[vinodbollini]

The GT TSI appears to have many fans on Team-BHP so will try to put in only the the original bits of my own experience.

Big thanks to robimahanta for his jaw dropping GT TSI ownership and mod experience. Heavily inspired to head in a similar direction.

But first things first:

The Reasons
I have been taking test drives and helping friends decide on cars for a few years. And in the course I was certain that I wanted a small, fun to drive car. Of prime importance to me were the following:
1. In gear acceleration times, and linear power delivery
2. The ICE setup with controls and integration with my iPhone
3. Quality of fit, finish and build materials

I am not a fan of diesel engines, especially after driving a few shabby ones in Europe, and renting a few while in India - with the exception of the Etios GD that I rented in Bangalore for a day. I did a couple of TDs here, but did not find the marginal savings worth the lack of excitement.

Also I refuse to buy a car without ABS or Airbags, or recommend that to anybody I know.

I have been living overseas for a long time in a job that involves plenty of travel and time spent in the field; so owning a car was near impossible. So my first opportunity to own a car was when I moved back to India in late 2012.

I was very excited about the Polo 1.6 and by that time VW had stopped selling it. The SE actually told me that this because of the number of accidents! I was looking for a second hand 1.6, and had found a couple of interesting ones. Unfortunately the "security" situation at work (posting was in the North East) meant that I could not buy a "flashy" badge like the VW.
Without going in to the details, that limited my options to the Swift or the i20: which are popular cars in the NE. I settled on a "Blazing" Metallic Red ZXi - a.k.a The (first) Red Devil.

Recently decided to quit and move to Mumbai and for the first time I have the luxury of living in a fixed place and sleeping in the same bed everyday. I also have the savings to buy and mod a car to what I want. I actually timed my resignation after I had decided on the car and budget.

I did not initially have a budget, but I decided instead that I will budget my time - so I would work till I had the savings to buy whatever car I chose. Again there is no linear timeline to my research but I considered (seriously) the following alternatives:
1. The Swift ZXi
+++ Reliability (Hearsay), Service Network, Fuel Efficiency (I got ~18 kph overall).
--- Quality (Creaks and Noises), No BT Connectivity, NVH, Lights
This was my second best, and I actually did buy it.
It was fun to drive but power tapered off, and I found myself redlining to overtake very often. The car served me well and I planned to sell her to someone worthy. Unfortunately on my way out of the NE, I had a major accident, but that story will feature somewhere else.
2. The A-180 Sport
+++ Looks, Comfort
--- Boot Space, Power, FWD, Price
The test drive was fun, and this was a couple of weeks after it was launched, but seemed like a very impractical car for something that cost 30 large in hand. Plus this was CBU and it did not seem like it would be worth the premium. Convinced my father to enjoy the services of a C200 CGI a few years ago, so further put off by relatively poor value proposition.
3. The 1-Series Sport Plus
+++ Handling, Power, Comfort, RWD
--- Price, Size
The _only_ option for me was the Sport Plus (for the lights, ICE, seats), which although not bad for a diesel, was criminally expensive for a car that did not even have the luxury that my father's C200 had. Again I thought the sedans in the ballpark were better cars for similar money.
4. The New Skoda Octavia - Elegance 1.8 TSI
+++ Everything
--- Skoda
I loved this car even before I ever looked for a test drive. Have very fond memories of the engine from Europe. 1.8 TSI, Multi Link Suspension, DSG + ICE, AFS, Automatic Wipers; seemed like the car from my dreams. Till the research got real. Apart from Team-BHP and other public forums, my father has a Laura (office) that offered a tiny peek into the hellish world that is Skoda ASS. I still went to 2 dealers, but they said that I could not take a test drive! One said the display car was actually for delivery, another said that since there was at least a 6 month wait, the company had instructed them to refuse TDs. I wiped the drool off the floor and moved on.
(PS: I still think this is the best VFM car on the market if you cannot afford a 50 lakhs++ super car).
5. City VX Petrol (Both Manual & CVT)
+++ Engine, Reliablity (Hearsay)
--- Quality, Handling, CVT (optional)
I liked the old City S I had driven and on paper this one seemed to check the boxes. In person the car was a big step down in quality. Apart from the touch (slider) controls for the A/C there wasn't a single thing inside that looked like it was put there without a man in dollar suit watching over the shoulder. The CVT was not as bad as the Sunny I drove; but there was no excitement even with a fair shot on a decent road(NH4 Bypass near Pune).

