[opendro]

Ok. I didn't get to drive on highway in day time as I planned. I started from Coimbatore in the late afternoon/evening and roads are single lane and heavy traffic. I was aggressive on overtaking, but not exceed the speed beyond 100. Maintain around 80 most of the time. I took the Metur road. By the time I reached Metur, that must have been about 150Km (I didn't note down accurately), the trip computer was showing the mileage as 20.4 Kmpl.

From there on, I was even more aggressive on overtaking and speeding further to 100 most of the time. Mileage dropped to 19.7 by the time I finished the single lane drive and hit the multilane Topur/Dharmapuri highway (that was about 195Km on the trip reading).

From there on, I cautiously took to a little higher speed, maintaining between 110 Kmph to 130 Kmph, and touching 140 once in a while when the road is straight and sure to be safe for the night. I continued driving like this till Hosur. By then average mileage dropped to 19.2 Kmpl. By the time I reached home it was 19.1 Kmpl. Very happy with it.

I took some sharp manoeuvre in between the trucks (well spaced though) at around 100-120 Kmph and some in between the cars/bus/trucks on the uphill curves at around 60-80 Kmph. I was pretty satisfied (not sure how my wife felt behind, but no words from her ).

One more thing. I was feeling very annoying with the bongggg sound even at 100 Kmph in fifth gear while going. While returning, I felt the sound to be much more tolerable and that was another reason I could go a little higher speed.

Another problem during delivery which I forgot to mention. The bonnet opening knob was loosely hanging and they promised to replace it at the earliest. Still no part here in Concorde, opposite Christ college. They have told me that it would be available in Begur. Will have to call up and fix up with them if they have and change the oil as well.

I was told that mats are now available. I already bought one from a mall. So, not going for it. Mud flaps are not yet available till today morning.

[swami]

Originally Posted by opendro

1. From there on, I cautiously took to a little higher speed, maintaining between 110 Kmph to 130 Kmph, and touching 140 once in a while when the road is straight and sure to be safe for the night. I continued driving like this till Hosur. By then average mileage dropped to 19.2 Kmpl. By the time I reached home it was 19.1 Kmpl. Very happy with it.

2. I took some sharp manoeuvre in between the trucks (well spaced though) at around 100-120 Kmph and some in between the cars/bus/trucks on the uphill curves at around 60-80 Kmph. I was pretty satisfied (not sure how my wife felt behind, but no words from her ).

3. One more thing. I was feeling very annoying with the bongggg sound even at 100 Kmph in fifth gear while going. While returning, I felt the sound to be much more tolerable and that was another reason I could go a little higher speed.

4. Another problem during delivery which I forgot to mention. The bonnet opening knob was loosely hanging and they promised to replace it at the earliest. Still no part here in Concorde, opposite Christ college. They have told me that it would be available in Begur. Will have to call up and fix up with them if they have and change the oil as well.

5. I was told that mats are now available. I already bought one from a mall. So, not going for it. Mud flaps are not yet available till today morning.

1. "Very happy with it" - Congrats. 19.1 is beyond my wildest dreams but then you have the famed MJD.

2. Glad to hear that car inspires confidence

3. What is this "bongg" sound? Can you please elaborate?

4. Arggh!! Are you referring to the lever inside the car or the lever under the bonnet? There have been references to the lever under the bonnet many times. Reason am asking is that I have checked out the knob under the bonnet on 4 different TD / showroom cars and have not yet seen it for myself.

5. How much did you get the mats for? Have heard that the following accessories are available at Concorde - (1) Garware sun-film (~ 2K without windscreen) (2) Music system and (3) Alloys.

Thansk for the post. Think it might be a good idea for you to open a separate thread for your car.

[neoonwheels]

@opendro : Have you calculated the tankfull- to - tank full avg? May be you can cross verify with the one trip comp was showing. But near to 20 kmpl is a very very good avg

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by opendro

One more thing. I was feeling very annoying with the bongggg sound even at 100 Kmph in fifth gear while going. While returning, I felt the sound to be much more tolerable and that was another reason I could go a little higher speed.

What is this bongggg sound?

[opendro]

Originally Posted by swami

3. What is this "bongg" sound? Can you please elaborate?

4. Arggh!! Are you referring to the lever inside the car or the lever under the bonnet? There have been references to the lever under the bonnet many times. Reason am asking is that I have checked out the knob under the bonnet on 4 different TD / showroom cars and have not yet seen it for myself.

5. How much did you get the mats for? Have heard that the following accessories are available at Concorde - (1) Garware sun-film (~ 2K without windscreen) (2) Music system and (3) Alloys.

Thansk for the post. Think it might be a good idea for you to open a separate thread for your car.

Originally Posted by neoonwheels

@opendro : Have you calculated the tankfull- to - tank full avg? May be you can cross verify with the one trip comp was showing. But near to 20 kmpl is a very very good avg

Originally Posted by shipnil

What is this bongggg sound?

I didn't do tank full to tank full. I just took the trip computer and I remember reading Autocar India that it is the most accurate they had tested so far in India. It looks pretty accurate to me too. Mind you, I cannot get more than 12 in city for my driving style and that is what this meter shows. I'm sure if I fill one full tank, I should be able to drive close to 1000 Kms.

That bongg is the roaring of the engine as the turbo is on the job. It was intruding too much (everyone knows about it in Linea). What I didn't expect was the amount of roar at 100 Kmph. Either I got used to it or it got lessened. Now at 100, it just feels like the winds's noise (tolerable).

