[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by DRIV3R

Krishna, was the bumper removed or just the grille? Changing horns is a tedious process for a DIY. I have done exactly what you have while the car was still new, however now one of them have gone kaput, am driving around with just one for past 3 or 4 months. :P

Rufus, they cost around 500-600. There are two models, the costlier ones are moulded and come in red.

Not the bumper was not removed. The grill was removed and the allen bolt will hold the bumper were removed so that the bumper top is sort of lose to fix these horns. A bit tedious, but if you have time to kill and the requisite tools, the horn change can be done.

The moulded ones cant be repaired. This one can be repaired, but if the diaphram is torn, then only thing we could do is throw in the junk yard.

[nkrishnap]

Completed 8,000 kms on the way back from Chikamagalur last Sunday.



A mild rattle has started from the left rear door. Sunday there is a free check up camp at Prerana Motors. I will have this check and fixed.

[nkrishnap]

Got the 10,000 kms mark on the odo soon after the Pune trip.

At 9999



The 10,000 mark



This is what I ended up with when I parked my car at my house yesterday evening.



The car with the FIAT sticker from the plant visit and the Carbon Fiber wrap on the mirrors.



My 10,000 kms review will come shortly along with the free check up camp experience.

[nkrishnap]

The odo crossed the 10,000 kms mark in the 3rd week of December 2012. After a bit of delay, here we go with what I feel about the car.

Positives

1. Looks – The Linea looks beautiful from any angle. I like the front and rear 3 quarters of the car.
2. Fuel Efficiency – The 1.3 MJD is doing overtime duty to pull the heavy car and yet being fuel efficient.

City Mileage – between 13.5 kmpl to 15 kmpl depending on traffic
Highway Mileage – between 18 – 20 kmpl depending on what speeds one does. Speeds beyond 110 kmph gets the mileage down quite quickly. Blame the short gearing for the 5th cog.

3. Ride and Handling – IMO the Linea handles better than its competitors even with the increased ground clearance. You do exactly the opposite of what you do with other cars when you see a corner or a curve. The Linea urges you to press the gas pedal instead of braking.

4. Steering Feedback – The steering is a real delight to hold as well as the way it communicates gives you complete confidence

5. Headlights - The headlights are adequate/sufficient for the highway drives with the Osram silver star bulbs and fog lamps are quite powerful with good spread

6. Features - Linea is loaded with features where additional after-market stuff is not required except for the speakers. For an audiophile the speaker upgrade is mandatory.

7. Powerful AC - The AC is quite powerful and chills the cabin in no time. Would have preferred a lower blower noise at higher fan speeds

8. Build Quality - The car is silent with no rattling (touch wood). The plastics though might look cheap are fit well and is not a cause for concern.

Negatives

1. Wind Noise - This is getting really irritating. The wind noise at 80-90 kmph is quite high. However, this sort of reduces with speeds above 110 kmph

2. No Bottle Holders - There is not a single bottle holder in the car. The cup holders are good only to keep perfume.

3. Tyre Noise - The tyre noise from the Goodyear Eagle NCT 5 is simply on the higher side. On the concrete roads, they are loud and very irritating.

Other Aspects

The Prerana Motors service team is very receptive to your views and supportive in sorting out any issues faced. But the number of feedback calls are unnecessary.

Thats it for now, will post if I have missed anything.

[nkrishnap]

Had reached out to the CRM from Prerana Motors Kudlu Gate to inspect the tyres which are causing high road noise and wobbling.

No amount of alignment, balancing and rotation has helped in reducing this.

With the help of Mr. Chennabasappa, have got an appointment for tomorrow from Goodyear for an inspection, will update as to how things turn out and what the outcome is.

[coolboy007]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

With the help of Mr. Chennabasappa, have got an appointment for tomorrow from Goodyear for an inspection, will update as to how things turn out and what the outcome is.

Goodyears have always been disappointing, they grip fine and thats the only positive side. Make hell lot of noise, suffer from lot of quality issues and dont even wear out evenly.

Had GT3's on my Linea and after 30k, no amount of alignment could get the car going straight due to uneven wear, had to ultimately change the tyres to Bridgestone and i regret not doing it the day car was delivered.
See if you can go in for a swap like Karthik did for his TJet if Goodyear gives some compensation in the form of coupons or something else, getting rid of these tyres and buying 4 new good quality tyres.

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by coolboy007

Goodyears have always been disappointing, they grip fine and thats the only positive side. Make hell lot of noise, suffer from lot of quality issues and dont even wear out evenly.

Had GT3's on my Linea and after 30k, no amount of alignment could get the car going straight, had to ultimately change the tyres to Bridgestone and i regret not doing it the day car was delivered.
See if you can go in for a swap like Karthik did for his TJet if Goodyear gives some compensation in the form of coupons or something else, getting rid of these tyres and buying 4 new good quality tyres.

Yeah, Goodyear has a lot of complaints, but like you mentioned, the grip is decent.

Planning to change to Yokohama AVS DB 205/55 R16 94V spec tyres. They are VFM compared to Michelin PLC which costs a few hundred bucks more than the Yokos.

[coolboy007]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

Planning to change to Yokohama AVS DB 205/55 R16 94V spec tyres. They are VFM compared to Michelin PLC which costs a few hundred bucks more than the Yokos.

