[keyur]

ORVM with controls



Headlight level adjuster



Grab handle



Rear cabin lights


Front cabin lights


Steering


Ignition + key


Speedo-Tacho-Odo + Guages (has a light green backlight)



A-B-C - Very roomy. Liked the foot rest/support beside the clutch




Front seat (have put on suede seat covers - originals were fabric - pattern same as side panels)




Driver seat with height adjustment and lumbar support




The freeloading little guy alighted from his position on the parcel tray and is currently relaxing on the rear couch!



Front seats pushed back to max



Drivers seat pushed back to max, co passenger seat pushed max to the front - comparison



The alloy wheels, with the acceleres (had got em washed, but can't help it in the rains)



The fuel inlet (was glad to see DIESEL written there - don't want to think what would happen due to accidental petrol topup ). The lid has a leash and a holder.






You must have heard of the ICE (In Car Entertainment). Now meet my ICD (In Car Defence) - also doubles up as Out of Car Entertainment!






The engine bay.






The boot (lottsa clutter, mostly spare lamps, tools, accesory boxes, etc)



The essentials - my mini tool kit

[Torquedo]

Awesome pics, Keyur !!

Bhai ek suggestion, Please Please get rid of that steering wheel cover, please do not feel offended but it was an eyesore.

Here you may get in touch fellow BHPian "Condor" for inputs on the cover (post: 335):

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ervice-23.html

I myself have gone in for a hand stitched cover on my Swift, shall post the pics some time later.

PS: The ICD funda was the most hilarious stuff that I have come across on TBHP

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by Torquedo

Awesome pics, Keyur !!

+1. The color is stunning and the interiors look clean and neat + good quality beige.

Originally Posted by Torquedo

Bhai ek suggestion, Please Please get rid of that steering wheel cover, please do not feel offended but it was an eyesore.

+1 too. What I didnt like much was the steering cover + the seat covers. The seat covers still gel well with the interiors, but the steering cover does not ! You can actually find the dark grey one of the same kind [with the lace] if you wish to. I have it on my swift.

Originally Posted by Torquedo

Here you may get in touch fellow BHPian "Condor" for inputs on the cover (post: 335):

The finish is astonishing !!

[keyur]

Originally Posted by Torquedo

Bhai ek suggestion, Please Please get rid of that steering wheel cover, please do not feel offended but it was an eyesore.

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

+1 too. What I didnt like much was the steering cover + the seat covers. The seat covers still gel well with the interiors, but the steering cover does not ! You can actually find the dark grey one of the same kind [with the lace] if you wish to. I have it on my swift.

I know that guys. Knew it from the day I got it fitted. Unfortunately, I need a slightly thicker grip and had to get this done as a necessity. The grey ones I saw were resulting in a total of 4-5 different colours inside (I have a grey on my Swift and it looks much better). I am looking at replacing the whole steering anyways, so this will be taken care of!

Originally Posted by Torquedo

Here you may get in touch fellow BHPian "Condor" for inputs on the cover

That finish is fantastic! I might not change the steering if I get that finishing!

Originally Posted by Torquedo

PS: The ICD funda was the most hilarious stuff that I have come across on TBHP

I do try to tickle a funny bone now and then!

[Poitive]

Thanks for the detailed pictures, Keyur. A lot of effort put in, which should help others in getting a 'feel' of the car. Just hope they don't get a feel of your ICD (good one!)

Like the others, I too was pretty surprised to see the steering. You got to figure out a better way to get a better grip, till you change the steering (which I presume will be after the warranty period).

This colour has really caught on and for good reason. It does look rather good and still seems to be quite practical. Does the dust show out too much with this?

[keyur]

Originally Posted by Poitive

You got to figure out a better way to get a better grip, till you change the steering

This colour has really caught on and for good reason. It does look rather good and still seems to be quite practical. Does the dust show out too much with this?

The 'grip' per se is pretty good. That's the only reason it's still in place.
I asked the Ovion guys about the steering cover and they quoted me a whopping 4000 bucks, spokes excluded! I don't think I will be ready to pay that much for a steering wrap!

As I am planning to change the steering (before warranty), I am going to do a DIY on the current steering before that and see how it turns out!

The colour is great and it is a dust magnet! But the colour looks different in different lighting, so the dust cannot be seen

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

What I didnt like much was the steering cover + the seat covers.

I really wanted to get good leather covers with a perfect fitting put in. But I have a huge issue about sweating, so need to have the fabric. I would rather have not-so-great looking, possibly ill fitting seats than a wet sweaty butt and back - especially on long drives in the sun!
So the only options I had were plain fabric, turk towel, velvet, suede fabric. I would have preferred the towels, but the beige looks horrible. So I chose what I could find suede and got it fitted.

You will never get an exact tight finish with fabric as it is not stitched into the seat, but is rather a slip-on, and tied with draw strings. The sporty leathers are actually stitched into the seat to get the contours, so there is no point in comparing the two!

[Poitive]

Thanks for the info, Keyur. IMO, suede isn't particularly suited to car seat covers, given the fiber needs be in the same direction for the colours to seem right; which really is is next to impossible in a car (for that matter even at home).

Given Pune has pretty mild summers, how does the AC feel? Your comments on choosing seat covers based on sweating etc make me wonder. The little I experienced this car, the AC seemed good enough even for Delhi summers.

