[Kumar R]

Originally Posted by ank.nsit

A shocking revelation was made to me today, then even in 0-dep insurance, 50% depreciation is applied to the tyres.
Hopefully should get full compensation for the alloys at least.

Sorry to hear about the theft. I have also wondered why zero dep policies have that exclusion. My present policy (not zero-dep) excludes damage or losses to tyres unless the vehicle is also damaged at the same time. This seems to be directly targeted against insuring tyre theft.

[ank.nsit]

Originally Posted by Kumar R

My policy excludes damage or losses to tyres unless the vehicle is also damaged at the same time. This seems to be directly targeted against insuring tyre theft.

Really? I guess I am lucky that my insurance will cover 50 percent cost at least.

[Gannu_1]

Originally Posted by ank.nsit

A sad update: yesterday night my all the 4 wheels along with the nuts got stolen when my car was parked near my residence in Faridabad, Sector 16.

Really sorry to hear that. There are numerous cases being reported from various cities about this - Link (Wheels & Tyres being STOLEN!)

Is this the usual place where you park the car normally? There are some anti-theft wheel locking nuts available (For eg.) which require a special key to open them. One regular nut of each wheel is replaced with this lock nut. Do ask your local accessory shop if they have any of these. Would prevent further theft since you plan to have alloys now.

[ank.nsit]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Really sorry to hear that. There are numerous cases being reported from various cities about this - Link (Wheels & Tyres being STOLEN!)

Is this the usual place where you park the car normally? There are some anti-theft wheel locking nuts available (For eg.) which require a special key to open them. One regular nut of each wheel is replaced with this lock nut. Do ask your local accessory shop if they have any of these. Would prevent further theft since you plan to have alloys now.

Actually the usual place is just outside my home, but due to cemented road construction I had to park a little away from my place. I guess these gangs keep a track of such areas where road is being constructed. Seems to be a well planned & executed job.


Thanks for your suggestions. I guess I will have to opt for these lockable nuts, considering am planning to go in for even better alloys & tyres.

[ank.nsit]

Got my car a new set of alloys with tires. The alloys are HRS H502 (15 X 6.5J) along with 205/60/R15 MRF ZLO.

TIRE EXPERIENCE

1. Better braking: Braking ability of car has improved a lot. My spirited driving is back now with better tires. I simply am so relived that the scary brake issues have gone.
   
2. Low Noise: The tires are way more silent than GY Duraplus.
   
3. Great Grip: The grip is simply awesome. I can feel the plantedness of my car at 3 digits speed now.
   
4. Heavy Steering: The steering has definitely become heavy. Though I kind of like the heavy steering, but many could find it to be bad for in-city driving.
   
5. Ride quality : With 31ps in front and 28ps in rear the ride seems to be a bit stiff but 30ps in front and 27ps in rear feels like stock 185 tires.
   
6. Conclusion: Though for my remap plans I feel 205mm tires are definitely needed. But for stock power & torque I feel a good quality grippy 195mm rubber should be sufficient for improving the brakes & handling.

BUYING EXPERIENCE

As I had to claim the insurance, I wanted a rate estimate/quotation letter along with the original bill.
I had never thought that these 2 documents could also cause a problem.

1. Sai Mag Wheels: Being the original distributor of HRS alloys, I contacted them over the phone. The rates were really reasonable, but they refused to deliver in Delhi NCR region. So, just when I was about to leave for their showroom, I thought of confirming with the guy about quotation/rate estimate letter. To my surprise they REFUSED to give me that. I mean I was buying the alloys with bill, paying full in cash. All I wanted was a proforma invoice/qoutation/rate estimate type of letter, just mentioning the same rates at which they are selling the alloys.
   
   
2. Autopsyche: For good quality genuine alloys, I then called up Autopsyche after having read so many good positive reviews about Aarush on team-bhp.
   They agreed to give me a quotation letter along with the bill. So, then I went to their new Delhi store near ArjanGarh metro station.
   
   
   • Lenso Stock: To my surprise the collection their for 15 inchers was limited and restricted to Lenso's only.
     Lenso's were looking real cool. So, I thought of stretching my budget from HRS to Lenso and finalized one in GunMetal finish, which was a super light racing series alloy. After a bit of negotation, the rates were finalized to 35K for 4 pieces.
     
     
   • Anti theft nuts: After hearing my wheel theft story, Arush showed me a set of 16 anti theft chrome nuts with life time warranty for 2,000 bucks. I decided to go from them.
     
     
   • VAT issue: Just when everything was set, Mr. Aarush told me that these alloys do not come on bill, so if you need a bill you will have to pay 12.5% tax over and above 35K. I already had stretched my budget and hearing this I did not feel like going in for Lenso's at all.
     