That i must say is a brilliant choice, the AVS DB have good sidewall strength is what i read here but still Yoko complaints on tbhp are more compared to michelin but if you dont venture much into bad roads and potholes, this aspect shouldn't cause a worry.

The choice is so limited in 205/55 R16

[DRIV3R]

The GT3s on my Punto are bad too. One of the tyres had its steel belt protruding out and I immediately reported it to TASS. They do not do anything, not even a memo. Had to go numerous times to Good Year HO, show the tyre for inspection, wear would be measured and if its within 15 percent, replacement is FOC, else pro rata basis. Then you got to collect the slip, goto a tyre shop get your spare on ur alloy, and the bad tyre out, go back to HO, give the old, collect the new after a wait, go back to the tyre shop and then fix it onto the spare rim. And remember all this not in a day. Such a headache for useless tyres.

While I was at GY office, I could see that 95% of warranty claims were same steel belt protrusion cases.

Now I face some other issue, due to manufacturing defect, at crawling speeds, the car kind of rocks from side to side. Experiencing this only after the spare came in. Waiting to dispose these tyres, another VFM option I have come across is Bridgestone MY 02. Hopefully would try them.

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by coolboy007

if you dont venture much into bad roads and potholes, this aspect shouldn't cause a worry.

This is easier said than done in Bangalore, I have not seen a single 1km stretch which does not have any breaks, pot holes, or undulations, or a speed breaker

But I have had a chance to drive a car shod with the AVdb for a few kms and they were quite comfortable and very low road noise.

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by DRIV3R

Krishna, was the bumper removed or just the grille? Changing horns is a tedious process for a DIY. I have done exactly what you have while the car was still new, however now one of them have gone kaput, am driving around with just one for past 3 or 4 months. :P

Rufus, they cost around 500-600. There are two models, the costlier ones are moulded and come in red.

Let me answer for him,i have got the same horns in the same place in mine,only the front grill,attached by 4 screws needs to be removed.

[nkrishnap]

Got the tyres inspected from Goodyear for the road noise. However, all the tyres are normal according to the person who inspected the tyres.

The person who inspected the tyres that the Tyre Wear Indicator is showing between 5.5 mm to 6 mm thread left in the tyres and these tyres will easily last another 20,000 kms. However, the rubber has gone hard causing the excessive tyre noise and he said that is quite normal for the Eagle NCT 5.

Had put a word with the CRM regarding this. He said he will take it up with FIAT. Not much hope though. Wondering whether to shell out close to 40,000 bucks for the new tyres now or run these tyres for another 10,000 - 15,000 kms and then change over to Yokos. My dad is suggesting to turn up the volume and ignore the tyre noise for the time being. But the psychological thingy is getting to me. I might settle to keep these tyres for another 10-15k kms at the least.

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

Got the tyres inspected from Goodyear for the road noise. However, all the tyres are normal according to the person who inspected the tyres.

The person who inspected the tyres that the Tyre Wear Indicator is showing between 5.5 mm to 6 mm thread left in the tyres and these tyres will easily last another 20,000 kms. However, the rubber has gone hard causing the excessive tyre noise and he said that is quite normal for the Eagle NCT 5.

Had put a word with the CRM regarding this. He said he will take it up with FIAT. Not much hope though. Wondering whether to shell out close to 40,000 bucks for the new tyres now or run these tyres for another 10,000 - 15,000 kms and then change over to Yokos. My dad is suggesting to turn up the volume and ignore the tyre noise for the time being. But the psychological thingy is getting to me. I might settle to keep these tyres for another 10-15k kms at the least.

I would go with your Dad,and 16" are not cheap you would have to shell 8.5-9K per tyre,use them for a while,and then switch the tyres.

PS:I am also thinking of upgrading headlamp bulbs,how much do the Osram silverstar cost,and do we need to remove the headlamp to change the bulb?

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

I would go with your Dad,and 16" are not cheap you would have to shell 8.5-9K per tyre,use them for a while,and then switch the tyres.

PS:I am also thinking of upgrading headlamp bulbs,how much do the Osram silverstar cost,and do we need to remove the headlamp to change the bulb?

Let me hear from FIAT as to what they have to say. But unless they decide to give a replacement tyre, I will not swap the tyres for now. Outcome of the discussion a few mins back.

On the headlights, the Osram Silverstar for H7 will cost you 225 (MRP) per bulb and the H1 will cost 195 (MRP) per bulb. You would end up spending 840 bucks to upgrade both the Low beam and high beam. Try negotiating a bit, I did get 10% off on the MRP. I felt the outcome to be good, the best part is you get a longer beam and brighter beam . KarthikK had a look at it when it was dark.

PS: No need to remove the headlights, the bulb can be replaced but with a bit of difficulty as the access to the bulbs are not so great.

During the 15K service, will replace the fog lamps too with the silverstar.

[DRIV3R]

Nkrishnap, one suggestion. Do not change the color temperature of the fog lamps. The fog lamps won't serve the purpose then. Saying this because your replacement bulbs are going to be whiter.

Edit: Any reason you chose Silverstar over NB+ ? I have NB+ H4s costed 900 a pair, mrp was 1150. Results are good, most heavy vehicles dip for me now.