[TOR]

Providing 165/80/14 JK tornado's with the dzire is like equipping Usain Bolt with 'rubber chappals'!

The steering is quite direct-not exactly sharp but the steering wheel itself is rather small and its a joy to flick the car.As i stop at the tyre shop i make a mental note that the braking is not in the same league as the performance of the car.

I am greeted by the owner of the place(which is a buzz of activity).

me-" I want to upgrade the tyres on my just delivered car run 20kms to 185/70/14 Michelin XM1+, do you have them in stock?"
him - "yes we do".
me-" thats good, i guess tyre prices have increased and i suppose the XM1+ are now near the 3K mark? right?"(inquired elsewhere and came to know that the prices are near the 3.3k-3.5k mark)(this to let him know that i know a thing or two about 'tyre s' - which is far from reality!)
him - "yes the prices have gone up the tyre costs around 3.3K now"
me - "oh is it so, but then the buy back price would also have increased right - how much do you offer, 1.2K per tyre?"
him - " no sir, not so much the maximum i can go for is 1K per tyre"
As i have read in the forum that 800-1200 is the normal by back price of the old tyre i go in for the deal.

me - " lets fix it, change 4 tyres and give a estimate on the price difference i have to pay, also you do give wheel balancing/alignment free right?"
him - " No sir, none of that is free but will adjust something on the price"
me " ok then, what about the offer on the XM1+ by Michelin the free Reebok sports eye ware worth Rs. 2K offer(which i came to know from the forum-thanks team-bhp again)."
him - " oh that offer is over not valid for this month"
me - ""shoot i missed that-wont know if what he is saying is true too-would have really liked the glasses resting over my eyes"" - this is a mental note!

Tyre change-well let the pictures do the talking:-


Car on jack- all tyres removed - workmanship is quite good, adequate care is taken and the process is quite fast too.Sad to see the car like this but get a chance to check the application of the underbody coating!


Anemic 165/80/14 JK tornados being removed.


XM1+ being installed - all black and round both tyres but the performance is 'worlds apart'


All tyres replaced and they are getting balanced.


Now evening had turned into night, the complaining stomach has lead to 'shaky hand' sorry for the blurs.Car awaiting alignment on the Hunter 600.

As i wait i enter into friendly chit chat with another customer at the dealer who has come to put alloys on his swift without a tyre change. At some point the discussion veers towards discounts and he tells me that the 'sweet lady' at the reception was pushing for tyre change to Michelin's as there was an offer - Reebok Sunglasses!!

Surely these guys turned out to be 'T-Rex's in wolf's clothing'- i barge in the owner is no longer there, i confront the front desk and after a short 'dialogue' i have the Reebok glassess in my hands - Thank You God!


Collect warrant card and leave the dealer by 9 PM.

Few observations:
- steering has become heavier(in a good way)
-the ride is much better(running 33psi all around)
-tyre noise has decreased dramatically
-braking, well is the same i feel
-the car looks - well as it should in the first place.



Shots taken the next day morning on the way to the accessories shop for fitment of the seat covers/parking sensors/ sun film/and a few others - which is the subject of the next post!

[vineetmanghani]

Congratulations on the new buy TOR! The car certainly looks good with the alloys and the new tyres! The sunglasses look cool too.

BTW, that's an amazing parking spot you got yourself there!

[AkMar]

Another nice post.

Originally Posted by TOR

Providing 165/80/14 JK tornado's with the dzire is like equipping Usain Bolt with 'rubber chappals'!

This was hilarious!

Originally Posted by TOR;953059[I

Shots taken the next day morning on the way to the accessories shop for fitment of the seat covers/parking sensors/ sun film/and a few others - which is the subject of the next post![/i]

Waiting for that one, which I am sure will be as good as the earlier ones.

[TOR]

@ vineetmanghan - thank you sir. I have not changed to alloys(only tyres have been changed)but they are just plastic wheel covers!

about the parking spot, its for nothing that they call Kerala 'God's own country' - the place is one of the stop overs along the trivandrum by pass.

@AkMar yes sir those pictures are coming up.

[TOR]

Tyre work got over late Saturday evening, so Sunday is spend as it should be-'resting'. Do make some calls to friends to get some info about the various 'accessories shops' in and around trivandrum.

Prominent ones are-

Car palace - located in city, very busy, lot of options, prices are a bit high, workmanship is ok not good or great.
Car Shoppy - located little far from city center, not that many options, prices are the lowest, 'fitting' is done by people who attend school in the morning!
Car mate - 'dont go there mate'
Motor Plaza - located well outside city limits, busy, lots of options, prices again are a bit high, workmanship - great!

Its a 15km drive from my house to Motor Plaza and i make sure that i reach there by 10AM Monday morning.

Planned to fit:-
-parking sensors
-Sun film
-horns
-seat covers
The staff at the shop are really helpful and cordial, and they are open to some bargaining.

Here is the deal i got:

-Parking sensors - 4 unit with rearview mirror display and individual sensor distance display - Rs.3000/-(yes i know a bit too much but these sensors had very good built quality and they came in silver color-so no need to paint them!)
-Sun Film - Llumar 35 all around with warranty - Rs.2000/-
-horns - Roots windtone super - Rs.500/-
-seat covers - Rs.3700/-

Here are some pictures:-

Installation of the parking sensors:

the front left A pillar trim removed to route the wire to the review mirror display.

drill spots on the bumper measured and marked out-done meticulously with a piece of waste wire!!

drill bit 'chewing' into the brand new bumper-Ouch!