     
   • Over-priced HRS: So, finalised H502 from HRS. Mr. Aarush added a premium of 4K over the price qouted by SaiMag wheel. On negotiation he told me that he too will be buying the alloys from SaiMag wheels & SaiMag wheels don't fit in alloys & we provide bill so we need to charge more.
     So, I agreed to pay a premium of 3.5K only for the quotation letter, as fitment is done for free by all the showrooms.
     
     
   • Over-priced MRF ZLO: Then when I asked the price of MRF ZLO 205/60/R15, I was shocked to hear the rates of 5900 per piece, Rs. 500 a piece more than the rates I received at MRF showroom. So, I bought the tires from MRF showroom, took it over to the Autopsyche for the fitment with alloys.
     
     
   • Qoutation Letter issue: Even though they had agreed over the phone for proforma invoice and bill, the manager at the store told me that they can mail me the qoutation letter, as its available only in the Gurgaon store and not on Delhi store. This was really shocking to me, I mean I was paying 3.5K extra and was going through this trouble only because of qoutation letter & bill. So, I kind off told him that this is not done and asked him to honor his commitment. So after waiting for over an hour, a guy came from the other store with the proforma invoice.
     
     
   • Balancing charges: During the final billing, they charged me Rs.500 for the balancing weights. I mean this after stating that the premium of 3.5K on the alloys is because of the fitment they provide. Anyways, had no energy left to haggle again, so agreed to it.
     
     
   • Nozzle Charges: I had forgotten to take the nozzles from the MRF showroom, so Autopsyche charged me 400 bucks for a set of 4 nozzles which is easily available for 200 bucks elsewhere.
     

The final bill came out to be:

1. Alloys: 25,500
2. Tyres: 22,000
3. Anti Lock nuts: 2,000
4. Balancing weight charges: 500
5. Tyre Nozzles: 400
Total: 50,400.

I just love the new look of my car with machined black finish alloys. The combination of these along with wider rubber gives the car a more rugged feel.

Originally Posted by ank.nsit

FUTURE PLANS

...

1. Better tires: ...

• ...
• 205/60/R15: Good upgrade with almost stock diameter size, but not sure if 205 on stock 5.5J alloys would be a good fit and if this tire would have an adverse effect on my suspension setup.

The new alloys were 15X6.5J. So, I could comfortably fit 205/60/R15 over them.

Originally Posted by ank.nsit

...

3. Better Brakes: In case better tires do not improve my braking & I feel them to be inadequate after Remapping, I would think of going in for better brakes.

With 205mm width tires, the braking issues is completely gone now.

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

There are some anti-theft wheel locking nuts available (For eg.) which require a special key to open them. One regular nut of each wheel is replaced with this lock nut. Do ask your local accessory shop if they have any of these. Would prevent further theft since you plan to have alloys now.

Got anti theft nuts as well for 2,000 bucks for 16 nuts.

[ank.nsit]

My monthly running has drastically reduced as I have started car pooling with 2 of my friends. After 20K KMs, following are my likes and dislikes:

LIKES

1. Good FE: Even with 205mm tyres, I am getting 18+ mileage in city & around 20+ on highways.
2. Great reliability: Even though 20K KM is too less to conclude, but I have not faced any unexpected issue/expenditure on my car till date.
3. Good GC: Very useful on Indian road conditions. I had to cross a road divider once and came across many unexpected bad road stretches on highways, but never did the car scrape its underbelly.
4. Decent servicing costs: The 20K KM servicing costed me around 5K with mineral oil. Decent I guess.
5. Good Dynamics: Zipping car left right and centre within its turbo range, always makes me appreciate its road manners.
6. Awesome ACC: I cannot think of buying a car without Automatic climate control in future. Great feature.

DISLIKES

1. Bad seats: I cannot drive my car without a cushion and a neck rest. My folks too complain of back pain if they sit in the car for too long without a cushion.
2. Poor rear visibility: Need to be really careful while reversing the car on tight spots.
3. Average quality service centre: I am never happy with the quality of work they do at the servicing.
4. Bad boot space: Just 1 full size suitcase in the boot and the space is finished. The boot space I would say is no better than a B2 hatchback.

ACCEPTABLE

1. Average Highway Power: Though not very good, but a full loaded car pulls fairly on highways. I would have liked some more punch.
2. High Speed Stability: The car feels stable at the max speed of 120 km/hr. Beyond that the engine feels strained, and the car starts to loose its composure. This speed is more than enough for our road conditions, but I would have liked that max stability figure to be around 140 km/hr for that occasional fun spurts.
3. Average build quality: I did not find the quality to be bad. Have not faced any rattling issues whatsoever till now. At the same time, the sheet metal is definitely thin and the other claddings like that of the boot are not great either.
4. Average Seating Space: Adequate space for a family. But two 5'10" cannot sit one behind another. So, have to make adjustments accordingly when 5 people are going.