[sharan1988]

Long story short!

In 2012 I relocated myself from Australia to India. I knew I wanted a car before I land and so I had to choose a car based on the reviews given for it online. I had two cars in mind, polo 1.2tdi which was a 3 pot motor and Hyundai i20 Asta. Back in 2012 the polo felt quite basic when it came to offering features wherein the i20 had everything you needed in a car and a lot more. So I had asked my mom to get the i20 delivered home.

Two and a half years later I started feeling the need for an automatic car. This time I wanted a fun to drive car regardless of the features that the i20 had spoiled me with. I knew only a polo tsi will fall within my budget and I called Volkswagen for a test drive. I was actually expecting subpar customer service from them but I was proved wrong as they immediately got a car home for test drive and were not very pushy about it. During the test drive the salesman in fact asked me to slot the car into S-Mode to experience its full potential and the drive after that brought the biggest smile on my face. Before completing the drive, I knew the car I was going to get. After having discussed about my test drive experience of the polo with my parents they wanted me to go for a sedan for its extra legroom and boot space which would be useful once I get married . I had made up my mind to go for the vento and around that time my SA told me that a face lift version of the vento launch was round the corner. He invited me to the car launch and on the very same day I made the booking. “Terra Beige” was the new colour which was introduced with the facelift and I instantly fell in love with it. I got my car within two weeks from when I booked it and I must say that I am extremely happy with the service I got from SA and the service centre till date.

So this is the car that actually made me want to work on it, and it will never be forgotten for the rest of my life.



What I like:

● Clean lines and has a very business look to it
● TSI + DSG is a match made in heaven
● Solid build quality
● Flat bottom steering taken from cars twice or thrice its price
● Super refined engine
● Boot integration doesn’t look like an afterthought

What I don’t like:

● Soft suspension
● Weak brakes
● Could have done with more features
● Interior rattles
● Ancient audio system
● Cost cutting compared with the pre facelifted Vento

Modifications and accessories that I have carried out:

● Pete’s V3 remap
● Sachs super touring suspension
● 288mm big brake kit
● Brembo drilled rotors
● Brembo DOT 5.1 brake fluid
● Euro air channel guide
● BMC air filter
● ECS tuning top mount
● Automatic headlight module
● OEM RCD 340
● OEM Portago 16-inch alloy wheels
● Michelin Pilot Sport 4
● Steering with paddles
● GTI type handbrake
● Auto dimming interior mirror
● Anti-glare outside mirrors
● Passat interior cabin light
● Passat door speakers
● A-pillar tweeters
● Carpeted door cards
● Dash camera
● Rear camera with boot release button
● CR70 film all round the car
● Carbon fibre trim on the DSG selector
● Luminous 12v socket
● 8K OPS
● OEM LED Headlights

Car Review:

A lot has been already said about the car in detail in the vento facelift review https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...lose-look.html (2015 Volkswagen Vento Facelift : A Close Look) so I will be only concentrating on the changes that have been made to my car.

Exterior of the car:

The vento really looks the most mature in its segment. The chrome is slightly overdone but I like it. Every time I look at this car it reminds me of what Steve Jobs said “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”. A decade year old car still relevant in today's market, that’s saying something. I will let the pictures to do some talking.





This was the stock 15 inch alloy with Michelin Primacy 3st which I found a bit bouncy.



INTERIORS:

I found the interiors to be utilitarian but well built. Being a Volkswagen I knew I could spruce it up. So let me show the changes that I have made.

INFOTAINMENT:



The car came with an ancient looking audio system with 4 speakers. The audio quality was decent enough for me but that’s where the good thing ends. Even though it supported Bluetooth telephony, it didn’t show the contact name and the person at the other end of the call could never hear me clearly. That’s when I stumble upon a thread on Team Bhp about retrofitting a RCD330 plus to a Vento. I immediately ordered it from aliexpress and it has been my first ever DIY on a car. I had also gotten used to the reverse camera on the i20 that I missed in this, so I got a camera that would integrate nicely with the boot release button too.




