Originally Posted by CtrlAltDel

ok...here are some pictures

today at 1130 i, along with wife, son and a cousin drove to Necklace Road for the photo shoot. since it was a sunday morning, it was quite free and I was able to commandeer an empty parking lot of the Necklace Road railway station for the shoot.

Nice color , those seat covers do gel well with car. How about some tints ? It would add more glamour .

[CtrlAltDel]

Originally Posted by ashukla

I didn't get it, can you rephrase please?

well , i dont know how else to rephrase it...

i have a better idea...i will take pix and post em here.

[CtrlAltDel]

in the last few days that I have driven it, I studied the gear ratios and their co-relation with the RPM and speed.

for the run-in period, i am driving at max 1500 RPM except when a surge is required during overtaking or climbing steep slopes (quite a few in town).

I change gears at the following speeds:

1 to 2 - 10 kmph
2 to 3 - 20 kmph
3 to 4 - 40-45 kmph
4 to 5 - 55-60 kmph (did it a few times on necklace road and around KBR park)

i never crossed 60kmph yet, rather i didnt get the opportunity!

all these speeds have been calculated keeping the RPM around 1200-1500 in all gears. am I doing the right thing or is there a better way to help take this decision?

the 1st gear is wonderful! it crawls at around 5kmph without any effort to the right foot and climbs not-so-steep slopes this way too - with air-con!

i am in love with the versatile 3rd gear! its range is a boon in slow moving traffic (not bumper-to-bumper or start-stop). it allows me to crawl at a little less than 20kmph and smoothly delivers power when i spot any gaps.
at times i did approach 2000RPM, and felt the gentle rush of power holding out promise of more excitement to come!

and my left foot never felt more relaxed!

i am waiting for the run in period to be completed so that I can experiment what this thing can do!

[suren181]

Hey CtrlAltDel: Nice car, beautiful color and yes the interiors really look a lot spacious than the V2.

OT: By any chance were you at Yatri Nivas on Sunday Afternoon? For your T/r number seems quite familiar. I had seen a car there with, if I am right, your T/r number. Sorry for going OT but just testing my memory of numbers.

[Glifford]

Hey ... (tried typing your user name and I ended up rebooting my system :P )

Congrats on your purchase. It sure is a wise decision and it looks lovely in that colour!

On Heel-toeing

Originally Posted by CtrlAltDel

no idea. i came across that term only in this forum. what is it?

Well that's the name with a technique you have to use when you drive a manual transmission car and need to press all the three pedals (selectively in varying degrees) with just your two feet.

Most often employed when having to do a standing start on an up-hill incline, without letting your car roll back (reminds me of the Koramangala to Forum signal from KML 80' Road).

You need to use the left foot to depress the clutch and keep the brake pressed with the toes of your right foot and the accelerator with the heel of the very same foot! Does take some effort and skill.

When done well it can be cleanly executed without any assistance from the hand/parking brake. But nowadays many people now take refuge of the use of the hand/parking brake when making an uphill standing start! Heel-toeing does take some effort, but it is skill one must master!

Reminds me of the time, dad took me to an uphill road for me to practice heel-toeing before my driving test!

And as always... Google devata has all the answers

How to Use Heel-Toeing When Driving a Manual Transmission | eHow.com

Heel-toeing - Google Search

[cnaganathan]

Originally Posted by CtrlAltDel

I change gears at the following speeds:

1 to 2 - 10 kmph
2 to 3 - 20 kmph
3 to 4 - 40-45 kmph
4 to 5 - 55-60 kmph (did it a few times on necklace road and around KBR park)

i never crossed 60kmph yet, rather i didnt get the opportunity!

Rather than the speeds, change using your RPM as a guidance. For Diesel engines it is better to get them into their power band (if you have a TC) or get it close to the max torque before shifting gears. Never let your engine "stutter" at low RPMs after you change upwards it can result in lower FE and affect engine performance in the long run.

[condor]

CtrlAltDel : ... all these speeds have been calculated keeping the RPM around 1200-1500 in all gears. am I doing the right thing or is there a better way to help take this decision?

The speeds you mention - is that what the owner's manual recommends ? The values recommended in the owner's manual would be best.

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by Glifford

Hey ... (tried typing your user name and I ended up rebooting my system :P )

Congrats on your purchase. It sure is a wise decision and it looks lovely in that colour!

On Heel-toeing



Well that's the name with a technique you have to use when you drive a manual transmission car and need to press all the three pedals (selectively in varying degrees) with just your two feet.

Most often employed when having to do a standing start on an up-hill incline, without letting your car roll back (reminds me of the Koramangala to Forum signal from KML 80' Road).

