[Alisiddiqui]

Hey. Even I bought a white AT this month. She's a breeze. And am ignoring flack from other petrol heads. Share picks of the leather seats. Want one, but do not want original fit to be messed so continued with the livon. Sadly did no get RCD310 with steering mounted controls and park censors. Figured VW clearing stocks, got a steal btw. Do share some notes. Cheers

[bala80]

Congratulations on the landmark Noopster. I remember following your thread and posts on vento very closely when I was waiting for my car to be delivered and your posts have always been a pleasure to read.

Oh, before I forget, congratulations on being elevated to the position of moderator in the forum, well deserved, IMO.

[nanduchitnis]

Hey Anoop,

Congrats on your promotion to a Moderator on T BHP. First for Pune BHPians!

[noopster]

Originally Posted by Alisiddiqui

Hey. Even I bought a white AT this month. She's a breeze. And am ignoring flack from other petrol heads.

Yup that's the only way to enjoy this car: develop a thick skin!

Share picks of the leather seats. Want one, but do not want original fit to be messed so continued with the livon. Sadly did no get RCD310 with steering mounted controls and park censors. Figured VW clearing stocks, got a steal btw. Do share some notes. Cheers

Ali, the pics of my leather seats are here. I think VW overestimated the demand for petrols and ended up with a huge stockpile which they are finally through clearing (?) after all the limited editions and cash discount offers they operated last year. BTW the Livon is very good: looks gorgeous, feels wonderful and has an elegance about it. If you drive mostly alone with no kids jumping up and down etc. you may be well served to retain the original upholstery!

Bala, Nandu & everyone else: thanks very much for the kind wishes!

[Alisiddiqui]

Originally Posted by noopster

Yup that's the only way to enjoy this car: develop a thick skin!

Ali, the pics of my leather seats are here. I think VW overestimated the demand for petrols and ended up with a huge stockpile which they are finally through clearing (?) after all the limited editions and cash discount offers they operated last year. BTW the Livon is very good: looks gorgeous, feels wonderful and has an elegance about it. If you drive mostly alone with no kids jumping up and down etc. you may be well served to retain the original upholstery!

Bala, Nandu & everyone else: thanks very much for the kind wishes!

Hey thanks . I ride with wifey and daughter. The livon catches a lot of hair and the sets of my polo within an year looked very soiled. My dad uses it now and still complains. My only worry with aftermarket leather is the finish around edges. Like in your rear arm rest. Not clean. The shape of the seat base at edges with the stitching will also be lost which looks great currently. I noticed original seats have a frame around which helps keep them fit. However, on a Laura getting leather at Reliance Autozone , he was using fevi paste to stick around edges. How were yours put in. Wont mind spending more for the fit if the Stanley types can assure it. Saw leatherite on vento at display at auto expo. Guess new models will carry it and I will miss it terribly.

Did you also change the stereo. My issue is same to memorise the tracks nos

[subodh]

Originally Posted by Alisiddiqui

Hey thanks . I ride with wifey and daughter. The livon catches a lot of hair and the sets of my polo within an year looked very soiled. My dad uses it now and still complains. My only worry with aftermarket leather is the finish around edges. Like in your rear arm rest. Not clean. The shape of the seat base at edges with the stitching will also be lost which looks great currently. I noticed original seats have a frame around which helps keep them fit. However, on a Laura getting leather at Reliance Autozone , he was using fevi paste to stick around edges. How were yours put in. Wont mind spending more for the fit if the Stanley types can assure it. Saw leatherite on vento at display at auto expo. Guess new models will carry it and I will miss it terribly.

Did you also change the stereo. My issue is same to memorise the tracks nos

If you are looking at a change to leather, go for Stanley. I don't know if you have Stanley in gurgaon but if not, get in touch with Stanley in mumbai and check with them their authorised distributor. I had visited Stanley showroom in mumbai and their fits and finish is very high quality. If you are getting an install done from outside/ non standard Stanley dealer, get an assurance from him that the fit and finish will be accurate else he will restore it to original.

[noopster]

I agree Ali. Stanley is the best. I have no regrets since what I did was pure VFM but check anilkalvani's Vento thread and you will see the difference!

