Chevy Optra LS TCDi 2500+Km review.

[obed5579]

I had brought my Optra LS TCDi in the first week of August 2008. As of today I have completed nearly 2700km. Wanted to share my experiences with the car.

I drive around 55 km daily with 90% of in Chennai City traffic. I get an average of 11.8 to 13.5 km/l depending on the amount of traffic. My average fell between 10 and 11km/l last month and then I started to switch of the engine whenever I get stuck in traffic or stopped at the signals, the mileage improved again. On Pure Highway travel I got around 15.5Km/l.

The cars performance is good. Haven’t really ripped it so far, though the urge is there to really break loose I have deliberately kept myself under the 100km/hr mark. I want the engine to set in fully and enjoy its potential after the 5000km service.

The cars power and torque is phenomenal. You don’t really need to press the acceleration in the 1st and 2nd gears. The release of the clutch will easily propel you to 20km/h even when 5 adults are seated in the car. I did have trouble getting used to it in the beginning and used to stall the car. Now I have got used to it.

At the same time you can show who the boss on the starting line is. I did show off my power to quite a few Octavia’s and Verna's (CRDi) and left them stranded. My adrelin starts pumping when I see an Octy - want to show them that the Chevy is the King of the Road.

Gear shift has become smooth, initially it was a bit hard. Now a gentle push ****s the gear.

The drive is very good. The space and suspensions give a very comfortable feeling, accommodates my family with ease. Everyone loves the smooth ride it offers.

Braking - good for the speeds at which I drive. Having disc brakes for front and back does a whole lot of good. When I first brought the car, the car felt twitchy when I braked at certain speeds. I guessed it was due to the new tyres. Now I am not having that problem.

The Goodyear GT3 tyres offers good grip but is very noisy.

I just put LLumar sunfilm for my side windows and rear windscreen. Without the sunfilm the A/C was pathetic for Chennai weather. For the front windscreen I put LLumar antiglare film. Now the cooling is a lot better. In addition there is a good reduction of headlight glare for night driving.

The stock headlights are crap. Driving in the highways at night is a nightmare. The stock headlights don’t have brightness nor throw. For city driving it’s adequate. I am planning to upgrade to HIDs this month, need to check if it will affect my warranty and cashless service program. All manufactures have a lowsy habit of blaming any modifications done on the car if any problems occur even if the problem and modifications are not interlinked.

Another thing I disliked on the car was the placement of the Horn on the steering wheel. Sometimes it’s as if you need to search for it before you honk.

The car came with Kenwood singe din music system with 6 speakers. It performance is decent not great. Haven’t really thought of upgrading it yet.

The only problem I had so far was in the A/C, the was a loose oaring nut and all the gass in the compressor escaped. This was fixed immediately and ever since no problems.

The best part of owning this car is my fuel bills have dropped, I travel more, no maintenance cost for 45000km - Total Value for money. A real no-nonsense luxury car.

I will keep this post updated as and when I reach new milestones.

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