Team-BHP - Volkswagen Polo 1.2L GT TSI : Official Review

Something I saw in traffic 10 minutes ago shocked me so much that I had to post it here. A new Dark Gray Polo GT TSI with 2 occupants, a young lady in the rear seat and a chauffeur driving the car ( Frustrated)! People shouldn't buy hot hatches to be driven around by chauffeurs.

Maybe someone else in the family is a keen driver. Maybe the chauffer is! Maybe the young lady drives herself some days, and likes to relax on others. I don't think you should have made the assumptions from one sighting.

Anyway, we all have different reasons for our buying decisions, and we are free to indulge them

I have been promised delivery of my red TSI later this week. Plan to upgrade the stock tires to Yoko S immediately, get some 3D mats, and have a driver armrest fixed in due course.

Any other expenses I should indulge in immediately (ex - 3M paint protection, any sun-film etc)? Not that I want to spend, but wanna ensure that I tick all the stuff that's absolutely must and helps in long run.

Also on mats, are these good (Star 3D Mats)? http://www.carmatsindia.com/

Quote:

Originally Posted by ipsanand (Post 3792116)

Also on mats, are these good (Star 3D Mats)? http://www.carmatsindia.com/

These mats are decent. I have been using them for last 21 months. They still look/feel "as good as" new.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ipsanand (Post 3792116)

Any other expenses I should indulge in immediately (ex - 3M paint protection, any sun-film etc)? [/url]

Instead of going for the 3M paint protection you could buy a good sealant(e.g. Ultima paint guard plus), and try the DIY(there is a very good thread http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ing-guide.html). One application easily lasts for 6 months

In case you have not driven turbo engines, please try practicing "turbo cooling".

Hey thanks - I will order the mats right away.

I currently drive a Jetta TDI, but was'nt aware of 'turbo cooling'...!

Quote:

Originally Posted by shetty_rohan (Post 3792153)

In case you have not driven turbo engines, please try practicing "turbo cooling".

Quote:

Originally Posted by ipsanand (Post 3792240)

Hey thanks - I will order the mats right away.

I currently drive a Jetta TDI, but was'nt aware of 'turbo cooling'...!

Its more of rule to keep in mind for 'turbo petrols'.

Quoting from another thread:

Quote:

Turbo-petrol owners : Keep in mind that your car generates more heat than turbo-diesels. The above-mentioned procedures are highly recommended for turbo-petrols too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by suhaas307 (Post 3791728)

I don't agree with this.

My daily drive is a Polo TSI and I drive within the CBD, read - moderate to heavy traffic. I get 10-11 under normal driving conditions, i.e. light foot for the most part with the occasional burst of acceleration (I never fail to take it up to 4k revs in 2nd and 3rd at least twice in the day :D) to get ahead of annoyingly slow moving vehicles. A similarly driven 1.6 MPI will return worse economy figures. A friend who drives both will vouch for this.

I have a 4 speed automatic Altis at home, the 1.8 gives a kpl of 10 in Mumbai.

My SX4 1.6 manual gives a kpl of 12 in City.

Considering both are 2009 models and naturally aspirated engines, they still give a decent mileage.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ipsanand (Post 3792116)

Also on mats, are these good (Star 3D Mats)? http://www.carmatsindia.com/

The problem is that there is no cutout for dead-pedal.

Otherwise seem good, but local market sells exact same looking mats for half price (or even lesser). I've some other brand that looks exactly the same (for Rs. 1200) but not sure of quality, since I've had these only for 6 months (no problem so far!)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom (Post 3792104)

That assumption was on the spur of the moment! Thanks for responding and restoring sanity.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ipsanand (Post 3792240)

I currently drive a Jetta TDI, but was'nt aware of 'turbo cooling'...!

Re-posting my earlier post

Quote:

Originally Posted by shetty_rohan (Post 3290211)

So, final conclusion is:
Suppose if I am NOT driving in the turbo mode(i.e below 1500 rpms) I could switch off the engine without idling. In most of the bumper-to-bumper traffic the engine does not use the turbo(i.e rpms are lesser than 1500).

But if I am driving long distance(in rpms above 1500), then I would need to wait for few seconds before switching off the engine(30 seconds in case of normal driving, and 60 seconds in case of high speed driving).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aston Singh (Post 3792347)

I'm sure you get good fuel efficiency while driving your Altis and SX4. But I'm talking about the Polo 1.6 here. Exercise the throttle even a little bit and the mileage seems to take a hit. Maybe speedkills could pitch in with his inputs here. He used to drive it before getting a Vento TDI.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueEyes (Post 3792763)

So VW decided to make it public finally, in today's TOI.

The Polo has come a long way since it was first introduced with that 3-pot petrol clunker, I still remember their first newspaper advertisements which had stuff like '3-spoke steering wheel', 'beige interiors' & '2 din stereo' listed as features. The next upgrade was even more of a joke with an external Bluetooth kit & charging cable hanging from the sun-visor.

The first sincere attempt of an improved version was the 2014 upgrade with the newer steering & built in buttons & finally more practical features like foldable rear neck-rests & better headlamps. I will never recommend the 3 cyl manual nor the rather harsh sounding diesels but the TSi is THE best car to go for in the 11L budget (including 4 yr warranty). VW crams every practical feature possible in European markets but they seemed to think India was too downmarket and ignorant, now I guess they know better. I'd say that now with these following feature upgrades the TSi becomes a better value fun to drive car than say the Mini Cooper which is priced 4x more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dark.knight (Post 3792799)

Those who missed the news about the updated Polo. Looks like the best buy under 10lac for a driver's car ( for premium hatch ).
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...-features.html