[ebonho]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Doc, in our driving conditions, no mineral oil can last for 15k kms. That's why the manual recommends change at 7.5k under severe conditions.

Thanks Sagar. I wonder why then would TATA recommend first oil change in Storme at 15000 kms? Though yes, as 4x4addict has mentioned, the old timers and technical lead at National have been telling me regardless to change the oil at 10,000 kms after which they claim the engine smoothness, gear shifts, and mileage will all show perceptible improvements.

If you wish to put in fully synthetic oil then Mobil delvac 1 is your only choice. It can easily last for 15k kms under our driving conditions. But it is highly recommend that you change the oil filter at mid way mark iff you can fit in a new filter without emptying the existing oil.

If TASS allows you to use your own oil,then there is one more option you have in mineral .It is shell helix diesel hx6, which is better than all three mentioned above and will give you the smoothness of synthetic without burning a hole in your pocket. Then again this will have to be changed along with the oil filter every 7.5k kms

Mobil Delvac 1 is 5W40 though bro. But yes, it meets API-CH4 and exceeds MB approval at 228.5 (reommended is MB 228.3).

http://www.mobil.co.in/AP-English-LC...ac-1-5w40.aspx#

The other Diesel engine oils that are 15W40 are:

Mobil Super 1000 TM 15W40 (specially made for Tata cars and utility vehicles; and the recommended Mobil oil in the Manual)

http://www.mobil.com/India-English/L...TM_15W-40.aspx

Also,

Mobil Delvac MX 15W40 (this meets both the API-CH4 as well as MB 228.3 specs)

http://www.mobil.com/India-English/L...MX_15W-40.aspx

Then there are these 2, but neither of them meet both the API or MB specs -

Mobil Delvac Super 1300 15W40

http://www.mobil.co.in/AP-English-LC...300-15w40.aspx#

Mobil Delvac Super 1400 15W40

http://www.mobil.co.in/AP-English-LC...400-15w40.aspx#

For the Shell Helix HX6 15W40 diesel engine oil (some laces say its snthetic? But for 300 bucks a liter???), it meets the API CH4 specs, but I could not find its MB spec anywhere?

Thanks for your inputs!

[sagarpadaki]

Well MB is Mercedes Benz certification . It is the API certifications that is more relevant.

You can use any oil among 0W40,5W40,10W40,15W40 . No issues. The summer grade matters for us, which is 40.Zero in 0W40 means that the oil can flow even @ -40 degrees, which you will never encounter in India. So don't worry about that


To Summarize,

Synthetics
Mobil Delvac 1 ( Cost me 4200 for a 5ltr can when i purchased it last month)

Mineral
1. Shell Helix HX6 diesel
2. Delvac MX
3. Mobil Super 1000 TM
4. Castrol GTX
5. HPCL Milcy

Choice is yours.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Mineral
1. Shell Helix HX6 diesel
2. Delvac MX
3. Mobil Super 1000 TM
4. Castrol GTX
5. HPCL Milcy

Choice is yours.

Are these in order of preference?

Also, how does it work for customers who have bought an AMC package which includes oil and consumables, but would still like to use an oil of their choice?

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Are these in order of preference?

Also, how does it work for customers who have bought an AMC package which includes oil and consumables, but would still like to use an oil of their choice?

Yes, its the order of preference.

I am sorry i don't know about the AMC package of tata vehicles. You need to ask TASS if they can accomodate your own engine oil. But what you can do is stick to mineral and 7.5K change interval. Let TASS fill their own oil @ 15K intervals and you change your oil and filter independently at an outside garage ( Assuming the oil filter can be procured easily) . So your AMC is also used and you can truck can enjoy fresh oil too. Win-Win

[sasi405]

I recall you mentioning a pre-delivery checklist for the Storme you had followed. Any chance of getting hold of that? Thanks!

[storme'd]

Originally Posted by sasi405

I recall you mentioning a pre-delivery checklist for the Storme you had followed. Any chance of getting hold of that? Thanks!

