[joslicx]

Originally Posted by shashank.nk

I know Osram bulbs are not exactly good,especially on 2 lane highways. I used them in the Polo, since they were idle after the Octy got a 90/100 upgrade. My car is primarily used within city and even when it goes on the highways, its mostly during the day so not keen on a 90/100 setup any time soon as it will mean warranty issues. If my usage changes will definitely go for a better setup. I also noticed a lot less illumination with NB+ on the Polo compared to our Octy, didn't know there was a design fault.

Today I compared the NBPs on my Vento with a friends Vento that was on stock lamps. There definitely is some improvement, I'd say of the order of 50% even in low beam. High beam on NBPs is very very good. I can see very well upto 50m on high beam.

Whether this kind of improvement is good enough on highway is altogether another matter and highly subjective probably. I havent taken my Vento on a highway yet so cant comment on that but I am satisfied in the city.

[el lobo 6061]

Originally Posted by shashank.nk

Will wait till you test your car's lights in the rain at night before i replace the stock fog lamps.

Its been raining very less in Mumbai, thanks to El Nino effect, that's what MET dept. says. Will have to wait till the rains really hit Mumbai. In slight drizzle headlamps with low beam coupled with fogs gives very good visibility.

Originally Posted by shashank.nk

Any idea if the fog lamp bulb type is HB4 or H8 on the Polo ? I read in our post it's H8, so the question.

Fog lamp type in Polo is H8 confirmed, but the problem is Philips doesn't make H8 type bulbs, don't know why. One of my friend who has a Polo 1.6, suggested that H11 fits in place of H8. Will confirm it back to you.

[fiesta]

@el_lobo_6061 - Thanks for your detailed information and those wonderful snaps. Your hard work has paid off, well..

I was told by 3M guys that paint sealant need to be applied only once an year.. and if required get a wax polish done every 3 months. Does that hold true?

[shashank.nk]

Originally Posted by joslicx

Today I compared the NBPs on my Vento with a friends Vento that was on stock lamps. There definitely is some improvement, I'd say of the order of 50% even in low beam. High beam on NBPs is very very good. I can see very well upto 50m on high beam.

True, i'm actually very satisfied with the low-beam for city driving. Only issue i've faced is my HL beam disappears when cars in the opposite direction have their headlights on, but its far better than the stock bulbs.

Originally Posted by joslicx

Whether this kind of improvement is good enough on highway is altogether another matter and highly subjective probably. I havent taken my Vento on a highway yet so cant comment on that but I am satisfied in the city.

From my experience, NB+ is very good on four-lane highways, however its not so good on 2 lane highways as most of the cars are on a 90/100 setup which is more bright, so NB+ appears inadequate.

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

Its been raining very less in Mumbai, thanks to El Nino effect, that's what MET dept. says. Will have to wait till the rains really hit Mumbai. In slight drizzle headlamps with low beam coupled with fogs gives very good visibility.

I hope you get a chance to test it soon and report!

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

Fog lamp type in Polo is H8 confirmed, but the problem is Philips doesn't make H8 type bulbs, don't know why. One of my friend who has a Polo 1.6, suggested that H11 fits in place of H8. Will confirm it back to you.

Oh, that's bad news. Will have to look at Osram in that case. Wonder why philips doesn't make H8 bulbs ? I went through their product listings for all types of HL bulbs, no where did i find H8

[nileshch]

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

Start of some thing new : Blind Sample
My views.

1. Waterless wash sample gave more slickness compared to ONR, but the sample was more like a QD(Quick Detailer) than waterless wash.
2. If ONR is made a quick detailer(1:16 ratio, ONR :Water), it would give a more slickness.
3. ONR gave more reflection than the waterless wash sample, so a QD of ONR would be even better at it.

Great experiment. I too have concluded that ONR is the best multi-purpose cleaning liquid. Recently I have been using Mother's QD. It has loads of slickness more than ONR with the same concentration but it finally cannot beat the versatility of ONR. A pure QD solution is good if your car is dust-free and has no dirt spots that don't go by simple dusting. QDs are not suited for spots created by tree sap and bird droppings. I am waiting for the new ONR stock eagerly.

