[clix22]

Have found that a safety pin works best in cleaning the nozzles and adjusting them. Cheers on your car and wish you more than a decade of happy motoring.

Originally Posted by LithiumSunset

Found an issue with the windshield spray nozzles. Its been drizzling in Delhi today (and its getting cold!). Wanted to clean off the muck from the windshield only to find that the spray does not reach the top!

Thought it will be a small matter of adjusting those tiny nozzles, that even my 10 year old wagon R has, for the correct height, but what do I find? Whats the use of SIX sprays if they all fall on the same area of the glass?

Attachment 474006

There are no nozzles! The whole thing seems embedded with little scope of any adjustment, any views on this, SX4 users?

I still tried with a small thin wire, but it did not help much. One thing to raise in the impeding 1k first service.

[LithiumSunset]

Small update: done with the initial running in.

Found out that the car has a 'reserve' of about 25 km once the red LED on the gas indicator comes on. So based on my noting till the last time I ran out of gas completely, I have filled 103.07 kg of gas for a run of 2425 km. My petrol gauge shows a usage of about 70% of the tank full that I had filled three and a half months ago. Fuel used till this point is Rs.2952 for CNG + Rs.1761 for Petrol, totalling to Rs.4713, giving an average cost per KM of Rs.1.94.

It would be erroneous to assume that the straight average of 23.5+ kmpkg I am getting to be the true FE.Since I have also used Rs.1761 of Petrol, dividing this figure by Rs.29 (price of CNG), I have thus put in another 60.72 kg of CNG. Thereby getting an actual average of 14.80 kmpkg.

Was it a wise decision after all?

Tell me I am wrong in my calculations, please somebody...

Originally Posted by clix22

Have found that a safety pin works best in cleaning the nozzles and adjusting them. Cheers on your car and wish you more than a decade of happy motoring.

Thanks clix, the issue got resolved during the first service..



PS:
Ok guys, I know where I am wrong, but do you?



Do I really know?...

[Deeps]

Why are you dividing the total amount for petrol (1761) by the price of CNG? The most accurate way of calculation would require the number of Kms the car has run on each fuel.

[HKP]

Read through your posts. very informative. I don't know if I missed this but did you finally find a reverse parking sensor with camera?


\\hkp

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by LithiumSunset

Tell me I am wrong in my calculations, please somebody...

Since you have the figures for CNG+Petrol combined. I will suggest you to run your car on one tankful of petrol alone. That way, you will get clear figures of INR/Km or mileage of petrol and using these figures, you will get the actual INR/km and mileage figures for CNG too. My 2 cents.

[LithiumSunset]

Originally Posted by Deeps

Why are you dividing the total amount for petrol (1761) by the price of CNG? The most accurate way of calculation would require the number of Kms the car has run on each fuel.

Originally Posted by HKP

Read through your posts. very informative. I don't know if I missed this but did you finally find a reverse parking sensor with camera?

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Since you have the figures for CNG+Petrol combined. I will suggest you to run your car on one tankful of petrol alone. That way, you will get clear figures of INR/Km or mileage of petrol and using these figures, you will get the actual INR/km and mileage figures for CNG too. My 2 cents.

What? Only two takers for the bait? HKP's query doesn't count..

After that shocking result, I really missed a beat for a few seconds... Then a bright bulb flashed somewhere (yeah, it happens to thick headed people for simple things like this..) and I decided to do a reverse calculation...

Divided the total amount spent Rs.4713 by Rs.58.40 (current petrol price in delhi) to get 80.70 equivalent petrol liters consumed for a distance of 2425 km getting an average FE of, hold your breath, 30.05 kmpl! Yippeee....

It was a wise decision after all!

Tell me I am again not wrong, please everybody!.....
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OK, I'll cut the bovine scatology and get to the point..

There is nothing wrong with either of the calculations. In this dual fuel set-up, there is no way I can know the actual CNG average, unless I go for a really long drive... The petrol FE I can get by driving on a tank full of Petrol on petrol only, but honestly it is difficult to not go fill up CNG the moment it empties! I did another calculation (I know, what's with this guy and his calculator, but bear with me!).... Assumed an average of 12kmpl for petrol, the 2425 km would have needed 202.08 litres of petrol worth about Rs.11,802. Thus, I have already saved Rs.7089. I am guessing that the tankful method will cost me about Rs.2000, so I'll wait for the long drive for that..

