[ashis89]

Drove the RoadRunner from Hyderabad to Indore. The roads ranged from butter smooth 4-lanes to broken roads in beautiful ghat sections and ultimately, gut wrenching washed out ones.

The FE varied between 16-17 kmpl for the 3 tankfuls that I did. This can attributed to the consistent 3-digit speeds done on the 4-lane section, enjoying the road curves on the ghat section (in a tall-boy car) and getting tortured to hell in the last section.

The last section of the trip involved about 80 kms of no road which took me ~3 hrs to cover (should take 4 hrs at least if you go carefully but I had lost my patience). Huge craters, sharp potholes, boulders, sand, mud and a lot more was encountered.

GC was tested several times. It passed except for 3 occasions but I was very slow and was going over mud or sand; no concern here.

I crashed into some potholes several times in this stretch and lost a wheel cap in the process (again, one of the clips was broken and it wasn't a tight fit). Checked the tyres and the Earth 1s are doing a good job, no visible damage here. Will get a set of new wheel covers or will remove the existing three to enjoy those black wheels.

Some points from this trips:

• The K10 engine loves the highways but the WagonR doesn't. 100-110 kmph is a very sweet cruising speed for the car.

• The brakes have started squeaking again. Not sure if the disc is at fault. No impact on the braking performance at all.

• After the horrible patch, lots of sounds can be heard, including one from rear left suspension.

• RoadRunner was a delight to drive on the ghat section. The roads were not very steep or narrow but had a lot of tight curves and roads were broken.

• Like a turbo diesel, keep the car in the power band and it pulls very well. A Brezza was following me in the ghat section and couldn't keep up at all. Could be that the driver was taking it easy.

• Small kicks around 2k and 3.2k RPM feel very good.

• Engine is quite dead below 1.5k RPM and needs throttle inputs after slowing down and shifting to first. But if one is not careful and on slightly loose soil, you get wheel spins in 1st and 2nd gears.

• Second gear is quite short and can be enough to pull after a speed-breaker if the car is not loaded but AC is on. At a toll gate, I was unmindful and pulled away from standstill in second gear and got to know when it was time to change the gear.

The odo stands at 53500 kms. Will be returning sometime this week via Bhopal as I have heard the roads are better even though it is longer by 200 kms. RoadRunner will be sent for a complete service thereafter.

[ashis89]

Couple of updates. I got the car washed at garage near IIM Indore and the boys did a very good job while charging only 150 bucks. End result was a clean, smooth and soundless car. Yes, the wash removed the squeaks and rattles.

I tanked up and found that RoadRunner had returned 12.2 kmpl in the treacherous stretch of road.

And meanwhile, RoadRunner provided business class travel. My wife enjoyed her movie while I enjoyed the roads.

[ashis89]

The RoadRunner went past the 54k mark while returning from Indore. We covered 2200 kms over 5 days and I was the sole driver. I am comfortable in this car and I had no complaints. One bad underbody hit but no major damage apart from a dent.

Over the last 1200 kms, the FE was 17.1, 16.8,16.1 and 15.1 kmpl (100% AC and highway). While I maintained 100-110 throughout, for the patches giving lower FE, slightly higher speeds were maintained.

It will go the next service in the next few weeks as I usually get it done after 8k kms which is few hundreds away.

[ashis89]

Odo crossed 55k mark on 13th Oct. The last tankful returned 16.1 kmpl and included 40% highway driving. Rain has been consistently lashing Hyderabad and the roads are ruined. RoadRunner has had to wade through water on a few occasion, with the water level varying from a few inches to slightly more than a foot.

Even though he is due for the next service (covered 8k kms since last oil change), I am delaying it till the weather is completely dry and am using up the buffer 2k km life of the oil.

Off-late, the drive is jerky in stop-go traffic and pick up seems to have reduced. Not sure why but will find out when I take him for the service, probably towards the end of October.

[ashis89]

RoadRunner got his wash and full service yesterday. My FNG did a test run and found no issue with the car, not even the steering rack which planned for replacement earlier (I have driven 5k kms since that diagnosis). Even stock clutch is in good condition.

Odo - 55500 kms
Distance since last service- 8300 kms

The service cost breakup is below.

Oil - 1100
Oil filter - 100
Coolant - 200
Water wash - 350
Labour - 350
Total bill - 2100
Discount- 100
Total paid - 2000

My FNG seems too reasonable to be true but then again there are no complaints from RoadRunner either. The Yokohama Earth 1s have run 20k in total and 5k since the last rotation.

