[Unohu]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

IRA Connected Car Tech Experience

IRA equipped cars have this black box(pun intended) underneath the front passenger seat. I think it is a TCM, which usually will be present only in AT/AMT cars. The dealer wanted this serial number to activate IRA. May be it is connected with the ECU (remote controls/immobilization).

May I know how did you get the IRA activated? The showroom from where I have bought it say it will be activated in 2 days. Its been a week and when I open the IRA app, the location of the vehicle shows the manufacturing plant in Pune

[PrasannaDhana]

50,000 km Update - Tyre replacement, Xtragreen Diesel Experience

The Little Tata has completed 50,000 km, exactly in 19 months since purchase. Well, running in is officially over

Tyre replacement

I decided to replace the stock Goodyear assurance 185/60 R16 tyres. They still have about 5000 km life left. But I don't want to risk it given the high highway speeds I regularly do.

I tried sourcing Michelin Primacy 4ST which I loved in my ciaz - very silent and comfortable tyres. Unfortunately Michelin tyres are very rare to find below the size 17 inch.

Next options were MRF perfinza (recommended by Dr.Naren) and Continental UC6. I have already used Continental MC5s on my ciaz and loved the grip. But the tyres got noisy after 20k km. I also read Perfinzas are noisier than the UC6. I decided to go ahead with UC6.

Slow speed stiff ride on bad roads is one negative of altroz that I want to change. Hence, decided to upsize the sidewall height by a little

Stock 185/60 R16 vs 195/60 R16





There is about 13 mm increase in sidewall which will aid in making ride quality softer. I will have to compromise a little on handling though.

The new tyres were April 2023 manufactured ones. Costed me 8.8k per tyre.



15th week of 2023 manufactured



Old vs New





I can't comment on tyre performance as I have just driven 100 km with the new tyres. As of now, they are quiet in comparison to noisy goodyears, ride has become more cushy and handling has gone one notch down. But I knew that when I decided to give priority to ride quality.

Experimenting with Xtragreen Diesel from IOCL

I am no fan of trying out additives in fuel. But I heard Xtragreen is not additives added diesel like xtrapremium diesel, but has a higher Cetane number (Normal diesel 51 vs Xtragreen 55). Also that the engine refinement and fuel efficiency gets improved. Luckily, IOCL near one of my offices has Xtragreen dispenser.


Xtragreen diesel is about 3.5 rupees costlier than normal diesel. I discussed with my friend and fellow BHPian Sanjeev, who is an expert in ic engines and works for a reputed automobile manufacturer. He explained me that B7 diesel can be used in BS6 cars without any issues.

I have driven about a 1000 km with Xtragreen over 4 tank refills. I can surely say there is a tangible reduction in engine nvh. Fuel efficiency has gone up by 1 kmpl. Definitely worth the extra cost in my opinion. I am planning to use the same for my storme too.

Here are the fuel efficiency figures with Xtragreen



I also bought a new (used) bus for one of my schools. After getting bummed out by new Bs6 school bus prices, I went to pre owned route. Took me a lot of weeks of traveling and seeing totally useless, abused samples before ending up with a very low run (36k km) 2018 SML school bus, 6 km from my location lol. It was quoted 13L which I managed to bring down to 11.5L, thats 50% of a new bus' cost. Loved how car like it was to drive and how refined the engine was(by bus standards). This is thr 3rd consecutive SML bus I have bought in the last 3 years.



A few pics












Storme will also be joining my garage as a secondary ride. Planning to use both the Tatas equally. Storme was out of action for 20 days this month, and hence Altroz was used over 3000 km in June. More info here

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-...ml#post5576080

Both Tatas have brand new tyres now



Next update will be after the 52500 km periodic service.

[ike]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Experimenting with Xtragreen Diesel from IOCL

I also tried 2 tankfulls of Xtragreen recently. The engine definitely ran smoother but I read somewhere (perhaps on this forum itself) that engine becomes coarser in the long run with Xtragreen, not sure. I could try only 2 tankfulls since I haven't found any stations dispensing Xtragreen yet in my hometown.

[gck_tourer]

Hope you have checked if your Altroz is compatible with 7% bio diesel mix in Xtragreen. I have heard adverse long term effects in cars whose manuals suggest they are not compatible with greater than 5% mix of bio diesel. Your injectors are at risk here.

[shancz]

The Red Altroz and the Blue Virtus, livening up the streets

Thanks again for the updates, the Storme and the Altroz do make a pleasant sight with the SMLs in the backdrop. Idea for a photoshoot if you haven't already

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by shancz

The Red Altroz and the Blue Virtus, livening up the streets

Thanks again for the updates, the Storme and the Altroz do make a pleasant sight with the SMLs in the backdrop. Idea for a photoshoot if you haven't already

Thanks a lot Shancz!

