[Samurai]

Ah, haven't visited this thread this year.

Originally Posted by sudev

"Bearing Front Strut"??

Was that making too much noise? Judder?

There was some noise, they inspected and felt it needed to be replaced. Since it was cheap enough, I said fine.

Originally Posted by vigsom

You'll notice that parts that sport a M in the part number are dirt cheap

All the consumables are M, so I am happy.

Since the last update, my GV has crossed 45,000 kms and even survived the worst cyclone to hit the east coast in living memory. Half the trees in Pondicherry got decimated while GV weathered the onslaught whole night while parked in the open, merely 100 meters from the sea shore.







We were trapped in the resort until evening due to fallen tree. After that we took a drive in the ECR and were shunned to see the aftermath.





December also saw the GV fuel-up at the most scenic petrol bunk. Anyone recognise the place?

[Samurai]

For years I have been thinking about doing something about improving the fog lights on the GV. The GV lights have very limited spread, in dark streets I have to turn practically blind into turns.

But I don't like to hang those big lights in front. I like the GV face the way it is now. There is nothing much I can do about driving light, they need to have long throw and narrow beam. So I decided to replace the OEM fog with something similar looking, but with much better spread. The default or OEM fog lights are designed only to light up the potholes. They neither have wide spread nor fight the fog very effectively.

After looking for years, I managed to get excellent fog lights (Neolite 714) with very wide spread for the Jeep. But I can't imagine those crude lights on the GV. So the search continued, and finally I zeroed in on Hella Micro DE fog lights. With this I hope to simply replace the OEM fog lights without any visible change to the front.


Source: http://www.myhellalights.com/index.p...cro-de-series/

Check out that beam pattern, it lights up 10 meters on both sides.

But finding it became a big problem. None of the Hella distributors or dealers I called or visited had these lights. Last Saturday I stormed off to J C Road (Bangalore) hoping I will score these lights. I must have visited about 20 stores that had Hella on their board. None had it, and half of them had never heard of Micro DE lights. Meanwhile, Vidyut (from home) was calling various dealers listed in the Hella website to find me a store that stocks these lights.

After an hour of circling various J C road by-lanes, I noticed a shop I had not entered despite passing in front of it at least 3 times. I had even visited the shop above it, and they hadn't even heard of the Micro DE.

It wasn't a light specialist shop, but was I desperate enough to ask anybody. I asked and they said they have it. Wow! what a relief. It cost me 5300 bucks, no bill or warranty. The shop is Nitin Automobiles in Arihanth Building on A.M road, which cuts across J C Road.

Before I installed, I wanted to have a before photograph. So here we go...

I can't use any priority modes or automatic mode since they will change settings according to the given light. So I had to use Manual mode which doesn't change shutter or aperture depending on the TTL reading. Since it is dark, I also to had to kick up the ISO to 2000, kept the aperture at F/2.8 and speed at 25. Therefore the camera settings remained absolutely same under different light conditions. I was standing next to the right front door handle.

GV has 3 set of lights. Low beam is a set of projector lights. The High beam lights are additional to the low beam, just above it. Then there is the OEM fog lights.

Low Beam


Low Beam + High Beam


OEM Fog lights


OEM Fog lights + Low Beam


OEM Fog lights + Low Beam + High Beam


The Hella Micro DE has to beat the OEM fog lights. I'll post the after photograph once the new lights are installed.

[sudev]

Waiting eagerly for the after pictures and also how they look when installed. Very interesting find.

[ciddharth]

Its a delight to read this review. The white car and green back drop is just too breath taking. Seeing these well shot photos makes me feel commuting is so much fun for you everyday.
I wish I can leave this crowded city to live in a serene place like this and keep driving!
All this is WOW!

It's sad that this premium SUV shares its door locks, AC vents, steering wheel and other parts with cars 1/4th of its cost like the A Star and Wagon R too! Apart from the mid range siblings. Justice to all owners purchasing cheaper Suzuki cars! Assured that the Vitara has a much better build quality.

Does anyone here have a review on the 2003 - 2006 Grand Vitara that looked awful!

Thanks

[Jaggu]

IIRC Robi has them in Invy, the spread is quite good only the throw was less for his liking but i think this will fit perfectly for your purpose of cornering lamps.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by sudev

Waiting eagerly for the after pictures and also how they look when installed. Very interesting find.

Thanks, I saw it on Fazal's Lynx too. Will be getting it installed today.

Originally Posted by ciddharth

Its a delight to read this review. The white car and green back drop is just too breath taking. Seeing these well shot photos makes me feel commuting is so much fun for you everyday.
I wish I can leave this crowded city to live in a serene place like this and keep driving!
All this is WOW!

Thanks, then you should check out this: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-ex...tml#post948212

Originally Posted by ciddharth

It's sad that this premium SUV shares its door locks, AC vents, steering wheel and other parts with cars 1/4th of its cost like the A Star and Wagon R too!

Frankly, I have never understood these comments, although I have heard them often. For your kind information, none of these parts are shared. It may look similar, after all they are from the same company. But the size and quality are different. When the size is different, how do you share?

