[Eddy]

Originally Posted by rohitrk

Humm.. May be I will switch to 5K interval with mineral oil. One query to all the gurus. Can I just change the Default hyundai CRDI oil to Say Castrol CRB+ without oil filter change in outside gaurage? Serivce center is 14Kms from my home and I waste 1/2 day in all these arrangements as I never send the car with drivers.

I have no issue spending additional 500Rs for the filter , but think it's bit of a issue to get original oil filter outside. I am reluctant to use non OEM as hyundai can void my warranty on that issue.

Any pointers? Suggestions?

I have started doing this. I buy an additional oil filter during my 10x kms service and change oil outside 5x kms.

[sujaylahiri]

I don't know if this is the right place to ask, but I am eying a 2006 Sonata (Embera in India) at the dealership close to where I live here. It's black in colour and has the 4-speed automatic with shiftronic. Oh and it's the 2.4L gasoline four banger.

Should I jump the gun here and go for it? I'll be trading in my 2003 Lancer (Cedia in India) for that. Or should I keep my Lancer and sit this one out. I drove the Sonata couple of years back as a rental car and absolutely loved it. But my only concern is that how big of an upgrade will it be from my current Lancer. You can see it in my bhp garage.

[redeff]

The Sonata is a fantastic car. The enbera's cheap looking interiors and the Hyndai Name always acted against it. Though the earlier has been transformed some what do to the transform. I'm not a big fan of the 4 speed slush box on the Embera. It is adequate but nothing great. The MT is way better. The Gasoline is a 170 BHP thingy which is quite fun to drive. Hyndai service is good and not too expensive in the class. Most people who purchased the Embera seemed very happy with it, however the MT with the CRDI heart is a better buy.

However at the deal your getting. Sounds good! It's a segment upgrade with a sweet engine and if your chauferred around, you'l love that back seat it has!!

[sujaylahiri]

Originally Posted by redeff

The Sonata is a fantastic car. The enbera's cheap looking interiors and the Hyndai Name always acted against it. Though the earlier has been transformed some what do to the transform. I'm not a big fan of the 4 speed slush box on the Embera. It is adequate but nothing great. The MT is way better. The Gasoline is a 170 BHP thingy which is quite fun to drive. Hyndai service is good and not too expensive in the class. Most people who purchased the Embera seemed very happy with it, however the MT with the CRDI heart is a better buy.

However at the deal your getting. Sounds good! It's a segment upgrade with a sweet engine and if your chauferred around, you'l love that back seat it has!!

Thanks redeff

I'll still have to pay $5-6k after the trade-in for the Sonata, which is not bad. I also found a 5-speed manual with the same 2.4L engine at another dealership which is actually cheaper than the current one.

Let's see what happens.

[redeff]

I say go for the Manual if the car conditions are similar. The 4 Speed Auto on the 2.4 does not do justice to its 170 Horses. If you drive get the manual. If your driven around, why bother? Get the Manual!
Better F.E. and a whole extra gear to play around with! Unless you do a lot of rush hour traffic runs in city.

[veishal]

Hi! i am sure its over 3 months of driving experience on the oil burning Embera and you must be ready with a lot of new inputs on the ownership experience. Would be interested to know the feed back on the K&N which you proposed to install. Are you still on the stock size and brand of tyres on the car or have gone in for a change?

[sujaylahiri]

Originally Posted by redeff

I say go for the Manual if the car conditions are similar. The 4 Speed Auto on the 2.4 does not do justice to its 170 Horses. If you drive get the manual. If your driven around, why bother? Get the Manual!
Better F.E. and a whole extra gear to play around with! Unless you do a lot of rush hour traffic runs in city.

Well the deal's off for now. I did test drive the automatic, it was okay, but I didn't like their finance options.
Will have to wait longer I guess.

[rohitrk]

It's almost 8 months and I am close to hitting 5 figure kms on the car now. Some goodies added
1. Venturi Mini Stereo BT : Venturi
Serves as a BT MP3 streaming from my N95. Though it can connect with FM, I preferred the good ol wired method with cassette adapter for 10x clear sound. The device is doing a great job of filling in my non-mp3 but superb tuned audio 7.1 system. Call handling is superb and I can take my conf calls in the car.