T-BHP's pre delivery checklist should be more than enough. Will try and put up the link shortly. Don't think there is a need for a storme specific checklist.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by storme'd

T-BHP's pre delivery checklist should be more than enough. Will try and put up the link shortly. Don't think there is a need for a storme specific checklist.

Yup, that's the one I printed out and took with me. There is one for the stockyard before registering the vehicle and the other is the pre-delivery checklist. Bother are really exhaustive and good to revise beforehand so that you do not waste time figuring things out as you go along when in front of the actual vehicle with time crunched showroom/workshop staff.

[ebonho]

Got my best mileage ever this last refill. Thanks probably to the fact that around 3/4 of the running was night drives on the highway (as well as a few small ghats) and not the usual city commute.

Filled 1000 bucks as always. 16.5 liters. And the truck went 206 kms, amber light to amber light. So around 12.5 kmpl. Most of the highway cruising was at 100-120 kmph in 5th gear.

[narayan]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Got my best mileage ever this last refill. Thanks probably to the fact that around 3/4 of the running was night drives on the highway (as well as a few small ghats) and not the usual city commute.

Filled 1000 bucks as always. 16.5 liters. And the truck went 206 kms, amber light to amber light. So around 12.5 kmpl. Most of the highway cruising was at 100-120 kmph in 5th gear.

Ebonho - good show - by the way was a/c used all the time ?

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by narayan

Ebonho - good show - by the way was a/c used all the time ?

Ya, all the time, but mainly as a heater. For half the distance the rear A/c as well.

[ebonho]

Drive Report

Lazy Sunday morning. Kids school reopening the next day. And all the chaos that reignns in a household last day of vacations. Plus kids new year starts with unit tests. Extra chaos.

Doc comfortably vegetating in front of the TV (Discovery Turbo Red Bull Air Race), multi-tasking with some freshly brewed coffee, some office emails on the laptop, and the Sunday newspaper. In my pajamas, reading glasses perched down the bridge of my nose.

There is a shaadi in the family. Second cousin. Wanted to go but kids school and all plan is nixed. Call up my parents in Mumbai to tell them will not be coming, please convey regrets, wish the couple, parents, etc. etc.

Then the lil worm gets hold and a long dormant idea takes root and starts burrowing. I am as useful around the house currently as a refrigerator to an Eskimo in Alaska. Why not drive down to Mumbai, attend the reception, and drive back, so that I can be back for some important meetings in office the next day?

Decision taken, wife suitably informed (not happy, don't drive in the night, don't be merry, sleep over and leave early morning, etc. etc.) Take Beastie to get the tyres air pressure checked. Check all fluid levels and top up wiper water. Get the car cooler fixed on the co-driver seat (once its confirmed my brother in law cannot join), get my favorite CDs in. Change of clothes and suit in back row. Get a quick hair cut (whatever's left needs to look good), get ready, pack the cooler with various aerated drinks, wife's packed some sandwiches, and I'm off to RTO pump to fill up.

At RTO pump discover two things. First that diesel is now 62.53 a liter, and second a new trick to fool a paying customer, at a COCO no less. Ask him to fill 2000 bucks, and to keep the nozzle on slow setting. While the guy is filling, the other guy who is cleaning my front windshield asks me to come over and spary some wiper fluid on the windshiled because otherwise these "imported glasses" do not get cleaned properly with "regular water." I put in the key and oblige. When I return I see that the nozzle has been taken out and put back, and the cap is closed, and the lid shut.

I assume the fuel has been filled. Then I happen to see the meter display and see 1617 there. On asking, I am told that its of another car, not mine, and that he had specifically asked me to see the reading when he shut off. I told him he did nothing of the sort, and that which other car did he fill in this short blink and miss it time? When the argument escalated, and I demanded to meet the manager, the other guy quickly came over and scolde the first guy and apologised to me that he had made a mistake and that the light had gone off and that the fuel had stopped pumping at 1617.

