[drjanakpatel]

I got a test drive today after almost a week of waiting. I liked the car very much and have booked candy white, which they are ready to deliver day after tomorrow. But I will be taking delivery on 11th, as its my daughter's birthday.

[599gto]

Originally Posted by Bingeljell

I'm not sure if someone's already addresses this in the thread (I saw a reference to it earlier), but I'm of the opinion that if car manufacturers were to actually bring drivers cars, even at a slight premium, I'm sure people in India would buy it.

To give you an example, if the GT TSI were able to churn out over 150ps with all the other nick-nacks it has right now and it still cost only 7.99 lacs, I'm sure many people would be happy to buy it even if real world mileage was compromised on a little.

Or it could just be me.

I don't think any manufacturer loves our country enough to sell a 150bhp hatch for Rupees 7.99 Lakh ONLY.
Moreover every engine has its limitation, and/so putting a bigger engine means attracting higher duties and hence higher costs, and the manufacturer is not at fault for this one time.
I am sure had their been an excise duty benefit for engines up to 1400 cc, VW would have in all probability plonked it into the Polo and still price it around 7.99 lakh.
Also the manufacturer has to make sure that a particular engine can be used by more than just one product in order to keep costs in check (the parts bin concept!). So importing an engine or even manufacturing/assembling it in the country itself, specifically for one product doesn't make sense. For example, if they were to use the 1.4 TSI in the Polo and the Vento(I am sure the Vento is going to get the 1.2 TSI very soon!), the Vento would cost significantly higher and make less sense, plus it would murder the Jetta TSI.

Originally Posted by drjanakpatel

I got a test drive today after almost a week of waiting. I liked the car very much and have booked candy white, which they are ready to deliver day after tomorrow. But I will be taking delivery on 11th, as its my daughter's birthday.

Congratulations on you new car, yours might just be the First GT TSI on the Forum, looking forward to an ownership review, would specially like to know how the scooped out backs of the front seats have improved space.

[drjanakpatel]

Originally Posted by 599gto

Congratulations on you new car, yours might just be the First GT TSI on the Forum, looking forward to an ownership review, would specially like to know how the scooped out backs of the front seats have improved space.

I dont know about the scooped front seats. This car is going to be driven solo so I didn't check the rear leg room much. However the rear leg room is pretty short behind me.

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by drjanakpatel

I got a test drive today after almost a week of waiting. I liked the car very much and have booked candy white, which they are ready to deliver day after tomorrow. But I will be taking delivery on 11th, as its my daughter's birthday.

Congrats - Awaiting a detailed review of the same doc! Please do keep us posted on this thread about the first impressions/pics until you cover enough distance to write a full fledged review of the same.

[amitg79]

Originally Posted by animeshb

This is hilarious! I have a Feb 2008 Ford Fusion 1.6 and shudder to think what I would get in a couple of years from now.

How much difference did you find for both power and handling between the GT and the Palio?

Better to keep the cars than sell them for a pittance. And these are perfectly good cars.

Regarding the differences between the Palio and the GT TSI, I enjoyed the TSI's turbo boost quite a lot. The Palio's acceleration is linear, whereas the TSI starts a bit slower and then accelerates very quickly when the turbo spools up.

The drive that I took was very short and there was just 1 U-turn which I took at around 5 kmph, which was handled very well.

[Speed-Freak]

Hello Bhpians,

I am loving this discussion about Hot and not so hot hatches, arent we forgeting one thing , India is a country where the famous question " Kitna deti hai ? " is utmost important. All that matters the most are the economies of scale.

Petrolheads like us are very few in my opinion not even 1% of the car driving population, why do you think a manufacturer would build something which does not appeal to the masses.

I have been driving a Hot hatch in true Indian context for the past 4+ years, The Hyundai Gezt Crdi stock 110bhp (now ~ 130Bhp post remap) this by far is the hottest hatch till date and has given me superlative performance.

I happened to test drive the GT Tsi a couple of days back and i am impressed, especially with the DSG, i was in the market for a hatch and this one suits both my pocket as well as my taste. I almost booked a the flash red version however wifey has asked me to sell my crazy hatch and then pick this up, so i guess will have to wait until a few days before i get this babe home.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Speed-Freak

Hello Bhpians,

I am loving this discussion about Hot and not so hot hatches, arent we forgeting one thing , India is a country where the famous question " Kitna deti hai ? " is utmost important. All that matters the most are the economies of scale.

Petrolheads like us are very few in my opinion not even 1% of the car driving population, why do you think a manufacturer would build something which does not appeal to the masses.

I have been driving a Hot hatch in true Indian context for the past 4+ years, The Hyundai Gezt Crdi stock 110bhp (now ~ 130Bhp post remap) this by far is the hottest hatch till date and has given me superlative performance.

I happened to test drive the GT Tsi a couple of days back and i am impressed, especially with the DSG, i was in the market for a hatch and this one suits both my pocket as well as my taste. I almost booked a the flash red version however wifey has asked me to sell my crazy hatch and then pick this up, so i guess will have to wait until a few days before i get this babe home.

Why?

