So Zelma; my VW Polo 1.6 is now 06+ years and only getting younger! Sometime in 2016, I initially had the thought of replacing her and buying a brand new Vento or Jetta but dropped the idea when I luckily came across a sparingly used 2015 Jetta Highline 2.0 DSG which I picked up the in the same year. I was still in two minds whether to keep the Polo or replace it with the GT TSI and after a lot of thought decided to keep the car. There is something about the Polo 1.6 which always put a smile on my face every time I drove her. I was surprised that my wife too always preferred to travel in the Polo over the Jetta. She was a major influence in my decision of keeping the car. So now I had the Jetta for those business meetings and outstation drives and the Polo 1.6 for the local and short distant drives. So now that I decided to keep the Polo and that too for like at least another 02 years, I thought why not give it a bit more character and freshen her up.
So I thought, let me give her a good coat of fresh paint (not that it required one, but just for my satisfaction) and that would be it. But I did not realise that this was just the beginning.
Now, I was never into modifying my cars; be it mechanical or cosmetic, but sometimes I did get the urge to do a little cosmetic changes but always preferred to keep it absolutely minimum and simple. In the 06+ years of ownership, the only cosmetic changes to my Polo 1.6 were 3D Kagu mats, G-Sport upholstery, leather steering, chrome accents on the steering wheel, ICE and upsized tires (205/55/R15); things that don’t really stand out from a stock Polo. So I thought like always, let’s keep it to a minimum – a body kit with roof spoiler (which I eventually dropped), a GTI grill, OEM projector headlights and 16” rims. That’s it nothing more!! Oh but how wrong I was in thinking I would stop there. Contacted my good friend and TBHP member prince85 to know his thought on this and that was the beginning of a different outcome all together.
We tried to stick to the plan as much as we could but ended up making some changes which I believe were for the better.
PROJECTOR HEADLAMPS: The purpose of investing in projectors was purely for better visibility more than cosmetics. Even though I initially thought of sticking to the OEM projector headlights with DRLs, I ultimately decided against it due to the cost and the functions (DRL, AFS & Cornering Lights) I would miss for the price paid. Yes, there was possibly still a scope to have these functions in the car but that would mean a major BCM change which I felt was not worth it. We decided that the best way forward would be an aftermarket projector setup retrofitted in the current OEM halogen headlight. Here we chose Xenon Planet for the job due to the quality offered at an affordable price. I decided to ditch the single barrel chrome headlights that came stock with my car and buy a new set of the single barrel smoked headlights that came stock in the later models. List of equipment:
HEADLIGHTS
02 Single barrel smoked headlights – Rs. 7700
01 Projector Kit – Rs. 25000
- XP Mini Super V3 projectors
- XP H1 5000K HID Bulbs (55W)
- XP 55 fast start ballasts (55W)
- Iris shrouds
- Installation
TOTAL – Rs. 32700.
FOG LIGHTS
Morimoto 3Five H8 5000K HID bulbs (35W) – Rs. 2000
XP 35 fast start ballasts (35W) – Rs. 4000
Installation
TOTAL – Rs. 6000
Now that the lighting was sorted, I thought why not add a little ‘convenience factor’ to the set up and some other goodies?
AUTO HEADLIGHT SENSOR MODULE – $33.50 (Rs. 2200 approx) & SWITCH Rs. 1000: This was something I did not really need but decided to do it just because it had a simple installation procedure and did not cost too much. I got the module from AliExpress for $33.50 and the switch from prince85 for 1k which he happened to have.
GTI TAIL LIGHTS – Rs. 15000: Got these from VagTune. A cosmetic change but it totally changes the rear look of the car and how. I was not very keen on it initially but quickly changed my mind once I saw a video on YouTube of a Polo with these tail lights.
GTI GRILL – $97 (Rs. 6200 approx): This is again cosmetic and I had a tough time choosing between the old GTI grill (matte black with 02 red stripes), the new GTI grill (gloss black with 01 red stripe) and the R-Line grill (full gloss black) but ultimately decided to go for the old GTI grill simply because it stood out better on my black coloured car as compared to the rest. The con with this grill is keeping it clean which is easier with the gloss black finish. But as luck (good or bad, I don’t know) would have it, I was delivered a glossy black grill with 01 red stripe and decided to live with it.
INTERIOR ROOF LIGHT – Rs. 7500: The Jetta comes with this particular roof light as stock and the cluster of lights look really cool especially the two tiny red ambient lights which light up the gear shift area. Really lifts up the boring cabin of the Polo. It also has a slot to conceal the mike of the head unit that is used for telephone calls using bluetooth.
Ambient Light On Gearshift Area ANTI GLARE EXTERIOR WING MIRRORS - $70 (Rs. 4400 approx): Did not think much of it when I ordered it but boy does it work! It cuts out the glare of those high beam lovers perfectly without any issues. I also found it to have a slightly wider field of view as compared to my OEM mirrors.
AUTO DIMMING INTERIOR REAR VIEW MIRROR – $50 (Rs. 3200 approx): Another purchase which is total value for money. Works just like the OEM auto dimming mirrors without any fuss. Again this too being wider than the stock mirror offers a wider field of view of the rear.
16” RIMS: This took the longest time to choose but was the first to be procured sometime in May. The motive behind this upgrade was better ride, better handling & better stance. However, the design of the stock 15” rims which have been on my car for over 06+ years has been my favourite design among all the stock rims that have ever come on the Polo till date. Since the size of the rims was clear, what was still to be decided was the rims design/brand and specification of the tyre.
While researching brands and designs, I shortlisted designs from OZ, Lenso, Momo and AVA. Having a black coloured car, I was looking for a hyper/race silver coloured rim so that it stands out. The problem is that my most preferred designs were either not sold in India, were not available in the required size or not available in the required colour/finish. Black was totally out of the question for me. Now since I was not getting my choice of design in silver and did not want black rims, I thought of looking at grey/anthracite/carbon shades. Even though they were darker shades, they had a bit of balance making them not too dark. I was not sure how this shade would look on a black car. So after some research again especially through Google Images and a lot of motivation from prince85, I finalized on the Momo Quantum in the Anthracite finish.
Now coming to the tyre specification; this was even harder than choosing the rim. The aim here was to have a balance between good handling, good ride and good looks. The best size would be 205/50/R16 but that would compromise ride quality to a certain extent. Another issue was that this size was only available in the Yokohama S-Drive series. Now I have used the S-Drives in my previous car, a Swift in the 205/55/R15 profile and they make the car look hot with that sporty tread but they are ridiculously noisy and lasted me only for around 28k kms. I am currently riding on Continental’s MC5 in the 205/55/R15 profile and I love them! Here again prince85 came to the rescue and suggested I look at the Continental MC5 in the 195/55/R16 profile as this profile now comes stock on the 2017 VW Polo GT TSI. Even though I was still tempted towards the S-Drives in 205/50/R16 for the looks, I looked at the larger picture and chose the 195/55/R16 Continental MC5s. I decided to install the rims and tires post the monsoons and I am so glad I did as during this time, the mighty Michelin Pilot Sport 4 was launched which came in the 205/50/R16 profile that I preferred. Here is the outcome!
Also got the car detailed with a ceramic coat so here she is.....