[Vik0728]

Yes !! Yes !! Yes !! GT Bug gets me and how.



I have been a member of this forum since 2010 and the petrol-head in me has only gotten stronger & more knowledgeable since.
My first car was a Hyundai Santro Limited Edition which I owned for over 3 years.



During one of its routine services, I just bumped into a white Hyundai Getz in the stock yard. To cut things short, I had this in my garage in a month's time and looked like this on the D-Day.



Family and well wishers had advised me not to buy a car that was getting phased out but I always went through with my heart, which just could not get enough of this car. After so my journeys with one of the most spacious and uber cool hatchbacks that started the B+ segment in India, I was a content owner of this Korean VFM product.

It took me a lot of meticulous planning and over 3years to turn it into this:



PROLOGUE -

At this stage, I was almost content with my drive since it drove quite well and looked really good. But remember, I was “Almost” content. Getz drives well with the 1.3 ltr petrol engine, but somehow I never got connected with the drive. Everything about the car was pure bliss, but I felt that this was the kind of car I wanted to drive when I was 50, not right now.
Then came the day when Polo was launched in India, which was basically a smaller cousin of my dream car – VW SCIRROCCO. I went weak in my knees the day I saw this baby. But with a 1.2 TDI and Petrol engines, I felt Indians were devoid of all the fun by VW. I either convinced or confused my wife for a TD nevertheless, but soon realized it was not the best thing to do. Everything about the experience was pathetic. To begin with, the VW Palace Cross folks could care less about its future or interested customers. It was not like they were selling some outstanding product for them to put up so much of attitude. Even the drive was so bad that I stayed away from any kind of TD’s for a year.

FATE-ful FORTUNE

I was asked to leave the country on 6 months project to Chicago from work. This kept me away from both Indian car scene and my Getz, which my cousin was driving around. I had rented a Focus in US which was an amazing machine to drive around considering the roads & infrastructure there. What this actually did was to keep my petrol-head satisfied and content. So, when I did get back home early this year, I was all fresh and looking forward to being with family. But the Focus had spoilt me silly and I was somehow not enjoying driving my Getz anymore. There was absolutely no issue with Getz and I even considered getting it remapped from T-O-T. I checked with PateienceWins as well who had got his retuned and loved the results. Invariably my driving had increased to about 2000Kms per month and the petrol was proving a bit too much. So, I had decided to switch over to diesel, despite all the deregulation news running wild.

DECISION

Unlike the previous time when I had either convinced or confused my wife for TD’s, this time I was convinced I wanted to own & drive a better car but was confused on which one. It was not like we Indians were spoilt by choices, but the ones I had shortlisted still fell short of some or the other criteria. I have a longing for hatches and will pick one over any sedan or SUV always. I had only 3 cars that I had shortlisted:

• Grand Punto 90 HP – It sounds quite absurd & ridiculous but I feel that if Punto was to play a part in Transformers, it easily fits the role of a hot chick that every other car fantasized about . It looks more than what it is priced. But It was mostly ‘All Show & No Go’. Drive a friend’s 90 HP Punto on a 200Km drive and lost all the interest of owning one. Something about the Steering position, pedals, seats and power delivery did not feel good.
  
  I was still willing to check out the offers from Fiat & dialed in to Fiat cafe on the ORR. I was promptly addresed by a representative and was assigned a Test drive of the 90 HP. The SA who came by was courteous but lacked the knowledge. He was quite confident that Fiat had addressed the gearing ratios of the Punto early this year and it was now faster & more driveable than before. I never felt either during the TD. Nevertheless, I thanked them for the TD and went back to my data sheets. The Punto felt composed during the drive on the Nice road but never felt connected. I wanted a car that offered the deadly cocktail of fun & economy.
  
  So Out went the Punto from the list. I wish Punto had the heart of a T-jet or the GT TDI.
  

