Autocar completes it's journey from Delhi to Paris in a Kwid and Duster (as support vehicle).
Points to note:

• No issues whatsoever in the 19000 km journey. Not even a puncture.
• Kwid was able to hit a speedo indicated 162 kmph top speed.
• They did oil and filter change once in the middle of journey.
• They also switched to Ceat Winter tyres in the journey.

All these points show how reliable a cheap small car is these days. Impressive.
I noticed a strange thing they were using a separate SatNav. So Maps provided are for India only? Couldn't Renault provide them maps for their journey?

I got hold of my Kwid 1.0 RXT (O) yesterday. Though I am happy to own one, I noticed couple of niggles on day 1 itself. My steering is not getting self centered after a turn. This is very obvious during a 'U' turn. I read about the same in PriceRed's review here. Below is the exact wordings from him

Did any of you face this issue? Is this expected? I am very much used to Diesels and been owning Skodas since 2009. I am planning to get wheel alignment done and check.

The other thing I am facing is very weird.

I did a tank full and after the cut off when I saw the Fuel level indicator, one point was still not lit up. I suspect the indicator to be faulty. The reason being, I started to fill when there was last 2 points lit up and the cut off happened in 13l, meaning there was already 15l of fuel in the tank. Now when I take this into consideration there was 2 points indicated for 15l and only 3 more after filling 13l? This doesnt add up. Did anyone face such issue?

Here is an update after spending 1300 kms and a couple of highway runs behind the wheels of my new KWID 1.0. It was round trip to Chennai from Bangalore over the Republic Day long weekend. The route taken was Bangalore - Mulbagal - Palamaner - Chittoor - Walajah - Chennai.

Since I am new to owning a petrol car I will be putting things in perspective of my Rapid 1.6 TDI. I try hard not to do it as they are poles apart and different segment altogether.

Couple of things impressed me

• Got a fuel efficiency of 19.5 kmpl towards Chennai and 20.5 kmpl on the return . But mind you, I had to maintain a top speed of 80 kmph till 1st service as per the user manual and I found it very difficult. My Rapid 1.6 TDI gives me 21kmpl on the same circuit with higher top speed and amazing pick up.

• The boot space. Wow. I went ahead with Kwid for the looks and the boot space and it did not disappoint. I travel with my 11 month old kid regularly and my Rapid swallows my luggage easily. I was little worried this time but Kwid came out good. I was able to fit a full size check-in bag, a carry on bag, 1 wet grinder, 2 laptop bags and few more covers and small stuffs

Fully Loaded Boot



Below are the updates regarding the problems listed in my previous post.

I checked the same with SA before 14th Jan and he said it is not a niggle and electronic power steering behaves that way. I got used to this and I do not feel it any more. I tried the same in my friend's Wagon R and it was present in that vehicle as well.
I took the SA along with me to fuel station and did a tankful. Murphy laughed at me. The indicator showed full tank and all the points were lit up. But it was only that time. I have done tankful 4 more times and I am yet to see the indicator work properly. I will take it up during the first service.

I am looking for a hatchback and therefore scouring the market these days on available options. Today was the day for Renault and I visited the dealer facility, the sole one at PCMC, which is pretty far from my residence.

Considering the options that I have, Rxt (o) 1ltr. is the most suitable one mainly because of the Airbags. But the inbuilt sound system is below par. I inquired if there is a provision for me to attach my own speakers, to which I was informed that the moment I fit in a relay, the warranty voids.

The alternate solution for me is to go for the RXL version (as advised by Sales consultant), which has a basic player. The advantage here is that I can fit my own sound system as per my needs and Renault will fit them, with relay if required and that will take care of the warranty aspect as well.

Strange!!

My requirement is to have the Airbag along with the provision of fitting my own JBL speakers.

Model : GTO 949; 6"X9" [152mm X 230 mm] three way loudspeaker; 2 ohms impedance, Power handling continuous range 100W; Power handling Peak 400W; Frequency Response - 25Hz-21kHz; Sensitivity (2.83V/m) - 94dB.

Can anybody please advise if I can get the above speakers connected at the rear parcel tray, without any relay etc (basically not voiding my warranty)?

On Road breakup charges for RXT (o) 1ltr.

Ex - Showroom : 410888
TCS Charges : 4109 (will be cancelled)
Zero Dep insurance : 19382 (negotiable)
RTO : 48030
Road safety fund : 740 (no satisfactory response received)
Extended Warranty (80000 / 4 years): 5300

Please also find the latest accessories price list.



Looking forward to some well informed inputs so that I can take the final call.

I dont think you should worry about what the dealership says. Just go ahead and fit the speakers that you need - usually the service station guys never bother about such minor accessories that get added.

Since you seem to have a priority for safety, I would recommend you to check out the Maruti Celerio with the Safety option Pack before deciding on the Kwid. You would get dual airbags and ABS as well But of course the looks are plain jane in comparison...

