[sourabhzen]

Originally Posted by Simhi

Is my car moody?

Ah! at last I found someone who has experienced the same thing as I have.

My car is 2008 Swift vxi and I feel that its really spirited some days and completely lazy on others. Sometimes I am confident to go in circles around a running car before overtaking it (exaggerating a bit ) and sometimes it feels too unresponsive to even try to overtake. Haven't found any logical reason behind my feelings though!

[ashis89]

Do you feel your bike or car has a mood of its own? On some days, it behaves all energetic and perky while on few others, it could be gloomy and lethargic?

I have felt this on several days and on different cars/bikes that I have owned over the years. The observations have been quite consistent even after I account for weather/operating condition changes. And they have been as frequent as noticeable difference while driving to a mall and returning home with a stopover of few hours.

For example, I own a 2011 WagonR 1.0 which has run 51k+ kms and I call it RoadRunner (because of its tall lanky structure). The last service was done at 47k kms. I stick to the same fuel station when I am filling petrol within the city and I haven’t observed any drastic drop in air pressure between each check.

Some time back, I observed that the clutch was feeling hard somewhere around 49k mark. Since it wasn’t discomforting and worked as usual, I had decided to get it checked during my next car wash (which is yet to happen due to the erratic rains). Suddenly the clutch decided to be back to its soft humble nature and continues doing so.

The gearshifts are turning quite hard, especially the 1st and 2nd ones. And yet on days, they are butter smooth and effortless to operate. They were extremely well-behaved on the day I was at my FNG to get the gearshifts checked and alas, the FNG owner found no issues with the car. And no, no clutch adjustment, transmission oil change has been done since the car was at 22k mark.

Every morning, I drive down to office on the same route and around the same time (8:30-9AM). The outside temperature has been remaining the same when I compare the performance. On some days, I get very nice engine response and pull till 4k+ RPMs even though AC is sapping the engine power. I keep moving with lesser gear changes in spite of slowing down to similar speeds at the same spots.
On other days, I get a dulled engine response, need to downshift to 2nd or 1st frequently and few flat spots across the rev-range while accelerating. These observations are irrespective of the AC being on/off.
These differences are noticeable in city movement when a small difference in engine response or drivability can make your drive less cumbersome and more enjoyable. On the highways, it is less pronounced as we cruise at steady speeds at relatively steady RPMs.

In the past, I have had the exact same experience with my bikes and some other cars which I get to drive frequently. Has anyone else felt it? Any logic or explanation behind it? I am sure this is not abnormal as I have experienced it in multiple new as well as old cars/bikes.

[r_devakumar]

I get this 'feeling' with my Figo. Same route / road, but some days engine will be have more noise/crude and the ride will be bumpy.

[BlackPearl]

Yes I definitely feel this. 99.9 % times I drive my Bolero and do not let others drive it. But 2 weeks back my wife had to drive it to office due to an emergency. The Bolero definitely did not like it and refused to start while coming back

[2000rpm]

This may be influenced by your mood and not the cars mood. On a day when I want to drive leisurely, my swift impresses me on all fronts. But on some days when I want to do 0 to 100 runs i miss my Civic (which i sold last year) big time and get disappointed by the Swift. I did feel this with my Unicorn though, but that was mostly due to seasons.

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by r_devakumar

I get this 'feeling' with my Figo. Same route / road, but some days engine will be have more noise/crude and the ride will be bumpy.

Noise from the engine could be affected slightly, by variance in ambient temperature and air pressure.

Similarly, Tyre pressure could play a role in Ride Quality.

[Mohitkumaar]

My AStar Definitely has this mood thing. Some days it will go all "I am bored and I just want to go slow and some days it is like Bring it On baby". Many times its mood helps uplift my mood as well. I am trying to isolate the reason but at most I can think this is because of either fuel quality or tyre pressure.

Also its horn is much moodier, We have a hospital in rohini and the moment I am driving past it, horn stops working. As long as I am driving with the hospital wall, horn will not sound. Moment car's tail crosses hospital, horn is back.

[findviru]

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[slicvic]

Originally Posted by ashis89

Do you feel your bike or car has a mood of its own? On some days, it behaves all energetic and perky while on few others, it could be gloomy and lethargic?

