[EagleEye]

Originally Posted by esma1981

Thanks EagleEye, I should say likewise for your pumpe duse Laura. Yes, I'm having fun with the car. No mods for now. Will wait till the warranty as anyways the DSG situation is a little dicey. Also I'm not soo much of a decoration guy. So I'll probably stick to the generic look for the lifetime of the car.

Still, a carbon fibre roof or bonnet would look awesome on your white car.
It can be cheaply done at any 3M shop.

[karan561]

Hey esma,

Congratulations for your GT

Very much detailed and an honest review.

Now get some grippy wide rubber on stock OE rims and you are set.

PS - Dont worry about your DSG so much man, nothings going to konk off so be positive mate and enjoy the car

[chase_nt]

Originally Posted by esma1981

Safety: I’ve not had a chance to test out the ABS and ESP yet. Although ESP does jump in to prevent traction loss during high acceleration. That’s the only time I’ve seen the ESP light flickering on the dash.

Nice review.Good to see the GT in white which was my first choice before i decided not to wait and went for the red GT. Sounds like you are pushing the GT hard cause i haven't seen the ESP light flickering on my GT yet.

[puchoo]

Many many congratulations. Those few shots you have posted of the car at night look really great , the car stands out!

[johy]

Congrats man. And thanks for sharing your experience. You car does looks like a sweet and deceptively slow car :-) I like the understated look. Wish you many kilometers of pleasure.

[esma1981]

Originally Posted by EagleEye

Still, a carbon fibre roof or bonnet would look awesome on your white car.
It can be cheaply done at any 3M shop.

I'm thinking of getting some detailing done at 3M. I'll surely check it out then.

Originally Posted by karan561

Hey esma,

Congratulations for your GT

Very much detailed and an honest review.

Now get some grippy wide rubber on stock OE rims and you are set.

PS - Dont worry about your DSG so much man, nothings going to konk off so be positive mate and enjoy the car

Thanks Karan. I don't have much knowledge about tyres. Do give me some pointers/options so I can look into it.

Also after my 2 year warranty I've got your positive comment to bank on.
I'm kidding, I too feel it should not be an issue.

Originally Posted by chase_nt

Nice review.Good to see the GT in white which was my first choice before i decided not to wait and went for the red GT. Sounds like you are pushing the GT hard cause i haven't seen the ESP light flickering on my GT yet.

Thanks chase_nt. Actually I am having good fun with the GT.

Originally Posted by puchoo

Many many congratulations. Those few shots you have posted of the car at night look really great , the car stands out!

Thanks puchoo, I thought the car would look better in the night light. Plus didn't find a lot of cars shot at night on TBHP, So I wanted to do something different.

Originally Posted by johy

Congrats man. And thanks for sharing your experience. You car does looks like a sweet and deceptively slow car :-) I like the understated look. Wish you many kilometers of pleasure.

Thanks johy, I like the engine to do the talking rather than the body work

[puchoo]

Well you were pretty bang on with that theory! car looks wonderful

Originally Posted by esma1981

Thanks puchoo, I thought the car would look better in the night light. Plus didn't find a lot of cars shot at night on TBHP, So I wanted to do something different.

[esma1981]

First highway run update.

We had embarked on our first outstation trip to Panchgani last week. The Polo GT was driven exclusively by me while my dad was driving the ANHC. There are a few observations and pictures:

• The GT's performence was fantastic on the Highway. It drives like a bigger car than it's size and it's difficult to get a sense of the car's speed due to the smooth ride.
• The car crusies at 120kmph with the RPM needle at 2500 and with an MID average display of 20/21kmpl. One has to keep the engine in turbo zone to extract the best average.
• Steering feedback is not as good as I thought intially at high speeds from the EPS system. It almost seems a little video-game like in high speed cornering.

The overall fuel consumption figures based on the MID are as follows(Please discount for my heavy right foot and MID figures vs tankful-to-tankful which should not be more than 1.5/2kmpl):

Drive from Mumbai to Panchgani was a bit slower because of traffic and bad roads between Vashi and Panvel. Other than that the run was very smooth beginning on the Eastern Freeway and then later on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. There are a few Ghat sections in the journey including the Lonavala Climb and then the 12km climb from Wai to Panchgani.

• Total travel time : 4:24 Hours
• Total distance : 252 kms
• Average speed : 57 kmph
• Average fuel consumption : 13.6 kmpl

The return leg was thru the same route but was faster due to the decend and lesser traffic encountered from Panvel to Vashi.

• Total travel time : 3:51 Hours
• Total distance : 248 km
• Average speed : 64 kmph
• Average fuel consumption : 16.4 kmpl

There are a few pictures clicked in the compound of our hotel - Il Pallazzo. The cars are a bit dirty after the drive which is how I like them best

[karan561]

Originally Posted by esma1981

First highway run update.
[*]The car crusies at 120kmph with the RPM needle at 2500 and with an MID average display of 20/21kmpl. One has to keep the engine in turbo zone to extract the best average.

