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-   -   Volkswagen Polo 1.2L GT TSI : Official Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/135550-volkswagen-polo-1-2l-gt-tsi-official-review-241.html)

Actually, I am planning to take the Polo as well on highways during my solo rides - love the sound of the TSi at 5000+ RPM :)

Also, my highway drives involve mainly 2 lane roads as well as twisting roads through forests (Dimbam ghats, Hassanur to Chamrajnagar section etc). So, I am looking for performance first, followed by aesthetics.

I believe Ankit's GTi style headlights have dedicated indicators with dual halos as DRLs.

The fxr3 doesn't work or isn't recommended in the old single barrel headlight, Also, it'll require some wiring work. You also lose the secondary high beam bulb and are totally dependent on the xenon.
Ankit's lights have separate drl and indicators.
From Franks review he doesn't really recommend retrofitting, if you're confident with the work in your hometown or something really near, go ahead. Else it seems as though lumen systems is the only choice (tad overpriced IMO)

Speaking of sexhausts, you MUST do one. The DSG farts are glorious. I'm running a custom catback exhaust in 2" MS. It is terrific, though I despise the noise while cruising at really high speeds stupid:

Can you please elaborate why FXR doesn't work or not recommended in the single barrel headlight? Is this due to some mechanical constraint like FXR 3.0 does not fit inside the headlight assembly. I have asked Lumens systems to first check if the FXR would fit the assembly before making any cut outs. If FXR is too big for the assembly, I have asked them to go with the gold series which is similar to the Morimoto Mini H1 series projectors.

I guess you mean using the halogen high beam as back up in case the Xenon conks out? Yes. That is one risk with the BiXenon setup. But I am taking that risk for the performance gain (got the same risk on the Jetta as well). Regarding wiring, I talked to Lumens systems and they have confirmed that the wiring harness will be plug and play for my car.

Frank's experience is the reason why I am not sending my OE headlights for the retrofit. Lumens systems will be getting a new pair of headlights (costs about 3.2K per pair) for the retrofit. So, my risk is limited to 3.2K. The latest double barrel headlight assembly costs a whopping 25K for a pair. And Lumens systems also said that the latest assembly is from Hella and is a little complicated to open up. That is why I decided to go with the single barrel model.

Also, I don't know any reliable local vendor who can do a good retrofit here in Coimbatore. So, I am going with Lumens systems. I have been discussing a lot with Vinod from Lumens systems, and it looks like he can pull this off successfully. This also will be a chance for me to drive to Bangalore and have some fun on the highways :)

Would love to do that! But I don't know if my wife will allow this one mod, it is after all my wife's car :)

Did you get the Philips XVs installed? Is there significant improvement in light output?

Not yet. Was busy and it's still pending. Will update once it's done.

Hi, I have installed Extreme Vision plus of Philips in my Polo. I never do any night highway runs and is mostly used inside city limits. So if you ask me, difference b/w stock bulb and extreme vision is hardly 25% I feel. But that has made the low beam pretty decent (already I feel stock bulbs had a decent low beam, so you can understand the level I am talking about) and I mostly drive only with low beam. As far as highbeam is considered, I don't find that much difference, or the change in lamps has not brought the considerable change I felt it will bring in high beams.

Maybe overall 20-25% difference from the stock lamps.

Also I have not driven much with stock lamps. I changed it in first week itself. And drove only 2 days at night with the stock bulb.

My two cents. When i contemplated my retrofit, i was also facing the same challenge. But after a lot of research, came to the conclusion that FXR is not worth the hassle as its much bigger and needs lot of cutting and is a hit or miss. So instead i went ahead with the morimotto mini D2S with square lens and Osram xenarc D2S bulbs. Its much easier with only some grounding of the housing without any cutting involved. Also according to many forums and the retrofit source themselves advised me the difference in light between the two is marginal. Have been using it in a a lot of highway drives for last 6 months and it has really transformed my night drives. But the downside is, though the retrofit is working fine, the finishing is not perfect and what i wanted. If you have a experienced retrofitter, it is safer to go with mini D2S from morimotto as it will have higher success rate. hope it helps.

