[Biraj]

Rear brake-pads changed at 30,900 KMs.

Yesterday morning, I observed some weird noise while going over pot-holes. Spoke with Mr. Sharma and took Crusoe to Kashyap Okhla. They inspected the noise and found that the jumping rod was loose. Tightened it and also retorqued the suspension parts. They inspected the brakes and told me that rear ones have only ~2K KMs left in them. With a car as powerful as T-jet, taking risk with brakes is not a good a idea. So, got the rear brake-pads changed. They cost INR 6,000 Brembos would have been cheaper but the OEMs of T-jet are also very reputed. While Fiat might have low costs for spares for regular Lineas and Puntos, the spares for T-jet are quite expensive.

Total bill was 6500 will labour. Work was done quite promptly.

[Biraj]

33,000 KMs done

Made a quick trip to Ludhiana on Sunday. With very less traffic, I managed to cruise at ~100 KMPH. The entire journey from Delhi to Ludhiana with stoppages at tolls, and eating joints resulted in an average speed of 70 KMPH, and avg FE of 14.2 KMPL. Quite good for a turbo-petrol.

Here's a recent click.


Here's Crusoe enjoying a through body massage.


Got to experience completely automated wash for the first time. Have taken a video and will upload it some other time.

[varadha_r]

Biraj

Nice write-up. the write-ups of you and several others prompted me to buy a used t-jet with less than 18k on the clock.

Having driven all cars from swift to civic at various points of time, i can safely say the only car that's closest to t-jet in terms of ride, handling and engine performance is the skoda laura Tsi (which is a notch ahead).

The t-jet has made me a lot happier while driving and the surfeit of torque means that a lot more of our power on day today driving given the turbo.

The brakes, insulation are top notch. I just cannot reason why this car is'nt selling much - if you drive yourself, this is a far far better option than a honda city

and in an used avatar, it is incredible VFM -

[Biraj]

Update - 35,500 Kms done

A wedding in the family resulted in a drive to Lucknow (via Kanpur). The drive had almost everything:

• Fantastic Yamuna Expressway
• Horrible surface near Unnao and Ganga barrage (Kanpur)
• Pathetic traffic in and around Kanpur

The car took some under-body hits on the way from Kanpur to Unnao however, the strong under-body protection of Linea saved the day.

Got 16 KMPL on YEW, and 12.2 KMPL for the entire trip (~1150 KMs) despite covering ~80 KMs (Kanpur to Lucknow) in 4.5 hours. Not that I care much about Crusoe's fuel-efficiency but still very impressed with what it achieved.

Have done ~9.5 K KMs since last service and the scheduled service is due in February. Planning to get it done earlier as I don't want to use the same oil/filters for >10K KMs.

Originally Posted by varadha_r

The t-jet has made me a lot happier while driving and the surfeit of torque means that a lot more of our power on day today driving given the turbo.

The brakes, insulation are top notch. I just cannot reason why this car is'nt selling much - if you drive yourself, this is a far far better option than a honda city

Congrats Varadha_r, After ~3 years and 35K KMs I completely endorse your assessment. Linea T-jet is much more competent than better selling products from the competition. It's a car meant for people that enjoy driving and value safety. Fiat missed out on marketing this properly. They never had a good ad highlighting the performance of T-jet. A few videos on Youtube, promoted on their own page hardly achieved any penetration in the potential market segment. I would also blame Linea classic for some of the failure. It just diluted the brand value.

Anyway, let's enjoy the exclusivity of the wonderful product we own. Wish you many happy miles on your T-jet.

[varadha_r]

Folks

I bought a pre-owned tjet and it seems like the OEM tires have given up at 23k already (4 years old). I wanted suggestions on what's a good tire to upgrade to - michelins are expensive and a tyre guy told me that they have frequent issues with side wall bursts since they have a soft compound.

Good years have been alright but I wanted to try a Yoko A drive or a V550 or an apollo accelere sportz.

Any views on which tire is the best VFM - most of my driving is within the city and hence too soft a compound might not suit my needs.

[nareshov]

@varadha_r: Try the Yokohama AVSdb?

[Biraj]

I am using CEAT gripp LN and have done close to 9K on it. So far so good. It's less noisier than Goodyear and grip levels are also good. It's almost the same cost as Yoko A-drive.

Nkrishnap is using Hankook Ventus V12, you might want to check with him about reliability and performance, even that tyre is in the same price bracket. (6500-7000).

Cheers,
Biraj

[varadha_r]

Thanks Biraj

I find that ceat gripp is the cheapest of the lot - at Rs. 6 k a tyre Vs. michelin's 10k and yoko's 8k.

Was wondering if you find them better than the OEM good years ? hows' the tyre wear and the grip compromise ? At the price, assuming that there are no issues, they do make a compelling proposition.

Given that my travel is all within the city and there are speed breakers/potholes to watch out for, a slightly harder tyre may be a better bet than yoko or michelin.

I am still tempted about michelin primacy. Have heard extremely good reviews but with their soft sidewell, I am worried that anything amiss can become tyre threatening !

[Biraj]

Originally Posted by varadha_r

I find that ceat gripp is the cheapest of the lot - at Rs. 6 k a tyre Vs. michelin's 10k and yoko's 8k.

