[jaunthead]

Originally Posted by Vigkey

So friends, here I am - back with an update - another not so great update

Very unfortunate incident indeed. That too with a full house in the car. I love long drives and trips, but whenever I do, a little fear of breakdown in a remote area always bothers me. But good to know you are back home safe and sound. Do let us know how it goes with the repairs, insurance and the Bimal folks.

While reading your post, I thought of googling about sump guards and found this. Anyone thinks this is worth while. Is there a way to get something similar done in Bangalore/India?

Another obvious question is, if the oil pan is so fragile, why don't we get some protection for it as oem fitment?

[Palio_2005]

I wonder why manufacturers skimp on essentials like a sump guard. My Palio and Linea had it and it was indeed put to use thanks to the low GC especially in the Linea. An fitment like this should not cost more than 500-1000 Rs for company size of Maruti.

[sudeepg]

Originally Posted by sandygordon

Seemed to gel with the car.

I've been thinking of adding DRL's to my car and considered this. Although they look good in terms of fitment, my only reasoning not to fix it was that they are placed way too low. DRLs, if you notice in any OEM car, is placed in the headlamp cluster. it has a purpose - to make the car visible and placing it too low or near the fogs defeats that purpose in my opinion. The Fuse box of the car shows that there is a DRL fuse and it's empty. Wonder if adding a fuse will allow the DRLs to function with ignition coming on. Other than that, i've been thinking of adding the XP Micro fogs that Dr. Naren added. They actually solve the insufficient lighting of S-Cross Alpha. But then again the .5 inch gap looks ugly. S-Cross doesn't have great accessories to go with as far as I see.

Thanks again for sharing the installation pictures. It certainly looks good IMO.

[renownedalmond]

Originally Posted by Sree73

Congratulations !!!

I feel you are slightly mis informed. Stock size is 205/60R16.
If you go with 215/60, the dia and speedo error will be (on positive side) by ~2% which is within limits. Here the GC will also improve by ~6mm.
The size you quoted, 215/65, will offset the dia/speedo error by a margin of 5.1%, which is not advisable.

Also, the stock size of 205/60 is adequately sized for S-Cross. You can look for better quality tyres in the stock size itself.

Thanks. Can't wait to get my hands on the wheel.

Then I guess I will go with the 215/60 combination as I am looking to increase the GC as much as I can without compromising on the safety o the car. Reason being I intend to take it or soft-roading on weekends.

Another thing I wanted to do is increase the width of the alloy. I think the company-fitted alloys come with a width of 6inches. Can I go a little wider like 7inches without scraping on the arch?

[Sree73]

Originally Posted by renownedalmond

Another thing I wanted to do is increase the width of the alloy. I think the company-fitted alloys come with a width of 6inches. Can I go a little wider like 7inches without scraping on the arch?

I do not think you have to go for wider wheels. 16x6J is ideal for S-Cross. If you do not like the OEM design alloys, go for a better design one of same size. in 6J wheels 215 section tyres can fit (No need for all practical purpose. 205 section tyres are a perfect size for S-Cross) and this will give you an additional 6mm GC. (If you feel 180mm GC is falling short on the kind of roads that you encounter)

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by Sree73

I do not think you have to go for wider wheels. 16x6J is ideal for S-Cross. If you do not like the OEM design alloys, go for a better design one of same size. in 6J wheels 215 section tyres can fit (No need for all practical purpose. 205 section tyres are a perfect size for S-Cross) and this will give you an additional 6mm GC. (If you feel 180mm GC is falling short on the kind of roads that you encounter)

Sorry for this newbie question, but what does 6J mean?? What does J stand for??

Regards,
Shashi

[Sree73]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

Sorry for this newbie question, but what does 6J mean?? What does J stand for??

Regards,
Shashi

J stands for the wheel collar profile (Indicates the shape of the wheel on the place where the tyre bead sits on the wheel). Generally for all passenger cars, the wheel collar profile is "J". Another example of wheel collar profile is "JJ" which is usually used on 4x4 SUVs.

