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Old 10th October 2017, 21:14   #136
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Re: Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L

More Updates


My car has covered 37500+ KMS and still going great so far. It has also completed 2 years of ownership with me. This was a good time to consider some upgrades and to complement its second anniversary, I gave it the following upgrades
Upgrade 1: Wolf Remap This is a lateral upgrade. I have been running on Code6 remap for 2 years now with absolutely no issues. Many 1.6 owners have remapped their cars with Wolfmoto and the results have been phenomenal. Their low end turbo lag is almost non-existent and the driveability of the 1.6 engine has increased by leaps and bounds. One of my friends had a 1.3 which also got remapped with Wolfmoto. Upon driving it, the power delivery appeared to be much more linear. The sudden turbo kick was almost non existent. Not that I didn't enjoy it; I have no complaints over the Code6 map I was using. I wanted to try this and the Wolfmoto guys obliged.

The performance of the car has not changed much. The low end power delivery is smoother, the turbo kick is non existent and the power is available a bit lower in the RPM. Surprisingly the top end performance has improved. 120 KMPH comes very easily at just about 2750 RPM now!

Beyond that though, progress is slow. 140 KMPH is still easier but its pointless pushing the car beyond that. Quick overtakes in a single lane highways are still the same as in Code6 remap.

Other than that, there are no other noticeable differences over Code6 map. I'd say both are good for anyone considering remaps for their S-Cross. I have been running on wolfmoto map for 3 months now and happy with both the remaps I have used.

Upgrade 2: ICE Upgrade I happened to ride with BHPIan lovetorque in his 1.6 and was pleasantly surprised to see that the sound quality in his car was much better than the stock one. Thus started the itch for upgrading the ICE in my car. After chewing his head for several weeks, I finally settled in for damping and upgrading the front speakers to a 6.5 component speaker systems.

I bought the Image Dynamics 6.5 component speaker systems and one of the days lovetorque and me executed a DIY to damp the doors. I must mention that BHPian KpZen had a set of damping sheets which he was happy to give it to me. I picked it up from him. Thanks brother!

A colleague was visiting the United States on a business trip and got myself a set of these at for about $125

Image Dynamics ID65cs 6.5 Component-Speakers

Upgrade 3: Headlights upgraded to Morimoto Mini D2S Stage III.

This was a major DIY which I have ever undertaken in my life. Full details posted here
Link
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Old 13th October 2017, 14:17   #137
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Re: Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L

Quote:
Originally Posted by sudeepg View Post
Many 1.6 owners have remapped their cars with Wolfmoto and the results have been phenomenal. Their low end turbo lag is almost non-existent and the driveability of the 1.6 engine has increased by leaps and bounds.
I can't agree more More than 10 S-Cross 1.6 owners are running with Wolf map now, thanks to huge improvement in low end and excellent drivability. Not to forget, the car pulls like a train even at higher speeds.

Quote:
The performance of the car has not changed much. The low end power delivery is smoother, the turbo kick is non existent and the power is available a bit lower in the RPM. Surprisingly the top end performance has improved. 120 KMPH comes very easily at just about 2750 RPM now!
The performance of the car should be much better with Wolf remap when compared to stock map. I believe that you have written about code 6 vs Wolf tune here.

When the low end is improved, the turbo kick feeling is reduced with very linear power delivery. Good to hear about improvement in top end too when compared to Code 6 map . I think the mid range is almost same in both Code 6 and Wolf.

Quote:
Beyond that though, progress is slow. 140 KMPH is still easier but its pointless pushing the car beyond that.
I had got chance to compare stock 1.6 vs remapped 1.3 long back. Remapped 1.3 was faster than stock 1.6 till 120 kmph and then the higher displacement engine clearly wins.
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Old 27th October 2017, 10:28   #138
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Re: Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L

Two years and 39,000 Kms had taken the toll on the car a bit. So as part of the several upgrades being done at the 2 year mark, decided to give an exterior treatment from Feynlab (Based on feedback from many of my friends and Nikhil's thread)


I am very happy with the results and it was a very pleasant experience. Just that the place is on the other side of the town and the visit needs to be planned in my case.