2. KN Filter , Stock replacement
It has for sure eased my city driving.
Next plan : My friend with the same car has decat (catcon replaced with expansion chamber) done from Automech. Even after this his emission are half of what's permissible. But now he has bit of a diesel smell to exhaust which was not there at all. He also has a German powerchip from TDC ([COLOR=#008000]www.tdc-technologies.com)[/COLOR] set on economy mode. Combined His performance is much more free raving than mine. Also he reports his mileage improved to 13.5 in city and 16.8 highway. Driving in the city for him is almost same in the league of Laura. Almost no turbo lag anymore. Will wait for my warranty to get over before any of this mods.

3. Language II : ScanGaugeII - Trip Computers + Digital Gauges + Scan Tool

This little fella just keeps me busy and hooked up while driving. It has trip calculators, OBDII scanner and reset capability, runtime engine parameters monitoring capability. It's like almost watching the engine from inside while driving. My usual monitoring favorites
1. Turbo Boost
2. Instantaneous mileage
3. Current trip mileage
4. Engine load
5. Intake air temperature
6. Radiator temperature

Few interesting observations : It helps great deal to leave the car in higher gear keep going ahead using ur momentum (Which is plenty for a heavy car like embera) than put her in neutral when you anticipate slowdown. I can see that injectors shut down completely when engine load is down to ~0 and the throttle is not touched.

Veishal, No tyre or stock alloy change, I really like the OEMs. They are almost good as my MX1+.

That's it for now..

Originally Posted by veishal

Hi! i am sure its over 3 months of driving experience on the oil burning Embera and you must be ready with a lot of new inputs on the ownership experience. Would be interested to know the feed back on the K&N which you proposed to install. Are you still on the stock size and brand of tyres on the car or have gone in for a change?

[rohitrk]

Hi,

Long term update. This sep completed two years of ownership. The odometer clocks around 28K. No issues reported, so rattles internal or external. FE stable at around 12.8 at speeds of 140kph on Expressway.

Only issue that has cropped up is Hankooks Optima. At 28K I had suffered side wall puncture on my second tyre. Also on another tyre there seems to be horizontal cut across.

The quote of Mischelin Primacy HP got around 9600 per tyre!! That hurts!!
Thinking of atleast two tyres to replace (Front?) followed up by the second set in next four months.

Any suggestions for another Michelin/other brand option? Tyre size is 205/60/R16.

[krish3]

I would not recommend changing just 2 tyres. If you are changing, please change all 4. You can keep on Hankook as spare.

Michelins are costlier than most other tyres available (for similar size). Not sure if Yokos are available at that size. Why dont you check that out?

[s_pphilip]

Originally Posted by rohitrk

What I get
1. Very refined diesel engine, free revving, fun to drive tourque
2. Car in higher segement , so the ride quality is notch higher
3. Size , which was topmost in my priority list , most of my long distance trips I have 5 adults and 1 kid.
4. 4 years warranty
5. Hyundai service quality/cost . I have almost 4 years old getz and still going strong.
6. Turbo lag in Embera is same as virtual turbo lag in civic.
7 .Projector lamp
8. Large boot for my big family , 560 ltrs.

What I miss
1. Cool interiors
2. Much better interior material
3. High revving near readline shifts.
4. Much better audio setup

Hi Rohitrk, since you are the best known face on T-Bhp for Embera, searched your post and seek clarity here, a close friend of mine is interested in a pre-owned Embera, I drove the car a couple of days back and found the breaking very poor, I wonder whether it is something to do with this particular car or was it an issue all around with the Embera?
I have my view posted on a separate thread and have sought opinions: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/luxury...-embera-4.html
Since you know the Embera well do let me know the flaws as I have acquainted myself with the positives. Appreciate it.

[s_pphilip]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

(ive driven verna and embera a lot),

Hi Anshuman, I wanted some help here, a friend of mine is close to finalizing an Embera, I drove the car the other day and found it pretty damn good for what is on offer, however I found the braking suspect, I have posted a step by step update of our buying experience in a separate thread:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/luxury...-embera-4.html

Since you have driven the Embera extensively and since you also judge a lot of cars, did you ever feel the braking inadequate. This really concerns me as this car is for long highway drives and I believe it can do some serious speeds. Please share your feedback, appreciate it.