The FE for the last 2 tankful are 15.1 and 14.4 kmpl.

I have ordered a pair of Bosch Symphony horns which should be delivered this week. Will get them installed as the stock OE horns are weak now. Might get the bumpers painted to get rid of the numerous scratches but I am having second thoughts. Right now I chuck the car anywhere without any concern. Any new scar inflicted by the bikers and other motorists don't cause me any pain. Getting it all tidy would mean I will be more careful then.

I had lost one of he wheel caps during my last long trip. I removed the other 3 too to make it look uniform. Must say it looks more rugged now and the wider tyres seem to bulge out from the rims.

[asit.kulkarni93]

Originally Posted by ashis89

RoadRunner got his wash and full service yesterday. My FNG did a test run and found no issue with the car, not even the steering rack which planned for replacement earlier (I have driven 5k kms since that diagnosis). Even stock clutch is in good condition.

Odo - 55500 kms
Distance since last service- 8300 kms

The service cost breakup is below.

Oil - 1100
Oil filter - 100
Coolant - 200
Water wash - 350
Labour - 350
Total bill - 2100
Discount- 100
Total paid - 2000

My FNG seems too reasonable to be true but then again there are no complaints from RoadRunner either. The Yokohama Earth 1s have run 20k in total and 5k since the last rotation.

The FE for the last 2 tankful are 15.1 and 14.4 kmpl.

I have ordered a pair of Bosch Symphony horns which should be delivered this week. Will get them installed as the stock OE horns are weak now. Might get the bumpers painted to get rid of the numerous scratches but I am having second thoughts. Right now I chuck the car anywhere without any concern. Any new scar inflicted by the bikers and other motorists don't cause me any pain. Getting it all tidy would mean I will be more careful then.

I had lost one of he wheel caps during my last long trip. I removed the other 3 too to make it look uniform. Must say it looks more rugged now and the wider tyres seem to bulge out from the rims.

Hi Ashis89,

It's great to see the updates on your wagon-r. It is serving you really well and the service costs seem very low. The k10 Wagon-R happens to offer the best package under 5L, No wonder 12k+ units are sold every month. Could you share the pics of your Wagonr without the wheel caps? Even my F10d Wagon-R 2006 initially without the wheel caps looked rugged, later I did install aftermarket wheelcaps. Happy mile munching!

Asit

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by asit.kulkarni93

Hi Ashis89,
.........
Could you share the pics of your Wagonr without the wheel caps? Even my F10d Wagon-R 2006 initially without the wheel caps looked rugged

Asit

Here you go. Sorry the rims are not very clean as the roads are in a bad shape after monsoon and my watchman doesn't clean them.





I was contemplating getting alloys for the wheels but given the state of roads and my trips, these steel rims serve me best.

Any idea if the gypsy steel rims would fit on my cars? I have a soft corner for that design but not sure if they are 14 inchers.

[ashis89]

I got 2 bottles of Gum Out to use on my RoadRunner. Each bottle is enough to be used with 80L of petrol. So I used half a bottle in each tankful and I am in my second tankful. Must say, the driveability has improved a lot and jerk/vibration has decreased significantly. To give an idea, RoadRunner moves one gear higher at each place that I slow down everyday. The downshifts to 2nd and 1st have reduced drastically. I started observing this 300 kms after adding Gum Out and right now, I covered 450 kms (all within the city). I have shared my observations on the Fuel Additives thread too:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post4307240


I still face a clunky gearbox where the 1st gear seems 'stuck' or the stick doesn't go to 3rd, but even these instances have become rare post the last service.

The last tankful returned 14.98 kmpl, with 75% AC, 100% city run.

A few functional mods done to the RoadRunner:

• Replaced a fused LED parking lamp with another one. LEDs make the parking lamps look blue while the halogen bulbs made it look yellow.

• Replaced the stock horns (which were doing fine, not sure why I decided to change them) with Bosch Symphony. The new one is loud, sharp and crisp.

• Few months ago, I had replaced the front roof reading lamp bulb with a LED one. The rear one's holder was much bigger in size and the LED bulb won't fit. I ordered a spring adjustable LED bulb and it in the rear reading lamp. Now the whole car has a uniform blue light when the doors are opened.

With routine office home runs only, RoadRunner is barely touching 56k kms. This is my sole drive and hence, I was forced to take it for shorter trips too when I didn't want to walk. Recently, I got a bicycle and my car is not disturbed anymore.

