[Rahulkool]

Meet up with another Abarth owner on sunday and drove his car. He has done a lots of mods on his car. It Runs Bilstein B14 coilovers, 170bhp/280nm remap from quantum(not dynoed), short shifter, endcan and michelin p3st 205 rubber.

I drove the car for 8-10kms and suspension was too bumpy after 100kmph but there was no body roll and it handled really well. I dont think i can live with the suspension on my car . is there any lowering suspension which is comfortable as well . It didnt scraped anywhere on the road but he told me that bigger speed breaker he has to be careful with speed or it does scrap.

I tried 70-90kmph couple of times in 4th gear and it felt at least ~1 sec faster. Even in first gear it was wheel spinning much more than my stock car.

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by Rahulkool

It Runs Bilstein B14 coilovers, 170bhp/280nm remap from quantum(not dynoed), short shifter, endcan and michelin p3st 205 rubber.

Brilliant!!

This car should be very much fun on the track. I was very impressed with the performance of Abarth Punto even in stock map. Remapped one should be a beast

[Intelsingh]

While surfing the forums, I finally come across this thread of the only other car I drool over. I own the Polo GT TDI 1.6 and in my spare time am reading about the abarth and having fantasies of buying the car.

Congrats Rahul on your purchase though it comes in a little late. Yes, in my fantasies I have already removed the stickers apart from the scorpion on the top (If it's still there and not just on the Web site) and got a wrap around the fog lamp details and got them black

[Rahulkool]

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

Brilliant!!

This car should be very much fun on the track. I was very impressed with the performance of Abarth Punto even in stock map. Remapped one should be a beast

Yup it should be one heck of a track car, cant say the same about highways. After 130-140 its kinda too bumpy if surface is not smooth, which most of the Indian highways are like. There is a one more abarth running with stock damper and eibach springs in chennai, need to check that out. Its much better in comfort as the owner told me.

Just saw your scross acceration videos, your car is crazy fast, definitely fast than stock abarth, maybe as fast as the remapped abarth

Originally Posted by Intelsingh

While surfing the forums, I finally come across this thread of the only other car I drool over. I own the Polo GT TDI 1.6 and in my spare time am reading about the abarth and having fantasies of buying the car.

Congrats Rahul on your purchase though it comes in a little late. Yes, in my fantasies I have already removed the stickers apart from the scorpion on the top (If it's still there and not just on the Web site) and got a wrap around the fog lamp details and got them black

Thanks man, even i keep on procrastinating about doing all the stuff you have mentioned but never do any mods. I have bought the black plastidip for fog laps lipstick few months back but never got around doing it. Anyways with GT TDi you are not missing much.

[Intelsingh]

True with a GT TDI, I am not missing much. It's the Fiat fan in me that keeps on dreaming and drooling. Since, there is no need per say for another car- that's what stops me from making the purchase.
As a suggestion, try to avoid using plastidip. Have dipped my alloys in black and it keeps peeling off giving the wheels an old scratchy look. As an alternative see if anyone can wrap those details for you. With plastidip, you will have to keep on recoating quite often.

[Rahulkool]

Finally the inevitable happened, dent on the rear right door .

There was no damaged to the paint so thought of trying the paintless dent repair method. I have explained the whole process here - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-do...un-method.html

You can also watch the video -

https://youtu.be/ZVkUld3pSyU

[Rahulkool]

Did the 3rd free service on 31st Jan. Usually i do the service after 6-7k kms but this time due to couple of long highway runs, i did 9.5k kms since 2nd service. odo reading was 19631kms.

I had taken the appointment 1 week before for the same. I reached the service center at 8:45 and car was taken in immediately.

After sometime the service advisor told me that air filter and oil filter is out of stock , At least they could have informed me before and i could have come back later. One more friend was going to visit them next day, i asked them to call him and reschedule, as getting the parts would take at least few days.

Anyways i decided to finish all other work and come back later for oil, oil filter and air filter change.

Following things were done on the car.
Gearbox oil change
Brake oil change
Power steering oil change
Coolant change
Fuel filter replaced
Pollen filter replaced
Total bill was rs3448. Will update after getting the oil, oil filter and air filter change.

While in the service center i send a mail to Fiat regarding non availability on base essential items like oil filter and Air filter. I got a call within 1 hour from sending the mail, he said they are looking into it. The same mail was forwarded to the service center. Today i got a call back from Fiat that i can visit the service center anytime after monday.

Below is the service bill.

[Rahulkool]

Got call from Fiat on thusday evening that parts would be available by saturday evening and i can visit the service center on monday. Again got call back on saturday from Fiat as well as local service center that i can visit the service center on monday or anyday after.

Reached the service center by 9am and car was taken in immediately. They could start the work only after the engine cools down because the oil filter is just below the turbo.

Again replacing the oil filter took almost 2 hour because of the placement. Got back the car by 11:45am.

It was good day for Fiat ASC, there were 4 abarths in the service center

Total bill for this service was rs3528. So total paid for 3rd service was 3528+3448=6976. Now too high as almost all fluids were changed in the car.



Waiting for the job card. My car looks like a SUV in front of that sweet lowered abarth.


