[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by parimal_g

You are getting really good mileage and if all figures are of city then I. Must say excellent. We are waiting for your K & N filter review. If you give go ahead there are many punters and Linea owners who can install it.

No all mileage numbers above 15 are not in city. City mileage hovers between 12-14 kmpl (with 100% AC). The traffic in the city during peak hours is really bad with average speeds of 8-12 kmph.

Yet to pen down the 5000 kms review. Will include the K&N section in it too.

[parimal_g]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

No all mileage numbers above 15 are not in city. City mileage hovers between 12-14 kmpl (with 100% AC). The traffic in the city during peak hours is really bad with average speeds of 8-12 kmph.

Yet to pen down the 5000 kms review. Will include the K&N section in it too.

True mileage totally depends on the driving conditions, even i struggle to get past 12km/lt in our city, and at Idling my Punto drinks like anything, but on open roads with moderate speeds she becomes amazing efficient.

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by parimal_g

True mileage totally depends on the driving conditions, even i struggle to get past 12km/lt in our city, and at Idling my Punto drinks like anything, but on open roads with moderate speeds she becomes amazing efficient.

The reason due to this may be due to the short gearing of the 1st and 2nd gears. The revs would be higher and the mileage lower.

But cruise on the highway between 80-100, you can see numbers near to 20 or sometimes even higher if the braking and acceleraing cycles are lower.

I have sort of altered my timings at office. I am going an hour early and leaving office earlier by 1 hrs. Let me check if that makes a difference.

[nkrishnap]

The odo stands at 6550 as of today morning. A small review after covering this distance.

+ves

• Looks - Perfect and looks very good in white. Waiting for the day the ban on tints go, so that I can get a bit of dark film to make it look even better
• Love the turbine blade alloy wheels. Adds a lot of character to the car.
• Mileage - quite happy with the reduction in the fuel costs after the Liva.
• Comfort - Most of the passengers in the car felt the car was very comfortable. (note - nobody above 5 ft 9 inches in the family).
• Features - The car is loaded with sufficient features and most of it is quite useful.
• Blue n Me - I miss this feature when I step into other cars. Blue n Me is not just the Bluetooth its got a lot more to it.
• Ride and Handling - Perfect balance. Brings a grin whenever you drive it
• Punchy mid Range - Can happy cruise at 100-120 all day long and doesn't need downshifting to overtake.
• Fog lamps are bright and is very useful
• AC chills the cabin in no time, but the blower at full speed is noisy.
• Arm rest is very useful and makes the driver's life easy on long journeys.
• Brakes are very reassuring.
• Boot space very usable. Parents have been loading it to the full just because it can hold more luggage. Dad is very happy about it and he likes the rear arm rest too.
• Love to keep the car spanking clean. Have been able to manage it until now with help from the 3M guys HSR Layout. (thanks to the boys there)

-ves

• Can be caught napping if you are not in the right gear in city traffic. Courtesy turbo lag.
• No bottle holders. Have no other option than keeping the bottle in the rear seat pocket or leave it rolling on the floor. I am not comfortable with either
• Low Beam intensity can be better. Working around a solution for this.
• The Goodyear Eagle NCT 5 are noisy willing to change. But my friend who runs a tyre shops suggests me use these tyres up at least for 25-30K. He simply its not worth changing after using the tyres for 6.5K kms. I will stick with it for the time being.
• The speaker are nothing but crap. Will be upgrading it sometime soon. Waiting for the Vitamin M top up

Got the wheel rotation, balancing and alignment done yesterday. Will update the results with pics.

[nkrishnap]

Got the Carbon fiber wraps for the doors where the earlier matt black stickers were present. The wrap costs Rs. 352/- per sq ft.

Here we go with the pictures. Sorry about the quality, it was shot with mobile. Will post day time pics a little later.

The installation being done.



Pics after installation

[Rufus_M]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

Got the Carbon fiber wraps for the doors where the earlier matt black stickers were present.

A neat install done nkrishnap!! Nice to learn new tricks from you to keep our Fiats beautiful :-). The carbon fibre wraps do enhance the otherwise plain vinyl stickers. You are one passionate owner!!
What was the total length of wrap required for the A, B, & C pillar? Also please share the installation charges.

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by Rufus_M

A neat install done nkrishnap!! Nice to learn new tricks from you to keep our Fiats beautiful :-). The carbon fibre wraps do enhance the otherwise plain vinyl stickers. You are one passionate owner!!
What was the total length of wrap required for the A, B, & C pillar? Also please share the installation charges.

I will have to check the bill for the details. I forgot the bill at 3M center itself as it was already very late on Saturday evening. I will collect it and post the details, till then the wait is required

[nkrishnap]

With the car covering 6500 kms on the odo, thought it was a good time to get the wheel rotation, balancing and alignment done. More so because I had hit a deep pothole on the recent highway trip. Wanted to check the alloys too.

The wheels removed for rotation. Did the 4 wheel rotation as per FIAT's recommendation front to rear. No cross rotation was done.

A snap to see the status of brake pads. There are complaints that the brake pads wear out by 15000 kms on the Linea and Punto. The brake pads here seem to be a good for another 15000-18000 kms.



