[gemithomas]

Lucky you didnt have to do anything this side of thrissur. I'm sure your F.E would have plummeted and your suspensions would have cried out loud.

[poloman]

Even Thrissur-Palakkad NH is in very bad shape. The road was in good condition three months back when I made a trip. But looks like rains have done the deal.
In Kerala roads it has become near impossible to overtake. All you can do is move in a convoy. Such is the increase in vehicle density.

[Captain Slow]

Congrats Poloman! I been little busy I think I missed this.
The car and the keys looks fantastic!

I can see that fit, finish and overall quality is way better than the Figo/beat/swift/Punto.

Do you find the position of the reverse gear a little odd? ever made the mistake of putting it on reverse thinking it was the first gear?

What about the service intervals?

[poloman]

Captain, The reverse gear is very easy to engage. Since the lever needs to be pushed down to engage the reverse no question of putting in first by mistake.

Originally Posted by poloman

Captain, The reverse gear is very easy to engage. Since the lever needs to be pushed down to engage the reverse no question of putting in first by mistake.

What about the first gear? How do you engage it? just slide upwards from the neutral position?

[nowwhat?]

Originally Posted by Adrenalin

What about the first gear? How do you engage it? just slide upwards from the neutral position?

First gear is just as in all other vehicles.

For reverse, you have to push the gear knob down (and it has to be done consciously as it takes some pressure), and then put it into the same place as first. I first saw this in a friend's VW Beetle in the US in 1998, so obviously its a proven technique from VW by now.

I also think as a safeguard, the Polo does not allow you to switch to reverse when the car is moving forward. That's because when the sales exec tried to demonstrate the reverse gear during the test drive with the car rolling forward (!), the car gave off some sort of a banging sound and we thought we hit something. We looked all around but there was nothing.

By the way, the gear-shift is easy to engage and probably one of the best around. I was playing with it in the showroom.

[neoonwheels]

Originally Posted by nowwhat?

I also think as a safeguard, the Polo does not allow you to switch to reverse when the car is moving forward. That's because when the sales exec tried to demonstrate the reverse gear during the test drive with the car rolling forward (!), the car gave off some sort of a banging sound and we thought we hit something. We looked all around but there was nothing.

The sound could be because the gear was not able to engage because of the forward movement of the car. This has to do with the gear teeth I guess. Its not a feature but a failure in gear engagement mechanism.

[poloman]

Polo is having the smoothest gear shift in its class. No doubts on that.

Originally Posted by neoonwheels

The sound could be because the gear was not able to engage because of the forward movement of the car. This has to do with the gear teeth I guess. Its not a feature but a failure in gear engagement mechanism.

+1 Better not to try this out. This will adversely affect the gear teeth. i am not aware of any protection mechanism in Polo.

[neoonwheels]

Originally Posted by poloman

Polo is having the smoothest gear shift in its class. No doubts on that.

+1 Better not to try this out. This will adversely affect the gear teeth. i am not aware of any protection mechanism in Polo.

The reverse gear will not be engaged if the car is moving forward. But trying this out can dangerously damage the gear box. These days gears have syncros to avoid damaging the gear teeth, I am not sure if that helps in such situations though.

[sanjayc]

I think all cars should be having some basic safety mechanism in place while engaging the reverse gear, maybe implemented differently. For example, in Fiesta, the reverse gear can only be engaged from neutral...a straight vertical motion downwards from 5th will not engage the reverse. And yes, trying to engage the reverse while the vehicle is in motion (forward or backwards) will produce a grinding kind of noise.

[Chethan B G]

Originally Posted by neoonwheels

The reverse gear will not be engaged if the car is moving forward. But trying this out can dangerously damage the gear box. These days gears have syncros to avoid damaging the gear teeth, I am not sure if that helps in such situations though.

Engaging reverse gear when the car is moving forward, is an unpardonable mistake! And we want a safety protection for this?

In Polo, we definitely can not engage reverse gear by mistake. If this is what is the concern. In-fact, I liked the reverse gear position - It is different then other cars - It makes it all the more interesting!

[neoonwheels]

Originally Posted by Chethan B G

Engaging reverse gear when the car is moving forward, is an unpardonable mistake! And we want a safety protection for this?

In Polo, we definitely can not engage reverse gear by mistake. If this is what is the concern. In-fact, I liked the reverse gear position - It is different then other cars - It makes it all the more interesting!

The problem is when you give your car for valet parking. Make sure you mention about reverse gear mechanism. I always used to do it with my Palio as it has a reverse gear lock (A ring which should be lifted for engaging reverse).

[Chethan B G]

Originally Posted by neoonwheels

The problem is when you give your car for valet parking. Make sure you mention about reverse gear mechanism. I always used to do it with my Palio as it has a reverse gear lock (A ring which should be lifted for engaging reverse).

That is the greatest problem with these non-regular features. Fuel-lid, and tail gate opener - add to this problem.

Luckily, people have experience with other VW cars.

[poloman]

I never give my car for valet parking.
Regarding fuel lid fortunately the inlet is in the driver side in Polo. So you can easily indicate the pump guy to press the lid to open with out getting out of the car.

[carfanatic007]

Originally Posted by poloman

Chethan, My point is more from a refinement angle. if you try to accelerate suddenly, you will hear that 3 pot roar clearly. Some will like it but most will term it similar to diesel clutter.Power is quite adequate and the car pulls effortlessly with 5 people on board.
Apologies Chetan, I too forgot the camera on the trip.

I really want to understand this "engine is refined" thing. Is it only a function of engine noise? As I don't think so there is any problem with a 1.2 engine, we have so many cars on the road which are 1.2 and running for many years.