Next set of pictures to follow. Mods sorry for back to back post but there is a 10 attachment limit.

You can add more than ten photos. Just see the pop-up window after uploading the first batch. It allows you to upload more. No need to create a separate post.

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

But in the end ONR in 1:252 ratio really impressed me.

Are you saying 1 part of ONR with 252 parts of water? Is 252 a special number to use?

Nice set of pictures. I'd love to see a similar post where you show the difference between using a paint sealant like Blackfire and something like Collinite!

[el lobo 6061]

Originally Posted by nileshch

Great experiment. I too have concluded that ONR is the best multi-purpose cleaning liquid. Recently I have been using Mother's QD. It has loads of slickness more than ONR with the same concentration but it finally cannot beat the versatility of ONR. A pure QD solution is good if your car is dust-free and has no dirt spots that don't go by simple dusting. QDs are not suited for spots created by tree sap and bird droppings. I am waiting for the new ONR stock eagerly.

Thanks. Absolutely, ONR has been the most versatile car detailing product I have ever used and even cost of it is way less when we compare it to other products. I'm too eagerly awaiting for the new improved ONR stocks.

Originally Posted by nileshch

You can add more than ten photos. Just see the pop-up window after uploading the first batch. It allows you to upload more. No need to create a separate post.

Thanks, this advice came handy today while uploading 17 pics within a single post rather than creating 2 separate posts.

Originally Posted by nileshch

Are you saying 1 part of ONR with 252 parts of water? Is 252 a special number to use?

Yes. I had earlier used ONR for waterless wash, which gave good result and since I have very less stock left of ONR, wanted to conserve it. So, as ONR recommends use of 1 ounce of ONR for 2 Gallons of water, I converted the ratio into ml. It came out at 1:252(ONR:Water). So I used 250 ml of water and added 10 drops of ONR into it and used on the car as Quick Detailer. The results are shown in the above pictures which I had uploaded previously. It worked out quite well and I can manage the resources for longer.

Originally Posted by nileshch

Nice set of pictures. I'd love to see a similar post where you show the difference between using a paint sealant like Blackfire and something like Collinite!

Thanks again for the appreciation. Will definitely do it in the coming weekend. But I have now come to the opinion paint sealant are the best bet for longevity and water beading ability. Carnauba waxes don't last that long, not even a week. The shine remains until I give the car its first shampoo wash. Paint sealant is for me and application is way too easier than Carnauba wax, no wax residue. But only thing is, you wont get that same shine from sealant but water beading and slickness of paint is much more important than just a bit more of shine.

[iSpoke]

Thanks el lobo 6061, your Comprehensive Car Cleaning post is exactly what I was looking for. 5* banta hey!

[el lobo 6061]

Sooo much to update : The Dark Knight Rises.

After my last update on 3 July 2012, the thread has been inactive more so because of me being lazing out. So finally out of slumber. Updates in chronological order I should have done, not many though.


1. Trip to Ganpatipule via NH17, 13 - 15 July 2012, 900 Kms done
Still I'm thinking, should I write a complete travelogue? Heck is like writing a complete ownership thread all over again. I'm too lazy, but will give it a try. My 1st travelogue.

A pic to sum up the fun, I had before I start writing the whole thing.





2. Next update: 16 July 2012

After the 900 Kms, The Dark Knight looked like it had been through some nasty drive. It had turned all brown from black.

So a car wash is necessary. I can wash my car on my own but it would require a undercarriage, wheel well wash too. So decided on getting it done from 3M Car Care, Seawoods which is 10 mins from my place.

3M Car Wash : Includes complete wash, undercarriage, wheel wells, interior vacuuming including boot, interior dashboard cleaning and application of 3M dressing and finally 3M tyre dressing.

All this for Rs. 444 including every tax. Well worth it.