Hi, thanks a ton for the detailed update. After reading your post, I asked the vendor not to fit the projector and wait for me to choose after having a look at it. I went to Bangalore yesterday and visited Lumens Systems. Checked both the FX-R and Gold Series (NHK equivalent to Morimoto Mini series). As I was getting the projector fit to the older generation Polo headlight assembly that has H4 lights, FX-R was a direct fit. However, I ruled it out for 2 reasons. The first was the projector is held to the reflector using just a clamp. Unless the projector is cemented to the reflector using something like m-seal, the mechanical strength would not be good. The second was the projector is a little big and the vendor had a doubt that it may foul with the headlight glass one one side of its alignment travel.

On the other hand, Gold series fits to the reflector using a nut which gives a better mechanical strength. Lookwise, the projectors have turned out to be awesome. However, there is a small issue with the left side headlight alignment which I am trying to get resolved. Also, as I did not want to splice any wire on the existing harness, some jugad work had to be done to connect the projector setup to the original harness. I have found the mating connector in AliExpress. Planning to order one and fabricate a matching wiring harness to make the setup plug and play. Once everything works fine, I will post detailed report.

H_Dogg72, polo_ankit, drpudhi - Thank you all for the guidance on this. Hope the alignment issue gets resolved soon. Fingers crossed.

Congratulations ganesh. Pics!!

Thanks Ankit. Here are a couple of pictures. Will post more and detailed installation report soon.

I wanted the complete internals of the headlights to be black. This has come out well. As the indicator's reflectors are gone, I am planning to get the indicator lamps replaced with LED bulbs which should have a sharper beam.


There were many options for the DRL/Halos. Halos alone, DRL alone, Halos + DRL, or none of them. Vinod showed me how each of them looks, and I found the DRL strip to be very dull. But the halos looked very good and hence I went with only halos.


Vinod of Lumens Systems has been fantastic so far in helping me in selection of the correct projectors, sourcing the previous generation headlight assemblies, showing me all the options for halo, DRL etc, executing the installation on a Sunday late evening etc.

However, there is a problem with one of the headlight assemblies where the projector and the reflector are loose. Vinod is trying to get this corrected. Had I been in Bangalore, this would have been resolved by now. But as I am back in Coimbatore, logistics is an issue. I am sure Vinod will figure out something to resolve this.

I am also planning to make the wiring better to avoid any future issues. I have explained the problems that need solution in Gannu's HID DIY thread below.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-do...ml#post3888503

Looks lovely! Would love to see the finished product too with the beam pattern & throw! Many congratulations & all the best for the alignment. I'm sure Vinod will manage it well.

PS: How do you have a black FL GT TSI? Didn't they discontinue that color for the FL??

I took the car to local Bosch service center. The technician there was quite good. He understood what the problem was. He fixed something in the bottom of the headlight and the reflector and project movement was locked.

Before alignment when the projector and reflector were loose.


He then did the alignment of the beam. Below picture is beam after alignment. The beam is not as sharp as I would like it to be. That could be because of some angular rotation of the projectors.


But the overall light is 10x better than the halogens.

Halogen low and high beams. Low beam is quite good. But high beam is pathetic.




Projector low and high beams.





My car is grey. It looks black due to the photograph angle and exposure :)

Thanks for pointing 205/45/R17, enquired about the availability and Yoko A R1 Drives are easily available in this spec. They cost Rs. 7000 per tyre here in Cochin. So now this looks to me like the best upsize option in 17" without compromising too much on the ride quality.

Hi all,

I finally got the VW MK 7 MFSW installed on my car last week. In one sentence, the wheel has significantly improved my driving experience.

Buying Experience
Taking advice from the various members on the forum I decided to contact vwrtuning on ebay for the wheel.
There are several types of the steering wheel. Refer gannu's DIY on the same for the different types of the wheel - link
My requirements were

1) GT inset
2) MK7 wheel
3) Red backlights
4) With airbag
5) With paddle shifts
6) Normal leather
7) Red Stitching
8) Without cruise control buttons
9) With harness loom to make it plug and play for 2013 Polo