While I was enjoying the touch screen, the lack of GPS meant I used a magnetic phone holder for google maps. I developed a new set of OCD problems and I wanted something that I could use google maps on and also needed it to be OEM. Soon enough I found a person in Malaysia selling his RCD340 made by Visteon. Lucky my friend was travelling from KL to India and she got it for me.



It doesn’t stop there. Though I was happy with the audio quality, I found the high frequency to be lacking so got a pair of OEM A pillar tweeters.



Just when I thought I was happy with the sound, I wanted to know if I could find better plug and play speakers. The only option in India was Focal but I also knew that I would lose the bass if I install those and so the hunt continued. On one of the many sleepless nights looking for car parts I came across a speaker made by Denon & Marantz premium sound system which is OE for the Passat rear door and it’s the same size as our front speaker. I ordered a pair and got them shipped.

Stock Speaker:



D&M PSS speaker:



Now I can say I am extremely satisfied with the audio quality with tighter bass and crisp highs.


CABIN LIGHT:

Although there was nothing wrong with the cabin lights the car came with, I wanted something more premium looking. The one from Passat comes with red backlight buttons which gives a feeling of an aeroplane cockpit at night and also throws a little red ambient light on the gear lever.




AUTO DIMMING IRVM:

My i20 had them and I couldn’t live without it. I liked the Passat’s frameless auto dimming IRVM with rain sensor, but it required a new windshield and I decided I would take that route when my windshield brakes but for now I took the cheaper route and it works brilliantly.



DASH CAMERA:

Should go unnoticed and must not look like an afterthought. I honestly didn’t buy it based on its performance but rather on how would it would look in my car.




Sorry for the dirty picture

CARPETED DOOR CARDS:

We don’t find smooth roads in our country which means we will have to deal with rattles over rough roads if we kept things within the door pockets. It was driving me crazy and I really needed something to stop this. Thankfully I got this material from Russia as I didn’t know where to find it in India. Installation was not easy though and for sure will test your patience. Once you get it all done properly it really makes your car feel premium.




AUTO HEADLIGHTS:

A lot has been said already about this in the forum. The auto function works really well.



LEATHER HAND BRAKE:

One of the area where volkswagen has cut cost.



CARBON FIBER DSG SELECTOR:



EXTERIOR:

WHEELS & TIRES:

I liked the way the car looked in stock form and I think there was nothing much to change. The 15 inchers where a little small and the pattern felt dated. I fell in love with the OEM Portago 16-inch alloy wheels which came on the latest feature- lift of the Vento. Got hold of them from the used market and swapped out the Apollo that they came with to the Michelin pilot sport 4. The car now feels a lot stiffer and the body roll has also reduced.



ANTI-GLARE OUTSIDE MIRRORS:

Now night drives are more pleasant in front of those huge SUVs.



PERFORMANCE UPGRADES:


BRAKES:

From day 1 I really felt the stock brakes don’t belong in this car and with frequent brake judder I had to start looking for some aftermarket replacement. I came across Brembo and bought slotted disc and red pads as a stock replacement for my car.



Little did I know that it would only be a marginal improvement over the stock brakes and the stopping power was just not enough ever after tweaking the brake assist on the VCDS. After looking at other options I had to decide between tarox slotted disc which is also known for its pad eating capabilities or go full out on a 288mm big brake upgrade. I decided on the later as I didn’t want to deal with frequent pad changes and having wasted money on brake upgrades before I didn’t want to make the same mistake again. Once the callipers and pads arrived I got brembo disc and DOT 5.1 brake fluid from the local market. The install was bolt on and with the pad bedded in, I can confidently drive at speeds knowing that my car has more stopping than what is required. Brake fading was an issue on stock size brakes and it hasn't happened ever since the upgrade. The car stops like its dropped an anchor under hard braking. This is definitely the best mod i have done to my car.




