[robimahanta]

Originally Posted by Venom_rider

Hey Robi, quick question: Do you think an Endeavour would do these trails? Also can you please share the details of the homestay at Kyatanamakki?

Cheers!

Better go in a group of atleast two or three cars. Endeavour should be able to do it. Just google for the homestay. There is just one in that area.

[chaitanyakrish]

Originally Posted by robimahanta

The resort was a lovely one and we had a great time with awesome Kerala food and nice walks.

Amazing !!! Could you please share the resort name? I see many resorts near Karapuzha Dam. I am thinking of going to Banasura Dam/ Karapuzha Dam and it would really help to plan.

[robimahanta]

Originally Posted by chaitanyakrish

Amazing !!! Could you please share the resort name? I see many resorts near Karapuzha Dam.

It’s called Lakerose Resort.
https://www.lakerosewayanad.com/

Walking distance from the Karapuzzha Dam.

[robimahanta]

Had a great time at a drag event organised by a friend. There were a lot of tuned cars and the M340i in its stock form held its own with a respectable time, especially considering the temperatures around 28C and the Bangalore elevation of 3000ft above sea level. There was a Stage 2 tuned M340i which did sub 4 sec to 100 and 11.8s quarter mile.

Sharing a few pics.

Cars lining up at the beginning of the 2km runway



My 340i getting ready for launch



The 340i group



One of my runs (most stock 340's did 12.7s-12.8s quarter mile with a 0-100kmph of 4.7s-4.8s)

[krishnaprasadgg]

Hi Robimahanta,

Coincidently, I was also there at the event along with my brother. We managed to get in 3 runs before we had to leave due to other commitments.
I must say I particularly remember your car(didn't know it was you) being there. Must say that paint just looks so much more epic in person!

Attaching a pic of our car lined up for one of the runs, ours Is the Steel grey 230.



Cheers
Krishna

[robimahanta]

Participated in the off road event by Team 12 Offroaders near Somwarpet with a bunch of friends. It was great fun and the Thars did well even with stock All Terrain (A/T) tyres . I used my 16 inch Mud Terrain (M/T) tyres and few obstacles were a breeze compared to the A/T equipped Thars. The trail was awesome with a mix of slush, stream crossings, ascents and descents. There were over 150 vehicles and that took a lot of time at some places as many were stuck and had to be winched out. Overall it was an awesome experience with some good friends. Sharing some pictures from the event,

Refuelling a clean Thar before the event (not using XP95)


Some of us camped the previous night


Some dashcam screen grabs from the trail, showing a variety of stream crossings, deep slush, ascents and descents.


















At the start of the trail



Some scenic spots within the trail











Couple of images of my Thar from the organisers





Thar PPF'd with mud after the event




Needed a couple of washes




Even after the wash the under body plates had a lot of junk, had to remove it and wash


Did the 10000km service at around 10400kms, changed the front axle oil and replaced the air filter apart from the standard scope of service which included engine oil, oil filter, cabin filter (AC), rear axle oil.

[itwasntme]

Stunning! Looks like you carried back a substantial portion of Somwarpet with you.

Any observations on manual vs AT vs diesel vs petrol from both your off-road and on-road experiences and those of your fellow Thar owners?

Leaving out the DPF issues, what would you recommend to an urbanite using the Thar for 95% city vs 5% semi-off-road on the quarterly highway/ghat trips? Maybe needs a new thread altogether though

[robimahanta]

Thanks S. I would say all the Thars perform almost equally off road. On road the petrol performs a tad better but you have to be content with the single digit mileage.

Coming to your second query, I wouldn’t recommend a Thar for 95% city (tarmac) use at all, you are better off with some monocoque hatch on stilts.

[roadrunner_nv]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Stunning! Looks like you carried back a substantial portion of Somwarpet with you.

Any observations on manual vs AT vs diesel vs petrol from both your off-road and on-road experiences and those of your fellow Thar owners?

Leaving out the DPF issues, what would you recommend to an urbanite using the Thar for 95% city vs 5% semi-off-road on the quarterly highway/ghat trips? Maybe needs a new thread altogether though

Different strokes for different folks!

I have a Diesel AT Thar which I use as my daily car. I also take it off road on weekends but maybe once or twice every month. While one would be better off in a monocoque in town, I just love my Thar for all commutes. Fetching bread and eggs to long intercity travel, my Thar does it all. It’s just the most fantastic thing that has come into my garage.

What I love about it

• Ability to plough over bad Pune roads
• Road presence - autos, two wheelers and other cars give respect
• Sweet engine and auto box combo makes it easy to potter around in the city and even open up when you have a chance
• Excellent visibility. I get to see, pick and stick to the lane that is moving fast at the notorious university to Shivajinagar stretch
• Around 12-14 kmpl month on month
• It’s a Thar..