Getting the oil changed.



Got the wheel alignment and balancing also done at Tyre store.


There was a minor leak in the front left tyre, I got it checked at two shop and both couldn't fine any puncture. Changed the valve also once but still there was minor leak. I keep 32psi usually fill every 15days of so, front left tyre was always in the range of 25-26psi while rest will be in 31-32 range. Finally tyre store was able to find the puncture after checking the tyre carefully. Drove almost 4000kms with this mail inside the tyre

This was the stealth nail inside the tyre.

[Rahulkool]

Done with 4th Paid service @ 24910kms, only 5200kms after last service.

Total bill was 6139rs

this was regular service engine oil, Oil filter, air filter, fuel filter and cabin filter changed.





There was no complains as such but now AC is acting up, sometimes it stops cooling. If i switch off the AC or compressor and switch back on then it starts cooling. Need to visit the service center again!

[Rahulkool]

Visited the RDC chennai service center on 29th March for AC issue, they checked everything and told AC compressor needs to be replaced, as usual the part was not available and as it was warranty claim needs to be approved from fiat as well. They told 15 days at least, after many following up they have told to visit on 23rd April. It will take two days to replace the compressor. Ramkay chennai is closed and now for Fiat there is only one service center in chennai. While ramkay service center was huge, RDC is very small and always full, finding parking space in the service center is difficult. Ramkay being closed, its making the matters even worst at RDC.


Also cracked front windscreen in yesterday. I was driving on ECR, following a car, i guess it was a stone chip. Heard a loud pop noise and small 1-2inch circular crack was there on the windshield, after few mins another pop noise and it got bigger. Need to change the windshield too



Just before the catastrophe struck


EDIT:- drove a Abarth with TD04 turbo and countless other mods, makes about 250bhp/350nm on the wheels. It was crazy fast, 4th gear felt like 2nd.

[h14]

New dealer VTK is coming up in Chennai. They will be taking up the ramkay properties in kattupakkam & Nungambakkam.

[Rahulkool]

Originally Posted by h14

New dealer VTK is coming up in Chennai. They will be taking up the ramkay properties in kattupakkam & Nungambakkam.

Thanks for the update, i talked to someone in Fiat he did mentioned the some new dealer is coming up in North chennai, but the locations you have mentioned is different. Hoping for the best or it was a big headache to maintain the car. RDC also does not seem to be very professional.


Have given the car to RDC for AC issue today, they have asked for 3 days. 3 days just to change AC compressor

[Rahulkool]

So got the car back on 26th April. Compressor was replaced under warranty, checked the AC for few mins and it seems to be working fine. There was a scratch on the climate control panel, showed this to the SA and he called the manager, who took few pics and told that they will replace it.




Had to pay 295rs for compressor oil. Cost of the compressor is very high at rs28236/-. They got the car cleaned and it was ready for delivery.



Left the service center around 6PM to catch 7PM show of Avengers Endgame. Theater was just couple of kms away. After driving 500meter from the showroom car lost all its power, i could smell some petrol in the cabin but i thought maybe because car was there in the service center for 3 days. I tried starting the car but nothing happened, it was evening time and full traffic on the road, i was in the right most lane, switched on the hazard lights and tried calling the SA but he didnt pick up. Tried starting the car again, it started and i tried moving it to the left side but again lost power when i got to the middle of the road. Some two wheeler guy gestured me telling something below the car, also all the cars behind me seems to be stopped to give way, felt very strange but i managed to park the car to the side. Few people on the side started gesturing to open the bonnet, i got scared, first thing that came to my mind was fire

I got down and then saw the oil leaking below the car, it was leaking petrol, first thing i did was open the bonnet and remove the battery terminal. Tried calling the SA again and he picked up my 4th call. He then send two mechanics who reached in 10mins or so. Opened the engine cover and petrol was leaking from one of the fuel lines behind the engine. I think it was the fuel return line, they fixed it quickly, later they told me that the fuel line was not properly locked. when i asked why it was left like that they told that they have not "touched" this part of the engine, while i could see the AC compressor just few inches away from the fuel lines. Anyways it was very late i didnt argued and left the place, will go to the service center again and talk to the SA.

how can they be so careless with fuel lines, car could have caught fire. very unprofessional, but this is only service center in chennai now.



Well it didnt end there, next day while cleaning the car i found few more surprises. One of the clips holding the pipe was missing on the engine cover and tether for AC gas cap was broken.

[NaXal]

This is a common problem with so many service stations or even road side local mechanics. I feel somehow carelessness runs in their vain.

You are very lucky to face the problem right out of the gate. Imagine the nightmare if this thing happened few weeks later during a night ride on a long drive.

Off topic,

I did almost the same work for the 20k service of my Aspire TDCi & cost was almost identical. Yes, I am taking into account the fact of No Power Steering fluid & No coolant change.

FIAT India time & again proves their commitment towards this market which is neglecting them so badly. A plain Baleno service would cost similar compare to this beast !!

[bottle]

Sorry to read about these issues, I think Ramkway was working out better the last few years. Did you go back and talk to the SA ?