[keyur]

Originally Posted by Poitive

Thanks for the info, Keyur. IMO, suede isn't particularly suited to car seat covers, given the fiber needs be in the same direction for the colours to seem right; which really is is next to impossible in a car (for that matter even at home).

Cannot put in grey or white - would have looked awful. So suede was the only thing there. Also, had just vacuumed the seats as well - hence the issue with the grain.

Originally Posted by Poitive

Given Pune has pretty mild summers, how does the AC feel? Your comments on choosing seat covers based on sweating etc make me wonder. The little I experienced this car, the AC seemed good enough even for Delhi summers.

Pune doesn't exactly have mild summers - it does hit upto 44 deg C. The AC worked perfectly for the 1 month of summer that I had the vehicle for - rains started after that.
You should check the pics - see the position of the AC knob. If I put it in the blue zone, people start freezing

[optimist]

Originally Posted by keyur

Keyur IS right

My VIN is MA6NFADDBBHXXXXXX

The split is as follows :

MA6 -WMI - World Make Identifier
NF - Vehicle Line/Series - Together means Chevrolet Optra Magnum
A - Body Style (Sedan 4 door etc)
D - Restraint System (Manual Seat belt with noairbags, probably LS model. For LT it maybe G)
D - Engine Type (4Cyl SOHC TCDI)
B - Check digit (NOT Month) This is calculated by POMS
B - Year of Manufacture (2011)
H - Plant Location (H for Halol)
XXXXXX - Sequence Number


This is the restraint system, not Month.
In case of LS, this is D which means Manual Seat Belt with No Airbags
In case of LT, this is G which means Manual Seat Belt with Dual Airbags


---- All other Optra Owners ---

Please enter the first 11 digits of your VIN here and try to parse them as shown above. We will be able to reach a definite conclusion.

Originally Posted by keyur

Hi Torq,

After seeing your post and talking with you, went BACK to the dealer and checked out a few cars there.
Your logic holds good.

The 7th digit seems to match with the month in the manufacturing date on the placard.

So, in the explanation given above, the 7th digit can be the Month of manufacture and the 10th digit is the Year of Manufacture.

for Model LT
------------
MA6
NF
A
F ------June
D
B
B ----- 2011
H

Got this as advance info. Car is in transit. I have not verified the same personally. Will let you know if it's wrong in a few days. hth.

[Poitive]

Originally Posted by keyur

Pune doesn't exactly have mild summers - it does hit upto 44 deg C. The AC worked perfectly for the 1 month of summer that I had the vehicle for - rains started after that.
You should check the pics - see the position of the AC knob. If I put it in the blue zone, people start freezing

Ah! Good. So that isn't a chink in the Magnum's armour

Originally Posted by optimist

for Model LT
------------
MA6
NF
A
F ------June
D
B
B ----- 2011
H

Got this as advance info. Car is in transit. I have not verified the same personally. Will let you know if it's wrong in a few days. hth.

Do check on Wildon's thread on VIN numbers as well. In the sequence, some letters aren't taken into account while working out the series. It was probably "I" and/or some others which were skipped.

AFAIK, June vehicles are getting shipped from Halol as of now, and your series and Torquedo's interpretation seem to match this.

[keyur]

Originally Posted by Poitive

Do check on Wildon's thread on VIN numbers as well. In the sequence, some letters aren't taken into account while working out the series. It was probably "I" and/or some others which were skipped.

AFAIK, June vehicles are getting shipped from Halol as of now, and your series and Torquedo's interpretation seem to match this.

I isn't taken into account, but it's still August (H). September will be (J).

Looks like I was lucky. On the 1st of May I got a vehicle from April (DB)!

Originally Posted by optimist

------------
MA6
NF
A
F ------June
D
B
B ----- 2011
H

Got this as advance info. Car is in transit. I have not verified the same personally. Will let you know if it's wrong in a few days. hth.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/buying...ml#post2440749

Check the plate - that has a clear indication! But the VIN details are correct too!

[Torquedo]

Originally Posted by optimist

for Model LT
------------
MA6
NF
A
F ------June
D
B
B ----- 2011
H

Got this as advance info. Car is in transit. I have not verified the same personally. Will let you know if it's wrong in a few days. hth.

June 2011, do a through PDI @ Stockyard and pick up the beast.

Wishing you many a happy miles in advance

Happy Motoring !!

[keyur]

Originally Posted by Poitive

AFAIK, June vehicles are getting shipped from Halol as of now

One of my friends recently booked his Magnum. The VIN is MA6NFAGDBBH016XXX. It's a July car!

[Poitive]

Originally Posted by keyur

One of my friends recently booked his Magnum. The VIN is MA6NFAGDBBH016XXX. It's a July car!

If he checks the paperwork and the date of manufacture matches, we'll be even surer of Torquedo's hypothesis. It seems to be correct. Good work @Torquedo mate
Thanks!

[keyur]

Originally Posted by Poitive

If he checks the paperwork and the date of manufacture matches, we'll be even surer of Torquedo's hypothesis.
Thanks!

Whaat!! It was proven long back. I have made a collection of the plates of various vehicles and matched each and every one. No need to do any more checks - it's all good!