[Frontosa]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

@Frontosa,


BTW whats the device on the pic 4710?

Hello Ghodlur, are you referring to the Capdase iPad holder? I picked up from FC Road, Pune for about 1500 bucks I guess. This was 3 months ago.

[doxinboy]

Dude, awesome writeup, Polo is great looker in black. You need to open up a new thred on ICE, do it soon man. I am also looking at similar iPad integration for the rear seat passenger. Can you clarify if the HU is compatible to stream music from iPhone? Art leather looks cool, what did you do for floor mats?

[Frontosa]

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

Hey Frontosa

Congrats mate! Thats my favorite diesel hatch in India too. Considering all parameters, even I feel Polo TDi makes a lot of sense.

I totally agree with all your views, yes I do. Only company that you gave a miss was Tata looks like. But thats OK. After owning a Tata product for over 2.5 years, I am gonna give it a miss myself next time I am in the market to buy a car. Not because they are problematic, but want to try something better, in most aspects, except the 3 BHK space inside my vehicle. You just cant beat Tata vehicles for space.

Black Stallion is the most apt name. I would name my Black Polo the same. Nothing else comes to mind.

Bro, we need many more pics. Take some time out and give us the pleasure of admiring this beauty in full.

Wishing you a very long and happy relationship with the Stallion.

Cheers!

Edit: Before i posted my post, you already added more pics. Great!

Hello Ajay, Thanks a lot;
before this car I was driving my wifeys Tata Indigo, and that too for 4 full years. That was too long for me to continue with that car and wifey had driven 3 years before we got married. So I just didnt want Tata. I'm proud of Tata being an Indian company and rising up to what it is today, and with the UK company acquisitions, and Tata pixel and nano. I will buy one again a few years down the line. They have streched the Indica/Indigo brand just too much. Just my opinion!

Yes I will add many more pics in the coming days.

[Frontosa]

Originally Posted by rtm_8055

Could you please comment on your Yokos?

Hello Rtm;
The original tyres were 185/60/15 Apollo Accelere. I checked with few friends who had polo/vento on the forum and they recommended not required to upsize as the stock ones are good. Actually I had some extra cash from the company so decided to do something with the car. I always had a liking for chunky tyres. So checked on this website (1010tires.com). Below is the snapshot of 2 closest tyre profiles that go with it. 195/60/15 and 205/55/15.

I chose the 205/55/15 as it was:
1. Closest to the original size
2. To the naked eye it looks slightly think profile compared to /60/ ones. But in reality the sidewall profile of this tyre is better than 185 tyre. I've marked in the image below.
3. The design tread etc. looked better on Yokohoma than Apollo.
4. Well I know this tyre is an overkill for a Polo with a 1.2 engine, but heck, I didnt mind if I get a 1 kmpl drop in mileage.
5. I have heard of accidents with tyre bursts, I just didnt want to take any chance, better to err on the safety side. I have touched 170 on this Polo and thanks only to the tyres that I am least concerned with tyre burst related mishaps.

My experience is extremely good. I dont have comparison with Apollo tyres as I changed them on Day 1 itself. Braking in water clogged places or concrete roads is really good, car just doesnt move an inch from the straight line. Ofcourse its a combination of the car handling and tyres, but atleast to 10% the tyres play a role.

btw I fill nitrogen at 33 PSI. There is no ride quality loss or handling loss. I find this a good PSI, alone or loaded with more people

[Frontosa]

Originally Posted by doxinboy

Dude, awesome writeup, Polo is great looker in black. You need to open up a new thred on ICE, do it soon man. I am also looking at similar iPad integration for the rear seat passenger. Can you clarify if the HU is compatible to stream music from iPhone? Art leather looks cool, what did you do for floor mats?

Thank you Doxinboy!

For ICE I will stick to this as honestly I'm zero in ICE stuff and if the pros start asking me questions there I will be overwhelmed and will have no answers. I will put up one very detailed post here with all cost breakdown, installation pics etc.

Yes the HU unit is very much compatible to iPhone, heck why 1, it can work with 2 iPhones at a time Me and wifeys. (either bluetooth or through USB)

I didnt get time to get Kagu 3D mats, will do that next time. Thats one thing pending for now.

[Frontosa]

Doxinboy,

In the meanwhile you can have a look at the features on this Link:

Double-DIN CD Receiver KW-XR816 | CD Receiver | Car Audio | JVC India

[ajay_satpute]

Originally Posted by Frontosa

Thank you Doxinboy!

For ICE I will stick to this as honestly I'm zero in ICE stuff and if the pros start asking me questions there I will be overwhelmed and will have no answers. I will put up one very detailed post here with all cost breakdown, installation pics etc.

Yes the HU unit is very much compatible to iPhone, heck why 1, it can work with 2 iPhones at a time Me and wifeys. (either bluetooth or through USB)

I didnt get time to get Kagu 3D mats, will do that next time. Thats one thing pending for now.

The ICE looks good man. Will keep it in mind and will ping you when I go and grab my Black Stallion.

I would not recommend the Kagu 3D mats. Even though they are the best mat you can get in India from aesthetics perspective, they are fabric based. So they can get really dirty, especially in Mumbai kind of rains. Go for the best plastic or rubber based mats and you will still save some bucks.

[mkpiyengar]

Hey Frantosa,
Congrats on your car !! Very nice and crisp write-up. I liked the realistic approach of yours of calling a spade a spade with respect to the pros and cons. At the end of the day if your drive brings smile on your face then everything is worth it.

Having lived with the FIAT 1.6 100 HP engine, the new FIAT cars seems to have under gone some cost cutting as you rightly pointed out the interiors does not look appealing. It was always plain jane but well build at least.

