[abhi7013]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

Which bunk is this? The HPCL bunk near CBI has a pretty decent one. Their calibration seems to be alright.

There's a HP bunk in Yelahanka which has the worst calibrated Nitrogen pump. Had to completely flatten and refill one of the tyres. Though i saw reading as 34, the TPMS started blinking and beeping as it was 19! Other wheels too had varying pressures. From 26 to 38. Have observed it thrice in the past.
However, the one am referring to is Indian Oil, near Kodigehalli Gate, 1.5kms north of Hebbal flyover. They have an accurate pump. Unfortunately, it is not always attended. You literally have to get down and pull one of the staff towards the car.

[ashokabs]

I have been reading about filling car tyres with Nitrogen. Personally as an engineer I don't think it is justified other than as a kind of an enthusiast thing which one can crow about. I am giving a link from Scientific American which gives a brief assessment of what it might accomplish - https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...el-efficiency/

Just get your tyre pressure checked regularly to avoid underinflation and use air for filling the tyres.

Originally Posted by abhi7013

There's a HP bunk in Yelahanka which has the worst calibrated Nitrogen pump. Had to completely flatten and refill one of the tyres. Though i saw reading as 34, the TPMS started blinking and beeping as it was 19! Other wheels too had varying pressures. From 26 to 38. Have observed it thrice in the past.
However, the one am referring to is Indian Oil, near Kodigehalli Gate, 1.5kms north of Hebbal flyover. They have an accurate pump. Unfortunately, it is not always attended. You literally have to get down and pull one of the staff towards the car.

[abhi7013]

Originally Posted by ashokabs

I have been reading about filling car tyres with Nitrogen. Personally as an engineer I don't think it is justified other than as a kind of an enthusiast thing which one can crow about. I am giving a link from Scientific American which gives a brief assessment of what it might accomplish - https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...el-efficiency/

Just get your tyre pressure checked regularly to avoid underinflation and use air for filling the tyres.

Yes, different people believe differently. I for one have not experienced any difference between nitrogen or the normal air. However just being cautious in the beginning.
Now that i have a TPMS in place, i would not bother much shifting to regular air.

[abhi7013]

Update: got the high beams changed to Philips Extreme Vision. Tried refocusing the throw but it looks messed up even more.
Will get it rectified this weekend maybe.

[abhi7013]

Had been to a trip to Harangi dam on Saturday but was disappointed as the dam gates were closed. However, the backwaters are scenic.
Really light traffic and covered distance from hassan to bangalore in 1.5hours. Also Fastag helped a lot!

The car completed 10k kms after this trip and the mileage for a distance of 7000kms is 13.5kmpl. It was a mix of 40% city and 60% highway.
The car keeps getting smoother with every kilometre run and the gear shifts too are getting a lot easier to slot into. Will go for oil change, though the recommended interval is 20k kms.

[abhi7013]

Thinking of switching to shell diesel. If there's any member who feels diesel isn't as good as the petrol, please advice.
Will revert back to HP.

[abhi7013]

Update (11th November): Got a call from the dealer asking me to come down for an ECU update. There were other parts like steering cable too that needed to be changed.
The rear wiper was making sounds and i needed to get the wheel alignment checked. So gave the car yesterday for the updates and the car was ready in a few hours.

From the moment i drove it out of the gate, i could feel the difference in steering and pick up. Earlier, the car suffered from considerable turbo lag. But now, it's reduced by almost 95%!
The car pulls like crazy even in lower RPMs and the power delivery is very linear across the band, very unlike the spike in power we used to get earlier. The steering too has become a bit smooth and there is absolutely no wobble at speeds nearing 140-150kmph.

The car is planted on highways at those speeds and with very minimal lag, it's as if the engine has evolved to a new version! Enjoying every bit of the ownership and wish TATA good luck with this and other products. Good times ahead!

[abhi7013]

Update 2 (13th November): The service work carried out was captured in the dashcam and am fully impressed with the way things were handled. The rear wiper blade was changed, steering pipe replaced, ECU updated and alignment checked very efficiently as could be seen from the video. I was charged 800 for alignment only. That's the first time i had to pay for anything in these last 2 services and 10 months of ownership!

The personnel were very professional in their work, very unlike the Maruti incident. Kudos to Prerana Motors!

[SaNdY_AR]

Originally Posted by abhi7013

Update 2 (13th November): The service work carried out was captured in the dashcam and am fully impressed with the way things were handled. The rear wiper blade was changed, steering pipe replaced, ECU updated and alignment checked very efficiently as could be seen from the video. I was charged 800 for alignment only. That's the first time i had to pay for anything in these last 2 services and 10 months of ownership!

The personnel were very professional in their work, very unlike the Maruti incident. Kudos to Prerana Motors!

Abhi, do you have an entry in the invoice produced after service which mentions the steering pipe replace. Please, if possible, post a snap of the same.

Regards
Sandy

[abhi7013]

Originally Posted by SaNdY_AR

Abhi, do you have an entry in the invoice produced after service which mentions the steering pipe replace. Please, if possible, post a snap of the same.

Regards
Sandy

Hey. I checked the service app just now and there's no entry on this. Latest update was of the second service given last month. There's no mention in the invoice too.

[doxinboy]

Hi abhi
Such wonderful writeup and constant update is what makes this forum great, thanks man.

I am contemplating on buying XE or XM variant for dad who will be chauffeur driven within Bangalore. I did use the new XE variant offered by zoomcars, for two days in the peak traffic and felt very comfortable. Here are my queries.

