[mailmaldi]

Hello All, I am posting this ownership review of my first car purchase. After lurking around on team-bhp for 2-3 years and spending so much time my interest into cars have grown heavily. I am using my friend mailmaldi's account for this post since my account karansm4u doesn't have write permissions, I hope mods are OK with this since i am desperate to start this ownership review for feedback regarding upgrades and mods.

Prelude:-

So it all started when i was planning to get married and felt a need for car since i knew after marriage bachelor type bike riding will not be suitable.
I started my search during July-Aug which includes intense research and TD's. This went on for 1-2 months and at last i decided to go for Vento.
I placed my booking for vento in September.

Which all cars i considered:-

Following is the brief description of all the cars i considered before finalizing on vento. Please note that i only TDed Diesel cars since my running is on the higher side.

1. Tata Manza:
Manza is an awsome VFM car. Frankly this is one of the best package available within 7.5L, including ABS, Airbag, tons of space, HPS, Blue-tooth and lots of features.
In Feb 2010 my brother purchased manza so since we have one manza in our home i decided to look for other car. There was no other reason for rejecting manza.

2. Ford Fiesta 1.4 (Diesel):
Fiesta is a nice car, a well balanced one. I don't believe in Ford image of being expensive as few of my friends own Fiesta and their maintenance bills is not that much compared to other cars.
But there is no such exclusivity in Fiesta. I mean if i were to look for Beauty, Handling, Stability i would choose Linea, if i were to look for performance, Interiors, build quality i would choose Vento.

I agree that Fiesta has all the qualities and a well packaged car but i didn't go for it. I must say i am impressed with FIGO, sheer VFM car. If i am in market for hatchback then i would but it without thinking.

3. Maruti Dzire
During my hunt to buy a sedan in Jan 2010 Dzire lost to manza in my comparision, so no reason i would consider it again. So rejected.

4. Maruti SX4
There was no diesel model available at that time. so didnt looked into it.

5. ANHC
No Diesel

6. Hyundai Verna
We have a Santro since 2002 and its runniing without problem till now, The Service of Hyundai i consider is one of the best. Although verna never appealed to my head or heart

7. Fiat Linea
8. VW Vento
It was a very tough decision in deciding between these two cars.
Please read my other thread which lead me to decide Vento over Linea
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/sedans...finalized.html

Booking Process:
So After bursting my head for 1 month Vento has been finalized over Linea.
I booked my car during September from VW dealer in Jaipur.
He promised the delivery within 3-4 months. I knew from the beginning that delivery will take more time then this but since i have circled down on Vento there was no point in lookin around somewhere else.
So i paid 75000 as a booking amount to dealer.

Although i have read on forums that people's buying experience is very bitter but for me it was not so bad. just after September i got completely busy with marriage preparations, honeymoon, job etc etc so i never got time go and fight the dealer for quicker delivery
In fact Santro and Manza at our home were more than enough for everyday work. All i did was just friendly calls to dealer to keep him reminding that i have booked a cars. He was also a good chap and delivered my car on the promised date (he informed me sometime in Oct that car will come in beginning of March).
I finally got my car on 10th March. Total it was around 10.5L OTR which includes
Ex-showroom price: 9.4L
Insurance: 30,000
Registration: 75,000

Sadly there was not many freebies which came with Car.

Things dealer was offering:
1. Mudflaps - PURCHASED
2. Vento foot mats from dealer - PURCHASED
3. Teflon coating - NOT PURCHASED (Vento comes with color and Anti rust coating warranty, and on T-BHP there are different views for Teflon coating so i left it.)
4. Sun Films - NOT PURCHASED (Would go for better sun films from after market)
5. Seat Cover - They were offering Slip in seat cover in 6.5K which has Vento written on it. Although i didnt opted them. I will get seat cover from outside market after researching because i know i can get better VFM seat cover within that price. NOT PURCHASED
6. Door Sill - Would like to go for after-market, light/illuminated enabled Vento door sill. NOT PURCHASED.


Initial Vento driving experiance:
I have driven the car total 850 KM in last 10 days. including a highway driving of Jaipur-Delhi.

Please note that from time to time i might compare vento with manza since i own them both, I know they both belong to separate segment but my comparison will be discrete.

Alot has already been said about Vento on other threads and covered exclusively in GTO Review so i will keep my finding on practical point of view.

