[nkrishnap]

Mileage Update:

53rd Refill: 288.2 kms - 20.73 liters - 13.90 KMPL (MID 14.1 kmpl) - Average Speed 16 kmph - Rs. 55.39/- per litre from IOCL - Opposite to Woodlands hotel.

[nkrishnap]

Got the tyres swapped to Hankook Ventus V12 K110 with inputs from the tyre experts. Nikhil needs a special mention in narrowing down to this choice based on my requirements, Thanks a ton Nikhil.

The tyres racked up.





The old Goodyear Eagle NCT 5 being removed from the rims.





The unused spare Goodyear Eagle NCT 5



The Hankooks being put on the alloy wheel.



The Wheel ready with Hankook Ventus V12.



Initial observations after driving around 40 odd kms.

1. The ride seems a lot better than Goodyears though Hankook being a harder compound tyres. But the Yokohama AVS DB or the Michelin PLC ride quality will be way better for sure.
2. The sidewall is quite thick and presume it to be quite tough.
3. The road noise seems a lot lesser than Goodyears, but not as silent as the Yokohama AVS DB or the Michelin PLC

Disclaimer: These are solely my observations and it can differ from others.

Cost:

Hankooks - 6500 odd a piece (give or take a couple of hundreds here and there)
Buy back Old unused Goodyear Eagle NCT 5 - 6000

Total cost: (6500 * 5) - 6000 = 26500/-

Disposing off the used Goodyear Eagle NCT 5 with around 5-7k kms life left to recover some of the cost.

[nareshov]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

Got the tyres swapped to Hankook Ventus V12 K110 with inputs from the tyre experts.
...

Hey Krishna, how did the tires perform during your trip to Leh?
Curious how these ultra-high-performance summer tires did in the colder regions.

[nkrishnap]

A two part update on the car.

1. The striping of the car's floor and putting it back due to wet carpets

On the return from drive up north, unfortunately in the water logged roads of Ludhiana the carpets had gone wet. Gave it to Vecto motors to do the job of the drying it and used this opportunity to use the 3M dampening mats to cover up the floor area.

















2. Got the SR paint sealant and the interiors cleaned

How it was before handing over the car to Sidhu's team.





End result of exterior and interior treatment.

Exterior











Interior









Loving the end result and seeing the car as good as new and a big thanks to the Sidhu's team for making the car as good as new again .

PS: The dampening has helped cut the road a bit.

[nkrishnap]

With the amplifier conking off due to wet carpets as it was placed under the seat, had to replace it after checking with Satya (Evo). Got the rear co-axials replaced with Stage Audio 5 1/4 components and the amp upgraded to ARC XDi 804 4 channel amp with the Stinger RC converter.

A few pics.









Size comparison with Cerwin Wega Amp.





Placement of the tweeters on the door.





The crossover and the amplifier in the boot

[Biraj]

Eagerly waiting for the TL. How would you rate the tyres on 'road noise' and side-wall strength? If your feedback is positive, I will also go for these tyres. At 6.5 K it really appears VFM. Your car is gleaming after the treatment at 3M.

[mux_usa]

Krishna,
I have to say your posts on Team-BHP, via this thread and others, have as much attention to detail as any I have seen on professional reviews. Of course, the passion displayed here in general even beats those on multiple car forums, that I have been privileged to be a part of, thanks to car ownerships in other parts of the world. In no small part to your thread, my latest drive booking is a Linea MJD Emotion in Oceanic Blue that I have booked yesterday at Vecto. I even acknowledged your and KarthiK's) influence in my purchase decision to Karthick, Abhilash over there. I am trading in the well-serving family sedan ('07 Octavia Tdi) to get this. Thank you, and hope to meet up with you in person, sometime, as I now have quite a few accessories and upgrades questions!

Mukund

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by mux_usa

Krishna,
I have to say your posts on Team-BHP, via this thread and others, have as much attention to detail as any I have seen on professional reviews. Of course, the passion displayed here in general even beats those on multiple car forums, that I have been privileged to be a part of, thanks to car ownerships in other parts of the world. In no small part to your thread, my latest drive booking is a Linea MJD Emotion in Oceanic Blue that I have booked yesterday at Vecto. I even acknowledged your and KarthiK's) influence in my purchase decision to Karthick, Abhilash over there. I am trading in the well-serving family sedan ('07 Octavia Tdi) to get this. Thank you, and hope to meet up with you in person, sometime, as I now have quite a few accessories and upgrades questions!

Mukund

Hi Mukund,

Nice to know that the review of use to you. Congrats on booking the car. Kindly drop an email with your contact details, we can meet up in the near future.

Cheers,
KRISHNA

[TheTeacher]

These guys, KarthikK, mkrishnap and a few others here are selling more Lineas for FIAT than the dealerships can on their own! May the tribe of Linea owners increase!

[mux_usa]

Originally Posted by TheTeacher

These guys, KarthikK, mkrishnap and a few others here are selling more Lineas for FIAT than the dealerships can on their own! May the tribe of Linea owners increase!