1 down 3 more to go!

perfect - am happy!

Display at night - gives distance in meters/specific sensor flash and audible alarm,the new riew view mirror is bigger than the standard one and that's a blessing in itself.

Llumar sun films getting installed-took about 2 1/2 hours-very well done-no bubbles at all.

Sunfilms done and parking sensors also done.

Standard fabric seats waiting to be removed.

seats removed-get a chance to looks at the 'internals'.

rear seat back rest removed -note no carpets on the seat scabs-cost cutting?

Finished front seats, beige art leather main body and charcoal perforated art leather on the seat scab, back and head rest, design courtesy - my wife!

Front seats

rear seats - with beige floor mats - note bottle holder in rear door and absence of rear door speaker - this different from the swift.

another view in Toto.

Some observations:-
- the sensors pick up the ground if reversing down an incline.
-sensor range is excellent
-minimum distance of the sensor is set at 40cm and cannot be varied.
-Llumar does a great job.
-horn is 'ok' not as loud as i would have liked.
seats are awesome.

Planning for a small trip, will post a review of the car after that.
oh have to install this too..


Mods can you change the thread name to "Swift Dzire - Untold Story" thank you!

[Mysticeyes]

Congrats TOR, on your new buy. May you & family have a very pleasent drive in the years to come. Your post is so much informative and a delight to read coupled with the meticulous details. Keep writing more so that guys like me can learn from it a picture(photo) does speak 1000 words.

Motor Plaza is the best in Trivandrum. I also went around and checked all shops before zeroing in on Motor Plaza to get my new Fabia decked up on tuesday. one good thing abt Motor Plaza is that they give you what you need and the staff is also very courteous Others just try to push their choice into us.

[ankit.jhamb]

congrats once again,the car looks great after sufilms and seat covers??
BTW do you face any problem with the rpm meter and the speedo meter.i find that rpm meter shoots up while shifting,and the speedo takes time to come back to zero(0)on full stop?also tell me about the FE figures after covering some kms

[nicejits]

Congrats on New car Buddy. It look awesome with accessories.

Pls post you review on driving impressions and would like to know actual / honest FE figures also ( city and on highway )

[cnaganathan]

Originally Posted by TOR

Here is the deal i got:

-Parking sensors - 4 unit with rearview mirror display and individual sensor distance display - Rs.3000/-(yes i know a bit too much but these sensors had very good built quality and they came in silver color-so no need to paint them!)
-Sun Film - Llumar 35 all around with warranty - Rs.2000/-
-horns - Roots windtone super - Rs.500/-
-seat covers - Rs.3700/-

Finished front seats, beige art leather main body and charcoal perforated art leather on the seat scab, back and head rest, design courtesy - my wife!

Rs.3700/- for a set of Leather Seat covers? Is it the case of a missing 0 or are PU seat covers referred to as Art Leather?

[raj84]

Excellent Report TOR..The Sensors seem to be great value for money and so do the seats. Would like to do the same for my 'coming-soon' Swift. This is the first time I am getting to hear the prices of Accessories and Tyres in Trivandrum. This thread Rocks!!!

[raj84]

TOR, how much did you have to pay Motor Plaza as Installation charges? Are the prices mentioned by you obtained after bargaining, or was it the price mentioned by Motor Plaza?

[TOR]

@Mysticeyes

Thank you Sir, am re routing the wishes back to you as i understand that you too have got Fabia wheels under you recently.

Yes Motor Plaza kind of pulls a 'maruti' on you. Its big and one walks into it uncertain but the customer is given prime importance unlike other shops were the '60k audio' install guy lounges in the air conditioned office while the guy come in for the floor mat, well finds himself on the floor!

@ ankit.jhamb - Thanks again, i haven't noticed the misbehavior of the meters as you have described. The RPM meter does go up on down shifts, like from 4th to 3rd, 3rd to 2nd etc, but that is normal in any car.
No idea about FE, though running on the 1st filling after delivery.The madatory 'long trip' is right around the corner, so 'watch this space'.

@nicejits - Thankyou Sir, will be posting the review soon, honest!

@cnaganathan - Sir am sorry if i have left you confused, there are no numerals missing,the cost IS Rs.3700/- Art leather is nothing but Artificial leather! or otherwise called Pleather of which branch the PU forms a part of!

[TOR]

@ raj84- Thank you Sir, happy to know that i could shed some light on the 'darkness'!

About the deal, the prices are what i paid for( after 'bargaining' -if anyone can call my approach that!)

Theses are the prices that they quoted:-

Parking sensor - Rs. 3500/-(paid 3000)
Sunfilms - Rs.2000/-(paid same)
Seat covers -Rs. 3700/-(paid same)
horns -Rs.534/-(paid same but go the relay free)
floor mats -Rs. 1200/-(paid 1000/-)

they did not take any installation charges- that was the deal! Also gave a small tissue box as compliment.

Here are the mats:-

[prateekswarup]

Great writeup and beautiful taste in interiors! congrats on the new buy!

[kalpeshc]

Do they give some amount back for the original rear view mirror and the stock seat covers?