[Ice]

So...I had been experiencing that irritating rattling sound from the rear of the car for a couple of days. It got worse when I drove her down to Madras for the weekend. Tried everything I could to fix the rattling (put away all the loose stuff in the boot, begged the parcel shelf to behave itself, checked the boot lid lock) but it became steadily worse. Then on the drive back I decided to put my driver to good use. So I asked him to sit in the backseat and observe the goings-on. Deduction Time: ~ 3 minutes. Result: Roof-mounted brake lamp. I tried fixing it, and eventually yanked the damn thing off.

Pete's has been adding to my driving pleasure. Am consistently making bigger cars look foolish, and the pickup throws passengers backwards. Pete..I love you!

I took Forza to Prerana Motors on OMR for her 2nd service yesterday, at 6900 km. Took the Pete's box off before this as a precautionary step. Had the following done:
1. 2nd Service + Oil change + oil filter change - 722 + 390
2. Tyre rotation and balancing
3. Fluids top-up - 102 + 57 + 50 + 46
4. 3M interior treatment - 900
All inclusive: Rs.2592.

Got her back the same day! Stopped a few hundred metres away from the service station and re-fitted the Pete's box

Car in fine fettle. Nothing to complain about! No rattling at all (until Prerana sources the part and fixes it next week)

Gas Mileage since last post has improved substantially, with consistent 16 kmpl in the city, and 17 on the highway.

[architect]

Originally Posted by Ice

Deduction Time: ~ 3 minutes. Result: Roof-mounted brake lamp. I tried fixing it, and eventually yanked the damn thing off.

OK, that's one more. Time to add this one to the official Palio Stile rattles thread (mine).

You are really TEMPTING me to contact Mr Pete. But first, the tyres.

Happy Driving.

[Ice]

Originally Posted by architect

OK, that's one more. Time to add this one to the official Palio Stile rattles thread (mine).

Architect,

I'd like to think I've devised a way to stop the..er...stop lamp from cracking. I've used rubber washers on both ends of the 2 bolts that fasten the plastic cladding. Let's hope this absorbs the crazy vibrations that crack the stop lamp.

[Ice]

NOTE: MODS PLEASE EDIT THREAD TITLE TO "My Pete'd Forza - Palio MJD Report - Now 8500 KM"

Forza has been chalking up some impressive kilometers. Since my last post (about the 2nd service), we've done 2 highway jaunts and a third is on the way this weekend.

The weekend following the service was Valentine's Day, and my better half and I planned on a romantic getaway to an exotic, adventurous, historic, magnificent, cultured town....err..Mysore. We stayed at a lovely resort on the road leading to Chamundi Hills, called Windflower Spa and Resorts. Definitely worth a try.

We left early in the morning, and took the usual Ambedkar Veedhi - KR Circle - Mysore Road route to Mysore. Traffic was heavy, and I wasn't in any hurry. I'd tanked up on HP regular the previous day, and drove sedately to reach Mysore in 3.5 hours door to door. I didn't notice anything different about the car, except for the steering being a lot smoother at parking speeds. As we neared Mysore, I noticed that my Roots horn sounded different, as if it was touching something else while being used.

Stopped at the hotel and opened the bonnet to find the clamp holding the horn in place to be very loose. And this was something I had asked Prerana to fix when I gave her up for service. And what's more, those blighters had dislocated the arm that holds the bonnet up, so I was left resting a hot piece of sheet metal on my head while I conducted my investigations. Gave Prerana a call, and the service advisor was instantly apologetic, telling me that it was a very small job and that I should bring the car to him on Monday when I got back to Bangalore. And then he said something which pushed me over the edge. "Saar, please don't mention this on the feedback call that you will be receiving in a few days." I hung up on him and made a mental note to do the exact opposite.

