[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Nice Mods Vik, the alloys look very good and given the car a look to a new level.
Would have preferred the gloss wrap to cover the entire top part, never the less it looks good

Thank you volkman10 and honestly, I was really surprised myself how the appearance changed drastically post that swap

Actually, I have seen everybody going in for a complete roof wrap and I wanted something on the lines of an actual panoramic sun-roof look alike.

Originally Posted by DRIV3R

Cool, now all you need to do is paint the ORVMs black to complete the theme.

Thank you DRIV3R and it may sound a bit strange, but I felt that a black ORVMs kinda resembles the base variant from up front !!

I actually wanted to retain the GT looks to a large extent and render the 'not so good' looks to my liking.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by Vik0728

Finally, MOD IT !!
Now that I had got the wheels in the shade I always wanted, I knew what was one other thing that would get this just right.

The wheels suits the car very well

A Gloss Roof Wrap

So I bugged Hemanth (hemanth.anand) for couple of days and he agreed to take me across to the person he got his Wrap for his 1.2 Abarth.

Thank you bro for sparing some time on a weekend for this

You are welcome

I did not want a complete roof wrap since it was way too common and I just did not like that look either. So I decided to give a 'Pseudo Panoramic Roof' look on my GT.

It pretty much looks like the real thing shown below from an image from google search.


I guess the photos are from your mobile phone. A photo from a better camera (preferably after a quick wax/polish) will show the real gloss IMO

Everybody knows, once you get started with modding your stead, there is just no stopping it.

So now that you know how the wrap looks and since you like it, why don't you import the real panoramic sunroof?

[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

It pretty much looks like the real thing shown below from an image from google search.

Precisely bro, this is what I really wanted. Though I have got an "Extended" Panoramic sun-roof, it does look quite ok

I guess the photos are from your mobile phone. A photo from a better camera (preferably after a quick wax/polish) will show the real gloss IMO

Bingo and I am really sorry about that.

There was a wedding in the family over the weekend and there run about left with no time for a good capture or cleaning.

This will be done the following weekend and promise some better pics.

So now that you know how the wrap looks and since you like it, why don't you import the real panoramic sunroof?

Hahaha right Hemanth, I am just finalising the bank/ATM to loot for all this .

[Vik0728]

I started drafting this update on 14 April, but could only post it today !!

14' April is exactly 2 months short of 2nd year anniversary of my GT TDi and is currently a few hundred kms short of 30,000 clicks on the ODO.



Service:

Though my car was serviced in the first week of April, I could take some time off my work to post this update only a couple days back. So I called up my SPOC Service Advisor at Whitefield (Joseph) and fixed up an appointment on 4 April at 9am. Following were the major concerns I had during this service:

- The steering shuddering had caught up with my GT ever since it cross 20k clicks and I had been postponing the resolution until this service. So, this was a major concern and probably the most important.
- The rear wipe blade's rubber had come off the hinge.
- AC's chillness had reduced or at least I was feeling that.

Joseph is a courteous and knowledgeable SA at Whitefield and noted my concerns. He also informed me well in advance that he would only swap the brake rotor discs if necessary, but surely brake pads had to be changed. He gave an estimate of about 16k all included.
Got a call at sharp 3 pm from Joseph who informed me that I could use the rotors for another 1.5-2K kms if I wanted to, after which the change had to be done. I decided to get the complete set that included the rotors and disc pads swapped and conveyed the same across.

So my GT was ready to come home at 5pm, when I reached the service station. The bill turned out to be 15,295/-, which was not bad as I had got the entire brake setup replace along with the usual expenses of the 30K kms interval.

(P.S - I don't have a copy of the bill right now, as its stowed away somewhere in my pedestal at work.)

Observations post the service:

- The brakes felt so good after a long time. Honestly, they felt a notch better than what they did on the new car.
- Though this 1.6 TDi engine sounds like an agricultural machine, the refinement seemed better. Probably due to the oil change.
- There was a slight improvement in the responsiveness of the engine. Again, this could probably be because I was more confident of pushing my car a little further due to a renewed stopping prowess.
- AC really seemed better and appeared to take lesser time to cool the cabin.

All in all, a great service experience and nothing to really complain about. Yes, VAG cars are expensive compared to the Japanese & Koreans, but then again these also offer some degree of premiums and sophistication.
Now for the most important part of this update...

