Chevrolet Optra Magnum TCDi ... My new love ..!!

[IronWolf]

Ive heard you can just remove it before your drive to the service center.

Busa, is that possible .. to remove it on your own and not have any evidence of the power box being used?

[BUSA]

Busa, is that possible .. to remove it on your own and not have any evidence of the power box being used?

will pete's tungin box void the warranty. From my understanding, its a plug & play kind of setup and should be able to remove easily, right?

@ Ironwolf and Sajivr - Its wont void the warranty and its very easy to remove it, infact it will take you less then 10 minutes to unplug it or plug it back and the service guys will have no idea it was ever installed.

Infact i have it installed on my Swift and everytime the car goes for service i unplug it and plug it back once the car is serviced and the service center has no idea what so ever. For more info about the Petes box just click my signature.

@ KP - Yeah its damn fun estimating such figures, imagine what we can estimate on the 360NM, 150BHP Captiva using same engine, 180bhp and 400NM

[Absar]

Hi beanstalk_230! Congrats on your purchase of the Optra Magnum TDCi!

It looks stunning in black. Interiors match well with the exterior looks.

You got great FE for a start. It'll improve over time.

Do add a Pete's after about 5,000-10,000 km (so that you can get used to the car and feel the difference later).. It'll make driving more fun with the extra torque.

cya
A

[beanstalk_230]

thanks guys.. @ esteem lover, BUSA, Nimz Karandeep, kpzen, dhaval, PRSKumar, Geeksrik, Absar

was out of town so couldn't reply to ya all

BTW its been time even I have seen my car (garage mein hogi), 2nd year started off , so back to studies

about the birthday - it was all kind of a surprise because we did not expect them to remember it at all, they had cakes, drinks and snacks around for us all with all the employees of the dealership singing the b'day song.. lol, it was really sweet of them

about the petes - yeah surely I'll seriously consider adding a petes once the car completes 10000kms (it was the power that bowled me over, the more the better ), lets see what would be on offer after adding it

@ esteem lover - somebody asked me about the freebies I got with my car therefore mentioned it here

cheers

[abhinav.gupta88]

Wow Man

Gaurav Yaar , Making me jealous , eh....

See Its quite possible that I would go for 2.0LT , not sure ( depends on dad )

TURBO You See

[beanstalk_230]

Heya all… FIRST OF ALL CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL MY FELLOW TBHPIANS ON THE ECSTATIC WIN OVER PAKISTAN IN THE WORLD T20 CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL …. YAHOOO … WE ARE FINALLY THE T20 WORLD CHAMPIONSSSS

It was time I had come up with a detailed review [initial period (before 1000km)] so following are points which I came across and would like to share with you all.

Power and Pickup –

First things first :

2.0L TDCI engine churning out 121 PS and 314 N-m Torque.
0-100 in 9.8secs.

That speaks enough of the power. I do sometimes have to take care about the foot on the accelerator otherwise its always ready to kiss the car in front of me. Always ready to churn out huge amount of power and speed at any gear and once the infamous TURBO kicks in you’re in for a ride. I won’t speak more about it because already much has been discussed about it. YOU HAVE TO DRIVE IT TO BELIEVE IT (if you’re lucky enough on Indian roads do try to push it to its limits on each gear ratio and you’d know this beauty aka beast a bit better).

Now about the famous turbo lag. Yeah its there, but its kind off getting used to it. Once you know your baby well nothing stops you from burning the rubber right from the word GO. I do have to downshift specially in the 3rd gear otherwise the car simply keeps on moving without a decrease in speed ready to kiss its neighbor ahead.

GM has done a very good job on the gearbox. This time there is a clean and smooth upshift as well downshift compared to the last time. No problems faced here.

Interiors –

Hmm .. about the interiors all I have to say is that magnum has good interiors but they are obviously not futuristic as in the civic. I was impressed with the quality of fabric they have used in the car but the quality of wood used could have had been definitely better. The quality of plastics is good especially the material used on the dash. There are a lot of spaces here and there to put in important things, papers and a bit of this and a bit of that. The tray under co-driver seat is really very helpful – not everyone knows it therefore acts a safebox (actually I kept my camera in there and forgot & later when the memory came back into my head and I went to check, it was lying in there quietly.. lol). So these tits and bits do help.