Was wondering if you find them better than the OEM good years ? hows' the tyre wear and the grip compromise ? At the price, assuming that there are no issues, they do make a compelling proposition.

I purchased it at 6800/piece and at that point Yoko A-drive was available for 7050. 6K/piece is a very good price.

In the ~9K, I have had only one puncture (a nail), have done couple of trips on Yamuna Expressway (one of the worst roads for tyre wear), and have done a trip to Lucknow with non-existent road between Kanpur and Unnao. The tyres have held on quite well. Much lesser wear than what I observed on Goodyears. Now, I might not be driving as aggressively as I used to in 2012, and the Goodyears had taken part in a track day at BIC thus, they might have worn more.

Ceats offer good grip in both dry and wet, they aren't too noisy, and feel sturdy enough to take on bad roads. Still, I won't recommend them as I still see my purchase as a gamble, albeit one with calculated risks. It won't put me or my family at risk but might become noisy with time or wear out fast after 15-20K. So, I don't know whether I should recommend it. I love trying brands/products that most people don't buy thus went for Ceat. Another factor was date of manufacture. All the tyre I found at the time of purchase were manufactured ~6 month before the date of purchase. Ceats were just a month old.

[varadha_r]

Biraj

I got ceat gripp tyres at Rs. 5700 apiece on snapdeal and have ordered them. Given their price, I saw no reason to spend at least 3k extra for a yoko or bridgestone or 5k for a michelin.

Will keep you guys informed. Reviews on Gripp LN are quite good online - low noise, decent grip, low rolling resistance and not too soft a sidewall which suits me fine given my travel within the city where potholes and speed breakers are too common.

[Biraj]

Originally Posted by varadha_r

Will keep you guys informed. Reviews on Gripp LN are quite good online - low noise, decent grip, low rolling resistance and not too soft a sidewall which suits me fine given my travel within the city where potholes and speed breakers are too common.

I don't think the performance of tyres will let you down. I am typing this response from Ahmedabad. Just did Delhi-Ahmedabad in my T-jet, and the tyres again did their job well. Good grip on variety of surfaces and not as noisy as the Goodyears used to be. You've got them at a great price so, just go-ahead and enjoy the car.

[varadha_r]

I seem to be loving every minute of the tjet - only I learnt the hard way about the strong brakees it has - yesterday, I got rear brushed by a rashly driven maruti GP van which wanted to overtake me and did'nt quite see the red light ahead. I braked and unfortunately, he kissed my bumper and left a fairly long scratch -thankfully, no damage but just wondering what's the most elegant way to hide the scratch - thinking of a team bhp sticker !


Biraj - waiting for my tires to come from snapdeal - hopefully they prove a good bet.

Just thinking what's a way to quieten down the cabin and reduce road noise - will any underbody coating help ? I love silence in the car and I am against honking and rash driving completely - what's a good, inelegant way to get s-class silence in a 10 lakh car ?

[Biraj]

A month of road trips- >3500 KMs done in 3 weeks

December started with a road trip to Kanpur and Lucknow, and then I got called to the head-office (Ahmedabad) for some urgent meetings. Decided to take wifey along and drive to Ahmedabad. We clubbed Udaipur along with it.

While the onward journey was uneventful and a lot of fun, the return journey gave a mild scare around Gandhinagar when the odo started blinking. A quick check through OBD scanner, diagnosis by Lapis_lazuli over phone, and an ECU reset (negative terminal method) corrected the flashing issue and the rest of the drive was uneventful till Behror. From Behror till Manesar, I experienced one of the worst fog spell I have driven through. It was absolutely zero visibility at certain spots, couldn't even see one feet ahead of the car. Took almost 7 hours from Jaipur till home. The same stretch was covered in ~4 hours during the onward journey.

Fuel-efficiency - Got ~13 KMPL during the onward journey and ~11 KMPL during the return journey as I was going quite fast between Udaipur and Jaipur to avoid the unavoidable fog.

I booked Crusoe on December 19, 2011. 3 years ago it was a gamble as I was going for a brand that wasn't trusted (many still don't) by many, a car that wasn't proven, an engine that was unknown to its segment, a colour that was difficult to maintain. After traveling >3500 KMs in less than 3 weeks on some of the best and worst roads in India, my love and admiration for Crusoe continues to increase. It has never let me down and has managed to impress with its amazing ride, handling, acceleration, comfort, luxury, and of-course the appearance.

Once again - All Hail Crusoe!!!





One of stretches in Gujarat


A glimpse of Udaipur

[lapis_lazuli]

Just one word : epic!

You still have several months to go, till the 50 months is over...the extended warranty is still in place! I was expecting a little higher mileage, though! What speeds wee you doing?

Time for the 10k ish service...did you decide yet? Or is it done already?

Cheers over engine lube and grease.....
LL

[varadha_r]

Biraj

Nice - your posts served as an inspiration to pick up a pre owned Tjet and your recent post made me change to ceat gripp LN.

Great journey - why don't you post a full travelogue in team bhp ?

I changed my tires to ceat gripp LN and they seem much much better than the good year OEM tyres that the t-jet came with. Less noise, feels firmer and less rolling resistance - of course the flip side is it feels like it takes longer to brake but that could be because it is still not run-in as yet.

At 65% of the price of a michelin, it feels like a good VFM.