The next day, on the way out of Mysore, I chanced upon an auto rickshaw mechanic with a handy set of tools. I borrowed his set of spanners and bolt fasteners and fixed the horn and the bonnet arm in 10 minutes. Paid the mechanic 20 rupees for the services of his tools, and mentally flipped off Prerana and resumed my journey. So there!

The drive back was much faster, and I got in to Bangalore in a shade over 2.5 hours.

The next weekend, we were off to Chennai. Thanks to a nervous friend who was traveling with us, maintained ~110 kmph on the GQ. I bet Forza hated me for those 5 long hours!

On the drive back however, I let her loose on the stretch of GQ from Madras to Ranipet, with a top speed of 165 kmph on one particularly flat and empty stretch. She was in top form, and we got in to a pacing duel with a CRDi Getz. The Getz is quick!!!! On sheer accelaration, she beat Forza to a 110 kmph or so, after which the superior road-holding of the Forza allowed me to reel the Getz in. The Getz was being driven very well, with no rash manouvers. We parted at the Ranipet tollgate as friends, respecting each other.

In a nutshell:

1. The problems:
   • Horn bracket and clamp loose - fixed!
   • Bonnet support arm dislocated - fixed!
   • Rear stoplamp - waiting for spares
2. Mileage: 15 on the highways, 13.5 in the city. Not complaining!!
3. Love: the way she drives
4. Hate: the way the external rear-view mirrors don't close all the way

Will post some pictures. Cheers till the next update!

[NFS2024]

Originally Posted by Ice

1. Mileage: 15 on the highways, 13.5 in the city. Not complaining!!

Well am sure you must be ripping the vehicle apart to get that kind of a mileage

[Ice]

Originally Posted by NFS2024

Well am sure you must be ripping the vehicle apart to get that kind of a mileage

As a matter of fact, I do. I rev the engine nicely to 4k rpm, and never let it run below 1900-2000 rpm. She must love me

[shantyrocks]

fantastic review ice!
looks like you are having loads of fun with your forza...
any problems after fitting petes?

[Ice]

Originally Posted by shantyrocks

fantastic review ice!
looks like you are having loads of fun with your forza...
any problems after fitting petes?

Thanks, Shanty.

No problems with the pete's box till now - its been nearly 4000 km. Mileage hasn't dropped, nor has there been any issues with engine smoking. I love the product!
One thing to note though - the Palio engine bay does not give too many options for fitting the box itself. I've used plastic snap clasps (like the ones used to keep the Qualis hub caps on) to fasten the box to a an area near the air intake.

[jagan0677]

I am just wondering if part of the mileage drop in Ice's car is due to the 185's.

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by vinaydas

firstly congo on your car(sorry for being late),Its really nice to see palio owners increasing on TBHP.I drive a 2004 1.2 palio nv sports version.
After reading your writeup i regret not buying a diesel variant . I get around 9 most of the time in the city and maybe 12 in the highways.
And expert palio owners please tell me how to solve this problem.. my petrol indicator is not accurate.When the yellow light comes up indicating low fuel my car stops a few meters later. I checked with prerana motors he said theres a dent in my petrol tank and they repaired it..but apparently my vehicle stopped again yesterday justafter the yellow low fuel indicater came up.

My 1.2 ELPS gives me about 9 kmpl in the city with 100% AC and on the last highway trip gave about 12.XX kmpl with 70-80% ac with 4 people and luggage.

On my car even after driving 10-15 kms after the fuel warning lamp, it only takes about 40.xx litres, so I guess the reserve is around 7 Litres. I suggest you checking the float. The metal on which the float is fixed might be bent thereby giving you a wrong reading.

Btw does it show full, when the tank is full?

[Ice]

Originally Posted by jagan0677

I am just wondering if part of the mileage drop in Ice's car is due to the 185's.

Very possible. However, I can't comment on pre-185s mileage because I took delivery of the car with the 185s on. I'm trying a more sedate driving style (shifting up before 3K rpm) for this tank to see how much mileage Forza can potentially deliver.

