[ampere]

Originally Posted by ManuRowaine

Can I get any information regarding this ? Whether I should question the ASC to look into the problem ?

And to add further, what I would suggest is to keep a log of fuel that you fill. You get many Fuel related Apps for Android/iPhone/Win8. All you have to do is keep track fuel filled, price prayed, where its filled and the odometer reading. As you build it slowly you can see a pattern. Best would be if the app can export a CSV which you can save on a PC.

[ManuRowaine]

Yes, I maintain a ledger where I write down about every filling.
should try apps from now on..

[paragsachania]

Between 10th-19th January 2014, I along with my family drove to Gujarat over a social visit cum driving fun and we returned back safe and sound.

Below is the circuit we took which comprised of the following route:

BANGALORE-PUNE-THANE-VALSAD-AHMEDABAD-RAJKOT-JUNAGARH-MEDARDA-TALALA-JUNAGARH-RAJKOT-GANDHINAGAR-AHMEDABAD CITY ROUNDS-GANDHINAGAR-MEHSANA-AHMEDABAD-THANE-PUNE-BANGALORE

Distance Covered-4115 Kms and the Odometer is now less than 100 kms closer to reaching the 9000 Figure.

We were 4 Adults and our daughter aged ~4.10 years with a fully loaded boot after folding down the third row:

Fuel Efficiency:
Here are the details of each and every refill that we did during the entire journey along with the no of liters consumed:

So the overall fuel consumed is 20 liters less than the cumulative figure of 243.51 since the tank was exactly at halfway mark after we reached Bangalore on Sunday night.

Hence, It is safe to assume that the total fuel "consumed" is 223.51 Liters.

With that, the overall mileage works out to 4115/223.51 = 18.41 KMPL.

Here is a snapshot of the Average FE reading displayed by the MID at various ODO readings during this entire trip:

More on the driving style and terrain:

• I mostly settled at a cruising of 120 KMPH most of the times
• The slowest I drove was between 90-100 KMPH In certain busy stretches between Thane and Vadodara
• The Air-Conditioner was always On irrespective of the chill in Gujarat at early mornings with Temperature Knob doing the duty accordingly
• I was refilling anywhere between 625-650 Kms since the last refill before the Low fuel warning light was coming on
• The drive included crossing Mumbai between 6-8PM on a Friday (onward) and Saturday (Return)
• We also did small errands in Rajkot traffic plus some peak hour fun in Ahmedabad's famed Kalupur area

Needless to say that the Ertiga became a calculated hit among my family folks after this drive. It's got space, its airy, cruises comfortably.

[zalaps]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

AHMEDABAD-RAJKOT

Great figures!
Folding down third row helps immensely.
18.X kmpl @ 120(AC) is figure with admiration guaranteed.

How's the condition between Limbdi to Rajkot?
Has resurfacing started?

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Between 10th-19th January 2014, I along with my family drove to Gujarat over a social visit cum driving fun and we returned back safe and sound.

So the overall fuel consumed is 20 liters less than the cumulative figure of 243.51 since the tank was exactly at halfway mark after we reached Bangalore on Sunday night.

Hence, It is safe to assume that the total fuel "consumed" is 223.51 Liters.

With that, the overall mileage works out to 4115/223.51 = 18.41 KMPL.

Needless to say that the Ertiga became a calculated hit among my family folks after this drive. It's got space, its airy, cruises comfortably.

Now that is a good drive indeed and FE figures coupled for that speeds maintained are very nice.

Happy that you are a happy owner of the Ertiga!

OT: Now stop driving till my cars odometer meets your cars reading.

Anurag.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by zalaps

How's the condition between Limbdi to Rajkot?
Has resurfacing started?

Its bad all the way till Chotila. However, there is a respite if you drive in opposite direction as the surface is much better in comparison. It gets smoother after Bagodara too.

But the chipped of surface is really irritating. You cannot drive really slow nor can you drive fast.

Its something that I faced in 2011 when I drove to Rajkot in WagonR too!!

[Rajain]

Hi Paragsachania

With this travel I am sure you would certify this vehicle as a long tourer. Over the last 18 months that I have owned one, I must say we have enjoyed every bit of driving and owning one.

Knowing you I would not be surprised that this one goes on to clock 3,00,000 kms!