[renownedalmond]

Originally Posted by Sree73

I do not think you have to go for wider wheels. 16x6J is ideal for S-Cross. If you do not like the OEM design alloys, go for a better design one of same size. in 6J wheels 215 section tyres can fit (No need for all practical purpose. 205 section tyres are a perfect size for S-Cross) and this will give you an additional 6mm GC. (If you feel 180mm GC is falling short on the kind of roads that you encounter)

The reason I wanted to go for wider width in alloys is because the alloys I have shortlisted, all of them comes in 7 inches width for the pcd of 114.3
Now I am confused on what to do...

[jaunthead]

There has been some discussions in various threads as how small petrol cars zip on hilly roads without much fuss like the diesel cars(akin to S Cross 1.6) make. Just for reference here are some links to those threads:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...eview-269.html
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/what-c...car-hills.html

I have been driving petrol cars all my life(except for a small period of time when I drove the old soft top Mahindra jeep). My current car is a Celerio petrol which did absolutely fine on the Nilgiris(Coonoor/Ooty) with 4 adults + 1 kid + luggage. Whether it was climbing up at a constant speed of 40-60. Even the stop-and-gos were a breeze. I have been to the Nilgiris twice and the last time it was pouring cats and dogs. Even in the the slippery conditions the car did fine. A little handbrake, half clutch, tap on the accelerator, release the handbrake and off we went. The thing that I am unable to understand(due to my ignorance) is- in most petrol cars the peak torque and bhp are attained at rather high rpms as compared to diesels. Even with SCross 1.6's turbo lag the peak torque hits around 1800rpm. Why would it then have to struggle on the hills for stop-and-gos? A 4x4 would be a different ball game. But let's just talk about FWDs here. A diesel gasping for oxygen is understandable but why the inclines will be difficult for the Scross where as the puny Celerio with 90Nm@3500 and 67bhp@6000 does it without any drama?
This keeps running through my mind as I recently booked the 1.6. Any thoughts are welcome.

Mods please take adequate action if you find the post lacking value or needs to be moved. Thanks.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by jaunthead

There has been some discussions in various threads as how small petrol cars zip on hilly roads without much fuss like the diesel cars(akin to S Cross 1.6) make. Just for reference here are some links to those threads:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...eview-269.html
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/what-c...car-hills.html

I have been driving petrol cars all my life(except for a small period of time when I drove the old soft top Mahindra jeep). My current car is a Celerio petrol which did absolutely fine on the Nilgiris(Coonoor/Ooty) with 4 adults + 1 kid + luggage. Whether it was climbing up at a constant speed of 40-60. Even the stop-and-gos were a breeze. I have been to the Nilgiris twice and the last time it was pouring cats and dogs. Even in the the slippery conditions the car did fine. A little handbrake, half clutch, tap on the accelerator, release the handbrake and off we went. The thing that I am unable to understand(due to my ignorance) is- in most petrol cars the peak torque and bhp are attained at rather high rpms as compared to diesels. Even with SCross 1.6's turbo lag the peak torque hits around 1800rpm. Why would it then have to struggle on the hills for stop-and-gos? A 4x4 would be a different ball game. But let's just talk about FWDs here. A diesel gasping for oxygen is understandable but why the inclines will be difficult for the Scross where as the puny Celerio with 90Nm@3500 and 67bhp@6000 does it without any drama?
This keeps running through my mind as I recently booked the 1.6. Any thoughts are welcome.

Mods please take adequate action if you find the post lacking value or needs to be moved. Thanks.

Hi
I note you've driven a bit in the hills.
You would agree then, that the Front Wheel Drive vehicles perform better in general in the hills compared to RWD.
When the Maruti first hit the hills in 1984-1985, they would, on account of their "lightweight" nature and FWD, just zip away from us blokes when we were driving our Ambys Fiats and Mahindra Jeeps. The Gypsy used to fly away up the inclines compared to our Mahindras. Of course, the Maruti were all petrol driven whereas the others were Diesel driven, but I remember that even our Petrol Ambys and Fiats never could keep up with them.