On a different note, I visited Hot Tracks yesterday to get the Green Cotton performance air filter. Turns out that the Palio's engine cover design envelops the existing air filter, so I need to remove the engine cover (and keep it off) to install the Green Cotton air filter. I resigned myself to a K&N stock filter, only to discover (after an hour spent waiting outside the store) that K&N doesn't make stock filters for the new Palio yet. Dejected, I re-installed my humble Fiat-spec air filter and came back home, only to realize that...cue drumroll.....the simians at Hot Tracks had slapped a Hot Tracks sticker on my rear windshield. Imbeciles!

Anyone installed after-market air filters on the Palio MJD yet?

[Ice]

I lost my uncle on Thursday, and the wife and I left for Madras at a moment's notice. I didn't run through my usual checklist before the highway run, but the Forza was none the worse for it.

Onward:
357 km.
4 hrs. 15 minutes door to door.
Top Speed: somewhere between 165 and 170
Problems: AC - see below
Mileage: a measly 13 courtesy some pedal to the metal driving with the AC on

Return:
343 km.
5 hrs. 30 minutes door to door
Top Speed: 160
Problems: AC - see below
Mileage: 16 kmpl with AC

On the onward journey I was keeping pace with an E280 CDI most of the time. I found myself catching up with the Benz in the 100 - 140 slog - it was probably an automatic. I love Pete's!!

The return journey was marked by a more sedate pace and cruising at 110 - 120 most of the time.

The AC Problem: I've mentioned this in one of my earlier posts, as well as in the thread concerning known issues with the Palio MJD elsewhere on this forum. The AC cools magnificently, but ice forms every 20-30 minutes. This is marked by an obvious reduction in cooling and blow. I then switch the compressor off...2 minutes later a few drops of water fall on my left foot, and the blow becomes normal. Then I turn the compressor back on, dry my foot, and motor on uneventfully for the next 20-30 minutes.

Its happened on pretty much every long journey I've undertaken, and I find it immensely frustrating! TATA/FIAT service haven't been able to fix it (in fact, one luminary at Prerana Motors actually suggeted that it was an in-built feature to encourage me turn the compressor off every now and then. Yeesh!

Till next time, then!

[deepakhon]

If I remember right, the first lot of the Palios when introduced seemed to have the AC problem. This was the pre-nv Palios. If I remember it right, the AC cut off temperature was supposed to be very low in those cars. It was rectified in the nv versions and above. Maybe, you should talk about it to someone like HariPrasad Motors, who has been handling Palios since they were introduced. Since they have seen it in earlier versions, they can tell you whether it is the same problem.

FYI, HariPrasad Motors is on Shankar Mutt Road, Basavanagudi.

[Ice]

Originally Posted by deepakhon

Maybe, you should talk about it to someone like HariPrasad Motors, who has been handling Palios since they were introduced. Since they have seen it in earlier versions, they can tell you whether it is the same problem.

FYI, HariPrasad Motors is on Shankar Mutt Road, Basavanagudi.

Thank you, Deepakhon

[shantyrocks]

Originally Posted by Ice

The AC Problem: I've mentioned this in one of my earlier posts, as well as in the thread concerning known issues with the Palio MJD elsewhere on this forum. The AC cools magnificently, but ice forms every 20-30 minutes. This is marked by an obvious reduction in cooling and blow. I then switch the compressor off...2 minutes later a few drops of water fall on my left foot, and the blow becomes normal. Then I turn the compressor back on, dry my foot, and motor on uneventfully for the next 20-30 minutes.

Its happened on pretty much every long journey I've undertaken, and I find it immensely frustrating! TATA/FIAT service haven't been able to fix it (in fact, one luminary at Prerana Motors actually suggeted that it was an in-built feature to encourage me turn the compressor off every now and then. Yeesh!

Till next time, then!

i faced something similar in my petra.few droplets of water falling on my left foot every 30-35 mins or so but i never felt any loss in cooling and i never switched off the a/c for that.