[procrj]

Tires upgraded to Bridgestone Duellers

After a lot of checking, comparing, talking, thinking etc. I decided to pick up Bridgestone Duelers H/T tires for the tank. Decided to stick to H/T tires because:

• Most of my drives are on tarmac
• Tread patterns are quiet similar between AT & HT tires when it comes to 215/75/R15 size
• Hopefully, the ride quality will be better

Once I was sure of what to buy, I compared prices across various stores and got the best deal from Shiva's, a Bridgestone authorized dealer close to my place. Drove into the shop, got the tires changed and drove out within an hour. After all negotiations and exchange of old tires, the duelers came to 6K per tire, which I think is a very fair price for the tire. Couple of pics of the dwarf with the new shoes.




Didn’t have much to do today and hence decided to drive around a little and get a feel of the tires. Ended up driving 400+ kms across excellent roads, good roads, patchy roads, no roads, roads under construction, mud roads. Basically almost all kinds of surface with a full load of 5 adults + 1 kid. Too early to say much about grip, comfort etc. but the tires do feel good and the ride seems to have gotten better. Will wait for a couple of thousand kms and some heavy rains before I make up my mind on the tires.

Here is the detailed route map of my trip today.

Some pics from the drive today.

Relaxed drive with no fixed plan meant lots of stops around small water bodies




Lakshmi Narayana Temple, Hosaholalu - great example of Hoysala art


Intricately carved ceiling in the temple - cropped image due to lighting


KRS Backwaters - Venugopalaswamy temple

Do note that the temple is now open only from 11 am - 6 pm everyday.

Vast expanse of KRS Backwaters


Odo stands at 56.2K kms and I am loving it

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by procrj

Tires upgraded to Bridgestone Duellers Drove into the shop, got the tires changed and drove out within an hour. After all negotiations and exchange of old tires, the duelers came to 6K per tire, which I think is a very fair price for the tire.

Thank you for sharing that info Ravinder. Don't you think that you replaced the tyres a bit prematurely? I mean you car will be completing just three years and 55K kms. You could have stretched at least for a year more or another 20K kms. The AT tyres are rugged and hopefully could have lasted that distance, don't you think so?

In any case do let us know how the Bridgestone Dueller's perform over wet surface compared to the Apollo Apterra's. What was the MRP of each tyre and how much did you get back for your old tyres? Also did you replace all five tyres or only four?
Nice pics of the Lakshmi Narayana Temple & KRS backwaters

[procrj]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

Don't you think that you replaced the tyres a bit prematurely?

Changed them for the following reasons

• Ride quality had deteriorated a lot - every small bump on the road could be felt in the cabin
• Grip levels had come down. Did feel the rear get out of line a few times over rough roads
• Didn't want to take a risk given that a lot of times i am doing triple digit speeds on highways and also drive often in the ghats around Sringeri/Chikmagalur

What was the MRP of each tyre and how much did you get back for your old tyres? Also did you replace all five tyres or only four?

MRP quoted was 6.7K per tire including all taxes. Managed to haggle a little and get it down to 6.6K per tire. Old tires were sold for 600 per tire and hence the net cost of 6K per new tire. Replaced only 4 as the 5th one is still new and hasn't been used.

Nice pics of the Lakshmi Narayana Temple & KRS backwaters

Thanks!

[procrj]

2019 has been a very slow year till date thanks to various personal and professional commitments. Odo stands at 59.9K and the tank is just rumbling along fine. All status quo, nothing has changed much over the last 20K odd kms.



I had to drive to Chikmagalur last weekend and hence decided to get my 60K service done at Karnataka Agencies, Chikkamagalur. The experience was so positively different from IG Peenya, I am contemplating a drive to CKM when ever I need to service my car! I was in and out in flat 90 minutes and they did a damn good job of checking everything and ensuring that a couple of small concerns were also addressed quickly. The SA and the Tech knew what they were doing and everything was done by hand, no pneumatic tools etc.
I am guessing the reason for this efficiency could be:
1. No special treatment for XUV customers. See that a lot in IG Peenya where TUV/Bolero/Scorpio owners are lower down the priority as compared to XUV customers
2. They really need to get work done quick as they are the only M&M workshop around there and they do get a lot of Thars & Boleros in for service and works

As usual I requested only for mechanical service and hence Oil, Oil filter and fuel filter was replaced. I had just cleaned the air filter before the trip and hence that was off the list. Total cost was Rs 4,886 which is not bad at all for 60K service.



Couple of recent pics of the tank.

