[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by Sivasankar

Hello all,

Dealership has confirmed that car would be ready for delivery 4pm tomorrow. Family has advised to take it post the 3 to 430 Rahu kalam.

The generous folk are giving floor mats, mud flaps, sun film (ho hum yawn!!!)

Printed out the Team-Bhp PDI folder for final reference.

Compiling a list of points to be worked over during delivery.

The floor mats given by them are complete craps. Doesn't do justice to your Jet. If you are fine with spending another 5k, go for 3D mats available with A.K. International, GP Road, Chennai. That is super cool and value for money too.

Regarding sun film, again they will install some cheap stuff from Garware. Instead you can live without the sunfllm itself. The glasses in Fiat cars are already slightly tinted. If you don't mind spending, go for 3M/Vkool. Let me know if you need any assistance on this. I can provide the contacts for 3M and Vkool in Chennai.

[Sivasankar]

The Italian has arrived albeit with the expected drama .

First photograph features me, mum, mum-in-law and wife with the car

The scenes are - Right tail light, Indicators, Blue & Me

[autocrat]

Congratulatiions Siva,

The car is a beauty

Wish you very happy and safe driving!

Originally Posted by Sivasankar

The Italian has arrived albeit with the expected drama.

Congratulations and best wishes, Sivasankar. Explore and enjoy your lovely Linea T-Jet+. Start your ownership thread and share your likes, dislikes and driving experience with more photographs.

[Sivasankar]

Hello all,

Just clocked 100kms (that's 55 since I began driving it last evening)

The Delivery Drama - begins at 430pm when the car should have been delivered.

Scene 1 - Blue & Me

Salesperson began to demonstrate Blue & Me just before delivery. She began with 'Blue & Me is nothing, Sir', a standard opening line which seeks to convey that the subject under discussion isn't rocket science but may also mean it is insignificant.

She pressed the steering control to activate B & M. Nothing happened. She pressed it over & over. Still nothing. She let off an exasperated sigh and I gently pointed out that there was some loose connection somewhere as all the other controls were in fine order. Earlier, I had seen the USB cap lying on at the bottom of the dashboard and presumed that all connections had been checked. This had led me to suspect a loose connection. She summoned the Service Advisor (smug man, him) to the delivery area. I felt really wicked then and told her 'I'm now in the right mind set to look for more problems'.

I discovered that the indicators & rear right brake light didn't function as well (tail bulb had fused). These made me suspect an electrical fault. Rear right window's sun film had been installed very carelessly a large air bubble. My fuse blew then and I decided it was time to let off steam!

I charged back into the waiting area blasting the salesperson for her ineptitude and utter lack of interest in a sale. I asked to see the Sales Head and the Service Head. The latter came in with a smug look and told me about a possible electrical fault and that he would get it done for me tomorrow. He had the gumption to say I could take the car home right then as the date was committed.

My heart took over then. I sat back, crossed my legs and told him - first, this car was my passion and there was no other reason to buy it; second, I will wait for a maximum of 2 hours and I wanted all the problems solved. They were free to call whoever they wanted in the World but I wasn't going to back off. Smug Service Head said the technicians may not be available as it was late and a holiday. I shot back, 'Sir, if you aren't interested in making a career in this industry, the right thing would be for you to resign and leave. I will take your job if you can pay me more than what I earned right now'.

Technicians turned up in 10 minutes at the Sales Head's call and reconnected the Blue & Me.

Indicators & tail light were also repaired. I thanked the technicians profusely and tipped them Rs. 100 each. They deserved it! Service Head had left in the interim but the Sales Head ensured all was well before delivery.

Took it finally around 630pm. Family had been hanging around throughout. The men were happy as it gave them time to be with their favorite cars. The womenfolk had the pleasure of watching their favorite mega serial in the air conditioned comfort of the waiting area.

Thanked all the staff around and presented fresh baked biscuits from Winner's Bakery to the Salesperson and Sales Head.

Here's a picture of the car getting her wheel's aligned after tyres were inflated to recommended 32 PSI from the 24 PSI it came with. Have bought a car cover as we don't have covered parking. Decided not to go for the 3D mats as my uncle from the US said he will get similar mats they use when he flies down in 2 months. Bought a set of beige Packy Podas as temporary arrangement.