The speakers would be electrical fitments and thus the concern. I do agree to the fact that these fitments when done properly and securely, should not play any role in voiding the warranties, but try talking that to the Dealerships. Uff!!! Thus I wanted to have the fittings performed by them. Let me wait for a few days more. Hope they have month end targets to be fulfilled as well

I would not go for Celerio for their simple plane jane looks. If it has to be Maruti, then it may probably be Wagon R Vxi + (o), but the product is still not rolled into dealerships and I wonder the price bracket. It may well be on the higher side and being newly launched, there will be no cash benefits but huge waiting. Furthermore, from what I have heard from my colleagues, service quality offered at the stations have deteriorated these days, owing to the huge presence of their product on road and other associated feelings. I have personally inquired about Wagon R at the nearest Maruti dealership and was not happy with their way of interaction.

The brand "Maruti Suzuki" was developed by continuous efforts and even the sales representatives played a crucial role in that. The new joiners in this department, lag this feeling / skill and rather they are more concerned about tick marks. The market has opened up and its better for these established giants to roll up their sleeves. Same goes with Tata too.

Off topic, If this Kwid deal materializes, the Sales Consultant will definitely play a pivotal role.

Looks like the Govt. has made it mandatory for all cars to have ABS by 2019.

ABS Rule : URL

I wonder if existing cars can be upgraded to ABS the way the rule seems to mandate or maybe they mean the existing models also need to be updated to include it prior to sale in Apr 2018. In any case, this ruling is something all potential Kwid owners need to keep in mind since the Kwid does not offer ABS as on date. I am guessing Renault will fix the issue pretty soon and start to offer ABS possibly 6-7 months down the lane.

For that even dual airbags should be compulsory across all models. But going by Renault's eagerness to grasp the pie, I think that even if it comes into effect by 2019, they will come out with something for existing customers as well.

Yesterday, I also had a word with one Wagon R sales exec. He mentioned that in these small cars, ABS and Airbags do not matter anything. Obviously I did not buy his reasoning, but below were his comments pertaining to the safety mechanisms

Airbags : Wagon R has the sensors up front and even if there is a little harmless impact, like from a zigzag drunkard hiting you while walking, the airbags will get deployed and the steering wheel falls down. Post this, one is left with no other option but to toe.

ABS : We have the habit of panic braking. But in these ABS versions applied on budget cars, what really happens is that the break pedal is jammed which thus prohibits the driver from completely jamming the wheels. Whereas I had read that ABS works on a different principle all together.

I have given my Kwid for the first free service. The ODO reading is 1981kms. I had asked the SA to update the Map/System version to the latest and he has replied saying that the one in the car is the latest one. But the One ways are not updated in it. The one way I am talking about is in existence even before the Kwid was launched. The SA reply baffled me - 'One way and all will not be shown in the Maps sir' . Any idea what is the latest system version? Mine reads 7.0.5.

The Kwid 1.0 is now also available in the RXL variant.

Prices (ex-showroom, Delhi):
• Kwid RXL 1.0 MT - Rs. 3.54 lakh
• Kwid RXT 1.0 MT - Rs. 3.89 lakh
• Kwid RXT(O) 1.0 MT - Rs. 4.02 lakh

Link to Team-BHP News

An excellent proposition from the Renault management. I hope the feature set remains the same as the earlier RXLs of the 800cc i.e. AC/heater, Power steering and simple music system. I have already asked the SC to inform Pune onroad price.

The Kwid was taken on a road trip from Delhi to Paris. The road trip was attempted to show what the kwid was capable of.

Other links-

https://www.renault.co.in/delhi-to-paris.html

http://www.autocarindia.com/renaultkwid/

http://www.news18.com/news/auto/rena...s-1326324.html

There was a problem of water and dirt getting accumulated below the head light console in the 2016 models.
What about the 2017 models? Has that been rectified?

I have booked the Kwid 1.0L in white and the expected delivery date is 28th March. The price of the accessories at the showroom is on the higher side and I was thus wondering if there are good after market options available. Online portals though have some, but not too sure about the reliability and quality.

As this will be a White version, I am looking for available body graphics. The showroom did not have any options and I have been informed to intimate them beforehand. Does anybody here have any links with regards to the various graphics that are actually available?

I happened to do some U-Tubing and it seems that external speakers can be fitted into the HU as there are available slots for those. What needs to be seen is will it be able to support the power rating or will I need to fix some relays too? Also the connection looks tricky (for my fat fingers), so would need to find some experts who can fit those and do a proper concealed wiring till the rear parcel tray.

>> Camera

>> Speakers

Another challenge would be to convert my wire end JBL speakers into the new plug types. Probably the friendly electrician can help here with some soldering.

Regards,

Renault Kwid: 60% sales coming from 1.0 variant, 30% from AMT

The Kwid 1.0 is amounting to around 60% of the total monthly sales of the Renault Kwid in India. This is a significant share, especially since the hatchback is managing to clock around 9,000 unit sales per month. Since the Kwid 1.0 was launched at a premium of just Rs. 22,000 over the corresponding 0.8-litre model, it has successfully managed to attract customers of the low-displacement variants.

Interestingly, half of these sales of the Kwid 1.0 are coming from the AMT (Automated Manual Transmission) model. As a result, the Kwid AMT is currently contributing 30% to the total sales of the Kwid in the country. This is a clear indication of the increasing popularity of automatics, even in the budget hatchback segment.

Source: Car and Bike

Link to Team-BHP News