[procrj]

Updates over the last few weeks

• Post 60k service, my FE dropped to 12.5 kmpl and torque delivery was poor. I had cleaned the air filter just before service and fuel, oil filters were replaced during service. I thought it was the EGR valve which was acting up and hence scheduled time to get the same cleaned at IG Peenya. Reach there and realize that the vacuum hose to the EGR valve had popped out, which could be a cause for the bad torque delivery. Went ahead and got the EGR valve cleaned as well and the car was back to its usual self. EGR cleaning costed me Rs. 1126 including all taxes, which is slightly on the higher side.
  
  Clogged EGR valve
  
  
  
• Drove down to chikmagalur last week and the dwarf was its sprightly self. Even after some very spirited driving on the 6L highway plus lots of ghats and 2L driving, the F.E was back to its usual 14+ kmpl. Drove to Belur (via mudigere) one evening to capture the evening hues on stone. Few pics from the trip
  
  Sunset at Belur
  
  
  
• Drove down to Bhadra tiger reserve for an evening safari - did not spot cats but did enjoy the drive through the forest plus the 25 min of pouring rain on the way back to JLR river tern lodge. Apart from the usual bee-eaters, kingfishers, magpie robin, forked tail drongos etc. we also got up close with some lapwings and river terns. Managed to spend some time with a beautiful crested serpent eagle waiting to devour its catch (some kind of a hare is my guess). Also ran into a sambar deer (male, female & kid), wild boars, spotted deer, barking deer (was gone in a flash!), sub adult gaurs and lots of peacocks. Heard a herd of elephants trumpeting and trampling through the bushes but couldn’t spot them. Weekday evening ensured that we had a whole jeep to ourselves (6 adults + 2 kids) and on the whole it was a very enjoyable experience.
  
  Plumed welcome
  
  
  
  beautiful drive
  
  
  
  Sub adult indian gaur
  
  
  
  Serpent eagle
  
  
  
  
  Sunset near JLR River tern
  
  
  
  
  Watching the sun go down
  
  
  
• CKM - Bhadra was via Lingadahalli and the roads are good and twisty with minimal traffic. Managed to get to JLR River tern in 90 min from CKM. Decided to drive back Kadur - Sakrepatna and it was not a good decision. 4L work after the turn off at kadur is on full swing and the first 15 odd kms is just a mud track. Given that it was raining and I was driving at night, it made the drive worse as there were no clear deviations and a couple of times I had to backtrack to get onto the correct side of the road. On the whole it was not a pleasant experience and I think Lingadahalli route is the best option to get to Tarikere from CKM.
  
  
• Yesterday morning when I took the car out, throttle response and torque delivery was once again poor and it made me wonder what could be wrong. Got frustrated and stamped the A pedal a few times and floored the same in an empty stretch, post which torque delivery and throttle response was back to normal. Makes me wonder if my A pedal sensor is acting up, which is a known problem and some owners have replaced their A pedal sensor under warranty. Will keep an eye on throttle response and then take a call on what to do next.
  
  
• Odo stands at 61.5k kms and it has been very slow going over the first half of 2019. Hopefully will drive a lot more over the next few months once the monsoon kicks in.
  
  Dwarf at JLR
  
  

[procrj]

Small but useful upgrade to the tank - solar powered TPMS.


A TPMS has been on the to do list for a while now and while I have been reading reviews of both internal and external TPMS over the last few years, nothing really jumped up and made me want to buy. A few weeks ago while chatting with a few drive enthusiasts there was a lot of positive feedback about a specific solar powered TPMS sold on Aliexpress. After some research and comparisons, realized that this TPMS sold on amazon.in is almost the same as the one on aliexpress. Bit the bullet and ordered the same, which landed on my door step yesterday.


Installation was easy and the anti theft lock nuts do make it hard to take out the sensors. Haven't had a chance to check accuracy etc. Hopefully this serves me well.

Just waiting for the monsoon!

[AutoIndian]

Nice pick. How much did this cost Ravinder?

[procrj]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

How much did this cost

I paid Rs. 1,900 but the price on amazon right now is Rs. 1,962. How have you been? no updates on your thread for 6 months now. Do share a few pics of your tank and let us know hows its chugging along.

[NaXal]

How is the performance of the TPMS & it's accuracy?

I am planning to purchase that for my Aspire.

[procrj]

Originally Posted by NaXal

How is the performance of the TPMS & it's accuracy?

I just got it a couple of days back hence haven't had a chance to check on accuracy. Performance - have got good 1st hand reviews and hence the decision to pick this up.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by procrj

I paid Rs. 1,900 but the price on amazon right now is Rs. 1,962. How have you been? no updates on your thread for 6 months now. Do share a few pics of your tank and let us know hows its chugging along.

Thanks Ravinder for remembering about me and my tank. For the last six months I am in Germany on a project, my hands are itching to get back to the steering of my Orange Tank. I will have to wait for 2-3 more months to get back home.. Till then it will be a long wait.