1. Do you suggest Hexa for 80% city usage? Dad is usung Vento for last 6 years and was blown away by Hexa
2. Parking in my home is pretty tight, I really want rear cam and parking sensors. Can Tata retrofit cams from their service center? This is very important to me.
3. Can you please point to authorized accessory list, if available.
4. Are sixteen inchers good enough? Can it be upgraded to 19 inchers later? What are the advantage of 19 inchers?
5. Are there any possibility that Hexa might get Android Carplay as a software update?
6. Does the car have GPS functionality in higher trims?
7. How often do u change mood lighting?

I was also thinking about XUV, but I find the looks rather overdone and quirky. I really liked the subtle mature profile of Hexa. I would like to keep my cars for at least 6 to 8 years. I would also like to suggest for those sitting on the fence to try zoomcar, the Hexa I got was still under 1000 km on odo.

Thanks a lot and do keep the update coming.

[abhi7013]

Originally Posted by doxinboy

Hi abhi
Such wonderful writeup and constant update is what makes this forum great, thanks man.

Thank you for your feedback, feels great to know that it is serving a purpose! Will keep updating as and when possible.

Shall address your concerns one by one:-
1. Do you suggest Hexa for 80% city usage? Dad is usung Vento for last 6 years and was blown away by Hexa
Since the last few weeks, I've been driving it in Bangalore's peak traffic. While the Auto would really help, the manual too is not as tiring to drive once you get a hang of things. If it's XM variant, would recommend you to go with auto. Depends on personal tastes. I for one, would still stick with the manual variant over the auto any day!

2. Parking in my home is pretty tight, I really want rear cam and parking sensors. Can Tata retrofit cams from their service center? This is very important to me.
The folks at TATA would be happy to bring a car to your place if you want to check the best way of parking it. That is what I had done. Regarding sensors and cameras, would ask you to get the one with the display on the IRVM from the TATA accessory if you are skeptical on warranty. It is not possible however, to have the rear camera display on the ICE in XM AFAIK.

3. Can you please point to authorized accessory list, if available.
Here's the list, not sure of the prices though:-
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8vfkCA5uYBoS3lLWmN6aFJGQjA/view?usp=drivesdk

4. Are sixteen inchers good enough? Can it be upgraded to 19 inchers later? What are the advantage of 19 inchers?
Given the thicker sidewalls on the 16" wheels, you will have a more comfortable ride than the ones on 19" alloys. Theoretically this is how it should be, but i have not observed much difference. Coming to benefits, the only advantage of those huge alloys are looks and they do a great job at that!

5. Are there any possibility that Hexa might get Android Carplay as a software update?
Had read somewhere that the screen size and resolutions are a major hindrance to bring in the Android Auto and Apple Carplay. There may be an update on the UI part, but i don't think we could get anything more than just that.

6. Does the car have GPS functionality in higher trims?
No they don't. The system depends on you cellphone for location for which you have to connect it to the ICE via USB.

7. How often do u change mood lighting?
Used to change atleast once a week when the car was new! Now I just set it to auto so that it changes based on the driving mode selected.

Hope i have answered most of your queries. As mentioned in my opening post, we have a 11-12 years old Santro and this is our second car. We do intend to keep it for a minimum of 7-8 years. Going by these 10 months of ownership with not a penny spent on service or any major issues, I am very confident that this SUV will age well, just like the Tiago.

PS: If you are looking at XE, get the white! the matte black RVMs and tail gate applique look amazing!

[doxinboy]

Thanks a lot man, your answers help. Indeed the reverse cam part was a major concern for me. Since you mentioned that we can use IRVM based setup, I guess my concern is setteled. I own a 12 yr old santro too, whats with a lot of santro dudes going for this behmoth? Thanks again mate.

[abhi7013]

Originally Posted by doxinboy

Thanks a lot man, your answers help. Indeed the reverse cam part was a major concern for me. Since you mentioned that we can use IRVM based setup, I guess my concern is setteled. I own a 12 yr old santro too, whats with a lot of santro dudes going for this behmoth? Thanks again mate.

Hehe! No idea with the relation between santro and this. But would like to highlight that the footwells in the Hexa are narrow as opposed to the huge ones in santro!

[abhi7013]

Its been a busy month till now for the Hexa. Went to Gandikota two weeks back with a bunch of friends and it was full house. On a safe patch of road, i tried testing the high speed with 7 adults inside which is pretty impressive i should say. Wee bit of steering wobble but nothing much. Maintained a constant 100-120kmph throughout the trip to get a mileage of 12.2kmpl (indicated mileage was 13kmpl).

Will avoid doing high speeds, but this one time was an exception as i was curious in knowing the engine's capability. Would definitely not recommend and will surely avoid the same henceforth!


Last week, we had been to a 3 days trip to Sirsi. With 5 family members and the car loaded with luggage, it was a wonderful driving and travel experience for all of us. Due to time constraints, i had to drive fast from Chitradurga to Bangalore which was a piece of cake thanks to the excellent highway and low traffic.
However, since i drove rather sedately in the previous days, i got a mileage of about 13.4 kmpl (indicated mileage was 13.8)

Also, I have two curious observations to report:-

1. The lag which was present before the ECU update seems to kick in on long rides, when we use cruise control. It vanishes on its own, when driving in cities and the engine becomes a lot more peppier.
So my doubt is, when ECU is updated, what makes it go back to its previous characteristics and again come back to normal based on driving conditions? Is it a bug, or is it specifically programmed to be so?
It would help if anyone who's done a custom ECU update could throw some light!

2. The ICE detects the phone for navigation only when connected with high speed data transfer cables, and not regular charging cables. Not sure if it is because of my phone (Nubia Z11).

Attaching a few pics from my recent drive:-






Edit: Clocked 14k kms as of now.