No offence to existing FIAT Owners am just pointing out based on my comparison with old FIAT's (Palio/Siena). The interiors look well build after 8 yrs of abuse.

BTW, why did you not opt for the Polo 1.6 Petrol ? That would have been a beast to drive. Was it just Diesel economics or something else ?

Cheers

[Frontosa]

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

The ICE looks good man. Will keep it in mind and will ping you when I go and grab my Black Stallion.

I would not recommend the Kagu 3D mats. Even though they are the best mat you can get in India from aesthetics perspective, they are fabric based. So they can get really dirty, especially in Mumbai kind of rains. Go for the best plastic or rubber based mats and you will still save some bucks.

Thanks Ajay, I haven't personally seen touched or felt the kagu mats, I will keep your advise in mind. I m waiting for the rains to go away then will buy those mats. I use the transparent rubber or plastic mats so I continue to see the beige colour though that and I like it that way.

If you are in Mumbai or Pune, you are more than welcome to audition the ICE and the stallion of course, first hand!

[Frontosa]

Originally Posted by mkpiyengar

BTW, why did you not opt for the Polo 1.6 Petrol ? That would have been a beast to drive. Was it just Diesel economics or something else ?

Cheers

Thanks buddy! Most imp reason is diesel economics. I am not a race guy and don't always like to be on on Pole 1 position
Then I have inherent love for low end torquey nature of diesels, and this car on the highway runs as good as any other car. Touching 160 is fairly straight forward and effortless. If VW mentions the top speed as 164 it indeed does that without a fuss. And the ambient noise of diesel cars don't bother me as much, and definitely not in this car as much as it's made out to be. I have AC on always 100%, then music is on, the noise insulation from outside world is so good that you will literally stop rolling down windows again - so no diesel bother.

Again best of all, fill 1700 worth diesel, tank full and forget returning to the fuel pump for next 600 kms atleast, and I am talking about within the city driving! What more should I expect with this car

[Chethan B G]

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

I would not recommend the Kagu 3D mats. Even though they are the best mat you can get in India from aesthetics perspective, they are fabric based. So they can get really dirty, especially in Mumbai kind of rains.

I have been using (abusing) 3D Kagu mats for some time now. It is very easy to clean / wash. After a wash, it becomes as good as new. In-fact, floor can be very well maintained with these mats. I would recommend 3D Kagu.

Originally Posted by Frontosa

Then I have inherent love for low end torquey nature of diesels, and this car on the highway runs as good as any other car. Touching 160 is fairly straight forward and effortless. If VW mentions the top speed as 164 it indeed does that without a fuss. And the ambient noise of diesel cars don't bother me as much, and definitely not in this car as much as it's made out to be. I have AC on always 100%, then music is on, the noise insulation from outside world is so good that you will literally stop rolling down windows again - so no diesel bother.

Again best of all, fill 1700 worth diesel, tank full and forget returning to the fuel pump for next 600 kms atleast, and I am talking about within the city driving! What more should I expect with this car

+1 on that.

[ajay_satpute]

Originally Posted by Chethan B G

I have been using (abusing) 3D Kagu mats for some time now. It is very easy to clean / wash. After a wash, it becomes as good as new. In-fact, floor can be very well maintained with these mats. I would recommend 3D Kagu.

Thanks for the clarification Chetan. I had read in few threads that even though the 3D mats look immaculately fantastic, they are hard to maintain.

[mkpiyengar]

Originally Posted by Frontosa

Again best of all, fill 1700 worth diesel, tank full and forget returning to the fuel pump for next 600 kms atleast, and I am talking about within the city driving! What more should I expect with this car

Very Rightly said, this is one reason which is very difficult to debate against.

Same story with our Ford TDCi, 600+ kms @ tankful, whereas with my 1.6 my heart sinks every time i have to visit the pump Full tank for 300 odd kms.

Enjoy your steed !

Cheers !!

[Frontosa]

As promised here are the ICE installation details. I will try to keep it as accurate as possible without making it boring to read.

Black Stallion came equipped with the Factory HU and Music system. Enough has been mentioned about it (the drawbacks mostly), so lets not crib any more. The positives though:

1. Really classy to look at & goes well with the dash
2. Joy to use it - dont have to look at the screen, your fingers can touch and feel

Most pics here are taken from my iPhone, so may not be as good as the earlier ones.

This is how the original car HU looked like.

[Frontosa]

Before I proceed further, I want to mention special Thanks to Ramie from soundfactor. His team did a great job on the installation. I troubled Ramie a lot before finalizing this installation. I am totally totally SQ oriented person. I hear at moderate volume and have no intention to show off passerbys. Hence there is no Sub-woofer installed. The base from whatever amp and components he has put gives me such a blissful effect that I dont miss anything even a bit. Just for SQ purposes he did the damping. Now all the components etc have "opened up" and this is the best I could get in my budget.


Adding few more installation pics:

Door panel removed for damping.
Then Speakers removed from the front door & guess what? These ones are made in Belgium?
Then damping in progress
Then HU removed
Custom MDF 19mm heavy duty Polo parcel tray created to house Illusion Audio speakers
Focal 4 Channel amplifier fixed
For the front Focal component system
Special Antena adaptor for the VW antenna
Boot Lid damped as well

Other details:
JVC XR-816 HU and External MIC for bluetooth which works flawlessly each and every time without any bug whatsoever, the pics of which are attached in earlier posts.

Any other details you need to know please let me know. I'm not well versed with the ICE lingo and hence must have called something as something else. Apologies.