The only additional work I got done was headlight restoration as my headlight had some scratches. It took an entire day for the detailing, but the work done is very good and 95% of the scratches on the headlights have been eliminated! I highly recommend this place.

Some pictures

Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L-front.jpeg

Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L-front2.jpeg

Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L-front1.jpeg

Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L-back1.jpeg
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Old 13th November 2017, 15:15   #139
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Re: Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L

If you are following the Official Review thread, you will know that there is a discussion going on about wolf remaps here. I got the switchable maps from Wolfmoto and the results are absolutely great! Here are my observations

There are 4 maps plus a stock map. The first two maps are tuned so for city driving with more low end performance. The third map has power linearly all through the RPM and the fourth map is considered boys stuff.

I got the updates last Saturday and have been using them for the past two days. I am happy to report that the tunes are really worth Wolf's (Rajiv's) efforts. s

1. Map 1 & 2 - Terrific low end that's just very good for city traffic. I am using map 2 at the moment. First off, the start off from dead stop is very easy compared to the map I was using. I generally am at almost dead slow speed in second gear when crossing speed breakers with the clutch partially engaged. With Map 2, its no sweat! Pulls away cleanly and a wee bit better in Map 1 (without any slip). The car pulls cleanly from ~22 kmph or higher which is about the speeds I am in usual Bangalore traffic. Further, climbing up the steep office ramp is also easier now. With 3 people in the car the climb is much better in second gear. Then we tried Map 1 - and the results were more or less same but a wee bit better low end. Also, with the map I was running with before this update, as soon as I shift to second from first, while climbing, I'd experience a bit of sluggishness for a while, unless I build up a speed and shift fast. With these maps, things are much better.

Map 3 - I think its pretty much the same as I was having before getting the switchable maps, I still have to test top end though but in the limited runs I did, I could not find any adverse changes. 120 comes up easy as before.

Map 4 - The car builds up acceleration quicker than map 3, and its noticeable. 100 comes up sooner.
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Old 30th November 2017, 19:50   #140
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Re: Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L

Small Update

I recently bought a new Lenovo K8 Note running Android Nougat OS. I use the Wynk App from Airtel to listen to and play music via bluetooth streaming in my car head unit. After I paired up the devices, I noticed that streaming music from my phone was choppy. It would play for a few minutes and then go choppy and then a few minutes later resume playing normally. This cycle would continue throughout and I was fed up of it.

Today, I found a solution to that problem and I am posting it here for the benefit of the community

It turned out in my case that the bluetooth module was "optimizing" battery power due to which it fell out of the connection. Once I set the bluetooth module to not optimize the power, the music would play without any choppiness. I've tested this through the day and can safely say that the problem is resolved.

There are some other resolutions which exist on forums which suggest downgrading the streaming quality from HD to High or lower.

I hope this information helps anyone who has run into the same problem as me
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Old 31st January 2018, 11:39   #141
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Re: Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L

I made some small updates to the Morimoto install to ensure an IP64 water safe connection for the connection from bulbs to ballast. More information is here

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-do...ml#post4347969

In other news - The car has clocked 44,444 KMS as of date and I recently got it serviced. The bill came to 10,500

1. Brake Pads replaced.
2. Suspension Link Rods had worn out and they were replaced.
3. Both Keyfobs battery had run down, they were replaced.

Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L-img_20180131_113354030.jpg
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Old 2nd February 2018, 17:14   #142
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Re: Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L

Quote:
Originally Posted by sudeepg View Post
In other news - The car has clocked 44,444 KMS as of date and I recently got it serviced. The bill came to 10,500
I see that you have got the body polishing done in bill. What was the cost? How would you rate this job at Maruti?

Did you notice any symptoms while driving due to worn out link rods? I am facing this issue of steering vibration under high speed braking. We have ruled out discs and pads. Need to check all suspension components.

