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Old 27th October 2014, 08:40   #31
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re: frankmehta® acquires a Locomotive: Chevrolet Cruze LTZ Automatic. EDIT: Now sold

Quote:
Originally Posted by prabhu View Post
Congratulations Frank !! Cruze is a beast. Just curious, why didn't you go for a re-map ? The re-map would have unleashed its true potential.
My Dual Channel Box works well for me as of now. A remap is not really on the cards right now.



Quote:
Originally Posted by itwasntme View Post
Congrats, Frank! I am also a proud owner of a 3 1/2 year old 50k LT. Extremely satisfied with it and only fly in the ointment is the stick shift. If only I could plug and play the automatic into my own car.....

By the way, do update on your tyre experience. The Assurance series has received generally good reviews from other car owners. How do they handle the power and weight of the Cruze?
I am happy with the Assurance series as of now. The ride is decent and not very noisy. After all, they are budget tires, and this time around I thought it makes sense to change tires every 25000 km than to get expensive tires (double the cost) and expect them to last 50000 km (which is not really possible, given the terrible road conditions.)
These tires do the job, and I haven't really bought the car to carve corners and do 0-100 times. As long as they remain comfortable and the braking distances remain acceptable through their life, I will be happy with them.

Quote:
Originally Posted by AdiSinghV12 View Post
Congrats on the acquisition of this beautiful motor! Fantastic write up there... The Chevy Cruze surely has the ability to make you fall in love with her and I too was infatuated with her for quite a while before I ended up buying a F30 320d M Sport.

I'd like to know your long term experience with the DieselTRONIC box since you're using it from quite a while... Any issues? My 3er has a M Performance Power Kit ECU which reportedly churns out a pinch over 200 bhp but I'm planning to bump this up further so thinking of adding either a RaceChip, DieselTRONIC or get a custom remap. The latter sounds like a risky affair but heard from some people that piggybacks can have negative effect on the engine in the long run.
I am very happy with the DualTronic box. There's very little to complain from the performance of the car anyway, and when a dual channel box is added, the versatility of controlling turbo boost along with rail pressure makes lag a thing of the past. There is power in every gear at all RPMs. The car picks up from a signal like a furious animal. I kid you not. P2 mode in the box might just be able to smoke a 320d in a straight line in stock form. (actually I am quite sure.)
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Old 28th October 2014, 06:53   #32
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Just finished a 500 km trip to Nasik and back. Lovely tar roads, some nice curves and scenic views through the journey.
The car behaved extremely well and 70% of the journey, both my feet were resting. Cruise control was on at a constant speed of 80-90 kmph.
The suspension did a good job of keeping undulations out (yes there were quite a few on the way back) and the newly fitted hid headlights and fogs did a great job of lighting up the road.
The only complaint, again, was the overly light steering.
Anyway, some photos
Attached Thumbnails
frankmehta® acquires a Locomotive: Chevrolet Cruze LTZ Automatic. EDIT: Now sold-1414459253794.jpg  

frankmehta® acquires a Locomotive: Chevrolet Cruze LTZ Automatic. EDIT: Now sold-1414459297678.jpg  

frankmehta® acquires a Locomotive: Chevrolet Cruze LTZ Automatic. EDIT: Now sold-1414459332594.jpg  

frankmehta® acquires a Locomotive: Chevrolet Cruze LTZ Automatic. EDIT: Now sold-1414459352916.jpg  

frankmehta® acquires a Locomotive: Chevrolet Cruze LTZ Automatic. EDIT: Now sold-1414459378774.jpg  

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Old 28th October 2014, 21:32   #33
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re: frankmehta® acquires a Locomotive: Chevrolet Cruze LTZ Automatic. EDIT: Now sold

Hi, lose the mudflaps. Trust me the car looks much better without them!
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Old 29th October 2014, 13:18   #34
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re: frankmehta® acquires a Locomotive: Chevrolet Cruze LTZ Automatic. EDIT: Now sold

Congratulations on the agile beast frankmehta and an immaculate thread. Welcome to the Club Cruze.

