[MaddyCrew]

Originally Posted by ph03n!x

[center]The finished grill. The one holding it is Sarath from Sun Combine - he's done a good job with the finish and affixing the mesh.
Attachment 2093290

Customary "Before" shot.
Attachment 2093897

How about an "After" shot? Or did I miss it?

Edit: Never mind, I spotted it in one of the previous posts. Looks cool.

[amol4184]

Originally Posted by MaddyCrew

How about an "After" shot? Or did I miss it?

Edit: Never mind, I spotted it in one of the previous posts. Looks cool.

Where is it? I found one with a really steep and awkward angle, is that the one or I missed something too.

Edit: Ok. I see the problem. The link takes you to installation post which does NOT have a good "after" shot and you naturally scroll down thinking its the first post in the thread. It's not! The after shot is actually somewhere up above :/

[Capt.Arun]

Such a gripping read this! Your ownership review especially strikes a chord with me because I have booked an All New Thar from CAI Coimbatore as well, in Napoli black with an automatic tranny mated to a petrol engine. Needless to say I too had contacted Auto Ignite via whatsApp once they had posted the new grill designs. What I'd like to know from you is regarding the mesh insert, is it a part of the Auto Ignite 7 slat or you had it sourced elsewhere.

[ph03n!x]

Originally Posted by ph03n!x

The gremlin that refuses to die!

Attachment 2093311

Here are the gruesome details - hopefully the bottom line of this post will NOT lead to a niggles thread dedicated to the Team-BHP COTY 2020!

A quick recap - I started getting the Water-in-Fuel alert after my first service, and M&M flew in a Fuel Filter assembly and replaced the one in my Thar on December 7th - this was with 1275 KM on the clock. Gremlin slayed, and I planned a trip down south - our annual visit to our family deity will add a good 900 KM to the clock.

But... Gremlins Galore. After driving about 40 KM within the city, the ugly warning - WATER IN FUEL - showed up, and right when I was all packed, loaded, and barely on the move!

Water-in-Fuel error code will put the Thar in limp mode. Power and torque delivery is pretty muted, and it will take decades to move from 40 KMPH to 80 KMPH, and 80's the limit in limp mode!

Cut to the chase, here is the long and short of how many time it happened. Note that there was no pattern to it - day/ night, fast/ slow, road/ no road, rainy/ sunny - none at all. I went back through my notes and ruled them all out - there were even two tank-ups amidst all these, and I was positive about the quality of the fuel.

Imagine overtaking a slow-moving vehicle in a 4 lane highway at 100+ KMPH... and BAM! Warning Chime, loss of power. The guy your are overtaking is confused, he's wondering whether am just showing off my new wheels in this game of tag. The behind you is wondering why the hell ain't you getting the move on... you get the drift. Yes, things can get ugly too

Here's a summary of the pain.

Every time this occurred and did not disappear in a dozen or so kilometer, I will switch of my Thar, take the key out, stretch my leg and then try my luck again - I usually get lucky, as you can see from the MID collage. The last one (at 2112 KM) though made me realize luck's run out. Apart from sacrificing an animal to the Thar gods, I tried every trick in the book but nada. It stayed put.

Now I was at a part of the journey where it is about to get dark, and I will be entering the last lap that is all of 150 KM, most of which will be on 2 lane highways. I did not want to be the guy reading all the fancy slogans written behind the trucks on our roads because I just cannot overtake it! With this new found drive (pun!) to solve the problem I popped the hood open, determined to drain the Diesel in the fuel filter and ensure there no H2O molecules anywhere in it.

But what do you know, draining water from the filter is no task for the unarmed. I got as far as removing the electrical connector and.. that's it. Nothing else can be done without my tool case, which is not in my Thar (it was loaded with the travel luggage!). Grudgingly deciding to try my luck again, I shoved the electrical connector back on, muttered a little prayer and fired up the mHawk 130.

