[azeemhafiz]

Just got back from a long drive. My Cheeks continue to hurt a lot, need to find a solution

A little less than 2 weeks and 1500 kms on the odo, the car feels more refined and smoother now.

Originally Posted by mempheS.D

I think I spotted your car this afternoon in Koramangala around 2.30pm just outside the Samsonite showroom opposite to Maharaja Hotel..

It's VRS logo that attracted my attention, and later thought it could be yours. SO beautiful that I almost spanked it..

Not sure if that was me, My cars registration is 9957. Feel free to stop me the next time, it will be great to catch up!

[ketla2411]

Welcome to the vRS Club Azeemhafiz. Have to get my ownership report sorted. Just too lazy to punch those keys.

[//M]

Congratulations azeemhafiz. The Laura vRS is one great choice. I am sure your cheeks will continue to pain forever and ever till you drive your Laura vRS.

Though I would have personally preferred a blue Laura VRS, the white looks elegant and is a perfect wolf in a sheep's clothing.

[vishaltanksale]

Finally after Looong wait got delivery of my Black VRS. Feeling is just awesome !!
Got stock Goodyear replaced with Yokohoma stock profile.

Haven't got chance to take any pics with so much rain in Mumbai, but would post ownership reivew and pics in couple of weeks.

[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by vishaltanksale

Finally after Looong wait got delivery of my Black VRS. Feeling is just awesome !!

would post ownership reivew and pics in couple of weeks.

Congrats vishaltanksale on the "Hottest Skoda" in town.

I am sure, just like azeemhafiz did, you would be just grinning silly every time you are behind the wheel. . Please post your ownership report at the earliest.

Its Raining Laura's now and VRS seems to be the most sought after Petrol Version.

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by azeemhafiz

The windscreen wiper lag: There is a noticeable pause between the operation of the switch till the time water comes up. I know, its trivial but it does irritate me. Skoda has managed to make the turbo lag almost un-noticeable but not this one.

Ha ha ha...well said.
Yes, if you ask for wipe and wash (by pulling the wiper stalk, it shows "turbo" lag!

Originally Posted by azeemhafiz

• The A/C seems to be a chiller. I was perplexed by this, considering its reputation. But i'd wait till summer for the exact review.

Chiller??? Please...:-)

Originally Posted by azeemhafiz

can hear the outside world quite clearly inside the car, but the outside world cant quite hear whats inside the car well. Not sure if my car comes with reverse acoustics, but i think its kind of cool and safe.

Ha ha ha...
Absolutely. As if they fit the window glasses inside out!

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

The clutch needs some getting used to. But once you're used to it, you'll love it. I find the clutch to have a very good feel. It also has a nice soft action. We are all used to feeding off the engine sound to know when the engine is about to stall and when it requires clutch input. The TSI engine is so silent and vibration free that it becomes difficult initially. But once you become familiar with the machine you won't stall the engine.

The car has a great ability to mask speeds. Enjoy the car and drive safe.

Yes, the clutch pedal is super light. The stalling will go away after some everyday usage. But the 1st gear - at times - feels a bit too tall (may be because of the slightest turbo lag that shows up only below 1200 rpm or so)...

Cheers!

[Shreyas Aterkar]

Originally Posted by vishaltanksale

Finally after Looong wait got delivery of my Black VRS. Feeling is just awesome !!
Got stock Goodyear replaced with Yokohoma stock profile.

Haven't got chance to take any pics with so much rain in Mumbai, but would post ownership reivew and pics in couple of weeks.

Congrats Vishal! Pics + review = eager wait

Its literally raining vRs' here. Best time to buy a petrol car for us enthusiasts.

[Omtoatom]

Originally Posted by vishaltanksale

Finally after Looong wait got delivery of my Black VRS. Feeling is just awesome !!
Got stock Goodyear replaced with Yokohoma stock profile.

Haven't got chance to take any pics with so much rain in Mumbai, but would post ownership reivew and pics in couple of weeks.

Many congratulations and welcome to the club buddy. Like I said earlier, the vRS count on TBHP is steadily going north each month and that is equally awesome! On behalf of the owners frat, thanks for jumping onto the bandwagon.

How're the Yokos coming along? Did you go with the Advan Sports?

Please also share OTR pricing, dealership details, discounts etc. in your final deal, if you don't mind.

[vishaltanksale]

Originally Posted by Omtoatom

How're the Yokos coming along? Did you go with the Advan Sports?

Please also share OTR pricing, dealership details, discounts etc. in your final deal, if you don't mind.

It's too early to comment on yokos, but definetly worth over those stock.
I didn't find both advan sports and Michelin ps3.
Only option I had was Primary LC and A drive.
I choose A drive and it was within my budget.

