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Old 13th May 2015, 19:13   #31
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re: GT'ing around in my VW Polo TSI. UPDATE: Blackworks catless downpipe & Quantum Stage 2 ECU+TCU maps!

Congrats on your new wheels!

Must be a thrilling experience changing over from the Santro to the GT, A differrent day to day experience all together.

Shocked to see further cost cutting going on. No leather on handbrake, no fabric on door pads?

I bought this car last year and was saddened by the change in alloys in the newer model. However, the new steering wheel made up for it.
As almost all GT owners do, I headed straight to the tyre shop for swapping the stock tyres. I was offered GoodYears at the showroom instead, but declined. Changed to Michelin Primacy
3ST.

I changed the ICE at dealer to stay in warranty. Reverse camera and parking display was important to me as this car would also be driven by my wife and a not so skillful driver.

The Blaupunkt 835 integrates well with the dash, but is rather slow to respond. I got it installed at dealer prior to delivery. Goes without saying they robbed me with the charges.
The other option is to put in the Dynavvin N6. This also integrates well but is more responsive and has slightly better features. Unfortunately, this was not an option at my dealer.

Will put in a 'me too' review off my car soon.

Enjoy your ride
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Old 13th May 2015, 19:45   #32
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re: GT'ing around in my VW Polo TSI. UPDATE: Blackworks catless downpipe & Quantum Stage 2 ECU+TCU maps!

Quote:
Originally Posted by suhaas307 View Post
I have a question though and it may sound like a noob-question, so apologies in advance. Should I get a set of 4 (considering that the headlights are now dual-barrel) or will a pair be sufficient?
What does your manual say is the headlight bulb specification? I presume it is H1 + H7, with one doing high beam duties, and the other low.

If so, then I'd suggest you get the low beam bulbs only replaced (given your usage) and then make a decision for the high beams based on that.
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Old 13th May 2015, 21:41   #33
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re: GT'ing around in my VW Polo TSI. UPDATE: Blackworks catless downpipe & Quantum Stage 2 ECU+TCU maps!

Many congratulations on your purchase. I have recently booked a GT-TSI too and its been over a month now. As stated by VW Whitefield, the Gray seems to be in greater demand followed by red and white. Well, the colours are a matter of personal choice, I have informed the SA that I would pick any colour which is offered the quickest. I would be doing 34 km a day with some of the drive in the CBD, so I guess I have made an informed choice. Will follow your thread eagerly and take cues in doing the mods beginning with the tyres. On the cost cutting, when I saw your post on the GT official review thread, I was absolutely disappointed but as I realized that there is no other choice for my preferences, vented out my disappointment on the official FB page of VW and booked it nevertheless.

Best,
Srini
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Old 14th May 2015, 02:02   #34
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re: GT'ing around in my VW Polo TSI. UPDATE: Blackworks catless downpipe & Quantum Stage 2 ECU+TCU maps!

Nice one Suhaas! Boy do I envy your garage or what first the Octavia 1.8 TSI and now this one!

This one looks extremely good in white and I really love the understated looks. Been on the fence whether to buy one right now or wait for the next generation Polo TSI.

I don't think I have observed closely in the White cars I have seen but in the refreshed GT TSI is the black mirror and spoiler a recent addition? The arm rest looks as good as factory fit if not better with even the fabric shade almost matching with the upholstery.

Cosmetic mods aside I think it might be worthwhile to get the remap and rear disc brake setup. These would be the first set of mods on my wish list if and when I get the car (probably second as I might go in for a change of the Headunit first )

Congratulations have fun and drive safe!
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Old 16th May 2015, 10:42   #35
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re: GT'ing around in my VW Polo TSI. UPDATE: Blackworks catless downpipe & Quantum Stage 2 ECU+TCU maps!

