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Did a PRI on my Chevy Beat Petrol LT. The car was insanely dusty, so were all the new cars lined up in the stockyard. Hopefully none of the dust marks are actual scratches, tried rubbing the dust around but my fingers turned black before I could inspect all parts of my car. Also, the radio antenna was not fitted nor were the wheel caps.

Anyways, the question I wanted to ask is that I am supposed to get remote locking as a freebie. Earlier when I discussed this with the SA, I told him I wanted the most advanced one (which I assumed had engine immobilizer with it). I checked the accessory list today and remote locking is either available in 'basic' or 'advance'. The SA said that they would be installing the 'Advance' one as they do on all beats.

However, immobilizer is an additional option which costs 3k extra. Is that how it is?

And also, does standard fitment include a boot mat along with mud flaps & floormats?

P:S The beat is a beauty in black (did I just use three B words in the same sentence?:D)

[quote=superutp;2629948]
And also, does standard fitment include a boot mat along with mud flaps & floormats?[\quote]
Standard fitments(for which you will be charged around 1200-1500) noramly includes floor mats,mudflaps,perfume,idol.Where did you book the car?

Booked it at Kropex (SIngasandra) on the 9th actually, delayed it since I wanted to get it registered in Jan plus the dealer didn't have stock.

I was able to get standard fitment as a freebie so I hope they put all the fitment that is 'standardly' required.lol: so it doesn't include boot mat then?

Have you considered the fuel prices are rocketing before going for a petrol version? When I bought this car, diesel variant was not available, now you have all options like Dual fuel and Diesel to tackle the running cost to its minimum. Invest few thousands more on a Diesel for that you won't regret at any point of time even at the time of selling it off as the diesel will give you more resale value. You've got enough time to make up your mind to settle with.

Being with a "Black Beauty" for almost 2 years, I would say stay out of this colour if you can as its very very difficult to maintain this beauty in our climate conditions. It will get dusty in no time once you are on road:Frustrati

Well said "sajjt'. Running a car on petrol right now is like burning a hole through your pockets. Avoided unless usage is very very low.

While the black looks hot after a nice wash, two days left in the parking turns it into a shade best used as a blackboard by kids playing in the parking. It is surely difficult to maintain unless you are ok letting your watchman 'clean' it everyday.

@sajjt & hellmet: the car getting dirty ever so often is presumbly the property of all cars painted black and not the beat alone. Its the price you pay for having a stunner of a colour on the beat I guess.

But talk about dampening a newbie's excitement a bit! Lol

With regard to the petrol prices issue, I didnt consider the diesel since my budget was far stretched with the petrol Lt itself. Plus almost like 60-70% of my usage will be reimbursed by my company, hence not too much issue there!

No, no intentions to spoil the party, but here's my two cents:

This is what exactly I also thought when I saw the car in the showroom a glittering black beauty surely an eye catcher, but if u don't clean it properly it will sure be an eye sore to everyone:D Whenever I came back to the parking lot, my heart will sank by seeing the dust it accumulates. Cleaning a black car is a real pain. You need to wipe out the smallest water drops before it dries else those water marks will make you :deadhorse as if the whole effort was a waste of time and energy. There's no other colour will be a challenge in this AFAIK.The lesson I learned was never ever go for a non metallic colour especially black which is not easy to maintain in our climate conditions. Metallic won't fade as fast as a non metallic.


Dude, I can understand what you meant as we all are in the same boat. Am waiting for the warranty period to get expired for gas kit installation.

Oops, I forgot to mention that, its a universal thing whenever they see a dust covered car, once I saw some labors were calculating their weekly wages on a black car's rear glass which was parked on road side, no no.. it was not mine.

@sajjt & hellmet: I completely agree with you about the black painted car dirt issue. My parents own a black painted car and once the dirt/dust settles its pretty much a ' universal free blackboard' for the masses.

However, I always wanted a Black car and since the Beat looked brilliant in Black I went for it forgetting this issue. I guess its the price I am going to pay for deciding with my heart. Maybe my next car in the near future won't be the same colour.

Also, does anyone have any thoughts on the ' remote lock' confusion I mentioned in post #2356. I assume most Beat owners have remote locking on their cars.

