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-   -   Pete's Tuned VW Polo GT TSI - A Little Hot Hatch! Sold in - August '19 (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/192689-petes-tuned-vw-polo-gt-tsi-little-hot-hatch-sold-august-19-a-2.html)

Thank you, have dropped you a DM! The Bilstein B6 should be ideal for your mixed road usage and it'll maintain good ground clearance as well. If you want the lowered stance, I'd stay away from getting lowering springs on stock suspension. Coilovers or a strut + spring combo (fixed height lowering) is anyday better. I prefer the white roof as the Piano Black Spoiler and Mirrors are contrasted much better.

No worries with getting lowering springs on Delhi Roads. I have daily driven lowered cars for 2 years in Gurgaon now. Make sure you get Eibach and strictly avoid Vogtland.
Remap won't affect the DSG if its from a reputed tuner, like Revo/Petes and considering you do a mixture of driving and not drive it like you stole it.

If you have a catback only, I am guessing its from Kaka. Get a non resonated Borla Setup, its better than the MS variant they use for the muffler.

Thanks for your replies. As Philip told me over texts, Pete's latest map (V3) should be fine and recommended a strut + spring combo if I'm not concerned about the setup being adjustable. Guess I'll take a call when the time comes to take the plunge.

As far the exhaust is concerned, it's a FF from a guy just before CP on KG Marg, sure you've heard of him or seen his countless YouTube videos. Straight pipe after the cat without a muffler. Sounds really nice but the drone gets to me sometimes with the windows rolled own. What do you suggest, a Borla muffler?

Yeah, that would be Kaka. I recommend a ProXs with no resonators if the purpose is to reduce drone.

An Update: OEM MK7 Flatbottom Steering Wheel with Paddle Shift

Sourced the GTI Steering Wheel with Paddles from UK and the new web design airbag from GCP Tuning Mexico. The initial plan was to source the whole thing from GCP Tuning Mexico but I decided to look for the steering alone as I was in UK. I was able to find one without the cruise control buttons and I carried the steering back home. Meanwhile I ordered the web design airbag to be shipped home from GCP Tuning Mexico and the order came through trouble-free, Raul at GCP Tuning was very helpful and he shipped it via Fedex to Cochin, Kerala.

On my previous steering I had the Alcantara stitching and it changed the whole feel of the steering so I decided to get the same for the new steering and put an order through the Aliexpress seller "Shining Wheat" for another custom alcantara/perforated leather stitching for the new MK7 GTI steering.

My Previous Steering with the Alcantara Stitching:


I had a few things in mind to get this steering to match the interiors of the GT and to keep it badged as a GT instead of a GTI.

Here's a collage of the process:


The Process:

• Removed the brushed aluminium trim and repainted it 'Piano Black' to match the Piano Black interior trim in the GT. Removing the trim has to be done carefully with trim removal tools, the whole trim including the multifunction buttons comes out as a single piece and the multifunction buttons can be removed by unscrewing it from the brushed aluminium trim.
  
  
• The Alcantara/Perforated Leather Stitching was done by Binu's Car Boutique.
  
  
• Got to keep the GT as a GT itself! :D Replaced the GTI badging with a GT Badge (sourced from Romania via an eBay listing) and also added paddle shift extenders. To get the horn working a wire had to be drawn from the empty Pin4 slot in the harness to a point on the airbag, seems like an earthing wire.

After the steering was installed: the biggest surprise - Red Backlighting!! I was expecting white back lighting but since this steering was manufactured for a Polo GTI I guess it had the red backlighting itself. The red backlighting matches the remaining backlighting perfectly.


The paddles are a delight with the lightning quick DSG: (the paddles are plug & play and they work without any need for activation or coding)


The web/mesh design on the airbag looks amazing along with the new stitching: (zoom in to see the design on the airbag)


Here's a shot along with the R340G Head Unit: (Android Auto and Apple CarPlay works really well via the AppConnect)

Hi, could you link the part number or URL for the wheel?

Sure, the part number of the steering wheel is 6C0419091.

Hey Philip.
Can you share the cost of Brembo drilled rotors and red pads. I am really not happy with the stock brakes so that's the first thing I want to upgrade.