REMAPS:

Yes you read it right “Remaps”. Having a turbocharged car I knew a tuner could pull out a lot more power out from the 1.2 litre engine. At that time Tune-O-Tronics had just expanded itself into Chennai and It had a lot of positive reviews. I had approached them to get a remap done to my car and also explained what my requirements where. I don’t drive my car “Pedal to the Metal” and I wanted a stronger mid range. Post remap and after waiting for 500 KM for the map to set only to find it made no difference and my requirements had not been met, I later requested them to put me back on stock. Meanwhile I had also contacted Revo to remap my car and I was told that the stock map on the Vento is better than the Polo and not to waste my money remapping it. I drove my car on stock map for more than a year until I came across an offer by Pete's for new year. The remap bug bit me again and I got my car remapped and I can definitely say that the midrange has improved but I still feel it hasn’t made a remarkable difference. I am also not sure if my exceptions are too high for stage 1, as many Polo owners find the difference night and day.

I am also considering an engine swap from a wrecked Laura manual 1.8 TSI. I would like the members to throw some light, if it can be done using the engine from the Laura and DQ200 gearbox from my car?


SUSPENSION:

Volkswagen is known to build drivers car. I am really not sure what went wrong with this one. With every facelift they have started making the car feel like a boat. The car had continuous vertical movement and the suspension used to frequently bottom out. My goal was to reduce the body roll and to make the handling more neutral to get rid of some of that understeer. I ordered Bilstein B6 but it was out of stock for over 2 months and I couldn’t wait anymore. Sachs suspension seemed to be the other option for my car so I got the front struts which are made for polo and rear struts made for Octavia. Post upgrade the car felt a lot firmer and the body roll lessened to a point were it was comfortable to take curves on the highway at decent speeds. All aspects of the vehicle including acceleration and braking are greatly enhanced. The suspension has also quietened and “HISS” sound is now history. Wish I had done this as soon as I got my car. I am pleased and would buy them again. If you are looking for a race setup, these are not the best you could get, but I was shopping for a good, sporty street damper with no bad traits, and I don't mind spending less if I can get away with it. I also took the opportunity to change the top mounts made by ECS tuning.



STEERING:

The Vento's DSG7 DQ200 is sometimes lazy to downshift in D mode. Either I had to drive on S mode to always be in the power band or use the manual mode on the DSG selector. I simply couldn’t get used to the inverted (+) and (-) on the gear selector. The itch to buy a steering wheel with paddles become a priority. I bought a steering and made my mom carry them when she came back from Germany. The install was a breeze and now I have instant power with a dab of a button.



AIR FILTER:

I was not very keen in getting an aftermarket filter. For the most part the car has been running on stock filter using the euro air guide which draws cooler air from the front of the car. Until recently I wanted to try and see what an aftermarket filter could do. I had three choices:

● K&N 57S
● K&N replacement filter
● BMC

K&N 57S being the best choice came with its own air box but was very expensive and I knew air filters don’t make much of an impact when it comes to performance so I couldn’t justify spending a lot of money on it. BMC was the filter of choice as the cost was low and had a bigger filtration area. Post install I felt a mild increase in power at higher RPM. Whether there is an actual power increase or a placebo is still unknown.



The car has certainly been great and with mods every now and then the urge to change the car has never been there. That doesn’t mean the car has not given me any problems. Let me list a few:

● The glove box and the armrest rattles
● “Grrrr” noise comes at around 1800 RPM or just before the gear upshifts
● Volkswagen sends my car back with a scratch every time my car is sent to their workshop
● A metallic clunky/rattling noise comes during acceleration or under load and Volkswagen has not been able to diagnose the problem till date
● Rear parcel tray vibrates on rough roads

I thank Suhaas307 for encouraging me and giving me the opportunity to write an ownership review, also the readers for dedicating their time to read it. More updates to follow soon.

[SmartCat]

Moving thread from Assembly line to the Mods & Accessories forum. Thanks for sharing, Sharan!

[vishy76]

Your car is the perfect definition of the word "sleeper". Its very pleasing to see that you have given priority to mechanicals and later to visual mods.

Regarding, the grr sounds, please ask them to check the flywheel and clutch packs thoroughly. It seems to be a faulty flywheel to me atleast, a common fault on the 7 speed DSG.