For the next 150 KM, the only warnings that came from my Thar were those drawing my attention on the speeds I was doing, and nothing else. Though the Water-in-Fuel warning disappeared, the CEL came on and stayed put - I was confident that there is nothing mechanically wrong with my Thar, and was sure that the CEL was a resultant of my penetration attempt into the fortress that is the fuel filter - never lit up through 700 KM of driving, and after the fuel filter was replaced a 1000 KM ago, this is the first time am seeing it).

I had called up my Service Advisor (on a Sunday evening, at that, and he picked my call!) and told him about the episode. He was expecting me on Monday morning - but then work took precedence, and I finally went in on Tuesday.

At risk of being labelled a broken record, I have been reiterating my trust on M&M and how responsive they are in various threads - yes, having a niggle-free product should be the desired state. But be it the manufacturer's reaction to the XUV3OO suspension issue, or to my personal experience with this niggle, I can only say hats off. And the responsiveness of my dealer, CAI Mahindra is amazing - the head of the dealership personally spoke to me about the issue, and the head of service was standing next to my Thar along with the mechanical and technical teams. It is experiences like these that defines your trust in a brand - and with the kind of responsiveness I have seen, I will definitely put my money here when necessity arises next!

After reading the error codes from the ECU (Water in Fule, of course) the dealer's technicians got with Mahindra's MRV Team to isolate the issue.

First off was the fuel filter - it was replaced hardly 1,000 KM ago, and is a part that needs replacement at 30,000 KM. They drained the Diesel from it to have a look-see on the quality.

My last refueling was at Reliance (Tirunelveli), and I had no reason to doubt their fuel quality. And it shows - note that the Diesel itself was as Diesel as it could be, and anything else you see is either the camera angle or stuff on the outside of the bottle


With that out of the way, the next elimination was the Diesel in the tank. I was prepared, and was sure I'd have only 5 to 10 liters in the tank (did not refill after reaching Coimbatore). And here goes - the tank being dismounted

If you have a sharp eye, you will notice two dates on the Diesel tank - one in August and one in October. Looks like the tank and the chassis (see my post on the grill mod) were manufactured in August itself, but the actually assembly happened only in end of October. Wonder why, which component caused this delay?!

This is all of it, the entire tank emptied - No, no water here. Not even dust or similar impurity. My apologies, Mr. Ambani, for doubting your fuel's purity!

Now the next step is to check the wiring connections between the fuel filter and the ECU. While one of the wires in the fuel filter's socket seemed a tad lose than the others, it *should not* be a cause for concern as there is a lock that holds it in place. But still, it was tightened with a plyer and put back in to the socket.

I took back my Thar after another round of diagnostics and resetting of error codes - haven't driven much after that, but will do so over the weekend. I have been informed that the wiring kit will be replaced if my issue occurs again. I am hoping and praying that it doesn't!

Interesting note - a fellow 2020 Thar owner from Ooty, who was in touch with me had actually taken delivery of a November manufactured Thar. His Thar was at the dealership - for a low oil pressure warning, no less! It was also a false warning, and the sensor/ connections where the ones that were checked. I did not know that it was his Thar until he spoke to me earlier today! So there does seem to be niggles with the electrical connections in the 2020 Thar, and will have to be addressed proactively by M&M least the Thar brand's reputation gets hit. Make no mistake, the Thar is mechanically sound - I did not have any fear that I will be left stranded at any point during this ordeal!

Now, in case anyone is interested, here is a underbody view - from the rear axle as well as the front. Note that the Diesel tank was not mounted back when I took these...

So what does 2,500 KM with the new Thar feel like?

BHPian @ramnaresh_2000 had asked me how I managed to convince my family to agree to the Thar purchase. Back then, my family wasn't convinced.

But this did the trick -

A drive by the beach with the top down brought the kid out in al the kids in the jeep, and the only question was - Why did you not do this earlier?! So the answer, I guess, is to show what jeep life is all about.