Thanks.
Kirat

Hey Kirat, have replied to your DM. You should look into brakes from Black diamond & Tarox as well. The Tarox G88 Rotors with stock pads is a great combo (I’ve felt it to be better than the brembo’s), I’m yet to drive a Polo with the black diamond Rotors and pads but have heard good reviews for them as well. In the end it all comes down to usage, and what you’re willing to spend. Cost wise & also overall performance wise I’d say it’s Brembo < Black Diamond < Tarox (Tarox only the Rotors are available,Tarox pads won’t fit our TVS calipers).

All three options are anyways a great improvement over the stock setup, and remember to bed-in the new Rotors properly. a badly bed-in rotor is all it takes to ruin your braking experience however good the brakes are meant to be.

Hey Philip!
Thanks for the feedback. I might just go in for regular brembo rotors and pads. Price wise they are the cheapest upgrade and I am hoping the braking will improve by a respectable amount. Everything else is just not in budget at this moment.

Hi
I would not recommended getting the Brembo rotors or pads especially not the pads. I had been using brembo black pads for under a year on my polo and the pads wore out in just 10,000kms the brake fade from the pads was also monumental and almost dangerous at times. I would suggest getting oem brake discs or Bosch discs if you want to avoid going to the dealer and combining them with a good set of pads from black diamond as the pads will make a bigger difference to your braking than the discs or just stick to oem TVS pads.

Yes you are absolutely right with regard to the Brembo black pads. Several of my friends had similar experiences with the Brembo black pads, also the Brembo Slotted Rotors were troublesome for many.

But all that said, I’ve only had a good experience so far with the Brembo Drilled Rotors and Red Brake pads. The key is to get them bed in properly and your set! The stock rotors tend to warp over time depending on usage, the Drilled brembo’s have done wonders with the heat dissipation compared to stock. Even I’d recommend sticking to stock brakes if all the usage is city based but the stock brakes feel inadequate the moment you drive the car in a spirited manner and the stock rotors simply can’t take this spirited drivestyle in the long run.

Regarding the brake fade, even the Brembo Reds fade if you put it through track like usage on a hot day but that’s only at the limits. Another factor to blame are the rear drums which are alright for city use and daily driving but inadequate for repetitive hard usage or track like usage. Since I’m hardly near these limits on a daily basis, I’d let it pass and live with the rear drums and a good setup upfront. Life of brake pads again depend on usage, can’t compare it as it’ll vary depending on driving style. The type of Rotor can have a major influence on brake pad life as well, for example the Tarox G88 Rotors basically munch through brake pads and the most pocket friendly combo to the G88 are the stock brake pads. I’ll be through with my Brembo Reds soon (expecting 15k KM’s life) and I’ll be trying the Black Diamond pads next. Will post an update here once it’s done, along with a review on the MST Performance Short Ram Intake Kit with a heat shield that I’ve been using for the past few months.

On my GT TSI, I drive in Manual Mode pretty much always. Earlier it used to be the tiptronic on the gear lever (which I still feel is a lot more engaging to use) and now I use the paddles which are effortless. The upside of being in manual mode is making use of engine braking if the situation requires it! :D

Have you not considered getting the GTi/vento's LED headlamps?

Physically they should fit, not sure about what all mods need to be done for electronics

Yeah they are a simple swap, electronically it’ll miss out on some functions and features as the Polo GT TSI doesn’t have the BCM Max. The LED’s are definitely fun for flashing and light up the road well when dry but they are not upto the mark in the rain, especially on unmarked roads with no reflectors. We’ve got a Vento TDI DSG Highline+ with the LED headlights in the family and the performance of the headlights in the rain have been a major setback.

On my Polo I’ve been using the Philips Xtreme Vision Plus bulbs for a long time now and they have been much better than the stock bulbs. The LED headlights are too expensive and I feel it’s not worth it, as Philips has launched the H7 LED bulbs now and getting them instead of a whole new LED headlight would work out much better and much more affordable too. The best headlight setup for the Polo I feel would be the Polo 6R GTI Bi-Xenon headlights with 4300K bulbs.

Hi. I have faced same issues with my brakes on 2016 GT TSI. and I think the only option is to upgrade the brakes. Pls share experience and cost of brembo and if you would recommend something else. Also advise if it has any affect on the ABS or warranty. I am in Pune now and would be looking for the same around here. What should one look out for while evaluating an upgrade.