[Aniruddha_Ch]

Recently I was travelling on eastern expressway in friend's Innova which is registered at Nasik RTO (MH.15). Traffic cops stopped us, checked all the documents which were up to date. Then he blamed fonts of number plates, stating that plate has varying font size i.e 4 digit number has different font size, we paid Rs. 100 as a fine and left.

Following is the picture of the Innova, observe the number plate and in 2nd picture few duplicate IND plates, though the one on left hand side is genuine IND plate.

[GKMahajan]

Originally Posted by Titanium

Thanks Eddy, GKMahajan and AutoIndian. I had absolutely no clue about HSRPs until last week. I learnt about it only when the number plate dealer mentioned that it was mandatory. However, after installing the number plates today, I realized that they are duplicate ones. But all other vehicles getting the number plates fixed today had the same hologram and IND printed on them. Also, in the last two days I've observed many other vehicles in my city having the same type of number plates too.

I know that I am definitely going to land in trouble when I travel out of state.I should have done a proper study before installing the number plates. I wasn't aware of it. Will have to figure out a way to cover the hologram/IND or change the number plates to new ones. Thanks a lot again for clearing my doubt.

Dear Titanium,

I think the plates fitted by you are not 'illegal'. So, most probably, you will not have any issues going out of state.

However, I can suggest that you check with some friends in the state that you plan to visit, just before leaving your state. My stupid 2 cents!

Girish Mahajan

[AutoIndian]

Yesterday, i.e. 7th Dec completed exactly one month with my Orange tank. It was on 7th Nov I brought it home. It has run 1450 kms during this one month (100% within the city). Unfortunately didn't get a chance to venture out on the highway for long drive. I Would like to summarize, the likes, dislikes, issues of the tank as below.

Likes:

• Huge road presence. This is a head turner for sure, a second look is guaranteed
• Amazing ride quality, pot holes, speed breakers, road/ bridge joints are dismissed like they never existed
• Good Ground clearance, bottom scraping (what is that?)
• Extraordinary cabin space within 4 metre restrictions
• Very good OEM lamps (head lamps and fog lamps combo), no need for upgrade
• The static bending lamps is my favourite feature of this car and it works like a charm
• Tail lamps, rear fog lamps and the brake lamps are also very powerful. Keeps away the tailgaters
• Humongous fuel tank of 60 litres. Combine this with a mileage of 15 kmpl+. Easily gives a touring range of 900kms+

Dislikes:

• Very minor buzz/rattle coming from driver side door. When the window glass is completely rolled up, it gives a buzzing sound. Taking the glass 2-3mm down eliminates it.
• Not sure if it is the brake grinding noise of something else, but after braking when I accelerate I get to hear this grinding noise, could it be the vacuum modulator sound?
• There is lot of black brake dust getting deposited on the front alloys. Though this is common across all the cars, I am worried by the sheer amount of brake dust. Hope once the brakes bed in properly this should get reduced
• If the car is runnnig and I press the handbrake (not lift it), but press it down there is some grating noise
• The rear windshield should have been bigger. The spare wheel cover obstructs the view from the already smaller windshield and one has to be extra careful with tailgating two wheelers or low slung cars like old Zen or Esteem types

Overall a very satisfying one month of ownership and hope it continues to be so in the long run.

Enjoy the picture of the Orange tank

[drsingh]

Congrats @Autoindian.Fantastic thread. Expect nothing less from you after having leached off your excellent Indica ownership thread. I drive a linea now but this Tank is already in my list for an additional vehicle just cause of your endorsement

I'll probably trail you by 10-15 k kms. Just like I trailed your Indica with my Indigo.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by drsingh

Congrats @Autoindian.Fantastic thread. Expect nothing less from you after having leached off your excellent Indica ownership thread. I drive a linea now but this Tank is already in my list for an additional vehicle just cause of your endorsement

I'll probably trail you by 10-15 k kms. Just like I trailed your Indica with my Indigo.

Thank you drsingh for your wishes and compliments. I very well recollect interactions with you on my Indica thread. Once upon a time the Linea with a 1.6 L Multijet heart was one of my dream machines, but Fiat never took that bold step. Only now they have brought out the Abarth T-Jet, which again would cater to a very niche segment. Anyways all this can be left for discussion on a different thread.

You are most welcome to trail me even here and will look forward to your comments/ feedback.

[MaxTorque]

Yesterday I spotted a TUV300 in Pune city with many accessories like black claddings and chromes. It looked nice barring the chrome elements. Any plans to add them in your tank..?

[Titanium]

Originally Posted by GKMahajan

Dear Titanium,
I think the plates fitted by you are not 'illegal'. So, most probably, you will not have any issues going out of state. However, I can suggest that you check with some friends in the state that you plan to visit, just before leaving your state. My stupid 2 cents!
Girish Mahajan

That sounds great ! Thank again Girish. I'll definitely check with my friends before traveling out of city/state.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by MaxTorque

Yesterday I spotted a TUV300 in Pune city with many accessories like black claddings and chromes. It looked nice barring the chrome elements. Any plans to add them in your tank..?