I then demanded that they fill another 400 bucks worth of diesel, but Beastie could take in just 300 bucks worth till I dould see frothy diesel till almost the top. Total 30.67 liters, needle on full. With money paid, and suitable admonishments not to take customers for a ride etc., Tull's Heavy Horses on the air, a chilled bottle of Thus Up in hand, start off for the bypass.

To be continued ......

[narayan]

Drive safe and hope your cooler has enough Red bull/Zinga

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by narayan

Drive safe and hope your cooler has enough Red bull/Zinga

Two bottles of water, 2 bottles of Thums Up, sandwiches with cold cuts. The drive is already done and dusted. Hit Expressway after doing some amazing new 14+ kms elevated freeway that took me from VT to Chembur in well under 10 minutes - like a twisty F1 track it was, though prety narrow (actually when you're driving the buffalo, everything looks narrow .... especially the lane you are stuck in with Bombay's rush hour traffic at Haji Ali!). Hit the Expressway at 11:20 p.m. and was having chai at Ruby Hal Clinic at 12:35 a.m. I had a steel grey Punto with Team BHP stickers, an orange Palio, and a maroon BMW X3 giving me spirited company along the way. Boy does the Storme climb beautifully!

[ebonho]

Continued .....

Hit the Expressway and soon get into the rhythm, trying diligently at first to keep it at 100, which soon saw a spike to 120. Very comfortable to maintain that speed. The twistry descent after Lonavala is one of my favorite sections, so let her loose there for a bit. A black BMW X3 wanted to play, and we did, all the way to the last toll after which the food courts came and the city invaded the open speed of the expressway, and the pace eased off and the sandwiches and Thums Up were brought out as my stomach was rumbling by then without lunch.

What I really really like about the Storme in comparison to its elder sister the Dicor is the TIGHT feel all around. The steering feel - tight. The inputs and response - precise. Very different from the new Dicor of my friend. The handling on the twisties - tight, precise (though with understandable understeer). Side to side wallowing, soft underpinning feel - not at all - TIGHT. All this to me at least (am not much of a car techie) is what I like about the Storme a lot. Sure the gears are very nice. Sure the engine is great (I find the 2nd too choked for anything over 40-50, the 3rd is lovely and punchy, then again the 4th gives a somewhat strained sound/feel, making you want to shift up, and then again when she slots into 5th she becomes like a 2.5 ton gazelle!). Sure the brakes are great. But I guess I love a car/truck that handles well as my first priority.

Speaking about the brakes, did not notice with windows up, A/c on, and music playing, but when I reached the sea link and then worli sea face, I shut off the A/c and got the windows down to smell the sea. Which is when I noticed a slight initial cheeee sound every time I pressed the brakes even slightly. Initially I was wondering where the sound was coming from till I realised it was Beastie making the sound. Need to get the pads/brakes cleaned soon I guess (couldn't be glazed so soon right?).

Another thing I noticed this time about the Storme is that it sure still attracts appreciative looks from fellow motorists. I saw more than one car guy turn to check her out closely. One guy in a black Vento was animatedly checking her out and discussing her with his wife. I think that Vento is going to give way to a Storme soon! Around Dharavi I came alongside a nicely maintained neat yellow Sierra (or was it an Estate?) with the guy giving major smiles and thumbs up, which were reciprocated. I guess like the Bulls, Tata UV guys have an unspoken brotherhood code too!!

Reached my brother's place, quickly freshened up, played with my cute lil nephew while my brother tried his hand at maneuvering the "buffalo" into a spot he created by moving out his City. Loads of road construction gravel ensure he spinned the wheels and made two huge craters on both sides. He asks me is my Storme 4x4 and I tell him no, and inform him that as a rear wheel drive it needs to be handled and throttled differently. Change into the change of clothes I brought along, some perfume sherfume, had some chai shai, and we were off to WNC Colaba for the reception, my brother first cautioning me not to show Pune aggro/atitude to drivers trying to encroach on my personal space, and then introducing me to the joys of modern technology - his cell phone Google maps GPS (I still do not have mine). Finally after being turned away from 3 different gates/approach roads for not being faujis with I cards (my AFMC days long behind me), we manage to find the right "civilian" route and get to the venue, with thankfully good open parking for the buffalo (how lovely to get that in Mumbai!).