Driving the LTZ MT for the past 4.5 years and have clocked 35xxxkms on it (basically just driven on highways as Dzire gives me company in my city drives). It’s a dream to drive on highways, gives a stress free and refreshing drive, accelerates like crazy and sails like a cruise on water, maybe that’s why its aptly christened as Cruze and is better known as the Diesel Rocket. The steering is so responsive that the Dzire steering feels like that of a truck after a drive in the Cruze.

City drive gives around 8-9 and highway drive achieved a FE of 18 (as if it’s a feat ) many a times while cruising at 80-90, but still gives between 15-16 when driven at 100-110kmph.

No complaints till now and it has been a no non-sense car till now, just changed its shoes but that’s it.

Wishing you many a safe and happy miles with the beast.
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Old 29th October 2014, 14:45   #35
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Thank you so much.

Just a couple of questions.

1. The car has done 36k km. Is there any Preventive maintenance other than the fluid and filter changes and alignment balancing?

2. The gearbox oil needs to be changed at 75000 km but the amount of wear and tear that we have in India, prompts me to do it at exactly half of that. Can someone suggest me a good Dexron VI oil for the auto transmission?

3. Is brake skimming an option in the cruze or does it cause the brakes to lose their efficiency?
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Old 31st October 2014, 18:52   #36
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re: frankmehta® acquires a Locomotive: Chevrolet Cruze LTZ Automatic. EDIT: Now sold

Went down to shift the car today and realized cranking the engine was a little slower than I thought. The Exide battery was checked last month and was showing reasonable voltage, though my battery guy had given me a warning and told me that it might just die on me one given morning.
The slow crank pained me and I realized it's time to source a new battery. I didn't want to put a load on the electricals of the car by cranking the engine on a weak battery at any cost. So, I called my battery guy and he said the car ONLY works with a DIN80 battery. The DIN80 battery in India (according to him) is made by Exide alone. Now I have a STRICT allergy to Exide batteries. In fact, this car was running an Exide battery since just 2 years. I decided to go on to the interweb and checked GTO's thread http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/mumbai...ybhai-com.html
I checked for DIN80 batteries and to my delight, they had an AC Delco battery in stock. Now, AC Delco is apparently made in the same factory as Amara Raja (Amaron) batteries, and General Motors has something to do with it (check the label in the photo) so I was happy I was getting a NON-Exide battery , and also a GM tech infused battery for a GM car.
But a bigger delight was in store for me. I placed a Cash on Delivery order with BatteryBhai (what a name! hahahahah) at 2 PM sharp. I got a call from their Mumbai dealer at 215 PM, that he would be at my place by 4 PM.
I was very happy to hear that, as generally when you place an order online, it takes a couple of days for delivery. EVEN Flipkart takes at least 1 day to deliver!
320 PM I get a call on my building intercommunication system that someone has come with a battery for the car!!!! Shocked, I go down and I see this guy ready to open the old battery and install the shiny, new AC Delco battery, still sealed.
345 PM I crank the car with the new battery and I hear a healthy, quick and wholesome crank.
He checks the voltage of the new battery while cranking, asks me, then to switch the headlights and AC. He checks the voltage drop and gives me a thumbs-up.

I am amazed with the quality of service. And I saved 1000 rupees over my brick and mortar dealer.
Also, I got an AC Delco battery over an Exide (which was probably the only battery my dealer stocks) and I didn't even have to get my car out of it's parking slot.

I love online shopping, but sometimes, it makes much more sense than going to a shop and paying more for something you have to buy out of no choice.

Full marks to BatteryBhai and a hearty thank-you to GTO.
Attached Thumbnails
frankmehta® acquires a Locomotive: Chevrolet Cruze LTZ Automatic. EDIT: Now sold-20141031_154322_1920x1080.jpg  

frankmehta® acquires a Locomotive: Chevrolet Cruze LTZ Automatic. EDIT: Now sold-20141031_154328_1920x1080.jpg  

frankmehta® acquires a Locomotive: Chevrolet Cruze LTZ Automatic. EDIT: Now sold-20141031_154337_1920x1080.jpg  

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Old 2nd November 2014, 07:27   #37
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re: frankmehta® acquires a Locomotive: Chevrolet Cruze LTZ Automatic. EDIT: Now sold

Hey, good to hear that you managed to source a non Exide DIN80. I also changed my battery around 9 months back and spent 10k on the original Exide replacement.
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Old 2nd November 2014, 07:37   #38
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re: frankmehta® acquires a Locomotive: Chevrolet Cruze LTZ Automatic. EDIT: Now sold

I had managed to get a AC delco for my 800 some years back. The thing lasted on my car for 4 yes 4 years even when the car was driven on weekends only.