I see the 3D mats look very interesting.

I may have missed it, but have you upgraded the headlamps or added extra lights?

Here is wishing you many thousands of miles of happiness.

Cheers

Rajain

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Rajain

Hi Paragsachania

With this travel I am sure you would certify this vehicle as a long tourer. Over the last 18 months that I have owned one, I must say we have enjoyed every bit of driving and owning one.

Without any further thought, the Ertiga for me became a perfect upgrade as a comfortable long tourer, especially after the recent drive to Gujarat. I was particular about how the passengers felt and was regularly checking this during every break - Back pain, stress, AC, Ride quality 'et all.

Knowing you I would not be surprised that this one goes on to clock 3,00,000 kms!

The way the WagonR clocked 2L I am sure this too will have a long way to go for the fact that my family is always ready to get onto the road instead of a Train or a flight.

I am heading Mysore, Belur and Chikmagalur this weekend that will add another 650 Kms and I am assuming the 10,000 kms will happen next week itself.

I see the 3D mats look very interesting.

Glad you liked it. They are proving to be good for the money paid. I am carefully watching the driver side mat where my leg rests to see if it develops any cracks or tears.

I may have missed it, but have you upgraded the headlamps or added extra lights?

I did a DIY installation of a Philips Wiring Kit with Relay and plonked my usual pair of Rally 100-90 Bulbs. Honestly, I realized how bad the set-up was when I turned the lights of the WagonR on while parking at night which also runs on the same set-up since 4 years.

I found the focus bad as the light was spreading and when I drove beyond Thane at night which also reduced my speeds considerably.

My wife's brother runs an automotive workshop in Rajkot and we did a thorough test by parking in front of a wall. All we did later was adjusted the beams by rotating the adjustment screws on the headlight units to focus better and voila, it was perfect after that!

Here is wishing you many thousands of miles of happiness.

Thanks a lot Rajain. I am sure we will have a lot of things to ask and share as we move ahead with the ownership of the Ertigas.

[paragsachania]

The weekend that passed added another 680 kms to the ODO with less than 100 remaining to reach the 10,000 kms mark.

The primary test over the weekend drive was the fact that we had driven with 6 adults thus making use of all 3 rows. Overall, for a trip that lasts ~500-600 kms a day, the 3rd row passengers would not complain.

The only issue that I could relate to the usage of 3rd row over long drives is the fact that the passengers will get a bouncy ride sitting on the rear most end of the car whenever the car passes over undulations and smaller culverts where the road surface is not leveled. I made sure that I drove with lot of caution taking over such surfaces.

Apart from that, I managed to extract an FE varying between 17-18kmpl for the overall round trip of 680 kms that included traversing in Mysore traffic on a weekend, climbing the Chamundi hillls, visiting a few spots in and around Chikmagalur and a visit to the coffee estate in my hometown of Belur.

Highway manners with 6 Adults were easily acceptable and the car indeed felt planted with full load.

A few pictures taken from the same drive:

[paragsachania]

So on yesterday night, during the return drive from work, the Ertiga reached its 10,000kms milestone.

The service that will follow now will undergo the scheduled replacement of Engine oil and I will retain stick to mineral oil at least for the next 10-20k kms.

10,000 kms is a very young number to say the car is running without any niggles. The real testimony would be after crossing 50,000 kms where I would find it apt to call it niggle free or otherwise.

The pain but fun to maintain all beige interiors:
The recent back to back trips to Gujarat and Mysore/Chikmagalur over the weekend has ensured to make the beige interiors dirty and I have already received a Carpet cleaner & Vinyl Dashboard cleaner through online portals and wish to use them over this week to clean every bit of it.

Needless to say, I will spend good time with the Ertiga to ensure its interiors and carpets are back are stain free.

[Rajain]

Hi
Congratulations on the 10K. Its a unique milestone. I had also crossed it on a long trip to GJ and RJ from Bangalore.

You mentioned about wanting to stay with mineral oil. Any particular reason why not fully synthetic?

Staying with beige, I can certainly say with experience that art leather or genuine leather is easier to maintain than fabric.

Service must be round the corner. Keep the updates coming.

Congrats once again on the 10K milestone.

