[sharan1988]

Just a quick update. I have acquired padded nappa leather cut to templates for the door cards and arm rest. It requires the beige panels and the arm rest to be separated from the door cards to which the leather has to stuck and then put back together. Does any one know any good place in chennai who would do it?

[pillainp]

Originally Posted by Luke

Quick question on the LEDs. I understand for the lower beam you are using the Philips LED. What about the hight beam? You have the double barrel setup so you will need 1 more pair of H7 LEDs for the high beam if my understanding in right.
I am planning to source https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000...1169582ce3TVIg these LEDs 2 pairs from AliExpress. Will this be a plug & play setup or will need this device called Canbus LED to make it work with the Vento TSI

I can definitely second the Philips X-treme Ultinon H7 LED bulbs.

I have been using 4 of them since the big Kerala flood of 2018 as both high (reflector) and low (projector) beams on my XUV500, with zero problems.

The cut off is extremely sharp in the low beam projectors and the high beam reflectors are very bright but not troublesome to oncoming vehicles.

The only issue I have had so far is that one of my drivers thought the low beam was a trifle dim, but then he himself realized it was a perception issue. The light being very white, you will see nothing of it until the surroundings are very dark. With the LED street lights being used nowadays, it will often seem that your lights are not switched on.

@Luke: On great advantage the Philips LEDs have over the ones you have posted is that the heat sink is very low profile, and contains a fan for active cooling, so that no modification at all is required of the headlamp dist covers, unlike the heat sink of the ones you have posted, which will almost certainly require you to make a cut in the cover.

Plus the Ultinons, though expensive, carry a warranty of 3 years.

All in all, an absolutely worthwhile upgrade for me.

I am posting a picture of the X-treme Ultinon H7 running in my car.

[sharan1988]

With the ODO reaching 60k mark I wanted to do something to keep the car interesting. So I decided to do the door card padding and since there is no other thread or DIY on this I knew it’s going to a tough one, was willing to replace one door card it case it screws up. I took the rear left door card apart and all the panels are held together through soldering plastics on one another.


So we have to shave a portion of it using a blade to separate the door pad and the armrest. Once it’s all separated we stuck the leather and foam on the pads and armrest. After this step we encountered a big problem because the pads and armrest would not go back to it’s position with ease on to the door card. With considerable force we soldered it back and installed it on the door.
The results were ok not like factory finish. Me being a sucker for factory looks now contemplating where to finish the other doors or reorder a new door card and call it a day.

[akash_v12]

Originally Posted by sharan1988

RCD 340

Soon enough I found a person in Malaysia selling his RCD340 made by Visteon. Luckily my friend was traveling from KL to India and she got it for me.

AUTO HEADLIGHTS:

A lot has been said already about this in the forum. The auto function works really well.

Hey Sharan! Just read your thread and I loved the way you're trying to keep your car as close to stock as possible.

We own a similar Vento - Titanium Beige Metallic, 1.2TSI+7DSG, Jan 2016 manufacture.

I wanted to execute these mods and have 3 questions for you:-
1) Do you have any idea where I could find an RCD340 in India?
2) Where did you find the 16-inch Portago wheelset? What size tires did you fit around them? Does it need any
kind of increase in Ride Height?
3) Does the Auto Function actually turn on the lights automatically?

Thanks
Akash

[sharan1988]

Originally Posted by akash_v12

I wanted to execute these mods and have 3 questions for you:-
1) Do you have any idea where I could find an RCD340 in India?
2) Where did you find the 16-inch Portago wheelset? What size tires did you fit around them? Does it need any
kind of increase in Ride Height?
3) Does the Auto Function actually turn on the lights automatically?

Thankyou Akash.
Let me answer your questions.
1)RCD340 can be found on Olx.
2) I bought them from a friend who was selling his car and the tyre size is 205.50.R16. PS4
3)Yes auto headlight turns on automatically when it gets dark and also has follow me home function.

[sarfraz1997]

Originally Posted by sharan1988

Thank you Viraat

- Got them used from Germany.
Attachment 1875029
- 6R6867233 & 6R6867234 are the part numbers you could try Ebay Uk for them

Hey, I'm a bass heavy person and would like to know if the speakers you installed are good. As you know, there is a distortion in high volume in stock speakers. I like the stock speakers but, better is always welcomed
Also, how did you power the A pillar tweeters? I guess it would give a surround effect if we have the a pillar tweeters.

