[motooctane]

I have deferred my tyre change to next month, but am planning to go for Conti UC6. I have been quoted 5500 per tyre, fixing free. I really hope the improvement in ride quality is on the scale you have experienced.

Conti UC6 is a good tyre. I'm using it in my Jetta(205/55 R16) and driven around 5k KMs so far. Excellent grip, corner stability and confidence inspiring during braking. But do not expect Michellin like comfort and cushy ride. The compound seems to be medium hard and also noticed a bit of tyre noise.The thread pattern is not eye appealing either.

[sachin_cs]

It feels like yesterday when we brought him home, it has been 3 years with our Skoda Rapid DSG 2019 and odd 48k kms on the odo. Running has reduced due to my deteriorating health condition, on the postive side, the car is absolutely flawless, it drives the way it did on the day one.








Things I love:

• Thank god I don't have any rattling sounds from anywhere, interior is dead silent over all kinds of roads
• Car is really comfortable over long distances and I feel its because of airy cabin, no unnecessary vertical movements & body roll
• Car is stable and predictable and I can communicate as to how much I can really push
• With the kind of fuel prices we see these days, thank God Heisenberg doesn't has drinking problem. It's always frugal even if you are driving hard 20+kmpl is guaranteed
• After switching to michelins ride quality has improved drastically, I can glide over rough roads now
• If you have followed my ownership you would have seen me complaining about the brakes but now I just loved them (confused?) Well, after switching to Michelin the braking has improved by leaps and bounds, earlier I would never even dare to go above 110kmph, well, now I don't worry so much about brakes as the bite has improved so has stopping distance
• I'm happy with my dealer and their service is really good
• When clean, there's no beautiful shade than Carbon Steel (only when clean xD)
• Reliability, I know the word don't go well together with Skoda but since the day of purchase it has been a fill it shut it car, on the other hand my newly acquired Kwid goes to service centre evey 4 months for niggles
• NVH, road noise, wind noise is well controlled and now when I drive anything comparable or lower, those cars feel loud (engine clatter in D mode is high though, shift to S and problem solved)
• Boot space, in 3 years of my ownership I'm yet to utilise it completely
• Efforts by Zac Hollis in reviving the brand, I can see the difference

Not so much:

• Dark colour in general is pain in the A.*.*. to maintain, even an hour drive is good enough to cover it in dust
• Mud flaps scrape when loaded
• There's always a fear of DSG failure in mind and I have started SIP for the same
• Tvs Brake rotors are rubbish, they start to shudder in 20k kms
• Headlights are weak, an HID upgrade is needed for the low beams but I don't want to mess up with my warranty
• For some reason rats love my car
• Lately I'm hearing a mild thud sound over potholes and I guess I need to get my bushings checked
• Gearshifts are not the smoothest in stop go traffic
• Its a proper low slung car which is good for me but at times my parents have difficulty getting out after a long drive
• I rave about Michelin XM2+ but at the end of the day it is a comfort oriented tyre and as compared to my old Goodyear, body roll is slightly more

Some clicks-

Satya Sai hospital in the background


I love the shades





Today, to celebrate the 3rd birthday, first thing in the morning I went to my doctor to collect my MRI reports and then went on a long solo drive without any agenda, spotted a tyre shop with Hunter equipment, so I got my alignment checked and the chap at Prime tyres Raipur did a good job, next to his shop was a newly opened local car wash and I decided to give it a try. As a rule of thumb, I always carry my own microfiber clothes and turtle wax shampoo even when I get my car washed outside. Returned home in the evening and it was a day very well spent, after a long time I had such a great me time.




Before


After


Notice the well protected underbody










Apart from this, I don't have anything significant to update and which, I feel is a good thing as my car is serving the purpose it was bought for.

Time for a photoshoot:

[KANNURAN]

As always, it is an absolute delight to read of your love affair with Heisenberg. Congratulations on the 3 year milestone and wish you many, many more.

The fuel efficiency and the understated GENTLEMANLY looks are the high-points of the car, besides all the other positives of solid German Engineering. I am having a largely similar experience with my own Rapid Diesel; a thoroughly satisfying ownership experience.

The health issue you mentioned is disconcerting. I wish you a speedy recovery to get back to blissful mile-crunching soon.

[AKSarkar1]

Originally Posted by sachin_cs

After switching to michelins ride quality has improved drastically, I can glide over rough roads now

It is always a pleasure to read your reviews, also very happy to see how well these cars hold up over time as a fellow Vento owner.

