Volkswagen Polo TDi: From Elegant German Beauty To a Hot German Chic

[VipinLJ]

Re: A German Dream Pre-owned VW Polo TDi

Another thing I desperately want to do is to get rid of those two chrome strips on the grill. Looks too tacky as far as I am concerned. The car will look much much better if those chrome strips are blackened. I tried pulling it off but it seems they are held by something other than 3M tape and I did not want to break it. I'm planning on getting a GTI grill instead but she desperately needs a body kit. If only the GC wasn't affected....*sigh*
How much did those white vinyl strips cost you? I hope to find something similar here in TVM.

Regards,
Vipin

 

[Sandykudva]

Re: A German Dream Pre-owned VW Polo TDi

@ VipinLJ:- You can go for the GTI Grille. In fact it was your thread only where i had seen a clean yet sporty design of the Polo GTI . Keeping that image in mind i have started doing up my ride. The design keeps the stock look of the car but yet gives it the sporty characters. I did enquire about these headlamps in the picture here, on vagtune it is available for around 1.3 lacs and the same my guy here in mumbai is ready to get for 21.5 k without Xenons and 27k with Xenons. I do not like the alloys in the pics as i am a fan of the Multispoke alloy wheels. I love the black top also but i depends from person to person. The car looks smoking hot if it has skirts but unfortunately i know here in mumbai it wont last for long.

About the Head lamp Vinyls these are just plane vinyls i got them for 100 Rs. It looks really smart according to me but some how the difference in the shade gives it up. Will try to find something close to the body colour.

 

[VipinLJ]

Re: A German Dream Pre-owned VW Polo TDi

..... I did enquire about these headlamps in the picture here, on vagtune it is available for around 1.3 lacs and the same my guy here in mumbai is ready to get for 21.5 k without Xenons and 27k with Xenons

1.3 lacs?!?!?! Was that a typo? 1.3 lacs is probably for some kit for the Polo which includes the headlamp too other than maybe the grill and bumper and stuff. AFAIK, the GTI headlamps cost around 26-27k (like what you have mentioned).
I have seen a couple of Polos here with the GTI lamp and it looks good. The only thing which I didn't like was that the parking lights have to be switched on for the LED DRLs to glow (that beats the point of DRLs right?).
The colour difference doesn't look very noticeable in the pics. It might be apparent in real life. Let me check around TVM this week to see if I can find something similar.

Regards,
Vipin

PS. Just checked the vagtune website and I got the shock of my life! Rs. 1.3lacs only for the GTI headlamp. Unbelievable. I really want to see which sucker falls for that and buys it from them.

Edit: If the 1.3lacs was for the bumper kit of the GTI along with the headlamps (the GTI has a different bumper with different foglamps), then it would be okay but only for the headlamps is too much.

 

[Sandykudva]

Re: A German Dream Pre-owned VW Polo TDi

@ VipinLJ : No bro had read it correctly. Even I was shocked at first as I had read it around 43k but then found out that it was only for the projectors and DRLs not the headlight assembly. There are people who buy it. In fact this is VW hence 1.3 lacs I hav a relative of mine who had purchased a same kind for his Mercedes E 270 CDi spending 5 lacs for it. I was shocked and told him that you will get a new hatch at the same price.

Yes in the picture the colour diff is not that visible but in reality it hits the eyes clearly.

 

[Sandykudva]

Re: A German Dream Pre-owned VW Polo TDi

It has been 28 days now and the car has completed 1000 kms today. Would like to give a short description about the ownership experience till date.

The first few days after purchase the vehicle did not impress me much due to previous ownership of much powerful vehicles. But after few days of ownership experience I realised that it is a very practical and useful car. The more I drove it the more I fell in love with it. Earlier I was a guy completely of figures and stats about the vehicle power output and nothing else was important but now after starting to work i realised that the figures important are the Fuel economy and the Maintenance. I work 6 days a week and travel by car, I have a decent distance to cover with medium amount of traffic thanks to my parents the location of the house is such that during my travel to office and return I have the opposite direction of traffic and not in flow with the traffic.
So all that matters is a car with decent amount of power and good fuel economy.

