[500ContyCruiser]

OT: Paid my tribute to the war hero.

Originally Posted by Foxbat

It appears to be a M4 Sherman Tank from World War 2. It was once used by the Indian Army along with many other countries but how did it get there?

This should explain it,

https://allaboutbelgaum.com/lifestyl...-against-time/

Now it is nothing but rusting beer bottle hammer. Lots of broken beer bottles and chips cover lying around it.

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by 500ContyCruiser

This should explain it,

https://allaboutbelgaum.com/lifestyl...-against-time/

Now it is nothing but rusting beer bottle hammer. Lots of broken beer bottles and chips cover lying around it.

Ah my suspicions are confirmed. When I saw the location near Goa I Immediately thought about about the Goan war of Independence. The Indian Army was equipped with vintage tanks at that time.

From the link: "It is lying here since ages and sources say it is lying here from 1960, when the Indian army used Belgaum(now Belagavi) as a base station to over power the Portugese in Goa."

[laddz1121]

Originally Posted by 500ContyCruiser

OT: Paid my tribute to the war hero.

Attachment 1692636

U travelled to Belgaum to locate this and pose , that’s awesome.

[500ContyCruiser]

Originally Posted by laddz1121

U travelled to Belgaum to locate this and pose , that’s awesome.

Yeah. Couldn't resist to see the tankers and hardly 1 - 1 1/2 hour drive for me. Went there to catch up sun rise.

[mrinmoy_s]

Excellent review of an excellent car. I own the 2014 Rapid 1.6 TDI manual and at 45k km, its an absolute beauty to drive, especially on the highways. Take good care of her and trust me, you would self-pat yourself for buying probably the best family cum enthusiast's sedan south of 15L in Indian market.

Originally Posted by laddz1121

Attachment 1689736

The suspensions could have been better if Skoda ever aim to beat the competition in terms of comfort and its evident when you hit any bad patches of tarmac or craters ( the potholes just got upgraded in Bangalore).

Originally Posted by laddz1121

2) The rear-suspensions make a loud thud sound , not sure what are the remedies to overcome this issue, probably an upgrade to better suspensions.

If it's bothering you too much, you can think of upgrading to TRW Struts. These after market struts not only makes the "thud" noise disappear, but also significantly improve the already good handling of the car. Though, I have not thought about it as this may void warranty and I am ok with the "thud" over humps. BHPian coolboy007 has got it done. The link is here:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...-vw-vento.html

Originally Posted by laddz1121

4) The remote-boot switch wasnt glued tightly and it was out of its place when I tried to unlock the boot.

The Rapid seems to have had an issue with their boot-switch for quite sometime. In my car, the boot-switch once refused to work and had to visit the Skoda Service centre to get it repaired under warranty.

Wish you many happy miles ahead in this beautiful machine.

[shady8701]

Excellent car mate! Our cars must have been registered within a few days of each other - my number is higher by yours by just 30!
I have the Vento TSI in carbon steel and I just love this color on the car, certainly adds a very dignified feel to it IMO. Congrats on your purchase and hope you have a good run with this.

Abhi

[laddz1121]

Originally Posted by shady8701

Excellent car mate! Our cars must have been registered within a few days of each other - my number is higher by yours by just 30!
I have the Vento TSI in carbon steel and I just love this color on the car, certainly adds a very dignified feel to it IMO. Congrats on your purchase and hope you have a good run with this.

Abhi

Great choice! Waiting for the day when the Vento and the Rapid will get an option of the 1.4 TSI. It will be great fun if we can exchange our cars for a short drive. For the 1.2 TSI , the Polo GT TSI was my first choice.

Originally Posted by mrinmoy_s

If it's bothering you too much, you can think of upgrading to TRW Struts. These after market struts not only makes the "thud" noise disappear, but also significantly improve the already good handling of the car. Though, I have not thought about it as this may void warranty and I am ok with the "thud" over humps. BHPian coolboy007 has got it done. The link is here:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...-vw-vento.html

Thanks for your suggestion. I will consider to upgrade the brakes and the suspensions soon. The ride quality doesn't suffer much with the OEM one's but for a company like VW / Skoda they must consider a better supplier than Gabriel.