Last edited by Dr.Naren : 2nd February 2018 at 17:15.
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Old 20th March 2018, 18:05   #143
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Re: Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L

Hello Sir,

Came across your advertisement in the classifieds section.

Planning to sell the S- Cross?

Link to advertisement: http://classifieds.team-bhp.com/buy-.../S-Cross.html/
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Old 20th March 2018, 20:27   #144
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Re: Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L

Quote:
Originally Posted by Prathiiik View Post
Hello Sir,

Came across your advertisement in the classifieds section.

Planning to sell the S- Cross?

Link to advertisement: http://classifieds.team-bhp.com/buy-.../S-Cross.html/
Yes. It is up for sale at the moment.
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Old 21st June 2018, 04:35   #145
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Re: Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L

Sad Update

My car ODO has just touched 53K and the infamous Thermostat Valve failure hit me yesterday night on my way back from office within city limits.
  • I noticed the problem only after I safely parked the car at home.
  • Temperature gauge was at normal reading range.
  • As soon as I was entering the basement the fan started, which is unusual.
  • Got out of the car and noticed the coolant dripped all over basement driveway
  • Opened the hood, found coolant all over including on radiator fan. Clearly it has splashed everywhere and the coolant reservoir was completely empty

I immediately realized what had happened. In some sense, I was expecting this at some point in time after seeing Sree73's post here

Some Pictures - Coolant is splashed all over the left side engine area

Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L-1.jpg

Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L-2.jpg

Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L-3.jpg

Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L-4.jpg

Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L-5.jpg

Plan for the day
  1. Call NEXA Road Side Assistance. We will need a flat bed to transport the car since the service center is in Whitefield road and the traffic at KR Puram is just horrible!
  2. I also have no cost RSA & towing service from my insurance company. So I will likely use that since escalation of things, if needed, will be a breeze.

i'll keep you all posted.

Last edited by sudeepg : 21st June 2018 at 04:39.
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Old 25th June 2018, 07:46   #146
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Re: Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L

I got back my car yesterday from Bimal. The replaced part has a new part number - 17690M79M70 which seems to be completely molded part. The part failed at the elbow as in other's case.

Given that this failure WILL lead to the car and its passengers being stranded on the journey, I don't understand why there is no system to have the check engine light come up when the engine is overheating or when the coolant reservoir is being drained. It seems that this should not be too complex to program in the ECU? I wish the car would give away an audible alarm or at least have the CEL come on when this issue surfaces to prevent engine damage. I intend to write to Maruti about this.

I raised this point with the service advisor and the service manager and their response was - If the car is under warranty and this issue leads to an engine seizure, the company would replace the engine under warranty! No guesses how much of run around that will be required to get that done and the fact that you will be left without a car until it's all done.

The costs incurred were covered under warranty except for a water inlet hose pipe which costed me INR 16.

I have also raised the cost of flat bed towing charges (2655, available through Nexa RSA, and delivered through Bajaj Allianz). The Service Manager indicated that he will try and cover that too and if I had mentioned it up front at the time of accepting the vehicle for service, he would have included it in the warranty coverage. I am waiting and watching now to see how they go about it and most likely I will get a waiver off on my next service bill.

My service experience with Bimal is a 10/10. My Service Advisor HemaPrasad and Service Manager Suman are very pleasant to deal with - Right from getting the car accepted, checked, issue rectified and then discussing the matter to handling the issue as warranty. Although a bit miffed at the time it took, but I'll let it pass.
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Old 26th June 2018, 04:07   #147
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sudeepg View Post
My service experience with Bimal is a 10/10. My Service Advisor HemaPrasad and Service Manager Suman are very pleasant to deal with - Right from getting the car accepted, checked, issue rectified and then discussing the matter to handling the issue as warranty. Although a bit miffed at the time it took, but I'll let it pass.
Hi Sudeep,
Glad to note that you got back the car with cent percent satisfaction.
As you rightly said, my experience with Bimal Mahadevpura is very good. My service advisor is also HemaPrasad, a thorough gentleman.

