[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Mr_Bean

CrAzY dRiVeR - 60000 kms in almost 2 years, that's a lot of driving. Do you experience driver fatigue during long distance driving? How is the seat comfort? I could not find a good driving position during my test drive years ago.

Coming to ride comfort on Bangalore roads, most of the roads are uneven, when newly laid they are good, but eventually lose its shape due to shoddy construction and low quality materials used.

I feel a higher tyre pressure can also cause the bouncy feeling on uneven roads/bridges. My a-star has a slightly stiff suspension, the company recommends 32 psi on front/rear, but the problem is the car keeps bouncing and crashing on the unevenly laid bridges/roads in Bangalore. I reduced it to 30 psi and the ride is much much better. This was also the case with previous car baleno.

Normally the test drive cars have higher psi and picks up speed well.

Sorry I missed your post earlier.

Driver fatigue is very less IMO. For our Bangalore - Trivandrum drives, we usually take 3 breaks, one for breakfast, one for lunch, and one for tea and arrive rather fresh at the destination - 800 kms away.

You need to get adjusted to the seating position though! The pedals are placed rather high, even the steering for that matter and it is not possible to get a comfortable driving position during the test drive. You get used to it after the initial few days though.

Usually company recommended tyre pressures are optimised for maximum mileage. Chevrolet Beat for example. However, I dont think thats the case with FIAT since I've always felt 32 to be better. Also, i currently use 34 after upgrading to Yokohama AVS DB since I feel it gives best comfort. (2 more than company recommended). A company that provides 195 section tyres on their hatch back can't really extract much FE by putting bit more air pressure anyways.

Originally Posted by architect

Yes, on the hills, you have to be very careful with the gearing. For my honeymoon, I went to a hotel that had 30 m + 30 m ramp with two switchbacks at a super steep angle. It was embarassing at first, but I used handbrake, gunned to 2200 RPM and released clutch without stalling. It was one delicate exercise to release clutch without stalling on a very steep incline. The non-CRDE Scorpio and Bolero of the hotel guys simply managed it without any issues.

The Mahindra Verito cabs as well. Boy, those things are FAST up the ghats. With negligible turbo lag and neutral handling - the 1.3 MJD cars just can't keep up with those things on proper ghat sections.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

First interior detailing done @ 3M Car Care, HSR layout, Bangalore. Back to showroom freshness, after 64000 kms of usage.

I'm lovin' it.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

For the record, the above post marks the 14th proper wash/detailing session the car has received.

Cleaning and Detailing work #11 - 25th October 2013
3M HSR layout Bangalore.

Cleaning and Detailing work #12 - 18th February 2014
3M HSR layout Bangalore.

More details can be found here -
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...ml#post3376569

Cleaning and Detailing work #13 - 9th March 2014
3M HSR layout Bangalore.

Cleaning and Detailing work #14- 5th April 2014
3M HSR layout Bangalore. Interior Detailing. Details in the above post.

Issues faced + Service Experience #11 - Battery change @ 64,000 kms.
Service Satisfaction - *****
Service Centre - Vecto Motors, Bangalore.

Battery was starting to show signs of weakness. Although fellow member nkrishnap helped to check the voltage and we could conclude that the battery was good for few more months, went ahead with the replacement considering the peace of mind factor on the highways.

Stock EXIDE battery was replaced with AMARON FLO. Supposed to be zero-maintainence, and comes with a warranty of 48 months (However, replacement is only till 24 months!)

Quick and efficient service from Vecto Motors and I was out of the place in 30 minutes.

[mohan41]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

The 90 is just back from a drive to Ooty, and the odometer stands close to 64,000 now.

With 4 well built () adults and luggage on board, she pulled cleanly all the way through the Masinagudi ghats. Only on two occasions did she really struggle, and I had to make use of the handbrakes as well as the clutch. But to be fair, it's my fault letting the car drop below turbo zone in first gear on one occasion, and stopping mid way through a very very steep climb to avoid a cricket ball from the neighbourhood kids team on the second occasion.

The infamous FIAT gearing raises it's ugly head as a clear weakness during these hill drives. You need to really gun it in first to be able to shift into second gear and still be in the turbo sweet spot.

Doesn't the RD box (DieselTronic) help in such situations to climb more easily? Just curious.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Just got back from a Bangalore <-> Hyderabad weekend trip. Crossed the 65,000 kms milestone, but the bad news- ac is once again making me sweat, literally. Issue/ symptoms is different this time around though.

Will post the details by weekend.

Originally Posted by mohan41

Doesn't the RD box (DieselTronic) help in such situations to climb more easily? Just curious.

Yes, it should have helped, specially p1 mode. However, I didn't have the box on the car for the Ooty trip. (Never mounted it back after the 60k service till now.)

A close friend is testing the box for one month to check if it suits his requirements and style of driving.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Maximum FE-

Had a nice debate last week with fellow BHP'ians KarthikK, Nkrishnap and MohanKV regarding the maximum FE possible from the Multijet Punto- and there was a big difference of opinion.

