[JayD]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

I recently bought one. But Ill save that story for another day.

U bought one more Fiat??? or just the parts??

[SuperSelect]

Rony and Karl, thanks a ton for the good advice.

Hey this is not fair Karl - after two years of frustrated searches, I land one fiat. And here you are, fiat shopping like there's no tomorrow.

Please tell us more about this latest acquisition of yours. Pictures would help !

[1100D]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

Here goes - this front suspension setup does not have ball joints. It has threaded spider assemblies. During jounce (tyre goes up) and rebound (tyre goes down) movement, the threads in the spider assemblies provide angular movement. Due to this, the friction in this suspension setup is very high (it is inevitable), which is not conducive to radial tyres due to their inherent construction of having relatively supple sidewalls.

On the contrary, a radial tyre with its supple sidewall is more likely to act as a first level absorber of low amplitude high frequency vibrations, resulting in a lot lesser spider movement. The wheel centre in a radial tyre undergoes lot less disturbance than does that of a cross ply tyre.

Now I am all for the fact that if something is not accomodated by means of design, it should not be incorporated. But every good design takes into account a "factor of safety" as well as tolerance being built into it. Now the question is whether the radials do actually breach the "factor of safety" limits. In my opinion, no.

Speaking of Radials, some variants of later models came shod with radials from the factory. One might argue that it was market pressure that forced this move against the health of the car itself.

Keeping aside the personal experience part as our car has not done serious kms since switch to radials, to put a good indicator to the overall durability of the suspension components. However, I find the car to be a lot more smoother and lot more poised. Only negatives I have felt is the heavier steering, and the loss of ability for the tail to swing out of line at the drop of a hat.

Is the LHD running on Safety Drives? I thought they had the thin whitewall on them. The true character of the car though isn't being communicated in the photographs. For a change, it would actually lookbetter in flesh than in snaps.

[Cyrus43]

The LHD is not running on White walls. It has never run on WWs. And of course it is running on safety drive. lol

[1100D]

Originally Posted by Cyrus43

The LHD is not running on White walls. It has never run on WWs.

Yes I saw it. But I thought Safety Drive came with thin band white wall. Because before we switched to the radial we had safety drive with our car. Or is it that they have stopped making that.

[Cyrus43]

Yea they have stopped making it. We had to wait for these tires too.

[planet_rocker]

Originally Posted by 1100D

However, I find the car to be a lot more smoother and lot more poised.

i agree with you - the ride feels a lot softer while going over rough patches.

Originally Posted by 1100D

Only negatives I have felt is the heavier steering, and the loss of ability for the tail to swing out of line at the drop of a hat.

i have been able to swing the tail once or twice on a gravely patch at rajarhat.

Plus - the car looks awesome with the radials

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by 1100D

On the contrary, a radial tyre with its supple sidewall is more likely to act as a first level absorber of low amplitude high frequency vibrations, resulting in a lot lesser spider movement. The wheel centre in a radial tyre undergoes lot less disturbance than does that of a cross ply tyre.

Now I am all for the fact that if something is not accomodated by means of design, it should not be incorporated. But every good design takes into account a "factor of safety" as well as tolerance being built into it. Now the question is whether the radials do actually breach the "factor of safety" limits. In my opinion, no.

Speaking of Radials, some variants of later models came shod with radials from the factory. One might argue that it was market pressure that forced this move against the health of the car itself.

Keeping aside the personal experience part as our car has not done serious kms since switch to radials, to put a good indicator to the overall durability of the suspension components. However, I find the car to be a lot more smoother and lot more poised. Only negatives I have felt is the heavier steering, and the loss of ability for the tail to swing out of line at the drop of a hat.

Is the LHD running on Safety Drives? I thought they had the thin whitewall on them. The true character of the car though isn't being communicated in the photographs. For a change, it would actually lookbetter in flesh than in snaps.

I think Dhabhar was mentioning it is not good for the tyres, NOT the suspension. And tyre wear and damage will be more, which i have experienced.

[planet_rocker]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

I think Dhabhar was mentioning it is not good for the tyres, NOT the suspension. And tyre wear and damage will be more, which i have experienced.

what problem did you face? which tyres wore more - Front or Rear?

as in my case - i havent rotated the tyres since the day i got them - the front ones are as good as new - the rear ones have a bit of uniform wear after a lot of spirited driving.

[Cyrus43]

Did Anyone Ask for Exhaust Note Videos???

YouTube - BLB 1144

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by Cyrus43

Did Anyone Ask for Exhaust Note Videos???

YouTube - BLB 1144

Wow, cool Dikra!! Shu waat chE! Ekdam jhakaas!!

Now if only I could fit a similar muffler on my Herald....imitation the best form of flattery?

[Cyrus43]

Come to bombay na. I will make sure something similar is made for you.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by planet_rocker

what problem did you face? which tyres wore more - Front or Rear?

as in my case - i havent rotated the tyres since the day i got them - the front ones are as good as new - the rear ones have a bit of uniform wear after a lot of spirited driving.

Front tyre wearing out fast 20-25k kms and its out lol Ceat Radials on 137 D. slight uneven wear, then there was 2 times slight sidewall damage. Uneven wear thought was due to bad shocks, which wasnt the case as we found out with next set of tyres.

[1100D]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Front tyre wearing out fast 20-25k kms and its out lol Ceat Radials on 137 D. slight uneven wear, then there was 2 times slight sidewall damage. Uneven wear thought was due to bad shocks, which wasnt the case as we found out with next set of tyres.

Might also be because of improper alignment as well as the 3.5J rims as mentioned.

On our car there hasn't almost been anywear. Although, one might argue, that it doesn't see much road. Only tyres needed to be changed because of tyre age. On the 137D I wont comment because it had a different engine (with different weight) and not sure how the suspension design/calibration was updated to accomodate it. But still, most of the cases of premature tyre-wear that I have heard/seen was mostly inadequate care shown towards the car. However not suggesting that you did not take care. I dont know enough to be able to comment on the 137D.

However radials do take away the period look that many aspire for.

[silverado]

Hey CYRUS & SALIL, ASHISH PADWAL HERE!!!! BUDDY AWESOME! The colour is simply Awesome, when can i come down to 5 gardens with my BAYER blue padmini???? U guys have not seen her since she has been revamped, yep have done the interiors and got the same paint applied.

Note from the Team-BHP Support : Please take the time to use proper punctuation as per Team-BHP rules. Avoid...typing...like...this. Thanks.