Following are my finding.
NVH Level:
NVH is nicely controlled. Once you start the car it does sound a bit, only just a bit. and once you run it for 10-15 min the sound gets stabilize. With your all windows rolled up the sound which comes into cabin is very negligible.
The NVH level is very less compared to Manza.
Comparable to Figo and Linea, Not sure but it might be marginally less.

Horn:
Seriously i love the horn of vento now. Its loud and very muscular type. I have never had an experiance where u honk just once and all the pedestrian gives you side instantly.

MID:
MID has alot of info displaying on it, which are very useful. The information displayed includes but not limited to
- KM to empty the tank.
- Average
- Time
- Temperature
- Trip meter
- Total running meter
- Gear suggestion (I find it very useful. It tell which gear is idle for your current speed).
- fuel level.

*More info and Pics to come here*

Visibility:
Frankly visibility is nothing to write about.
I believe that visibility from Left and Right Mirror is just OK and Rear View mirror visibility is very poor.

Fit and Finish and Interiors:
Fit and Finish of the car is great. Compared to its competitors i believe that Vento is among the top in this segment.
Interiors give a good rich feeling and after getting seat covers it will further increase the looks of inside cabin
Only issue is Beige bottom, which is already getting dirty.



EPS:
Vento comes with EPS, Although its hyped alot here but EPS is not that bad in vento, Its quite precise.
I have got my Tyres upsized so may be its one of the reason but i find that during back to back traffic of city Vento is better to drive then manza HPS.

Engine:
I found vento engine delivering linear power. In manza around 2000 RPM+ 3rd Gear when i press the race completely its 1.3 MJD gives a sudden surge of power which makes most other cars left behind but in vento i was unable to find a sudden boost of power.
The good thing is that whenever you press the pedal the responsiveness of engine was great and its always ready to go higher on speed.

I think this almost linear delivery in power is much more better then a sudden burst when it comes to drive-ability on highway as well as its also better in city because you know how your car will behave.

Stability and Suspensions:
Found the vento to behave nicely during corners. After taking the drive my Jiju said "Road ke to bilkul chipak ke chalti hai". This doesn't mean that GC is less in vento but he was referring to its stability.

Brakes:
Never got a chance to brake suddenly so cannot comment on it.
Since car is still in running in i also doesnt want to speed it high and then brake suddenly just for testing
Will confirm on this point once i experience it.

Locking:
As said by other owners, its bit confusing. Also since there is no auto locking when car start moving, i almost forget to lock it everytime manually from inside.
Although i have understood how its locking system works and told my nephew to be careful while seating on front.

HeadLight:
Standard, 55/60 H4. If you do lot of night driving and need an upgrade then please refer to Auto Lightening thread.
You can upgrade to 90/100 with Relay or go for HID.

Gearbox:
Excellent gearbox, this is the best gear box among all the cars i have driven
small, smooth. Putting reverse gear is also something i brag about among my friends hehe.

Steering:
For city driving its ideal. precise and there is little weighted feeling like HPS.Haven't driven fast enough on highway to comment on steering feedback at high speed.
I liked the leather wrapped steering wheel.

Muzik:
- HU is pretty basic.
- Missed the blue-tooth feature and steering mounted controls but since i never used them alot so i can still live without these features.
- USB: Aaarrrgggghhh the thing i miss most is USB support, its very sad to burn CD everytime. Also USB are very dynamic source of songs.
- Sound Quality: OK by my standards, I am no big fan of ICE so it works for me.

Handrest:
Some people complain about it but i think it better to have it then not having at all, besides its provides good support to my left hand when stuck in traffic and you need to change gear every other second.

Wipers:
little weird viper position, It cant be lift. Please suggest me how to lift it.
I know there is some setting from wiper control which needs to be set first, but which one exactly is it ?


Everything else has been discussed on this forums in details, above were my finding on a macro level.


I think enough has been said, Its time for some pictures





The sapia effect




B/W vento












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[bluevolt]

It’s raining Vento's on T-BHP. Congratulations on your new acquisition.
Most Vento owners are opting for silver color which looks Classy IMO. Take good care of her and do keep us updated on after sales service experience. Good luck and drive safe.

[loyalcasanova]

Congratulations Karan@mailmaldi.
though your wait for the Vento was long, but as you wrote there were other important things to attend to. Hope you are enjoying the car and take good care to maintain it.

Looks like you opted for fabric Footmat's hence they are easily getting dirty. Consider upgrading to rubber ones.

Sunfilm would be a must as summer is just round the corner.Which dealer did you buy this from in Mumbai?