[vb-saan]

Congratulations Sivasankar! Quite a delivery experience indeed. Anyways, finally the car of your dreams is with you. Looking forward to a detail ownership review! Drive safe

Originally Posted by Sivasankar

Decided not to go for the 3D mats as my uncle from the US said he will get similar mats they use when he flies down in 2 months. Bought a set of beige Packy Podas as temporary arrangement.

AFAIK, Kagu 3D mats are car/model specific. It may not be a good idea to get one which fits another brand of car.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by Sivasankar

Here's a picture of the car getting her wheel's aligned after tyres were inflated to recommended 32 PSI from the 24 PSI it came with.

Many congratulations Sivasankar. Just a single picture does not do justice to this Italian beauty. Enthrall us with loads of pictures.

Wishing you a very happy ownership experience with you T-Jet

[Speed Pujari]

Congrats Siva for your new aircraft. :-) .. Have many hundred thousand miles ahead !..

Ok , I have some queries to the T-Jet owners. Couple of things.
Last weekend I went to chikamagalur and back, experience was ok. I filled petrol at HP kundalahalli and I think they filled in HP extra (or watever name it is) without my knowledge. It was in the bill I saw that they charged my 75 odd bucks for a litre.

So while on the hassan highway I felt a little reduction in acceleration. 1 year back on same highway I was easily cruising at 160-180 with 4 on board. This time with 2 on board, it was getting hard to touch 140. I mean I was running out of roads after reaching 140, never reached 160. Also the car feedback was a little harsh and coarse at 140 kmph.

On top of that I was overtaken by a Honda city vtec :-( at 130 kmph .. The car would just not respond no matter how much flooring I did. I did not feel like like upshifting from 5th to 4th at such high speeds, well I did that once but was of no use.

While on the way back I again topped up at HP in chikamagalur where the salesguy was drunk apparently. I am sure about the adulteration.

My question is, was it the fuel which affected the acceleration by such a heavy amount? On the way back my car performed even worse when one Esteem literally tailed me at same speeds. Even flooring did not help.

I am planning to drive and empty the tank, fill in shell super to get some carbon deposits cleaned, fill in shell normal petrol and do a drag test.

What are your opinions?

[madhukar_n]

Are you feeling that "sudden acceleration" after 2000 rpm ? (typical T-Jet experience). I don't know if the turbo will malfunction on adulterated fuel.
I have used a lot of petrol stations and I have not experienced this behavior.
Anyway, I think better to get it checked.

[cranky]

1. Are you sure it was HP Power? That is what the petrol is called. There is also a an outside possibility of it being diesel. If you're lucky, it's just alcohol or naphtha and not kerosene adulteration.

2. If your engine is suffering from the effects of adulterated fuel, I would not use a drag test to check it out, a dyno run till 3000rpm will tell you whether the power output is in spec.

3. It may be just carbon deposits in the engine. A injector cleaning procedure and a top up with regular 91 octane fuel will be enough of a remedy - no need to panic just yet.

[Speed Pujari]

Originally Posted by madhukar_n

Are you feeling that "sudden acceleration" after 2000 rpm ? (typical T-Jet experience). I don't know if the turbo will malfunction on adulterated fuel.
I have used a lot of petrol stations and I have not experienced this behavior.
Anyway, I think better to get it checked.

Hey madhukar, the sudden surge and turbo kick is there but the surge is not that much at high speeds. Say if u are at 90 kmph and floor the pedal, there use to be a pull-in effect, that effect was lesser this time.
Somehow this happened for the first time with me.

Also please note that I have been using HP petrol for past a few months. The car is not used so regularly these days too.

Originally Posted by cranky

1. Are you sure it was HP Power? That is what the petrol is called. There is also a an outside possibility of it being diesel. If you're lucky, it's just alcohol or naphtha and not kerosene adulteration.

2. If your engine is suffering from the effects of adulterated fuel, I would not use a drag test to check it out, a dyno run till 3000rpm will tell you whether the power output is in spec.

3. It may be just carbon deposits in the engine. A injector cleaning procedure and a top up with regular 91 octane fuel will be enough of a remedy - no need to panic just yet.

Yup it was HP power. I think dyno test is a good option provided if I have time. But the 91 octane fuel option seems to be more viable option. Will test it and let you know.
I am suspecting it to be fuel because the car performed even worse while coming back, that is when I filled in from the drunk guy petrol bunk.