And what better way than taking a drive down south and to our family deity's temple - where we had to use tractors to reach the temple a few years ago, thanks to the mud and slush that is a part of the path to the temple?

Look closely and you'll see them windmills. Our family deity is one that protects the village, and hence is in the middle of nowhere - in the edge of the village.

Unfortunately, I didn't even have to go to 4H - the mud wasn't muddy enough, and the sandy path was anyway a breeze for the Thar. Remember, these are roads where FWD cars will either barely make it, or will probably need to be towed out. I still haven't gotten to 4WD yet, not in 2,500 KM

Here is another pic of my Thar resting at the foothills of Vagulagiri Kshetram, Karungulam (my father's mother is from this place).

So, what can I say?

• It grabs attention. The count of friendly strangers (some of whom have become acquaintances ever since!) that I have interacted with has gone up by scores. Everywhere you park, everywhere you tank up, every break you take on the highway - expect someone to come and talk to you about the Thar
• Nervous handling is no longer a problem for me. In the 2,500 KM, I can gauge my Thar fairly well and know when I have to be more cautious. Remember those continuous speed breakers, 3 or more in a row? The Thar will pull left there - before the front suspension can complete its damping action, the rear wheel would have started oscillating, and if not controlled, will lead to the Thar ploughing the fields to your left. Extrapolate this for road undulations too - a stiffer damper should mitigate this behavior on tarmac, but may also affect off road behavior. Adaptive damping?
• Mileage takes a nose dive if you drive above 100. Thanks to the aerodynamics - or the lack of it
• Soft top noise is liveable till 90 KMPH and is unbearable above 120 KMPH
• Luggage space - let me list all the stuff my wife packed. Two full length mats, 5 pillows, a cabin sized luggage, a cricket bat + tennis ball, two 2' x 2' bags with food and utensils, an induction stove, my car care kit bag (1' x 0.5'), a portable tyre inflator - I am sure I am missing a bunch, but you get the drift. There is enough space for a family of 2 adults + 2 kids to go on a week's vacation
• Bugs - no, not the software kind. The actual living breathing bugs. If you plan to take the Thar on tarmac often - that too open highways - plan to get a bug deflector installed. My windshield was like a war crime burial ground and I had to wash it all off a few times to ensure I do not drive blind. Have ordered one for my Thar, waiting for it to reach my dealer...

This milestone went by, and I will soon be crossing 3,000 too...

Originally Posted by MaddyCrew

How about an "After" shot? Or did I miss it?

Edit: Never mind, I spotted it in one of the previous posts. Looks cool.

Originally Posted by amol4184

Where is it? I found one with a really steep and awkward angle, is that the one or I missed something too.

Edit: Ok. I see the problem. The link takes you to installation post which does NOT have a good "after" shot and you naturally scroll down thinking its the first post in the thread. It's not! The after shot is actually somewhere up above :/

My bad fellas! Didn't know my 7-slat mod will go to the hot threads - and had a not-so-linear tale going. Let me keep this in mind least I fall out of sync.. Or I'll just leave my narration as-is so that everyone will have to catch up from the beginning of the story to make sense of it?!!

Originally Posted by Capt.Arun

What I'd like to know from you is regarding the mesh insert, is it a part of the Auto Ignite 7 slat or you had it sourced elsewhere.

Congrats on your booking! When is your beast expected?

The Auto Ignite 7 Slat that I chose did not come with the mesh, and Sun Combine did a jugaad with glue/ m-seal for it. Auto Ignite however has a 5-slat Angry Bird grill with mesh that they quoted 7500 when I asked back then.

I Obviously went with the 7-slat...

I'm pretty sure there will be tons of options - if you look at the stock grill, the "grill" part is removable - am sure there should be easier/ better mods for 7 slat using that. Even otherwise, a painted 7-slat was going for 11k in Delhi (my net total was way too costly that I am not even saying out loud!)