Recently helped my mother (wanted an auto box) and a couple of friends pick out hatchbacks, and in the process went around dealerships and TDed the Celerio, Brio, Ritz, Micra, i20, Grand i10, Sunny (no Micra CVT available for TD), Etios. Inidentally, both my mother and my friends ended up with a Polo (HL & CL respectively) - so I might just win a salesman of the year from VW!

The Decision
I had very memorable drive from Munich to Berlin for a Radiohead Concert in 2012, that involved a Golf GTI. I had booked a Fiat Panda, but the Europcar guy apologised and said they _only_ had a bigger car, with a grin and a twinkle. Although I always thought well of hatchbacks, and the Focus RS is on my favourites list; this drive was a revelation. Later I rented a Polo 1.4 in Norway and despite very restrictive Norwegian roads, I loved the comfort, practicality and the reasonably good dynamics.

When I heard of the GT TSI launch, I was immediately drawn to the idea - since my 1.6 dreams had been thwarted. I asked a couple of friends that they should consider this and their TD stories got me even more excited. I test drove the car in Pune with the BU Bhandari Showroom (VW Pune West) a couple of times and along the way helped my parents pick out a Polo HL and my friends picked out a Polo CL. I was likely to buy the car in Mumbai so I also visited the Shaman Cars Showroom in Prabhadevi (VW Downtown).

The SE were quite pushy in both places to get me to book, and were only peripherally aware of the details of the cars. Nevertheless, I do believe in thorough research worthy of the internet age, and was not expecting them to be my lighthouse!

My test drive focused on checking my 3 boxes among other niceties:
1. In gear acceleration and linearity of power delivery
I tried out the S, D and D-Triptronic and was mighty impressed with the DSG set up. The S only briefly shone in an open stretch, and I hardly felt the upshifts. I tried tricking things around on an upward slope in S & D, and the downshifting was not as smooth, but much better than any automatic I had driven. In the Triptronic mode I sorely missed the paddles. There was never a surge of power, or a shortage of it. The car seemed to do what I wanted, although I could not get to the speeds where I might feel a little disappointed. Overall the car was exciting and responsive.
2. ICE and integration
I am very used to having my phone as central to what I do. So I tested out the BT, the "iPod" connectivity and checked if there were problems with the audio interlacing when using Google Maps. Was a little put off by the limited controls on the steering wheel (no way to end a call!), but was definitely not a show stopper.
3. Quality, fit and finish
To judge this correctly I usually waited till the SE was busy with something else, so that he would not feed me the mumbo jumbo and then inspect the car. Needless to say the build quality was exacting, and the components seemed to live up to the German workmanship standards (but built in Pune) as I expected. The things the SE explained also seem to be reasonable - precision robotic laser welding, panel fits, the resounding thud of the door. A lot of little things made my day - automatic electric windows (both up and down on all windows), remote window opening and closing with the key, the properly positioned spray nozzles on the windscreen.

+++ Engine, Gearbox, Quality
--- Dead Pedal, Armrest, Lights

Eventually decided that I had no more excuses left and decided to lock in the deal. At the time that I wanted to book the car (early June); the facelift was on it's way. So the SE at VW Downtown (Javed Khan) told me that I would have to wait at least till September, probably more. I was unsure of waiting so long for what is an incremental upgrade, so I told him that if I found a GT TSI available with any dealer, I will take back my booking amount in full.
No discounts (am not employed with a Corporate anymore), or freebies (I did not want any!).
The staff are courteous and in downtown Mumbai, VWs are quite popular so there is very little bullshit thrown your way, except that they wanted the booking amount on the same day. There was an owners TSI parked (white, with all red interiors, even the plastic panels!) that looked gorgeous. I enquired and they said that a lot of it was aftermarket work, it was for the owner of the showroom.

I paid the booking amount and waited. The New Polo was launched on the 15th but I was not sure what the GT would get.

