[arun_josie]

Pune - Panchagani - Mahabaleshwar trip:

I have crossed Pune few times, but never entered this city. So, when I got a chance to meet few of my friends here, I didn't want to miss it

Day 1

Started around 3:00 AM from home and hit the NICE road entry(from Bannerghatta road) by 3:15am. It was all smooth till we reached Davanagere. The roads between Chitradurga and Davanagere is little unven with few diversions. After Davanagere, the diversions increased drastically.

The challenging part during this stretch was thick fog coupled with diversions + one side of the road being dug for deep excavation. It was almost zero visibility and I had trouble finding a proper place to stop the car. It was a bit unnerving with faster trucks in the traffic. At one point, a Creta in front of me almost missed a diversion and braked hard at the last moment.

So, when I got a chance to stop, I stopped for few minutes for the fog to clear. After 10 minutes, we started again only to hit the fog again in few Kms. So, one more stop for the fog to clear.

At a toll, I missed the fastag lane here :-)

Overall, this was a scary + nice experience as it was a new driving condition for me. Also, I experienced that the high beam doesn't help much while driving trough thick fog.

After an eventful drive through fog, we stopped for breakfast at a Kamath Upachar.

Once we reached Hubli, the roads got better and I was able to maintain better speeds.

Refueled at BPCL COCO, Nipani

Lunch was at Mcdonalds just before Pune and we reached Pune by 3PM. And our destination by 4:00PM.

Watched the Rajini-starrer Petta 7PM show with our friends and returned to their home by 11:00 PM. This movie was a better than his last few movies. A bit too much violence than necessary but, a good one-time watch.

Day 2:

Spent this day also with our friends. We woke up late and after lunch, we drove around the city, visited Aagha Khan palace, Amanora mall, had food in a Punjabi restaurant and returned to our friends' place by 9PM.

Day 3:

Started at 6:45 am to Panchgani / Mahabaleshwar. We stayed there for a day.

The climate here was very pleasant and crowd was very less too. The best time to visit these places is during monsoon. Jan - June is the strawberry season..so, we enjoyed the fresh strawberries. Strawberries and cream is a delicacy here. so, we tried that too. We visited Mapro garden, few view points, went go-karting at an amusement park.

We had lunch at Nukkad in Mahabaleshwar town. It was sumptuous and lulled us into a lovely afternoon siesta. The weather was perfect for a relaxing day.

Day 4:

Plan was to start at 6am but it was little foggy outside. So, we started by 10am only.

Again, refuled at BPCL COCO, Nipani

Stopped for lunch at hotel Amar, this is after crossing Nipani.

A snack break at Chitradurga

Surprisingly the traffic between Tumkur - Bangalore was less.

Reached home by 9:30 PM

Overall it was a fun filled trip.

Trip details:

Distance: 1849 Kms
Fuel Efficiency: 19.6 Kmpl
Avg Speed: 62 Kmph
Duration: 29:41

Despite 1.8L Kms on the ODO, the MJD doesn't miss to give some good fuel efficiency number :-). The speed maintained was around 110-120 Kmph. ODO is closer to 1.85L Kms now.

Due to my carelessness, I got this hit on the bumper. Like last year, this too happened during my Christmas vacation at home.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Also, I experienced that the high beam doesn't help much while driving trough thick fog.

I remember you having installed some fog cutter or breaker lamps? How did they perform in the situation?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

I remember you having installed some fog cutter or breaker lamps? How did they perform in the situation?

Ideally, High Beam and Fog is a bad combination, and this is applicable even in rains. They don't help much because you are essentially lighting up the fog rather than the road ahead of you.

The best way to manage this is to set the Headlight beam to the lowest position and then switch between High and low beams. By doing this, your car's beams are piercing through the dense fog and hitting the road in front of you, helping you immensely in terms of aiding the driver with the required visibility.

Here is one of the videos from my drive that shows dense fog and the beam set to lowest position that made things better:

https://youtu.be/wPhWGikexAY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5bc3WcoquU

This road witnesses fog in Dec-Jan on 2 major stretches - Belgaum - Haveri and Chitradurga - Tumkur. This was again in January when I encountered dense fog and again drove with my beams seat at lowest position.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK-jMpC2LuU

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

I remember you having installed some fog cutter or breaker lamps? How did they perform in the situation?

Those yellow lights were definitely helpful when it was foggy under dark. Once the day light started coming out, its effect reduced.

This was around 6:40AM types, Fog + it was still little dark. Sorry for the bad quality pic. I missed to save the dashcam clips

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Noise from the front left suspension:

Noise from the front left suspension(while on uneven surface) was resolved after replacing the elastic pad.

