Thanks for all the wonderful comments and PMs!
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Originally Posted by naveen.raju BTW, do you remove the VW logo or got that stolen?
Also, kms clocked till now? |
naveen, my logos got stolen one at a time within a couple of weeks of me getting the car.
Clocked 1882 km as of last night- 540 of them in one day (yesterday!)
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Originally Posted by evilshantanu And BTW I like the de-badged rear |
Hehe.
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Originally Posted by avishar No offense but not really digging the debadged look.Those VW logos look brilliant,which sadly is why they get stolen so much!Do try and get new badges. |
I hate to drive around with gaping holes in front and back. Truth be told I do have a spare set of original logos with me but am scared to put them on and tempt those thieves again. More than the logo loss, it's the damage they cause to the boot and front grille when prying it out (mostly with screwdrivers) that hurts.
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Originally Posted by himanshu_j How about getting your steering wheel wrapped in suede for greater grip? As is available in supercars like aston martin et al! |
Now that's a suggestion! Genuine leather wrapping costs about 4-5K and they need to keep the VW in the shop for 4-5 days while they detach the steering wheel and send it to Bangy for wrapping (according to the VW accessories chap). Sounded like too much trouble and nobody notices it but me (and you guys!) so it's Hindi-Cheeni buy buy for now!
The Solapur trip was awesome: 540 km that took most part of the day (13 hours 08 mins driving time as per my MID). We started at 5.00 am and by the time everyone was picked up, it was quarter to six when we hit the NH9. I drove for about halfway then swapped with my pal in his TJet till we reached. Left back around 2.30 after lunch and
paan and was home again at 9.30 pm.
A few observations (Linea TJet vs Vento AT)- For sheer driving pleasure, there is no comparison even. The TJet's turbocharged petrol engine pulls and pulls in 5th gear, while my baby is much more sedate. I left my own car choking far behind in the dust!
- Ride and handling, I rate the Vento higher, though not by much. It feels more planted somehow and shocks are absorbed better. But the Linea has 205 tyres standard to Vento's 185 which is a different feeling totally.
- Interiors wise the TJet isn't bad at all, though the silver finish on the ICE is not one I like- for some reason it made me want to wipe it with a clean moist cloth. Also, shiny-shiny plastics and a very dark shade of beige on the side doors left me cold. But Fiat flashiness (versus VW understatedness) grows on one!
- Ergonomicaly VW has done everything right. Except that monstrous handbrake positioning under the front armrest, that is! The Linea's ergs are all screwed up: opening the front window one needs to strettttch the arm a good way, for example. And the dead pedal feels weird- not enough of a gap between that and the clutch and I had to improvise a new way of raising my foot to depress the clutch. Also, I couldn't reach the ICE volume knob with my left hand and was being smug about this till I realised I'd forgotten about the...
- STEERING MOUNTED ICE CONTROLS- Whoa, awesome! I loved that the "mute" button needs to be pressed firmer than the rest to prevent accidental muting. Now I know what I am missing in my Vento- but just heard that the next version planned by VW has this feature, which is good for the car if not for me!
- Gearshift of the Linea is not that great: felt rubbery and long throws put me off. A slick, short-throw box is what this car is crying for.
- FE is lower than what my Vento offers which is not that surprising now that I have driven it myself. This trip alone I got 12.7 kmpl. My friend says he is hard pressed to get 10.
- It's apparent Fiat has built this car for the enthusiast and I would have no hesitation in recommending one to anyone who genuinely loves driving.
A pic of the two beauties side by side:
Traffic on Solapur Road was quite heavy- trucks all the way and the four laning really slows progress down as had been warned by Ashish Pallod and others on the NH9 thread. Plus we got a couple of bad jams on the way thanks to the idiots who think they can cut across into the oncoming lane and then point their snout back in, blocking an entire lane.
Thanks to the AT I don't have any lingering aches and pains today but the effort for so many hours on the road at a stretch took its toll and my friend (not the TJet owner) offered to take over for a couple of hours on the way back. He is single handedly responsible for bringing the FE down!
The point was reinforced about how lightfootedly I drive yet again: am sure I would have managed to keep it above 13 if I had continued. He was driving an AT for the first time but is a good driver and learnt fast, especially loving the kickdown and using it at every overtaking opportunity. But he was doing a nice job overall so I even managed to catch a little shut-eye and regain my energy for the last stint into the city.
We were 6 of us playing musical chairs between the two cars and had a great time bonding over things like cricket and Amitabh Bachchan movies, not things you normally get a chance to discuss. The trip was to another friend's wedding and he was touched that we made the "commute". Of course we had an ulterior motive but didn't tell him that!
Edit @ Ajay Satpute:
No more pics sorry man. We were focused on reaching in time and there really aren't too many scenic spots on NH9 to stop and click. The Vento definitely feels more planted than the TJet- maybe the weight is better distributed, or something.