In the second week I got a call from Javed telling me that I would have my car by end-August, beginning-September. Music to my ears.
Although I still did not know what part of the "New" Polo would trickle to the GT TSI.

The Plan
Meanwhile I started researching mods/upgrades that I would make.
1. Stanley
I visited the Stanley Automotive front shops in Pune and Mumbai. In Pune although the person was very informative, he did not have much to show me (the furniture and automotive setups are completely separate). In Mumbai, the guy just told me I had to pick a leather colour and they would do the interiors - I did not feel very confident with the attention my car would get.
So on a trip to the mecca of Indian Motoring, I went to the Stanley Showroom in Bangalore. Had a nice long chat on options with leather and what I could do with the stitching, got to see some samples on the furniture. Am confident that the best treatment my seats can get will be in Bangalore. A trip will be planned and appropriately catalogued.
2. Vagtune
I also had the chance to visit Mr. Sugesh down in Kochi on a recent trip. I wanted to check the possibilities for the following at least:
a. RCD-510 or other HU Upgrade (he showed me one setup with camera and OPS working)
b. Multidot display with MID including bluetooth (again saw a setup with the RCD-510)
c. Paddles retrofit to existing steering block - Sugesh says this is tricky and hard, and depends on what the new steering column looks like. I like the new steering mounted controls layout (2014 Polo) more than the one on the GTI flat bottom so will have to see how this will get done
d. AFS, BiXenons & DRL - Sugesh showed me the Aftermarket with OEM parts one and told me he could get AFS. I am a stickler for OEM, so not sure wether I should pay twice for OEM. Will have to upgrade the BCM also.
e. Rain Sensing Wipers - Sugesh says that the control mechanism for the Wipers in the Indian Spec is not compatible. He can get some aftermarket setup. I am probably thinking OEM or nothing!
f. OVRM with lights (not sure), front parking sensors, rear camera, armrest are on the cards, still looking for a dead pedal solution
3. Pete's
Just spoke to Rishad Kundandas at Performance Unlimited - Pete's Mumbai Dealers - and enquired about the remaps/tuning, brakes (discs on the rear, possible pads change), and wheels. He suggested, very sensibly, that I should run a couple of thousand kilometres before doing anything that voids the warranty.

I do however want to change to the Borbet BS5s or LV5s and upgrade to 16/17in Michelins. The Michelin AS3s are however not available it seems (from a call to Michelin India). Toss up between the Yokohoma S Drives or the Bridgestone Potenzas, it looks like. The TSW Mallory is also looking attractive if I go for the 16in. Looking for a trade in is going to be hard.
Don't know if I can wait for the Bilsteins, because the suspension was quite noisy in the old Polo - whenever it bottomed out. Will have to see what the new setup is like.

* Premji's in Mahim
- Was looking for some advice on the upgrade to the 17in. But they seemed in a little unfamiliar territory. They showed me a set of Konig Wheels and said that they only had Goodyears in 17in. Was a little disappointed because my needs were more exacting. Will have to check with Performance Unlimited if they can do the whole shebang on the alloys - and will have to wait to do this after the car is delivered!

[vinodbollini]

So after all that waiting, here begins my ownership and mod details.

Delivery
Had to go to the RTO to sort out some issues with address proof; apparently Aadhaar card will not do! I had already arranged for a preferred number and reserved it (Cost Rs. 7500/- + Rs. 2000/- for the agent) - which helped with the RTO Officer. Since this was in the middle of Ganapati Festivities, it took 2 days and 2 visits to the RTO. All was finally sorted on the 5th.

I had paid Rs. 50,000/- as booking amount earlier.
Total on road cost constituted:
1. Ex-showroom - Rs. 822,918/-
2. Registration, etc. - Rs. 74,063/-
3. Extended Warranty - Rs. 13,041/- (Might be useless with the mods!)
4. Depot Charges - Rs. 6,900/-
5. Insurance - Rs. 26,839/-
(Insurance was Royal Sundaram - zero dep, with a few extra covers...)
*** Total - Rs. 943,761/-

Bought VW OEM Doormats and Mudflaps (~Rs. 4,000/-) and got no discounts.

On the 5th after the RTO hoopla I went to look at my car, which had arrived at the showroom. Did a quick (and only partial) inspection as per the Team BHP checklist. A got a little carried away with the excitement, so did not inspect the underbody or do a drive.