[adneeraj]

Wow.. Truly a wolf with sheep's clothing if I can say that!
Sourcing the correct parts, the felt lining inside door panels, paddle shifter steering wheel, an upgraded RCD and speakers, Remap... You've kept upgrading the car in true sense.
I could buy it without batting an eye if I'm on the lookout...
Please keep updating.

[Venkatesh.H]

Welcome to team bhp forum. I have joined this forum recently. Update regularly about Vento performance post mod jobs. Vento is a very good work horse.

I have Polo, last year I noticed rattling sound inside cabin. Service persons couldn't solve the issue. Later found out, front passenger seat belt socket was making the rattling sound by touching seat frame during rough terrain. I have inserted thick rubber piece inbetween to arrest the vibrations. Now vehicle is quiet.

Venkatesh.H

[KaranP]

Hey Sharan,

Good job there with the car!
One question that I have is, on upgrading the rotors and calipers, is the ABS and ESP as effective as it was originally?

[itwasntme]

Superb upgrades I must say, and would have cost a packet! If you don't mind, can you list the upgrade costs against each item?

Cannot help but ask why you did not get an Octavia DSG in the first place, as many of the ride quality & interior issues would have sorted themselves out :-)

[sharan1988]

Originally Posted by vishy76

Your car is the perfect definition of the word "sleeper". Its very pleasing to see that you have given priority to mechanicals and later to visual mods.
Thank you so much. I don't like my car to get noticed and I did everything to make it feel better.
Regarding, the grr sounds, please ask them to check the flywheel and clutch packs thoroughly. It seems to be a faulty flywheel to me atleast, a common fault on the 7 speed DSG.

Thank you!

Volkswagen swapped out the DSG from a demo car to my car and the sound still persisted. Later they adjusted some cable that runs from the gearbox but the sound came back eventually.

Originally Posted by KaranP

Hey Sharan,

Good job there with the car!
One question that I have is, on upgrading the rotors and calipers, is the ABS and ESP as effective as it was originally?

Thank you!

The ABS module has to be recoded but unfortunately the ones we get didn't adapt to it. Tried a few panic braking and I never had any problems.

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Superb upgrades I must say, and would have cost a packet! If you don't mind, can you list the upgrade costs against each item?

Cannot help but ask why you did not get an Octavia DSG in the first place, as many of the ride quality & interior issues would have sorted themselves out :-)

Thank you for the kind words!

Firstly I didn't have the budget to get an Octavia and also I just wanted an automatic car, not even in my wildest dreams would I have thought to make any changes to my car.

[ram1kv]

Lovely thread. Great to see that you have gone for function over form with some terrific upgrades. Yes, why not Octavia DSG?

[Viraat13]

Originally Posted by sharan1988

The car has certainly been great and with mods every now and then the urge to change the car has never been there. That doesn’t mean the car has not given me any problems. Let me list a few:

● The glove box and the armrest rattles
● “Grrrr” noise comes at around 1800 RPM or just before the gear upshifts

Hi Sharan,
Congratulations! Absolutely love the mods you have done. I've done a fair few of those on my GT TSI too.

The armrest creaks are easy to solve. You just need to order some furniture pads and put them on the underside of the lid that touches the base. It'll reduce the creaks by a good margin.

If the grr noise is coming only under load/acceleration, it is the VGT valve. I've successfully diagnosed the issue with the master technician at my VW SC, but am yet to claim warranty on it.

Originally Posted by sharan1988

● 288mm big brake kit
● Passat interior cabin light
● Passat door speakers
● A-pillar tweeters
● Carpeted door cards
● 8K OPS (Parts already bought)
● Highline BCM

Could you tell me a little more about the mods?

• Big brake kit - Am I right in assuming that this upgrade isn't possible with 15 inch wheels?
• Passat interior cabin light - How did you install this? The OE plug is a 3 pin plug, but this has more slots?
• Passat door speakers - Could you share the part number/link?
• A pillar tweeters - This has been on my list, but wasn't sure where to begin. Could you share a link/part number?
• Carpeted door cards - Did you buy a specific VW part or use regular carpet and cut it out? If it was a part, could you share the number?
• 8K OPS - How expensive is this mod? And what all parts are required?
• Highline BCM - What features will you be able to add with this BCM?

