[KarthikK]

Just a quick update: The car odometer has now broken the 13,000 km barrier. No new niggles observed, the car is perfectly putting up with the 70km, 4-hour daily abuse through city traffic.

I'm just waiting for the second service to be completed (15000 km) before I embark on the stuff I want to do. The 15,000 km barrier should be hit by somewhere around September end. Expect some mammoth upgrades in September end - October. Yes, a sizeable power bump is also expected to rocket the 'Red Rocket' to newer heights , followed by an interior makeover to Stanley full-leather. The thread is not going to remain idle until then. I have a couple of DIYs to pass time on weekends too, exciting times ahead. Watch this space for more.

[Eminenttismo]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

.... Expect some mammoth upgrades in September end - October. Yes, a sizeable power bump is also expected to rocket the 'Red Rocket' to newer heights , followed by an interior makeover to Stanley full-leather. The thread is not going to remain idle until then. I have a couple of DIYs to pass time on weekends too, exciting times ahead. Watch this space for more.

Choose the right answer: (Multiple Choice :P)

a) Tires+Alloys / Only Tires
b) RD DieselTRONIC/Pete's Piggy
c) Bilstein B_ ? ?
d) Headlamp Swap
e) ICE ? ?
d) Exhaust Tip/Complete Exhaust Swap ? ?
f) Shift from traditional bulbs to LEDs ? ?
g)"none of the above"

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Eminenttismo

Choose the right answer: (Multiple Choice :P)

a) Tires+Alloys / Only Tires
b) RD DieselTRONIC/Pete's Piggy
c) Bilstein B_ ? ?
d) Headlamp Swap
e) ICE ? ?
d) Exhaust Tip/Complete Exhaust Swap ? ?
f) Shift from traditional bulbs to LEDs ? ?
g)"none of the above"

I sent a similar SMS to him as soon as he updated the thread. I know KarthikK should never be under-estimated, but even by his standards - let me tell you - its going to be BIG. I'll say - wait for the suspense.

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by Eminenttismo

Choose the right answer: (Multiple Choice :P)

I will answer all multiple choices vaguely

a) Tires+Alloys / Only Tires

Only tyres

b) RD DieselTRONIC/Pete's Piggy

one level up from piggyback boxes

c) Bilstein B_ ? ?

negative. I'm not blowing up 70-80k for a marginal difference in handling and harsher ride. The Fiat OE suspension is already tuned for the best of both worlds, hehe.

d) Headlamp Swap

Tick.

e) ICE ? ?

Maybe

d) Exhaust Tip/Complete Exhaust Swap ? ?

Tick

f) Shift from traditional bulbs to LEDs ? ?

Tick

g)"none of the above"

Tick (you left out some more).

disclaimer - I'm an aam-aadmi salaried guy, so expect the upgrades to roll out in installments rather than in 1 shot *lol*.

[ajay_satpute]

Guys, lets not put too much pressure on our "Tendulkar" of Modifications. We dont want him to get out on 99*.

If I were not to buy a new DSLR, I would have done some super mods to my Vista. It was hard to choose between DSLR and "Karthik"fication.

Jokes apart. This thread is getting really hot. All the best Karthik!

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

Guys, lets not put too much pressure on our "Tendulkar" of Modifications. We dont want him to get out on 99*.

If I were not to buy a new DSLR, I would have done some super mods to my Vista. It was hard to choose between DSLR and "Karthik"fication.

Jokes apart. This thread is getting really hot. All the best Karthik!

Oh my god! Tendulkar of modifications??!! I'm nowhere close to being Shikhar Dhawan of modifications also . There are far too many mod-gods on t-bhp whom I idolize too. Still in Ranji trophy level for the time being, hehe.

Which DSLR are you buying, Ajay?? Congrats on the purchase, welcome to the 'quicksand' world of photography. Your dilemma just turned worse. You will now have to decide between modification and lenses *winks*.

