[mobike008]

Originally Posted by keyur

Drive it gently. General rule is not to exceed 3000 - 3500 rpm. for the first 500 miles. It is also a good idea to be kind to it for the first 2000 miles.

Are you suggesting for a diesel car that redlines at 4500rpm, during breaking-in period taking it upto 3500rpm is "Gentle". I dont agree !!!

What one should do (especially for a diesel car) is :-

1.You can take it upto 100kmph-120kmph but, ensure its in higher gear ( i.e, 4th or 5th gear) so your rpm doesnt cross 2500-2800rpm and this I feel is the maximum one should go up to during this period

2.Dont drive at a constant/sedate speeds. Rev it up once in a while but, ensure there is no load on the engine. Like, 1st gear rev hard to 60kmph, 2nd gear to 80kmph etc.

3.Finally, the best way to run-in is to vary the speeds and ensure all mechanicals properly bed-in including the brakes.

[brraj]

By seeing your top speed pictures i would strongly advice you to retrofit ABS/EBD/ESP (done by TDIracing.net) in your car. The ABS in my car has saved my life atleast 5times while following a BMW 535i.

[krish3]

OT-: But for info sake

@brraj -: isnt yours an LT and comes fitted with ABS & EBD as stock? Or is it an LS? Do they do the same for Getz CRDi as well?

[keyur]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Are you suggesting for a diesel car that redlines at 4500rpm, during breaking-in period taking it upto 3500rpm is "Gentle". I dont agree !!!

I don't agree either! But who said so?

Originally Posted by mobike008

1.You can take it upto 100kmph-120kmph but, ensure its in higher gear ( i.e, 4th or 5th gear) so your rpm doesnt cross 2500-2800rpm and this I feel is the maximum one should go up to during this period

I would qualify it further saying that instead of looking at the speed, look at the revs. As long as the engine is not getting stressed out, you should be OK. For eg. On a steep incline, 100-120kph will require higher RPMs, while on a slope, it 100-120 can be achieved at much lower RPMs. So pushing the car till 3000 RPM at any gear should be OK.

Originally Posted by mobike008

2.Dont drive at a constant/sedate speeds. Rev it up once in a while but, ensure there is no load on the engine. Like, 1st gear rev hard to 60kmph, 2nd gear to 80kmph etc.

Again, it would be best not to convert the logic for RPMs to speed. But yes, i agree to the point - keep some variation - its good for both the car and the driver - both become livelier!

Originally Posted by brraj

By seeing your top speed pictures i would strongly advice you to retrofit ABS/EBD/ESP (done by TDIracing.net) in your car. The ABS in my car has saved my life atleast 5times while following a BMW 535i.

Hey, looked at your signature and realized that you have already done most of the stuff that is in my wishlist.

Could you post the pics for the mods?
Also, is the K&N a stock replacement or have you changed the entire intake system?

[brraj]

@krish - Yes mine is LT model and comes with ABS, was just advising keyur to retrofit ABS as his is LS model. It should be possible to do the conversion by using the verna ABS system to getz anyway talk to the turner directly. @keyur - here is the link to my thread http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...ph-pg-4-a.html

[roadtrip]

Yezzzzzzz! Just went and paid the booking amount for my Magnum diesel LT. Thrilled to my shoelaces!

@ Keyur,
Would you mind if I crashed your thread with my buying experience, or would you prefer I started a new one? Just concerned that there are lots of Optra Magnum threads, don't want to add to that.

[keyur]

Originally Posted by roadtrip

Yezzzzzzz! Just went and paid the booking amount for my Magnum diesel LT. Thrilled to my shoelaces!

@ Keyur,
Would you mind if I crashed your thread with my buying experience, or would you prefer I started a new one? Just concerned that there are lots of Optra Magnum threads, don't want to add to that.

Congrats!
Go ahead, and post right in! Although, if you want to add in your experiences later, you might want to have your separate thread!

[keyur]

Originally Posted by keyur

The VIN is decoded as follows for Chevy vehicles :

The total length is 17
It starts with MA6

VIN (MA6xxxxxBBxxxxxx )

9th character signifies the Month (A=Jan, B=Feb, C=Mar and so on)
10th character signifies the Year (A=2010, B=2011, C=2012, D=2013 and so on)

So the above shown VIN would decode to be a Chevy from Feb 2011 (BB = Feb, 2011)

Originally Posted by Poitive

Torquedo seems to have checked out a few VIN no's and there seemed to be some confusion [ link ] as most recent Optras on the forum seemed to have BB at the 9th and 10th character). As he explains below, there seems to be another explanation.

Originally Posted by Torquedo

1) On the Chassis - Indicating when the chassis was manufactured.

2) On the Placard - Indicating when the engine and other stuff was put on the Chassis as in the when the car was completely assembled.

Had a talk with the GM guys as well as my dealership.
I asked the dealership manager to provide me some VINs of the Optras that he has sold in the last couple of months (Not the entire VINS, just the first 11 characters - to protect customer privacy)

The manager diligently called back and gave me the following info :

ALL the Optras had the 9th and 10th digits as BB.
As per our previous (flawed) logic, it would mean that all of these Optras were from Feb 2011!

But then he provided me some more info which was astounding -
ALL other vehicles (including the ones in his showroom and stockyard) like the Cruze, Spark, Beat and Captiva also had the 9th and 10th digits as BB !!

