GT'ing around in my VW Polo TSI | Update: SOLD! (2024)

UPDATE:

Things have been quiet on my thread for a while, and rightfully so. But a lot has happened behind the scenes, i.e. intensive research on the right parts, their effects and consequences, et al. But when I found the right parts, I wasted no time in purchasing them. So every purchase has a back story to it. So let's get to it, shall we?

It all started when we had been on one of our drives to Sakleshpur, a small town at a reasonably significant elevation, nestled in the gorgeous Western Ghats. En route and back, I noticed a few things about the factory brakes.

At slow speeds, they are fine and do the job, albeit in a laboured manner. The first 30% of the pedal travel didn't do much. prodding further would at times induce sharp bites. one could even describe it as 'grabby'. But to really get it to stop, you'd have to hit the pedal hard. I could live with this, because the brakes would do their job as intended, just not in the most convincing or reassuring manner.

Out on the open road, the story was entirely different.

I must have been doing about 120 on the 6 lane Hassan highway, on our way back to Bangalore, and as I approached a junction that I could see a good 300 meters ahead, I let go of the A pedal and began to gently prod the B pedal. As usual, they felt a touch grabby at first, but it did not deliver the desired result. Just then, a two wheeler darted across the highway, right at the fast-approaching junction, and I had to work the B pedal a touch more. At this point, the braking wasn't great but what alarmed me was the shaking and juddering coming through the steering wheel and tyres.

It was clear from then on, that I had to do something about the brakes. The discs had warped and although the pads had another year in them, I did not want to risk it.

Back in Bangalore, I had a long chat with Azaan about the options available to me, and he immediately recommended Brembo Xtra Drilled rotors and Brembo Black brake pads. Inlcuding installation, this would have set me back about 20k. It seemed quite reasonable, but after experiencing this setup first hand, I wasn't entirely convinced. The improvement may have been 10%-15% at best!

Reading and research revealed several other options, like EBC slotted rotors and yellowstuff brake-pads. Several members on the forum recommended these to me, but these rotors and pads would be around 25k-30k. Pricey for what is essentially a stock-replacement kit. So I began to look elsewhere.

New BHPian Sharan strongly recommended the Big Brake Kit and told me that the whole lot could be acquired for under 40k. This kit comes with red calipers, carriers and pads (essentially identical to the ones on the GTI's front axle). The new larger single-piston calipers are now to be paired with 288 mm rotors/discs. (The stock size, I'm told is 250 odd mm.) It looked great, but I wasn't sure of it due to the pricing. Azaan made his concerns clear, stating that the BBK may have an adverse effect on the Brake Cylinder and lines, but I'm not planning on tracking this car anytime soon, so I looked this up.

4yourdrive.de had stock of the BBK, and I kept opening the link and agonized over it for a week. This would be my first online purchase that would require customs clearance, and hence I was skeptical. But all this deliberation and dilly dallying resulted in the part going out of stock! *facepalm* moment if there ever was one!

Some local guys like Vagtunes stock the BBK, but at eye-wateringly painful prices. At one site, I remember seeing the 1.3 lakh figure against the product and I simply couldn't digest it.

I was back to square one.

I may have been down but not out.

I continued reading up on the options, and the same German website that stocked the BBK had something very similar. In fact, it was essentially the same thing, but it had the 'S1' plaque on it. So these calipers are essentially the same ones that are found on the Audi S1! The catch? It was a cool 70 Euro over the plaque-less one.

I flipped a coin and before I knew it, I drafted an email to the seller in Germany, in the bid to establish some sort of relationship and understand the nuances.

With all my doubts clarified by the seller, I bit the bullet and made the purchase! It set me back 202 Euro, inclusive of shipping. I know, it's a lot pricer than stock or stock-replacement aftermarket brakes, but these should last me a long time and this little mod will reduce the frequency of brake pad swaps. They're definitely worth it!

With that done, I had to now look for the right rotors to go with the calipers. The search began, and predictably I hit a few road blocks. The rotors I'd wanted - Brembo Xtra (drilled) were not in stock, and may not be in stock for the foreseeable future. I was told that only the blanks are available. The hunt continued though, and I was left with two options: EBC Slotted Rotors and Black Diamond Cross-Drilled and Slotted Rotors.

Both options were eye wateringly expensive, and after a quick calculation, I realized that I will be breaching the 40k budget i'd allocated for the entire brake setup I'd planned.

I remained unfazed and got in touch with United Distributors from Chennai who had stock of the 288 mm rotors that I needed. It helped that United Distributors gave me a good deal, so I went ahead with it. I wired the money and the rotors reached my doorstep in 2 days.

Suspension:

Whilst discussing rotor options with United Distributors over Whatsapp, they told me that they also have Eibach Springs in stock and were willing to give me a good deal on those as well.

At that point, I was desperately looking for a solution for the yawning wide gap between the tyres and the wheel arch. If anything, it was doing a disservice to the nice wheels I'd exhausted my savings on.

But all my research up until that point led me to believe that Coilovers are the only way to go, and this is a very important point to consider.

Coilovers are essentially dampers and springs that are engineered and built together and therefore, do a stellar job as the springs and dampers are perfectly matched to each other. However, good Coilovers from reputed brands like KW or its subsidiary, ST, will cost you an arm, a leg and possibly a kidney. The ones to go for - KW's Street Comfort coilovers - would have been 1.4 lakh inclusive of taxes and installation. ST's XA coilovers would have set me back 1.1 lakh for a similar setup, all inclusive.