The battery came with some advertising that stated there was world war II plane or something which was found many many years after the war and was fitted with a AC delco battery still in working condition.
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Old 2nd November 2014, 17:01   #39
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re: frankmehta® acquires a Locomotive: Chevrolet Cruze LTZ Automatic. EDIT: Now sold

Quote:
Originally Posted by luvtandon View Post
Congratulations on the agile beast frankmehta and an immaculate thread. Welcome to the Club Cruze.

Driving the LTZ MT for the past 4.5 years and have clocked 35xxxkms on it (basically just driven on highways as Dzire gives me company in my city drives). It’s a dream to drive on highways, gives a stress free and refreshing drive, accelerates like crazy and sails like a cruise on water, maybe that’s why its aptly christened as Cruze and is better known as the Diesel Rocket. The steering is so responsive that the Dzire steering feels like that of a truck after a drive in the Cruze.

City drive gives around 8-9 and highway drive achieved a FE of 18 (as if it’s a feat ) many a times while cruising at 80-90, but still gives between 15-16 when driven at 100-110kmph.

No complaints till now and it has been a no non-sense car till now, just changed its shoes but that’s it.

Wishing you many a safe and happy miles with the beast.
Quote:
Originally Posted by frankmehta View Post
Thank you so much.

Just a couple of questions.

1. The car has done 36k km. Is there any Preventive maintenance other than the fluid and filter changes and alignment balancing?

2. The gearbox oil needs to be changed at 75000 km but the amount of wear and tear that we have in India, prompts me to do it at exactly half of that. Can someone suggest me a good Dexron VI oil for the auto transmission?

3. Is brake skimming an option in the cruze or does it cause the brakes to lose their efficiency?
Sir, you've done the same mileage as I have. Can you answer the questions I ask above? It's important because I do a lot of kms. and I don't want to neglect any suspension based maintenance since that's the region that goes through the most amount of wear.
Anyone else may pitch in. I am going to Chevrolet on Tuesday for verifying all my doubts and I will come back and post if something other than obvious is pointed out to me by them.
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Old 3rd November 2014, 16:37   #40
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re: frankmehta® acquires a Locomotive: Chevrolet Cruze LTZ Automatic. EDIT: Now sold

Dear frankmehta®

My answers are given in bold below.

Quote:
Just a couple of questions.

1. The car has done 36k km. Is there any Preventive maintenance other than the fluid and filter changes and alignment balancing?

Didn't face any issue as such till now, have just got it serviced on the prescribed intervals and got the battery changed pro-actively under warranty. Therefore I do not foresee any preventive maintenance except for the one's mentioned by you above.

2. The gearbox oil needs to be changed at 75000 km but the amount of wear and tear that we have in India, prompts me to do it at exactly half of that. Can someone suggest me a good Dexron VI oil for the auto transmission?

Can't comment as running the MT version

3. Is brake skimming an option in the cruze or does it cause the brakes to lose their efficiency?

Didn't get the brakes skimmed as they are working perfectly fine in the stock condition itself.


Further to this I have just received a call from Triumph Motors, Peeragarhi, Delhi for a pro-active recall of sorts to check the PCB bracket in the Engine of Chevrolet Cruze LTZ MT and it will be changed if found to be broken or faulty.

Just wanted to confirm whether any body else has faced such scenario, received any call as such or has got it changed and what can be the consequences of running on a broken PCB Bracket in the engine.

You also mentioned that you will be going for the check-up on Tuesday, if so then also get the PCB bracket checked.

