After the almost 3 month wait, my dealer finally called me up last week to inform me that my car has been dispatched and I would be geting it in the same week.
So after rushing for the finance and all the paperwork, I picked up a brand spanking new Silky Silver VDi from RNS motors, Hosur road on Friday.
The car itself was great looking and clean, but had 50km on the odo. I let it go though, not wanting to spoil the moment. Unfortunately I didn't get any addons, but for the basic accessories kit and sun film.
I paid for, and had 3M antirust treatment done on the underbody of the car.
The whole process of picking up the car took an hour or so, and was a little hurried as there were 3 more cars being delivered at the same time, but in all, I was very impressed with the dealership and staff. We reached the dealership at about 5 pm and were out by 6.15 pm.
Got the car out at 6.30 pm, with a brave face to the Friday evening Hosur road traffic. My initial impressions of the car when I drove it this time around (yes, I had a teeny TD earlier) was that "man, this car is fat, particularly around the rear".
So following in the proud traditions of Black Beauty, Sparky and MIKE, I christened her "Silver Fatbutt" or SFB as we shall know her from now on. She was big, and only the balloons on the front gave me any clue on where she started off.
Also the rear window is pretty small and you need to have both ORVMs out for decent rear vision. Never having driven any diesel before, I felt the engine throb under my clutch pedal, and the sound of the engine a little strange. Is this normal on all diesels?
Back to Hosur Road, taking her out as carefully as possible to Koramangla, was pretty quick. People gave us a wide berth, possible because of the balloons and the ribbon on the car until just after the flyover when a biker madly cut across me and belted off. My sudden braking probably saved his life but not my car, I heard a small thud (and later found that his footrest had left a 4 inch strip of rubber on the bumper). I that point however I could not do anything and drove on, while cursing the biker with rotting privates.
Anyways, got to the temple in one piece, and had the pooja done.
I would like to add at this point, that if you do this, get the kum kum off the car fast(particularly white and silver cars), or you'll end up with little spots which show on the car and don't come off easily.
I did another 50 km run in, that night itself on the ORR, keeping the revs at 2000 rpm, mostly. Although I tried to keep SFB under 2500 rpm, the response when the turbo kicks in is addictive.
Fast forwarding to saturday, I decided to spend the day getting my "ICE" and BLING done.
I wanted the whole shebang, the top of the line Alpine HU, JBL components, Amplifiers, Subs, a LCD screen with a DVD player and a PS2 for when I am not driving,.
On the performance side, I was looking for the Green cotton air filter, Pete's and FFE.
Only three things stood in my way:
1. Wife
2. Maruti's warranty policy
3. An already sad bank balance
So I hopped along to Auto Shop, Koramangla, after some research here on the ICE forums, where some very nice guys, (brothers) set me up with the Pio - 2950, and a decent set of JBL coaxials.
The sound is good, more than enough for what I need, so I am happy.
I also had the Autocop alarm fitted and the Xenos reverse parking sensors for tight spots. I could have got everything under one roof if my "BLING" came though too but unfortunately although I found some really great alloys, I wasn't able to get the tyre sizes I wanted.
So I head over to Car Shringar on JC road where I found some really great looking Titan Racing alloys along with Yokohoma ES100s - 195/60- 15.
They were pricey and I probably paid more than I should have but that took care of the bling on the car. I am still a little apprehensive about the Titan Racing alloys but was assured that they were good. Can anyone give me feedback on them?
Titan Model Sdn. Bhd.
This time around, with new wheels and tyres, SFB feels more grounded. I feel more confident on turns and the braking is a lot better. The downside is that with lower profile tyres, you get to feel the road a little more.
Pics coming up soon and a review of the car on the mysore trip I took on Sunday.