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

Quote:

Originally Posted by rana_kirti (Post 5653816)

hi fellow owners,

recently been hearing some grinding noises when applying brakes. haven't been to service center yet. sharing some pics i clicked. kindly advice. thank you.

Hi, it seems like your discs and pads have worn off beyond the service life. I think your car needs new discs and pads.

You can do a rudimentary test of disc wear by feeling the disc outside edge. If the disc surface has a lip at the outside edge of about 1-2 mm, that would mean the discs have worn off and may need a re-surfacing or replacement.

How many kilometres have these discs and pads gone through?

Quote:

Originally Posted by PrisonMike (Post 5542619)

Major Update:

Finally got around to upgrading my front and rear struts to Sachs. The car is currently being worked upon by the team at Mates and Mods in Mumbai.

Upon further inspection, Nirmit from the team there suggested I get my steering rack assembly changed as well because they noticed some significant wear and tear since my car is technically 8 years old now. And mainly because the Sachs struts are far superior to the stock ones, having it run on the old stock steering rack would have been an injustice to the car.

Eagerly waiting to have the car back and experience the new ride and handling in person.

Will post an update as soon as I can.

Hey, I have been following your posts regarding installation of sachs on Polo GT and am compelled to change to sachs on my Polo 1.0 TSI as well.

As of now, the sources for the sachs it seems have dried up with no stock anywhere, still in contact with a couple of garages to procure them for me.

Anyhow, if convenient, could you please enlighten me on a couple of queries ?

1. Did you change just the struts to sachs or the mounts , bearings , springs and bellows etc as well ? Or are they still stock?

2. How has your experience been so far ? In regard to the stiffness of the shocks at low speeds , how is the experience?

3. I have recently started car pooling to my workplace with a colleague who has Honda City as his workhorse. During the ride I feel the City suspension is very comfortable on harsh roads as he is able to attack potholes at speed , whereas I being a stock polo owner have to come down to a halt on the same spots. Would getting sachs solve that problem ?

4. I drive very sedately most of the time(under 70-80) so high speed stability takes a rather back seat than low speed bumps and potholes.

Thanking you in anticipation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nomad01 (Post 5653833)

1. Did you change just the struts to sachs or the mounts , bearings , springs and bellows etc as well ? Or are they still stock?

I changed my entire steering rack because it was busted, and I changed all the bearings and mounts because I was strongly suggested to do so considering the Sachs was a pretty significant upgrade package, and my car was close to being 8 years old. My springs are still stock however. Might get lowering springs, but that's later on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nomad01 (Post 5653833)

2. How has your experience been so far ? In regard to the stiffness of the shocks at low speeds , how is the experience?

It is stiffer than stock, although it feels much more solid over bumps, it doesn't have that cheap, loose feel like the stock struts had. You will feel the bumps, but that's a compromise you should be willing to accept for overall better handing and damping.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nomad01 (Post 5653833)

3. I have recently started car pooling to my workplace with a colleague who has Honda City as his workhorse. During the ride I feel the City suspension is very comfortable on harsh roads as he is able to attack potholes at speed , whereas I being a stock polo owner have to come down to a halt on the same spots. Would getting sachs solve that problem ?

The Polo has one of the stiffest rides in any hatchback in the country. Switching to Sachs will only make the ride stiffer. The City's ride is much more plush overall, but surely will have much more body roll at higher speed.
The Sachs won't really solve the problem of you having to slow down at some spots, it's going to inherently be a firmer ride overall, but the car would feel a lot more compliant over those rough patches.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nomad01 (Post 5653833)

4. I drive very sedately most of the time(under 70-80) so high speed stability takes a rather back seat than low speed bumps and potholes.

The Sachs really does shine during highway runs, the car feels glued to the road. Pair that with a set of wider, sticker rubber, it's a real treat.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hellraiser_yank (Post 5653824)

yes that's what I was suspecting as every time I apply brakes the grinding sound increases. I'm not really sure if the disc/pad were changed in the previous 2 services. been reading/researching the forums for a week.

seems my 3 choices are:

1. OEM disc + pads = stock performance
2. OEM disc + yellow stuff pads = 30to40% improvement
3. Big Brake kit = Double the performance.

are these correct ? or are their any other routes available?

thank you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rana_kirti (Post 5656572)

Hi, I would advise to stay away from TVS hardware for your Polo.

The options I would suggest are-
1. Standard size non TVS OEM disc + stock pads ( if car is on standard tune and no performance mods)
2. Brembo or other aftermarket disc + stock pads
3. Same as option 2 but with aftermarket high performance pads
4. 288mm or 310mm big brake kit OEM ATE make ( for a car running a higher state of tune, con will be that unsprung mass will increase and steering will get heavier)
5. Same as option 4 but with aftermarket high performance parts

Hope this helps you make an informed decision.

@razzor228 refer my post regarding mods that should give you an idea. also as an advice, the Chinese sellers are usually better at understanding parts with pictures and part no. both.

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Originally Posted by corvus corax (Post 5661431)

Guys, there is an 1 second delay in downshifting and that too both even and odd gears. Is it the clutch or the mechatronics unit? The car is on add on warranty. If it is the clutch will I get it replaced on the warranty?

Have you tried resetting the DSG learning pattern? If notput the key in acc position ( DO NOT START THE CAR) hold down the accelerator pedal to max position for 30 seconds. This resets the DSG learning pattern.

Yes clutch replacement, mechatronic and transmission are covered in add on warranty.

Quote:

Originally Posted by corvus corax (Post 5661760)

Tried it. But didn't make much difference. Its subtle at lower rpms, almost unnoticed. But in higher rpms it gets more pronounced, especially on kick-downs.

What exactly do you mean by kick-down? Are you downshifting yourself manually or waiting for it to downshift automatically?

Automatic downshifting is delayed in polo, that was always the case, I've always used pedals and stick to manage that.

Well, when i pedal to the floor, on the mid the gear is selected, but the car over-revs and it takes almost a second for the selected gear to engage. This was not the case until a few weeks ago.

The phenomenon is repeated while driving manually too.

Also, there is a khat-khat sound coming from the engine, rarely, while slowing down for a bump or idling at the signals. It goes away when ac is turned off too. I thought it was ac related but now I suspect its the clutch. It comes and goes in a jiffy and no if you wait for it you wouldn't get it again either. So didn't get a chance to record it as well. :(

Quote:

Originally Posted by corvus corax (Post 5661840)

Well, when i pedal to the floor, on the mid the gear is selected, but the car over-revs and it takes almost a second for the selected gear to engage.

I think its pretty normal for DSG, they only downshift quickly when they are anticipating one, which is normally only on braking. Manually too, the timelag in downshifting is always more than upshift but not a full second.

The khat khat sound is when you go over very rough patches or rumble stripes in the 1st gear. So if you leave the car in auto you'd get this very rare/ infrequently but in manually selected 1st gear over these rumbles, it sometimes sounds like breaking the gearbox.

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Originally Posted by corvus corax (Post 5661883)

I understand. But this behaviour is new and a sudden one.

The khat-khat sound is there when the car is idling as well that too when fully warmed up.

I think a visit to the ASC to do basic setting of DSG is warranted.

the Basic setting is a function in the OBD interface in VW group cars, DSG basic setting can reset and calibrate the mechatronic, including shift points, also in the advance basic setting it also calibrates clutch actuation points.

this should resolve your issue unless you have any error codes on the dash, DSG error code shows up as a flashing or static spanner in the MID.