13th September 2016, 10:10
| #121 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Delhi
Posts: 4,892
Thanked: 8,116 Times
| re: Fiat Grande Punto: 50 months & 90,000 kms. EDIT: Now sold Celebrating 4 years of fashionista  80,000 kms and counting, life just became more interesting. 4 years on, it just keeps getting better and better. I am enjoying the remapped JTD, and the mid range is just pure awesomeness. The right side elastic pad gave up finally, and was replaced at DRS. The FE hovers around 15-16 in city and 21-22 in highway, a kpl or 2 less with AC on. City driving is a breeze, thanks to the newfound eagerness post remap. No issues with reliability, except unburnt diesel generating a bit of smoke under hard acceleration. The alloys have seen lot of abuse, and are holding on well. The samurai lip spoiler also aids to utility, as it does help in protecting the bumper against hitting the curb while parking. The weird orangutan like driving position remains, and I hate it. The steering feel continues to impress, and remains evergreen. The clutch remains as light as ever, and the brakes, stupendous, as ever. Got the pads changed recently as they were starting to age. And the 11 year old design remains as evergreen as ever.     And the brand Fiat India? In the sleeping mode, as ever. |
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14th September 2016, 08:44
| #122 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 1,419
Thanked: 3,490 Times
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14th September 2016, 10:54
| #123 | |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Delhi
Posts: 4,892
Thanked: 8,116 Times
| re: Fiat Grande Punto: 50 months & 90,000 kms. EDIT: Now sold Quote:
You will get less clatter, better acceleration and overall a smoother drive. I used Agip I-sint, mobil delvac 1 and liqui moly and found liqui to be best followed by delvac followed by Agip. Last edited by sidindica : 14th September 2016 at 10:55. | |
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11th October 2016, 09:51
| #124 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Delhi
Posts: 4,892
Thanked: 8,116 Times
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29th December 2016, 11:05
| #125 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Delhi
Posts: 4,892
Thanked: 8,116 Times
| re: Fiat Grande Punto: 50 months & 90,000 kms. EDIT: Now sold The one last goodbye. But, with a cross country traverse. Its been 4 and a quarter years of a journey of ups and downs with the red beluga. But, somewhere, something was better planned in horizon. I decided to do one of the biggest roadtrips ever in my Punto, all of 6000+ kms, from north, to west, down south, to Central, and then back. Sometime in October, me and 3 of my friends decided to go on a cross country traverse. The route planned was Delhi-Udaipur-Mumbai-Pune-Goa-Bangalore-Hyderabad-Nagpur-Agra-Delhi. We took an Ertiga and my Punto for the trip, with 2 people each.    Upon escaping Manesar, a freak accident happened, from nowhere, a sharp object hit my right rear tyre and a loud bang was heard. Stopped the car immediately and discovered that there was a cut on the tyre. Changed the alloy with steel stepney and proceeded for the journey. The tyre (Goodyear assurance triplemax 195/55 R16) was within the warranty period and upon reaching Bangalore, a warranty complaint call was arranged. Meanwhile, while the dates were being allocated, before the inspection call, we kept on proceeding to Udaipur, and stopped over for having the famous Thali at Natraj dining hall. We took an hour's rest, and with drivers changing hands, proceeded to head to Ahmedabad. Reached without any hassle, but our planned night halt plans immediately changed because we were planning to explore Mumbai for as much time as possible. Took left towards Ahmedabad Mumbai highway and made a dinner stopover at Anand.  Quick dinner, and we were heading for Mumbai. We reached Mumbai in the wee hours of the morning, and explored the city for the nest 2-3 days, and met many of our friends there. There is nothing much that can be written, except that we had a fantastic time together meeting automotive geeks at one place.  We did night halt, and the next morning, headed to a state where, every day, is a Holiday. Its called GOA! Was a long and tiring journey, but the thrill of covering multiple expressways (Ahmedabad Mumbai and later, Mumbai Pune), more than made for it. Thats where Fiat's engineering really shines. To gobble up miles with superb stability, roadholding, ride and handling and top notch brakes and fuel efficient Multijet. Took some pics around,     The never ending journey was becoming much more tiresome, thanks to the hard seats and weird ergonomics in my car. We did many short halts, and later in that night, made it to Goa, finally. Was very tough to get a good room, but managed to find one, and later crashed onto bed. Go, go go, Goa!!!! We Explored Goa as much as we could for the next 2-3 days, be it the beaches, the night clubs, the parties, the scenic beauty, the never ending josh among people there, name it, and everywhere, you had it. Perhaps, those 3 days were truly unforgettable.   Meanwhile, this was the point where the Ertiga went back to Delhi via the same route, and I decided to do solo to Bangalore. One night driving, with many short halts and naps, meeting a friend late night at Hubli,  And many more miles to go. The next afternoon, the best days of the trip were just about to begin. With meeting BHPian Pavan Kadam and checking out his awesome collection of cars and followed by Tata Safari Group meet and going for a ride on an immaculately restored Impala SS V8.   With superb hospitality, knowledge, learnings and grattitude of people there, and in the meanwhile, superb service rendered by Good year India by replacing my tyre under warranty, in Bangalore, it was time to head back to Delhi. Consulted many friends and decided to take the Hyderabad-Nagpur-Agra-Delhi route. There were many obstacles, good roads and bad roads, but the car more than made up to all the abuse that was thrown in. Driving on Hyderabad highway was again awesome,   And the car's handling at the curves was pure nirvana. Night halt at a friend's place at Hyderabad, and then a day's stopover at Nagpur followed by a challenging course to Yamuna Expressway with many bad roads in between, and the next afternoon, back home. Total distance done was 6,300.xx kms, with a cumulative FE of 16.7 kpl. And the car was nearing the 90,000 mark. The final journey. I think there was a point where inevitable had to happen. Looking back, this car was the one that changed my life forever. A second home, lessons on maintenance, lessons on making new car friends, on joining many car clubs, and admiring other's rides, and above all, enjoying all the engineering that Fiat has put in this car. This was the test of time, and it withstood it perfectly. Yes, I took many warranty claims, slammed the manufacturer for inconsistent service standards, but once it comes to enjoying things that machines are designed for, nitpicking can be obvious, but not something that we can't live with. After all, a car is a creation of a human being, and its our creations that speak for us. Not that once we look back, but, when we rewind those wonderful moments we had with our machines, we begin to realise those seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years we spent with them, knowing about the design, engineering, ride, handling, space, comfort and other aspects of a non living specie, which, to many, is just a point A to B transport, but, for us, this specie, called the motor car, is more than just a machine to us. Car friends, car guys, car groups, its a just a different experience altogether. Not something others can understand, but, only we, the different people, can. I took the car to Kashyap and world of service, and got all the things rectified, and finally, to a very close friend and a BHPian, sold the car for a good price. Like, a win win situation for both of us. The car remains within a close knit family, and at the right hands. Perhaps, this story will go on and on, but now on the other side of the journey, at the other spectrum. But, for now, sometime, somewhere, its time to bid an emotional goodbye to the red beluga, and the story has to take a break. Stories, that remained, forever, deeply close to our hearts, in the buried pages of history books.    Stories, by the people, for the people, of the people, who made the move.  Because, for me, and all of us, things do happen for a reason. --FINAL CURTAINS-- Last edited by sidindica : 29th December 2016 at 11:07. |
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2nd January 2017, 08:50
| #126 |
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