The best part of it, 3M too were using heavy duty Karcher for cleaning. Waiting to try out mine, Karcher K2.180 soon.


Car goes into the wash booth.


3M Foam wash. Meguiars NXT Car Wash was used.


Clean car.


Rear suspension wheel well. Nicely cleaned.


Front suspension, though cleaned, but certainly not to that extent. To clean it properly you would require to remove the wheel.


3M tyre dreesing. Went off in first rain car went out. Cannot complain about it though, was expected.






3. Time for some car detailing, blind sample of paint sealants. 5 August 2012

Since it had been raining like cats and dogs for whole of July, I couldn't do a proper detailing after the 3M Car wash which I should have done to keep the surface protected.

So finally decided to do it which was covered in 2 days.


Fellow Bhpian and friend @Sohail99 had sent over 2 blind samples of paint sealant. A big shout out to him for sending them to me. It has helped a lot in understanding the way these synthetic sealant work and offer very good protection for half the elbow grease equivalent to that of a Carnauba wax

Day 1:

Car wash with Amway Car shampoo. 4 buckets of shampoo and car was spick and span. I'm exhausted, no more more for today.

Day 2:

As usual, the car was having a bit of dust onto it. Cleaned it with microfiber and quick detailed it with Meguiars Quik Detailer. Surface cleaned, ready for further work

Claying:

I was having the half Meguiars clay bar used last time. Used it again and my GOD, the paint surface was having a lot of bonded contaminants onto it. Used Meguiars Quik Detailer again as clay bar lubricant.

Certainly the paint surface become way too smooth to touch. Claybar was picking a lot of contaminants, especially from doors, which was expected. But bonnet & roof too had a lot of bonded contaminants.

Swirls/Scratch removal : Not needed.

Polish :

Prepped the surface with BlackFire Gloss Enhancing Polish to remove previous was/sealant and give nice gloss to the paint surface.

Sealant :

Used BlackFire Wet Diamond(BFWD) for the purpose. Did most of the car with it.

Used the 2 blind samples of paint sealant on the LHS front fender and LHS front passenger door. Paint Sealant #1(PS#1) was used on the LHS front fender and Paint Sealant #2(PS#2) on LHS front passenger door.

PS#1 gave more gloss than BFWD & PS#2. Really impressed with PS#1. Would rate gloss effect as PS#1> BFWD, PS#2

While comparing smoothness of the surface BFWD was the best but the two blind samples weren't far behind. BFWD had a bit of edge in smoothness over the other two.


Pictures of the result obtained :

Quality ain't good since my mini DSLR is away and the Olympus camera didn't take that good pics.

Preview how dirty car gets in 3 days flat.





Clay bar all dirty picking up bonded contaminants.





Car done with BlackFire Wet Diamond(BFWD). Pics dont do justice. I'm missing my mini-DSLR.










Here you can see, front wheel fender done with PS#1, front passenger door done with PS#2 and rear door passenger door done with BFWD







Water beading :

BFWD at work on roof.


Top BFWD at work and below PS#1.


Left PS#1 & right PS#2.



Water beading of all the 3 sealants is more or less same.


Big question now, who the two PS#1 & PS#2 are?

PS#1 : DP Poli Coat

PS#2 : Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant



If someone now asks me if sealant is better or carnauba wax? My answer sealant, easy to apply, easy to buff. Carnauba based wax would drain the life out of my hands applying & buffing it.

For me paint sealant it is. If someone needs good gloss almost 90% of Carnauba based wax DP Poli Coat is the answer.


Thanks Sohail for the blind samples.

[AnniHilat0R]

Hey el lobo 6061, well took the delivery of my Black Vento Highline. If you remember, had posted on the Official Review Thread, that I might wait for the new one. However, the loan had already been disbursed and was stuck in a tricky situation. So further negotiated and got a better discount with few accessories and took the delivery of my car just yesterday. Straight of the block, I definitely want to get better bulbs as the current ones are really poor for night/highway driving as you know. Can you tell me where did you get the relay fitted on yours from ? Any reliable shop in Vashi ?