• Verna Fluidic 1.6 CRDI – Was the only mid-sized sedan that I wanted to try. Hyundai have been the brand for my family and a powerhouse from this stable always had one thing what most of the competition did not, ‘After Sales Backing’. I went for a 20Kms spin in one on the nice road. The 1.6 did pack a punch but it somehow felt less inspiring than my Getz. Getz could neither accelerate nor hit top speeds of Verna, but it always felt more confident at higher speeds than the latter. My trusted SA from Advaith confirmed that Hyundai had worked on the Shocks of the Verna and stiffened them up for better dynamics. I don't deny the fact that this is actually true and the Verna felt a lot more composed & sturdy. The 16" Diamond Cut Alloys, All round Disk breaks, Hyundai's trusted after sales, etc were extremely sensible to invest 12lks in a depreciating product. But somehow Verna still felt like a regular upgrade, I could not really get a sense of adrenalin rushing through everytime I put my foot down.
  So the Verna 1.6 CRDI was a strong contendor, but was put on hold.

• GT TDI Happened
  I had reserved the best & my favourite for the last since I knew that if this was my first TD car, I would not have tested the others. I decided to TD the GT and I was blown away. This is the car that connected with me on my first drive. After driving this baby, I felt that I had found my replacement for the Getz. Yes, Polo was probably not close to as spacious as Getz and neither had VW proved as the most reliable brand in India. But then again, this was the car that gave the same goose bumps I had when I floored the Focus back in US. I was sold and so was the GT TDI to me !!
  So GT TDI it was and nothing else would do.

When I had decided to get my GT TDI, I got a rude awakening that it was getting phased out and would be replaced by a 1.5Ltr TDI soon. I got even more desperate when I learnt that the White Colour was already out of stock and the remaining red & blacks were soon running out as well. I have always loved the air dams and front grill on the Polo. The headlight blackening also was just the way I loved. All this were obviously more evident on a Red shade than Black. So, I decided to go with the FLASH RED.

Deal & the Dealer

From my previous experience with the VW Palace Cross, I was quite sceptical to approach them this time around. I even spoke to Prashanth (Speed Kills) to help me with some contacts from the VW Whitefield showroom. But soon, I realized that VW Palace cross was quite accessible to me and was located enroute my parents place, which I visited 2-3 times a week. I was also introduced to SA by name Darshan by my friend who had recently picked up the Passat. Darshan was very courteous and constantly updated me with all the offers & benefits that were available. The compete attitude of the showroom folks had changed in 3 years and now they were appearing like they were really here to care & serve the customers.

Between the SBI & VW finance, I decided to go with the latter because of the following benefits I could obtain:
- 3yrs Insurance free
- 3yrs Warranty free
- 3yrs RSA free
- 25k exchange bonus
- Rate of interest at 10.3% fixed for 5yr tenure
- 5k worth accesories free

Final Deal

Ex Showroom - 825112
RTO - 128222
Registration Charges - 6240
Insurance - 34759

On Road - 994333

Discounts - Free Insurance + 25k exchange bonus

Final Price - 934547/- INR


Exteriors - German cars may not look the best amongst competition but they age slowly & gracefully. Polo is no exception and it may not ooze beauty like a Punto or the presence of an I20, but it has an unmistable charecter to its charm. I have actually realized that Polo design looks really fabulous in Red, which is still not my most favourite colour.
The Estrada Alloys are just the way I wanted them to be. I am a big fan of twin spoke rims and these fit my taste perfectly.
The smoked headlamp kind of looks are just fine to keep me happy for few years, until I shift over to projectors.
The rear looks brilliant with only the GT TDI badge, something I love.
As mentioned earlier, I love low stance and GT TDI is one of the lowest hatches in India today. Super like this.