Congratulations on a fantastic buy budd!! I've just bought myself a pre-loved Polo 1.6 Petrol. Does anybody know where I can get the VW Polo SR Body-Kit done in Bangalore??
Attached Thumbnails
GT'ing around in my VW Polo TSI UPDATE: Let there be LIGHT! Halogen to BiXenon conversion!-vw-polo-sr-front.jpg  

GT'ing around in my VW Polo TSI UPDATE: Let there be LIGHT! Halogen to BiXenon conversion!-vw-polo-sr-rear.jpg  

GT'ing around in my VW Polo TSI UPDATE: Let there be LIGHT! Halogen to BiXenon conversion!-vw-polo-sr-front-detail.jpg  

GT'ing around in my VW Polo TSI UPDATE: Let there be LIGHT! Halogen to BiXenon conversion!-vw-polo-sr-rear-detail.jpg  

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Old 16th May 2015, 12:03   #36
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Re: GT'ing around in my Polo TSI

Quote:
Originally Posted by suhaas307 View Post
  • 40/60 split rear-bench: Wonder why VW skipped this one. It's pretty handy to have a split rear seat.-
Many many congratulations Suhaas on your brilliant purchase. It was one of the leading contenders in my selection process when I bought my car earlier this year.

VW used to provide split rear seat in earlier batches of polos. I had a 2011 Polo comfortline and it had 60/40 split seat. Later on VW silently skipped this feature. Don't know how much money they saved in the process.
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Old 16th May 2015, 22:01   #37
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re: GT'ing around in my VW Polo TSI. UPDATE: Blackworks catless downpipe & Quantum Stage 2 ECU+TCU maps!

Hi Suhaas,
Yours is one of the very good depiction of your experience and prepares me to my owning the TSI.
I had booked a year ago but then reading all the reviews had kept it on hold. Finally deciding on going in for this, I booked about twenty days ago at Palace Road and they said it would take two months and yesterday I got a call informing me that my car had come.
Heard tyres are MRF nowadays and will need to change it asap on delivery.

By the way I am planning to get the arm rest fitted.

Could you share pete's garage no. or any reliable garage so that I could get it done apart from other things.

I will be sharing my experiences now onwards as I am a heavy intra city and inter city driver.

Regards
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Old 19th May 2015, 18:20   #38
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re: GT'ing around in my VW Polo TSI. UPDATE: Blackworks catless downpipe & Quantum Stage 2 ECU+TCU maps!

Congrats Suhas!! What an awesome upgrade it is. And I have to hand it to you for being totally unbiased when reviewing the car. It is very hard to do for something that you own but you have once again proved the value of t-bhp by being totally honest and calling a spade a spade. Very good insights into the car as well.
I was considering the GT when I was thinking of an upgrade but a test drive in the Ford 1.6 Classic was sufficient to make me shift camps. The ford suited my requirements better along with being a fun, fast car to drive to satisfy me.
Kudos for a wonderful review and pictures. Wishing you many many happy miles !!

Quote:
Originally Posted by suhaas307 View Post
Upgrading from a twelve year old car was something I was looking forward to, for years!
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Old 21st May 2015, 00:59   #39
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re: GT'ing around in my VW Polo TSI. UPDATE: Blackworks catless downpipe & Quantum Stage 2 ECU+TCU maps!

Quote:
Originally Posted by psispace View Post
Congrats on your new wheels!

Must be a thrilling experience changing over from the Santro to the GT, A differrent day to day experience all together.

Shocked to see further cost cutting going on. No leather on handbrake, no fabric on door pads?

I bought this car last year and was saddened by the change in alloys in the newer model. However, the new steering wheel made up for it.
As almost all GT owners do, I headed straight to the tyre shop for swapping the stock tyres. I was offered GoodYears at the showroom instead, but declined. Changed to Michelin Primacy
3ST.

Enjoy your ride
Thank you and congratulations on your TSI as well! It is a great little car, no doubt. But all the cost-cutting has made me feel pretty short-changed at the end of the day. It's a good thing that you snapped ot up before VW took it further.

What's your take on the Michelin P3ST?

Quote:
Originally Posted by arunphilip View Post
What does your manual say is the headlight bulb specification? I presume it is H1 + H7, with one doing high beam duties, and the other low.

If so, then I'd suggest you get the low beam bulbs only replaced (given your usage) and then make a decision for the high beams based on that.
Haven't had the time to go through the manual yet (yeah, I'm an idiot ) will check and revert.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SriniTSI View Post
Many congratulations on your purchase.
Best,
Srini
Thanks! Don't keep her within the tight confines of the city for too long though. Take her out and stretch her legs, the first weekend you get!

