[F150]

Originally Posted by SDP

[b][u] Reinforced my respect for the XUV. Leaving some power in the reserve for a emergency maneuver is a good idea anyways.

Overall a fun-filled adrenaline-pumping drive!

Dear SDP,

Glad to see that you are enjoying owning a XUV.

Just ignore and screwdriver incident and move on. We have better things to concentrate on, than to think about what could have been.

I am pretty sure that this will be written off as a casual incident.

[Heavy Horse]

Originally Posted by SDP

Driving on 32-30psi and with almost 100% AC. 100% office commute. Had planned a top-up after 250-260kms. Instead I did 674kms and refuelled today. The tank gobbled up 64.69 liters of diesel. So the FE is 10.42kmpl. This is the second lowest FE I got ever. But the number is inline with my expectation that with almost 100% AC, the FE would drop by 1-1.5kmpl as compared to 0%AC. So its OK.

So here's my understanding of my XUV's FE:
1. 100% city usage, 32-30PSI and 100% AC -> 10.5kmpl
2. FE improves by 1.25-1.5kmpl with 0%AC usage
3. FE improves by 0.75-1kmpl with 38psi
4. FE decreases by 1.5-2 kmpl at full load

SDP, just returned from a trip to Goa. Observed a couple of interesting things:

1. For the first time I used the Econ button on the AC, recirculation mode. Over a 300 km highway drive (Madgaon - Manipal), got an FE of 14.5 kmpl. Compare this with 13.2 kmpl on the way up with normal AC, and looks like the Econ button does wonders. Have you tried this?

2. With the tyre pressures 2psi down on each tyre, the ride was much smoother. Wonder whether I should use 30 and 28 on a regular basis.

[Mudhalaipatti]

Originally Posted by Heavy Horse

SDP, just returned from a trip to Goa. Observed a couple of interesting things:

1. For the first time I used the Econ button on the AC, recirculation mode. Over a 300 km highway drive (Madgaon - Manipal), got an FE of 14.5 kmpl. Compare this with 13.2 kmpl on the way up with normal AC, and looks like the Econ button does wonders. Have you tried this?

2. With the tyre pressures 2psi down on each tyre, the ride was much smoother. Wonder whether I should use 30 and 28 on a regular basis.

Heavy Horse, did you get 14.5 kmpl with 30 and 28 in the rubber? That's interesting, as I was of the opinion that decrease in tyre pressure smoothens the ride, but takes a toll on FE. 14.5 kmpl is a very good number.
I always have the econ on and I'm getting 12.2, calculated using the tank fill method.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by Heavy Horse

SDP, just returned from a trip to Goa. Observed a couple of interesting things:

1. For the first time I used the Econ button on the AC, recirculation mode. Over a 300 km highway drive (Madgaon - Manipal), got an FE of 14.5 kmpl. Compare this with 13.2 kmpl on the way up with normal AC, and looks like the Econ button does wonders. Have you tried this?

2. With the tyre pressures 2psi down on each tyre, the ride was much smoother. Wonder whether I should use 30 and 28 on a regular basis.

Originally Posted by Mudhalaipatti

Heavy Horse, did you get 14.5 kmpl with 30 and 28 in the rubber? That's interesting, as I was of the opinion that decrease in tyre pressure smoothens the ride, but takes a toll on FE. 14.5 kmpl is a very good number.
I always have the econ on and I'm getting 12.2, calculated using the tank fill method.

Very interesting FE numbers Heavy_Horse! I got numbers similar to what Mudhalaipatti has mentioned.

Interesting toi note that a minor 1-2 PSI reduction in pressure is not going to impact the FE significantly but improve the ride.

I do operate the AC in the "Econ" mode. Was your AC on 100% of the time?

[Heavy Horse]

Originally Posted by Mudhalaipatti

Heavy Horse, did you get 14.5 kmpl with 30 and 28 in the rubber? That's interesting, as I was of the opinion that decrease in tyre pressure smoothens the ride, but takes a toll on FE. 14.5 kmpl is a very good number.
I always have the econ on and I'm getting 12.2, calculated using the tank fill method.

Yeah I was happy with 14.5kmpl. Bear in mind that this was on the Highway, no city driving at all, just the occasional small towns you pass through. Regarding tyre pressure, yes they were 30 28. My sense is that a 2psi less pressure will not significantly affect FE.