Upgrades/Updates:

It was long coming but it had to happen sooner than later. The urge to alter some things on my GT was giving me sleepless nights and I had to almost convince myself more than my better half to let my imagination run wild:

1. Roof Wrap:

Thanks to hemanth.anand for helping me with this, it changes the cars character immediately. I have already explained more on this in my previous post, so just going to keep it simple with this pic below:



2. Alloys Swap:

Again, I have provided info on this in my previous posts, so here is the pic:



3. Head Unit:

Thanks immensely to Gannu for being so patient in answering all my queries, I went ahead with this upgrade. I ordered the 7" Touch Screen based on WinCE from Aliexpress. The total cost was $156 and was shipped in under 10 days!!



It is quite intuitive and has some good build in features. It was a simple plug and play, and everything including the BT, Radio, Steering mounted controls, work flawlessly.









This has iGO maps which are quite good. For now, its serving the purpose.

4. Shark Fin Antenna:

Again, got this from Aliexpress. I am not a D.I.Y guy like Gannu, so got the one which can be screwed into the original antenna, without all the complications of wiring stuff.



5. Roof Lamp:

This is exactly similar to the one that is available on the Euro spec version, again thanks to Gannu for the details.



6. German flag stickers:

Well this was just a feel good factor and arrived over a month later than expected. But true to its claim, the quality is really top notch and considering the fact that this is from 3M, its a marvel.



All in all, this is by far the best car ownership I have had and even after nearly 2years/30K kms, I still get that silly smile plastered on my face with that brutal acceleration.

Some parting pics:

[volkman10]

Great to see the updated GT and munching miles, in crossing ~30k km in two years tells the addiction to the German beauty!

My experience at Whitefield is below average and felt not confident as the center is always jam packed and scary as they drive the vehicles around there.

Is the German sticker got online ? Looks cool.

The car looks and drives premium and paying that extra for service is surely worth it.

[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Great to see the updated GT and munching miles, in crossing ~30k km in two years tells the addiction to the German beauty!

My experience at Whitefield is below average and felt not confident as the center is always jam packed and scary as they drive the vehicles around there.

Thank you volkman10 and couldn't agree more with you on the 'German addiction' part

To be honest, the last 5K kms have come quite lethargically as weekend runs, office runs and 'Nirvana' runs have reduced quite a bit in the last couple of months. But every time I get behind the wheels, its just sheer joy plastered across my face.

Thanks to Prashanth (SpeedKills) for sharing Joseph's (SA) contact at Whitefield, I have not had major concerns with service. Though the time line to sort the EGR failure issue was nearly 10 days, it had more to do with VW's inventory than the service station itself.

Is the German sticker got online ? Looks cool.

The car looks and drives premium and paying that extra for service is surely worth it.

Yes, I bought the German flag sticker from Aliexpress as well and I was surprised to see this was actually a 3M product.

I think I have almost hit a plateau for now as far as my car goes and I think this setup will stay for sometime. I still feel the Elite I20 is a complete stunner and I gape at those White & Blue shades every time one passes by.
But a colleague who owns the Elite I20 feels that my car now looks hotter than his stead.

Would I buy the Polo GT again if I was in the market today, though Elite looks better (IMO)...YES SIR!!

[Vik0728]

MT GT TURNS 2yrs NEW TOMORROW

There has never been (and probably will never be) a mainstream diesel hatch with 1.6 liter engine that belts out a nerve wracking 250 NM torque. So like the classic Bajaj Pulsar ad, IMO VW 1.6 GT is DEFINITELY MALE!!

This is how he was brought home:




And this is how he leaves home now everyday:




This has been the most engaging, endearing yet rewarding car ownerships ever, since I bought by first car back in 2006. I know its just too short a time period and probably only the third car to even brag about, but the first two were "FILL IT, SHUT IT and FORGET IT" sorts. This however, has taught me that:

With Great Power comes Great Expenses

I have enjoyed every single Km of the total 32340 Kms that I have driven, though I have to admit that one’s who have sat at the rear have never had a similar feeling. I have documented all the glitches, updates, upgrades and mishaps that I have had on this thread, and though this is my first German car and I have not had it a very long time, I can vouch for the fact that I am not swaying away from the German Engineering ever!!

Some of the latest pics for some eye candy:















I also happened to catch up with an old buddy Abhishek (Porschefire) last weekend. The last time we met, we both had a Getz Prime and since then we had upgraded our steads. The only thing that was common about our cars now were the diesel engines. Apparently, Abhi cleans his car every day and it shows. The crappy pictures taken from my HTC just does not do justice.

[Tanveer_2558]

Originally Posted by Vik0728

6. German flag stickers:

Well this was just a feel good factor and arrived over a month later than expected. But true to its claim, the quality is really top notch and considering the fact that this is from 3M, its a marvel.

