Team-BHP - Volkswagen Polo : Test Drive & Review

Quote:

Originally Posted by ambivalent_98 (Post 1847565)

Well I found it to be quick and responsive. On very lay-man terms I was able to quickly take the car beyond the 100 kph mark and it felt quite planted and firm. However one observation is that I drive a non-ABS Honda and the decelaration I am used to is without ABS. When I bought down the speed of the Polo it was pretty gradual and stopping distance was much more than I had anticipated. I was happy that the road was completely without any traffic whatsoever.
There is a lot of debate previously on the pros and cons of ABS. So lets not take this thread in that direction. But for the 2010 Polo :thumbs up all the way.

AFAIK, ABS has got nothing to do with stopping distance in normal day to day running & braking. Only in panic braking situation or slippery surface conditions etc ABS gets activated which allows one to retain directional control without locking up the wheels. If you feel non-ABS Honda stopping distance is less than Polo, this should mean Honda have better brakes, all other things remaining equal.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ambivalent_98 (Post 1847565)

However one observation is that I drive a non-ABS Honda and the decelaration I am used to is without ABS. When I bought down the speed of the Polo it was pretty gradual and stopping distance was much more than I had anticipated. I was happy that the road was completely without any traffic whatsoever.
There is a lot of debate previously on the pros and cons of ABS. So lets not take this thread in that direction.

Hi Ambivalent.

As Sanjay has correctly pointed out, ABS has absolutely nothing to do with braking under non skidding situations.

If you feel that the brakes are not good enough on your Polo, you can look at a tyre upgrade as an immediate solution.
However, do take into account that it takes a while to get used to the braking of any vehicle.

Cheers!

Quote:

Originally Posted by formel_eins (Post 1846969)

service intervals is @15000Kms and service charges would be approx 4-5K including consumables. About spare parts well I did not get the list but the owner of dealership assured that they wont be priced reasonably, this is based on their meetings with VW in Pune. So I dont think a Polo is going to drill hole in terms of spare parts, specially given the fact that upto 80% localization would be there.

Well i think the spare parts will be a little expensive than competition which is fair in terms of localisation dynamics. But again it would be incorrect to say that the parts will be unreasonbly priced , beacuse no doubt POLO is a premium hatch back but the pricing is pretty fair as compared to the quality provided. An expensive spare equation for a 5-6lac car wont fly in India.... VW can anticipate thatplease:.

A son of a … on a scooter rammed into our polo’s front left fender when my brother was taking left turn to park the car in our uncle’s driveway. The car was at a speed of 5-10 kms and the space on the left was enough only for a cycle to go through. My bother said he doesn’t know from where this bugger came at some speed and rammed into the car.

There was a dent on the fender but the paint was not chipped. I got home yesterday and got the dry dent out from a local denter known to me. I didn’t want him to take out the complete fender as I was afraid that the fitting won’t be as good as the original, so asked him to remove the cover from bottom and take out the dent. Although, he managed to take out the dent and it looks about 80% good, but if seen carefully one can still see the uneven lines. Like if you touch it’s not plain, it’s still a bit uneven. Damn!

Also, the front wheel cover is broken. I believe they won’t be available in aftermarket so will the company have extra wheel covers in stock? Moreover, will it be possible to get a single wheel cover or will I need to but a complete set of 4. Will check with the company in some time. Let’s see if the spares are available and for what price!

Ownership report coming soon! stupid:

Quote:

Originally Posted by sanjayc (Post 1848386)

Oops! That hurts, particularly on a brand new car.

How did the wheel cover break! Is it the result of the same accident?

yes, the wheel cover also broke as a result of the accident. And, yes it seriously did hurt, the bugger should thank god that I was not at the scene, else I would have sold his scooter to pay for the accident bill!:deadhorse

Quote:

Originally Posted by formel_eins (Post 1848450)

@gaurav : thats really bad, I guess red polo attracts not just the ladies but dumb creatures who think roads are grazing grounds. He was coming from wrong-side, didnt your brother catch hold of him??

It would have been better to have a lady attracted to the car first lol:and then this damn creature. The guy was himself hurt, his hand was bleeding (nothing major but a small cut) and his trousers were also torn, so my brother did let him go.

Quote:

Originally Posted by formel_eins (Post 1848450)

good to hear that paint didnt chip off, would be great if you could post some pic. wheel cover broke or did it crack??

Actually, by the time I get home it is already dark, so even if I take some snaps they wont be of much use. Will post the snaps with ownership report on saturday. The wheel cover has some 6-7 spokes and one of them is broken. its not the complete cover but it does look bad.

Lastly, I have been quoted 1650/- for a single wheel cover. Damn, the buggers scooter wouldnt have been more then my bill :Frustrati.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gaurav_chopra04 (Post 1848365)

Very sad. :Shockked:

Front fender also can be replaced through insurance. Wheel cover comes as a complete set. You can check the after market also, for choice. This also should be covered by insurance (I hope). Since your car is brand new, you should be getting 100% coverage. Get it done through the VW dealer.

All the best! :thumbs up

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chethan B G (Post 1848551)

I have got the dry dent out and I believe we can live with it since the paint is not chipped. Will only get the wheel cover changed from VW. They are still not available in after market.

Secondly, even if I was to get the fender changed and painted, I would have paid for the same from my pocket. No point losing a 50% no claim bonus (about 8k). And yes, insurance does pay 50% on plastic parts.

Thanks anyways:).

Just checked with Downtown VW, Mumbai, the delivery period for the comfortline is June-July, Highline is Aug and Trendline is Sept-Oct. With such a long waiting period can we expect the 1.6 to be launched by Sept-Oct? The sales guy told me that they are accepting bookings for the 1.6 and are expecting it to be launched by Sept. Can anyone confirm?

Quote:

Originally Posted by RGK (Post 1848771)

@Sanjay & EssYouWe -ABS have bigger brake discs and will it not lessen the braking distance....

ABS is primarily about having a wheel speed sensor which senses situations when wheels are about to lock, and comes into action by simulating threshold braking to avoid wheel locking - like in non-ABS car people press & release the brakes to avoid skidding - the ABS system does this press/release function at a much faster speed than humanly possible.

Have'nt come across any info which suggests ABS-equipped cars have bigger brake discs, hence not sure about this-do you have any specific info regarding this? Maybe, gurus can confirm.

Hi Guys,

Was test driving couple of cars, polo was last in the list. The moment i took a test drive in it, perhaps sat in it, I AM TOTALLY SOLD TO POLO.
Fit, Finish, refinement, looks, quality is a benchmark. Please do not compare this car with swift, punto or figo. This comparision is only possible because polo is aggressivly priced.

I hope with more localization the quality of parts shouldnt go down. The car feels as good as a mini jetta quality wise, Damm dont care about the engine, its definetly smoother than competition and over all car has a mature big car cozy ride. After i sit and feel polo, definetly i cannot digest the quality of figo, swift, punto and even i20.

Guys dont go by papers, just feel the car and have a drive, i know its a lakh expensive than others, but you are getting great quality and VW for that lakh.