Originally Posted by Jaggu

It is an offroad vehicle and will get dirty, how is it supposed to be cleaned, especially underbody if one cant use pressure wash? Hope this is not a copy paste error from an EV or something?

I checked this with my dealer's service team. While they are good with washing the underbody, the pressure needs to be kept in check and the front (under the engine bay) needs care.

Here is a view of the electricals in the engine bay (passenger side), from underneath -


And the view from the driver side, underneath the Thar and into the engine bay -

While I wouldn't mind hosing it down, I will definitely be wary of pressure washing the front underbody of the Thar, at least until I get a better protective plate.

[Capt.Arun]

Congrats on your booking! When is your beast expected?

My initial tentative delivery date was around late December 2020. I had changed the engine option from diesel to petrol as well the color from Mystic Copper to Napoli Black. Sadly this had pushed my tentative delivery date to June 2021. A few angry phone calls ensued the SA assuring me an April 2021 delivery, not sure how its going to unfold though. I'm presently at sea and should be back in Coimbatore by February end.

I'm pretty sure there will be tons of options - if you look at the stock grill, the "grill" part is removable - am sure there should be easier/ better mods for 7 slat using that.

Regarding the 7 slat, like you said just in a weeks time Bimbra, Azad and PRAD have started rolling out retrofits. Should have a fair bit of options once I'm back home.

Slightly off topic, but I had picked up a pair of Audexen headlamps from the US for the Thar last month.

https://youtu.be/NjhjBUepMuk

Fairly decent reviews online so went ahead with it.

[ph03n!x]

Originally Posted by Capt.Arun

My initial tentative delivery date was around late December 2020. I had changed the engine option from diesel to petrol as well the color from Mystic Copper to Napoli Black. Sadly this had pushed my tentative delivery date to June 2021. A few angry phone calls ensued the SA assuring me an April 2021 delivery, not sure how its going to unfold though. I'm presently at sea and should be back in Coimbatore by February end.

Don't worry too much about it now, M&M are ramping production from Jan, and the delivery dates should change. Let's connect once you're back in town...

Originally Posted by Capt.Arun

Regarding the 7 slat, like you said just in a weeks time Bimbra, Azad and PRAD have started rolling out retrofits. Should have a fair bit of options once I'm back home.

Check out this post, there already seen to be better options - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offic...ml#post4958037 (Mahindra Thar : Official Review)

Originally Posted by Capt.Arun

Slightly off topic, but I had picked up a pair of Audexen headlamps from the US for the Thar last month.

https://Youtu.be/NjhjBUepMuk

Fairly decent reviews online so went ahead with it.

This is definitely not off topic
It looks sexy, but is it a direct fit for the Thar? I'm not a fan of the DRL but that can be left without being connected. Let's see how your experience is - I will take a call later (I wanted to retain the stock look, but this is tempting!).

[Abhi_Randhawa]

Oh man, love the way you script your writings. It isn't easy to put emotions for the Thar in words, but you are as close as one can get.

I always look forward to reading each and every post on your thread again and again and a new update from you always seem like an upgrade in my knowledge of the Thar.

I have booked two cars, i.e. Fortuner and Thar. Fortuner because of the reliability it brings; but in the case of the Thar (which is my love), I can foresee that problems will be there. But, my friend, such is my love for the Thar that we all somehow intentionally overlook the cons. It's like falling in love with a spoiled teen who somehow is also the most beautiful girl in one's college.

Once again thanks for all the updates on your Thar and I wish that the problem with your Thar doesn't reappear ever again.:

[Capt.Arun]

Originally Posted by ph03n!x

Don't worry too much about it now, M&M are ramping production from Jan, and the delivery dates should change. Let's connect once you're back in town...

Check out this post, there already seen to be better options - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offic...ml#post4958037 (Mahindra Thar : Official Review)

This is definitely not off topic
It looks sexy, but is it a direct fit for the Thar? I'm not a fan of the DRL but that can be left without being connected. Let's see how your experience is - I will take a call later (I wanted to retain the stock look, but this is tempting!).

