[9thsphinx]

Congratulations. I am more of white person, but Red definitely looks nice on what is essentially a fast car!

Hopefully, those silly hot and humid climate claims by VW affecting the DSG box won't be bothering you and you have a trouble free ownership.

Drive safe.

[chase_nt]

Originally Posted by 9thsphinx

Congratulations. I am more of white person, but Red definitely looks nice on what is essentially a fast car!

Hopefully, those silly hot and humid climate claims by VW affecting the DSG box won't be bothering you and you have a trouble free ownership.

Drive safe.

Thanks 9thsphinx. I hope so too.

[chase_nt]

The Red Rocket has now covered 135kms since I bought it on the 11th of this month. That’s just pocket change for most people however its quite a lot for me considering my 5 ½ month old Honda Brio that I just sold prior to purchasing this vehicle had just 640kms on the odometer. You guessed it right people, I don’t drive much but the GT makes me wanna get behind the wheel and hit the gas.








I haven’t used the tiptronic mode on the vehicle yet as I am more than content with the regular D mode and if I want an instant surge of power I slip the car into the S mode. I went out for a drive along the beach road in Visakhapatnam with one of my friends and these are some of my views about the car after some spirited driving. I found that the car handles pretty well as I was pushing the car around bends/curves and twists in the road. It felt pretty stable and planted at speeds of 80 around bends and there was not much of a problem when it comes to under steer or over steer. I found that the stock tires of the vehicle were holding up decently with the sort of driving I was doing however an upgrade will make the handling even better. I was let down by the steering at these speeds because I felt that the steering was not weighted enough and it still felt pretty light.









I and my friend also decided to use the stopwatch function on my ipad to try and time the 0-100 sprint of the vehicle on a section of road that was devoid of traffic but it was still not the kind of road that you expect to conduct such a test on. I was able to manage the best time of 10.8 seconds (pretty decent for a car that has not completed its run in) out of a couple of runs with the transmission slotted in the S mode and the ESP switched on and off. I feel that under test conditions, a properly run in car and on a proper track the VW claimed time of 9.87 seconds is achievable without much fuss.









While I was trying the 0-100 sprints I noticed that the car feels sluggish up until it hits 20 km/hr even though I was flooring the accelerator pedal. It’s after the 20km/hr mark is breached that the car really takes off. I attribute this to the turbo lag and the turbo surge that is common with turbocharged vehicles. Another thing that I noticed with the vehicle especially when I was driving in city traffic and trying to overtake other cars or on the open road was the kickdown function of the transmission. When you drive this car by depressing the accelerator without too much pressure it just moves like every other car and the gear shifts to the highest possible gear and that too as quickly as possible while using the D mode. However if you are at say 60 km/hr and the display on the MID indicates that you are in the 6th gear and if you floor the accelerator or depress it a bit more than usual then it automatically kicks down to the lower gears such as 3rd or 4th depending on the situation and you find that the car just surges ahead. I love this feeling especially while overtaking sluggish vehicles however it makes you think twice before handing over the keys of your car to someone else for a drive as you are not sure if they can handle such a situation where in the car has a sudden spurt of power appropriately.








There is absolutely no dearth of power that you can feel in this machine. The road that takes me to my apartment is on a very steep incline and most cars struggle to make it up unless they are in the 2nd gear and moving up fast enough. If the cars slow down for any reason then the engine knocks and just stalls unless you downshift to the 1st gear. However with the GT this steep incline was nothing. Even when I stopped the car midway on the incline and got it moving again, it just seemed to move effortlessly (no hint of engine knocking or any of that stuff that you might find in other hatchbacks when in the similar situation).









I have used the air con in the GT for the first time today (I do not use the air con unless I go on a long drive) and it is a very effective unit. It chilled the cabin in no time and in fact it got so cold that I had to increase the temperature of the thermostat in the vehicle as my hands that were on the steering wheel and close to the vent in that location were getting cold. I am very impressed with the air con in this vehicle. In fact even with the air con switched on I was not able to notice any lag in the vehicle and the vehicle felt as though the air con was not eating into the cars power or torque. All the other hatchbacks that I’ve ever driven do not feel this way when the air con is switched on.








I have found a noticeable improvement in the braking force of the vehicle compared to the first time that I had driven it out of the showroom. So I have no hesitation in saying that after the run in period the brakes for this vehicle should be adequate however that doesn’t mean that I am ok with the absence of disc brakes on the rear wheels of the vehicle.

