I think that is what Sourav is pointing to. Usually, sedan drives are sedate ones and when you are carrying the family, all you need is comfort, more than high speed road grip. I too am inclined towards C drives when I decide to change tires, purely for the fact that they are quiet and comfort-oriented, while allowing the occasional spin on the road without losing grip.

I would have gone in for S drives if it were my second car, used mainly for my own driving pleasure. Such a time is too far in the distance, for me!

Nilesh correctly summed up my thoughts. To give the complete specs of my tyres , its 195/60/ R15 88H which means that its rated top speed is 210 kmph and the maximum load rating per tyre is 560 kgs . I guess that leaves sufficient gap for leeway, got no reason to suspect a well known brand like Yokohama. If you are looking at higher speed thresholds ( due to pete's addition , etc mods ) , you should concentrate more on the speed rating ( H, V , W ) of the tyres.
BTW in India S drives are sold many more times than C drives - I had to hunt around the town for C drives . In fact I am reasonably S drives even outsell A drives . They sure are popular and are great tyres for performance orientation .

Originally Posted by bala80

2k/tyre or for all the 4 put together?

Bala, its 2K for all 4 , its through auction else the second hand tyre dealer quoted me Rs 800 for all four. My tyres were down 14.5 K kms

I had forgotten to mention that the Yokos come with a 3 year warranty

[oxyzen]

^^
Agreed. Thats why I said C drives are the best compromise. And in fact we need more wet grip than dry.
I would not mind the C drives if they turn out to be as robust as the S drives. I mean no flat tyres and less punctures. Only time will tell, and so will keep an eye on this thread. Thanks!

[souravc]

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

Sourav thanks for the update. When you got your oil changed, did you even got the oil filter changed? Has the plug been changed in your car, at least once? Because when ever oil is changed/drained, the plug/screw of the oil sump is also changed.

Just a further update - in case you are getting your engine oil changed from the recommended Castrol Magnatec Professional etc etc to a synthetic oil like Mobil 1 be prepared to live without the ECU being updated to "oil has been changed during servicing' at your VW authorised service centre which can be cited as a ground for voiding the warranty of the engine in case there is any problem. ( I guess Mobil 1 is itself not the vento recommended oil so thats ground enough ). The ECU wipe from outside cannot set it right , the service record can only be updated at an authorised VW service centre so if one is finicky about a perfect record for warranty purposes ( and if one does not have any jugaad at a VW authorised workshop ) its advisable to stick to the recommended engine oil .
Its ridiculous that VW workshops change the plug / screw - I saw it myself , changing it makes no sense at all . Its an aluminium alloy nut which is unscrewed to drain out the engine oil and then put back on . If you look at your discarded one ( during servicing) you would find it in pristine condition. For most of us , the plug would have been unscrewed once in a year which means that replacing it is completely unnecessary .

[el lobo 6061]

Originally Posted by souravc

Just a further update - in case you are getting your engine oil changed from the recommended Castrol Magnatec Professional etc etc to a synthetic oil like Mobil 1 be prepared to live without the ECU being updated to "oil has been changed during servicing' at your VW authorised service centre which can be cited as a ground for voiding the warranty of the engine in case there is any problem. ( I guess Mobil 1 is itself not the vento recommended oil so thats ground enough ).

Thanks for the info again. Will try at the shop floor level, to convince them to go with Mobil1, if not then Castrol is the only answer. I have a 2+2 yrs warranty, so cannot risk it being getting void.
Just one last question again, is there any significant drop in the noise level after Mobil1?
After my Mumbai University exams get over in 2 week of Dec, would like to experience your car with the new tyres and see the beauty of the fully synthetic oil.

[souravc]

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

Thanks for the info again. Will try at the shop floor level, to convince them to go with Mobil1, if not then Castrol is the only answer. I have a 2+2 yrs warranty, so cannot risk it being getting void.
Just one last question again, is there any significant drop in the noise level after Mobil1?

Yes , that's logical . Can you check on Castrol Magnatec etc etc price in an engine oil shop rather than dealer - I was told that its much lower than the 950 odd per litre that VW charges !

The engine noise has been noticeably reduced post first service , I have specifically requested for it . I cannot attribute the reduction to Mobil 1 engine oil .

[bala80]

Looks like there is a new ECU update to reduce the diesel clatter as you have mentioned. The official Skoda Rapid review clearly states the difference in NVH characteristics between both the cars and I wouldnt be surprised if these new updates have already been incorporated into the new rapid. As you rightly observed, engine oil has nothing to do with this.

Originally Posted by souravc

The engine noise has been noticeably reduced post first service , I have specifically requested for it . I cannot attribute the reduction to Mobil 1 engine oil .

[souravc]

Originally Posted by bala80

Looks like there is a new ECU update to reduce the diesel clatter as you have mentioned. The official Skoda Rapid review clearly states the difference in NVH characteristics between both the cars and I wouldnt be surprised if these new updates have already been incorporated into the new rapid. As you rightly observed, engine oil has nothing to do with this.