Oh for sure! Would love to meet up once I get back.
Regarding the headlamps, these are 7 inchers and should be plug and play, hopefully.(fingers crossed)

I was reading elsewhere in your thread that you are considering underbody protection. PRAD from Bengaluru has some for the new Thar as you might be aware, I'm considering the same for my Thar.

[Pancham]

Originally Posted by Capt.Arun

My initial tentative delivery date was around late December 2020. I had changed the engine option from diesel to petrol as well the color from Mystic Copper to Napoli Black. Sadly this had pushed my tentative delivery date to June 2021.

Originally Posted by ph03n!x

Don't worry too much about it now, M&M are ramping production from Jan, and the delivery dates should change.

Hi Ph03n!x, extremely sorry to hijack your thread but I had a question for the Captain and I don't seem to get a clear answer anywhere.

Hi Captain,

You mentioned that you changed your booking and I wanted to understand what is the exact procedure. I booked my Thar in November (end) and I wanted to change the colour. Now given the lack of transparency different people are saying different things. As it stands today, the SA is saying there will a cancellation charge along with my booking date getting reset. So in your case -

- was there any cancellation charge?
- Was the booking placed as a completely new one?
- if yes, did you pay another 21000 and wait for the previous booking amount to get refunded?

[Capt.Arun]

Originally Posted by Pancham

Hi Ph03n!x, extremely sorry to hijack your thread but I had a question for the Captain and I don't seem to get a clear answer anywhere.

Hi Captain,

You mentioned that you changed your booking and I wanted to understand what is the exact procedure. I booked my Thar in November (end) and I wanted to change the colour. Now given the lack of transparency different people are saying different things. As it stands today, the SA is saying there will a cancellation charge along with my booking date getting reset. So in your case -

- was there any cancellation charge?
- Was the booking placed as a completely new one?
- if yes, did you pay another 21000 and wait for the previous booking amount to get refunded?

Hey Pancham,

So I had made my initial booking on the 10th of October with one caveat which was I might change my colour once the cars start arriving to the showroom, which back then was supposed to be in a couple of week's time. Sadly no thars were dispatched for the showroom so the SA had called me around the 25th of October and informed me that the waiting period is about to sky rocket and to finalize a colour option within the next couple of days. I had made my decision on the 28th of October and the same was promptly passed over to the SA vide email to the showroom manager.
That's pretty much it. No additional charges but, it was considered as a new booking simply from a delivery date stand point.

[ph03n!x]

Kitna deti hai? If you are an Indian, own something that has an engine and wheels, and have NOT been asked this question - please step forward, and induct us in your family/ friends circle. This question became so ubiquitous that someone (Indian, of course) asked this to a NASA scientist when he was being given a tour of a space shuttle

So what about the Thar Diesel Automatic - Kitna detai hai?

While I have given some approx. numbers through my initial ownership review, I have also realized, and said as much, that the drop in mileage in the Thar from less than 100 KMPH to >=100 KMPH is pretty drastic. Yeah, I know I know - it has the aerodynamics of a big fat brick. But when you have a 500 KM drive is highways with roads varying from Superb to Great to diversions-due-to-construction, and you have enough time to kill, what will you do?

I would usually give two hoots to mileage and time and what not, pedal-to-metal it out My worst times in this 500 KM stretch in any of my earlier cars (incl. extended family wheels) is 5.5 hours. Best is a tad less than 4.5 hours - I am talking about Madras - Vikravandi - Ulundurpet - Salem - Coimbatore route. Madras to Ulundurpet (~200 KM) will usually take 3 hours, Ulundurpet to Salem (~140 KM) will take 1.25 hours, and Salem to Coimbatore (~160 KM) will take 1.25 hours - these are all my conservative times. I did this in little more than 6 hours in a Tata Nano!!!