Was a bit worried that the license plates are screwed in after drilling holes. Wanted to change to HSRPs later, so was a bit worried if there would be problems with the hole positions. Went to the nearby license plate guy and the standard size HSRP (not yet implemented in Maharashtra, so unofficial) would need me to cut 2 edges off - since they come in standard pre-pressed sizes.
Decided to postpone the number plate change to later.

Next day, I landed up at the showroom to pick up the car at 1830. 6th of September. Javed my sales guy kept calling me to make sure I got there before dark - so I could take a good look. I was so excited, that all the paper work seemed like a hassle. Kept asking if everything was done and I could head out. The SE and the mechanics seemed to be amused.

I went out and took some pictures.



















The only things I got from the dealer were VW OEM floor mats and mud flaps.
They made me mark a swastika on the engine and break open a coconut. Also put a garland in the front. After a few pictures and taking another good look at the car, I got in and turned the key. Javed, my SE told me that I probably knew more about the car than he did, but still pointed out a few things: the cornering and fog lamps, the seat adjustment and that there was no speed alarm set. I connected my phone to the bluetooth and drove away with an expectedly large grin.

The fuel was near zero, so I drove to the HP pump at the Siddhivinayak corner and filled her up. 41.83l of 91RON. Was the last time I used anything but 97RON. After that made a few phone calls and went to meet some friends. The drive was exhilarating despite the traffic. Drove up the Eastern Expressway to Powai, then drove down to Colaba via the Eastern Freeway and drove back to Powai, and then back South. Clocked almost 200 km before I went to bed on the first day!

[vinodbollini]

This post is mostly pictures, just to document the initial cosmetic upgrades.
I have done about 3000 kms thus far and needless to say, in love with the car.
I'll document the more detailed experience with the performance upgrades as they come.

Before the eye candy, here are some details:
1. Got a basic paint sealant done at 3M Car Care in Thane. Done over 2 days since I did not want to miss a moment of it. The whole process took about 2 hours and 30 minutes - and was done on either side of the wrapping job. The steps were cleaning (foam), polishing/waxing and paint sealant.
2. Got a 3M matte black wrapping film for the roof, spoiler, OVRMs and racing stripes for pedigree. Applied with a inbuilt adhesive and heat gun. Process took about 3 hours and 30 minutes.
4. Got embossed reflective number plates from a road side vendor in Prabhadevi. Gave him the order and installation took 30 minutes the next day.
5. Got 16in TSW Mallory 5s in matte black, adorned with Yokohama S Drives, 205/50/R16 87W. The alloys were ordered from MotorHeader.com and installed at Premji's in Mahim, where I purchased the tyres and got a good trade in for the stock alloys and tyres.

PS: The tyres are very much a performance upgrade too! The grip is much improved without any noticeable change in ride quality (surprising!) or noise. Will discuss more completely after a suspension upgrade.

Thanks to robi, theSaint and khoj for the advice thus far.

And the rest in pictures.

[vinodbollini]

A little bit about my experience with this car so far:

A Rose by any other Name

I would love to tell you that there is a fantastic story about the name, but there isn't. I am very fond of Indian/Hindustani names (mostly female names) and the depth of meaning. Nearly everything I own has a name, much to the amusement of people who deal with me. Ritu is the term for a season in Sanskrit, and this is pretty much my love for all seasons.

The Drive

So I have clocked about 3000 kms in 35 days and a bit. I don't have a regular commute but use the car to go everywhere I go. Most of that is in South Bombay, with the occasional trip to I actually want to get the car to a setup of my linking, before I completely describe it. But, here are my first observations:

1. The suspension is quieter but still as taught as the previous Polo. As a general everyday car, I have grown accustomed to being careful with potholes, unless I can glide over without the body bobbing. In last 300 kms I have been using the yoke-s-drives and although there is some "feedback" from the road, the ride quality remains good to fairly awesome. Will be considering an upgrade to the shocks and springs soon. Teine and Bilsteins are being explored...

2. The brakes are bad to worse at medium speeds. The bite is spongy between 15-30 km/hr. At higher speeds the response does not feel linear, until the pedal goes down further. Will be upgrading to rear discs and possibly better pads soon. Brembo or Tarroxes, depending on the budget.