[Eminenttismo]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

...I know KarthikK should never be under-estimated, but even by his standards - let me tell you - its going to be BIG. I'll say - wait for the suspense.

Originally Posted by KarthikK

a)Only tyres

b)one level up from piggyback boxes

c)negative. I'm not blowing up 70-80k for a marginal difference in handling and harsher ride. The Fiat OE suspension is already tuned for the best of both worlds, hehe.

d)Tick (you left out some more).

a) OK
b) Stand-alone!!!? / Complete Remap? (If it is, this must be the BIG which CD mentioned!!)
c) Point taken. Cost : Benefit, insignificant
d) Ummm, Brakes? Messing a little with the engine? Original Abarth Seats? Skirts?

PS: Did you find a way to retrofit original Abarth Punto Hardware onto your Redrocket?

Are you going to unlock some features which some volkswagen owners do with Rosstech? Something like that..

Anyway, I just don't want you answer these. I'm enjoying the suspense.

[shashank.nk]

I used to keep checking the thread over the last few weeks and wondered why you haven't posted any updates,especially so since you'd planned so many. Good to know you've some big one's planned soon

I would say please consider any other option than Stanley. We opted for the "Scandinavian" leather on our Octy and in less than 3 years the seats had a worn out look with discoloration at places. Especially the steering wheel,and front seats, it looks horribly cheap now. Please give me sometime,I will post detailed pics. The folks at Stanley have changed too, and the present one's just aren't as enterprising as those back in 2010. When they looked at our car's seats they simply said nothing could be done and it is "normal", they no longer have this shade in the grade we've opted for so i've got to re-do the entire car! This after I've been maintaining the leather diligently over the last 3 years.

[Biraj]

Karthikk, you should be the one running a teaser campaign You have planned and executed more upgrades to your 90 HP than Fiat could ever imagine.

An OT (maybe even absurd thought) - If rumors are to be believed the Abarth version will be launched close to (or perhaps higher than) 15 lacs in India and I am not sure if it will be the esseesse version at that price point. Now, a 90 HP Punto is ~8lacs + ~ 2 lacs for all the mods that you have done (and will do). Now add 20% profit and you still will be able to undercut them by 2-3 lacs Sounds like a decent business idea? I am sure Fiat won't mind as long as they see better sales for their 90 HP version.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by shashank.nk

I used to keep checking the thread over the last few weeks and wondered why you haven't posted any updates,especially so since you'd planned so many. Good to know you've some big one's planned soon

I would say please consider any other option than Stanley. We opted for the "Scandinavian" leather on our Octy and in less than 3 years the seats had a worn out look with discoloration at places. Especially the steering wheel,and front seats, it looks horribly cheap now. Please give me sometime,I will post detailed pics. The folks at Stanley have changed too, and the present one's just aren't as enterprising as those back in 2010. When they looked at our car's seats they simply said nothing could be done and it is "normal", they no longer have this shade in the grade we've opted for so i've got to re-do the entire car! This after I've been maintaining the leather diligently over the last 3 years.

A colleague of mine had a similar experience with them. His city is just over 1.5 yrs old and he complains about the leather getting faded !

He is not at all happy with them after spending so much moolah on the leather interiors

[ajay_satpute]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Oh my god! Tendulkar of modifications??!!

Which DSLR are you buying, Ajay?? Congrats on the purchase, welcome to the 'quicksand' world of photography. Your dilemma just turned worse. You will now have to decide between modification and lenses *winks*.

Well I meant Tendulkar from a different perspective. Anyways...

Thanks for the wishes. I am buying D5200 in Bronze shade with few lenses to start with.

[KarthikK]

Thanks to Abarth guru hemanth.anand, I was able to go one step ahead and complete the total eradication of the 'FIAT' logo, and switch to Abarth logos everywhere. He helped source one of these steering logo stickers for me .