[shady8701]

Originally Posted by laddz1121

Great choice! Waiting for the day when the Vento and the Rapid will get an option of the 1.4 TSI. It will be great fun if we can exchange our cars for a short drive. For the 1.2 TSI , the Polo GT TSI was my first choice.

Sure thing mate, I'd love to do that! PM me and lets plan something.

Abhi

[Hemant_Joshi]

Congratulations and best wishes for your new ride and a neat review.
Rapid is definitely a great Car. Mine is older 1.6 Manual TDI, 3 years now and I am pretty happy with it, done about 36,000 kms. 3 services completed.

I have 1 grouse, about the Headlamps, they are no use for night drives. I even brought a HID kit from Skoda itself, not satisfied with them, removed the same and put in Philips XtremeVision bulbs, its much better then stock bulbs. Waiting for 1 more year, extended warranty will be over, I will put a 90/100 bulb with relay, that should solve the illumination issue,

Enjoy your Car and drive safe.

[laddz1121]

Originally Posted by Hemant_Joshi

Congratulations and best wishes for your new ride and a neat review.
Rapid is definitely a great Car. Mine is older 1.6 Manual TDI, 3 years now and I am pretty happy with it, done about 36,000 kms. 3 services completed.

I have 1 grouse, about the Headlamps, they are no use for night drives. I even brought a HID kit from Skoda itself, not satisfied with them, removed the same and put in Philips XtremeVision bulbs, its much better then stock bulbs. Waiting for 1 more year, extended warranty will be over, I will put a 90/100 bulb with relay, that should solve the illumination issue,

Enjoy your Car and drive safe.

Thanks Hemant!!

I graduated from driving an Alto to the Punto , the punto was a great companion for night drives and most of my long drives were during the night or early morning starts. I am getting adjusted to the Rapid's ligthing and had issues on one particular journey where it started raining , fog lamps helped me reach unscathed. Even I will update my bulbs to philips extreme vision.

[Auto freak]

Originally Posted by laddz1121

Even I will update my bulbs to philips extreme vision.

I had a set of Orsram NB+ with me and tried installing them on my Rapid. But I found the accessibility to bulbs to be very difficult in the new Rapid, especially for the right headlamp.

That made me give up my DIY attempt. I believe it requires removing the right headlamp.

Please let me know how to do it when you upgrade your bulbs.

[laddz1121]

Received a call from my Sales Executive Mr Kaushik from Tafe Access, St Marks Road on Saturday 4th November, 2017 that my spoiler has arrived and is ready to have it fixed. This was part of my deal during the negotiation and is an extra accessory which costs about 8000 Rs INR which was delivered absolutely free.

Although its not as sporty as the other Skoda Spoilers , this lip spoiler was definitely something i needed on my car. I am just loving it.

[ROG_AK]

Originally Posted by laddz1121

.. Although its not as sporty as the other Skoda Spoilers , this lip spoiler was definitely something i needed on my car. I am just loving it.

The spoiler certainly looks good! How is it fixed to the car? Through some sort of tape i assume.

[laddz1121]

Originally Posted by ROG_AK

The spoiler certainly looks good! How is it fixed to the car? Through some sort of tape i assume.

It has a sticking tape under it, the body was cleaned with some chemical and then placed and pressed. Nothing screwed

[gururajrv]

Originally Posted by Ruchitya

Congrats man Does Tafe have a good reputation with regard to service and after-sales? Few of the recent horror stories were from Vinayak Skoda IIRC. Do get the 'thud' from rear suspension sorted. I somewhat remember another member posting about the same on his Octy, later found to be a result of faulty PDI at dealer's end.

You must be quoting the reference for the spacers from fellow bhpian Nikhil's vRS - where the spacers were located which is used for transport means from factory to dealer stockyards.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...nsporting.html

Originally Posted by laddz1121

Although its not as sporty as the other Skoda Spoilers , this lip spoiler was definitely something i needed on my car. I am just loving it.

Attachment 1694401

Congrats on your possession mate. Please do go through the link posted above to verify if your car has these spacers placed in the suspension by any chance for the THUD sound you referred in your report.

And yes, the lip spoiler does add a good appearance to the overall look of the car