Good Stuff about the Car

- One of the hottest looking hatches in the country.
- Great fuel economy. In this 1k Kms of complete city driving the following is the average that I got.
Worst Average (With AC)-14.5 Km/Ltr Worst Average (Without AC)- 15.5 Km/Ltr
Best Average (With AC) - 20.5 Km/Ltr Best Average (Without AC)- 22 Km/Ltr
All this on Sober Driving of around maximum speed of around 80-90 Km/Hr

- The Engine NVH is controlled in a very good manner inside the Cabin. Better than even my Innova.
- The AC is a Chiller. The AC cools up very quickly. Even on a hot afternoon.
- Boot Space is good enough to hold two large bags or 3 medium baggage’s.
- Interior Quality is Top Notch except for the AC Vents. The AC Vents tend to break on very little application of pressure.
- The ICE is really good but only lacks the AUX and USB.
- The Vehicle is very stable at high speeds. The steering of the Polo is very light to drive in the city but at high speeds does tend to weigh up a bit. I have driven the car to its top speed and to be frank the car is rock steady even at that speed. The only thing heard is the engine growl which is revving between 4000-4500 RPM. (I somewhat love the growl of the engine).
- The vehicle handling is very good specially the cornering’s. I have driven most of the hatches and have found the handling a lot better than the others. I am able to take the corners at high speeds with confidence, which I am unable to do in other vehicles.


Bad stuff about the car

- The cabin space. One of the biggest drawbacks of this car is the cabin space. The rear seats are very uncomfortable for people to sit. Especially if I am sitting on the drivers seat nobody is able to sit behind me. In fact even a very short guy or kid might find it uncomfortable behind me.(You can see my seating position in one of the pictures in my review). Even with normal heighted people the car is a strict 4 seater.
- The turbo lag. The car will take ages for the turbo to spool. ( Just Kidding) But yes this car has the biggest turbo lag from all the diesel or turbo vehicles that I have driven. The car will only come to life after the turbo starts spooling after 2200 RPM but mind you the mid-range of the car is very punchy. In fact that is the best zone to drive this car.
- The AC Vents, as mentioned earlier are very fragile. Apply slight pressure while changing the direction and bang you have just broken it.
- Ground Clearance: The Car has a low ground clearance causing it to scrape on bumps. Luckily I have not faced this issue due to very careful driving and max of 2-3 people on board.

As mentioned in the bad point is the engine power. I agree it is very sluggish to drive but more than sufficient to drive it in and around the city. For outstation drives my family has the Toyota Innova.

In short a very good car to drive in the city and once in a while outstation trip with small family. But if you are looking for something on the highways then this is surely not the car to go for.

 

[anshuman8]

Re: A German Dream Pre-owned VW Polo TDi

Isn't the FE variation in City and Highway too high. IMO Polo should give around 17 in city at least.

 

[Sandykudva]

Re: A German Dream Pre-owned VW Polo TDi

@ anshuman8 : Here the drive in the city restricts the gear change in the car. Even third gear is achieved very rarely. its just the 1st and the 2nd gear. Buddy i have not yet taken the car on the highway. All the figures which i have mentioned in my review is in the city itself. On my way to office i get the Eastern Free-way which has been recently opened to public which is a 13 km stretch of road bypassing a few areas of Mumbai which is only for cars no bikes and buses allowed. It is because of this stretch i have attained the best average mentioned above. The mix of city and the free-way gives a overall average of 18-19 km/ltr. If it is pure city than in Mumbai depending on traffic conditions i will be ranging from 14-16 km/ltr.

 

[VipinLJ]

Re: A German Dream Pre-owned VW Polo TDi

He he. You should see Trivandrum during traffic time. It's unbelievable. Cochin is worse. The best I've gotten in the city in my Polo is 16km/l. The worst I've gotten is 8!!!!! That is how bad it is. The highways in south Kerala are equally bad too. The worst I've got on the highway is 14km/l. Al figures with AC (I never drive without AC because it is too darn hot here).

Regards,
Vipin

PS: I agree with the points you've mentioned in your sum up of your car a couple of posts above.

 

[Sandykudva]

Re: A German Dream Pre-owned VW Polo TDi

@ Vipin: I have been to trivandrum but that was about 5 years back. 8 Km/Ltr man thats really bad even my innova in the worst of the city traffics with AC manages about 9 Km/Ltr. Cant say about the polo average completely as i have just driven the car for about 1k Kms and that too with 3 partial fill ups. Now i have just tanked it up completely so will get a better conclusion with the tank up method. I never rely on the MID.

About the average, TDi engines generally give a better fuel efficiency than the CRDi engines ( My Observation ). Majority of the people i have met tell me that its a 3 Pot engine hence you must be getting excellent average but that is not true.
The issue with the Polo is that there is a lot of turbo lag to bring it into a proper drivable condition so we tend to push the accelerator a lot more to gain the power while driving to cover up gaps or to overtake, this causes the fuel efficiency to drop a lot but the same in a vento the power is available at the tap so he does not have to strain a lot to cover the gap or overtake just the normal acceleration will do. Hence the vento delivers a better average or say almost equivalent to the polo in idle driving conditions but in idling conditions surely it will drink more fuel than the polo.