[Shome]

Originally Posted by AnniHilat0R

Hey el lobo 6061, well took the delivery of my Black Vento Highline. If you remember, had posted on the Official Review Thread, that I might wait for the new one. However, the loan had already been disbursed and was stuck in a tricky situation. So further negotiated and got a better discount with few accessories and took the delivery of my car just yesterday. Straight of the block, I definitely want to get better bulbs as the current ones are really poor for night/highway driving as you know. Can you tell me where did you get the relay fitted on yours from ? Any reliable shop in Vashi ?

Hi,
Congratulations on your new car. A very good choice of car and colour. Black looks the best but is the most difficult to maintain. Applaud El Lobos DIY efforts but I just cant manage to find the time for DIYs...so 3M it is once a quarter

I got my relay and essential visions fitted in my Swift 2 months back from a store next to Golden Punjab, the one called Sunil auto/motors/something like that. Decent rates but try bargaining. Have been really please with the light quality and their work is reliable as well. Just be around when they fit it.

[AnniHilat0R]

Originally Posted by Shome

Hi,
Congratulations on your new car. A very good choice of car and colour. Black looks the best but is the most difficult to maintain. Applaud El Lobos DIY efforts but I just cant manage to find the time for DIYs...so 3M it is once a quarter

I got my relay and essential visions fitted in my Swift 2 months back from a store next to Golden Punjab, the one called Sunil auto/motors/something like that. Decent rates but try bargaining. Have been really please with the light quality and their work is reliable as well. Just be around when they fit it.

Thanks Shome ! Was gonna opt for the Beige, but saw a black Vento at the dealership and just went all drool ! Definitely going to make sure I maintain it well. Already got Meguiars NXT car shampoo for daily car wash. Might opt for the 3M exterior package to keep the detailing going.

Thanks for the shops name. Will definitely check it out. However, I am caught in two minds with regards to the bulbs. Was gonna opt for the essential visions with Hella/Bosch relays, but a little look on the hella website and managed to find Hella White Daylight 4400k H4 120/110W. Also, quite a few official listed shops in Vashi on the hella wesbite. Might go and have a look tomorrow or sunday.

[el lobo 6061]

Originally Posted by AnniHilat0R

Hey el lobo 6061, well took the delivery of my Black Vento Highline.

First of all congratulations on owning the best drivers car in C segment. The 250NM torque and slick shifting gearbox will get you addicted sooner than later.

Originally Posted by AnniHilat0R

However, I am caught in two minds with regards to the bulbs. Was gonna opt for the essential visions with Hella/Bosch relays, but a little look on the hella website and managed to find Hella White Daylight 4400k H4 120/110W. Also, quite a few official listed shops in Vashi on the hella wesbite. Might go and have a look tomorrow or sunday.

First of all 120/110 would be an overkill for the headlamp casing and the wiring. Secondly 4400K would be all about show and not much improvement in visibility.

My suggestion would be stay within 4000K range. Because higher you go lower becomes the illumination. Go with 100/90 bulbs with either Bosch or Hella relay only.

Regarding bulbs I did suggest following to you.

1. Philips Essential Vision 100/90W - Gives you 100/90 power with white light effect. I too have these on my car.

2. Philips Essential Power 100/90W - Gives you yellow color light with 100/90W power. If you don't white light effect, these will be your best bet in 100/90 range.

3. Philips X-treme Vision 60/55 - It is of same OEM rating of 60/55W and gives 100% more light, Philips claim. Saves you the hassle of relay.


Make your choice as per your requirement. The shops at Vashi Sec-17 are good to source product you require. Ultimately it boils down to find a good mechanic who can do the perfect job. I actually got the relay installed from VW Workshop and later upgraded to white light bulb on my own, DiY.

White Light Transformation on my Vento, DiY.