^ That's phenomenal, but im sure it would be really difficult to keep it in top gear in D mode as your slightest change on the throttle feedback would make it downshift and lower the gear, so it is best to keep in manual mode in top gear to extract the best FE

Originally Posted by esma1981

[*]Steering feedback is not as good as I thought intially at high speeds from the EPS system. It almost seems a little video-game like in high speed cornering.[/list]

Tires play a very important role, i still feel you should upgrade to more premium rubber form the Michelin or Yokohama stable.

If not try reducing the tire pressure by 1-2 psi which should help you get better feedback for sure

[esma1981]

Originally Posted by karan561

^ That's phenomenal, but im sure it would be really difficult to keep it in top gear in D mode as your slightest change on the throttle feedback would make it downshift and lower the gear, so it is best to keep in manual mode in top gear to extract the best FE

Even I thought so, but the DSG seems to just love 7th gear and upshifts to it at about 60kmph. And it takes a bit of a push to get it to 5th/6th as it still tries to stay in 7th at 2500rpm for a normal throttle input for increase of 10/20kmph. Of course, manual mode is the sure shot way to make sure downshift does not happen.

Tires play a very important role, i still feel you should upgrade to more premium rubber form the Michelin or Yokohama stable.

If not try reducing the tire pressure by 1-2 psi which should help you get better feedback for sure

I don't feel there is loss of grip but as it said in the TBHP official review of the GT, "You just don't know what the front tyres are upto" for high speed cornering. Could it be because of the tyres? I will try and adjust the psi for the next highway trip. Thanks for your comments and advice.

[supremoo]

I have never driven an automatic, so a few newbie questions. Is there an indicator that tell you which gear you are in? does the gear box jump gears when moving up or down? I presume that roads were wet when you drove; how does the car behave when braking on wet roads?

[esma1981]

Originally Posted by supremoo

Is there an indicator that tell you which gear you are in?

The right top corner of the MID shows the gear the car is currently running (i.e. D1,D2,D3). It also displays the mode selected:- P - Park, R - Reverse, N - Neutral, D - Drive, S - Sport.

The letter 'N' indicating the car is currently in Neutral in attached picture.

does the gear box jump gears when moving up or down?

Under "normal", progressive and linear acceleration and deceleration, the DSG shifts in a "sequential" manner, i.e. under acceleration: 1st > 2nd > 3rd > 4th > 5th > 6th; and the same sequence reversed for deceleration. However, the DSG can also skip the normal sequential method, by 'missing out' adjacent gears, and shift two or more gears. This is most apparent if the car is being driven at sedate speeds in one of the higher gears with a light throttle opening, and the accelerator pedal is then pressed down, engaging the "kick-down" function. During kick-down, the DSG will skip gears, shifting directly to the most appropriate gear depending on speed and throttle opening.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct-Shift_Gearbox

I presume that roads were wet when you drove; how does the car behave when braking on wet roads?

I have driven the car under wet conditions but have not been able to push the car over it's limit for the gadgetry to kick in(i.e. ABS, ESP). I would say the handling of the car is decent on the stock setup. If one does push the car over it's handling capability, it does have ESP which can be critical in saving an ugly outcome. I found this video on YouTube demonstrating the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhmN3qDu6L0

Hope this is helpful

[sawnilrules]

Congrats on the car esma 1981. No doubts that Polo GT is the Finest Hatchback in the market today in sub 10 lac bracket. A quick one, from where did you source white bulbs for the parking light and name plate ala BMW Style. I am on look out for the same for my ANHC. Would be glad if you could assist me with the same. Thanks...

[esma1981]

Originally Posted by sawnilrules

Congrats on the car esma 1981. No doubts that Polo GT is the Finest Hatchback in the market today in sub 10 lac bracket. A quick one, from where did you source white bulbs for the parking light and name plate ala BMW Style. I am on look out for the same for my ANHC. Would be glad if you could assist me with the same. Thanks...

Thanks sawnilrules. I've not done any mods on the car yet so whatever you see is the stock option.

[robimahanta]

Originally Posted by sawnilrules

Congrats on the car esma 1981. No doubts that Polo GT is the Finest Hatchback in the market today in sub 10 lac bracket. A quick one, from where did you source white bulbs for the parking light and name plate ala BMW Style. I am on look out for the same for my ANHC. Would be glad if you could assist me with the same. Thanks...

White LED bulbs for parking lights and number plate is available in almost all car accessories stores in Bangalore. It should be the same in Mumbai. Make sure you get some good quality ones though as lot of cheap chinese bulbs are available.