And no, I haven't changed my stock ICE yet. Some nonsense about voiding the warranty etc. so thought I'd wait. Did seriously consider the Caska (around 48K) and Motevo (slightly cheaper, that you can check out on subodh's thread). But in the end decided it's just not worth it. AnkitParashar has imported and fitted a Witson in his car for half this price, so you may want to check that out as well.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by nanduchitnis

Hey Anoop,

Congrats on your promotion to a Moderator on T BHP. First for Pune BHPians!

Actually that would be technocrat.

Originally Posted by noopster

I agree Ali. Stanley is the best. I have no regrets since what I did was pure VFM but check anilkalvani's Vento thread and you will see the difference!

And no, I haven't changed my stock ICE yet. Some nonsense about voiding the warranty etc. so thought I'd wait. Did seriously consider the Caska (around 48K) and Motevo (slightly cheaper, that you can check out on subodh's thread). But in the end decided it's just not worth it. AnkitParashar has imported and fitted a Witson in his car for half this price, so you may want to check that out as well.

Congrats on becoming a mod Noopster. +1 that Stanley is just great, the fit is exactly like OEM.

Good thing the Ventos ICE isn't too bad, say like my Puntos which I just had to change for something better.

While the Caska does seem VFM with so many features, the quality will not be that great and I would recommend a normal Pioneer/JVC touchscreen in which the quality of sound at least I am sure would be better than a Witson or Caska.

[anilkalvani]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Actually that would be technocrat.



Congrats on becoming a mod Noopster. +1 that Stanley is just great, the fit is exactly like OEM.

Good thing the Ventos ICE isn't too bad, say like my Puntos which I just had to change for something better.

While the Caska does seem VFM with so many features, the quality will not be that great and I would recommend a normal Pioneer/JVC touchscreen in which the quality of sound at least I am sure would be better than a Witson or Caska.

Blaupunkt, IMHO, is simply awesome. Not regretting my decision one bit. Ditto with the Stanleys.

And congrats Anoop. Shall we now call you Modster?

[one-77]

Originally Posted by Alisiddiqui

Hey thanks . I ride with wifey and daughter. The livon catches a lot of hair and the sets of my polo within an year looked very soiled. My dad uses it now and still complains. My only worry with aftermarket leather is the finish around edges. Like in your rear arm rest. Not clean. The shape of the seat base at edges with the stitching will also be lost which looks great currently. I noticed original seats have a frame around which helps keep them fit. However, on a Laura getting leather at Reliance Autozone , he was using fevi paste to stick around edges. How were yours put in. Wont mind spending more for the fit if the Stanley types can assure it. Saw leatherite on vento at display at auto expo. Guess new models will carry it and I will miss it terribly.

Did you also change the stereo. My issue is same to memorise the tracks nos

Go for Stanley or Orion. I've got Stanley leather upholstery installed on my Linea and the fit an finish is perfect. Only be wary of the fact that if you are getting the door pads done up in leather, you might end up with some rattles.

[subodh]

As I have said before, there are two aspects to ICE setup. One being your features look etc. the motivo system I have in my vento is loaded with features like:
Bluetooth telephone connectivity, USB, aux and iPod connectivity ports, sd card slot, navigation, video DVD play back, plays all kind of media formats plus looks very much oem to the extent that it shows VW logo when switched on.
The other side of ICE setup is the actual sound in terms of clarity and punch. For this you can add amps components and sub woofers.

Now both these things are non dependent and individual. If from Ice setup you mean great sound quality, then by keeping the same HU, you can just go for an amp, components and sub woofer and sky is the limit on how much you can spend. But if you look at features and style, then only you should go for HU change as the current HU along with the amp can drive the good speakers.
I wanted the works and that's why I went the whole way. The amp, the HU and components and will be adding sub woofer in short while.

In terms of warranty, it has been confirmed to me by a service advisor from VW that as long as no wire is cut, the warranty remains.

[Amey]

Originally Posted by subodh

Now both these things are non dependent and individual. If from Ice setup you mean great sound quality, then by keeping the same HU, you can just go for an amp, components and sub woofer and sky is the limit on how much you can spend. But if you look at features and style, then only you should go for HU change as the current HU along with the amp can drive the good speakers.
I wanted the works and that's why I went the whole way. The amp, the HU and components and will be adding sub woofer in short while.