This time, I reigned in my urge and went full-on Kitna deti hai mode - took me 7 hours. I tanked up at Shell Ambattur, took the Chennai Bypass and drove non-stop till Attur, took a good 1 hour break for lunch and drove in to Coimbatore. NHAI has relaid quite a bit of the Salem - Ulundurpet road, and it was really, really tough to not Loose, Footloose! I used cruise control extensively, set at 90 KMPH - and switched it off to slow down/ hit resume it to get back to the set pace over and over. Yes, there were times when I overrode cruise control and crossed 120+... My self-control is not THAT good!

So what is the result, you ask?

The best it reached was 17.7 KMPL. After driving 500 KM, my DTE shows close to 300 KM - so 800 KM is truly doable in one full tank of Diesel in the Thar. But will I do this again? HELL NO!!!

What is the impact of <100 KMPH and >100 KMPH then? A whooping 50% - if I do consistently over 100 KMPH, I get 10 to 11 KMPL, and (accounting for a MID error of 1.5 KMPL) am getting around 15 KMPL if I drive at 90 KMPH. So there - Itna de sakta hai! I will know the exact mileage when I am done with the ~300 KM DTE, but that will be a mix of highways + city.

This also means that I have driven ~1400 KM from the time the Water-in-Fuel saga was looked in to by my dealer's and MRV's technical teams - and YES, IT IS RESOLVED FOR GOOD!!! I did not get any warning, no more glitches - except for the MID switching off and on once, and for a blink-and-you'll-miss second. Electricals definitely seem to be the Achilles' heel for this mechanically-sound vehicle. I would suggest all 2020 Thar owners to drive over not-so-small road undulations, speed-breakers, etc. at ~40 to 60 KMPH to ensure there is nothing hiding under the hood. Of course, judge the speed that will not be dangerous for you, your vehicle and others - if possible, do this in a safe/ controlled environment. And don't worry, the Thar is meant for more brutal off-road escapades, and this will only be a little stretch-my-legs - there is no other way to ensure some warning or other doesn't come up if/ when you do go over something unexpectedly, we already have 3 BHPians who have faced something electrical (Mine, @Rajeev.Ayyappan's and @vkochar's), and one more non-BHPian from Ooty who had the low oil pressure issue.

[Kannan]

Originally Posted by ph03n!x

crossed 120+...

Wow, it's good that Thar can do 120 without issues. For me 90KMPH is the comfort and 110KMPH is the max. Only rarely I touch 120KMPH, thanks to mine being kind of a tall boy.

Off-topic, I visited Mahindra showroom at Velachery and the beast was standing majestically! But the moment I and dad tried to get into the back seat, realized, most probably 3 doors might not workout!. He hated the ingress and less space for foot. Can't believe they didn't provide grab handles!
Guess I will have to wait till 5 door version.

[ph03n!x]

Have you ever gotten this itch right when you open your eyes in the bed on a weekend, that you HAVE to go out somewhere - anywhere - and only then will the itch be scratched? It is a bad itch to have and not scratch, you know?! These itches have resulted some amazing travel in the past, ones that start with absolutely plan or agenda and yet end up being legendary.

No, I did not get to do such a legendary trip this time. When you are living is strange times like these where v2 of the Wuhan Coronavirus is faster than feature refreshes of some auto manufacturers, and when renowned places that you trust will be safe end up as hotspots, it rules out adventures of the awesome kind

So this is what I ended up doing - a day drive, snaking my way up 40 hairpin bends, chilling out in rivers and waterfalls, and climb down those hairpin bends back home.

Photo shoot while stretching legs by the famed Sholayar Estate


The second time my choice of buying the convertible top paid for itself

And 4,000 KM is up - in 43 days of ownership!

The Thar handles ghat sections and hairpin bends nonchalantly, and really thrives in bad roads where normal cars have to slow down. Do not attempt a Tokyo Drift at the hairpins, and drive it responsibly like you should a jeep drive, and you will be gifted with adequate indulgences from nature around you (I had my top open!) as well as from vehicles that you pass by on the roads.