However, he had only the GLI inset wheel for the same. The price he quoted was 625 USD including FedEx shipping. I had my doubts on whether the GLI would function similar to the others and also had my mind on either the GT or the GTI inset and hence decided not to go ahead with it. In the meanwhile I also contacted gcptuning with the same requirements. They mentioned having a GTI wheel with white backlights for 570 USD. I was still in two minds as gcptuning did not know about the special harness which would make the wheel plug and play for the 2013 model. vwrtuning came back to me saying if I was ok with white backlights and the GTI inset, the same one gcptuning had for a similar price.
During this entire process, I was constantly debating with myself whether to go ahead with it, whether it was worth the money and if it would actually improve my driving experience. I guess what tipped the scales for me was the fact that I use only the tiptronic mode while driving. I decided to go ahead with vwrtuning as he had experience with the harness and some BHPians had already dealt with him and had faced no issues. The final price paid was 575 USD including FedEx shipping (100 advance and the remaining once he had wheel with him and when he sent pictures of the same). Made the payment through paypal after checking with other BHPians. He was willing to offer a better price if I had taken the wheel with CC buttons - no idea why.

Once the product was shipped, I received a call from Fedex asking me for KYC documentation - authorization letter, ID proof and the address proof. I am a consultant and work only out of my client's office - I had provided the same as it would be convenient to receive the package. I did not know that we had to submit address proof for the shipment initially. This being my client office, getting the address proof was going to be really difficult. I checked with Fedex about changing the address and they mentioned that it could be done - the shipper had to send them a mail stating the same. Rick was kind enough to do it. In the meanwhile the shipment had arrived at Delhi customs and was awaiting clearance. I somehow managed to get the proof for the original address after running around a bit and submitted the same.

Voila! I received the package the next day itself. It was very well packed with enough protective covering.

The packing

The first look :)

The package took about 9 business days to reach Delhi customs once shipped. Other than the address related stuff, no issues with customs or Fedex. Everything went very smoothly.
Only difference from my original requirements - GTI instead of GT, white instead of red backlights. I was very happy on seeing it, to say the least.
I have to say I was pleased with dealing with Rick - he always was eager to help (especially during the address issue) and all his info has been accurate. His harness works perfectly. Would definitely recommend him to anyone else who wants to purchase.

Installation Experience
I decided to get it installed at Autopsyche based on some recommendations on the forum. Had checked with Arush initially on whether he does the wheel changing or not. Once confirmed, I popped down to his garage during the weekend. Removing the existing wheel took a good 40 minutes. It typically doesn't take that long, but Arush mentioned that he had faced a similar issue with one other Polo. It eventually did come out and from then on, it was a simple 10-15 minute job putting on the new one.

Removing the old wheel

Putting in the new one

Damages incurred - INR 1000

Driving Experience
The wheel was finally on, after weeks of waiting, debating, rationalizing etc. It has elevated my experience. I think the functionality has been explained so won't repeat. The diameter is pretty much the same but the steering is nice and meaty to hold and is an absolute looker. The major positive and one of the key reason I bought this - the paddle shifters. It works flawlessly has added another level of convenience while still maintaining the level of control I like to keep. I simply love the 3D design and the flat bottom layout of this wheel - really feels good while using.





The buttons on the right side apart from the call take/end button don't work. My understanding - a cluster upgrade to the Maxidot cluster would make these buttons functional. As of now, they don't do anything.
One negative that I found - the wheel isn't designed for India and hence the horn is pretty far off from the thumb. It takes a little more effort to press the horn than the earlier wheel.

Other Work done
1. Changed stock bulbs to Philips XV+. A significant upgrade from the old stock lamps. These are the lights to go for if you want a simple plug and play installation.
2. VCDS tweaks

Enabled cluster sweep clap:
Brake lights flashing on hard braking
Tear Wipe - haven't tested it yet though

3. Wheel balancing and alignment

4. Installed Phillips LED cabin light. Fairly expensive but improves the in cabin lighting well.

My opinion on Autopsyche - they definitely know their stuff when it comes to VAG cars. Arush is certainly helpful. A tad expensive if you were to ask me but overall, I'm satisfied.

These have been my first mods to the car and they have simply changed what the car is to me. I'm sure that each of my further mods is going to have a similar elevating effect on the car. For the time being, I'm going to keep mum - the real mods will start once the warranty expires (or is close to expire). I will probably do alloy painting next to either a gloss black or a gun metal shade, but apart from that nothing major planned.
Apologies if the pics aren't very good, photos are from a humble iPhone 5S in the dark.
Big shoutout to gannu_1,polo_ankit,drpudhi,petrol_power for their advice and suggestions.

Cheers