I simply couldn't wrap my head around those figures. On a Skoda Octavia vRS that costs 30 lakh, it may make sense to invest in such a setup. But on a 11 lakh Polo? I think not. However, it has been done by several, and the reports seem to suggest that they're absolutely fantastic!

Even a set of used Street Comforts that recently came my way, tempted me to bite the bullet. But the thought of not being able to follow through with the rest of the modifications planned for the car loomed large, and eventually I had to make peace with the fact that I couldn't afford them at this time.

A word with tuner extraordinaire Sajan Thomas from Code6 reinforced it further. He mentioned that although the KWs are fantastic, they are sensitive to bad roads, and a few bad potholes or unmarked speed breakers could potentially ruin them. After spending nearly one and a half lakh on coilovers, I want peace of mind while traversing broken Bangalore roads and certain questionable highways. This is something KW will not deliver. Azaan's father's pearls of wisdom eventually sealed it for me: "KW is brilliant, but they are meant for nice flowing European roads, not for our ragged Indian tarmac."

So coilovers are no longer an option for me, unless my Firm decides that I should get a bonus, larger than what I deserve.

Lowering springs, on the other hand, are a cost effective way to improve the handling as well as drop the ride height. However, they are not recommended if the idea is to solely improve performance and handling. Sure, the center of gravity gets better as the car sits lower, but as the lowering springs are not designed in tandem with the dampers, they may not be a good match for each other and consequently, the ride could get unbearably stiff - something I couldn't deal with. Ride quality is important to me and I wasn't ready to compromise. Moreover, lowering springs destroy dampers in the long run.

However, upon further research, I found that although lowering springs do destroy stock dampers eventually, the Eibach Pro Kit Springs provide a marginal drop, and this will not harm the dampers as much as say, other lowering springs that drop the ride height in excess of 50 mm. And I figured, if and when the dampers do give up as a result of the shortened springs, it would be a good opportunity to swap them for Bilstein B8s.

The Bilstein B8 dampers are like the B6, but shortened and designed in tandem with the Eibach springs. SO they should work well.

The deal offered by United Distributors was simply too good to ignore. So I phoned them and wired the money instantly, and the package arrived on the same day my BBK arrived!

The install:

Once I had all the parts with me, I spoke to Azaan and requested for a Saturday to get the parts installed. on the 22nd at around 10 am, I loaded the parts into my car and promptly drove straight to the garage.

Work began almost immediately upon arrival, with my car being put onto the lift.

Work in progress: Obviously, the stock suspension was removed to access the springs and only then did the new brakes go into the car

Old brakes look a bit sad, to be honest.

Pretty self explanatory, I'd say.

Here's a picture of the new spring on the Sachs dampers

The Rotors and calipers in place.

Once the brakes and suspension were in place, we found that a part of the calipers, specifically the plaque that reads S1, fouled with the inner portion of the wheel. Drat!

Azaan's genious mechanic got to work immediately by trimming the plaque so that the wheels accommodate the calipers without trouble.

Installation complete!

A picture of the rear spring through the wheel, and a close-up of the same below.

Azaan's garage also had another Polo GT TSI on that day - The perfect opportunity for a photo-comparo.

My box of shame, that now includes the rear mud flaps.

With the install completed followed by a quick bleed with .4 brake fluid, we were good to go!

With the install completed, we went for a short spin and once we confirmed that the install went according to plan, I drove straight to Madhus for a mandatory alignment job.

Mandatory Alignment at Madhus.

The ol' girl is now on a high octane diet!

I found this venture on Instagram called Proctane. It's an octane booster that is meant to be mixed with regular fuel. Initially, I was skeptical, but after having a long chat with Arjun, a friend and fellow enthusiast from Chennai who has been using it for a few months now, and having spoken to the owner of Proctane who shared with me some documentation, I was convinced and ordered a carton of the juice.

As directed, I emptied one 300 ml bottle of the stuff into a full tank of fuel, after the alignment at Madhus. A quick wash at Feynlabs and I was all set for a few pictures.

Initial impression:

Brakes: I haven't pushed the car hard yet, and as advised I have avoided hard stops. We did go for a drive outside the city and I observed that the pedal now feels more eager to respond to inputs. The first 30% pedal travel that made no difference has changed. It's sharper now and I can sense the reserves of braking power available to me. It's waaayyyy better than stock brakes, and definitely a step above stock replacement brake rotors and pads, that's for sure.

I cannot wait to give them a proper workout! The month of July and August will consist of several weekend drives and I'm looking forward to it.

Suspension: The Eibach Pro Kit Springs have dropped the ride height and the stance has definitely improved. The yawning wheel gap is a distant dream now. On the move, the chassis feels marginally stiffer, about 10-15% perhaps? I have to say, that I am extremely careful while driving on roads, and I constantly scan the tarmac for bad patches and make the extra effort to avoid them as much as possible. If required, I slow down to an absolute crawl to negotiate some of the really rough stuff. So under such circ*mstances, the springs definitely held their own. Around faster corners, body-roll has decreased quite a bit, and the car feels ever so slightly more eager to turn in. The springs have also eliminated the minor back-and-forth rocking movement that I have experienced while coming to a dead stop from a crawl.

Note, these are initial impressions only, and a full report on my experience on this will be out in the coming weeks.

Stay tuned.