What I did not like is the headlights - No, it's not the throw of the spread that I am talking about, they are fine. But when you are flashing your high-beams or driving with high-beams on empty, unlit stretches, the Thar's headlight will switch off the low-beam filament. This leaves a "dark spot" that even the fogs cannot cover - I talking about completely unlit roads in the night. If you have street lighting then its not an issue. I guess I need to mod the headlamps to ensure the low-beam stays on even if I am switching it to high-beam, but this will cause additional heat because instead of a 55W or 60W filament, I will be burning both resulting in ~115W! Looks like I may have to explore HID or LEDs after all (or get used to the "dark spots"...).

Last word on mileage

I had touched on the mileage subject earlier -

Originally Posted by ph03n!x

...I will know the exact mileage when I am done with the ~300 KM DTE, but that will be a mix of highways + city...

The tankfull-to-tankfull method for the 500 KM highway drive (MID - 16.3 KMPL) + ~200 city drive (MID went down to 15 KMPL from 16.3 KMPL) resulted in 13.41 KMPL. On this drive up the ghats and back, the MID was 15 KMPL in the highways, went down to 12.5 KMPL after the climb, and was at 13 KMPL when I got back home.

With this, I can predict a city mileage of 10 to 11.5 KMPL for city traffic, and 14 to 16 KMPL for highway speeds varying between 80 to 100 KMPH. This is for the Diesel Automatic Thar, Diesel Manual will definitely give a bit better mileage, and Petrol variants will give lower than this (even more for Petrol auto).

Let the mileage part rest here!

Engineering Menu (or the one that shows the ICE unit's versions)!

I ventured into the engineering menu of the Thar's ICE head unit - this is similar to the XUV3OO engineering menu I presume, as both the systems are pretty close. With the system on and, say, playing the radio, press and hold the Home key (1 in the image) and then hold the Display Off (2 in the image) for a few seconds until the display changes. Note that in the XUV3OO, the display-off key is the Navigation key.

Here are the hardware and software version # - will be interesting to track updates to these...

The interesting part of the engineering menu is the Feature Code section. It has 60 feature codes with the status varying from 0x00 for not available/ not active to 0x01 for available or active. I will do a write-up on this one of these days...

Page 1 of the Feature Code menu - it scrolls down 10 pages!

Originally Posted by Kannan

Wow, it's good that Thar can do 120 without issues...

It definitely can, but not like a Ford or a Fiat does - you will have to be observant of the road ahead, and have a real good grip of the Thar's road behavior. But yes, if you are comfortable at 90 to 110 KMPH in your Ritz, you will be okay doing the same in the Thar AFTER driving it around for a few 1000 KMs and getting to know the vehicle's dynamics better!

[HappyWheels]

Originally Posted by ph03n!x

...

What I did not like is the headlights - No, it's not the throw of the spread that I am talking about, they are fine. But when you are flashing your high-beams or driving with high-beams on empty, unlit stretches, the Thar's headlight will switch off the low-beam filament. This leaves a "dark spot" that even the fogs cannot cover - I talking about completely unlit roads in the night. If you have street lighting then its not an issue. I guess I need to mod the headlamps to ensure the low-beam stays on even if I am switching it to high-beam, but this will cause additional heat because instead of a 55W or 60W filament, I will be burning both resulting in ~115W! ...

Is this not always the case? When you "flash" the high beam, both low and high are in "ON" state. But when you change the mode to High beam, the Low beam is switched off and vice versa.

Remember having a friend wire his Contessa to have both filaments in "ON" state. That was the only time I have seen anyone actually do that, though have thought about doing it in my car, especially when you do not have a fog lamp.

[Mu009]

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

Is this not always the case?

Only in older vehicles (usually). Modern vehicles with distinct elements/setups will have the low beam remain on, and the high beam flash off-on-off.

BMWs with bi-xenon (though the element is the same), will also behave in the same way - the cut-off shutter will simply move aside to flash high beam.