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Old 27th August 2011, 15:59   #46
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re: Ownership Log: VW Vento TDI HL (Updated with ICE Review)

Quote:
Originally Posted by bala80 View Post
Also, noticed your update on the TD thread on activation of door locks, thanks Souravc. On a lighter vein , I dont recollect seeing your ownership thread on the forum, or did I miss it? If it is not there - very unfair of you - pushing everyone to open their ownership thread but not maintaining yours .
Here you go ,
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...er-streak.html
i had done it but haven't updated it enough since most of the updates are Vento specific rather than my car specific so I post on the main thread which makes it easier for all of us to access and discuss.
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Old 27th August 2011, 16:03   #47
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re: Ownership Log: VW Vento TDI HL (Updated with ICE Review)

Ouch, I missed this so far, so sorry my friend. Thank you for pointing this out, I'll take my words back

Agree with your other point too.

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Originally Posted by souravc View Post
Here you go ,
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...er-streak.html
i had done it but haven't updated it enough since most of the updates are Vento specific rather than my car specific so I post on the main thread which makes it easier for all of us to access and discuss.
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Old 1st October 2011, 18:43   #48
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re: Ownership Log: VW Vento TDI HL (Updated with ICE Review)

Its been a while since I updated this thread. But then, i wanted to give myself sometime to see if there is any changes to my initial impressions. My car has done close to 2300 kms now in the past month and half and I beleive I now understand the car lot better than what I have documented earlier. So, here are my positive's and negative's now.

Positive's

- Build quality is good. Not a single rattle so far, inspite of driving in bad roads. For people in chennai, I'm talking about the velachery-tambaram road which is in shambles currently.
- This car is a great highway crusier. You can comfortably cruise between 80-120 kmph all day and still feel very relaxed about the drive.
- Low beam may not be powerful enough, but the high beam of the stock HL is adequate for highway driving. I was used to 90/100 bulbs in my swift, but dont see the need to upgrade here.
- Amazing fuel efficiency. I was pleasently surprised when I saw the MID showing 21.1 kmpl for my trip between pondy and chennai. This was with full a/c, 4 adults and 2 kids with some luggage on the boot. Though I have read about this, never ever thought I would see it in reality!
- I had reported about the hard clutch earlier, but feel it feels considerably better now. (Or I may have got used to it!). Either ways, this isnt a negative anymore.
- Adequately powerful and minimal turbo lag. You will not have any complaints in this area.

Now for the negatives

- Stock music system/speakers - Absolutely horrible, I wanted to postpone my ICE upgrade atleast by an year, but looks like it will happen much before that.
- Stock tyres - I have apollo acelere's that came stock with the car. Not only these are noisy, but I have already had 2 puncture's within such a short span of time. I have read somewhere that these tyres are puncture prone, didnt beleive it back then, but now I'm seriously having second thoughts about these. I have had michelin's in my swift and bridgestone's in my scorp, never had punctures this frequently. If this repeats, I think I will throw this junk and will upgrade to michelin/yokos. To all going-to be owners, consider upgrading out of the showroom to get a good resale on apollo's.
- Reflection of dashboard on the windscreen gets really very annoying when you are driving through trees on both sides of the road under direct sunlight. Rest of the times, its manageable.
- Suspension makes a loud thud noise when going through pot holes at moderate speed. Low speed and high speed behaviour through the same patch are brillant though.

Upgrade's done

- Went for stanley leather seats for my car in satin grade. Looks and feels very good. Will post some photos shortly. The steering grip was a little bit of disappointment though - since I had difficulty with operating the horn-pad , when I went for hand-stitched OEM finish option. Had to modify it a little bit, but the OEM finish is lost.

Thats it for now, will post more later. Any questions, feel free to ask.
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Old 1st October 2011, 20:27   #49
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re: Ownership Log: VW Vento TDI HL (Updated with ICE Review)

Quote:
Originally Posted by bala80 View Post
My car has done close to 2300 kms now in the past month and half and I beleive I now understand the car lot better than what I have documented earlier.
Great going Bala. Looking forward to hear from you more frequently. Please keep updating this thread regularly.
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Old 2nd October 2011, 03:26   #50
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re: Ownership Log: VW Vento TDI HL (Updated with ICE Review)

Quote:
Originally Posted by bala80 View Post
Its been a while since I updated this thread. But then, i wanted to give myself sometime to see if there is any changes to my initial impressions. My car has done close to 2300 kms now in the past month and half and I beleive I now understand the car lot better than what I have documented earlier. So, here are my positive's and negative's now.