Aren't you downgrading in terms of power, torque, mileage & interior space? Only advantage for the GT TSi that i see is the superb DSG transmission, when compared to a remapped Getz CRDi.

If I were you - I'd wait for the Abarth before deciding on this shift. Anyways - you have a true hot hatch to enjoy till then.

[drjanakpatel]

The dealer says that GT has 2yrs unlimited kms warranty but no extended warranty on offer as of now. Can anyone at other places confirm this?

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by Speed-Freak

The Hyundai Gezt Crdi stock 110bhp

Though I appreciate Hyundai launching this car, I have no idea how one can explore this power with a dead steering and soft suspension. You have absolutely no idea of what those wheels are up to or what the car is doing. I found this car scary to drive even when going arrow straight, forget twists and turns.

I don't consider the Getz Crdi to be a hot hatch in any sense of it. It had a truck load of power and that's it. Exploring the power required you to have big brave *alls.

[delta5]

Originally Posted by drjanakpatel

The dealer says that GT has 2yrs unlimited kms warranty but no extended warranty on offer as of now. Can anyone at other places confirm this?

Please check with VW helpline, I am pretty sure the GT brochure on their website mentions a 2year extended warranty. It will be a crime to consider the car without the additional cover, considering the reliability issues with the autobox.

Congrats!

Cheers,
D

[ampere]

Originally Posted by animeshb

This is hilarious! I have a Feb 2008 Ford Fusion 1.6 and shudder to think what I would get in a couple of years from now.

It should not be that bad. But surely dont expect heavy pricing too. I went through that last year. Had it been a diesel, returns would have been much higher though.

[StarScream]

Originally Posted by drjanakpatel

The dealer says that GT has 2yrs unlimited kms warranty but no extended warranty on offer as of now. Can anyone at other places confirm this?

Originally Posted by delta5

Please check with VW helpline, I am pretty sure the GT brochure on their website mentions a 2year extended warranty. It will be a crime to consider the car without the additional cover, considering the reliability issues with the autobox.

Congrats!

Cheers,
D

As delta5 says I also remember seeing the extended warranty listed in the brochure. Two things though, if ext. warranty is available make sure the transmission is covered. If not available or not covered, it should ring alarm bells because the manufacturer itself is not confident about the reliability of its product.

[Unknownsatan]

Did not quite understand the comparison between mini and polo for being the hottest hatch. Come on in that case you cant call laura hottest in anyway if you compare hot sedans like M5, c63 etc.
We are talkin cars in a totally different price bracket.
Compare hatches with the same price bracket and i am sure theres nothin else with which you can compare the GT.

[tbppjpr]

Originally Posted by StarScream

if ext. warranty is available make sure the transmission is covered. If not available or not covered, it should ring alarm bells

That is a very important pointer. All of us should know that the ext. warranty and standard warranty aren't the same and usually the ext. warranty doesn't cover all the parts which are covered under standard warranty.

AFAIK, ext. warranty offered on existing VW vehicles cover engine and transmission but doesn't cover clutch. But its quite possible that they have different clauses for the new GT model. So it would be better to confirm the clauses from official written documents and it would be much helpful for all of those who are following this thread, if someone (who has talked to VW/delear on this regard) shares the details here.

[Bingeljell]

Originally Posted by 599gto

I don't think any manufacturer loves our country enough to sell a 150bhp hatch for Rupees 7.99 Lakh ONLY.
Moreover every engine has its limitation, and/so putting a bigger engine means attracting higher duties and hence higher costs, and the manufacturer is not at fault for this one time.
I am sure had their been an excise duty benefit for engines up to 1400 cc, VW would have in all probability plonked it into the Polo and still price it around 7.99 lakh.
Also the manufacturer has to make sure that a particular engine can be used by more than just one product in order to keep costs in check (the parts bin concept!). So importing an engine or even manufacturing/assembling it in the country itself, specifically for one product doesn't make sense. For example, if they were to use the 1.4 TSI in the Polo and the Vento(I am sure the Vento is going to get the 1.2 TSI very soon!), the Vento would cost significantly higher and make less sense, plus it would murder the Jetta TSI.

I'm completely with you on the economies of scale bit. And I am not for on second questioning the fact that it's expensive for manufacturers to do something in isolation without it being prohibitively expensive. All I'm saying is that all in all, if they did setup a line of cars that catered to enthusiasts, and even if it was at a premium (7.99 was an example, let's say sub 10lacs), I'm sure there'll be enough buyers for the manufacturers to keep the cars in production.

Also 1.2L engines have been known to churn out over 150PS with ease. The Europeans are experts are churning out a tonne of power from small engines. There's no need to increase engine capacity to get more power. Additionally, 150PS is a random number, in the Indian scheme of things even if a hatch were to compete with a sedan on power, that'd be enough to get people interested.

How would you feel if you heard that the Ford was launching the Figo with a 1.6 that churned out 120PS? I'd be chuffed to bits!

Also drjanakpatel, congrats on the car. Please do keep us posted on how it actually is to live with.

PS: I know power isn't everything. Handling, Power to Weight Ratio, etc.. together make a car fun. Case in point: Alto K10