Originally Posted by SDP

Very interesting FE numbers Heavy_Horse! I got numbers similar to what Mudhalaipatti has mentioned.

Interesting toi note that a minor 1-2 PSI reduction in pressure is not going to impact the FE significantly but improve the ride.

I do operate the AC in the "Econ" mode. Was your AC on 100% of the time?

Yeah AC on 100% of the time. Usually the first square on the fuel gauge goes around 150 kms. This time it went around 180 kms. I was really intrigued. As soon as I got into Manipal I fuelled up, and man 14. 5kmpl !! I was a happy man

If you guys are getting 12.2 kmpl in the city I think that's good. That's what I too estimate as my city mileage.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by Heavy Horse

...
If you guys are getting 12.2 kmpl in the city I think that's good. That's what I too estimate as my city mileage.

No Sir!
I am getting ~10.5 kmpl in city. No complaints though.

[Mudhalaipatti]

Originally Posted by Heavy Horse

If you guys are getting 12.2 kmpl in the city I think that's good. That's what I too estimate as my city mileage.

I'm getting around 12.2 in city traffic and around 13.4 in highways. Sedate driving within 100kmph gives around 14.2 kmpl.
No complaints on FE though. For a fully loaded vehicle, the economics works out not so bad.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by Mudhalaipatti

I'm getting around 12.2 in city traffic and around 13.4 in highways. Sedate driving within 100kmph gives around 14.2 kmpl.
No complaints on FE though. For a fully loaded vehicle, the economics works out not so bad.

That's good FE!

Although, we compare FE numbers, city-traffic on one city to another city or for that matter 2 parts of the same city might have entirely different characteristics, thereby rendering the comparison futile.

Average speed in city-traffic might make more sense to compare how dense the traffic is and then comparing numbers might make a little bit more sense.

For me, city traffic means 13kms in 30 minutes ..so 26kmph as average speed.

[SDP]

Second service (@10K) report

Got the second servicing done 10,159kms on the ODO on 18th May 2013.

Besides the standard service, reported the following problems (with resolutions next to it):

1. Vehicle pulling to the left -> Problem exists from day one. Has been reported thrice. Last time they fixed it by lowering pressure in the right front tyre to 22psi! Spoke to the RM about the 22psi and asked for a proper printed report this time. They spent 3 hours on it. Rotated the wheels as per second service requirement. Even after that swapped tyres twice as the vehicle kept on pulling to the left. After 3rd trial, they announced the problem is solved. I was skeptical. Measured the pressure. It was 28 in front right, around 30 in front left. Got them to top it up to the correct levels and then went for a longish trial. The vehicle still pulls to the left. Plus the steering off-center problem seems to have resurfaced. It was almost 8:30pm. They promised to pick up the vehicle on Tuesday for this.

2. Second row right side AC duct was giving out air even when closed - Problem not fixed. Lack of attention to detail.

3. Very small rattle from somewhere inside the cabin. May be seat, may be the waterfall console -> They did lubricate and tighten a few things. But then I got the noise again today. So problem not fixed.

4. Right side mirror takes one second more to close/open than the left side mirror -> They cleaned the gearing and lubricated. They did not bother to check if the problem is actually fixed. Even today, the right side mirror closes slower than the left. Problem not fixed.

5. Bad smell invades even in recirculation mode. Not sure if it is outside smell or from the AC -> They cleaned up AC filter and blower. I had asked them to check if the recirculation flap is closing properly. They claimed that they did check that as well. Problem seems to be fixed. Will keep an eye (or is it nose?) out.

6. Small kat-kat noise at 30kmph in 2nd gear -> Somehow they are not able to hear it at all, whereas I can hear it and I thought my ears are bad! The tyre noise + outside noise is so loud that the its difficult to hear that sound. Asked them to raise the car on the fork-lift and then hear the sound so that the tyre-noise is not there. They did that, still couldn't hear it (neither could I that time). They just retorqued the suspension. Problem not fixed.

7. Feeble metallic 'keench' sound when turning the vehicle at slow speeds in multi-layer parking lot. -> They isolated it to some metal clip like part of the right front brake assembly. Adjusted it. Problem fixed.

8. RECALL - Window winder motors for both front doors -> This one is interesting. These motors were not listed as recalled when the recall was issued. But today the alert popped up when my vehicle's data was pulled up. So the RM said that he would get them replaced. Done. No noticeable difference as compared to earlier. There was no problem anyways.

