[sharma_sanjeevi]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

the car was pulling leftwards.

Hi Hemanth, What was the reason for the Car pulling towards left ? did they tell you.

I am asking specifically because, one of my friend who has bought a GP MJD Emotion just a week back is facing the same issue, and the dealer is not able to resolve the same. Even after 2 repeated attemps for the alignment & tyre rotation, the car pulls towards the left.

Kindly let me know, as it would help my friend.

[hemanth.anand]

The car pulling leftwards was the major time consuming part in my car's service. The service advisor told me that it was not any problem related to the wheel balancing. He told that some bushes were replaced to rectify the problem. I didn't go into more details. I'll enquire about that when I go for fixing my mirrors and update you soon

[hemanth.anand]

Now my Italian babe can move around even more confidently. There is no worry of any "eve-teasers" coming behind her without her knowledge.
She can now sense every movement around her and be cautious and take necessary actions.

My babe has now got a reverse Parking sensor

The dealership sent two guys to my home to install the sensors. It was 7pm yesterday when i asked them for this. Since they could not pickup the vehicle at that time, they promptly sent two guys at 8pm to my home to install it. The whole thing took 45mins and 3k rupees.

They fitted the Autocop parkpro. The fiat sensors has only got a beep sound but this one has the mirror display. As per my enquiry, apart from the fiat sensors, Autocop is approved by fiat and that too only the version without camera. The warranty issue is taken care of and the cost was within my budget. This is the first after-sales accessory for my girl.

Will post pictures soon

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Excellent!
Did he say they can fix that mirror stopper? I doubt this. May be it will have to be replaced under warranty and they didn't have it in stock for BNW colour? Because he must have mentioned this on the job card and "forgot" can't be a real excuse IMO. Anyway, as long as its fixed, you need not worry!

You were right reinhard, He couldn't fix the stopper but instead got the mirror replaced under warranty.
As far as the colour is concerned, the mirror assembly and the coloured piece are two different parts. the mirror assembly spare was opened in front of me an it didn't have that coloured piece. So that coloured piece came from my existing mirror.

Over the weekend I fillied nitrogen in all the 5 tyres and the car is feeling more lighter/smoother(This might be just my feeling thats all). I also felt that the tyre noise has increased after the filling.
I was charged 30Rs per tyre. I don't know about other advantages but I surely know that my tyres will be a lot cooler with nitrogen and the steel wheels will not rust over time.

[MCR]

Hemath, I felt that the tyre (Bridgestone) noise reduced on my car once I got Nitrogen filled in them. This is because of the reduced rolling resistance. May be the JK's you have on your car is the culprit.

[Reinhard]

Hey, good to know about the mirror job. And for your above post - here I am, drooling to see those pictures, and there are some attachment links pointing to some pages that aren't present. Could you check and upload again please? I'm really dying for the new picture set from your drive! Btw, I got the 55-250 IS lens this Saturday. A shooting drive coming weekend on plans .

[hemanth.anand]

One week less than three months...My beauty was craving for me to take her out somewhere.After the first service she was ready to go really fast and i couldn't disappoint her, could I?
24th December and a surprise birthday party was planned by my wife, But I had planned a surprise trip for my Italian Babe


I got this surprise


The surprise was tasting good

While my birthday party went on till midnight, the trip was planned to start the next day morning at 6am.
Two cars –14" steel wheeled Punto 1.2 E and Wagon R 1.1 Lxi fitted with 13" alloys, left Bangalore at 6:30am on Chrithmas day.We went through the newly opened yeshwanthpur-Nelamangala highway paying 15rs toll fees (Very less compared to other tolls felt). After having read many route information on team-bhp we decided to avoid the Chitradurga-Hospet road. We decided to go via Bellary.
two years ago, on this road I had touched 160kmph on our swift...The Punto didn't let me down...I touched 170kmph and drove for quite a distance at this speed.


My top speed till date on my punto

At around 7:45am we stopped at tumkur for our breakfast which took around 45minutes.
A Bellary friend of ours advised that weshould take Kudthini-Daroji-Hampi road istead of Kudthini-Hospet-Hampi road. This was one small mistake we did I felt. the Kudthini-Hospet-Hampi road has now been repaired and thats the best route(we found this on our way back). 3.5 hours drive from tumkur and we reached Hampi. The bellary-hampi journey took 1.5 hrs. my punto cruised along the stone base roads (new asphalt will come up soon i think) The poor wagon R had to slow down considerably.
At noon we visited the queen's bath complex and then had lunch. Then we visted the Virupaksha Temple. after some time there, we visited the Kadlekalu ganesha, Badavi linga and ugra narasimha which are all nearby.