I actually was in the verge of booking a Rising blue Virtus 1.0 TSI MT a few weeks back But then, reality kicked it- a turbo petrol as my primary doing 3000 km a month, substantial increase in monthly fuel costs. I still have a plan to get one in future. Fingers crossed.

Also in that pic, the blue allensolly and red Indian terrain name boards match the blue virtus and red altroz.

[shancz]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

- But then, reality kicked it- a turbo petrol as my primary doing 3000 km a month, substantial increase in monthly fuel costs.

- Also in that pic, the blue allensolly and red Indian terrain name boards match the blue virtus and red altroz.

- True that would be substantial. Good Luck for the future, I too was mesmerized by a blue Virtus at a showroom while the Taigun standing right in front was completely ignored Probably its something about the shape of the sedan and VW's design put together.

- Just realised that, the cars had captivated all my attention

[dmaheshkumar]

Hi,
Your July update is missed?
Hope the Car is munching miles as usual.

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by dmaheshkumar

Hi,
Your July update is missed?
Hope the Car is munching miles as usual.

I have been extremely busy with work and wasn't able to update the thread on July. Car ran 2000 km in July, 1500 km in August.


Meanwhile there were a few hiccups which I had shared in the altroz review thread.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offic...ml#post5602363 (Tata Altroz 1.5L Diesel : Official Review)

[PrasannaDhana]

Hey guys,





Just passing by posting a milestone odo number here

55555 km

The car is back on its duty since September first week and has clocked 2000 km this month. Last month saw lesser usage as the ac and sloshing issues were tended to at the A.S.S.

AC is back to perfect functioning. The sloshing sound does appear in rare occasions. No complaints though. I absolutely love driving (flooring it) on the highways on a daily basis.

I will be posting a detailed post during the 2nd anniversary / 60,000 km service update. Until then

[PrasannaDhana]

October started super actively. I had to clock 600 km in the first 3 days. Yesterday evening, after my usual work drive, I noticed that the car was idling 100 rpm higher than usual.

Open the bonnet to check, and found this,- some fluid(like oil) sprayed over one side of the engine cover. I opened the engine cover and checked if oil spray was originating from any part of the engine head/ oil dip stick region. It wasnt the case.








Called Kaveri Tata, they picked up the car at 6 pm, I received the car back today afternoon. The intercooler hose was loose, I was told, and it has been secured back to its original position.



Storme is at 72000 km and going absolutely strong. I luckily have a secondary car to fall back on. I will have to stop recommending Tata 2.0 cars to others, given the frequent minor issues one has to face. Great cars to drive and be in, but not as reliable as a Maruti. I had 0 issues on my ciaz until the day I sold it at 1,34,000 km.





I have been driving the altroz sedately for the past 5 days and the results are evident from the excellent FE




The car is at 56,300 km as of now, and will continue duties from tomorrow.

[Kumaran93R]

I'm glad that it was a small issue that got rectified quickly by TASS. Your healthy running is the main reason for the healthy bs6 diesel car.

Btw, with your running, why don't you consider a small EV? Will reduce your fuel expenses by an order of magnitude. Maybe something like a Tiago EV?

[PrasannaDhana]

Just posting a fancy odo

56789 km



The car is back actively munching miles. None of the previous issues came back up. All good!!

Originally Posted by Kumaran93R

I'm glad that it was a small issue that got rectified quickly by TASS. Your healthy running is the main reason for the healthy bs6 diesel car.

Btw, with your running, why don't you consider a small EV? Will reduce your fuel expenses by an order of magnitude. Maybe something like a Tiago EV?

Thanks Kumara!

My mind was hovering over Tiago XT LR EV (as 4th car) and Virtus 1.0 Highline MT (as Altroz replacement) not long ago

I have been reading too many negative stuff from owners groups of both the above mentioned cars.

1. Virtus - Low FE(kinda expected but all i see is single digit figures from many owners), rattles from dashboard, minor electronic niggles, poor AC, braking noise and so on

2. Tiago EV LR - 170- 190 km real world range if driven very sedately, frequent battery failures and Tata taking over a month for battery replacements.

And whenever I think about a new personal car, fate has it that I am also in a position to buy a new school bus to one of my schools

For now, Altroz diesel is destined for the long run.

[PrasannaDhana]

2 Years & 58,000 km with the Tata Altroz 1.5 Diesel

Today marks the 2nd Anniversary of my altroz.

Odo : 58,000 km

I have extensively shared about the positives and negatives of the altroz already in this thread.

This post will only focus on some important data points from the last 2 years of Ownership.