Charged me 380 rs as labour for Blower R&R and another 60 rs for AC fliter cleaning..overall 494 Rs for 2nd free-service.

Was at the service center from 9am in the morning till 8:30pm at night. Not very happy with the service. Would give them one more chance on Tuesday. Quite anxious about it as their driver would pick up the vehicle.

[Mudhalaipatti]

Originally Posted by SDP

Second service (@10K) report
1. Vehicle pulling to the left ->

Interestingly my left pulling got somewhat corrected after the tyre rotation. So it's do with the DNA of XUV. uh !

Originally Posted by SDP

4. Right side mirror takes one second more to close/open than the left side mirror -> They cleaned the gearing and lubricated. They did not bother to check if the problem is actually fixed. Even today, the right side mirror closes slower than the left. Problem not fixed.

Ah, I thought I was just imagining things, when I realized my right mirror takes more time to close, than the left. The left mirror has had it's share of kisses from buses and bikes and I thought something must have loosened, that's causing the left one to close faster. Let me check this the next time I visit the SS.

[karan561]

Originally Posted by SDP

Second service (@10K) report

1. Vehicle pulling to the left -> Problem exists from day one. Has been reported thrice. Last time they fixed it by lowering pressure in the right front tyre to 22psi! Spoke to the RM about the 22psi and asked for a proper printed report this time. They spent 3 hours on it. Rotated the wheels as per second service requirement. Even after that swapped tyres twice as the vehicle kept on pulling to the left. After 3rd trial, they announced the problem is solved. I was skeptical. Measured the pressure. It was 28 in front right, around 30 in front left. Got them to top it up to the correct levels and then went for a longish trial. The vehicle still pulls to the left. Plus the steering off-center problem seems to have resurfaced. It was almost 8:30pm. They promised to pick up the vehicle on Tuesday for this.

This is no solution

Going so low on tyre pressures can get dangerous.

I suggest seeing a local tire shop & get an alignment done

[SDP]

Originally Posted by karan561

This is no solution
Going so low on tyre pressures can get dangerous.

Yes, you are right. The service center guys pulled a fast one on me during my last visit. This time I was more careful.

I suggest seeing a local tire shop & get an alignment done

Karan, unfortunately its not going to be simple. Here's a copy of the alignment done by the service center over the weekend.


With the 'Final values' well within ranges and the machine showing all-Green, when the vehicle actually went for a trial, it was still pulling to the left like nobody's business.

A independant alignment-and-balancing shop would be able to get the perfect alignment done. The problem is with perfect alignment, XUV still pulls to the left. So for the XUV, the real tweaking starts after getting the alignment perfect. By looking at how much the service center folks struggle with the "tweaking", I doubt if a tyre-shop would know enough about XUV specific vehicle-pulling-to-left issues.

Myself and a few other owners are coming to the conclusion that this is due to a design flaw. The vehicle has gone to the service center again today. Let's see if the service center manages a miracle.

[karan561]

Originally Posted by SDP

A independant alignment-and-balancing shop would be able to get the perfect alignment done. The problem is with perfect alignment, XUV still pulls to the left. So for the XUV, the real tweaking starts after getting the alignment perfect. By looking at how much the service center folks struggle with the "tweaking", I doubt if a tyre-shop would know enough about XUV specific vehicle-pulling-to-left issues.

This is what i meant when i said local tire shop.

But IMO its worth a try because any way the service center guys are unable to solve it so might as well give the local heroes a chance

Let me know if you need any help regarding the same so i can divert you to the right person i know in Mulund

[Heavy Horse]

Originally Posted by SDP

4. Right side mirror takes one second more to close/open than the left side mirror ->

SDP, with all due apologies, this is fulltime "baal ka khaal".

No wonder you guys are doing "keench" and "kat-kat" all the time

All this is par for the course for a VFM vehicle. The kind of "keenchless" ride you want, be ready to pony up Rs 75 lakhs for a BMW !!

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by SDP

Charged me 380 rs as labour for Blower R&R and another 60 rs for AC fliter cleaning..overall 494 Rs for 2nd free-service.

What about the consumables? Oil change, oil filter, fuel filter etc etc..? Total cost of service has to be more than 494 right?
Only labour is free in free service..