[theragingbull]

Originally Posted by mailmaldi

little weird viper position, It cant be lift. Please suggest me how to lift it.
I know there is some setting from wiper control which needs to be set first, but which one exactly is it ?

Congratulations on the owning the rockstar!! Coming to your query...yes, the wipers have been designed in such a way that it cannot be lifted up directly. VW says it apparently reduces drag.
However, there is a small procedure to lift it up( called Service position)
1. Turn ignition on.
2. Then turn it off.
3. Just pull the wiper stalk once towards yourself.

That is service position for you

[mailmaldi]

Originally Posted by bluevolt

It’s raining Vento's on T-BHP. Congratulations on your new acquisition.
Most Vento owners are opting for silver color which looks Classy IMO. Take good care of her and do keep us updated on after sales service experience. Good luck and drive safe.

Thanks Bluevolt.
Truth is that i had both white and silver option. My wife was little inclined towards white , I was neutral for both of these colors since i like both white and silver. We finally opted for Silver after looking both of them in flesh at showroom, Silver won our heart over white.

Originally Posted by loyalcasanova

Congratulations Karan@mailmaldi.
though your wait for the Vento was long, but as you wrote there were other important things to attend to. Hope you are enjoying the car and take good care to maintain it.

Looks like you opted for fabric Footmat's hence they are easily getting dirty. Consider upgrading to rubber ones.

Sunfilm would be a must as summer is just round the corner.Which dealer did you buy this from in Mumbai?

Thanks loyalcasanova, Yes the wait of 5-6 months didn't bother me because i was busy in other things.
Yes i am also putting a set of Rubber Footmat's over these ones as well.

How can i cover the middle upwards area at backseat with Footmat? I am finding it very hard to cover all these beige floor

SunFilms are on the way. I purchased the car from Jaipur dealer since its my home town.

Originally Posted by theragingbull

Congratulations on the owning the rockstar!! Coming to your query...yes, the wipers have been designed in such a way that it cannot be lifted up directly. VW says it apparently reduces drag.
However, there is a small procedure to lift it up( called Service position)
1. Turn ignition on.
2. Then turn it off.
3. Just pull the wiper stalk once towards yourself.

That is service position for you

Got it, thanks. tomorrow morning i will try it and also show this to my car wash guy.

[souravc]

Congrats on your new Vento and wish you many many miles of happy driving .
I have added one more detachable carpet . The material of the carpet is synthetic / acrylic ( something like that ) , it has small patches of velcro attached underneath which fixes it to the original carpet . It covers all the area quite well , on top of it I put (heavy) foot mats.

The other option was teflon coating the carpet , I had serious concerns about it though mainly concerning wear and tear

[Utopian]

Congrats for the Vento. Looks so elegant in the silver attire. Never knew about this unique service position for wipers. Thanks for sharing.
Some interior snaps would be most welcome.
In the meanwhile, happy mile crunching.

[Mindgrinder]

Great choice...its a good car i like the points you notice. I agree linea interior aren't great but i have pepped up mine...looks great now ..i got same colored film from Garware for my car...You can call GARWARE for film they come to your home and do the installation

[motorhead5]

Originally Posted by mailmaldi

Yes i am also putting a set of Rubber Footmat's over these ones as well.

How can i cover the middle upwards area at backseat with Footmat? I am finding it very hard to cover all these beige floor

Congrats dude!. Cool pics. Even I am not a fan of all these beige and have tried to cover most of it with black seats and black Kagu mats. See pics at -

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...utschland.html

[camchennai]

Congratulation on your Vento, Its raining Vento on Team-BHP

Please do post some interior pictures and happy driving

[naveen.raju]

Congrats buddy. Yet another Vento!
Do share some interior pics and your experience. Waiting to hear some valuable comments from you.

[nkrishnap]

Congrats on the Vento. The silver and white really looks good on the Vento.

For the wipers to be lifted, I think it needs to be got to the middle of the windscreen and then lift it. Trial and error method might help you till you get your hands on the Owner's Manual.

Enjoy many more happy miles with the Vento.

[ajay_satpute]

Congratulations mailmaldi!!!

Vento looks pretty good in Silver.

I just can not forget your other thread where you were deciding between Linea and Vento. I got some bashing on that thread for suggesting Linea over Vento. Anyways, good you made a choice most suitable to you.

Please do post some more interior pics.

Drive safe and enjoy.