Interior - Anybody who has been in any of the German cars will know that these machines are put together impeccably. Everthing feels top notch and built to last longer than many ownerships.
One of the reason for me to buy the Polo over Punto were the ergonomics. I had accidentally rolled down the rear windows many times in Punto since I could not reach the front power window buttons easily. On the Polo however, everything fell perfectly within reach and a felt a lot more like my previous car, Getz.
The OEM speakers that came along on both Punto & Verna were far better than the ones on the Polo. I would rate them about 6 out of 10 in sound quality & output.
I sorely miss the arm rest & dead pedal that were there in my Getz. But I know that these can be bought from an aftermarket store anytime.
One major flaw of the Polo is the interior space. It feels a lot more cramped than even an I10 for example. But one thing I have noticed about Polo is the travel distance of the driver's seat. I don't push my seat the way I used to in Getz which actually has improved some amount of space for the person sitting directly behind me.
Comfort is really a segment above I must add. My mother, who is only used to sitting in my Getz & my bro's I20, immediately confirmed that she felt a lot more secure, less wobbly & lot more comfortable in Polo.
The AC does not chill the cabin immediately and takes some time. But once the AC is running at its peak, the cabin remains quite chilled.

The Heart Matter - Enough has been reported and detailed by GTO & other experts on the forum about this special hatch.
1.6l TDI Engine, 105 bhp & 253 NM torque in a car that weighs around 1.16 tonnes. Power to weight ratio of 90 & Torque to weight ratio of 216. These are the numbers that mid sized sedans must have and many actually don't in India.
The power delivery is anything but linear. There is almost no lag if driven in the right gear. The GT TDI acts like an automatic most of the time and I rearly have to shift down from 3rd gear even in a slow moving traffic.
Have taken the GT to open highway couple of times and it just leaves almost all other cars behind when accelerated hard. My brother is a biker and is a part of some superbike club in Bangalore. He has ridden many of the 600-1000 cc bikes and has even planned of buying the Daytona. He felt that the GT TDI acceleration was quite similar to the way a 600cc bike would accelerate. Even if that was a bit exagerated, it still sounds good to know that.
GT TDI has an immaculate tendency to return some mind boggling mileage. I have not driven it for a very long distance yet other than a 250 km drive, but the average I got from the drive was about 20.2 Km/l (as shown on MID). Even if I consider all the errors, a respectable 18km/l is still brilliant for such a powerful hatch.
The Suspenion setup is just perfect for Indian conditions & with the car seating 5 adults, it does not scrape anything that it rolls on. With wide 205 section rubbers, I feel like taking corners a lot faster than I used to in my previous car.
Coming from Hyundai Getz that had a Hydraulic Power steering, this feels a bit to soft for me. But what Polo does excel in is the accuracy that I did not find in my bro's I20.


So Far…

I have only had the car for less than a week but I feel like I have been driving one for a year. I have completely settled into a comfortable position and loving every second of the 400kms driven. I am being very careful about the run-in and keeping a very light foot. The MID has shown a best mileage of 24.9KM/l and the least of 15.9Km/L. I could not really dream of a better way of owning my first diesel car. The car is simply perfect with respect to the ease of driving or parking.

Gannu is the expert when it comes to GT TDI and his thread has a detailed review of all the know-hows of this brilliant piece of engineering.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ownership.html

I have not driven the car a lot but have spent a lot of time pampering her. I will be updating this thread as and when I hit considerable milestones such as 1k, 2k,... Kms. Until now, I can probably try and list out three things:

The Good -

- They say, 'Power is nothing without Control' and this babe has best of both.
- Torque is so abundant that even with AC in full blast & a four adults on board, the car takes off without any fuss in the 2nd Gear.
- Seating position with all the adjustments such as Tilt & Telescopic steering, seat height adjustment, etc.
- With careful right foot, this baby can give a mind boggling 24.3Km/l (as per MID).
- I just love a low stance machine and currently, there aren't many lower than the Polo.
- Ground clearance is outstanding and matches, if not excels my Getz.