Bala , our first generation TDi HL seems to be the Elegance Rapid with motion sensor interior surveillance system and a VW badge We paid a price similar to what elegance costs, isn't it ? I am pretty unhappy that the powertrains are same , it just blows away the uniqueness of the Vento's TDi heart - good enough reason for me not to ever look at a VW in the future. Maruti at least uses different levels of tune-up in Swift and Ritz , Honda is using diff engine tuneup for the Jazz and the Brio !

[bala80]

Very true. If I were in the market today, I would have been seriously tempted by the Rapid, picked up the middle variant and customized it the way I wanted to and still have some spare cash left!

I foresee the sales of vento going down because of this move and though too early to judge, the resale value too.

I dont think people will flock to buy VW just because of steering controls and parking system when the difference is close to 85-90k (OTR chennai) between the top variants.

Originally Posted by souravc

Bala , our first generation TDi HL seems to be the Elegance Rapid with motion sensor interior surveillance system and a VW badge We paid a price similar to what elegance costs, isn't it ?

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by souravc

I don't know for sure but the SA mentioned that its got to do with the ECU

souravc, wanted to thank you for sharing this.

How does one get the workshop engineers to understand the process of requesting information on ECU updates from VW? I had to send some emails to VW to have them share with the workshop engineers the information on the speed sensing auto-lock and honk on lock/unlock features. The workshop engineers had initially told me that they had no knowledge of these features when I first asked. I would also love to have the ECU update for reduction of the engine clatter. Frankly sometimes I get scared by the ruckus outside after I step out of the car with the engine still running.

This by the way is my first post in Team-BHP and I feel honored to be in the company of passionate Vento enthusiasts like myself. I had booked my Vento Highline TDI towards the end of June, 2011 and got delivery on 26th August, 2011. Due to a lot of distraction and work pressure I was not able to drive it around much apart from office commutes so have only clocked just over 1600 km in the past 3 months but honestly have loved it every bit. Yet to do justice to the TDI beast under the hood, I hope I can in the next few months.

[souravc]

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

souravc, wanted to thank you for sharing this.

How does one get the workshop engineers to understand the process of requesting information on ECU updates from VW? I had to send some emails to VW to have them share with the workshop engineers the information on the speed sensing auto-lock and honk on lock/unlock features. The workshop engineers had initially told me that they had no knowledge of these features when I first asked. I would also love to have the ECU update for reduction of the engine clatter. Frankly sometimes I get scared by the ruckus outside after I step out of the car with the engine still running.

This by the way is my first post in Team-BHP and I feel honored to be in the company of passionate Vento enthusiasts like myself. I had booked my Vento Highline TDI towards the end of June, 2011 and got delivery on 26th August, 2011. Due to a lot of distraction and work pressure I was not able to drive it around much apart from office commutes so have only clocked just over 1600 km in the past 3 months but honestly have loved it every bit. Yet to do justice to the TDI beast under the hood, I hope I can in the next few months.

Hi Samarjitdhar , first and foremost welcome to the Vento clan , congrats on your new car ! Frankly I am not too sure whether it was ECU update or anything else . Three of us ( a couple of my friends one of whom owns a Vento TDi ) did a side by side clatter comparo of my vento with another which is yet to do the first service so the verdict was that the non vento guy felt a noticeably less clatter in my car , my vento owner friend found a marginal difference whereas frankly I didn't find any difference . This was done at around 11:30 p.m. in the night so ambient noise was minimal . I would say that no magical reduction in clatter should be expected . I use a different engine oil too which could have resulted in the marginal difference .

Coming to the point of tackling the VW guys , well quite a few of us found them to be glorified idiots too . Ideally try to speak to the shop floor guys rather than the SAs who are anyways mostly unreliable with little product knowledge beyond the superficial . I tackled mine by walking into the service bay and catching hold of a mechanic who was aware of it - prior to that I had rung up another workshop who confirmed over the phone that such features exist. Else figure out from posts here which workshop has done it and give that name , feel free to ask any of us - we can always PM you a short description alongwith the contacts at our respective workshops with whom your workshop guys can connect .

You can go through this thread http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...es-quirks.htmlas well as quite a few other ownership threads that exist on the forum- you may get information which would prove helpful to you .
Cheers

[souravc]

Got an appointment tomorrow for the change of door beads under warranty . Meanwhile the SA gave me a friendly warning on how VW has noted by engine oil related misdemeanor [ using Mobil 1 instead of Castrol Magnatec Professional ] which would result in voiding of warranty - he is scheduled to have a discussion with me tomorrow [ hopefully over a cup of tea ] Frankly I am not too fussed about the voiding of warranty of the engine because I believe that I am doing whats best for my car and its engine - I saw it for myself on how the Castrol feels (stickiness) after 5K kms as compared to Mobil 1 which has been there for nearly 10K kms - I saw enough to know which one is better for my engine . The Mobil1's stickiness was far superior to the Castrol even though it did nearly double the cycle . While I would post updates on my discussion , just wanted to forewarn everyone about the warranty void threat in case anyone steps out of the Castrol line ! I also think that the synthetic oil may have resulted in a smoother Vento TDi engine with marginally less clatter, there is no conclusive evidence though .

