[harish]

Originally Posted by graaja

Exteriors

I have always been an admirer of the understated look of the Polo and never missed giving a second look when I see a Polo on the road. I love the way the car looks in Carbon Steel Grey. I will let the pictures do the talking.

Attachment 1426002

Attachment 1426003

Hey graaja, I'm from Coimbatore as well. Could you please share the location where you shot these two photos.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by harish

Hey graaja, I'm from Coimbatore as well. Could you please share the location where you shot these two photos.

Hi Harish, these pictures were shot near Brindavan old age homes near Lakshmi nagar on the Vadavalli-Thondamuthur road.

[suhaas307]

Hi Graaja,

It's been a while since you've updated this thread.

I understand that the new entrant has relegated the poorer GT to the sidelines, but do give us an update on the car!

How are the KW Coilovers holding up? I am keen on procuring the same for my Polo in the future, and would like feedback from those who have experienced it first hand.

Cheers
Suhaas

[graaja]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

It's been a while since you've updated this thread.

I understand that the new entrant has relegated the poorer GT to the sidelines, but do give us an update on the car!

I have been delinquent in updating this thread for almost two years. Apologies. Couple of reasons reasons for this.

• Once I completed all the DIYs, there was nothing much to report. Just the usual yearly services and one battery change from OEM to Amaron.
• My wife totally took over the Polo GT. I hardly get to drive the car these days. The car is used only in city and the running has come down a lot. It has run at the most 5000 kilometers in the past two years. The odo stands at 21000 kilometers

There have been some updates in the last few weeks.

• The Continental MC5 tires had become too noisy. The road noise had become unbearable. Though the tires have run only 21000 kilometers and have at least another 15000 kilometers worth life, with the current usage, that would mean another 3 years of driving with this noise. So, I changed the MC5s to Michelin P4STs. The road noise is completely gone now and comfort level has gone up several notches. Also, as I went for 195/60/R15, steering has become much lighter and my wife is very happy.
• I had changed to KW coilovers mainly to fix the highway handling behavior of the car. However, as the car now does only city runs, my wife was complaining about the harsh ride at low speeds over speed breakers. So, I removed the coilovers and went back to the stock suspensions. With the tires changed to P4ST the ride is much softer at city speeds and wife is happy.
• Reverse camera stopped working. When reverse gear is engaged, the flip camera opens up, but the HU shows an error "no signal". Not sure if the issue is with the camera or the HU. Haven't got the time to troubleshoot this yet.
• HU has started showing an error that rear left tire pressure sensor is not responding. Most probably the battery has drained in this sensor. There is nothing that can be done about this as the vendor who sold this HU has closed shop.

Things to do:

• Have to troubleshoot the reverse camera issue. if the problem is with the flip camera, I need to either replace the flip camera, or go back to the number plate light camera setup.
• If the issue is with the HU, need to replace the HU. The only option is to go with RCD330G. VW dealer is quoting 45K for the HU. It costs 200$ in AliExpress. However with the issues I am facing with the flip camera and the existing HU both sourced from AliExpress, I don't feel like getting it from AliExpress. So, I am in two minds now.

Originally Posted by suhaas307

How are the KW Coilovers holding up? I am keen on procuring the same for my Polo in the future, and would like feedback from those who have experienced it first hand.

As I have mentioned above, I have removed the coilovers and have reverted back to stock suspensions. However from 2 years of driving, I can say that the coilovers totally transform how the car handles in high speeds and in the curves. In curves, the car just feels like it is on rails. And it is super stable at highway speeds with no body roll on undulations. Even at low city speeds the car just sails over small potholes.

A few problems I faced with the coilovers:

• You need to be very careful when going over speed breakers. Even a little more speed than required, the car just becomes airborne.
• Ride height adjustment is very crucial during installation. After a year and a half, there was some difference in ride height in the front suspension and the steering wheel used to be a little offset to the left when the car was going straight. This was not the pull you experience when there is problem in wheel alignment. The car used to go straight without any pull, just that the steering wheel was a little offset.
• After reverting back to stock suspensions, I found that one of the rear struts had leaked oil. This did not affect the ride though. Maybe if I had continued to use this, it may have started giving problem sometime in the near future.

[harish]

Hey graaja,

I have been eyeing a suspension upgrade for my GT too, initially had ideas for Bilstein B6. But now I really want the KW Street Comfort or KW V2.

Since you have swapped back to stock suspension setup, do you have any plans on selling your coilovers?

You had mentioned a rear strut had leaked oil, how serious is it?

[graaja]

Originally Posted by harish

Hey graaja,

I have been eyeing a suspension upgrade for my GT too, initially had ideas for Bilstein B6. But now I really want the KW Street Comfort or KW V2.

Since you have swapped back to stock suspension setup, do you have any plans on selling your coilovers?

You had mentioned a rear strut had leaked oil, how serious is it?

Hi Harish,

Yes. I am planning to sell the coilovers. The strut which is leaking has to be replaced before I can sell the set. As I am short of time due to work commitments, I have just kept them aside. We could discuss this using PM. But I guess you still do not have access to PM feature in the forum. Send me a mail to <my tbhp handle>@gmail.com. We can discuss.

[harish]

Originally Posted by graaja

...Yes. I am planning to sell the coilovers. The strut which is leaking has to be replaced before I can sell the set. As I am short of time due to work commitments, I have just kept them aside. We could discuss this using PM. But I guess you still do not have access to PM feature in the forum. Send me a mail to <my tbhp handle>@gmail.com. We can discuss.

Yes, unfortunately I don't have access to sending PM's yet. I will shoot you a mail about the same. Thank You

[ais]

Are the KW Street Comfort adjustable for stiffness from inside the boot and bonnet, without having to remove the tyres or lift the car?

I'm trying to decide between Bilstein B6 (fit and forget) or KW Street Comfort for lowering the ride height a bit as well.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by ais

Are the KW Street Comfort adjustable for stiffness from inside the boot and bonnet, without having to remove the tyres or lift the car?

I'm trying to decide between Bilstein B6 (fit and forget) or KW Street Comfort for lowering the ride height a bit as well.

For the front coilovers, adjustment can be done from the top in the engine compartment. For the rears, adjustment is in the side. So the car has to get lifted to access the adjustment.