SERVICE UPDATES:
As you all know, the Spark comes with 3 years free service including the oil change and any consumables. The car has under gone
2 free services and
1 assurance check up at 1000 kms.
Trident Chevrolet have done a decent job with the service in all 3 instances. I only spent Rs. 908 so far for oil and filter change during the assurance check up since i got it done from my side. Apart from that there has been no other expenses except for petrol.
After
14 months & 12,000 kms, the car still feels tight and new. A quick pressure wash and polish and she is as good as new. Interiors have held up well and there are no rattles except for an irritating sound from the boot lock when going over fly overs or on bad roads. Need to get this checked in the service next month.
HIGHWAY DRIVING:
I am 6'0 tall and have size 10 feet. The foot well is adequate though a bigger foot well would have been welcome. Heel-toeing is not difficult and probably easier due to the foot well space. Long drives have been a great pleasure in this car and it has always been only 2 people (me and wife). Only time when we traveled with rear pax was from Coorg to Blore and the rear pax did not complain since both were short!!! A dead pedal is sorely missed though!!
The only grouse here is the lower back support which is almost nil once the seat belts are on. So i solve this problem by placing a small cushion near the empty space of the small of my lower back. This solves the issue completely and have never bothered about lower back support after this.
Seat belts are really good and don't hinder me while driving probably owing to my height. But my wife always faces trouble since she is short and it passes exactly near her neck which irritates her to no end!! But being a bhp-ian's wife, she endures it but never travels without seat belt.
The longest i have driven the car is from Blore to Maravanthe beach near Kundapura. We did this in 7 hours driving thru Shiradi and taking the Dharmasthala route. Break was 1 hour total including the bio and lunch breaks. It was a breeze to drive this car and both me and wife never felt tired after the journey. We in fact got freshened up and took a long walk on the beach!! This was before the mods went on.
Taking mild corners at 80kmph does not unsettle the car or frighten the driver/passenger. Sharper curves need to be taken slower of course, but still it can pull with 2 people and luggage comfortably in 3rd gear. In comparison the old Santro LE which we had used to get unsettled in mild corners at 75-80kmph.
Tires are quite good for highway driving and though there is some road noise, once the windows are rolled up and AC gets going, you can hardly make it out. After the mods, the engine note and the good sounding audio set up are all that can be heard. Along with the AC blowers of course!!
Steering is spot on and provides excellent feedback at high speeds. You know what the front tires are up to at all times. In city drives it is light enough even for my wife to park and weighs in well at higher speeds.
NITTY GRITTIES:
Stock headlights are not adequate for highway driving. Specially in the Blore-Mysore stretch where you have a new speed breaker overnight and need to spot it from a far away distance to be able to slow down in time!!
Since the glass area is quite a lot and the front windshield is BIG, the car heats up a lot. Even with sun film all round, it does get heated up but the heat is 40% lesser with the sun films on.
Boot space is sufficient for a nuclear family of husband, wife and a kid. You can fit in 2 medium sized bags and one small bag for that long trip.
Windshield wipers do a good job and don't splash the water onto the driver's lap when cleaning the windshield. This was a major issue with the Indica V2. It used to dump the dirty water onto the driver's lap and the window channels etc.
Visibility in the curves is hampered due to the thick A pillar. You have to keep the windows rolled down to crane your neck out and see if there is on coming traffic.
The circular AC vents are a boon!!! You can place it in the exact direction you want and it does not blow cold air onto your hands. And you can completely shut them off when not required.
The green back lit console is not to my liking and would have probably preferred an orange or white back lit console. But it gives good visibility during the day and night alike.
More as and when i remember!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by quadra Truly one of a kind spark. Can you please share the following:
1. Pics of the exhaust system. Really want to see how it looks like. Will do so soon. Have not had a chance to get it up on the ramp yet for some good shots!!
2. Any guarantee / Warranty for the exhaust? I have heard after market exhausts catch rust sooner than OEM ones. The exhaust is coated with an anti-rust coat. So i guess its good. And the guys were good enough to offer a check once every 5k-7k kms.
And yeah, you definitely need alloys and tbhp sticker.
Cheers mate. |
Thanks for your wishes quadra. Alloys on the list
Quote:
Originally Posted by Latheesh |
Some nice looking alloys there. Will probably go for white or matte black. Contemplating between the 2.