[Shome]

Originally Posted by AnniHilat0R

managed to find Hella White Daylight 4400k H4 120/110W. Also, quite a few official listed shops in Vashi on the hella wesbite. Might go and have a look tomorrow or sunday.

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

First of all congratulations on owning the best drivers car in C segment. The 250NM torque and slick shifting gearbox will get you addicted sooner than later.


First of all 120/110 would be an overkill for the headlamp casing and the wiring. Secondly 4400K would be all about show and not much improvement in visibility.

My suggestion would be stay within 4000K range. Because higher you go lower becomes the illumination. Go with 100/90 bulbs with either Bosch or Hella relay only.

Regarding bulbs I did suggest following to you.

1. Philips Essential Vision 100/90W - Gives you 100/90 power with white light effect. I too have these on my car.

2. Philips Essential Power 100/90W - Gives you yellow color light with 100/90W power. If you don't white light effect, these will be your best bet in 100/90 range.

3. Philips X-treme Vision 60/55 - It is of same OEM rating of 60/55W and gives 100% more light, Philips claim. Saves you the hassle of relay.


Make your choice as per your requirement. The shops at Vashi Sec-17 are good to source product you require. Ultimately it boils down to find a good mechanic who can do the perfect job. I actually got the relay installed from VW Workshop and later upgraded to white light bulb on my own, DiY.

White Light Transformation on my Vento, DiY.

agree with El Lobo. 120/110 will be an overkill. Its bad for the reflectors and they deteriorate at a much faster rate. On top of that, you will blind oncoming traffic. I have the Philips essential vision 100/90 and I must say that the yellowish white light really makes a black car look good. Visibility is good in the rains as well.

[el lobo 6061]

More Updates!

1. Fuel Economy of a TDi and I'm loving it.

Clocked 479.9 KM within half tank. Considering Vento has a 55 lt fuel tank capacity, I'm getting an average of nearly ~17.5 Kmpl. The best part its all within city limits no highway running. I always do a auto cut fill and never put in extra through that button in tank which puts in additional 5-7 lt more.

I can even better next time and do more than 500 Kms in half tank. On highways 1200 kms in a single tank. If I did tell the hypermilling techniques I use, you all did flame me.

So a Goa journey from Mumbai in a single tank. Hats off to VW TDi engines.





2. Changed wiper blades to Hella DynaEdge

It had been more than 16 months with the stock wipers that came with the car. They served well, but recently they had started streaking which was not acceptable to me. So another reason to upgrade.

VW original wipers comes at Rs. 300 for driver side and Rs. 200 for passenger side.

Well I always had a liking for the ones which come in BMW/ Mercedes, single spine one. Even a Skoda Fabia comes with those, why can't VW provide them in Vento.

So it was either Bosch AeroTwins or Hella DynaEdge. AeroTwins weren't available and were very costly, a deterrent for going for those single spine ones. Whereas Hella is VFM and was available easily and everyone on Team-BHP recommended it. So Hella DynaEdge it was then.

Vento size is 24" & 16" and comes at a MRP of Rs. 613 & Rs. 567 respectively. Installed them on my own. Will be checking out the performance of wipers, if it rains tomorrow.

My Vento looks much more better after all the upgrades comprising.
1. Philips White Light upgrade all round.
2. Short stubby antenna.
3. Hella DynaEdge, wiper blades.


Few pics:



Wipers in service position, lifted up with old wipers for the last time.


Hella DynaEdge wipers installed, DiY.


Another view.

[newtonMeter]

2. Changed wiper blades to Hella DynaEdge

the original driver side wiper has wind deflector member. I dont see that in the dyna edge. But i also see an inbuilt groove on it. Is it inbuilt with wind deflection?

hi el lobo, i was looking closely at the pics. Noticed something on the front shocker stubb. Attached is the pic. Is the bolt missing on the left side? though there is no nut groove. Good to check once.



Note from Team-bhp support: Please use the EDIT or MULTI-QUOTE buttons instead of typing one post after another on the same thread!