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Originally Posted by Sahil Got delivery of our Altis A/T today. A sky blue which will be with us in Bombay(regn 3334) and a white one(regn 3355) will be in Pune. Paid Rs.2000 each for the numbers, without reciept. Intial impressions:
-A complete no non sense car, has everything one needs and more without being too flamboyant.
-Engine is very smooth. Am trying to run her in well so kept her below 3000rpm. But the feeling I get is that the engine is not as free revving as a Honda. Nonetheless it is very smooth and low end torque is excellent!
-Driving position one of the best I have had in any car. The lower back support keep you very comfy and since it's electronically controlled, you get the exact position you need.
- Steering is gem! A boon to twist around in traffic.
-Interior quality is great both of leather and plastics. Center console ads an upmarket feel an look.
-FE so far with 75% highway,25% city driving with AC is 12.5kmpl.
-Xenons are a boon, add to the exterior look at night, especially with the sky blue color they match well. Provide brilliant vision, although I wish the high beam was xenon too.
- Outside noise is very well cut out, unlike most jap cars.
-Only complaint is that you buy a car that cost almost 15 lakhs OTR mumbai and don't get any matting with it ! Other options considered/Why I picked the Altis:
- Budget was 12 to 20 lakhs.
- I found myself using the Accord mostly during the daytime traffic after the BMW came last year, which is and still will be my most used car.
- Have been looking for a car for a year now, test drove the new Accord, Jetta DSG.
- Ruled out the Accord as I mentioned the car would be used only within the city and most often in traffic during the day. Hence I wanted something smaller as the Accord often is a pain to fit into tight parking spots etc. I often found myself picking the NHC whenever I needed to get out in the day. So a perfect size would be something between the two. Was very keen and almost finalized on the Jetta, but after pondering over it I realised the Jetta was not what I needed. Since the car would never be used on the highway nor would it clock many kms to justify the 4 lakh premium over the Altis.
- Had booked the civic hybrid but thanks to Honda's alleged scam my booking was cancelled. The only thing that attracted me to the Civic was the hybrid engine and I was not keen on the normal petrol A/T.
- I found myself at peace after TDing the Altis as it had a higher seating than the Civic which is the biggest reason for me not considering the Civic 1.8. My focus was not on performance either as there is not much you can tap in traffic either.
- Got Rs.60,000 off on Dec 2008 manufactered Altis, after which I sealed the deal. Fittings to come:
- Will be getting tints put tomo.
- Have a Nokia bluetooth car kit lying around unfitted for a while so will get it fitted in this car.
- Contemplating on rubber. I find the bridgestones it has come with rather noisy. Although 215/60R15 is my top choice I fear they will put too much load on the car. Besides it's rare to find that size.
- Will get the chrome grill fin fitted during the first service. |
Congrats Sahil on the entry to the TCA club on TBHP and thanks for your comments which focus on practicality rather than the lack of a red line loving engine that most people, including myself, like to praise. cheers:
The TCA is a 'nice' car at the very least. I drove on the GQ to Kolhapur/Belgaum/Hubli with my wife and found the car very comfortable. It is stress free driving and with the automatic you get cruise control. So much the better for long distance drives. The steering is a blessing in city driving and much better than my older 9G corolla thought there are comments about not enough feedback coming thru the steering due to the EPS when it's compared with the hydraulic set up the older car had.
I kept the RPMs below 3K for the first 1K Kms and varying the speed between 80-100 kmph. Around the 1400 Kms milestone, took the car up to 125 kmph. Will gradually increase further once she's near the 2K kms mark. It is difficult to keep the car below 100 as it seems eager to go. Yes, it is not as smooth as the Civic at 4000+ RPM.
I hope your car doesnt have that horrible brake screech that generally turns up after 350 kms of running. I'll be taking my car to the dealer next weekend for a fix after having received some prompt responses to my complaint from TKM followed by DSK Toyota. It is this responsiveness to customer complaints and the Toyota brand name that made me buy a Toyota for the 2nd time. Seriously, their service at least in Pune is top notch.
Cheers!
R2D2 |