3. Lights are significantly improved over the previous polo and substantial step up over the Swift that I owned. I was little surprised to see the reversing lights on only one side, but that seems to be a European standard! Have a GTI OEM headlamp upgrade, but that is low on the priority list now.

4. Steering feels quite supple for the city drives, but would have liked a little more feedback and firmness at higher speed; but that is only because I am nitpicking.

5. ICE, interiors and other such things are good but have been better. The build quality has dropped a little, so I can hear the odd noise inside, but still way better than the other options I have seen. I love the new steering mounted controls as well as the white tone MID. An upgrade is planned for the ICE unit, but Carplay/OPS and a hi-res screen are little hard to come by so will wait till next year. The extra lights in the footwell, the black interiors are all right the way I wanted them. Have got the OEM arm rest, but not installed it yet. Will do with Stanley seats sometime before winter is out. The legroom is a little limited for the driver and a little bit of a problem for very tall friends at the back. But in general very comfortable. The automatic air conditioning has served fantastically well, even on hot days, although the blower fan is very noisy above a 50% setting.

6. The FE is at about 12-13 overall. I keep a very detailed track and I find that driving the car spiritedly actually improves the FE; but I might be telling myself that! I have gone all Speed 97, and I don't even want to know what the car feels like on the 91RON. In my Mumbai city runs, I have seen as low as 5-6 kmpl when the traffic crawls. Mumbai Pune, with heavy traffic gets me 15 kmpl on a spirited run. A recent trip to Nashik on the new shoes saw a whopping 17.6 kmpl.



My Fuel Score So Far

7. Gearbox is unbelievably good 95% of the time. There is a mutual learning curve, of throttle versus gearbox response, and it is like learning to drink beer! Once that is past, it just puts you where you want to to be. The problem is with the down shifting which is not as responsive as I like it - whenever I open the throttle, the box just hesitates a second before shifting down. However I imagine this will be a much more civil union in the S mode, which I have not tested extensively, because of a lack of faith in the brakes and the suspension.
Having said that other than the few times you are cruising and put your foot down to pull away, the car is smooth, crisp and eager.

That is the objective list, but the real picture is hard to paint in words. The car is an _absolute_ joy to own and more importantly drive. The car just darts whichever way you point it. You do feel special sitting at the wheel. I hate handing the keys to a valet. I head out for a drive on the freeway when most people would make do with a coffee. I don't have another car, and doubt I'd ever use one if I did. I like that it is a bit understated, so that I can tell people that the good cars are the ones with the bits under the hood.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

[poloman]

Congrats Vinod. Heartening to see that majority of new car ownership reviews in TBHP are for Polos only despite the flak VW group receives on the forum. This when we are yet to see ownership reviews of new cars like Ciaz, Zest etc.
This car is an eternal beauty. Many times I feel, to sell off my 2010 Polo and go for 2014 Polo TSI. No car appeals to me visually like a well maintained Polo.

[humyum]

Congratulations on the Car Vinod. Nice and crisp review and with those alloys and front black lines, the car looks good.

Just wanted to ask, why don't you have faith in the brakes ? I have driven a POLO TSI quite a few times at quite rapid speeds and just LOVED the brakes. What is it that you don't like about them ?

Also, since you have got new alloys/tyres did you ask them to dynamically balance it ?

[vinodbollini]

Originally Posted by humyum

Just wanted to ask, why don't you have faith in the brakes ? I have driven a POLO TSI quite a few times at quite rapid speeds and just LOVED the brakes. What is it that you don't like about them ?

Also, since you have got new alloys/tyres did you ask them to dynamically balance it ?

Thanks humyum.

It is hard to describe the braking experience objectively. But here's the best I can do: they are spongy. The response is not linear, meaning that when I press the beak pedal, there is initially no response; then about 10-15% in there is some deceleration and then at some point beyond 30-40% pedal play, the brakes bite hard. I have had the car shudder under the brakes when coming to a quick halt a few times.

All this changes a bit with what speed I am coming from. The shudders from the hard bite are about once in 500 times but if I can replicate and make a video I will.