You need to use the left foot to depress the clutch and keep the brake pressed with the toes of your right foot and the accelerator with the heel of the very same foot! Does take some effort and skill.

When done well it can be cleanly executed without any assistance from the hand/parking brake. But nowadays many people now take refuge of the use of the hand/parking brake when making an uphill standing start! Heel-toeing does take some effort, but it is skill one must master!

Reminds me of the time, dad took me to an uphill road for me to practice heel-toeing before my driving test!

And as always... Google devata has all the answers

How to Use Heel-Toeing When Driving a Manual Transmission | eHow.com

Heel-toeing - Google Search

Thanks for helping me out Glifford... I could not have explained it better than that.

[phamilyman]

Hold on bhai - are you NOt using the turbo (1500 RPM) in run inperiod at all?

[vasu]

congratulations on your new car.Nice choise.

[samirsarkar]

Congratulations on your new purchase....enjoy the car !! The Vista is a revelation from Tata.

One question...the Indica Xeta had only one reverse light at the back like the Logan or SX4 although there was space for two. Does the Vista have two or one ??

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Originally Posted by samirsarkar

One question...the Indica Xeta had only one reverse light at the back like the Logan or SX4 although there was space for two. Does the Vista have two or one ??

Huh? Were you looking a fused bulb?

[CtrlAltDel]

Originally Posted by suren181

OT: By any chance were you at Yatri Nivas on Sunday Afternoon?

i was not at Yatri Nivas, but passed in front of Yatri Nivas once or twice that day. if you had seen a parked red Vista there, it should have been someone else's (i wonder who the competition is? ).

Originally Posted by Glifford

On Heel-toeing...

hey! that was informative and I learnt a new automotive term today! i tried that today but could not do it. possibly i was cagey trying stunts on a new car. anyway why bother when we can conveniently use the accelerator and the hand brake?

Originally Posted by cnaganathan

Rather than the speeds, change using your RPM as a guidance.

Originally Posted by condor

The speeds you mention - is that what the owner's manual recommends ? The values recommended in the owner's manual would be best.

I have set 1500RPM as a benchmark in the run-in period. those speeds I have mentioned have been calculated as per the RPM in respective gears.
the manual says nothing about ideal RPMs. it just mentions the ideal speeds in each gear for economy and also for the run-in period. i used that data to arrive at that decision on benchmarking 1500RPM and those speeds i mentioned.

as per the manual:

MAX SPEEDS during Run-in period:
1st Gear - 20 kmph
2nd Gear - 30 kmph
3rd Gear - 50 kmph
4th Gear - 80 kmph
5th Gear - 90 kmph

IDEAL SPEEDS for good fuel economy:

1st - 20 kmph
2nd - 30 kmph
3rd - 40 kmph (the manual says '30' again, but i suppose its a typo)
4th - 50 kmph
5th - 70 kmph

Speeds mentioned above for the run in period are the Maximum recommended speeds and they can be lower too. Thats why I up-shift earlier and it causes no problems.

though i try to stick to the ideal speeds for economy, I find myself exceeding it on the 4th gear because after years of V2-ing I am somewhat cagey about shifting to the 5th earlier! maybe once I get used to the powerband here, i can up-shift to 5th faster when I get the opportunity.

as I said before the 3rd gear is the most useful of the lot. on crowded roads, where it is diffcult to reach 35 or 40 kmph i find the range of the 3rd very useful. the 2nd gear is no less - its ideal for crawling at speeds less than 20kmph with air-con and without clutch.

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Hold on bhai - are you NOt using the turbo (1500 RPM) in run inperiod at all?

the turbo kicks in at 1750 RPM and I did experience it on a couple of occasions while driving 4th and 5th gears. the power did not surge like in the SwiftD but the feeling of increased power is unmistakable. its a very smooth and gentle boost.

though the manual saying nothing about the RPM during run-in period, an engineer at the showroom asked me to keep it around 1500 till first service, except for situations like over taking or climbing steep slopes.

Originally Posted by samirsarkar

the Indica Xeta had only one reverse light at the back like the Logan or SX4 although there was space for two. Does the Vista have two or one ??

are u talking about the white reversing indicator lamp in the tail lamp cluster? of course there are two - one on each side. i ddint know Logan and SX4 (or any other car) had only one of those!

[greenhorn]

@ samirsarkar - you're talking about the 2004-06 indica. those had only one reverse lamp. The current ( 2007- ) model has reverse lamps on both sides

[phamilyman]

No Xeta has ONLY one reverse light.

The other is dummy. Really!

That said, I find it simply weird that even the manual does not mandate turbo usage in run-in!