Ample amount of space is on offer; its obviously much larger than verna or fiesta both and even Octavia and is very very comfortable on both the front and the rear seats. I had gone for a nearly 200 kms run on a below average highway with a lot of potholes and the car seemed to have gobbled up all the vibrations and shakes. The lumbar support (never appreciated it till I used it) provided is a real boon alongwith the two way height adjustable driver seats.

I own a petrol Optra as well and I can confirm that the OH-SO-COMFY feeling of the optra is still prevalent to the 100% in the magnum.

Exteriors – To be true I did not like the looks till I saw it on paper but when I saw it at the showroom gleaming.. man I just loved it the first moment I saw it. According to me the looks are very subjective – loved by many and hated by many, but whatever said the new looks do give a new sporty tinge to the magnum. (Have been complemented a hell lot of times by many people..)

The new wheels along with the new alloys are something to really watch out for. I simply love them. OVRMS are also really hot. And yeah I do agree to the fact that she looks a bit longer than she actually is, especially in pictures. And people I have the intense black trim and therefore it obviously becomes really hot to look at. (Acc. to me black is the most adorable colour for nearly all cars.)

Ride and Handling –

I haven’t taken the car above 140 kmph so its not really possible for me comment on the high speed handling but at lower speeds its extremely well behaved. BTW the optra is extremely stable and kind off sticks to the road at speeds in excess of 160 kmph which I have experienced with my earlier car. The straight line performance is awesome and you won’t feel the car sliding down any side at higher speeds. I really love the EPS response as the speeds go higher but in stop and go traffic the steering of the NHC feels a tad lighter.


FE :

Now I just did it once and I got the FE of 14.67 (Reliance Diesel only) on a run of about 400 kms (60% City and 40 % Highway). Couldn’t believe the result from a 2.0L engine but yeah that’s what I got. I’d repeat the same after my first service and inform you all about the latest FE. I am really happy about the FE coz it was one of the major cause of concern for me.

As of now this is it. If anyone wants to know anything more about the car or anything specific do write in. Any suggestions to make this review even more elaborate would be truly appreciated.

Cheers

[beanstalk_230]

abhi bro.. thanx

i know i know that jealous wala feeling .. hehe

.. hope you get out with the best bet out there yar..

P.S. thoda wait kar to petes ke sath ka bhi review de dunga tujhe

enjoyy

[abhinav.gupta88]

waiting for the same

hope it comes in soon!!!!

[BUSA]

Nice 1000kms review, seems your enjoying your car to the T.

lets see what would be on offer after adding it

Green Cotton Filter and you will see a complete transformation in the car with the Petes + Green.

[shamit_del]

amazing review of an equally nice car

congrats gaurav for getting the magnum and yeah it looks stunning in black.. it looks really hotttt.

enjoy

[arunk]

planning to get one shortly, the ls version, may be booking tommorow

[beanstalk_230]

thanx @ busa , shamit

hope you have good buy arunk, enjoy your car

cheers

[shuvd]

@ Beanstalk_230 - Congratulations on the Black Beauty. You are really enjoying your car. I'm jealous you know.

[beanstalk_230]

Originally Posted by shuvd

@ Beanstalk_230 - Congratulations on the Black Beauty. You are really enjoying your car. I'm jealous you know.

hey thanks shuvd, BTW even you own one and congrats for your car even (seems very late)

just wanted to know about what brand of diesel are you using for your car, though I have been very particular to get just reliance diesel

are any additives required or the above would do? [actually i am very particular about using additive in my petrol optra no matter what brand of petrol i get, seems it affects the fuel injection in some way b'coz i have tested not using the additive for some time and the performance came down not drastically though - did not feel it in the city but did feel that on the highways]

cheers

[shuvd]

@ Beanstalk - Thanks man. I'm using IOC Xtramile as of now. Asked the A.S.S. guys if I should use regular/premium. They said that it doesn't matter. Whereas, the Skoda and Hyundai A.S.S. had told me to use regular diesel.

How much have you clocked till date. I've done just about 2200Kms. What FE figures are you getting? I haven't had the chance to check the FE as of yet.