Some TDi engines that i have used, some my own and some family vehicles used on trips and their fuel efficiencies as follows.

1) Skoda Octavia Rider 1.9 Tdi: City : 12-13 Kmpl Highway: 24-25 Kmpl

2) Volkswagen Vento Tdi : City : 13-14 Kmpl Highway: 19-20 Kmpl

3) Skoda Laura 2.0 Tdi : City : 11-12 Kmpl Highway : 17-18 Kmpl

 

[VipinLJ]

Re: A German Dream Pre-owned VW Polo TDi

I know Sandy. The reason why we don't get the same mileage as the Swift is because of the horrible turbo lag resulting in the need to work through the gears quite often.
And the 8kmpl I got was only once. That too, for a ten minute drive in stop and go traffic. The mileage was what was on the MID.

Regards,
Vipin

 

[Sandykudva]

Re: A German Dream Pre-owned VW Polo TDi

@ vipinlj : Do not go on the MID display that shows the average. It does display correct but it takes time. This is what I have observed. Now in the highline MID there are two displays which shows the average. One is the instant one which keeps on fluctuating with the amount of throttle u give in I.e if the if u press the throttle lightly it will instntly show some average like 15km/ltr more harder then will drop to 10km/ ltr if u leave the throttle completely and the car is in motion then it shows upto 85 km/ltr. The second is the average fuel consumption that you have achieved from the time you started the car to the time you stopped the car. Now the thing I have observed is that the average fuel consumption takes some time I.e if I start the car go for about 2-3 kms and stop the car then it will show an average fuel consumption of 7-8 km/ ltr. The more I drive the more the average increase but in city it will increase max upto 15-16 km/ltr and then fluctuate upon driving conditions. The worst my MID has shown is 11.5 km/ltr in complete bumper to bumper. So if your MID has shown 8 after a short drive then no need to worry if after a pretty long drive its showing that then its pretty bad.

 

[vu2gte]

Re: A German Dream Pre-owned VW Polo TDi

Reading the manual might help. The mid has 2 selections one is data for single trip which resets if there is a break of more than 2 hrs and the other which is a cumulative one which is the better one to use.

 

[Music_Swift]

Re: A German Dream Pre-owned VW Polo TDi

I also get about 13-14 in city and 19-20 in highways.Car is Vento Diesel.Planning to cancel used Polo booking and get an Polo GT TDi or new Rapid TDi.

 

[VipinLJ]

Re: A German Dream Pre-owned VW Polo TDi

@ vipinlj : Do not go on the MID display that shows the average. It does display correct but it takes time. This is what I have observed. Now in the highline MID there are two displays which shows the average. One is the instant one which keeps on fluctuating with the amount of throttle u give in I.e if the if u press the throttle lightly it will instntly show some average like 15km/ltr more harder then will drop to 10km/ ltr if u leave the throttle completely and the car is in motion then it shows upto 85 km/ltr. The second is the average fuel consumption that you have achieved from the time you started the car to the time you stopped the car. Now the thing I have observed is that the average fuel consumption takes some time I.e if I start the car go for about 2-3 kms and stop the car then it will show an average fuel consumption of 7-8 km/ ltr. The more I drive the more the average increase but in city it will increase max upto 15-16 km/ltr and then fluctuate upon driving conditions. The worst my MID has shown is 11.5 km/ltr in complete bumper to bumper. So if your MID has shown 8 after a short drive then no need to worry if after a pretty long drive its showing that then its pretty bad.

I know Sandy. I should have re-worded my claim. The least I saw on the MID was 8kmpl :D The new CLs have the same features as the HL bar the Climatronic AC and Airbags/ABS. The rest of the features are the same on the inside.

I also get about 13-14 in city and 19-20 in highways.Car is Vento Diesel.Planning to cancel used Polo booking and get an Polo GT TDi or new Rapid TDi.

I saw go for the Polo GT TDI. That is the Polo to have \m/

Regards,
Vipin

 

[Sandykudva]

Re: A German Dream Pre-owned VW Polo TDi

@vu2gte: Thanks a lot for the information buddy. I will check the manual for sure but I do not depend too much on the MID average display.

@ Music swift : I think that should be a good decision bro. If you have no issue with the money then rather go for a new Polo GT Tdi as a rapid will be very similar to ur vento.

@ VipinLJ: I do not know much about the differences in CL and HL as VW tends to keep on changing features here and there. The Vento earlier had a complete difference when it just had trendline and highline but again they introduced CL.