FYI going in to get it checked on the coming sunday and will report accordingly.
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Old 7th November 2014, 10:21   #41
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re: frankmehta® acquires a Locomotive: Chevrolet Cruze LTZ Automatic. EDIT: Now sold

Quote:
Further to this I have just received a call from Triumph Motors, Peeragarhi, Delhi for a pro-active recall of sorts to check the PCB bracket in the Engine of Chevrolet Cruze LTZ MT and it will be changed if found to be broken or faulty.

Just wanted to confirm whether any body else has faced such scenario, received any call as such or has got it changed and what can be the consequences of running on a broken PCB Bracket in the engine.

You also mentioned that you will be going for the check-up on Tuesday, if so then also get the PCB bracket checked.

FYI going in to get it checked on the coming sunday and will report accordingly.

Went to Chevrolet yesterday. They said my car required the PCV bracket to be filed. Apparently if it's brushing against a rubber hose, it may cause damage to the hose and the bracket itself. He filed it and gave it back to me.

Also, Ashtavinayak Chevrolet at Goregaon is a daylight robber. I wouldn't even recommend it to my ENEMIES.
I paid 1800 rupees for an OBD Scan and clearing old error codes
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Old 7th November 2014, 13:24   #42
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Hi, which service center of Chevrolet you went to show your car?
I used to go to JMD at Sakinaka now they have moved to kurla west .
I went once and decided not to give car for servicing there for the plane reason there is no space and approach is bad .
After reading your thread about goregaon west service centre , i am hardly left with any nearby service centers
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Old 8th November 2014, 09:28   #43
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The Goregaon one. Apparently, they do have the best technical team.
But here's a short version of how they thought they could con me.
I have an Rd dualtronic box in the car. The ecu does show up some routine error codes when you connect the computer to it.

The workshop manager called me into his cabin and told me a fuel pump costs 53000 and your error code shows a problem with the fuel pump. So we shall repair it for you to 'save your money.'
Next up, i asked if injectors needed cleaning. He said, "33000 km? Oh ya. Actually we should replace at least 1 or 2 or the injectors. They go bad. 1.5 lakhs for all 4. But dont worry. We will repair it for you. We will send both to Bosch and do everything for you within 60000!"
All this without even opening the damn bonnet of the car and checking if the car actually has any problems.

This Ashtavinayak outfit is a definite con artist. The managers name was Santosh. Everyone, please be wary. Their technical team may be good, but nothing more than that..
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Old 12th November 2014, 10:06   #44
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re: frankmehta® acquires a Locomotive: Chevrolet Cruze LTZ Automatic. EDIT: Now sold

4000 km into owning this car already! She's bliss. The best car I've owned, for sure. The Fiesta was a peach of a handler but this car has SO much power and torque that everything else feels pale in comparison.
A few salient features after 4000 km.

1. Engine is silent, refined, powerful and quite thirsty (9.5 kmpl with 60:40 highway to city ratio)
2. Engine braking is quite prominent. The engine slows the car down the moment I take my foot off the gas pedal.
3. The brakes require a good stomp in traffic. At good speeds, there's no such problem. At speeds, the braking is well modulated.
4. Zero lag (attributed to the torque converter, I learn) and hence a pleasure in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
5. Suspension is a mixed bag. Ride quality is stable at high speeds and averages from ok to abysmal at low speeds on bad bumps.


I had the front windshield buffed last week and also got the car washed and lubricated at a nearby petrol pump. The engine bay gets dirty very quickly owing to my 80-100 km drive in dusty conditions, daily.

I am now mulling a remap. Thank you all for infusing the 'keeda' in my head!
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Old 12th November 2014, 10:41   #45
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re: frankmehta® acquires a Locomotive: Chevrolet Cruze LTZ Automatic. EDIT: Now sold

Hi Frank, just as you said, the Cruze brings a grin to your face each time you tap the accelerator 9.5 kmpl is bit less than what I get (11 kmpl), but then again, my driving is 30% on a state highway and 70% on the Mum-Pune expressway. A small issue for me is that the handrest for the driver is too small (when compared with the Corolla). Looking to get the RD box and tyre upgraded by Nov end.

BTW, the other day, left my key in the boot and the car wouldn't detect that the key is inside the car. Had to go home and get the spare key.
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