Originally Posted by Jaggu

IIRC Robi has them in Invy, the spread is quite good only the throw was less for his liking but i think this will fit perfectly for your purpose of cornering lamps.

Damn, he keeps beating me to every fog light, first 714 and now DE. But he shouldn't be expecting more than 20m of throw in a fog light, then it can't do it's job.

[Samurai]

Today I spent about two hours at the Maruti workshop getting the new fog lights installed.

The bumper had to be opened.



The original fogs is a nicely packaged unit. Felt bad about removing it.



The original socket was not cut, instead they fixed the new wire to the old one using a clip.



Since the OEM foglamp hole was big, the whole bracket of the new lights could fit inside it. This was the best we could manage.



After installation...



Now for the comparison...

Before-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------After



This is after I did best possible adjustment for spread with the new lights. Hardly any improvements on the spread compared to the OEM fog lights. I am thinking OEM light was much better.

Soooooooo, I am very disappointed. Who knew GV OEM fog lamps would whip Hella fog lamps. But they did.

And it gets worse. After the photo session, I went home and parked. I turned on the fogs again, and it didn't come on. Both lights remained off. Did the bulb blew out? How can both bulb go out at the same time? I guess it is the fuse. The fuse for the fog light must have gone out. So much for the new lights.

Very unhappy right now. I am not used something not working in GV.

I am going to swap the OEM lights back on as soon as possible.

[Vid6639]

Samurai, If you had told me you were planning on this when you called, the first thing I would have told you do is to replace the OE bulbs and not try changing the entire unit. The biggest difference is the bulb. I could have told you to get the Osram night breaker+ for the foglamps. That alone will improve the illumination by a large margin.

I was thinking the Micro DE was for the Jeep for some experiment.

[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by Samurai

So the search continued, and finally I zeroed in on Hella Micro DE fog lights. With this I hope to simply replace the OEM fog lights without any visible change to the front.

[The Hella Micro DE has to beat the OEM fog lights. I'll post the after photograph once the new lights are installed.

Samurai ,

I had the Micro DE on the Zen from 2001 to 2007 . My gallery pics have these fog lamps .

These are the best that I have ever seen . I remember driving from Madikeri to Mangalore just on these fog lamps as my headlights had blown out late in the night . Have driven with water upto headlight level , but they have always worked without any issues .

I did the mistake of replacing the 55 W bulbs with 100 W bulbs sometime in 2006 . The heat from these bulbs cracked the projector glass .

[condor]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

the first thing .. is to replace the OE bulbs and not try changing the entire unit. The biggest difference is the bulb. .. Osram night breaker+ for the foglamps .. will improve the illumination by a large margin.

Vid, where can I get those ? would like to try those on the Sumo OE Fog's.

@Samurai, Micro DE's are available at Reliance Auto Zone. I thought the price was was a little short of 5k, but dont remember exactly now.

[sudev]

@Vid6639 : Can you describe part # or something?? Unfortunately the place I live has no good auto shop nearby and if I go to Delhi to buy I would like to make sure I do get the right thing.

@Sumrai: From pics it seems that you need to increase the vertical angle a bit. The near illuminations is better and in fog one thing you do not want to do is have light thrown up. It just reflects back at you off the fog particles.
Though the end objective you had in mind - throwing lights wider - will not be achieved with these.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by condor

Vid, where can I get those ? would like to try those on the Sumo OE Fog's.

You can get them at JC road. Osram has a distributor there. I'll post the guy's details. These are stock 55W but with much better illumination. You will need to check the type of bulb your foglamps have.

Originally Posted by sudev

@Vid6639 : Can you describe part # or something?? Unfortunately the place I live has no good auto shop nearby and if I go to Delhi to buy I would like to make sure I do get the right thing.

Sudev, You will need to check the manual as to which bulb goes into the foglamp. Usually foglamps have H3 or H11 type 55W bulbs. The same bulb from the Osram Night breaker plus family will provide much better illumination than the OE bulb. Do check the manual and see which type bulb.

[Samurai]

I put the stock fog lights back, and actually felt good about them.

Anyway, I was on a long family trip yesterday. When I started, I knew GV was close to a major milestone. Didn't think it will happen on the first day. Then GPS took us on a longer route than normal. So I forgot all about the milestone.

After we reached the destination, we unloaded the luggage. Then I remembered the possible milestone, and checked the odometer.

And I couldn't believe my eyes...



Glad to know it happened when my full family was in the car.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Soooooooo, I am very disappointed. Who knew GV OEM fog lamps would whip Hella fog lamps. But they did.

And it gets worse. After the photo session, I went home and parked. I turned on the fogs again, and it didn't come on. Both lights remained off. Did the bulb blew out? How can both bulb go out at the same time? I guess it is the fuse. The fuse for the fog light must have gone out. So much for the new lights.

Very unhappy right now. I am not used something not working in GV.

I am going to swap the OEM lights back on as soon as possible.

In fact the spread in the stock is much better as the compound walls are lit better with the stock lamps. The fogs not working could be because of the relay. In any case it is not relevant as you have switched back to the stock lights

[phamilyman]

Congrats on this lovely milestone.

But dear saar, that's a lot less driving than such a beast demands!!