Sorry for the long list of queries!

[sharan1988]

Originally Posted by Viraat13

Hi Sharan,
Congratulations! Absolutely love the mods you have done. I've done a fair few of those on my GT TSI too.

The armrest creaks are easy to solve. You just need to order some furniture pads and put them on the underside of the lid that touches the base. It'll reduce the creaks by a good margin.

If the grr noise is coming only under load/acceleration, it is the VGT valve. I've successfully diagnosed the issue with the master technician at my VW SC, but am yet to claim warranty on it.



Could you tell me a little more about the mods?

• Big brake kit - Am I right in assuming that this upgrade isn't possible with 15 inch wheels?
• Passat interior cabin light - How did you install this? The OE plug is a 3 pin plug, but this has more slots?
• Passat door speakers - Could you share the part number/link?
• A pillar tweeters - This has been on my list, but wasn't sure where to begin. Could you share a link/part number?
• Carpeted door cards - Did you buy a specific VW part or use regular carpet and cut it out? If it was a part, could you share the number?
• 8K OPS - How expensive is this mod? And what all parts are required?
• Highline BCM - What features will you be able to add with this BCM?

Sorry for the long list of queries!

Thank you Viraat

- The big brakes can be installed on the OEM 15 inch wheels. I had them on 15 inch before I swapped them out for 16

- Yes you are right, I had made my own wiring kit and we need to route 1 wire to the cabin light switch
- Got them used from Germany.

- 6R6867233 & 6R6867234 are the part numbers you could try Ebay Uk for them
- Volkswagen doesn't make these as it is not OEM. Got the material cut to template.
- Will elaborate on the 8K OPS ones I complete the install.
- With Highline BCM and additional parts we can activate auto high beam assist, OEM Bi xenon headlights.

[Viraat13]

Originally Posted by sharan1988

Thank you Viraat

- The big brakes can be installed on the OEM 15 inch wheels. I had them on 15 inch before I swapped them out for 16
- Yes you are right, I had made my own wiring kit and we need to route 1 wire to the cabin light switch
- Got them used from Germany.
Attachment 1875029
- 6R6867233 & 6R6867234 are the part numbers you could try Ebay Uk for them
- Volkswagen doesn't make these as it is not OEM. Got the material cut to template.
- Will elaborate on the 8K OPS ones I complete the install.
- With Highline BCM and additional parts we can activate auto high beam assist, OEM Bi xenon headlights.

Brakes: That's great to know. Now if you could be kind enough to share the part numbers.
Cabin Light: Any guide or article you could link me to? I am very keen on this.

Thanks for your input!

[Rajeevraj]

Nice review and a good set of updates. I had grand plans of doing a bunch of stuff for my 2013 Vento TSI, but apart from an audio system swap have not done anything. First waited for warranty period to finish, then the extended warranty and when I decided to do something, they started giving add-on warranty.

Absolutely love the car and plan to keep it long(assuming VW reliability factor stays positive), so plenty of time for upgrades and your thread would be a good reference. Not may Vento TSI's out there with document modifications.

[santhosharulvan]

I have personally seen his car and he mods them in such a fashion that it does not spoil the looks or stands out oddly. Careful part selection.

Really appreciate his efforts in listing down the mods he has worked on his car.

Passionate DIY guy, kudos for the excellent write up @sharan1988.

[shibujp]

An excellent sleeper. The car looks bone stock outside inspite of all the mods done.

Read you impression about the remap. I haven't heard of many cases of folks extracting too much beyond stock from this engine. I personally feel that the 1.2TSI is too small for the Vento. They should have got the 1.4TSI they have for the Golf but I guess that will be a pipe dream. Wouldn't the 1.8 be a tight fit into the bay but if you could do it nothing like it. The ultimate hot Vento.

I loved the big brake upgrade the most. Where did you source this kit from?

Drive on,
Shibu.