Queens Bath Complex


Inside the Queen's Bath


Inside the Queen's Bath


Inside the Queen's Bath


Virupaksha Temple Entrance


inverted image of the Temple Gopura...Pinhole camera Demonstration


Temple x 2


Temple x 2


Kadalekalu Ganesha


Badavi Linga


Ugra Narasimha

Then we saw the underground shiva temple. Here I met a fellow T-BHPian from Pune pjbiju. He had come in a swift and an ikon. After a small chat and a lime soda, we left for the next POIs.We then went to the mahanavami Dibba, Stepped well and the king's palace.


Stepped Well


Mahanavami Dibba


The Gang


The two Vehicles


Isn't she beautiful?

After this it was the turn of the elephant stables and the Kamala mahal.


Kamala mahal


Elephant Stable


one of the watch towers

By the time we finished this, it was 5:300pm and we headed to the vittala temple.this is where is Hampi's most famous landmark...the stone chariot and the musical pillars are located. i have visited Hampi many times in the past, but this time, the 1km radius around this temple is cordoned off and we have to either walk 1.5kms or take the paid golf-cart ride. we went by walk and by the time we reached the temple, we were the last batch of people allowed. Lucky we were.


The stone Chariot


Its Dusk...

After that we headed back to bellary where we had to attend a friend's marriage. the journey took 1.5 hours and we reached bellary at 9:00pm


This used to be my college

The next day was just rest day. we attended the marriage in the morning and then took rest. then we bought rice in bellary where its very inexpensive. 20rs/kilo compared to 34/kilo in Bangalore. the quality is also better since it is in the rice belt of karnataka. 1.5quintals of rice in my punto's boot and she would've accepted even more. But since were 5 in my car...i didn't want to overload her more than the mentioned ~600kgs in the user manual. The wagonR took 1quintal and 4 members.
Even at such full load, my babe didn't complain one bit. we left Bellary at 3:30 pm and while starting, i reached a nice landmark of 4444kms.


Nice Landmark

on the way stopped at my colleague's native village near challakere for some tender coconuts and snacks.


Dried Jowar


Parent and children...


I love this Picture


Mother & Child.

at 7:00pm we left challakere and I reached Bangalore via the same nelamangala-Yeswanthpur road at 10:30 pm.

The Onward journey gave me 12kmpl FE...owe this to the very high speeds i was going on.
The return journey gave me 15kmpl with heavy loads but <120km/hr speeds. the average waxs 13+kmpl.
The total journey was 840kms and the ODO now stands at 4800kms

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Hey, good to know about the mirror job. And for your above post - here I am, drooling to see those pictures, and there are some attachment links pointing to some pages that aren't present. Could you check and upload again please? I'm really dying for the new picture set from your drive! Btw, I got the 55-250 IS lens this Saturday. A shooting drive coming weekend on plans .

Reinhard,
I have now posted a new reply with the pictures uploaded.
There was some server problem while uploading the Pics.
I have also the got my earlier post deleted.

Congrats on your new buy...I'll be waiting for your snaps.

[vidyasagar]

Amazing Pictures Dude. Great going.
170 on a 1.2 Punto..? so much for the all the reviews that say 1.2 is underpowered. In my Opinion, Punto 1.2 is the best VFM car in the segment. Will get in touch with you for detailed route plan later.

[pjbiju]

Hemanth, nice to read the story of your Punto. A very emotional affair. You seem to love her so much. And she is taking you places. What else can one ask for? Hope to see more of your trips and stories.

-Biju

[Reinhard]

Excellent pictures and travelogue as usual from you! Real treat for the eyes. Your and some more from other fellow bhpians' threads will really make people think twice before traveling abroad to spend holidays. You guys are depicting the undiscovered "Incredible India" really well!! Thanks and keep them coming on...

Cheers.

[Ace F355]

Congrats on your Punto Hemanth. You really seem to enjoy her to the fullest! My best wishes for clocking thousands and thousands of successful miles on her!