I also did a comparo between my Vento with Yokos C drives and another Vento with the Acceleres and I have thrilled with the the end result . The test was done on the road in front of Bhakti Park at around 11:30 pm to allow a bit of speed . While the acceleres start becoming audible at 40 kmph, the Yokos were super quiet in comparison. Frankly , I think i have gone mental on the tyre noise thing . I got a tyre protection gel called "Ride On" inserted inside all my tyres- the dealer gave it to me for test use for a couple of weeks ( which would include a Mumbai-Goa-Mumbai drive ) and with the "pay if you are satisfied" clause. The claimed benefits are cooler tyres ( because the tyres are filled with 95-98% nitrogen though the gel can be used with normal air too ) , prevents puncture on the tyre patch ( not side walls) , prevents tyre burst , plusher ride , less noise, etc , etc - I will provide a feedback once I am fully satisfied with it though initial results are quite encouraging. I spoke to a few users and then agreed to test it -I am still skeptical, the arguement that air is 78% nitrogen so how would an extra 20% make much difference and what if the gel harms the tyres or the rims still linger in my mind.

I don't know whether it was only the C drives or C drives + the gel but the tyre noise has been silenced in my car and I am thrilled ! Can't wait to test it out on the expressway on my Goa drive next week, should be fun to check out the decibel levels at 100 + kmph Would anyone know of any software / app that I can run on my laptop to record decibels inside my car ? BB apps would not do since corporate use restriction means that I cannot install anything on it .

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by souravc

Hi Samarjitdhar , first and foremost welcome to the Vento clan , congrats on your new car !

Thanks so much Souravc.

Originally Posted by souravc

Frankly I am not too sure whether it was ECU update or anything else .

Hmm. Well then I guess I will hold on to my horses on this one. Its also true that perception of noise would be very subjective and I might be hearing the normal TDI clatter hence I might need a little more time in getting adjusted to it .

Originally Posted by souravc

Coming to the point of tackling the VW guys , well quite a few of us found them to be glorified idiots too . Ideally try to speak to the shop floor guys rather than the SAs who are anyways mostly unreliable with little product knowledge beyond the superficial .

Tell me about it. In the VW workshop at Kolkata its not so easy to walk in to the floor given their unique design. They even share their workshop building with the BMW one, the owner of both the dealers being the same. After all the updates were successfully made the workshop guys were thanking me profusely for helping them understand their own car better.

Originally Posted by souravc

You can go through this thread http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...es-quirks.htmlas well as quite a few other ownership threads that exist on the forum- you may get information which would prove helpful to you .
Cheers

Thanks. I have been following this thread with an eagle eye so a shout out goes to all Vento owners who have contributed to this thread. Take care.

[bala80]

Some threads which gives some more insight about Ride-on, Slime etc.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...-products.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...does-work.html

Cant comment on the effectiveness, but can confidently state this doesnt reduce the tyre noise in anyways. So, the entire credit should go to the c-drives. Personally, I dont beleive in any nitrogen filling on the tyres and prefer normal air.

If you do chat with the SA, check with him on the reason behind replacement of the door beadings. Thanks Souravc.

Originally Posted by souravc

I got a tyre protection gel called "Ride On" inserted inside all my tyres- the dealer gave it to me for test use for a couple of weeks ( which would include a Mumbai-Goa-Mumbai drive ) and with the "pay if you are satisfied" clause. The claimed benefits are cooler tyres ( because the tyres are filled with 95-98% nitrogen though the gel can be used with normal air too ) , prevents puncture on the tyre patch ( not side walls) , prevents tyre burst , plusher ride , less noise, etc , etc - I will provide a feedback once I am fully satisfied with it though initial results are quite encouraging.

[souravc]

Originally Posted by bala80

Some threads which gives some more insight about Ride-on, Slime etc.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...-products.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...does-work.html

Cant comment on the effectiveness, but can confidently state this doesnt reduce the tyre noise in anyways. So, the entire credit should go to the c-drives. Personally, I dont beleive in any nitrogen filling on the tyres and prefer normal air.

If you do chat with the SA, check with him on the reason behind replacement of the door beadings. Thanks Souravc.

Thanks Bala , I had gone through the threads prior to even thinking about filling my tyres - TBHP threads is our bible, isn't it ?

The defective door beadings had inferior quality rubber due to which they stuck together after a while ( instead of providing a cushion) . Going by the ridiculous state of affairs that I saw at the workshop I would not be surprised if the defect is not rectified. I spent a few hours observing whats going on in the shop floor and talking to the mechanics - the guys are so ignorant , callous and idiotic that I feel scared to leave my car with them. I feel like a fool driving 30 kms to their Nerul workshop , which is in the middle of nowhere, to get my car looked after by these so called Vw trained personnel . I am seriously hunting for a good non company workshop - given the similarity between Skoda and VW it should not be too difficult to get one in Mumbai. Warranty be damned , the VW workshop guys may just compound problems!

[prabhuferrari]

Sourav,

A quick question. Since many from Pune are praising BU Bhandari would it be a good idea to get it serviced there for some of you Mumbai guys? I know its a wild idea but a long drive never hurts a Vento owner?