Quote:
Originally Posted by miharbe View Post
Nice one Suhaas! Boy do I envy your garage or what first the Octavia 1.8 TSI and now this one!

I don't think I have observed closely in the White cars I have seen but in the refreshed GT TSI is the black mirror and spoiler a recent addition? The arm rest looks as good as factory fit if not better with even the fabric shade almost matching with the upholstery.

Cosmetic mods aside I think it might be worthwhile to get the remap and rear disc brake setup.
Congratulations have fun and drive safe!
Thanks!

Yes, the face lift gets black mirrors and a black rear spoiler. I like the contrast it lends to the white car and that was one of the reasons why I'd opted for candy white!

Instead of a rear disc brake conversion, swap the front rotors and you should be good to go (or rather, stop.. *grins *)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Torque350 View Post
Congratulations on a fantastic buy budd!! I've just bought myself a pre-loved Polo 1.6 Petrol. Does anybody know where I can get the VW Polo SR Body-Kit done in Bangalore??
Thanks buddy!

The SR kit should be available at any dealership or even a reputed automotive accessory store.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Carpainter View Post
[/list]Many many congratulations Suhaas on your brilliant purchase. It was one of the leading contenders in my selection process when I bought my car earlier this year.

VW used to provide split rear seat in earlier batches of polos. I had a 2011 Polo comfortline and it had 60/40 split seat. Later on VW silently skipped this feature. Don't know how much money they saved in the process.
Thanks!

Yes, the 60/40 split seat is sorely missed and it would have come in handy at some point.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ritedarong View Post
Hi Suhaas,
Yours is one of the very good depiction of your experience and prepares me to my owning the TSI.

Heard tyres are MRF nowadays and will need to change it asap on delivery.

Regards
Thanks!

If your car comes with Apollos, I'd suggestions you stick with them. They're pretty good. I'd swapped the tyres because my car came with MRFs.

Quote:
Originally Posted by abhinav.s View Post
Congrats Suhas!! What an awesome upgrade it is.

I was considering the GT when I was thinking of an upgrade but a test drive in the Ford 1.6 Classic was sufficient to make me shift camps. The ford suited my requirements better along with being a fun, fast car to drive to satisfy me.
Kudos for a wonderful review and pictures. Wishing you many many happy miles !!
Thank you!

The Fiesta is a brilliant car. I love the fact that it still delivers that analogue feel. Cars these days don't have that!

Funnily, I was on the lookout for a used Fiesta 1.6S for quite sometime and would've definitely gone for it, had a good example come my way. I would've saved a pretty packed over the Polol and still had as much fun, if not more, in the Ford.
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Old 21st May 2015, 14:49   #40
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re: GT'ing around in my VW Polo TSI. UPDATE: Blackworks catless downpipe & Quantum Stage 2 ECU+TCU maps!

Quote:
Originally Posted by suhaas307 View Post
Thank you and congratulations on your TSI as well! It is a great little car, no doubt. But all the cost-cutting has made me feel pretty short-changed at the end of the day. It's a good thing that you snapped ot up before VW took it further.

What's your take on the Michelin P3ST?
The Apollo Alnacs that the car came shod with are quite competent. But I swear by Michelins.

They offer good all weather capability (important in Kerala) and grip. The Primacy 3ST series are also very quiet at speed and you don't hear any tyre roar. I was happy they were available in this size.(An information I got from Team BHP itself).

I have the same tyres in my Volvo and the difference from the earlier Continentals is very apparent. What I felt was a quite cabin earlier became even quieter. The down side to this was that the engine drone is now more noticeable at higher revs.(Not a problem in the GT)
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Old 11th June 2015, 16:15   #41
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re: GT'ing around in my VW Polo TSI. UPDATE: Blackworks catless downpipe & Quantum Stage 2 ECU+TCU maps!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bhodrolok View Post
Lovely car... I have test driven all 3 versions of it since the original release. Wondering if I should actually pull the trigger or hold on for another year so that the new Polo comes around. I am sure the next version will solve the issue of not enough features and creature comforts.
What if by that time competitors have introduced another new set of features? It would be a never ending cycle as I don't expect a VW vehicle to provide all the features that Hyundai provides in comparable models of the same year.
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Old 11th June 2015, 21:52   #42
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Just got my shining new VW Polo 1.2L petrol comfortline. In love with the vehicle.