P.S. Don't want to sound ridiculous, but the quoted pictures are of corn/maize. As far as I understand, 'Jowar' is local name for sorghum in India, isn't it?

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Attachment 473880
Dried Jowar

Attachment 473881
Parent and children...

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by pjbiju

Hemanth, nice to read the story of your Punto. A very emotional affair. You seem to love her so much. And she is taking you places. What else can one ask for? Hope to see more of your trips and stories.

-Biju

Thanks Biju..Yes I do love her very much, so much so that my wife is always jealous about her

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Excellent pictures and travelogue as usual from you! Real treat for the eyes. Your and some more from other fellow bhpians' threads will really make people think twice before traveling abroad to spend holidays. You guys are depicting the undiscovered "Incredible India" really well!! Thanks and keep them coming on...

Cheers.

Thanks Reinhard, these nice quotes from people like you just inspires me more than anything else to go places. I wish to cover atleast a small part of India if not the whole of it in my lifetime.

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Congrats on your Punto Hemanth. You really seem to enjoy her to the fullest! My best wishes for clocking thousands and thousands of successful miles on her!

P.S. Don't want to sound ridiculous, but the quoted pictures are of corn/maize. As far as I understand, 'Jowar' is local name for sorghum in India, isn't it?

You are right and not ridiculous in saying that its corn/maize. I would say its my MTI thats responsible for this error. Corn/maize and Sorghum are called by almost the same name in my mother tongue kannada

I sure am enjoying the ride in my punto (though i don't like the name...its translated as point from italian to english ) Today I clocked 5000kms on the ODO. My earlier car's usage was 10k max per year. now its just been 96 days and 5040kms complete. I feel i'll finish 15k easily this year. If not for my budget, i think I would have surely gone for her Diesel sister

[hemanth.anand]

I've now got two new designations in my office...Minister for external affairs and Minister for tourism.

I'm now incharge of taking out all the foreign visitors of my team out for a day's trip. Mysore is the obvious destination for a day's outing.

This weekend I wanted to add something extra to the usual mysore sightseeing places. My colleague from Germany had some inclination towards animals and thats why I decided to take him to Ranganathittu.

I left Bangalore at 07:00hrs and had breakfast at maddur adiyar's. The breakfast usually involves explaining each of the dish on table and the ingredients-and there's always a special mention of Chilli

After this we went to the usual Daria daulat bagh in srirangapattana...since i've now visited this place almost every month in the last three months, I didn't take any pictures here.

Then we headed to the main attraction of our trip-Ranganathittu.
After I was a kid, this is the first time I'm visiting this place. I was really looking forward to see this place and especially the BIG CROC.
I was more than happy I must say, I got a good close view of the croc.





















































This was till lunchtime. after this, we went to the palace-no photography allowed here unfortunately.
then we went to the zoo...after seeing half of the zoo, my colleague was tired and left...not many snaps taken here.
Then it was a drive to Chamundi hills in the evening. since it was the day after Sankranti, all the Shabarimalai tourists had flocked the temple and it was therefore not a good option to go inside the temple.
By now my german colleague was really exhausted and we came back to Bengaluru without seeing the palace illumination.
Today I showed him what he missed and he wants to go there again just for that.







This trip was 450kms in total and with full AC on, I got 14kmpl FE.
My car has now touched 6000kms mark.
I'm facing one small problem since I bought ths car and that is...small stones stick inside the tyre tread and it never comes out until i remove it by hand. till then, it keeps making a noise whenever it touches the road. Sometimes it is so loud that it irritates me and I stop my car and remove the small stone and proceed.
Have anybody faced the same problem? Is it something related to the tread design? I have the Stock JK tyres.

[Reinhard]

Yeah! Hemant.Anand, as soon as I saw your thread in the forum page 1, I pounced on it to treat my eyes. And you are one expert with your SLR. I'm starting to fall short of words to admire the pics you shoot really. Thanks for another amazing set.

As for the pebbles in the tread - it happens always. We have to live with it. I take them out before starting for office every morning. Based on the elements in the stones, people might even see sparks coming out of our tires when we are on the spin

BTW, how did your German colleagues find your Grande Punto? I have 5 German friends myself, and traditionally Germans are not much fond of FIAT.

Cheers!