On the day that I took delivery of my GT I had filled it with around 10.18 liters of fuel. This was after I was driving the vehicle in reserve with the low fuel warning lamp on for about 15 minutes. On my way back home yesterday I got the low fuel warning lamp again and the trip meter read 92.2kms. So if you do the math that’s an average efficiency of 9.05 km/lit for the 10.18 liters of fuel. This may not be accurate because on my way back to the city after taking delivery of the vehicle I had been driving the GT in reserve for a while before I filled her up with those 10.18 liters. After filling her up the first time 70% of my driving style has been spirited and aggressive especially utilizing the kickdown function of the transmission as well as the S mode. About 20% of my driving was normal and around 10% of it has been with the air con switched on. I am hoping to get a more accurate reading of fuel efficiency values with my second fill however controlling myself and driving this car in a sane manner is not possible as it just begs to be revved and driven aggressively. So I’m not going to be too concerned with the fuel efficiency figures.

[Loud]

Boy Oh Boy! I am starting to love the GT, even after its hefty price tag.
Nice to see you hooked on to the GT, with 135kms crossed within 7 days. And the 10.xx seconds time for 0-100 sounds interesting, which can most probably decrease after you run-in the car and the engine opens up (as service guys say).
Don't you plan to add seat covers?

BTW, We both have RED rockets!

[arup.misra]

Hey chasent, Congrats on your beast. Indeed its the most aspiring hot hatches at the moment in, looks fabulous. I am sucker for black but I guess the red looks delicious too.

O and by the way, sad to hear you sell out your sparingly used Brio. Any specific reason you sold it or did the love of TSi get better of you. If I recall correctly, you had a chevy too before the Brio.

Congrats once again and wish you satisfying ownership period. Have a blast!!!

[Loud]

Originally Posted by arup.misra

O and by the way, sad to hear you sell out your sparingly used Brio. Any specific reason you sold it or did the love of TSi get better of you. If I recall correctly, you had a chevy too before the Brio.

Yes, he had a 2011 Beat, 2012 Brio and now a 2013 GT TSI! He is a lightening-fast car buyer!

Anyway, he has mentioned the reason to sell his Brio:

The only ulterior motive that i had in selling the Brio was to satiate my urge to own the GT TSI. I like hatchbacks as they are the most practical vehicles in India however there is a dearth of powerful petrol hatches out here. Sure we have the Mini Cooper S now however it is exorbitantly priced and almost 100% of the price is taxes and customs duties.

[4nd3r50n]

Thanks, chase_nt for your regular updates. The next item I am looking forward to in your review is the mileage.
On a side note, I've been following all the GT TSi threads on Team-BHP and the more I read it- the more I want to buy this car. Only thing holding me back is the issues with the DSG that is notorious for its failings and the price tag. Plus the minor hope in my head...what if VW release a 1.4L engine version of this hot hatch??

[chase_nt]

Originally Posted by Loud

Boy Oh Boy! I am starting to love the GT, even after its hefty price tag.
Nice to see you hooked on to the GT, with 135kms crossed within 7 days. And the 10.xx seconds time for 0-100 sounds interesting, which can most probably decrease after you run-in the car and the engine opens up (as service guys say).
Don't you plan to add seat covers?

BTW, We both have RED rockets!

The GT is definitely worth the hefty price tag and it puts a smile on my face whenever i am behind the wheel. I will not be adding seat covers because i hate having the interiors of a new vehicle taken apart for the sake of fitting seat covers besides i am content with the upholstery in the vehicle.For the same reasons I will not be upgrading the ICE speaker or head unit of this vehicle as well (though the speakers truly suck) unlike my previous cars because i do not want to add any additional weight to this car through speakers on a wooden rear plank or subs etc. I just wanna keep this car as light as possible and enjoy the raw power.

Originally Posted by arup.misra

Hey chasent, Congrats on your beast. Indeed its the most aspiring hot hatches at the moment in, looks fabulous. I am sucker for black but I guess the red looks delicious too.

O and by the way, sad to hear you sell out your sparingly used Brio. Any specific reason you sold it or did the love of TSi get better of you. If I recall correctly, you had a chevy too before the Brio.

Congrats once again and wish you satisfying ownership period. Have a blast!!!