I might drive down to Bangalore next month if I feel like. Should add 1200+ kms to the odo unless, I decide to cover some more areas around Bangalore.

[ashis89]

I had replaced the stock bulbs with Philips Rally 100/90 bulbs. After 4 months/6k kms later, the high beam of the left bulb fused. That said, even with one bulb functioning, I am completely satisfied on the roads. I will replace the bulb later as the car will remain dormant for 20 days, starting Dec 25.

RoadRunner will touch 57k km within the next few days. The last tankful returned 17.4 kmpl (461 kms, 100% AC, 75% highway).

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by ashis89

Any idea if the gypsy steel rims would fit on my cars? I have a soft corner for that design but not sure if they are 14 inchers.

I had to read this query twice, as it was surely shocking.

Not only are the Gypsy rims bigger in size, their other parameters like PCD, holes, and offset etc are also different.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

I had to read this query twice, as it was surely shocking.

Not only are the Gypsy rims bigger in size, their other parameters like PCD, holes, and offset etc are also different.

Off late, I have started following the idea of "poochne mein kya jaata hai" (there is no harm in asking) which was made popular by the Tata Sky ad. Exploring all the possibilities is always good

Years ago, the first time I saw my car's wheels with attention, I was surprised that an humble car like WagonR comes with 14" wheels. Thus, I had hopes of the Gypsy rims as well. After my post, I did some research and found that the Gypsy rims are 15" (sigh!). While the PCD, holes and offset might be different, an upsize of 1" is not at all impossible.

[ashis89]

RoadRunner was hibernating for 20 days. One crank and he started like it was just another day. Modern vehicles are indeed being trouble free.

Before it went into hibernation, the left headlamp bulb had fused. Now Philips Rally seems very rare (100/90 rating) and not available online. Hence I got it replaced with some 'Xenon' make bulb of the same power rating at my FNG. Cost me 100 bucks including fitting. While the lumens are less than the Rally, the new bulb is doing a decent job.

The odo stands 572xx kms.

[ashis89]

RoadRunner was running on low tyre pressures. While the ride was very good and the car never felt sluggish, I didn't want to damage the tyres on the horrible Hyderabad roads. I was lazy to go to a proper tyre shop with digital pressure guages and learnt a lesson in the process.

After a car wash, I got the air pressure checked at a road side tyre shop. While I knew the pressure was low, the guy said it was extremely low (never seemed like it though). He filled in a lot of air in each of the tyres. After that the car felt slightly sluggish, too stiff and bouncy but a lot less roll in the corners. I drove around for 2 weeks and decided that I had enough of it. Tyres be damned, I need better ride. Got them checked at the fuel bunk nearby and found them to be grossly over-inflated as expected - 42 at the rear and 47 in the front. 33 psi all round and we both are happy again.

Last tankful returned 14.3 kmpl, 100% city run - 70% AC. Odo stands at 5766x kms.

The car will lie idle for a week now and minimal run till mid-March. However after that, some long highway stretches should be covered. By end March, ~4k+ kms will be covered in a period of 2 weeks. And then some more.

[revvharder]

Sir does the VXI model come with bonnet insulation?

[ashis89]

Drove a new WagonR VXi yesterday (9 months 14k kms old). The differences that I observed in this new car are:

• More effective brakes but more prone to locking

• Feather light clutch and very smooth gearshifts

• Better engine response and acceleration. Hardly felt any juddering

• Less engine noise

• Supple suspension

• Worse handling which gave a floating feeling even with 4 adults in the car.

• Worse headlights though good if observed independently

and of course, less rattles.

For the engine performance and gear shifts, I suspect the clutch could be the culprit. But then again, my clutch is quite light if compared to any car in general. FE has been good and I can't feel any slippage. However, I get juddering if the revs are low (<~2k) in the lower gears. Give some gas and the car pulls away cleanly. My FNG says that's the characteristics of the K10 and nothing wrong with the car. I could take an opinion at the MASS but I am afraid they might ask me for clutch overhaul. If it's a genuine diagnosis then good else I believe why fix something that ain't broken yet.
Any thoughts how to figure this out?

Other logic could be a different tuning for the new WagonR and hence the difference in performance.

Regarding the suspension, my car definitely feels stiffer than the newer car but then it remains a lot more composed on good roads and good speeds. Could be the upsized Earth 1s that the RoadRunner wears and/or old suspension could be wanting to be replaced.

Originally Posted by revvharder

Sir does the VXI model come with bonnet insulation?

No it doesn't.