I had these even before I changed alloys and the Yokos. However I have not rebalanced the brakes, if that's what your asking. My assumption was that the ESP should take care of that?

I was only going to mess with the ESP when I got discs at the back.

[humyum]

Originally Posted by vinodbollini

Thanks humyum.

It is hard to describe the braking experience objectively. But here's the best I can do: they are spongy. The response is not linear, meaning that when I press the beak pedal, there is initially no response; then about 10-15% in there is some deceleration and then at some point beyond 30-40% pedal play, the brakes bite hard. I have had the car shudder under the brakes when coming to a quick halt a few times.

All this changes a bit with what speed I am coming from. The shudders from the hard bite are about once in 500 times but if I can replicate and make a video I will.

I had these even before I changed alloys and the Yokos. However I have not rebalanced the brakes, if that's what your asking. My assumption was that the ESP should take care of that?

I was only going to mess with the ESP when I got discs at the back.

Oh, that. Yes I agree about that. I share exactly the same thought about the bite part. It's not liner. Maybe I like it because my Swift's brakes have no where near the bite as the Polo has.

No no, I am asking you about 'Wheel balancing' = Alloys + tyres being dynamically balanced. This question because except Madhu's in Bangalore, I have NEVER EVER seen tyre guys balance alloy wheels on both sides, which is how it's supposed to be done. I have to always force the the guys at Premji's at Thane to balance my alloys dynamically as they have never had a customer ever ask them to balance their alloys on both sides.

By both sides I mean add weights on the inner side of the rim as well as outer side of the rim. Inner side can have stuck on aluminium weights (or sticker weights, whichever u prefer) and outsider side has to have sticker weights stuck on the outer edge of the rim. Only having weights on the inside is static balancing and that just takes care of the up and down moment of the wheel, where as dynamic balance takes care of the up and down as well as side to side moment of the wheel. Dynamic balancing is the only type of balancing that gets you a perfect balance and rock steady car at any speed ranging from 80 to how much ever your car can go.

Do one thing, check your alloy wheels, do you have sticker weights on the outer edge of the rim too ?

The brake shudder when you brake from higher speeds happens because of the alloys not being dynamically balanced too. Overtime if you keep braking like this, the discs will get unevenly worn and will start juddering.

[DWC]

Congrats on your new ride! Those are some drool worthy mods you have planned out for Ritu. She's gonna look and feel a stunner by the time you're done with her. Great alloys too!

Lose that VW sticker just below the passenger side lane change indicator. It takes away from an otherwise gorgeous looker. Please do keep updating the thread with add the mods. Would love to see what you do to the seats.

[vinodbollini]

Originally Posted by humyum

Do one thing, check your alloy wheels, do you have sticker weights on the outer edge of the rim too ?

I did not know about this. Will try and do this at the next available opportunity.

[S2!!!]

Originally Posted by vinodbollini

A little bit about my experience with this car so far...

So I have clocked about 3000 kms in 35 days and a bit. I don't have a regular commute but use the car to go everywhere I go. Most of that is in South Bombay, with the occasional trip to I actually want to get the car to a setup of my linking, before I completely describe it...

Wait, did you just say 3000 kms in 35 days that too in South Bombay? Considering the traffic conditions and the time it takes to get from one place to another that is a lot! You must be appreciating the DSG even more when stuck in traffic.

The mods look really cool and so does your list of future mods . Do keep updating this thread from time to time.

Looking forward to spot your car in town.

[Akshay1234]

Wow the car looks hot! How much did you pick up the set of TSWs for? And wait till you finish a few 1000kms, your opinion of the ride on the S drives will change.

Hope to see your car around.

[vinodbollini]

Originally Posted by S2!!!

Wait, did you just say 3000 kms in 35 days that too in South Bombay?

That includes a couple of Pune trips and a drive to Nashik. And yes I drive around a lot!

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Wow the car looks hot! How much did you pick up the set of TSWs for?

Thanks! The TSWs were expensive. 75k for a set of four. But they are imported ad hoc so price varies quite a bit. Could have got it for 60k with the right exchange rate!

I am curious about the S Drives now! What should I expect?

[mmridul]

Have a safe ride in that beast

O/T, could you send me you excel file used to calculate the figures an shown in you post above. Its really neat.