Positive's

- Build quality is good. Not a single rattle so far, inspite of driving in bad roads. For people in chennai, I'm talking about the velachery-tambaram road which is in shambles currently.
- This car is a great highway crusier. You can comfortably cruise between 80-120 kmph all day and still feel very relaxed about the drive.
- Low beam may not be powerful enough, but the high beam of the stock HL is adequate for highway driving. I was used to 90/100 bulbs in my swift, but dont see the need to upgrade here.
- Amazing fuel efficiency. I was pleasently surprised when I saw the MID showing 21.1 kmpl for my trip between pondy and chennai. This was with full a/c, 4 adults and 2 kids with some luggage on the boot. Though I have read about this, never ever thought I would see it in reality!
- I had reported about the hard clutch earlier, but feel it feels considerably better now. (Or I may have got used to it!). Either ways, this isnt a negative anymore.
- Adequately powerful and minimal turbo lag. You will not have any complaints in this area.

Now for the negatives

- Stock music system/speakers - Absolutely horrible, I wanted to postpone my ICE upgrade atleast by an year, but looks like it will happen much before that.
- Stock tyres - I have apollo acelere's that came stock with the car. Not only these are noisy, but I have already had 2 puncture's within such a short span of time. I have read somewhere that these tyres are puncture prone, didnt beleive it back then, but now I'm seriously having second thoughts about these. I have had michelin's in my swift and bridgestone's in my scorp, never had punctures this frequently. If this repeats, I think I will throw this junk and will upgrade to michelin/yokos. To all going-to be owners, consider upgrading out of the showroom to get a good resale on apollo's.
- Reflection of dashboard on the windscreen gets really very annoying when you are driving through trees on both sides of the road under direct sunlight. Rest of the times, its manageable.
- Suspension makes a loud thud noise when going through pot holes at moderate speed. Low speed and high speed behaviour through the same patch are brillant though.

Upgrade's done

- Went for stanley leather seats for my car in satin grade. Looks and feels very good. Will post some photos shortly. The steering grip was a little bit of disappointment though - since I had difficulty with operating the horn-pad , when I went for hand-stitched OEM finish option. Had to modify it a little bit, but the OEM finish is lost.

Thats it for now, will post more later. Any questions, feel free to ask.
Great to have your update , first of all congrats on your stanleys . Pictures ?? You need to stop being lazy

My experience with the Apollos have been very good apart from the noisiness . I haven't had a single puncture till date , which is awesome since I drive through really crap roads [ BPT road and the toll road connecting to Chembur for people who know ] . What I do religiously though is to get the air pressure checked regularly at intervals not exceeding a week . Compared to my earlier experience with bridgestones and JK (in my swift) the Apollos have been very good . Michelins seem to be fairly prone to punctures , thats the idea I am getting from the reviews.
The Apollos have good grip and at 31/32 air pressure gives fairly good ride quality though they are noisy for sure thus I am planning to Yokos C drive for a quieter experience
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Old 2nd October 2011, 10:26   #51
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re: Ownership Log: VW Vento TDI HL (Updated with ICE Review)

Quote:
Originally Posted by bala80 View Post
- Build quality is good. Not a single rattle so far, inspite of driving in bad roads. For people in chennai, I'm talking about the velachery-tambaram road which is in shambles currently.
- This car is a great highway crusier. You can comfortably cruise between 80-120 kmph all day and still feel very relaxed about the drive.
- Low beam may not be powerful enough, but the high beam of the stock HL is adequate for highway driving. I was used to 90/100 bulbs in my swift, but dont see the need to upgrade here.
- Amazing fuel efficiency. I was pleasently surprised when I saw the MID showing 21.1 kmpl for my trip between pondy and chennai. This was with full a/c, 4 adults and 2 kids with some luggage on the boot. Though I have read about this, never ever thought I would see it in reality!
- I had reported about the hard clutch earlier, but feel it feels considerably better now. (Or I may have got used to it!). Either ways, this isnt a negative anymore.
- Adequately powerful and minimal turbo lag. You will not have any complaints in this area.
+1 to all those points. Even I have got used to the hard clutch now. Does not seem like a pain it used to be before.