[mailmaldi]

Originally Posted by souravc

Congrats on your new Vento and wish you many many miles of happy driving .
I have added one more detachable carpet . The material of the carpet is synthetic / acrylic ( something like that ) , it has small patches of velcro attached underneath which fixes it to the original carpet . It covers all the area quite well , on top of it I put (heavy) foot mats.

The other option was teflon coating the carpet , I had serious concerns about it though mainly concerning wear and tear

thanks for the suggestion souravc, will surely look into it.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Congrats for the Vento.
Some interior snaps would be most welcome.

Thanks, Interiors pics are coming soon. My nephew and niece got the interior dirty so cleaning it first before taking pics.

Originally Posted by Mindgrinder

You can call GARWARE for film they come to your home and do the installation

I am little worried about fakes in GARWARE. I wish to go for
CR70 - Front
RE50 - Sides + back
But this is little costly so exploring the market if there are other options which are enough good and cheaper, approx 10K :(

Originally Posted by motorhead5

Congrats dude!. Cool pics. Even I am not a fan of all these beige and have tried to cover most of it with black seats and black Kagu mats. See pics at -

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...utschland.html

Nice ride motorhead, this is first time i have seen RED Vento, and your is very well maintained i must say.

Originally Posted by camchennai

Congratulation on your Vento

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Congrats buddy. Yet another Vento!

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

Congrats on the Vento. The silver and white really looks good on the Vento.

Thanks guys

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

Congratulations mailmaldi!!!

Vento looks pretty good in Silver.

I just can not forget your other thread where you were deciding between Linea and Vento. I got some bashing on that thread for suggesting Linea over Vento. Anyways, good you made a choice most suitable to you.

Please do post some more interior pics.

Drive safe and enjoy.

Hehe thanks ajay,
I remember our discussion in that thread, but i must thank you since unless you see both sides of coin, deciding which one is better is always an incomplete analysis

[karansm4u]

Yay my membership got approved !! Thanks GTO.

back to topic.
Tyre Upgrade for Vento:
My vento came with 185/60/R15 Apollo tyres . I was happy that it didn't had JK's on it. First upgrade was ofcourse to get tyres changes asap.

Recommanded Upsize:
I checked all the possible recommended upsize for Vento and followings were the option one can go for

1) 185 60/15, Stock size on highline variant.
2) 195 55/15, diameter diff: -1.24% , speed will read faster than actual
3) 195 60/15, diameter diff: +1.99% , speed will read slower than actual
4) 205 55/15, diameter diff: +0.58% , speed will read slower than actual

Among 195/55/15 and 195/60/15 i would suggest going for the 195/60/15 since upto 2% error is OK but higher profile will result in little better comfort riding. So if you are looking for upgrading Vento tyres then possible upgrades are-
205/55/R15
Frankly in this size you only have 3 good options.
1. Yokohama S-drive: I have upgraded to S-drive. They are performance oriented. I have read that with time they start to make more noise. Grip of S-drive is very good but dont expect too much comfort oriented ride with them. I have felt that as far as comfort goes they are not that much different from my stock Apollo but for grip and handling has improved alot.

2. Continental CPC2: I had chat regarding them with BK Tyres. He suggested that they are good in both performance ( may not be as good as S-drive ) and comfort. So he said if you are a harsh driver who cut corners at high speed then go for S-drive and If you are moderate driver then go for CPC2.

3. PP2: I believe everyone knows pros and cons of these tyres. Truth is that i was not able to source them in Delhi :(

195/60/R15
Apart from Yokos, CPC2 this profile has Michaline Primacy LC option available. PLC are great for comfort and will go over potholes like butter but steering feedback and grip wont be comparable to S-drive. Also since its only available in 195 and not 205.


My Findings after upgrading to 205/55/R15 S-drive
- Steering feedback has become better
- Steering does feel little heavier
- Grip has improved.
- Cannot comment on wet surface grip.
- Cannot comment on high speed corner grip yet.
- Comfort is not improved that much (I wonder it improved at all or not?).
- If someone is looking for comfort then do not go for S-drive, I was going over a little pothole and S-drive didn't absorb it at all.
- 205 is a good fit for Vento and it doesnt touch anywhere even if you turn your steering completely. Not sure about touching when car is loaded.

Yoko S-drive 205/55/15 Cost: 5600 each.
Buyback price for 185/60/15 Apollo: 3100 Rs
net price to pay per tyre: 2500/-
Total hole on pocket: 10,000/-
I only got 4 tyres changed.

Here are some pics:



When steering is completely turned to one side, as you can see there is still enough space





Rear tyre side view after upgradation.