Regarding pricing - its company registered and before Aug price hike with total discount of about 2L.

[azeemhafiz]

So, its been a little over 3 weeks and 2100 kilometers done so far. I took extended service package for 10k, covering the second and the third service. Thank you Praveen (From TAFE access) again!

Here are a few things that i noticed about the car:

• The car is simply fantastic, the interior is a nice place to be. After sitting in the vRS for so long, sometimes sitting in a more expensive car does not make you feel 'expensive anymore'
• The suspension settles down above 40kmph, the car cruises beyond that.
• There seems to be a creeking noise from the left wheel on steering inputs. Put simply it sounds like the suspension could do with some grease.
• The rubber beedings on the windows does not seem to stop water completely. After wash, putting the windows down and up gets the residue back in.
• The front left seat-belt, does not retract completely.
• Overall this car makes me happy, she is great companion and a good friend regardless of traffic and road conditions (and at times yells at you when you go over a pothole, lol). The car is really special.

Originally Posted by vishaltanksale

Finally after Looong wait got delivery of my Black VRS. Feeling is just awesome !!

Congratulations.. Vishal, vRS is put in one word.. Fantastic!!

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

Chiller??? Please...:-)


Cheers!

I am actually serious.. I have to maintain the temperature control at 11 o clock position. I think its mainly to do with Bangalore.

[azeemhafiz]

So, its been 2 months and 4600 kilometers done so far. The excitement is still very much there and in full steam. As i have said several times before, this car makes me happy! I am absolutely glad that i took the leap (quite a big one) and settling for the vRS. Observations in pointers below:

• I absolutely adore the engine, the sound that it makes have improved after all the miles that it has crunched.
• The ground clearance is actually very impressive - Due to the Cauvery crisis in Karnataka we were stuck on Mysore road and the cops redirected us though a farm field (literally), this is were the ground clearance came alive and also a subtle respect for ASR not letting the wheels slip in loose mud.
• The car corners brilliantly, it is quite addictive the way she handles. Throw in the adaptive headlights and a blasting drive through the ghats in the dark is something that you look forward to.
• The seats are not only comfortable, but i also find them to communicate with me in a certain manner. Makes up for the loss in steering feel
• Despite my initial suspicions, the car is fantastically comfortable. After a few short trips with the vRS. Mom and sister found it very comfortable on the highways. The suspension absolutely settles at speeds above 40.
• Discomforts - The front passenger seatbelts seems to be assembly issue, the dashboard squeeks once in a while and I lost the left rear-wheel logo (I have ordered for replacement)
• Paint-sealant done from 3M
• The horn is really disappointing - I need to change it.

There is one more thing and i am not sure how to say it. This car is a blast to drive and is absolutely exhilarating. I do own a swift 1.3 Petrol and i was driving it (more like thrashing it) last week. There is something about the Naturally Aspirated (NA) engine that is missing on the turbo cousins. It's really hard to point it out - but it seems that the NA engines make a stronger connection with my heart than what the turbo's manage to accomplish. Mind you the turbo connection is strong, just that the NA connection is stronger.



I felt the same when i drove the E60 M5 (beautiful NA engine) but i somehow felt the miss in the F10. Probably it makes sense to me now, why Ferrari's are adamant to stick on to the NA's. I do not mean to discredit turbo's in anyway - They are epic. But it lacks in soul when compared to the NA cousins.


I do not mean to start an all out war between Turbo and NA. As a passenger i could not tell, but behind the wheels when you heart is connected to the engine via the pedal, I could.

[Ford5]

^^
Its the torque curve of NA engines that make a better connect to a driver who loves driving.

[azeemhafiz]

7,500 km update -

Just got the car back from its 7,500 km Free check up. Took the car in to TAFE access service center in Hosur road (drove it all the way there despite this place being lightyears away from my home). I must admit that i was treated well with the service adviser following what i thought was a routine checklist of things to do for customer satisfaction (for example - Greeting, apologize for wait time, setting expectations, check for complaints etc). The service would have been free but i had to get about 0.5 liter of engine oil topped up and replace a logo from me wheel that had gone missing. Here are the points that i got rectified:

• Front left seatbelt seemed to be tangled behind the B pillar - Got that one fixed.
• Wheel logo: 467 (including tax) for 1.
• Total cost was about 960 odd.
• They said the VCDS has been upgraded. Got me a little worried since Robi had helped me swap a few of the readings - but no change there.

I did notice from the beginning that water seems to seep in through the windows on the outer side after a wash (the beedings do not seem to stop the water from getting inside) - This is quite annoying because if you spend a lot of time washing and wiping the car, put your windows down and back up - The windows come back up with traces of water again. I was assured that this is normal with all cars, but i need to get that verified.