Just for the newbies, there is another way, fill your tank up to auto cut off, drive a distance of say X, (preferably more than 50km to average out traffic conditions), come back to the same petrol pump and the same vending machine and fill again to auto cut off, divide X by the litres of petrol you filled to get a quick look at the FE. Although, the tank full method is more accurate. Before somebody suggests why we cant do the same with CNG, let me reiterate my pet peeve with this fuel, one can never get a tank full, at least not in Delhi in the day time. The best I have managed is about 9kg and that too only once in 17 fills! I am thinking that like 'full to full' for petrol, the same will work for CNG on 'empty to empty'. And empty, very quickly, it does! My previous calculations are empty to empty, but that is the overall figure for a period of about 3 months. For a pure CNG average, I must do a CNG only run without the petrol kicking in.

Ok, lets get back to the topic..

The principal question is: why do we want to know the FE?
The answer is: to find the running cost per KM.

Both of the above calculations give me the same figure and that remains unchanged at Rs.1.95 per KM, which you will recall, if you really suffered through my entire write up, is only a part of the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership).

Hmmm, so every time I drive my car I am saving close to Rs.3 per km.

I am actually saving more than I am spending!

Wow, did not think of it like that. Need to drive more...

BTW, HKP, I haven't installed a reversing sensor. I find that I am getting a comfortable feel for the car's dimensions and manage with the ORVMs.

Deeps and Ace F355, thanks for reading in and you were right in your observations. One of these days, I am going to do the petrol only and CNG only runs and report the pure petrol Rs./km and pure CNG Rs./km figures.

Cheers.

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by LithiumSunset

The principal question is: why do we want to know the FE?

Answer to this question was already answered in your brain before you made a decision to buy the car, right? Of course, CNG vehicle is going to save you a loads of money that you would have rather spent on petrol otherwise.

If that is all what matters, rest assured that your savings are very significant.

and BTW, nice color your car wears! I know I am late to the party, wish you thousands of miles of happy motoring.

[Furebo]

Originally Posted by LithiumSunset

Hmmm, so every time I drive my car I am saving close to Rs.3 per km.

I am actually saving more than I am spending!

Wow, did not think of it like that. Need to drive more..

And please do not for get that by using CNG more you are doing good to our planet, using CNG primarily is going green..

Literally i mean..

[LithiumSunset]

Originally Posted by Ace F355

..If that is all what matters, rest assured that your savings are very significant.

and BTW, nice color your car wears! I know I am late to the party, wish you thousands of miles of happy motoring.

Thank you Yoda fan (you noticed!).

The SX4 does not tick the right boxes for the enthusiast, it seems. This is indeed not a car too many people are happy to report they are buying! It does sell in decent numbers though. It suddenly tells you what a niche TBHP is, we need to be proud of the exclusivity of the club.

I read through your Grey Shark post, your car looks mean... The civic is indeed a great buy for an enthusiast.

Originally Posted by Furebo

And please do not forget that by using CNG more you are doing good to our planet, using CNG primarily is going green..

Literally i mean..

Originally Posted by LithiumSunset

....Suddenly there was a chance to redeem my green genes. The family jokes about how we carry the burden of being green in our lives. Kilolitres of drinking water runs off into the gutter everyday outside our home from a broken main but we go into depression if one measly litre goes waste in the house. The house air-conditioners run at 27 degree centigrade, anything cooler and we break into shivers of guilt. We have taken up the green mantle and have been making up for other's sins for all our lives. Guys you can lead your profligate lives, hum hain na..

... is what I wrote in my rambling long post on page 1, its natural to miss it!

[LithiumSunset]

Aisa bhi hota hai... (Sometimes, this happens!)

After a long struggle to get a refund cheque from my dealership (turns out I had overpaid by 1800 rupees) I was surprised by my sales manager.. The cheque was accompanied by this 4 cd collection. Haven't opened it, but hope they are not cover versions but the originals from the maestros.

I had my first highway run yesterday. Not a very long trip, about 140km overall. I can now reconfirm that this car is not the quickest off the block at least on CNG, not that I want it to be. NH1 has a speed limit of 90kmph and maintaining it was not a problem at all, in fact we were saved the embarrassment of being flagged down for over speeding. All those who took off the block faster than me not only added several minutes to their timings but had a lighter wallet! Its nice to be on this side of the fence!

What surprised me is that the FE remain unchanged, it continues to hover around 22.5 kmpkg +/- a few decimals. Come to think of it, 70km one way is probably not enough of a long run, almost half of it is anyway done in Delhi's stop and go traffic.

When I collected my cheque yesterday, I discussed another small irritant with the service manager. I find that the indicator does not turn itself off if the turn is gradual. Its a bother to find it still flashing a few hundred meters later. We did not face the same in the Wagon R, at least to this extent. The service manager asked me if the steering is not dead centre(d). I said the steering is fine to which he replied that this is how it is. Then I asked if the indicator sound can be increased, because I find it to be very faint, that too is a no-go. Any thoughts on this, people, other than getting my ears checked?