Just a small question where can we find protection film for the speedometer ? It seems very scratch prone.

Any ideas guys ?
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Old 14th July 2016, 09:42   #43
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re: GT'ing around in my VW Polo TSI. UPDATE: Blackworks catless downpipe & Quantum Stage 2 ECU+TCU maps!

Bumping up this thread after a while. Suhaas, how has the experience been so far with the TSI, in terms of:

1. reliability, especially on long drives/ highways etc.
2. After sales service.

To be frank, the only things preventing me from picking this one up are concerns on the above 2 items. the perceived notion about the reliability of the DSG gearbox and mechanicals in general, and the quality and promptness of after sales by VW are topics which keep cropping up from time to time on VW/ VAG products and fuels the discomfort. For me, a daily driver with superb reliability is paramount, apart from the fun to drive factor of course. Im used to the reliability of the Swift and Brio, which are my daily drives. Would be great if you can shed some light, especially since you were earlier using Jap products, in my recollection.

Last edited by arindambasu13 : 14th July 2016 at 09:44.
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Old 5th February 2019, 23:06   #44
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re: GT'ing around in my VW Polo TSI. UPDATE: Blackworks catless downpipe & Quantum Stage 2 ECU+TCU maps!

Quote:
Originally Posted by arindambasu13 View Post
Bumping up this thread after a while. Suhaas, how has the experience been so far with the TSI, in terms of:

1. reliability, especially on long drives/ highways etc.
2. After sales service.
Here's my long pending update on the car:

Well, it's been almost 4 years and about 28k on the clock, and I've enjoyed every bit of it! The car has not given me any problems at all. I've taken it on multiple highway drives, four times to Sakleshpur, a few times to Coorg, once to Dandeli, and several times to Nelamangala / Dodballapur / Devanahalli /Anekal (on work) and not once has the car broken a sweat. The DSG has been smooth and the engine is sweet as a nut.

However, the less said about the suspension the better!

In fact, about a month ago I noticed that the suspension was making an absolute racket, but I brushed it off, as the struts always made noises. And then the ride started getting incredibly stiff over bad roads and quite bouncy at speeds whilst negotiating undulations.

Last week it was getting unbearable! So I decided to visit a friend who happens to be a mechanic with an independent private garage.

We took off the wheels and noticed that the suspension is absolutely shot!

The struts were leaking all over, and the rest of the suspension components (tie rod end, lower arm, ball joint, etc.) were either badly damaged or on their way out.

Upon further inspection, it appears that the offending parts are of really low quality. Apparently, VW has switched over to a different vendor for parts after 2014-15, when the car received its first major facelift.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I am extremely disappointed with Volkswagen. Not just for the poor service experience (I repeatedly asked them to check the suspension as it was getting increasingly stiff but they brushed it off as if it were nothing), but also for the switch to cheap local parts that don't last even 30,000 kilometers!

Anyway, I've decided to stop taking my car to Volkswagen for service and will only take it to independent / private garages.

Also, I've taken this opportunity to improve the car a bit. Yes, now that the extended warranty is about to expire and that I will have to sink in some serious money into my suspension, I might as well get some quality products.

I'm seriously considering Bilstein B6, but my mechanic friend is suggesting I swap all the offending bits with Sachs OE parts.

I am also considering up-sizing the wheels / tyres and maybe even a remap! *Grins*

I've been looking everywhere for the GTI steering but I can't seem to find any on sale. Would appreciate if anyone could provide me with leads on this.

Watch this space!
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Old 6th February 2019, 07:31   #45
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Speak to Shibin from Head over Wheels. He does some nice work on VWs and Skodas. He probably may be able to source the GTI steering as well. He also remaps.

I will PM is personal number.
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