Ok so I just got my new FE after I started running my car with the hood cracked open and I have gotten a FE of 10.2 kmpl which is a big difference from my usual 8.5-9 kmpl and this is in bumper to bumper traffic including new years traffic and also didnt cover my usual office route which includes the highway-like Sea Link. I have also been pushing the car a bit more than I usually do because I have been enjoying how the car feels so I am pretty sure that if I drive more conservatively my FE should increase a bit more.

So do any of you guys want to try driving with the hood cracked open to see if you also note improvements in performance and mileage ? Just pull the bonnet release lever from inside and you are good to go, no rattles or anything.

I'm not sure on the breathing issues on the Beat, but her FE is highly dependent on the traffic conditions. If driven on 5th gear with not much traffic on the highway, she returns good FE. On the same highway, come traffic, she drinks and the difference could reach 4kmpl! Without putting on the A/C, I've got 12.5 kmpl as well as 16 kmpl on the same route with different traffic conditions.

Please take care not to allow rain or water to enter the air intake. I've noticed that air is being sucked from the opening of the intake pipe by the engine, so is there really an issue with insufficient air reaching the engine? Have anybody tried a K&N filter? Can the K&N be fitted on the Beat when there are other structures present just after the opening of the air intake.

The dealer gave me free remote locking for the LT model and told there was no model with immobilizer available. I'm not sure as to how far the dealer was true.

I know that air is getting to the engine but I just thought that maybe more air would be better after taking a look at the intake system. Dont worry I know well enough not to let any water inside. I was just using this method to test out my theory. If I were to move to the next step then I would get a CAI fabricated that is shielded from rain/water.

Any idea what the chambers/pockets are on the intake just after the opening ?

Sajjit, you can try using a good quality wet chamois cloth after the wash to wipe the car, it leaves no water mark.

A small update from my side:

I've done a soft ECM reset by disconnecting the battery -ve terminal for 30mins and reconnected it. Started the engine waited for the tacho to settle to idle speed, loaded the electricals one by one and at last the A/c. Topped up the tank to auto cut off level, took a quick spin in the early morning, came back to the same bunk/dispenser after 100kms. It took 4.83Lts to the auto cut off level. The FE = 20.70 Kplclap: Speed range was strictly between 60-75 in most of the time. There were 3 people in the car and all of the are 75+ Kgs. The route was less traffic due to early hours with less stops and gear shifts without AC. Next time I will try with AC and update. Now the car runs more smoother than before the reset.

Special thanks to Topolino for the soft ECM reset encouragement, I've read about this on another thread but that was detailing on the old generation cars IIRC, so little bit skeptical with this before trying, but Sanjeev encouraged me to do that as it worked for him too. I think after the flashing the latest ECU version, it may needs a soft reset like this. I never got a FE like this before. At last my car also returns a good FE like others here.

So all beat guys, have a try, take 10mm spanner and unscrew the -ve terminal nut and lift it from the battery post, keep it isolated for 30mins and reconnect it properly and tight the nut as much as possible.

You've nothing to loose except the HU memory settings like EQ, fader, tuner etc. But I must say its worth to try.

I would say try a free flow air filter like K & N as it will give you more feed back than modding a new car with custom chambers.

Yeah, that's what am using right now, a perforated synthetic one.

Great! This was always in my mind. Now that you have tried, I might also follow suit. But then, mine had already been soft reset by the service center last time and I have noticed improvement in FE just after the reset. But, I wanted to check multiple times if the FE stays high and what I have found out is that it drops when it learns more and more. Please check and let us know the FE after 2-3 top-ups so that we can confirm the FE. Also do check for any knocking after the reset; I felt increased knocking after the reset, especially when up-shifting.

At what RPM were you up-shifting for the last ride? Can anyone give the recommended RPM / speed for changing the gears for the Beat?

Still, it is a headache when the chamois cloth leaves streaks of water if not entirely dried before wiping. Because of this, in my red Beat, I prefer not to dry with a cloth at all, after the wash. The water streaking when dried and the swirl marks due to dust are far better in any metallic color. Only a cleanliness freak (no offence meant) can maintain the black to its real beauty. For others who don't care much about cleaning the car, they would be better off with a light metallic color.

This does the trick.But I did it using the OBD not by terminal removing.SA told beat's memory cannot be reset if you disconect the terminal.It needs soft reset and not hard reset.

But the drive after reseting ECU is very important.Always try driving in highway,with a speed limit of 70km/hr and less gear shifts atleast some 100km.This will make a great difference in FE figures.