Quote:
- Stock music system/speakers - Absolutely horrible, I wanted to postpone my ICE upgrade atleast by an year, but looks like it will happen much before that.
Yes, the ICE is really average. For non-audiophiles, it does not matter though. For example, my wife does not understand why I hate the music system! I am planning to do my ICE in phases. Will get a set of amp-worthy speakers first. Then later go for the HU and, if required, an amp.

Quote:
Originally Posted by souravc View Post
My experience with the Apollos have been very good apart from the noisiness . I haven't had a single puncture till date , which is awesome since I drive through really crap roads [ BPT road and the toll road connecting to Chembur for people who know ] .
Ah yes, I have driven on the BPT/pdmello road for three years. I know how worse it can get in the monsoon!

Quote:
The Apollos have good grip and at 31/32 air pressure gives fairly good ride quality though they are noisy for sure thus I am planning to Yokos C drive for a quieter experience
Quote:
Originally Posted by bala80 View Post
I have had michelin's in my swift and bridgestone's in my scorp, never had punctures this frequently. If this repeats, I think I will throw this junk and will upgrade to michelin/yokos.
The Aceleres have good grip but very very noisy. I too am interested in Yoko C-drive. What profile are you guys planning to get? I recently came to know that C-drives don't come in the 205/55/15 profile which is what I want to have.
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Old 2nd October 2011, 19:59   #52
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re: Ownership Log: VW Vento TDI HL (Updated with ICE Review)

Thank you for stopping by my friend. I will upload the pictures by this week for sure.

For some reason, my opinion about apollo has changed now. I think an upgrade is in order for me very shortly. Just get michelins/yoko's and you will start appreciating the ride even better.

Quote:
Originally Posted by souravc View Post
Great to have your update , first of all congrats on your stanleys . Pictures ?? You need to stop being lazy

The Apollos have good grip and at 31/32 air pressure gives fairly good ride quality though they are noisy for sure thus I am planning to Yokos C drive for a quieter experience
Your order of ICE upgrade is the ideal one. I'm thinking of getting an pioneer AVH-3200BT, components upfront, with a 4 channel and mono block amplifiers and a sub-woofer. Equipment isnt finalized though, but looks like this will happen sooner than later.

205/55/15 is the right upsize. Do consider A-drives if available in this size, michelin primacy LC and continental premium contact CPC2, bridgestone turanza as alternatives. All these are equally good.

Quote:
Originally Posted by nileshch View Post

Yes, the ICE is really average. For non-audiophiles, it does not matter though. For example, my wife does not understand why I hate the music system! I am planning to do my ICE in phases. Will get a set of amp-worthy speakers first. Then later go for the HU and, if required, an amp.


The Aceleres have good grip but very very noisy. I too am interested in Yoko C-drive. What profile are you guys planning to get? I recently came to know that C-drives don't come in the 205/55/15 profile which is what I want to have.
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Old 3rd October 2011, 13:03   #53
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re: Ownership Log: VW Vento TDI HL (Updated with ICE Review)

As promised some pictures of stanley leather seats and the steering grip.
Attached Thumbnails
Ownership Log: VW Vento TDI HL (Updated with ICE Review)-dscn0446.jpg  

Ownership Log: VW Vento TDI HL (Updated with ICE Review)-dscn0448.jpg  

Ownership Log: VW Vento TDI HL (Updated with ICE Review)-dscn0449.jpg  

Ownership Log: VW Vento TDI HL (Updated with ICE Review)-dscn0450.jpg  

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Old 3rd October 2011, 13:21   #54
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re: Ownership Log: VW Vento TDI HL (Updated with ICE Review)

Quote:
Originally Posted by bala80 View Post
As promised some pictures of stanley leather seats and the steering grip.
Thanks for sharing the pictures Bala. The seats look awesome! The design is almost like VW OEM leathers I find here in the Golf and Jetta. Does the Stanley job cover the door pads, centre arm-rest as well?

And the steering wheel now looks very meaty. Is it also done by Stanley? Good going!
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Old 3rd October 2011, 13:33   #55
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re: Ownership Log: VW Vento TDI HL (Updated with ICE Review)

Thank you vb-san. It does look and feel pretty good (I spent 36k for the entire job, it better be!). One of our members had the same pattern on his vento which I liked a lot. I showed those photo's to stanley and got it done in a similar way.