The cons are compromises that I live with and have accepted. I’ll suggest that you request for a Thar of your choice configuration and drive it over your daily commute road at the same time that you usually travel. You’ll know by the end of it.

[robimahanta]

Polo GTI:

Decided to go ahead with Apple CarPlay installation in the GTI along with the OEM flip camera. I had been contemplating whether to go ahead with the infotainment module upgrade since a long time and finally bit the bullet as I decided not to sell the GTI any time soon. It is expensive but completely retains the stock look and all components are OEM VW.

I got it done at home by the "German DNA" guys. They came home and did the installation in a couple of hours. The display unit remains the same and the unit in the glove box is replaced to MIB2 Discover media (navigation, app connect, camera feed) from the stock MIB1 unit.

The flip camera from a VW Passat (lowline camera without dynamic guidelines) is installed with a custom stainless steel (SS304) plate.

I didn't opt for TPMS sensors (already using Sensairy sensors) and high line camera.

Sharing some pictures,

Using a Panasonic Toughpad FZ G1 with VCDS for all the coding and diagnostics



Old unit in the glove box



3Q0035819B MIB1 stock unit



3Q0035866C MIB2 Discover Media with latest navigation and all FEC unlocked, firmware 0480 and all possible features activated





Stock boot hatch coming off



New OEM Flip Camera with custom plate installed



The camera flips open when reverse is engaged



The clarity is decent and integration with stock optical parking sensors is nice
(no dynamic guidelines for the low line camera)





Finally Car Play in the GTI (wired)



The in built navigation is pretty good too, even comes up even in the cluster with a compass.







Some extra unlocked features (sport and off-road menu, mostly gimmicks)



Offroad menu showing steering angle, compass and elevation



Performance menu has options for power, oil temperature, boost pressure, coolant temperature, g forces etc.



Lap timer too



Overall it was a neat installation and since everything is VW, it looks well integrated like any other modern VW car. In fact the same module comes as stock in the Tiguan, T-Roc etc.

Its been 5 years (4 years 10months) with the GTI and after close to 48000kms, this is the first major upgrade on the car. Please ignore the dust in the car, it is due for a thorough interior clean up soon.

Thanks for reading.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by robimahanta

Decided to go ahead with Apple CarPlay installation in the GTI along with the OEM flip camera.

Awesome update Robi! You really know how to maintain your cars and how to update/modify them from time to time with functional and useful mods without risking any reliability or taking cheap shortcuts. Your cars are some of the best maintained (and best updated from time to time) cars that I have seen.

Thanks for updating this thread with these continuous reports and photos. This is really motivational as well as educational stuff for the rest of us.

I decided not to sell the GTI any time soon.

In a lighter vein, that is a heartbreaking news for a vast amount of your car's fan club reading this thread with interest.

[robimahanta]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

..know how to maintain your cars and how to update/modify them from time to time with functional and useful mods without risking any reliability or taking cheap shortcuts…

In a lighter vein, that is a heartbreaking news for a vast amount of your car's fan club reading this thread with interest.

Thanks AD. Just trying to keep using and updating all the cars. Always prefer functional modifications over ornamental stuff (I have had my share over useless modifications over the last 20 years).

About the selling decision, the polo is extremely inconspicuous and easy to use in the city. There is hardly any worthwhile replacement which is good value. A Mini JCW with options is north of 60 on road in Bangalore now.

[OctyBoy]

I have few queries regarding the installation:

1) Didn't the guys over at VW help with the installation?
2) Did you buy the parts yourself or the guys over at GermanDNA brought them along?
3) How would you rate your experience with the GermanDNA guys?

[robimahanta]

Originally Posted by OctyBoy

I have few queries regarding the installation:

1) Didn't the guys over at VW help with the installation?
2) Did you buy the parts yourself or the guys over at GermanDNA brought them along?
3) How would you rate your experience with the GermanDNA guys?

1. No, VW officially rarely help in upgrading features which are not present in the car sold to you. Even if you are willing to pay for it. They will blatantly refuse saying warranty issue etc. as an excuse.

2. I did explore the possibility of importing the unlocked MIB2 modules from Uk/Europe etc. But I needed help with coding and installation. Also with the cost of shipping, customs etc., the cost delta even with a refurbished unit from Europe was not worth the effort for me. So I decided to let the GermanDNA guys get it for me.

3. It has been quite good till date. Early days though, have to wait and see about the long term support. Having said that, they have been very prompt and have already shared the 2023 Navigation (India Map) update with me. All queries are answered almost immediately.

Update showing 2023 edition maps in my system


Nice GTI boot screen


Easy to use menu system

[karthikd21]

Originally Posted by robimahanta

Thanks S. I would say all the Thars perform almost equally off road.

Thanks for the awesome report Robi! Now I know what I missed! Will join next year for sure. Hopefully, I would have MT tyres by then 😄