My tyres too are soon due for an upgrade and am seriously considering the Michellins. Have the following questions for you:

1) Are the new tyres stock spec or have you upsized them?
2) Why Michellin over some of the other offerings?
3) What are your overall impressions of the tyre as compared to the Good Years e.g. you briefly mentioned better braking

Your comments would be very valuable and wishing you very many happy miles ahead!

[sachin_cs]

Originally Posted by KANNURAN

As always, it is an absolute delight to read of your love affair with Heisenberg. Congratulations on the 3 year milestone and wish you many, many more.

I am having a largely similar experience with my own Rapid Diesel; a thoroughly satisfying ownership experience.

I wish you a speedy recovery to get back to blissful mile-crunching soon.

Thanks KANNURAN, it’s always a pleasure seeing your reply. I’m so happy to hear about your blueyedboy and your satisfaction with your ride. Every time I drive rapid, it does brings a smile on my face. Thanks for the wishes man. Take care.

Originally Posted by AKSarkar1

It is always a pleasure to read your reviews, also very happy to see how well these cars hold up over time as a fellow Vento owner.

My tyres too are soon due for an upgrade and am seriously considering the Michellins. Have the following questions for you:

1) Are the new tyres stock spec or have you upsized them?
2) Why Michellin over some of the other offerings?
3) What are your overall impressions of the tyre as compared to the Good Years e.g. you briefly mentioned better braking

Your comments would be very valuable and wishing you very many happy miles ahead!

Thanks AKsarkar for the lovely compliment. I will answer your queries in points-

1. Initially I was confused between stock & 195/60 R15 or 205/55 R15. I avoided 205s as suggested by Prasannadhana as in his Rapid it messed up something in the suspension, between 185 and 195, I decided to stick with 185 as I was more or less happy with stock size and upsize would have resulted in increase in ground clearance (I love my car low) & also increased body roll. My college friend has 1.6L kms run vento DSG and he has upsized to 185/65R15 as he travels to remote places and he raves about the ride quality now. So it’s upto what exactly you are looking for.
2. Michelins because I wanted the tyre with least road noise and good grip, well michelins deliver them in plenty. Every local tyre dealer I consulted, everyone suggested that Michelin are the best if you are okay with the price and availability
3. As compared to Goodyears, I regret not changing tyre when I bought the car because it literally has transformed the way my car rides now, be it comfort or grip or tyre noise everything has improved.
4. I can’t express how good the brakes have become, most important factor for me are the enhanced brake bite and reduced braking distance. Earlier on my 44k run stone hard Goodyear, car would feel skittish upon hard braking, not anymore.

And also, Michelin have higher life than average tyres, so, in the long run we might as well recover the extra amount we are paying. Hope it helps. How many kms have you done?

[JoshMachine]

Hi Sachin, wonderful to see your DSG Rapid munching miles.
Congrats for the 3-year milestone

This diesel engine and gearbox combo is perhaps the best there is, in the C2/D1 segment.

Take care of it and the car will reciprocate with equal love. Wishing you thousands of miles ahead.

[sachin_cs]

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

Hi Sachin, wonderful to see your DSG Rapid munching miles.
Congrats for the 3-year milestone

This diesel engine and gearbox combo is perhaps the best there is, in the C2/D1 segment.

Take care of it and the car will reciprocate with equal love. Wishing you thousands of miles ahead.

Thanks JoshMachine, I equally love your vento and the way you’ve maintained it. Infact, it was your ownership review which gave me the confidence to go ahead with DSG and so far I’m only loving the experience, it’s such a well made match between the DSG-TDi that I just don’t enjoy other cars much until it’s from a segment or two above. And it’s going to be very difficult to find an upgrade, I realise you are test driving cars these days.

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by sachin_cs

it’s such a well made match between the DSG-TDi that I just don’t enjoy other cars much until it’s from a segment or two above.
And it’s going to be very difficult to find an upgrade...

Perfect way to put it .
They don't make cars like that anymore, an upgrade to the DSG-TDi combo is a very, very difficult proposition!

I realise you are test driving cars these days.

So the rabbit's out of the hat .
Soon, fingers crossed.