[musicmanaman]

You have indeed made one of the wisest decisions picking up a SX4 CNG, if I may say so, you have it all mate, the cheapest car to run with all the luxuries of a sporty sedan. I only wish CNG was available in Kolkata.

[HONESTabdul]

excuse me LITHIUMSUNSET, I went in for a Wagonr CNG. drove it for 300kms till date. hear a muted Click ( clearly audible from inside) from the engine bay when it switches over to CNG. Do you hear the same thing in your car?? quite worried . do email or post. my email- mauliklal2@gmail.com

[indianv2]

Originally Posted by HONESTabdul

excuse me LITHIUMSUNSET, I went in for a Wagonr CNG. drove it for 300kms till date. hear a muted Click ( clearly audible from inside) from the engine bay when it switches over to CNG. Do you hear the same thing in your car?? quite worried . do email or post. my email- mauliklal2@gmail.com

Hi HONESTabdul,

The muted click that you hear from the engine bay is the CNG reducer fuel solenoid switch changing over from Petrol to CNG. It is normal. I have an aftermarket CNG fitment in my Alto and hear it too. The CNG switchover can be configured in a few ways:

1. Forced - When the gas switch on the dashboard is flicked manually, the switching happens.

2. Automatic - When the car reaches a particular RPM, the switching happens. (In my case, when the car crosses 2500 rpm, the switching takes place.

3. Automatic (as implemented by Maruti in their Green series) - When the engine reaches optimum temperature, the switching happens.

Enjoy your WagonR without any more worries

[LithiumSunset]

Originally Posted by musicmanaman

You have indeed made one of the wisest decisions picking up a SX4 CNG, if I may say so, you have it all mate, the cheapest car to run with all the luxuries of a sporty sedan. I only wish CNG was available in Kolkata.

Thanks for the encouragement musicmanaman, though I still wonder why the other buyers of SX4 are not shouting from the rooftops too! This forum is full of Linea and current hot favourite Vento lovers! I have to keep the SX4 flag flying high (and sigh when I spot that lovely Italian Rekha or the stately German hawa).

Originally Posted by HONESTabdul

excuse me LITHIUMSUNSET, I went in for a Wagonr CNG. drove it for 300kms till date. hear a muted Click ( clearly audible from inside) from the engine bay when it switches over to CNG. Do you hear the same thing in your car?? quite worried . do email or post. my email- mauliklal2@gmail.com

Originally Posted by indianv2

Hi HONESTabdul,

The muted click that you hear from the engine bay is the CNG reducer fuel solenoid switch changing over from Petrol to CNG. It is normal. I have an aftermarket CNG fitment in my Alto and hear it too. The CNG switchover can be configured in a few ways:

1. Forced - When the gas switch on the dashboard is flicked manually, the switching happens.

2. Automatic - When the car reaches a particular RPM, the switching happens. (In my case, when the car crosses 2500 rpm, the switching takes place.

3. Automatic (as implemented by Maruti in their Green series) - When the engine reaches optimum temperature, the switching happens.

Enjoy your WagonR without any more worries

Sorry, HONESTabdul, your query went unanswered for so long, I was travelling for almost two weeks. To add to indianv2's excellent answer, I too hear the muted click and it is very normal. Just to warn you, the transition from petrol to CNG is much smoother than the other way around. When you run out of CNG, (which you will, on a regular basis), there is a slight jerk and the cng indicator will flash with a 'tee, tee, tee..' sound warning you about the switch over. Press the selector switch to turn this warning off. Next time you fill cng, it should revert to the auto changeover mode. Read more about this changeover behaviour in the additional CNG kit manual that comes with the car.

Have no worries, enjoy the car and the phenomenal savings!

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by LithiumSunset

Thank you Yoda fan (you noticed!).

The SX4 does not tick the right boxes for the enthusiast, it seems. This is indeed not a car too many people are happy to report they are buying! It does sell in decent numbers though. It suddenly tells you what a niche TBHP is, we need to be proud of the exclusivity of the club.

I read through your Grey Shark post, your car looks mean... The civic is indeed a great buy for an enthusiast

Bump! Sorry for late peek into your thread!

but haha... you know what, choice of the perfect car for self doesn't matter because this decision is as subjective as picking up a lady at a bar! Choices differ and then some!

Personally, I love SX4's stance. Recently, I drove my cousin's new SX4 DDiS and was so pleasantly surprised with its drivablity. There is no way my Civic can go to the places we took his SX4 (read: countryside with no roads at all) with more than a quintal of high power cable loaded in the boot! SX4 certainly is a hugely practical car and your saving with CNG take that practicality to a new level altogether.

Enjoy her without giving too much attention to Italian and German fairy ladies, will yaa!