Polo Wonderland


How it all started...

I have been bugged by wifey to chronicle my journey with our new car, Volkswagen Polo 1.2 Tsi DSG. Humm…how should I document ways to enhance the car's performance, handling and so on?
Anyway, given all the feedbacks and stuff that were said in the local forum, you must be wondering whether if I am crazy to jump onto a VW wagon…anyway..

History

As I was saying... a little background about my driving experience.  :)

I got my license way back in September 1995, some 17 years again! Ever since that faithful day, I had a total 4 cars, excluding the Polo.
First Car - Alfa 33


My first car was an Alfa 33, which gave me a lot of heartaches and headaches! Out of 7 days, the car would constantly be in the car workshop for at least 3 days. From simple mechanics to electrical…in fact everything in the car required some repairs.
Nonetheless, I found about later that this car was actually involved in an accident so bad that its dashboard had cracked. I wished I been more "street smart" to recognize a lemon.


Second Car - EC Honda Civic

After suffered for over a year and a half, I finally dumped the car and traded it for my second car, a renewed COE EC Honda Civic. Some of you might be wondering why I did not get a new car after such a bad experience....

Well, the year was 1999 and back then, a new EK Honda Civic VTi costed close to 140k! Hence, I could not afford a new car at that point in time, especially since I had just started my career.

Alas, even that car was in desperate need of major maintenance overhaul; the auto gearbox could not engage any gear (other than the 1st in 'D' after 3 weeks of driving); the top and bottom engine casket was leaking engine oil; even the fuel filter was somehow split into top and bottom halves.
True enough, I dumped the car after putting up with it for a year and a half.


Third Car - EK Honda Civic VTi 
I bought my third car through a car resale website…if I remember correctly, there were not many car resales websites back then. Although it was not the full fledged SiR model, I had a lot of plans for this car.
Its performance was superior as compared to a normal family sedan. Then, I started looking at tuners magazine and stuff to find a correct combination for ricer looks. By the way, did I mention that the original color of the car was maroon? Yucks!

At that time, it was what I can afford, and it looked pretty decent especially since its previous owner was a lady!
Anyway, I started off with changing the exhaust, air filter and so on. Later on, I added a set of bodykit, re-sprayed the car to white, drop the ride height and even changed the rims.
However, due to my limited knowledge in car mechanics, I spent quite a reasonable sum of money replacing parts that have been changed before. However, this car lasted me for three and half years before I finally fell in love with a MY03 Subaru Impreza STi.


Forth Car - Subaru Impreza STi

The year was 2003. While I was car shopping with a close friend, we came across a Subaru showroom at Ubi Megamart. There it was.... sitting there and my heart melted. At that point in time, I told myself I had to get this car, no matter what.

It took me less than 3 days to bargain with the Sales people for the trade in of my Honda Civic and my parents were only informed about my new car after I had signed the purchase agreement.
Nonetheless, the rest is history.

For the first five years, I did nothing to my new car, except to drop the front ride height. In its stock condition, it was already a joy to drive, with the power on-demand and the experience was way out of this world.

Later on, my brother in law introduced me to the world of car mods and he advised that the right approach is to enhance the power and ride characteristics of this car.
From the fifth year onwards, many major works have been done to the car. From a stock bhp of 265, I managed to enhance the performance up to 340 bhp as I felt that anything beyond that will be difficult to drive for a local road driving condition. The torque curve has been brought forward and this allowed for a linear acceleration from stop.
Well, I enjoyed every single moment in my nine years of driving this car. Furthermore, I have many fond memories with it; I met my wife, and got married in this car; we took numerous road trips to Malaysia and it was our daily runabout.
Alas, due to its age and the maintenance considerations, coupled with the recent escalating COE prices, we had to make a decision on whether it was still feasible for me to continue driving it until its tenth year, or whether buying a new car was more cost effective.


Search for a new ride...
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We concluded that it was more expensive to maintain and the second option was more favorable. Thus we set out to look for our next new ride.

Sure enough within weeks, we made our way to Volkswagen showroom. Unlike the pervious occasions when I had bought cars without considering the "hidden cost", I was had made a more informed choice after much considerations. After factoring in the low cost of maintenance, durability, road tax, fuel cost and the price and so on, we decided to purchase the Polo Sports. My wife chose the color RED and I went along with her choice.

Yet another exciting journey
Soon after, she started this blog for me to write and share my experiences with this new car. And so here I am. :) By the way, she even christen this car as "Red Riding Hood"!
In case you might wonder…. until today, we are currently still awaiting the delivery of the car. However,  I will soon update this blog with details of its stock handling and how I would like to enhance the handling characteristics and performance.
So stay tuned!

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