The crude steering logo that I was using all these days (dashboard scorpion on CF vinyl mask) is now replaced with an Abarth sticker which sits on top of the FIAT emblem, looking almost exactly like the original Abarth Punto's steering. The chrome scorpion is now moved to the passenger side of the dashboard, much like how it is in the original Abarth Punto EsseEsse. Once again, thanks to Hemanth for showing me the right arrangement .

A more detailed set of photos will be uploaded very soon. I wasn't carrying the DSLR today, so I could only manage this much (see pic below) with my mobile camera. There's another small DIY I attempted, very tiny but eye-catchy on the front. More to come tomorrow, stay tuned.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Thanks to Abarth guru hemanth.anand, I was able to go one step ahead and complete the total eradication of the 'FIAT' logo, and switch to Abarth logos everywhere.

Wonderful...the first of the mods trickling...looking forward to more.

Its not total eradication of logos though..when we close the windows the glasses reveal "FIAT"

can we remove that as well? I want to do that if its possible

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by shashank.nk

I would say please consider any other option than Stanley. We opted for the "Scandinavian" leather on our Octy and in less than 3 years the seats had a worn out look with discoloration at places. Especially the steering wheel,and front seats, it looks horribly cheap now. Please give me sometime,I will post detailed pics. The folks at Stanley have changed too, and the present one's just aren't as enterprising as those back in 2010. When they looked at our car's seats they simply said nothing could be done and it is "normal", they no longer have this shade in the grade we've opted for so i've got to re-do the entire car! This after I've been maintaining the leather diligently over the last 3 years.

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

A colleague of mine had a similar experience with them. His city is just over 1.5 yrs old and he complains about the leather getting faded !

He is not at all happy with them after spending so much moolah on the leather interiors

Thanks to both of you for pointing out. I always thought Stanley was among the better leather vendors here in Bangalore. They were in fact willing to go the extra mile to give me the customized design I was looking for. I'll probably give this decision some thought and probably switch to alternative brands. I was actually looking at their Napa range.

Originally Posted by Biraj

Karthikk, you should be the one running a teaser campaign You have planned and executed more upgrades to your 90 HP than Fiat could ever imagine.

An OT (maybe even absurd thought) - If rumors are to be believed the Abarth version will be launched close to (or perhaps higher than) 15 lacs in India and I am not sure if it will be the esseesse version at that price point. Now, a 90 HP Punto is ~8lacs + ~ 2 lacs for all the mods that you have done (and will do). Now add 20% profit and you still will be able to undercut them by 2-3 lacs Sounds like a decent business idea? I am sure Fiat won't mind as long as they see better sales for their 90 HP version.

Nice one Biraj! Their current 'Sport' gimmick is hilarious, seriously speaking, anything would be better than their current ideas. Just changing sticker stripe color and selling the car now. This 'Punto with Linea engine', already has had 4 name changes in 2 years - Emotion 90HP, then Sport, then (just) 90HP, now Sport 90HP.

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Its not total eradication of logos though..when we close the windows the glasses reveal "FIAT"

can we remove that as well? I want to do that if its possible

LoL! nice observation. I haven't even seen it. Do you mean the set of logos near the spot where visibility % is printed?? I'll check when I crank the car in a few hours from now, currently it is under cover

[DRIV3R]

Karthik, car looks great. Kudos for all the mods done. There is one fly in the ointment for a keen eye. The spoiler. The current one with those clips is not the OEM one and doesn't look as great as well. Suggest you to consider installing an OEM one.

And BTW, with regards to the variants, there are only two. The regular Emotion trim 90HP and the Limited Sport 90HP. Just that the sticker patterns and few cosmetics change for the limited models. The 'only' 90HP variant which you mentioned is nothing but the cars which were manufactured to be Sport variants but then poor cars didn't get the required accessories like the decal sets, exhaust tip and pedals as Fiat was facing a shortage then. This is why you see few variants like these, with the Emotion monogram missing and different colored ORVMs.