Total distance I had driven since 27th October 2021 -

Altroz diesel - 58,000 km
Storme v400 - 19,000 km
Celerio K10C - 3000 km

Totalling 80,000 km in the last 2 years. My work has gone up as I have 2 new schools that need my presence frequently. If Altroz wasn't there, the wear & tear on Storme would have been thrice as much. It has run 72,000 km in 5.5 years now. I plan to retain the storme till year 10.



Days taken every 5000 km, the last 15000 km have been taking longer as I have been driving my storme more too.

Overall Ownership Costs for Altroz diesel

Close to 4 lakhs in total, approximately INR 7 per km (including maintenance, insurance, tyre replacement & fuel)



Break up of different categories of Maintenance & Misc expenses:

That 35200 was tyre replacement expense. Insurance for this year has been more than that of.last year as I had lost NCB as I claimed insurance for the windshield replacement.






Overall Actual Fuel Efficiency : 17.97 kmpl



I did switch to xtragreen diesel for 5 tankfulls or so, but then switched back to normal diesel. Preferred Outlet - BP

Number of DPF clog issues : 0


Total Number of Scheduled Visits to Service Center : 8

The car has been serviced regularly every 7500 km as per OE guidelines, with oil changes every 15,000km.


Total Number of Unscheduled Visits to Service Center : 5


Number of Warranty Replacements - 2
Both times, it was AC recirculation motor damper valve



Number of Insurance Claims - 1
I had to claim insurance for the first time in the last 20 years. It was for windshield replacement due to heat crack (totally my fault)

Details of Unscheduled Visits to Service Center and Reasons

1. Jan'23, Odo: 37,500 km - Steering Column calibration - It was during the scheduled service at 37500 km that I replaced the AC damper under warranty. The A.S.S had to remove the dashboard and steering column to do the replacement. They hadn't properly set the steering column back. The steering kept turning right on its own. I took the car the next day to service center and they rectified the issue.

2. Feb'23, Odo: 40,000 km - Windshield Replacement - This isn't technically the fault of Tata or A.S.S. I was not mindful when I started washing the car when it had been standing under hot sun for hours. This developed a heat crack and I replaced the windshield at Windshield Experts.

3. Mar'23, Odo: 42xxx km - Cabin Air Filter clogged
AC air flow was very very reduced. Level 4 blowed the same air volume as the usual level 1. Cabin air filter was dirty and clogged. This a 20 minutes job and the A.S.S cleaned the filter.

4. Sep'23, Odo: 53xxx km - Water sloshing sound & AC damper issue again
While accelerating hard, I started to hear water sloshing sound behind the dashboard occasionally. AC/ windshield wash drain lines were checked in 52.5k scheduled service, and they were not clogged. Hence I had to get the coolant lines and heater coils checked for blockages. A.S.S took 2 days to check and I was told everything was fine. AC recirculation mode changes again started to make sounds when pressed. The damper was changed again this time, under warranty. The issue got resolved. The sloshing sound has disappeared for a while now, and occurs very rarely.

5. Oct'23, Odo : 56xxx km - Oil sprayed over engine cover - Loose intercooler hose
Intercooler hose was loose. A.S.S rectified the issue and the problem hasn't reoccurred.


Verdict after 2 years of Ownership :

I love the strong, practical package that the Altroz diesel is. It meets my needs perfectly. I do a lot of highway miles, at very good triple digit speeds consistently. The car stays at 3250 - 3500 RPM for hours every week, and inspires much confidence at those speeds.

The economy, strong build, great high speed dynamics, nice interiors and a super strong AC with HK stereo makes every day enjoyable, given that I spend 3+ hours daily on the driver seat.

It is definitely not totally reliable like my previous Ciaz diesel. But the issues aren't major. I have made 4 extra Visits to the dealership for the niggles/issues. But every time, the dealer has been very prompt and sincere. I know I will face a few issues in the coming years too, but hey, for my extensive usage and speeds, I am happy to spend a few days a year at the service.

Kudos to Kaveri Tata for being helpful through all small issues

An example-


I am lucky that one of the Kaveri Tata dealerships is located just 2km from my home and I have a very good rapport with all the service personnel.

While I am very happy with the Altroz diesel, I might not recommend the car to others. We have been seeing a lot of stories in our forum about defective Altroz diesels and indifferent Tata A.S.S. If you don't have much usage, a petrol car is a lot safer option than the Bs6 diesels.

A few pics from the Ayudha Pooja last week :











Next update on this thread will be after 60,000 km service.

[gauravdgr8]

Your's is the only Altroz thread that I have read from day one. Beautifully maintained and a wonderful car. Enjoy the drives for a long time to come