The rear drums, how I wish it had all around discs



The balancing being done.



The alignment being adjusted.



Also while balancing found the both the left side alloys where bent. Pulled out the spare alloy and put it at the front and the one that was bent most is sitting in the boot now and the other bent one on the rear wheel. Mostly will pick up one alloys, but its damn costly at 12500 a piece.

Cost of wheel balancing and alignment (including weights) - Rs. 600/-

Got this done from Sai Iyengar and Sons - Sarjapur Road.

[Rufus_M]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

Also while balancing found the both the left side alloys where bent.

I too rigorously follow wheel rotation, balancing & allignment every 5000 kms. Sad to hear that within 6500 kms, 2 of your alloys are bent.

Everytime when I visit the allignment centre I pray that my alloys aren't bent. I've read a lot of posts from Punto/Linea owners regarding bent alloys. Sadly it happened to my alloys too. At 15000 kms, two of my alloys were bent. Used the spare steel wheel for a while because Punto comes with only 4 alloys. The Fiat alloys are damn expensive as you mentioned & I even thought of going the after-market way. But then, I find them to be very elegant. I got my 2 alloys replaced through insurance.

Total damage: Rs 20,396/- for 2 Punto alloy wheels.
Insurance company paid Rs 16,000/-.
Rest paid by me.
But had to haggle a lot with the insurance guys for the claim to go through.

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by Rufus_M

I too rigorously follow wheel rotation, balancing & allignment every 5000 kms. Sad to hear that within 6500 kms, 2 of your alloys are bent.

Everytime when I visit the allignment centre I pray that my alloys aren't bent. I've read a lot of posts from Punto/Linea owners regarding bent alloys. Sadly it happened to my alloys too. At 15000 kms, two of my alloys were bent. Used the spare steel wheel for a while because Punto comes with only 4 alloys. The Fiat alloys are damn expensive as you mentioned & I even thought of going the after-market way. But then, I find them to be very elegant. I got my 2 alloys replaced through insurance.

Total damage: Rs 20,396/- for 2 Punto alloy wheels.
Insurance company paid Rs 16,000/-.
Rest paid by me.
But had to haggle a lot with the insurance guys for the claim to go through.

The reason for the bent alloys is due to me not able to avoid a pothole at speed of around 100. One moron on the highway run me off the road, Had not choice to get the left wheels off the tarmac. The result 2 bent alloys.

Trying to find a place where the bend is removed by hydraulic press, if it works fine, else I am willing to claim insurance for this. Lets see how it turns out.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

The reason for the bent alloys is due to me not able to avoid a pothole at speed of around 100. One moron on the highway run me off the road, Had not choice to get the left wheels off the tarmac. The result 2 bent alloys.

Trying to find a place where the bend is removed by hydraulic press, if it works fine, else I am willing to claim insurance for this. Lets see how it turns out.

You can try getting the alloys back in shape though if the bend is not heavy. There are some places in Bangalore who do that. One among them is the A1 cars.Details are in the directory! Fellows BHPian J.Ravi had got his linea's rim bend removed from them and was very happy with the outcome! You can give them a shot before replacing them!

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

You can try getting the alloys back in shape though if the bend is not heavy. There are some places in Bangalore who do that. One among them is the A1 cars.Details are in the directory! Fellows BHPian J.Ravi had got his linea's rim bend removed from them and was very happy with the outcome! You can give them a shot before replacing them!

Thanks Mate. I am first looking at the bend removal. If it does not work and the inevitable option is to buy the new one. The lead time to procure new ones can be any where from 1-3 weeks. Though can get it faster by making a few calls.

[nkrishnap]

I have the K&N Filter in the car for close to 1500 kms now. Took it out a couple of days back to see the dust accumulation on the filter and the air inlet to the throttle body. Both seemed fine.

Now the observations with the K&N Filter.

1. The Revs seem to build up far more easier with the K&N. Its a breeze to get into the turbo spooling zone faster.
2. The low end torque seemed to have increased a bit (though may be only a perception since its revving easier)
3. The revs in the higher range above 3000 rpm seems a bit more smooth and easier to achieve. (May be due to the engine itself freeing up too)
4. The mileage seemed to have increased a wee bit around .2-.3 kmpl
5. Surprisingly I was expecting the usual K&N grunt, which is absent actually. Sounding not too different from the stock filter

Only concern is the filter letting dust inside the throttle body. But its too early to comment on this aspect now. Will pile on another 2000 kms before I remove the filter to observe how its turned out.

Now evaluating options of the RD tuning box, a bit skeptical about using it though.

[nkrishnap]

Will be going to a couple of places where they remove the bends from the alloys. Lets see if things work out else a good 25k will go down the drain.

By the way can insurance be claimed for the bent alloys?

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

Will be going to a couple of places where they remove the bends from the alloys. Lets see if things work out else a good 25k will go down the drain.

By the way can insurance be claimed for the bent alloys?

Yes, you can claim for insurance.
i think you have a bumper to bumper insurance right?

Try looking for some linea alloys in some shops, you might be lucky sometimes. You will get it at less than half the price of the price quoted by FIAT.