My brother-in-law uses my tank occasionally, which at least keeps it in running condition. Pictures and other details, will definitely share once I get back home.

[procrj]

Turbo hose clamp
Another Saturday morning at IG Peenya thanks to a loose clamp. While driving up the hills couple of weeks ago, I thought I sensed a slight hesitation and a small loss in torque delivery. Came back to BLR and opened the bonnet to see a dark patch of oily grime on the turbo intake. Decided to keep an eye on it and visit IG when I find time. Made time today as I have a few drives planned over the next few months and did not want to drive around knowing that there could be an issue.



As usual IG folks took their own sweet time to get started on the car. Took them 3+ hours to identify the problem, fix a new clamp and get the car back on the road. Need to keep an eye out for leaks around turbo and any other hoses.

TPMS Update
It's been a month and the TPMS has been quietly doing its job. It works as advertised, uses solar to recharge and keeps updating the pressure and temperature. As these are external, the readings from the FL & FR sensors are always 4-5 Deg C higher than the rear sensors. Based on my guestimates, the TPMS is off by 1-2 PSI, which is not a bad error rate. Arrived at this after multiple trial and error of filling up different PSIs on different tires and running it a while. On the whole, happy with the product and would recommend it if you drive long distances and don’t want to be caught off-guard.

General Update
Apart from the above, no other major updates. Odo stands at 63.1K kms and the dwarf is chugging along . F.E is hovering in the 13.5-14.5 Kmpl range depending on route and driving conditions. Have been using Liqui Moly Diesel Additive every 6-7K kms for the last 20+k kms and I must say that the minute you top up your tank with the additive, it feels like your car has been given a very small tiny boost I know there are lots of theories out there that say that all these additives are snake oil and do nothing much but I don’t mind spending the small amount just in case it helps keep injector clean. Planning to try Shell V Power diesel sometime soon as apparently that comes with cleaning agents mixed with fuel.

A few pics from trip to the Nilgiris a few weeks ago. Managed to do an evening safari at Bandipur on the way back and was rewarded with my first tiger sighting in the wild (no pics unfortunately). After 2.5 hrs of driving around we finally got to see a sub adult male walk out of a small pond and vanish into the lantana. He did spend a few seconds staring at us for disturbing his pool time.Some fauna from the trip.

Only lookey no touchey!


Everyone needs some salt


Emerald lake


Arise and awake


Hoping to drive a lot once the monsoon kicks in (fingers crossed that we get decent rains this year).

[procrj]

Couple of updates over the last few weeks

Turbo Replaced

A week after the turbo clamp was changed, I started observing oil leakage from around the turbo.



No white smoke observed but there was a marginal drop in torque delivery. Once again I went to IG and after a couple of hours of dillydallying, they informed me that I will have to leave the car behind as they need permission from M&M to take any action involving the Turbo. Due to the extended warranty, I wasn’t worried and IG folks ensured that I was informed and in the loop. Based on discussions with the SA, I understand that the problem was with an oil seal. It took M&M a couple of days to check and approve turbo replacement. Took another 3 days for the Turbo to get to IG Peenya and another couple of days to fix and check.

It's been five days since I got the car back and things don’t seem very different from before. Even when there was oil leakage, the turbo was spooling but I did observe that I had to use a little more A pedal input to get going or reach specific speed. Right now the turbo is new and I am taking it slow in order to ensure that its getting run in right. Big thanks to IG and M&M folks for not making it an ordeal. Bigger worry now is - what if this turbo also bites the dust in 60K kms? Hoping that my older one was a one off case as I haven't heard of many cases of turbo failure in TUVs.

Ceramic Coating

I have been dilly dallying on paint protection for a while now. It had been 3.5 years since I had got a full car treatment and protection. Based on various discussions with KP from Krithi Car Care, decided to go ahead with Sb3 coating and got the same done. Took 3 days for them to clean and treat the car inside our. The end result is amazing. Unfortunately I have not been able to take the car out somewhere for a proper shoot. Few pics below post ceramic.







Looking forward to some good drives over the next month or so. Let's see how it pans out.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by procrj

Couple of updates over the last few weeks

Turbo Replaced

A week after the turbo clamp was changed, I started observing oil leakage from around the turbo.

That's pretty early given the life of the car. Hope you didn't have to pay a single penny and everything was covered under warranty. Was this covered under extended warranty?

Ceramic Coating

The Red Dwarf is looking smashing after the ceramic coating. they've done a fantastic job. How big a hole did it create in your pocket?

[procrj]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

Hope you didn't have to pay a single penny and everything was covered under warranty. Was this covered under extended warranty?

I had to pay for 1Ltr of coolant. Decided not to fight it and paid for it. Yes, turbo replacement was covered under extended warranty.

How big a hole did it create in your pocket?

A pretty decent sized hole