In terms of warranty, it has been confirmed to me by a service advisor from VW that as long as no wire is cut, the warranty remains.

Most of the stock HU do not offer the fine tuning options so even if the components,amps,installation is good, it may not perform to its potential. I am assuming that the newer HU is slightly better in terms of features but is on par or slightly better in terms of quality and tunability compared to older gen OE HU, the one I got in my car.In that case, sorry to say but there is just nothing you can do to fine tune your setup. Also take into consideration whether the stock HU has pre outs or not.If yes then it would be possible to plonk in a Amp. Does the stock HU have pre outs ? I am not sure.
Features and style aren't the only things when it comes to making a decision whether one wants to upgrade the HU or not ?
There are lot of factors that come into play.For example, Pre out voltage, DACs,X-Over adjustability, No. of pre outs and so on.
Cross over settings are particularly useful since they allow you to set the cut off frequencies for different bands which in turn helps in better integration. If you get Time alignement along with all these features then nothing like it, with TA, you can get imaging spot on.
Why do you think I went from the stock 2 Din junk to my old trusted single din Pio P80 RSII ?
Just my 2 cents.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by subodh

As I have said before, there are two aspects to ICE setup. One being your features look etc. the motivo system I have in my vento is loaded with features like:
Bluetooth telephone connectivity, USB, aux and iPod connectivity ports, sd card slot, navigation, video DVD play back, plays all kind of media formats plus looks very much oem to the extent that it shows VW logo when switched on.
The other side of ICE setup is the actual sound in terms of clarity and punch. For this you can add amps components and sub woofers.

Now both these things are non dependent and individual. If from Ice setup you mean great sound quality, then by keeping the same HU, you can just go for an amp, components and sub woofer and sky is the limit on how much you can spend. But if you look at features and style, then only you should go for HU change as the current HU along with the amp can drive the good speakers.
I wanted the works and that's why I went the whole way. The amp, the HU and components and will be adding sub woofer in short while.

In terms of warranty, it has been confirmed to me by a service advisor from VW that as long as no wire is cut, the warranty remains.

Not true.

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, in this case the HU.

My friend a much larger part of the sound quality depends on the HU thank you seem to think. Not only installing good speakers and amps will help. If the sound going to those good quality speakers is not pure in the first place how can they replay it sounding good.

p.s I'm an ICE noob compared to many over here, but I've spent enough time in the ICE forums to learn a few things.

[subodh]

True said amey and Akshay. But it depends in what is the level of integration and quality one is looking at. I have heard the system in your car amey and it's one of the best I have seen but I am talking about basic sound enhancement. The stock speakers with the stock unit do not give out very poor output. Now if the requirement of the time is only enhancing the quality of sound, then time alignment is very far fetched. Vento ice has preouts and has been confirmed by the guy from who has done my installation. Correct me if I am wrong, but you can set up sound to a certain level from the Amp itself. I would not even have talked about amps and components if vento had proper space and utilities to fit basic oval speakers which do not need an amp to drive the sound.

That's my opinion. I am not a very knowledgeable person in technicalities but have ear for good quality sound.

[dot]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, in this case the HU.

Very well said and very easily tested. Just change the aux-in input and test the sound quality of the one particular file from different mobiles, mp3 players, tablets, laptops and you will hear a big difference in sound quality.

Originally Posted by Amey

Most of the stock HU do not offer the fine tuning options
There are lot of factors that come into play.For example, Pre out voltage, DACs,X-Over adjustability, No. of pre outs and so on.

Originally Posted by subodh

Vento ice has preouts and has been confirmed by the guy from who has done my installation.

If the OEM HU has preouts then a good quality amp can give all the important controls for a decent musical experience. Gain control will take care of preout voltages and X-overs controls as needed by the setup.


Dont want to OT on the Vento thread, but I find my OEM HU based system to be pretty nice to listen to, these days; better than many mall audition rooms of Sony/JBLs, even though they are for home entertainment not ICE. Ultimately almost every system is imperfect. Maybe thats a good thing. Imperfect music is good. It adds character.