Other points after 4 months / 7,500 km of ownership.

• What a car! I will say it again - This car makes me happy. It makes me feel special regardless of the driving condition - On open highways, twisty roads - heck even in traffic the look in the rearview mirror and seeing the spoiler or the vRS logo in the steering wheel has the 'special' feeling cemented.
• The car is a sweet handler - Although the suspension is the only advertised performance upgrade, this makes the car absolutely flat while cornering instilling confidence and regularly encourages you to push during corners.
• I have been getting 10kmpl for my regular commute from home to office (one of those journeys are taken late in the night). The car endures the crazy Bangalore traffic during 50% of the time (Worst case scenario).

The service experience has been satisfactory so far, but i will reserve the verdict after the full service at 15k kms is done.

[azeemhafiz]

Moment of truth update -

While driving on mysore road, coasting at about 60 and overtaking a truck on the left a dog runs in front of the truck (attempting to cross the road) and straight into my right Fog lamps. It was really quick and I had very little time to react and hit the dog. The DRL's were pushed in and the cover of the fog-lamps had come out. There was a slight / small crack in the bumper close to the fog-lamps, but the DRL, the fog-lamp and the cover was intact and no-damage at all. I tried pulling the DRL back in place but couldn't.

Although I was impressed by the build-quality of the parts (Because I was certain that the bumper would have been in my hands if this were to happen to my swift) the fact that I would have to deal with Skoda service center had me a little worried. And the worries turned out to be true the moment I went into TAFE access on Hosour Road. I met with Saleem the Service advisor from body-shop and here is my best attempt reproduce the interaction:

Me: Hey, I'm Azeem - Nice to meet you.
SA: I'm Saleem, How can I help you?

<Explained what happened in detail as we walk towards the car> On seeing the car:
SA: The bumper needs to be changed.
Me: Are you sure?

SA: Of-course, the clamps 'must be broken', the lights 'may be' dysfunctional, the assembly 'may be' offset.
Me: You are saying all that without even looking at the car closely?

SA: Yes.
Me: What are you smoking these days, Saleem? <In a jovial way>

SA: Sorry sir what do you mean?
Me: I am more than happy to get the bumper and whatever you say replaced, but the DRLs and FOGs are working. Why don't you take a closer look?

SA: What do you want, sir?
Me: <That got me ticked off> - What I want is for someone to tell me whats wrong after they have spend atleast a couple of minutes to look at the problem.

SA: Sorry sir, we are packed today - lot of vehicles - Can you come on tuesday?
Me: Packed enough that you cant spare a couple of minutes to analyze?

SA: Sir, come on Monday morning and we'll see.
Me: Ok, will deal with you on Monday.

Drove off pretty upset because to me the most basic thing about customer service is how you treat me as a human.

Woke up the next morning and drove into Vinayak cars on Old Madras Road near KR puram with the thought that nothing can get worse. At Prima-Facie I was thinking I was wrong. There were tons of angry customers shouting at a poor man wearing a tie (I realized later that there was a problem in the system and some of the customers were venting at Vinayak for the bad experience at TAFE).

Nonetheless, while I was busy finishing their coffee supply; A service advisor - Kishore comes up to me and introduces himself. Very warm, Very kind - Listened to my story in detail and even empathised. In my mind - I knew that I will be a regular at Vinayak going forward just by this interaction - It was brilliant.

And then he got a person Mr. Mohan who is some sort of manager at the body shop. He gets another person to look at it and says, "its good if you change the bumper, but why unnecessarily do it? lets try fixing this by removing the bumper and if it works - it works. Please give me a couple of minutes - I'll get a couple of my boys to look at it. If you need to replace the bumper then it will take time sir, since we have a busy schedule" to which I said "I totally understand"

5 minutes later, I was driving off Vinayak with my bumper and the DRL, Fog lamp and cover fixed - It was as good as new.

Dealing with Saleem at TAFE was easily the worst experience I had at a service center. But Vinayak cars was the one of the best service center that I have dealt with so far, and this includes my experience with Maruti, Hyundai, BMW, Merc. I would rate them on par with Audi Bangalore, which as of a year ago used to be exemplary.

Back to crunching those miles.

Onward!

- Azeem

P.S - The dog is fine by the way, It just ran off after the incident.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by azeemhafiz

…
…
5 minutes later, I was driving off Vinayak with my bumper and the DRL, Fog lamp and cover fixed - It was as good as new.

Back to crunching those miles.

P.S - The dog is fine by the way, It just ran off after the incident.

Thanks for the updates Azeem! Heartening to know that the to know that car held up well. So when you say fixed, what exactly was the job done?

And surprised to know that the dog could brush off the accident