Hello ! Can you post a picture of the steering from a little behind so that the full steering is visible? I quite like this touch, Might as well order it for my jetta's steering, Maybe.

[hemanth.anand]

Good to see your GT going strong and keeping you satisfied.

Originally Posted by Vik0728

6. German flag stickers:

Well this was just a feel good factor and arrived over a month later than expected. But true to its claim, the quality is really top notch and considering the fact that this is from 3M, its a marvel.

Sorry to sound harsh Vik0728, but I somehow did not like this sticker.
I do not know what you mean by quality, but when the logo itself is not correct - with respect to dimensions and proportions, I cannot agree that it is of good quality.
The material may be very nice to touch and the paint&chrome quality may be good.

But as far as I can see, the chrome circular border on the bottom left of the logo is a lot thinner than the border on the top right where it is very thick.
Also the VW is slightly off-centre.

if it is a parallax error or if it is a misalignment while you were pasting it, then its understandable.

[Gannu_1]

Happy second anniversary to your GT Vikram!

With that gloss black roof wrap and the black rims, she's looking kickass! Looks like you have been maintaining her quite well too! Here's to many more miles in the future. Cheers!

[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

The material may be very nice to touch and the paint&chrome quality may be good.

if it is a parallax error or if it is a misalignment while you were pasting it, then its understandable.

Honestly Hemanth, it looks way better in person than what this picture actually portrays.

In fact, I had ordered a similar sticker long back and that was really pathetic. This one however, seems to be of a much better quality in comparison.

Probably, you may like it better when you see it in person, the next time we catch up.

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Happy second anniversary to your GT Vikram!

With that gloss black roof wrap and the black rims, she's looking kickass! Looks like you have been maintaining her quite well too! Here's to many more miles in the future. Cheers!

Thank you Gannu and I have to admit that almost everything that I have done on my GT is inspired from your experiments/swaps on your GT

I had promised myself to stick to bare bone stock when I bought this car 2yrs back, but slowly & surely was completely blown away by your efforts on updating your stead.

Rest assured, I am not going to get anywhere close to the extent of mods on your car, but surely will continue following your threads to keep my GT updated.

[volkman10]

Happy anniversary on your GT acquisition and more to joining the VW family!

Good to see you are turning to be their brand ambassador and a passionate VW fan

[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Happy anniversary on your GT acquisition and more to joining the VW family!

Good to see you are turning to be their brand ambassador and a passionate VW fan

Thank you Bro and as I have mentioned, yes the German Engineering/Family is really an experience that is to be felt, though its not the cheapest to get.

Regarding VW brand ambassador, I think probably nobody on this forum deserves that title/credit more than Gannu.

Call it just pure coincidence, but IMO VW (India) have actually updated Polo with almost similar changes that he had done on hi GT. The sequence and add-ons are eerily similar to what he did.

[psuraj]

Congratulations Vikram, Wish you many many more trouble free and happy years.
PS: As for our DIY Legend Gannu , I think it is time VW CEO hires him directly to VW R&D to help them bin parts for their car better in India.

[Vik0728]

3Yrs/45000 Kms Update

So this was the slowest 15K Kms of the 3 years, and ironically, the timeline overtook the actual running of the service interval. My official travels along with my personal holidays ensured that my GT clocked only about 43K kms by its 3rd service due date.

So my GT started constantly reminding me on the service. I had PMed Rohan (shetty_rohan) for sharing the contact of Mysore VW SA. I could get in touch with Sampath whom I had fixed an appointment on Friday (31 March) and was assured a delivery by noon if I could handover the car before 9am.

The thing I was a bit sceptical about was the Dieselgate software update, which was my biggest concern. But I got a confirmation that this was still not available for the 1.6 TDI.

VW Mysore was already sounding like the right move to me

Dropped off my GT at the service station at 8.55am and was assured a delivery at 1pm. I had particularly refused any additional services such as wheel balancing/alignment, AC duct disinfectant and interior polish.
True to his word, I got the car back as promised with the following damages to my pocket:



My observations post service:

- Engine feels smooth and with the windows raised, the engine sound is pretty quiet.

- The overall refinement has really improved and the car feels much eager now.

- The throttle response is much crisp and the response is quite instantaneous.

Some eye candies:








The bottomline is:

Have got another 1yr/15K kms to enjoy the Torque Thrust !!


P.S - @ Mods: Please move the thread to 'Long Term Ownership'.