Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Test-Drives & Initial Ownership Reports (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/)

-   -   Review: 1st-gen Honda Amaze (2013) (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/134501-review-1st-gen-honda-amaze-2013-a-173.html)

Is under warranty so that's where I took it. The guy claims the aircon is cooling properly based on a thermostat he shoved into the AC.

Air circulation seems to be the culprit according to him so he vaccuumed out the blower and AC vents and that has made some amount of improvement.

Still the weather is quite pleasant today so not much way to judge AC efficiency - as it is chennai I won't have to wait too long for a real scorcher of an afternoon and I'll figure out then whether anything more is needed.

Hi,

My amaze diesel smt is 3 years old and has run 38000 km and 2 tyres have gone bald. I'm planning to go wider this time to 195/60 R14 Yokohama earth 1. I have a couple of questions to Amaze drivers using this size.
1. Does it scrape the suspension or fender at full left or right lock?
2. Does the steering become very hard or heavy?

Thanks

The amaze tyres are 175/65 R14. Your option is quite doable .- 1.11% difference between teh two tyre sizes. But why don't you stick to 175x65 R14 but fit bridgestones? Good low profile config and a lovely ride.

The speed difference will be there - around 0.78 miles per hour more than what the speedometer says.

I changed the tyres of my car at same stage @ 37,000. Upsized to 185/65 R14 - Michelin XM2. Here are some observations:

1. Handling has definitely improved.
2. Road noise is not at all there now (stock GoodYear were the worst)
3. Ride has become little softer
4. I gained 7.1 mm of ground clearance :)
5. Steering has stayed soft as it was with stock tyres
6. I took a BIG hit on the mileage. It is down by at least 20% - both in City and on Highway

Overall very satisfied with the Michelins and the decision of upsizing.

7mm increase in Ground Clearance would mean your circumference also has increased by a good margin.

Going by that, what is the speedo error percentage you are getting? At 100 on the Speedo, what is the GPS Speed?

With this upsize, 100 KMPH on speedo will now be 97.xx kmph.

Based on the difference, I am sure your Odometer/Trip meter reading also will differ. A 100 kms drive earlier would now be 96-97 kms and hence the Mileage or FE will also differ if you calculate based on Trip meter reading & number of kilometers driven.

Considering the tank's "safe range" to be 500 kms, your trip meter will now display 485 kms almost.

Same experience with me on my Etios as well. Good year to Michelin XM2 made a huge difference to tyre noise.

Even though the rolling radius increases by 6.5 mm, it might not actually translate into 6.5 mm increase in ground clearance. because the side wall width at the bottom of the tyre on a typical radial tyre is only half of the sidewall thickness otherwise.

for eg:-, if the tyre size we use for comparison are 175/65 R14 and 185/65 R14,

Case 1 ( 175/65 R14 )

Rim Radius = 177.8 mm
Side wall height = 0.65 x 175 = 113.75 mm
Actual sidewall thickness of a sidewall at the ground of a typical radial tyre when typically loaded = 0.5 * 113.75 = 56.875 mm

Typical distance from the centre of rotation of the tyre to the ground = 177.8 + 56.875 = 234.675 mm

Case 2 ( 185/65 R13 )

Rim Radius = 177.8 mm
Side wall height = 0.65 x 185 = 120.25 mm
Actual sidewall thickness of a sidewall at the ground of a typical radial tyre when typically loaded = 0.5 * 120.25 mm = 60.125 mm
Typical distance from the centre of rotation of the tyre to the ground = 177.8 + 60.125 = 237.925 mm

So, the difference in GC would be some where around 3.25 mm

PS: This correction in Side wall height is not there in any reference links in the internet. I've used my own logic to do this. Mechanical engineering experts are free to correct / add to it.

20% change in mileage for a 10 mm change in tyre size doesn't seem to be realistic. I would recommend that you re-do the mileage test.

Good point! A few additions to what you said.

100 kmph on the speedo will mean a real speed of 102.23 kmph ( not 97.xx kmph )
Even with this, the difference in mileage should only be 2.23%
So, 20% is still way off target.

Thanks all. Took the leap of faith and upgraded to 195/60 R14 Yokohama Earth 1. The driving experience has never been better. I had read in so many posts that wider tyres improved handling but I could not comprehend what this meant.
1. Cornering seems a lot more easier now. Earlier the car tended to go out of control and lot of effort was needed on the steering wheel to keep it in the path. Not anymore.
2. Bangalore is notorious for potholes, so this is another area I feel significant difference with wider and softer compound tyres. The irritating "THUD" when driven on a deep pothole is less pronounced now and the car remains composed.
3. These may not be as silent as XM2 but leaps better than stock Goodyear. But this anyway was not priority for me since I'll be driving in Bangalore's horrible traffic jams most of the time. Plus amaze diesel is screaming all the time :D
4. I'll check the mileage when I head out on a long drive. Bumper-bumper traffic just drinks diesel on idle, not a fair calculation.

Tyres are mfred June-16. Cost me 4500/piece, balancing + valves extra. Bought from Millivisions @ Mavall, Bangalore. Two old tyres bought at 150/piece, two were given back to me. I upsized just 4 tyres since the dealer suggested to keep the spare for emergency.

Reasons for not opting XM2:
1. Expensive for this size.
2. Sometimes I need to travel on unpaved surfaces with fist sized rocks scattered (Don't as why), so needed stronger side wall. Two of the stock goodyears had suffered sidewall cuts.

Goodyears are notorious for sidewall cracks. Even my 3 good years went kaput thanks to side wall cracks when handling stones.

But, never have I faced this issue on the Michelins ( whether it's XM1 + or XM2 ). I've used it on my Zen, Esteem and now on the Etios.

There is certainly increase in the circumference - about 41mm and that translates to +2.23% of the speedo offset. So, at 100kmph speedo, I will be travelling at 102.23kmph actual.

Totally agree. 20% is way off the target, but I have been observing this for last 7+ months. I'm on Michelin for about 14,000 kms and tested the mileage with multiple full-tank methods. The difference is at least 10% and sometime it goes upto 25%, but the point is the mileage has taken a hit. Not that I care about mileage now stupid: I'm more than happy with the tyre performance.

Hi, anybody has noticed if fuel from a particular company works better than others in Amaze iDtec? For me I had been using Indian Oil diesel for 2.5 years but changed to BP 6 months back and felt significant improvement in engine performance (acceleration, noise..overall smoothness).

Shell is even better.

No appreciable difference between the sarkari companies in quality, but more than one sarkari pump might adulterate fuel so that there as well

I can't understand why there would be any difference in quality of fuels offered by different companies. There are minimum quality specifications in place for both petrol and diesel sold in India. Any company doing business here will sell fuel that just meets those specifications.

Exceeding those specifications is simply bad business as
1) The price of fuel will increase and hence people will buy less of it.
2) There is scant demand for premium fuels in india.

So according to me any fuel you purchase in India is blended by the OMC's so it will just meet those minimum requirements unless of course the pump owners choose to adulterate it. Hence there should be no difference in fuel quality between various vendors selling in India.

Does the Amaze have a larger AC compressor compared to the Brio especially for the Diesel engine? The reason being that one friend is looking for an Amaze Diesel as his new car but is put off by the AC performance of his sister's 1.2 petrol Brio. Thanks in advance.

I have not seen the two compressors side by side but the amaze AC works great even in midsummer in Chennai.

Have your friend test drive it on a hot day and check, I guess.

I have never used the Ac in my amaze diesel above the second speed even in the mumbai summers . I'd guess the Ac is good .