To come to the performance of any car, RWD, FWD or 4WD, in the hills, especially up and down those switchbacks and hairpin bends and uphill curves. We always learned while driving in the hills, that it is extremely important to have sufficient momentum and to change down to the right gear, while ascending the hills, if one didn't want to lose out on speed. That is a guiding principle which works just the same in the plains when taking curves and/ or negotiating speed breakers which more often than not, are quite elephantine in our cities.

Its all about the momentum and being in the right gear, to extract the best performance as well as fuel efficiency/ engine efficiency from one's vehicle.

The typical "plains driver" habit of fierce acceleration, hard braking, wild overtaking, use of higher gears etc, causes more wear and tear and does not really give them any big advantage in terms of either speed, timing or distance covered, when compared to a car which is driven properly up the hills. Both such cars as described above, will typically reach the top at the same time.

[jaunthead]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Hi
I note you've driven a bit in the hills.
You would agree then, that the Front Wheel Drive vehicles perform better in general in the hills compared to RWD.
When the Maruti first hit the hills in 1984-1985, they would, on account of their "lightweight" nature and FWD, just zip away from us blokes when we were driving our Ambys Fiats and Mahindra Jeeps. The Gypsy used to fly away up the inclines compared to our Mahindras. Of course, the Maruti were all petrol driven whereas the others were Diesel driven, but I remember that even our Petrol Ambys and Fiats never could keep up with them.

To come to the performance of any car, RWD, FWD or 4WD, in the hills, especially up and down those switchbacks and hairpin bends and uphill curves. We always learned while driving in the hills, that it is extremely important to have sufficient momentum and to change down to the right gear, while ascending the hills, if one didn't want to lose out on speed. That is a guiding principle which works just the same in the plains when taking curves and/ or negotiating speed breakers which more often than not, are quite elephantine in our cities.

Its all about the momentum and being in the right gear, to extract the best performance as well as fuel efficiency/ engine efficiency from one's vehicle.

The typical "plains driver" habit of fierce acceleration, hard braking, wild overtaking, use of higher gears etc, causes more wear and tear and does not really give them any big advantage in terms of either speed, timing or distance covered, when compared to a car which is driven properly up the hills. Both such cars as described above, will typically reach the top at the same time.

Momentum, that I am absolutely okay with. Momentum and right gear is the key on hills be it any car. Point taken.
My gripe is about the stop-and-gos. Why can't the SCross 1.6 do the same as my celerio? Or Will it?

[aargee]

Originally Posted by jaunthead

Momentum...the SCross 1.6 do the same as my celerio? Or Will it?

In biking world we say, Bike makes 10% & Biker makes it 90%; give it a minuscule percentage here or there with that 10%, Petrol or Diesel, driver makes a huge difference!!

Will recall an incident that I witnessed at Jalori Jatt, Shoja.

We (right from WagonR to Punto Diesel to XUV & a very famous Scorpio) were all driving good until we spotted an Alto; he was a cab driver who did about 200-300 meters in super snow atleast 30-40 Kmph speed...all in reverse including a curve (not hairpin though)

The Alto's wheels were spinning like mad, but the kind of control he had was unbelievable. It's sufficient to put every crazy arrogant drivers to shame.

Point is, every car is capable of doing medium difficult hills; some cars have technology assistance & some might not that can make a little difference. But it seldom makes a difference when the car is in the hands of an experienced driver.

[jaunthead]

Originally Posted by aargee

Petrol or Diesel, driver makes a huge difference!! ...in the hands of an experienced driver.

Proof of the pudding is in the eating then. I will wait until I get my hands on the 1.6 myself. I consider myself an "inadverent" car owner. Although I drive safe and follow rules but never deliberated on the technicalities of what the car/engine is doing under the hood until recently.

Probably my questions arise from lack of driving experience with variety of diesels in general.

[deevee]

Finally got to see my 1.6

Due to the loan formalities which are pending I might get it earliest by Sunday. It had 11.4 Kms on it. I have asked my RM to keep it in the showroom parking itself and not take it to the stockyard. I hope that's a wise decision.

The only additional thing in my Scross compared to others is the ISOFIX attachment. Excuse the bad photos. It has the new alloys as usual.

Proud and happy moment!

[jaunthead]

Originally Posted by deevee

Finally got to see my 1.6

Congratulations ! And thanks for the isofix pics.