Agreed, @TheTeacher! The best part, and probably the oft unsaid aspect, about these guys' meticulous attention to detail, lends to Fiat probably not realizing the gaffe their sales guys commit when it comes to marketing their cars. During the couple of test drives, I could visibly relate to specific aspects of the cars from the reviews and comments posted here, and correct the SA. If there was something called Customer Referral Bonus, (apropos Employee Referral, in organizations) nkrishnap, KarthikK, et al could well benefit though I am sure their intent goes well beyond those, and are fueled by the Fiat passion (pun intended!).

@nkrishnap, I am too junior a member around here to be able to PM you. My coordinates are: mukunds@outlook.com; would appreciate if you can drop in an initial mail, so I can respond to you.

[nkrishnap]

The observations with the Hankooks Ventus V12 K110 205/55 R16 94W after driving it around 8,000 kms.

1. The sidewalls are strong and can take quite a bit of abuse. The tyres stood the test of Zozilla pass twice and other bad stretches with ease.
2. The tyres are surprisingly quiet (I for one certainly did not expect it to be a quiet tyre) as compared to the Goodyear Eagle NCT 5. Though the tyre noise increases on concrete roads, but nothing to really worry about and is again lesser than the Goodyear Eagle NCT 5
3. The sidewalls being a lot stronger and harder compound makes the ride a bit stiff but still way more comfortable than the Goodyear Eagle NCT 5. Another observation is that the ride gets better with the tyres warming up. The ride is a bit stiff when the tyres are cold. Takes about 10-15 kms for the tyres to warm up depending on the tarmac.
4. The dry grip again is way better than the Goodyear Eagle NCT 5.
5. Wet grip is quite decent, however these are not a proper wet tyres (these are premium summer tyre). However, the water drainage is quite good, did more than 1000 kms in rain and had not problems with either the grip or aquaplaning.
6. The thread pattern is aesthetically better than the Goodyear Eagle NCT 5.
7. These tyres sort of being new entrants the cost of these tyres are quite less as compared to the Yokos and Michelins.

The negative that I can see from these tyres are that they come with the distributor warranty which is more or less like having no warranty.

Note: All the observations are in comparison to Goodyear Eagle NCT 5 tyres that were used for 19337 kms.

A mileage update covering the trip.

[Vihari]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

A mileage update covering the trip.

Good to note that the KMPL almost matches the MID Kmpl figure.

The average speed in the City, compared to the average speed in the Hills, speaks volumes about the conditions of the CITY traffic. Especially in a city like Hyderabad, i always feel that driving on the pot holed roads, is a greater challenge than driving on the hills and mountains of Ladhak!

Thank you for such a wonderful and very helpful, informative Ownership report, krishna. Just this table, showing the fuel fill ups - numbered - speaks of the meticulous nature of your car ownership.

- Sai

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by Vihari

Good to note that the KMPL almost matches the MID Kmpl figure.

The average speed in the City, compared to the average speed in the Hills, speaks volumes about the conditions of the CITY traffic. Especially in a city like Hyderabad, i always feel that driving on the pot holed roads, is a greater challenge than driving on the hills and mountains of Ladhak!

Thank you for such a wonderful and very helpful, informative Ownership report, krishna. Just this table, showing the fuel fill ups - numbered - speaks of the meticulous nature of your car ownership.

- Sai

The average speeds in city like Bangalore (more so with the IT corridor) during peak hours is single digits . The traffic, potholes, road sense and many other factors simply kill the pleasure of driving in the city.

If I start at 6 pm from office, it nearly takes about 20-30 mins to take a U turn which is just about 400 odd meters away. I have simply started going to office early and leaving office by 5 to minimize this effect. The two wheeler is more apt, however with the monsoon still around its the car that will do the duty for couple of months more.

[Vihari]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

The average speeds in city like Bangalore (more so with the IT corridor) during peak hours is single digits . The traffic, potholes, road sense and many other factors simply kill the pleasure of driving in the city.

If I start at 6 pm from office, it nearly takes about 20-30 mins to take a U turn which is just about 400 odd meters away. I have simply started going to office early and leaving office by 5 to minimize this effect. The two wheeler is more apt, however with the monsoon still around its the car that will do the duty for couple of months more.

I could not have agreed more. That is the exact situation I am in including the idea of changing my office timings, going on a two-wheeler etc. However, I cannot change my office timings (since I can opt to go early but still have to stay late ) but the two-wheeler part is being thought of seriously. Should buy a new one and hence I am all over the forum, asking about the RE Thunder Bird. Have been reading a lot including J Ravi sirs ownership thread.

- Sai

[nkrishnap]

With the tyres already covering 8148 kms, headed to Madhus (Langford Road) after slipping away from office a little early.

A couple of pics with the road force balancing with the before and after comparison.



Alignment Report



I was out in 40 mins with both the balancing and alignment done to satisfaction as it has been with Madhus.