Elastic pad (LH) replaced under goodwill - parts warranty:

This noise reoccurred from the left suspension and I had my doubts on the elastic pads even though it was replaced recently. So, I took the car to Vecto to check this issue. Initially, they suspected the spring as the culprit for this noise. But after a quick check we couldn't find any issues with the spring. The shock absorber was good too. So, they went ahead and replaced the elastic pad again. This resolved the issue. Thankfully, they agreed to cover this under goodwill - parts warranty as it was less than 6 months since the last replacement. The Kms covered was outside 10K Kms limit though.

There was a mild play in RH Elastic pad too and a very mild noise when on uneven surfaces. So, I asked them to replace that too. This costed 2.7K including the labour charge and GST.

The culprit, LH Elastic Pad. It looks good though.


RH Elastic Pad (Old Vs New)

Insurance:

It was time to renew the insurance and I decided to continue with Royal Sundaram as they agreed to give the Zero Dep policy for the 6th year too. Premium came around 12.5K with IDV as 4.3L. Key cover is included too.

ODO has crossed the 1,85,000 Kms now



A random click

[arun_josie]

5 Years and 1,85,622 KMs

One more year has passed with another 35K Kms on the ODO.





ODO Share



Total Kms done each year



Days taken for every 10K Kms



Fuel efficiency graph - Full Tank Method




Fuel efficiency graph - MID





Fuel price range during the last 5 years



Average Kms per day / Expense per Km / Data on fuel efficiency




Fuel refills / Highest Kms done in a day



Service Details

Wear and tear parts replaced apart from the regular consumables,


1. Front brake pads (@27,434 Kms , @67,011 Kms , @1,04,713 Kms, @1,40,976 Kms and 1,77,226 Kms


2. Front brake disc replaced at 1,40,976 Kms


3. All tyres were replaced to Michelin 3ST @ 35,582 Kms and then @1,10,413 Kms


4. Timing Chain replaced @ 59436 Kms and 1,11,913 Kms


5. Clutch Assembly replaced @ 1,11,913 Kms


6. Front Shock Absorber @ 1,07,350 Kms


7. Wiper @ 59436 Kms @ 1,27,311 Kms


8. Coolant Hose @ 1,51,005 Kms


9. Rear Suspension Wick @ 1,53,439 Kms


10. C-Mount @1,69,448 Kms


11. Elastic Pad Front LH @1,69,448 Kms (Later replaced under parts warranty @1,84,893)


12. Elastic Pad Front RH @1,84,893 Kms

Note: Oil, Oil filter, AC filter and air filters were replaced 21 times so far. As per Fiat schedule, it is every 15K Kms only.

Parts replaced under Extended Warranty (1,00,000 to 1,50,000 Kms):

1. Glow Plug (2),
2. Alternator
3. Elastic Pad (Front LH and RH)
4. Lower Arm(LH and RH)


Parts replaces due to minor incidents:

1. Tail Lamp Replacement (Auto hit from behind)
2. Rear Bumper Chrome Replacement

Parts replaced under warranty:

You can refer to https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-...ml#post4137793

States Linea has traveled to so far,

1. Andhra Pradesh
2. Chandigarh
3. Delhi
4. Goa
5. Gujarat
6. Haryana
7. Himachal Pradesh
8. Karnataka
9. Kerala
10. Madhya pradesh
11. Maharashtra
12. Punjab
13. Rajasthan
14. Tamil Nadu
15. Telangana
16. Uttar pradesh
17. Uttarakhand

The closest state yet to travel is Pondicherry .
And states from East and NE.

Looking forward to a few more enjoyable years with this Linea.

[gopikb]

Wow. What a detailed history you have been maintaining about your vehicle arun_josie. No wonder, the car is returning the favor for your care too. You have already accomplished exemplary value for money with your Linea. The thing with FIATs is that you never get tired of your drive with it any-day. I have done 1 lakh plus kms on my Punto + Linea put together and still both the cars does not fail to bring a smile on my face whenever we hit the highway. I am sure it is the same with you too which is why your car has visited 17 states out of the 29 in India. Wish you many more miles ahead with your Linea.

[venkyhere]

Some amazing info. Hats off to the patience and tenacity to maintain the data.
Looks like mid shows 1kmpl more FE than actual tankful method, consistently. Do you concur ?

[arun_josie]

Thanks for the kind words guys!