Is the coarseness also attributed to the bad fuel usage?

EDIT: Forgot to mention one more evidence. I got an average FE of 11.2 which includes insane driving, ghats and bad to very bad to no roads (kemmengundi, bhadra sanctuary, chikamagalur).

[Sivasankar]

Friends,

Have begun a long term ownership thread 'Fiat Linea T-Jet - An Aspiration Achieved'.

Will continue to compile my experiences there...

Best regards,

Siva

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by Speed Pujari

My question is, was it the fuel which affected the acceleration by such a heavy amount? On the way back my car performed even worse when one Esteem literally tailed me at same speeds. Even flooring did not help.

What are your opinions?

I think it has to be the fuel quality itself. Some amount of adulteration could be the culprit here.

Originally Posted by madhukar_n

Are you feeling that "sudden acceleration" after 2000 rpm ? (typical T-Jet experience). I don't know if the turbo will malfunction on adulterated fuel.

The turbocharger mainly deals with increasing/enhancing air intake into the engine. I don't think it will malfunction with adulteration in the petrol, since the turbo hardly deals with the petrol directly.

Originally Posted by Speed Pujari

Is the coarseness also attributed to the bad fuel usage?

EDIT: Forgot to mention one more evidence. I got an average FE of 11.2 which includes insane driving, ghats and bad to very bad to no roads (kemmengundi, bhadra sanctuary, chikamagalur).

Actually if that includes only insane driving, the efficiency doesn't look so bad. If you were cruising for some time at a relaxed pace, normal efficiency would be around 15-16 kmpl I guess. 11 kmpl is not so bad if you were on ghats, with insane driving and then very bad roads.

If this was a one-off case of coarseness, I guess it is fuel adulteration. Carbon deposits happen gradually and cannot manifest itself causing symptoms like this suddenly, unless the fuel was so hopelessly bad that it didn't even burn properly. Was the engine sounding different with knocking sounds? I know the T-jet engine is really silent but still

P.S - I met sandeepmohan recently (we work out of the same tech park) and he was telling me that he was also facing a similar kind of reduced-thrust-effect lately on his jet. Perhaps he can add some more points from his experience too.

Originally Posted by Sivasankar

Friends,

Have begun a long term ownership thread 'Fiat Linea T-Jet - An Aspiration Achieved'.

Will continue to compile my experiences there...

Best regards,

Siva

Congratulations siva! all the very best for a long, long journey with your T-Jet. Glad to see another black Jet on the forum to give mine some company. Will be waiting for updates on your thread, and please do add more pictures of your black beauty.

I think your thread should be under initial ownership thread for the time being. The thread will later be moved into the long term ownership section once your car gracefully ages and accumulates more miles and years. That section is meant for tracking ownership experiences over a long term.

[autocrat]

Originally Posted by Speed Pujari

Hey madhukar, the sudden surge and turbo kick is there but the surge is not that much at high speeds. Say if u are at 90 kmph and floor the pedal, there use to be a pull-in effect, that effect was lesser this time.

Is the coarseness also attributed to the bad fuel

You may check the following:
1) Colour of smoke. Once the car engine has reached the right temperature check if the smoke colour changes after the turbo cut-in rpm is crossed. Smoky exhaust - turbo prob.

2) Emission check - check emission reading and compare with previous readings. If there is a difference, you have a good reason to suspect fuel quality.

[Sathya_sc]

Originally Posted by Speed Pujari

So while on the hassan highway I felt a little reduction in acceleration. 1 year back on same highway I was easily cruising at 160-180 with 4 on board. This time with 2 on board, it was getting hard to touch 140. I mean I was running out of roads after reaching 140, never reached 160. Also the car feedback was a little harsh and coarse at 140 kmph.

My question is, was it the fuel which affected the acceleration by such a heavy amount? On the way back my car performed even worse when one Esteem literally tailed me at same speeds. Even flooring did not help.

Speed Pujari.. T-Jet running out of power at 140 Its really strange. I have also felt it sometimes, but those were upwards of 170 types.. and its clearly adulterated fuel.. i have experienced it many a times. No need to worry.

Sometimes it has also to do with consistant cruising and then trying to suddenly accelerate. In this case, atleast my T-Jet just does not budge. Mine requires some pedal to metal driving and some fuel cut off revving to get her charged and after she wakes up, all other cars on the road simply vanish in my RVM.