I thought I might as well utilise my city commutes to find out the best possible FE I can extract from my 90hp. And here's how things stand now-







Hopefully- i can drive with the same patience for 1000 plus kms to check actual tankful to tankful figures as well.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Issues faced + Service Experience #12- a/c wiring issue @ 66,000 kms.
Service Satisfaction - *****
Service Centre - Vecto Motors, Bangalore.

Rats!

As mentioned in one of the earlier posts, a/c stopped working during my last drive from Hyderabad to trivandrum. I suspected a blown fuse or a conked- off compressor.

Turns out- rats had chewed off the wiring that goes to the compressor. Irritating! Hopefully, the issue occurred during my stay in Hyderabad and not in my apartment complex.

Very good service experience at Vecto. Issue was identified and resolved in an hour. Moreover, they themselves identified another issue and corrected it after seeking my permissions.

[Geo_Ipe]

Four months, No activity? Hard to believe that!

[JoseVijay]

Originally Posted by Geo_Ipe

Four months, No activity? Hard to believe that!

I suppose he is obsessed with his new acquisition, Excent

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Hopefully- i can drive with the same patience for 1000 plus kms to check actual tankful to tankful figures as well.

You mean you drove 240 kms in the city and got an average of 24 kmpl. Amazing. What do your drive your Punto with? Fuel enhancing drugs??
However hard I try I cant go past 17-18 kmpl with very disciplined driving.

Are the roads in Bangalore that empty?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

However hard I try I cant go past 17-18 kmpl with very disciplined driving.

Bangalore like any other city is chaotic in its traffic patterns. The only method to counter this is to drive odd hours. I thought late night was odd enough and then reality dawned, when I saw even 10:30/11:30 PM is "jam" time!

The only time, which is "really" timeless I guess are the early morning hours (before 7) and the late noon hours before the deluge begins.

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by ampere

Bangalore like any other city is chaotic in its traffic patterns. The only method to counter this is to drive odd hours. I thought late night was odd enough and then reality dawned, when I saw even 10:30/11:30 PM is "jam" time!

The only time, which is "really" timeless I guess are the early morning hours (before 7) and the late noon hours before the deluge begins.

To add to what you have mentioned, the central part of the city is more or less chocked from 8 am to 10-11 pm. I travel from RT Nagar to dairy circle as my office commute. The morning journey takes about 45 mins to 1 hour for 13 kms, whereas the return journey takes about 1.5-2 hours unless I commute by 4 pm. The evening traffic is crazy and I become crazy driver to get the car home without any scratches

And this is getting worse by the day either due to bad roads or roads dug up for some or the other work

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Geo_Ipe

Four months, No activity? Hard to believe that!

Originally Posted by JoseVijay

I suppose he is obsessed with his new acquisition, Excent

No. Xcent is for parents (In Kerala) and I wouldn't get to drive the car often. The car has been performing like clockwork and no updates have also been carried out. That explains the silence.

It will cross 2.5 years, 75000 kms next month.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

You mean you drove 240 kms in the city and got an average of 24 kmpl. Amazing. What do your drive your Punto with? Fuel enhancing drugs??
However hard I try I cant go past 17-18 kmpl with very disciplined driving.

Are the roads in Bangalore that empty?

Trust me! Those 240 kms were really really boring!

However, it was achieved on city roads - mostly for office trips around 12PM to 1PM in the afternoon, and 10:30PM to 11:30 PM at night - from Yelahanka to Domlur through city roads (Hebbal, MG Road, Airport road). Bangaloreans can vouch for the fact that some of those places will have traffic even at 11PM night.

But yes - not chock-a-block traffic jam conditions either.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Will hit the 75000 kms mark later today, however few other updates for now -

Cleaning and Detailing work #15 - 29 September 2014
Classic Car Spa, Orion Mall - Bangalore.

Thanks a/c lines dripping water at the covered car park in office, there was a very visible mark on the bonnet, as can be seen in the Punto Evo Test drive comparison pics where my car was used.



All of my DIY efforts were in vain, and I was under the impression that a paint job might be required to get rid of it. Was proved wrong when I visited Classic Car Spa for a quick wash, and they just showed how easily it can be removed. Ended up giving the car for detailing then and there. This is the second proper exterior detailing work, the first being around the 30k mark at 3M HSR layout.

I must admit that I am really impressed with their attention to detail and dedication to work. Even small areas like footwell etc were properly vaccumed, cleaned and polished. Wife usually has some or the other complaints after almost every detailing session, but could find out only one complaint here - that some of the plastic polish used for the beading was not wiped properly off the glass - which was promptly rectified. Overall - a very good experience.

Some pics from the mobile cam -

A sample patch showing swirls removed. Water beading is also seen here -


Bonnet after the job was done.


Interiors. See the plastics near the door sills.


The gearknob area vaccumed, cleaned and polished.


Gloss.








And thats how the little FIAT has held up till the 75k mark. Hoping to cross the same today.

[JoseVijay]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Cleaning and Detailing work #15 - 29 September 2014
Classic Car Spa, Orion Mall - Bangalore.
And thats how the little FIAT has held up till the 75k mark. Hoping to cross the same today.

Congratulations on the 75K mark. The Punto looks great after cleaning and detailing. I still wonder why you thought of giving it a paint job. Was the mark on the bonnet so bad? How did they remove the mark?