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Looking back at fond memories with my VW Polo TSI before saying goodbye

It was always a pleasure driving our Polo to Khadakwasla, where the smooth windy stretches of tarmac delight on early mornings on weekends!

BHPian fluidicjoy recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

A few weeks before I left Pune, I took out the Polo for a spin and drove towards Wakad, the parts of town with nicer roads (ahem highways). I remembered Arundev Acharya, the YouTuber I had met many years ago and thought I'd stop by his garage. He was fortunately in, and thrilled to see the Polo and all the upgrades made to it. I am attaching his video and channel link for curious viewers. He loves to work on VW group cars and has a good knack for diagnosing complex issues.

Audi Gear-Knob:

Another item that falls in the things I did not install list. This time, I misplaced one of the springs on the gear-lever and accidentally pressed down on the lever, causing the knob to be stuck!

Little Trees:

I finally tried out the Little Trees car-fragrance. Quite an interesting car accessory, that I did not use right the first time. It came in a plastic bag with the instructions, "Cut open slightly and adjust the cut to adjust the fragrance." However, the scent itself was nice and there are quite a few interesting fragrances to choose from. Definitely a contrast from the typical "Ambi-Pur" that I had used before.

Turtle-Wax Rain Repellent

I saw a reel from Sirish Chandran (Evo India) where he showcased the TurtleWax Rain Repellent. I ordered it from Amazon, for close to Rs. 300, and I continue to use it even today. The application requires you to apply it to the glass, let the chemical form a haze, and then have it wiped down again. The end result is a very cool rain-beading on the windshield, and an added plus is that the rain-drops fly away when driving over 40km/h or so. You can literally drive with the wipers off, since the hydrophobicity of the chemical causes the drops to fly away.

Driving To Khadakwasla

It was always a pleasure driving our Polo to Khadakwasla, where the smooth windy stretches of tarmac delight on early mornings on weekends!

2020 MK8 Steering Wheel:

Even before we got the Taigun, Virtus in India, I had ordered this steering assembly from Russia, but never got to installing it on the Polo. Laziness trumps the reason why, and this steering is still sitting at home, along with many others.

Many of these wheels look the same from the front-view, but have different button-sets, different modules for steering buttons, wheel contact detection, heating, and also have different air-bag clipping mechanisms. Similar physical button wheels in China have an entirely different airbag. In fact, it is quite difficult to trust steering wheels from China due to the heavy localization, loose quality control and plenty of car-parts sellers selling some of these rejected components at premium prices. This is partly the reason, I preferred to order this wheel from Europe, where the supply chain was a lot more reliable.

Rear-Disc Brake Kit:


This is another project I was working on the sides, but there was no real reason to complete it, since the Polo with a Front Big Brake Kit already was a good stopper! However, I still spent time and money to procure a decently used caliper carrier set, along with some seals and mounting parts to install this, if the time arose.

Changing to a rear-disc brake setup in factory way, would require a different rear axle (older Polos in India were offered with a European axle with the Disc Brake mount), different wheel bearings, brake cables and so on.

Visits From The Mechanix Automotive:


When I first heard of the Mechanix in 2018 or so, they were in their Aundh-Baner Link road location and by 2021, I'd frequent this place a lot with the Polo and the Jetta. This place is where I met a lot of Polo, Vento, Jetta owners, and could learn more about the performance mods they were working on.

Shortly after, The Mechanix Automotive, grew into a beast, and had to relocate to a much larger location, where they really stepped up their game. Here's a picture of me with Anirudh's steed back then. This fleet keeps changing, and every time I visit, there's a new vehicle they're making headlines with.

Hours Spent Coding, Troubleshooting:

Thanks to the numerous retrofits and their complications, I've spent a lot of time with the Polo, diagnosis issues, flashing firmwares in our parking lot. Here's a casual picture of one of my late evening sessions.

BU Bhandari VW Part Runs:

Be it heavy rains or sunny days, it was always a pleasure driving the 1.0 TSI hard to get to BU Bhandari VW Wakad, for a parts run!

Farewell Gift From Nikhil

My friend Nikhil gave this to me as a small parting gift when I was leaving for the US for my Masters. A very iconic and thoughtful gift that is very dear to me!

With that, I close my Polo memories till 2023! I have one/few more posts before I conclude my Polo ownership and hand it over!

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