[sachin_cs]

Just got back from a trip to Bastar and my car was dirty, specially the underbody as I had to drive through under-construction roads for few kilometres. I wanted to give it a wash by myself but then the amount of muck suggested that I needed a pressure wash. The nearest good car wash is 30kms from my home, anyway, I decided to find a car wash near my home in Gmaps and I saw one car wash located nearby with no contact-no pictures, left with no option I decided to give it a try. I was in for a surprise, it was a very advanced home car wash service and the equipments he had was also of good quality. I asked them just for a top wash as I had already vacuumed my car in the morning and they charged me 250 bucks.

Some pictures I clicked-

Mafia car can be converted into mobile car wash as well
























Overall it was a good experience and I got what I wanted- underbody cleaning. They had an underbody jet system which sprayed water beneath the car without even using ramp, that was cool. Owner was also passionate about his work and the only improvement they need is their marketing, its very difficult to locate as it's inside a residential complex, they haven't shared their contact details in Google so you can't even contact them unless you have their number.

Heisenberg is happy today because I personally cleaned the mats, vacuumed carpet as yesterday I dropped crumbled biscuits and also polished the interiors and now this foam wash.

Update on rat menace:
Seems like my Red Hit method is not working anymore and now I have shifted to pepper mint oil method & also I have stopped using car cover as whenever I have used car cover, I always found rats footmarks under bonnet.

[sachin_cs]

My father went grocery shopping in our Rapid, it was 8:30 in the morning, the road was empty, he was driving slow, he indicated to steer left so that he can park near the shop, right side of the road was entirely empty so much so that a car could pass. And it happened, a bang in the right rear where the road was essentially empty. That *"#@$ squid could not spot a full sized car on the road with indicators on trying to take a left and he banged on the right rear. He fled the spot and of course he or his pillion were not wearing helmet. I have the clip recorded in my dashcam but I'm not able to find the registration number details on RTO website. I don't know what should be the course of action from here. Should I go to the police & make him pay or let it go and get my car repaired. This has just dampened my mood on a good Sunday, for no fault of mine my scratch less prized possession is sitting with a battle scar now. I have tried to keep my Heisenberg scratch free for last 3 years and it gets scratched in such a situation where it shouldn't.

The activa squids with no helmets






At some places scratch is on clear coat and at places it has damaged paint.


*This is my 100th post on the thread and not a good one

[PrasannaDhana]

Hey Sachin

Sorry to hear about the incident.

It is still a good post, because no one is hurt. Imagine if those squids fell down and broke a few bones, the cops and public would have blamed your dad for the incident.

Regarding the scratches, don't sweat them. They are very minor and won't really show. First scratch definitely hurts. Rubbing compound will take care of most of it.

In spots where paint has gone, leave it as such. Repainting will just make stuff worse. No A.S.S repaint can match OE factory paint quality standards.

Consider the scratches "drishti" (evil eyes) and move on.

Looks like we need to install rear dash cams too.

[sachin_cs]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

It is still a good post, because no one is hurt. Imagine if those squids fell down and broke a few bones, the cops and public would have blamed your dad for the incident.

Very true, thank God no one was hurt, otherwise the blame is always on the bigger vehicle.

Consider the scratches "drishti" (evil eyes) and move on.

Looks like we need to install rear dash cams too.

Haha, somehow after reading your post, I'm not feeling that bad now. I will take my car to some good detailer and try to get it corrected as much as possible. Even my first reaction when I saw the scratches was that "I need a rear dashcam".

[sachin_cs]

Reached 54k milestone today. I'm not being able to give proper time and love to the car because of some career commitments. As a result it went for a couple of car washes and there's so much swirls now. I plan to address it after October and also update the thread. Anyway, till that time enjoy the click-

[sachin_cs]

Small update here:

One stupid biker decided to ruin my day

[sachin_cs]

I have done 80,000kms in my Rapid and also got her serviced recently. I have not updated the thread from a long time (which means a good thing) but I will update it with the recent service experience very soon. The reason why I'm posting here today is the fact that despite owning the car for more than 4 years, it still keeps impressing me. I was casually tinkering around the boot area and out of curiosity, I removed the boot cladding to check out the insulation materials they have used, it's generous to be honest. They have infact used foam on boot springs, there's foam packed in polythene placed in hollow places too. The biggest finding was that the boot springs also come with different tension settings. Yes, you heard that right, there's a proper mechanism in the boot spring hinge where you can choose 3 different hook positions. How does it help? Well, if you put it in the farthest position, the boot lid will open automatically when you try to open the boot via the remote.

Please find the pictures below for better understanding