The Bad -

- Honestly, this is not a fair comparison and neither does it bother me a lot, but the rear leg space. Coming from a car like Getz, even a Laura feels quite cramped for tall rear passengers. But then again, it is only me & my wife who are seated over 99% of the time.
- Again, not that I am complaining but the ride is quite stiff compared to the softly sprung shocks of a Hyundai. I actually love this setup but have to be quite careful with the crater like tarmac of Bangalore roads.

The Ugly -

- Sinice I have 3yr warranty on my GT from VW, I am extremely careful & edgy about adding any new gizmos such as an Amp & Sub. Apparently the OEM head unit does not support 4 speakers & a 2 Channel amp that powers a Sub. Raju from Konark insisted me to either upgrade the head unit or forget about the front speakers giving out any sound. Either required splicing the cables, which I have put off for now.
- One 'Flaw' that Indians should probably sue VW for is making GT look like just another Polo. They need not be gizmo freaks like Koreans, but atleast they must have provided some goodies like:
1. Auto-folding ORVM upon locking the car.
2. A dead pedal only for the GTs.
3. A Driver Arm-rest purely for this being a GT.
4. A Boot Light since GT generally carries passengers & their luggage.
5. A DRL integrated into the Head light or the fog lamp.

Yes, I do understand that all these would have probably added to the cost but then again, these machines were never meant for the mass market. So, I feel with all these pugged in, GT Buyers like me would feel great about plonking in probably even 10lks for a hatch.


Changes
Things that I have either changed or replaced so far:
1. Changed the Parking lights and Reverse lights to LEDs & White Bulbs respectively.

2. Replaced the Horn with Roots horn.

3. Replaced the OEM tires with 205-55 R15 Kenda Komet Tires.


I have only added my experience, which Is quite concise. I would like to mention Prashanth (Speed_Kills), BRRaj & Kedar who were very patient in answering all my queries regarding GT which helped me decide.

[KING DYSP]

Let me be the first one to wish you mate. Congrats on acquiring fantastic GT TDI. Wishing you many more happy miles in your New Mean Machine.

EDIT:: Kenda Komet - hearing for the first time buddy. How good are these tyres?

Regards.

[sandeepsarma]

Congratulations on your new GT! Looks lovely. It's my favourite hatchback and with that engine it surely must be a rocket Wishing you many wonderful years with it.

[nakul0888]

Hearty Congratz on your new ride VIK.

GT TDI is the most "sensible" mad hatch in the market today.

Everything good about the normal Polo + Performance of the TSI + Super economy of diesel + + Manual Gearbox for the purist & No headaches over DSG + only 10,000 bucks more dearer than the TSI. Everything that a guy could ask for from a hatchback.

In case you are wondering about my avatar, yup that's my GT.






Welcome to the club my friend.

[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by KING DYSP

Let me be the first one to wish you mate. Congrats on acquiring fantastic GT TDI. Wishing you many more happy miles in your New Mean Machine.

EDIT:: Kenda Komet - hearing for the first time buddy. How good are these tyres?

Regards.

Thank you KING DYSP. Yes, GT TDI is a special hatch and I am quite lucky to have one today.

Kenda tyres are a Taiwanese brand and have been in the industry since the early 60's. They are not well known ofcourse but apprently they are stacked agains the likes of Yokohoma DB series. These are fairly grippy, have a wide foot print and are sooper silent.

Originally Posted by sandeepsarma

Congratulations on your new GT! Looks lovely. It's my favourite hatchback and with that engine it surely must be a rocket Wishing you many wonderful years with it.

Thank you sandeepsarma. Yes, white was my favourite colour until I saw my baby for the first time. I think, the Polo Red is probably the best red shade available currently in India.

I have only tried revving it hard couple of times and it really flies.

Originally Posted by nakul0888

Hearty Congratz on your new ride VIK.

GT TDI is the most "sensible" mad hatch in the market today.

In case you are wondering about my avatar, yup that's my GT.

Welcome to the club my friend.

