The good & bad of my Taigun 1.5L DSG: A few incidents along the way!

The overall fuel efficiency of the SUV has been around 12 km/l. The split would be 20% highway and 80% city.

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T-BHP family - The Taigun has been doing very well overall. There are some great things and some not-so-good. Here goes - Some more outcomes from the experiences since I last posted.

The not so good

• The fit and finish of plastic parts, especially the unpainted pieces in the bumper, are abysmal. As a result of them not being of good quality, the snap-fit suffers. While not so noticeable, for someone like me who cleans their own car, it is.
• The light bar at the rear - I have mentioned this before and doing so again. This looks very attractive but will not last. I am seeing internal cracks in the plastic throughout the light bar. I am so concerned that I plan to take it to the dealer and have it at least registered as a customer complaint.
• It needs tyres with a higher wall. There is no question about it. To make up for that you can fill some more air but then the ride suffers on broken and uneven roads.
• Do I miss rear disc brakes? - 95% of the time I do not. But there is that 5% of the time that I wish it had them.

The great things

• The engine - The 1.5 DSG has made me a smoother driver and added more patience to my driving style. I am no longer anxious when I need to make a quick manoeuvre as I know I have the car to support me when I need it.
• Digital Cockpit - I enjoy fiddling with the various options on the digital cockpit to get the different pieces of information. It is not the best, but it is pretty dam good and does the job really well.
• Infotainment - The screen is quick to respond 99% of the time and has great clarity. Apple Car Play also permits splitting the screen. For example, Spotify and Google Maps work side by side on the screen. Maybe Android Auto also does this, but I am not sure.
• The boot - I had a chance to do a few airports runs. The boot is large enough to pack in 2 large, 1 medium and 2 to backpacks/smaller bags/cabin bags.
• Mechanical seat movements - I am glad the car does not come with power seats. If the car does not recognize me as an individual and cannot load all my preferred settings, then I might as well do everything myself including quick mechanical seat adjustments.
• The sunroof/moonroof - I have voiced my opinion on not needing one at all. There were days when it was nice and cloudy, and the weather was cool. On such days having the sunshade of the roof open makes the cabin nice and bright. I do not ever slide the sunroof except to check that it is working.
• The USB C port - While the wireless charging is really slow, wired charging directly through the USB port is surprisingly fast!

My incidents on Mumbai roads

• Left-hand side front bumper - A nice long scratch on the side from a scooter that lost balance while going over a speed breaker. It is on the PPF and not on the paint so no worries. I have not changed the PPF there to serve as a reminder for me to drive better.
• Rear bumper - On 2 separate occasions I have had scooters crashing into the rear bumper. Both crashed at a speed of about 20 to 25 km/hr. Nothing is noticeable unless one looks deeply. Some of the shiny chrome has become misaligned but otherwise, all is intact. PPF is also intact.
• The left-hand side door - The lower definition line was completely gone over by a car when I was standing still in bumper-to-bumper traffic. The PPF across the definition line has become very rough, but it has not gone through the paint thankfully. I will need to replace this soon.

Fuel efficiency

I have logged every tank filled into the car. The fuel type is standard unleaded fuel. Overall economy from the time the car was bought has been 12 km/l (~28 mpg). The split would be 20% highway and 80% city. Most long-distance cruises average anywhere between 15 to 19km/l. The car has been refuelled 21 times with 705 litres of fuel.

Car covers

If you haven't already, take a look at my earlier posts on my parking conditions. I have invested in 4 car covers. One is still unused. The one I used the most was the VW-provided cover. The other 3 are from TPH. From my experience, TPH is good at their marketing and packaging but the materials used for the covers are pedestrian at best. I feel a little cheated for the price I paid for them.

Car maintenance

I wash my own car. The frequency varies on my usage. The Turtle ceramic spray coating helps not to reduce the washes. The Jopasu duster suffices for the most part. I have a cordless blower to get all the leaves, branches and dust off the car cover and only then do I uncover the car. Takes very little time and goes a long way.

My first oil change was at 7500 km in June 2022. I sampled the oil under a bright light to check for metal shavings and used a strong magnet as well. All was well and it was run in perfectly. My next oil change will now be in April 2023 and then it will be done every October and April of each year. I expect to do less than 7500 km between each change.

In addition to the cordless blower, I have a battery jump starter, a vacuum cleaner, and a 12V air pump with a separate Michelin tire gauge (I do not fill the air at gas stations as those machines are just mostly wrongly calibrated).

I also have a battery tester that I got from the US. It is important to note that the battery is a CCA 320 A, 59 Ah battery weighing about 10 kg with a part number of 000915105EB. This will help select the correct battery on the battery tester.

That ends this update. I will be posting pictures to go with this as well. Watch out for it.

Cheers!

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