Hi MaxTorque, right now no plans for any kind of accessories. I wanted the bare minimum, hence have put the 3M Nomad mats, that's it. Want to put the mud flaps as well. Fortunately M&M had provided all the basic accessories so I will use the car in stock condition, may be one year down the line I can think of accessorizing it further

[mooza]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

The way in which the tank gobbles up the road irregularities, be it pot holes, speed bumps, road joints etc. There is nothing but a very mild thud heard inside and passengers are undisturbed. It would be very hard to tell the quality of the road if you are sitting inside the TUV with your eyes closed. You will feel every road to be super smooth.

Hi AutoIndian, Congrats on your TUV, it looks smashing in molten orange !

How would you compare the ride quality and handling of the TUV vs your earlier Innova on a scale of 1 to 10 at low and high speeds ?

Wishing you and your family many happy drives in your new ride

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by mooza

Hi AutoIndian, Congrats on your TUV, it looks smashing in molten orange !

How would you compare the ride quality and handling of the TUV vs your earlier Innova on a scale of 1 to 10 at low and high speeds ?

Wishing you and your family many happy drives in your new ride

Thank you for your wishes Mooza. I haven't done long distance driving in my TUV yet. So the comparison would be in view of my limited experience of 1600 kms (1 month) in my TUV and that of 18K kms ( 1 year) in my Innova.

Ride Quality:
If Innova scores 8 on a scale of 10, then the TUV would be 9 or even higher than that. The primary reason for this as per me is the wider section of tyres (215mm vs 205mm of Innova) and the aspect ratio of 75 vs 65 that of Innova. What does that mean? TUV tyres have a sidewall thickness of 161mm vs 133mm that for Innova. This gives the TUV a more cushy ride. Most of the shocks are absorbed by the tyres themselves and the balance taken care by the suspension. You don't have to slow down for bridge joints and other road irregularities. The tyre and road noise is also less in the TUV compared to the Innova.

Handling
Haven't really had the opportunity to test the handling of TUV. however since the CG of the TUV is higher than that of the Innova I am expecting that the TUV would be a shade lower than Innova when it comes to handling. The Innova never disappointed me, be it the ghat roads or highways, the steering and handling was very predictive and confidence inspiring. The TUV will be put to test during long highway runs. The brakes in Innova were sharper and sure footed compared to TUV. Wish the TUV brakes had more bite in them.

[narenteam]

AutoIndian,
Any further updates on your TUV ownership? Were you able to take the tank for highway drives? Are you planning a long trip soon? Eager to hear about your experience with the tank on the highway.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by narenteam

AutoIndian,
Any further updates on your TUV ownership? Were you able to take the tank for highway drives? Are you planning a long trip soon? Eager to hear about your experience with the tank on the highway.

Hi narenteam, actually my hands, legs and the whole body is itching to take my Orange tank on long highway drives, however too tied up in office work. Last week only I joined a new assignment/ project, which is in a critical phase, so putting in almost 12-14 hours a day in office work. On week ends some or the other work crops up. After Christmas I have some planned vacations. Hope I am able to take the tank out of city limits at least in the last week of Dec 2015.

[TaurusAl]

=AutoIndian;3870820 Last week only I joined a new assignment/ project, which is in a critical phase, so putting in almost 12-14 hours a day in office work. On week ends some or the other work crops up. After Christmas I have some planned vacations. Hope I am able to take the tank out of city limits at least in the last week of Dec 2015.

Not a good news for us. I was waiting for your daily updates and things you learnt from your TUV like you used to write. Hope your workload is reduced soon and your focus is back to updating the thread.

Have you installed any seat covers ? I am planning to go for the ones available with the dealer.

[procrj]

Originally Posted by TaurusAl

I am planning to go for the ones available with the dealer.

I did check this out but was not impressed with the quality and cost is on the higher end. Do check with Captain rex as he had got covers from the dealer. In some cases the dealer has tie ups with local seat cover makers and you end up paying a premium for a product that is not premium.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by TaurusAl

Not a good news for us. I was waiting for your daily updates and things you learnt from your TUV like you used to write. Hope your workload is reduced soon and your focus is back to updating the thread.

Don't worry mate, workload or not I will keep updating this thread. Only grouse is that I am not able to take the TUV out of city limits, however averaging 40-50kms a day for in-city driving.

Have you installed any seat covers ? I am planning to go for the ones available with the dealer.

No seat covers yet. If I am lucky to manage then next week end planning to visit the shop who did the seat covers for my Innova.

Originally Posted by procrj

I did check this out but was not impressed with the quality and cost is on the higher end. Do check with Captain rex as he had got covers from the dealer. In some cases the dealer has tie ups with local seat cover makers and you end up paying a premium for a product that is not premium.

with procrj. In Mumbai I am sure you will find many seat cover manufacturers. You can directly go to them and inquire. The shop in Pune, Shri Ashtavinayak Enterprises that I am referring has a factory of his own and manufactures seat covers by the brand named "Wings". He is the preferred seat cover supplier for many car accessories shops in and around Pune.