Originally Posted by gopikb

I have done 1 lakh plus kms on my Punto + Linea put together and still both the cars does not fail to bring a smile on my face whenever we hit the highway. I am sure it is the same with you too which is why your car has visited 17 states out of the 29 in India. Wish you many more miles ahead with your Linea.

I agree, it is at its best on highways. One of the reason why 60% of usage is on the highway.

Originally Posted by venkyhere

Some amazing info. Hats off to the patience and tenacity to maintain the data.
Looks like mid shows 1kmpl more FE than actual tankful method, consistently. Do you concur ?

Yes, the difference is mostly around .50 Kmpl.

[arun_josie]

Bangalore - Sakleshpur - Kudremukh - Mangalore - Shiradi - Bangalore Drive:

A quick drive with team-bhpian speedsatya and a friend to Mangalore and back. We started at 2:30 AM from NICE road and reached Hassan by 5:30 AM, stopped just before Hassan for few minutes. The traffic was very less and we were able to maintain good speeds.

Fome hassan, we took the Sakleshpur - Kottigehara route to Kudremukh. Stopped at Kottigehara for tea. It was super cold here with the temperature hoverig in the 10-11 degree range.

After Sakleshpur it was a super fun drive as it is full of curves on this stretch, especially after Kottigehara. It was still dark with almost no traffic. Even when there was an occasional vehicle passing by, we could easily spot them at the curves. Probably the best time to drive on such roads are during the nights or early morning hours. And the road was super smooth which just added to the driving experience.

We stopped at Kalsa for some delicious Mangalore buns and proceeded towards Mangalore. The roads beyond the forest area were good too and we reached Mangalore by 10:30 AM.

Icecream at Pabbas and Sea food were the order of the day

Returned via Shiradi ghats. We started around 2:00 PM, this time the traffic was heavier with long train of vehicles to navigate. Shiradi ghat road is cemented and was nice to drive. Beyond Hassan the traffic was less but the traffic was super crazy once we touched Nelamangala and worse on the NICE road. We reached NICE road at 7:15 PM.

Total Distance: 829.4 Kms
Driving Duration: 14H:03M
Average Speed: 59 Kmph
Fuel Efficiency (MID): 18.3 Kmpl

Overall, a super enjoyable drive, good food and good company. Thanks to bhpian speedsatya for his invite and route planning

Here are some pics

Stopped before hassan


Towards Kudremukh


Scenic




Nicely laid new tarmac




gadbad @ pabbas


On the Shiradi ghat


A quick stop near Hassan

[Wiley Coyote]

What app are you using to monitor your car's service, maintenance and fuel logs?

[arun_josie]

I am an old school guy, I use a simple Excel Sheet/graphs to capture all the data

[bharatbits]

Hi Arun, Needed some input from you on the suspension front. My Linea Classic Plus MJD is at 33500 kms now. Off late i have been feeling the ride is not so smooth and planted in my car. I experience lot of horizontal left right movement in the car on uneven roads even at slow speeds. When i bought the car 2 years ago i used to rave about how good the suspension was that i used to just glide over small speed breakers at decent speeds and still feel very comfortable. But, i just cannot think of doing that now. Apart from that there are no weird noises or leaks from the suspension setup. I went to my regular Fiat ASS Vroom in Mumbai. The guys there are quite friendly with me and don't recommend unnecessary replacements. They checked the car on a test drive and said all's fine and that i am just being very picky. I had done couple of fully loaded to the brim highway trips, interstate home shifts from Vellore to Pune, Mumbai etc and i am not a slow driver either. Not extreme but i do cornerings at quite some speeds.

I have aged parents at home who started to complain about the ride quality especially at the rear and i want to ensure a pliant ride. Might i add, the car's shod with 175 70 R 14 apollo tyres on steel wheels stock from factory. Alignment and balancing are perfect as i get it done regularly from one of the best guys in the city.

Appreciate your inputs.

[gopikb]

Hi bharatbits, if the suspension is okay, then my guess is that it has something to do with the tyres itself. The 175 70 R14 is too thin a tyre for a heavy car like Linea. You should consider upgrading your tyres to atleast 195/60 R15. I was not aware that Linea was fitted with R14 rims from factory. Can you check if your rims are really R14?

[bharatbits]

Thanks gopikb, mine is the Classic Plus MJD variant and is fit with 175 70 R 14 apollo tyres on steel wheels from factory. 175 cross section may be very thin however, i was very happy with the ride quality till almost 1.5 years after purchase. It has deteriorated now i feel. I suspect either the springs or shocks nearing their end of life. How do i check how much life is still left on the existing ones?