To be continued .........

[ebonho]

Continued .....

Left WNC at around 10:30 pm and my brother insisted that insisted of my dropping him back into town, there was this new elevated freeway that had opened about 6 months ago which would take me from just behind VT staright cutting across town all the way to the Shivaji ka putla at Chembur (which itself has changed massively with all the flyovers and such ....). Its a fantastic 14 km snakng and winding flyover, like an elevated F1 track (though a bit too narrow) on which I had good fun and was at Chembur in no time. In fact such good time I made that when I called my brother to tell him I had left the flyover, he asked me whether I had found the flyover! In the od days, this same distanc through the city cou ld easily take 40 minutes to an hour on a good day. We justifiably crib a lot about our tax money not being used properly for good infrastructure, so its only right to appreciate good stuff when its made.

From there it was back to the old route to the Expressway, but being late at night, the going was pretty fast and smooth. I honestly feel there are only two times of the day worth entering and leaving Mumbai - early early morning and post 11 p.m. at night (even if you have to brave the truck storm on the ghats that covers all 3 lanes at 5-10 km/hr). Hit the Expressway at dot 11:20 p.m. and from there the fun started. The headlights are great (they are on one dot above "1" setting - which is best for me driving in the monster alone). The weather is cool. The big diesel is purring, and soon I am catching and passing the smaller sedans that had wormed their way ahead in the city traffic because of their size.

A guy with Team BHP stickers in a steel grey Punto passed me and I decided to tail him because he was moving (nice, with proper indication for lane changes, the lot). At the toll I tried pulling down my window and catching his attention but since he was busy paying and getting moving, I could not. We were off again past the first food court and I briefly thought of pulling over to have some chai, but the beast was thundering so nice that I decided not to break the momentum of the charge. Me, Team BHP Punto, and now an orange Palio soon started dicing through the traffic lubering up the ghat, and soon the Punto fell behind (don't know why) and the Palio was now joined by bright flashing dazzling white lights a maroon colored X3. The X3 guy and I started to have some fun, and soon the Palio was also left behind.

Crossed Lonavala and then settled into a fast rhythm on the long sweepers with the X3 (by then another sedan guy had also joined us, but he was driving like a moron, so we both gave him lane-width berth). The Storme can very easily hold without even a flicker or sway or boat type dipping a speed upward of 2500-2700 rpm (hope this does not flout the rules) on the sweepers, though yes, I do not know if its something to do with the steering position (highest), or the height of my chair (maximum) or the distance back I keep it, but I did start developing an ache in my upper deltoids (shoulders) which was relieved by dropping the grip from 9:30-10 and2-2:30 o'clock positions to lower down at the 7 and 5 o'clock positions. Besides this, the bums and back are perfect for long distance driving.

I wanted to ask the Storme guys this question. Whether this is generic to all Storme's. The Dicor has a very perfect place on the door to rest your right arm/elbow. Perfect position, and contour. Not so in the Storme, where the distance is a tad too much, and not ergonomically perfect, not comfortably shaped/padded. Its almost as if I am getting the perception that the entire steering column is a bit to the left, where my left arm is not reaching out to it as much as the right arm is. But when I check the curve of the top of the steering against the top of the dash which houses the meters, it seems perfectly symmetrical. What gives?

Anyways, got off the Expressway and was at Ruby Hall at my customary late night ride/drive chai katta exactly at 12:35. Had a cup of tea, met some riding buddies there who were surprised to see me in the truck, and after some small talk, headed back home. The total distance on the odo was around 380-390 kms and the needle from full had settled to about half a cm or lil less behind the halfway mark. How much do you guys get from tankful till the amber light?

P.S. Since I thought I would be ferrying the whole family in Mumbai, I had filled 34 back tyres and 32 in the fronts. No major change felt though even so (from the normal 32 all around).

Concluded.