Maybe it needs an italian tune up on gloomy days

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

For those who haven't heard of this, the idea of the Italian tune up is to run your engine under full throttle and full load for an extended period. The claim is that it burns out deposits in the combustion chamber, the injectors and the exhaust system. The name comes from Ferrari, whose mechanics took customer cars out onto the racetrack for a few hot laps at the end of which, the cars reportedly performed better.

More details in the quoted post and thread

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by slicvic

Maybe it needs an italian tune up on gloomy days

I am not a sedate driver and rev my car till 4-5k RPMs on a regular basis. I believe this should be sufficient. Secondly, my car behaves differently two consecutive days or even on to and fro trips on a single day. Third, the difference in behavior of the clutch and gearshifts won't be sorted by an Italian tune up.
Thankfully, the brakes are not moody and do their job diligently. The suspension is also consistent as per the air pressure I maintain.

But thanks for the suggestion. I do perform the Italian tune up, for extended distance, once a month or so.

[Skyline_GT]

In my humble opinion it's more about the surrounding conditions that affect the "moods" of our cars and bikes. Here are my experiences about the two vehicles we have in our home-

Suzuki Swift (4 yrs old)
Thankfully my car has been fairly trouble free in these years the only issue I have felt is
Brakes- Brake bite has often been more or less on some occasions and I have concluded that the culprit is due to the moisture during rains

TVS Scooty (14 yrs old)
Engine- Sprightly on some days and on other days totally stuttering and loss of power at times on hard acceleration.
Culprit turned out to be the impure engine oil that needed replacement and also the age of the scooty.

Brakes- Upto the mark on some days and totally ineffective on some days
Culprit- Moisture

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by Skyline_GT

Brakes- Brake bite has often been more or less on some occasions and I have concluded that the culprit is due to the moisture during rains

I recently faced this issue with my Polo during the incessant rain in Bangalore.
I had to wade through some good amount of standing water & had to drive through torrential rain for over an hour. Mid way during the drive, I noticed size-able reduction in stopping power.

Upon reaching home, I immediately checked the brakes (visually) and they were reasonably dry.

Surprisingly, the brakes healed themselves the next morning.

Wondering now, was it really moisture that is affecting the brakes or something else.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by abhishek46

Upon reaching home, I immediately checked the brakes (visually) and they were reasonably dry.

Surprisingly, the brakes healed themselves the next morning.

Wondering now, was it really moisture that is affecting the brakes or something else.

Wet discs and water entering in the rear drums reduce the braking power. While discs dry up instantly, drums can retain water. Using the brake a few times can push out the water and then the performance is back to normal. This is what would have happened.

The remedy is stop on the side of the road after you wade through water. Pump the brakes a few times. Start moving slowly and keep pumping a few more times. You can feel the brake bite improving and getting back to normal.

I have faced this several times in my bikes and our ex-M800.

[Nav-i-gator]

My car certainly has a mood of her own. Most days would be pretty normal, but on occasional day, she suddenly start behaving. The throttle response seems better, and the ride smoother. Next time, she goes back to her old tantrums.

And then the tantrums: I can hear and feel the different sounds coming from different parts when I am driving alone (or with family). When I take her to the mechanic, 90% of the sounds fail to register (as if, she is mocking me!).

I Drive a Chevy Beat, 2011 model (driven approx 84000 KM).

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by ashis89

Do you feel your bike or car has a mood of its own? On some days, it behaves all energetic and perky while on few others, it could be gloomy and lethargic?

I drove to office today after working from home the past two days. The drive was exceptional which forced me to look up this thread and post again.

It was my usual office route with slightly less traffic. Same car, AC on, me as the sole occupant, half tank of petrol in it and the car hasn't been worked upon/checked/washed in the past 2500 kms. However my car behaved very differently today.

The car was very very 'eager' with quick throttle response. Even the low end torque felt better today and I could potter around in 2nd/3rd gears in the traffic. This engine is famous for having real bad low end torque and yet, it was accelerating smoothly and fast from near idle speeds, in 2nd gear! While driving aggressively (which I do almost daily), I got 2nd gear wheel-spins a couple of times. All in all, it was a pleasure driving my WagonR today. Can the machines be really moody(technically I know they can't be)?