Cheers

Rajain

[alokgunhal]

For someone with 200,000 + Kms of driving under his belt things would just get interesting with the upgrade to a bigger car based on "needs". When one would shop for a upgrade "need" of the driver in us and the family needs are to be kept paramount. That said the turmoil which paragsachania underwent in making this decision is a textbook for many of us who would relate to such needs. His in depth knowledge of cars adds immense value to the needs and has helped many of us understand out cars better.

The information in the decision making is comprehensive and I compliment the mention by some of the esteemed members that this can be the Official Ertiga review.

The photos and details of the car are brilliant. The detailed note of FE and practical aspects of the car you have experienced through the travels so far are evidence of a well made decision of going for the Ertiga.

Did someone say that parasachania is just getting started on a long haul with this excellent car? All the best for a long innings with this fine Family Car.

[funkykar]

In around 100 days you completed 10000!!! At this rate you need some where around 2000 days(Total 5.5yrs) to hit the 2L mark.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Rajain

You mentioned about wanting to stay with mineral oil. Any particular reason why not fully synthetic?

Well, I must mention this in my ownership thread here that the last oil change at 10,000 kms was fully synthetic (Shell 5w40) which was replaced from the existing mineral oil along with the replacement oil filter and a pro-active replacement of the Air Filter unit as well.

Staying with beige, I can certainly say with experience that art leather or genuine leather is easier to maintain than fabric.

I completely agree with this. I have got myself some goodies over the past few months to take care of the beige along with a few of these which I was already using for the WagonR.

Service must be round the corner. Keep the updates coming.

Underwent the 10k Service 2 weeks before:

• Engine Oil - Fully Synthetic
• Oil Filter
• Air Filter
• Wheel Rotation
• Wheel Alignment & Balancing

The Synthetic Oil Story:
I wanted to stick with mineral as I am not a big fan of Synthetic for a fact that my WagonR still runs on mineral for more than 2 lac kms and still performs flawlessly on highways too. There hasn't been any case of roughness whatsoever in that engine so far.

However, having read (mixed) reviews about Synthetic, I went ahead and gave it a try during last service.

- Lesser clattering during cold starts
- The feeling (or notion?) of free revving

These were the 2 distinct differences I could make out instantly after the switch. However, I would like to drive it at least for another 5000 kms and make a final assessment.

Another Weekend Drive:

The Ertiga embarked upon another short weekend trip to Pondicherry-Chidambaram-Kumbakonam-Vellore and back last weekend with a couple of Bhpian friends on board (alokgunhal & crazyfordriving).

The drive was fantastic this time as we used the actual boot to load the weekend luggage and were able to use the 3rd row effectively.

Here are a few shots taken from the last drive!

The ODO reading as of today:

Welcoming the sunrise on the way to Pondicherry:

One with the road:

Long-Tall-Wide

Beach

The Man and the Machine:

Finally one with the setting sun

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Well, I must mention this in my ownership thread here that the last oil change at 10,000 kms was fully synthetic (Shell 5w40) which was replaced from the existing mineral oil along with the replacement oil filter and a pro-active replacement of the Air Filter unit as well.

Underwent the 10k Service 2 weeks before:
[*]Engine Oil - Fully Synthetic[*]Oil Filter[*]Air Filter[*]Wheel Rotation[*]Wheel Alignment & Balancing


The Synthetic Oil Story:
I wanted to stick with mineral as I am not a big fan of Synthetic for a fact that my WagonR still runs on mineral for more than 2 lac kms and still performs flawlessly on highways too. There hasn't been any case of roughness whatsoever in that engine so far.

However, having read (mixed) reviews about Synthetic, I went ahead and gave it a try during last service.

- Lesser clattering during cold starts
- The feeling (or notion?) of free revving

These were the 2 distinct differences I could make out instantly after the switch. However, I would like to drive it at least for another 5000 kms and make a final assessment.

Why did you get the wheel Alignment, wheel balancing and Wheel rotation done at MASS? Isn't it better to get it done outside workshop?

Did you use any engine oil flush as it was changed from Mineral to Synthetic oil. Isn't it recommended?

What oil is filled from factory during delivery? Is it Synthetic or Mineral, can you confirm once?

I too shall be changing the oil in my Swift at 5K service. I gave bought the oil fillet and air filter from MASS, just confide about the oil to be used.

Anurag.