By the by, why did it take 3 long days to get back the car? Was the replacement part not available?
For me it took just couple of hours for the replacement.
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Old 26th June 2018, 09:16   #148
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Re: Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L

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Originally Posted by Sree73 View Post
By the by, why did it take 3 long days to get back the car? Was the replacement part not available?
For me it took just couple of hours for the replacement.
I honestly didn't get that but the rationale was that since this has happened on a few cars before they took some time out to do a complete test of the functioning of the engine and related components. I did offer them a time allowance of up to 3 days since I had my friend's car at my disposal.

I believe yours was the worst case scenario - Getting stranded mid way through journey & a bad towing experience.
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Old 17th September 2018, 17:03   #149
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Re: Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L

Service Update

The car has got close to the 60,000 mark on the ODO and the service was due. Took an appointment with Bimal Mahadevapura and showed up around 8:45 AM. Mr. HemaPrasad greeted me and took the car in.

Problems Noted
  1. Rattling, especially the window on the driver side.
  2. Rattiling, from other parts of the car.
  3. Foul smell from the cabin with A/C not running and using just fan
  4. Low voltage on the battery when the engine is not running

All fluids were changed at the 60K service. I was told that two cells in the battery have gone weak. Since I always keep my car in top condition, I asked the battery to be changed in exchange for the old battery at about 5K.

The newly installed battery is 50AH Amaron. Boy, what a difference in the cranking after the battery change! It's the fourth year and upon discussing it with fellow S-Cross owners, I realized that it was expected since the ODO reading currently also indicates a lot of cranking that the battery has undertaken. Thanks to BHPian lovetorque for that bit of information.

The Window channel screws have been tightened, the cabin air filter has been cleaned.

Needless to say, the car is in top condition now and it feels as good as new.

Total bill came to 13,700

My sincerest thanks again to Service Advisor Mr. HemaPrasad of Bimal Auto and also Mr. Suman, Service Manager. They are very pleasant to deal with and pay special attention to everything.

So again a service experience of 10/10
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Old 16th November 2018, 09:39   #150
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Re: Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L

Small Update

I have upgraded my In Car Entertainment components to the following

Front Speakers: Image Dynamics ID65CS 6.5" 100W RMS
Name:  ID65CS.png
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Rear Speakers: Infinity PR6510CS Primus Series
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Amplifier: JL Audio JX400/4D 4-channel car amplifier — 70 watts RMS x 4
Name:  JLAudio.png
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Head Unit: Stock

Additional Work done: Damping of all four doors

Observations
1. The Image Dynamics speakers are excellent, they have a brilliant mid range out of the box as well as high frequencies. It's just the right balance and I am loving it totally.

2. The Infinity Primus series speakers are good as well but they are not at par with ID with the mid range frequencies. But it's not bad at all. Since it's just installed I am going to wait and see if they get better after a running in.

3. Amplifier: This has the high level inputs and is a brilliant value for money amplifier under $200.

4. With a good ICE upgrade, I realized that the bit rate, formats of your songs matter a lot. (I am new to this area) Poorly recorded songs sound horrible while best recordings really enhance the audio experience by several times. I am currently using Bluetooth streaming as well as high quality MP3s. Need to explore FLAC, WAV and other formats.

All components were source from USA through my friends.

Installation: TopGear, Koramangala.

My installation experience has been awesome. Called Anwar and fixed up an appointment for 10:30 AM. I am very happy with the quality of work. They don't cut corners at all and it is evident from the way they went about doing their stuff. Fit & finish are top notch. I was there full time when the work happened. From drawing power from battery, routing it through firewall and grounding the amplifier was done very well. The amplifier has been properly secured under the passenger seats.

His people - Azhar & Tanveer know their job very well and are pleasant to speak with. While over there, I also got to witness some high end audio and lights install on a Jeep Compass. Quality is top notch like how international installers do. I'd recommend them any day.
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