[sharan1988]

Originally Posted by sarfraz1997

Hey, I'm a bass heavy person and would like to know if the speakers you installed are good. As you know, there is a distortion in high volume in stock speakers. I like the stock speakers but, better is always welcomed
Also, how did you power the A pillar tweeters? I guess it would give a surround effect if we have the a pillar tweeters.

I would say the bass remains the same as the stock speaker but it is much tighter and won't distort in high volumes. The A pillar tweeters were powered from the front speakers and they give you an illusion of a phantom centre.

[sarfraz1997]

Originally Posted by sharan1988

I would say the bass remains the same as the stock speaker but it is much tighter and won't distort in high volumes. The A pillar tweeters were powered from the front speakers and they give you an illusion of a phantom centre.

Did you tap with positap? Or did you splice the wires? Also, what about the warranty? Is it void if we install these?

[sharan1988]

Originally Posted by sarfraz1997

Did you tap with positap? Or did you splice the wires? Also, what about the warranty? Is it void if we install these?

I had used a T-Tap Wire splice Connector which can be removed when needed. regarding warranty I have done a lot more to my car to be worried about it but my car is still under add on warranty and never faced problems.

[Tuisha110HP]

Hi Sharan,

Excellent thread. Can you share more light on the parts you did procure for the brakes upgrade. You have any idea if the parts would hold good for Skoda Rapid as the underpinning is same. Any help with regards to part number and place of purchase for both disk and pads would be of great help.

[sharan1988]

A small update:

I have been very happy with my cars suspension after upgrading to Sachs. However suhas307 started tempting me to lower my car for better looks and performance. I never liked the idea of running lowering springs on stock replacement struts as it would actually make the ride and handling worse. So I had placed an order for Bilstein B8 and cobra mild lowering springs. As luck wasn't in my favour due the pandemic the shipment has been delayed for the struts and the box of springs were sitting below my bed.
I decided to go ahead with the spring install first and later swap out the Bilstein when it arrives just to feel the difference between the two.
Post install I found the stiffness for the most part remained the same and it actually rides better than I thought it would. Body roll has definitely reduced and the stance has improved but I still wished the ride would be a little firmer. I will reserve my judgment and will give a detailed feed back once the lockdown is lifted to freely test the car on the highway and hopefully by then I will receive the Bilstein too.

A picture of the car after lowering it

[sharan1988]

Just a followup on the Cobra springs.

Happened to travel from Chennai to vellore 2 days ago with my mom in my car. The drive felt like i was riding a horse with a lot of vertical movement. It's the first time ever I have been motion sick. Not sure if its specific to my car however my dampers are in great condition. On our return we had nearly 100kgs in boot and the car was back to feeling normal. Now I have decided to revert back to stock springs and cancelled all plans for a suspension improvement.

[suhaas307]

Disappointed to hear about your experience with the Cobra lowering springs, Sharan.

I believe your car was the first Vento TSI to be fitted with these springs?

I'm sure A.M. Racing will help sort out the issue. Do reach out to them and seek a replacement that suits the car. With such a nice stance and good ride comfort, it's hard to not consider dropping the car a little for that Euro look.

Love the rest of your upgrades! Hope to see the suspension sorted ASAP!

[sharan1988]

"Idle mind is a devils workshop" best way to explain this.

OEM LED Headlights finally. I managed to get these from a wrecked car. Condition of the lights are not in its best shape but I managed to pick them up at throw away price and I will be refurbishing them however the plastic lens is relativity scratch free.
This requires a BCM max for it to work as intended. My friend Nikhil made the wiring so that it can be used with stock harness with very little loss in functionality. The DRL doesn't dim when the lights or indicators turn on and auto levelling doesn't work either. Rest works as it should. Recently my windshield also cracked and will be replacing it with the new generation one. Planning to upgrade to the Passat frameless auto dimming mirror with rain light sensor.

[sharan1988]

A quick update for those LED headlights.

First things first, they look amazing and makes a 5 year old car premium again. Now coming to the performance of these lights. I found the beam to be very low even in the highest manual setting which I adjusted with a screw driver. Later it struck me may be when the lights were removed from the car the AFS might have been in a very low position. So thankfully one of my friend who recently bought a new Vento with factory LED allowed me to swap my lights on to his car so that I can recalibrate the AFS beam angle on a level surface and it worked. Now that the issues have been sorted will let the pictures do the talking.