Yes, the center arm-rest is already covered with the same material grade (satin). I didn't opt for the door pads but you can opt for it at extra cost.

Steering was also done by stanley, but the issue was, with the original OEM fitment the horn pad became very difficult to operate and hence had to do some visible modifications (if you notice closely on the steering grooves). Not only the steering has become meatier, but the grip levels are pretty good too.

Quote:
Originally Posted by vb-san View Post
Thanks for sharing the pictures Bala. The seats look awesome! The design is almost like VW OEM leathers I find here in the Golf and Jetta. Does the Stanley job cover the door pads, centre arm-rest as well?

And the steering wheel now looks very meaty. Is it also done by Stanley? Good going!
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Old 4th October 2011, 14:44   #56
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re: Ownership Log: VW Vento TDI HL (Updated with ICE Review)

Quote:
Originally Posted by bala80 View Post
- Suspension makes a loud thud noise when going through pot holes at moderate speed.

- Went for stanley leather seats for my car in satin grade. .
Hi Bala, I concur with you on the loud thud noise going through potholes at moderate speeds. It appears as though the suspension has travelled to its limits and then restrained. I have experienced this with the left front only - expected as the left side take more beating usually on our roads. The good thing is I have never felt any issue with the rear suspension - in fact I have received good feedback from the rear seaters on how comfortable the ride is.

On the Stanley - they look awesome ! But did you not get the door pads (hand rests) done - I believe Stanley offer those as well.
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Old 4th October 2011, 16:24   #57
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re: Ownership Log: VW Vento TDI HL (Updated with ICE Review)

True, in my case the most recent experience was with the one on rear right. It makes such a loud noise as though something is broken and its heart breaking.

Thank you for your compliments on the seats, I didn't opt for the arm rest on the doors, felt the fabric quality there was pretty good. Moreover, they were quoting some 4.5k odd just for the door trims, which i felt wasnt worth it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by krish11 View Post
Hi Bala, I concur with you on the loud thud noise going through potholes at moderate speeds. It appears as though the suspension has travelled to its limits and then restrained. I have experienced this with the left front only - expected as the left side take more beating usually on our roads. The good thing is I have never felt any issue with the rear suspension - in fact I have received good feedback from the rear seaters on how comfortable the ride is.

On the Stanley - they look awesome ! But did you not get the door pads (hand rests) done - I believe Stanley offer those as well.
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Old 4th October 2011, 18:38   #58
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re: Ownership Log: VW Vento TDI HL (Updated with ICE Review)

Bala80, nice job on the leather! Its worth the 36K you spent on it. If I go for seat covers, I might go for this design.. only it will be leatherette. I am on a budget
Saw your earlier pics with the sunfilms. What sunfilm have you used for the windshield?
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Old 4th October 2011, 19:34   #59
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re: Ownership Log: VW Vento TDI HL (Updated with ICE Review)

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Originally Posted by bala80 View Post
As promised some pictures of stanley leather seats and the steering grip.
My friend , what fit and finish !!!!!! Total drool worthy pictures . Darn, change to stanley is added to my mission of changing tyres
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Old 4th October 2011, 20:18   #60
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re: Ownership Log: VW Vento TDI HL (Updated with ICE Review)

Thank you plain.vanilla. I have 3M tints on my car with 20% visibility. Works pretty well IMO.

Actually, I need to give credit to the member classic86 for this design in stanley. The only difference between his and mine is that, my seats are a shade darker in colour matching with the beige on the door pad. Take a look at the following thread for much better pictures of the same design.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...-highline.html

Following is the cost break-up

Seats - 31.5k
Steering Grip - 2.5k
Labour - 2k

Quote:
Originally Posted by plain.vanilla View Post
Bala80, nice job on the leather! Its worth the 36K you spent on it. If I go for seat covers, I might go for this design.. only it will be leatherette. I am on a budget
Saw your earlier pics with the sunfilms. What sunfilm have you used for the windshield?
Edit - @souravc - Thank you my friend. They remove the fabric completely from the seats and stitch the leather in its place to get the OEM finish. I evaluated ovion too in the same price range, but went for stanley just because of their reputation. They messed up with my steering grip initially and replaced it free of cost with a new one since I wasnt satisfied with their fit and finish. Highly recommended, though a tad costly.

Last edited by bala80 : 4th October 2011 at 20:23.
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