Thanks Arup. The reason for the sale of my Brio is the same as Loud mentioned. I just couldn't say no to the GT once it was launched. The Brio was simply out-slugged by the GT.

Originally Posted by 4nd3r50n

Thanks, chase_nt for your regular updates. The next item I am looking forward to in your review is the mileage.
On a side note, I've been following all the GT TSi threads on Team-BHP and the more I read it- the more I want to buy this car. Only thing holding me back is the issues with the DSG that is notorious for its failings and the price tag. Plus the minor hope in my head...what if VW release a 1.4L engine version of this hot hatch??

Those are all valid concerns. I too was considering waiting until March next year before i got the GT however i just couldn't control myself and i had to yield . If VW does release a 1.4L version of this vehicle i guess i will be in the running to buy that but i hope it doesn't happen too soon though as i just bought the GT. People already think i'm bonkers changing cars the way i do.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by chase_nt

While I was trying the 0-100 sprints I noticed that the car feels sluggish up until it hits 20 km/hr even though I was flooring the accelerator pedal. It’s after the 20km/hr mark is breached that the car really takes off. I attribute this to the turbo lag and the turbo surge that is common with turbocharged vehicles.

There's two reasons for this:
1) Turbo lag (though its the smaller part of the reason)
2) The car is managing revs and clutch engagement in a way to minimize stress on the gearbox (launching hard from a standstill causes the most stress).

To trick your way around the above 2 issues, see my post here:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...ml#post3151274

cya
R

[esma1981]

Originally Posted by 4nd3r50n

Plus the minor hope in my head...what if VW release a 1.4L engine version of this hot hatch??

Boy, Polo GTI in India for ~12/14 Lakhs! That would be a dream car. But I don't see that happening atleast for the current generation Mark V Polo upto 2015. Even in 2015, I think it's very unlikely that VW India would make such a bold launch specially with our 1.2 liter excise benefit.

Hope this brings you a step closer to your GT TSI

[allajunaki]

Yup, noticed the same on my friends VW Polo and My Vento. We concluded that the steering wheel controls go over CANBUS interface (as opposed to direct wire to the stereo like in swift, brio, etc). And CANBUS interface is off (or atleast entertainment section of CANBUS is off) when the key is off position.

Originally Posted by chase_nt

I figured out that the controls on the steering wheel do not work unless the ignition is turned on (2nd step). This is a bit different from my Honda Brio because the controls on the steering do work even if the ignition is in the first step. I was so busy enjoying what the engine could do that i didnt even use the stereo or the steering mounted controls until i was back home in my parking bay and thats when i was trying to figure out why they were not working. Sorry about the incorrect information.

[4nd3r50n]

VW does release a 1.4L version of this vehicle i guess i will be in the running to buy that but i hope it doesn't happen too soon though as i just bought the GT. People already think i'm bonkers changing cars the way i do.

Please PM me in case you want to sell your GT!
Jokes apart, the only concern is the DSG for me at this time. If everything goes alright and there are no issues with the DSG at all, then I might just book the TSi during the Ganpati festive season!
Please do provide an update on the mileage that you are getting on this car, when you can. Thanks.

[Nicky]

Hearty congratulations.
i can see you are already enjoying your daily commuter. from your review, i could make out that this is the car which gives you @home feeling.
this 7 speed DSG is from improved generation, hence should make you confident about trouble free ownership.

enjoy the best and hottest hatch in the category.

will stick to this thread for more updates.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by Nicky

this 7 speed DSG is from improved generation, hence should make you confident about trouble free ownership.

Any idea what are the improvements? The extended warranty doesn't seem to be applicable to the DSG so the confidence level is still not that much.

Also, improved DSG has been mentioned on quite a few sites but no details on improvements done. Around the world this gearbox is taking a royal beating by media and earning a bad name.

[Nicky]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Any idea what are the improvements? The extended warranty doesn't seem to be applicable to the DSG so the confidence level is still not that much.

i can understand your comments, Vid6639, after so much news in media worldwide about this gearbox.
it's really hard to get exact technical revision details but let try to put it here in the form of bullet points:
1. it uses dry clutch, the material was changed for higher temperature sustainability.
2. Shifter and Gear Shaft material was changed.
3. Gear Box oil grade was changed for higher temperature sustainability.

Extended warranty is not provisioned for now but VW is listening the voices.