Thank you nakul0888 and yes it really is the best that a petrol head can buy for 10lks.

Your GT looks Ravishing in red bro and congrats to you too. I feel privileged to be part of such a 'Hot Club' !!

[Rehaan]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line section once again. Thanks for sharing!

[Nicky]

Very well put together experience.
Red looks great specially with GT badge.
Now as you don't want to lose warranty, you won't be able to tweak much but you will forget all these once fire the engine.
Enjoy the safe ride.

[brraj]

Congratulations on Polo GT tdi.

List of things to be aware.

- Make sure you keep an eye on engine oil level for the first 3k kms and top it up.
- Buy a 2 ton hydraulic jack, stock is painful.
- Upgrade to a 100/90 Osram bulbs, better than stock for night drives.

Kenda Komet Tires are new to me aswell, how much did you pay for each tire.

[Hells_Fury]

Hearty congratulations to you and welcome to the club!!

[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by brraj

Congratulations on Polo GT tdi.

List of things to be aware.

- Make sure you keep an eye on engine oil level for the first 3k kms and top it up.
- Buy a 2 ton hydraulic jack, stock is painful.
- Upgrade to a 100/90 Osram bulbs, better than stock for night drives.

Kenda Komet Tires are new to me aswell, how much did you pay for each tire.

Thank you brraj and your points were really helpful in the purchase.

I am keeping a close watch on the Engine oil and in fact check it every day morning before my drive.
I have also swapped the OEM bulbs with 55/60w Philips Vision. I will probably think about 90/100w upgrade after a while since I am quite sceptical about the VW warranty, which I have for 3yrs as of now.

Komet tyres are Indonasian make and they compete against DB series. One of my cousin has used these on his 90 HP punto for over 35k kms and has had no complaints yet.

Originally Posted by Hells_Fury

Hearty congratulations to you and welcome to the club!!

Thank you Hells_Fury and feels good to be a part of this Club !!

[akshay4587]

Congrats;She looks Haute in Red.
For people looking for reviews on Kenda Komet tires,here is the link

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...-how-they.html

[Gannu_1]

Heartiest congratulations and indeed, welcome to the club!

Red shade looks super hot! As member brraj mentioned, do check the oil levels periodically. VAG diesel engines are renown for drinking oil during their run-in period. You may require a top-up depending on your driving style. I did not have to do one so far - almost 11k km done.

Glad that you've changed your tires. I should have changed mine too when I took the delivery of the car but never realised the importance of better tires back then. Although 195/60 R15 seems to be the correct upgrade, there are several members who are using 205s on their Ventos.

In case you feel that the rearward visibility through the internal rear view mirror is bad, do opt for the change of head restraints for the rear seat to the inverted L-type, once the facelifted Polo hits the market. I am not sure if VW would be willing to retail these separately but if not, you can always get it redone from an upholstery shop. Get the OEM arm rest installed ASAP! It helps massively. You could live without a dead-pedal but an arm rest is a necessity IMO.

Best wishes (after all it's a VAG car; we are going to need it!) and drive safe!

[ad3952n]

Dear Vik, The car looks great and the choice of color looks really sporty. As you have begun to change a few things in the car I would like to know your future plan of action on modification of this car. May it always remain as brilliant as it looks today. Drive Safe and congrats on the new purchase.

Thanks.

[97_Octane]

Congrats on your new acquisition! She looks gorgeous

I have heard of Kenda tires but not to the reputation that they are comparable to Yokohamas. I always thought they are in the league of Nankangs,Hankooks etc etc. How is the braking? Do let us know (since the brakes need to do a great amount of work to bring this steed to a halt :P).

Wish you many miles of happy motoring

[volkman10]

Welcome to the Club, and congratulations on getting the hottest hatch in the diesel segment.
Do not go by the negative stories of VW service,there are dealers in Bangalore who can be rated more than satisfactory.
Best Wishes and Drive Safe!