The best part was that the new Beat Diesel (which did not exist in Feb 2011) also had the VIN as BB.

This was leading me to believe that our entire concept of decoding the VIN might be flawed. So I talked to a friend at GM, who asked around and from the info I received, this is the conclusion that I have drawn :

1. There is placard near the bottom right of the left hand front door. This has the VIN (17 characters) and a Manufacturing date (2 characters)
2. Under the bonnet, right in front, just below the wipers, the VIN is imprinted (17 characters)

The VIN on the placard and the VIN under the hood are IDENTICAL.

The 9th and 10th characters (BB) have NOTHING to do with the manufacturing date.

I have concluded that during the manufacturing, GM must be allocating a chunk of these numbers for a period of say 6 months or a year. Each number is unique and is allotted to every new vehicle, irrespective of the date of manufacture (hence the BB for each and every car!)

The manufacturing date on the PLACARD (which in my case is DB) is the actual indicator of the date the vehicle was "born'.


So, I suppose that there is no point in decoding the VIN. The actual indicator is the manuf date (2 characters) which are decoded as follows :

1st character signifies the Month (A=Jan, B=Feb, C=Mar and so on)
2nd character signifies the Year (A=2010, B=2011, C=2012, D=2013 and so on)

So yippee!! my vehicle is from an even newer lot (the num is DB), so the vehicle is from April 2011!!

I will be posting a pic of the placard soon for a visual guide.

[Torquedo]

^^

Keyur might, might be right.

Here is another VIN that I gathered from my SA.

This is the latest car that has with him and the following is the VIN

MA6JFDGD-BB-H0XXXXX

Here are my new findings:

1) Keyur might be correct as the latest car has BB
2) The month can being determined with the 7th Alphabet, G in this case indicating July as the month of manufacture.
3) The last 5 digits are incremental, as in with the VIN numbers that I have with me, a May car had H011XXX, the one that I stated above has H016XXX.

My above observations are based on close 20 odd VIN's that I have looked at for GM cars.

HTH

[keyur]

Hit the motherlode!

Here is a perfect explanation for VIN for GM vehicles.

The VIN is 17 characters. The explanation is as follows :

Pos Type Meaning

1-3 [AN] WMI - World Make Identifier
4 [AN] Vehicle Line
5 [AN] Series
6 [AN] Body Style (Sedan 2 door/4door, Coupe etc)
7 [A] Restraint System (Manual Seat belt with dual airbags etc)
8 [AN] Engine Type (4Cyl Diesel etc)
9 [AN] Check digit (NOT Month) This is calculated by POMS
10 [AN] Year of Manufacture
11 [AN] Plant Location (H for Halol)
12-17 [N] Sequence Number


For a detailed explanation, take a look at the 2 files from GM that I have downloaded.
The data given there is for the American cars, but the logic makes complete sense.
Year 2011
vincard%202011%20car.pdf

Year 2010
vincard%202010%20car.pdf

[keyur]

Originally Posted by Torquedo

^^

Keyur might, might be right.

Keyur IS right

Originally Posted by Torquedo

This is the latest car that has with him and the following is the VIN

MA6JFDGD-BB-H0XXXXX

My VIN is MA6NFADDBBHXXXXXX

The split is as follows :

MA6 -WMI - World Make Identifier
NF - Vehicle Line/Series - Together means Chevrolet Optra Magnum
A - Body Style (Sedan 4 door etc)
D - Restraint System (Manual Seat belt with noairbags, probably LS model. For LT it maybe G)
D - Engine Type (4Cyl SOHC TCDI)
B - Check digit (NOT Month) This is calculated by POMS
B - Year of Manufacture (2011)
H - Plant Location (H for Halol)
XXXXXX - Sequence Number

Originally Posted by Torquedo

2) The month can being determined with the 7th Alphabet, G in this case indicating July as the month of manufacture.

This is the restraint system, not Month.
In case of LS, this is D which means Manual Seat Belt with No Airbags
In case of LT, this is G which means Manual Seat Belt with Dual Airbags


---- All other Optra Owners ---

Please enter the first 11 digits of your VIN here and try to parse them as shown above. We will be able to reach a definite conclusion.

[Torquedo]

Thanks for the Info, Keyur.

Now how do you crack this:

1) MA6JFD-BD-BB-H - Feb 2011 Cruze LTZ
2) MA6JFD-GD-BB-H - July 2011 Cruze LTZ

Again for me the 7th Alphabet is the Month.

Awaiting your inputs.

[keyur]

Hi Torq,

After seeing your post and talking with you, went BACK to the dealer and checked out a few cars there.
Your logic holds good.

The 7th digit seems to match with the month in the manufacturing date on the placard.

So, in the explanation given above, the 7th digit can be the Month of manufacture and the 10th digit is the Year of Manufacture.

[NoRules]

Thats some serious research going on, guys. Lol. Hoping to join the Magnum club soon, now that Fiesta has announced the pricing.

[keyur]

Originally Posted by NoRules

Thats some serious research going on, guys. Lol. Hoping to join the Magnum club soon, now that Fiesta has announced the pricing.

You can add to the research! Now that you are joining the club, it's obvious that you would be going for TDs and deals. Check the VINS and the Manufacturing dates and add the data here.

Btw, whats the OTR for the Fiesta.