The mats cost me 688 from Total Mall (for those who are in Bangalore). I have not taken any photo of the car or any accessories. I will do it soon and post the mat as well just in case others are interested. But Concorde has one now. I was about to buy one for Honda City and it was quoted as Rs. 1600. It was also good, but too costly.

I paid Rs. 5800 for the Garware Icecool Elite 50 (I didn't bargain).

Yes, Swami. It is the lever just on the right side of the accelerator. I checked on the demo car and it was proper. But it was hanging out too much and lever falling off in my case.

Let me not open a thread, because I'm not going to post frequently. I don't know when my next update would be (I mean, after the photos). May be when I change my tyre profile or put tuning chip from Petes.

[vijaythacker]

Dr.Amit, congratulations for your new buy. Fantastic car you choosed. Also rightly to go for Aspi motors which are better then other dealers for tata as well as fiat sales and services.Looking forward to see some cool pics of your black bombshell.

[vahss_11]

Congrats bro. awesome pick , hope others are also lucky to get the car so soon

[nkrishnap]

@Opendro: Which color did you buy. I guess i missed the color, if you had already mentioned.

Also how good is the head light beam spread quality of both the low and the high beam and the head light illumination. Also inputs on the actual utility of the Fog lamps.

[rudrah]

Originally Posted by swami

5. How much did you get the mats for? Have heard that the following accessories are available at Concorde - (1) Garware sun-film (~ 2K without windscreen) (2) Music system and (3) Alloys.

Swami, I would not recommend you to buy accessories from the Dealer. They are too costly.
Sun-films, Music system and alloys are best to buy from market.

OT- Any idea of when you are getting your Linea?

[swami]

Originally Posted by rudrah

Swami, I would not recommend you to buy accessories from the Dealer. They are too costly.
Sun-films, Music system and alloys are best to buy from market.

OT- Any idea of when you are getting your Linea?

Sunfilm - wanted to understand how much is the dealer (over)charging. A friend got his Swift filmed recently and he ended up paying about 1.5K for Garware Classic (4 windows and rear shield). So the dealer is about 25% more expensive (unless he is offering a better quality film)

Delivery - Had been to the dealer yday. He is sticking to the outer limit of 10th march. But also indicated that he will be getting a delivery schedule tomorrow (25th Feb) and if my car is in the list then i could get delivery early next week.

[opendro]

Originally Posted by swami

Have heard that the following accessories are available at Concorde - (1) Garware sun-film (~ 2K without windscreen) (2) Music system and (3) Alloys.

I called and verified that Concorde still does not have the alloys for Linea. I also want to buy for the spare wheel.

I always go for sunfilm with better heat rejection at higher transparency. I got directly from Garware (called their office in Rajaji Nagar and they came to my home to fit it). I got Emotion plus, so music system came inbuilt.

BTW, I was tired of waiting for the bonnet opening lever part from the Concorde near Diary Circle. They had been telling me that I could go to Begur (where only servicing is done) and get it replaced. I was earlier lazy to go till there. I decided to go yesterday at around 5:30pm.

Man. They have completely changed their attitude and it is for the good. As soon as I walked in, they greeted me with a question on why I had come. I was asked to sit for a minute and they served me tea, which I politely declined (I'm a teetotaler, not even soft drinks, only water). Within a minute I was called into the service manager and I was assigned to a service engineer in front of me. They asked me if I had any other problem.

I explained my problems of odometer reding during delivery and odometer reset on my first day. He explained to me that odometer is allowed to be reset from the menu only once in the entire life of odo system and that can be done only before 250Km. I was surprised but happy to hear a proper answer. And double happy to know that reset was really done by me, which means that they had not done the reset before (as it is allowed only once). Not sure if it is written in the manual.

They replaced the lever and it is all fine now. I couldn't convince the service manager to change my engine oil. I will anyway complete 3Mm next week and give for service. I just pray that the engine is doing all good and fine, because I can now see that the oil has become two times darker than when I earlier checked. I usually wipe the engine oil gauge meter on a clean white tissue paper and see the color to examine.

[SkyWalker]

Opendro - good to see they have resolved your problems. Nice to see FIAT changing its attitude. Spares are scary on a new car. Hope they address it with urgency.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by opendro

I called and verified that Concorde still does not have the alloys for Linea. I also want to buy for the spare wheel.

I always go for sunfilm with better heat rejection at higher transparency. I got directly from Garware (called their office in Rajaji Nagar and they came to my home to fit it). I got Emotion plus, so music system came inbuilt.

BTW, I was tired of waiting for the bonnet opening lever part from the Concorde near Diary Circle. They had been telling me that I could go to Begur (where only servicing is done) and get it replaced. I was earlier lazy to go till there. I decided to go yesterday at around 5:30pm.

Man. They have completely changed their attitude and it is for the good. As soon as I walked in, they greeted me with a question on why I had come. I was asked to sit for a minute and they served me tea, which I politely declined (I'm a teetotaler, not even soft drinks, only water). Within a minute I was called into the service manager and I was assigned to a service engineer in front of me. They asked me if I had any other problem.

I explained my problems of odometer reding during delivery and odometer reset on my first day. He explained to me that odometer is allowed to be reset from the menu only once in the entire life of odo system and that can be done only before 250Km. I was surprised but happy to hear a proper answer. And double happy to know that reset was really done by me, which means that they had not done the reset before (as it is allowed only once). Not sure if it is written in the manual.

They replaced the lever and it is all fine now. I couldn't convince the service manager to change my engine oil. I will anyway complete 3Mm next week and give for service. I just pray that the engine is doing all good and fine, because I can now see that the oil has become two times darker than when I earlier checked. I usually wipe the engine oil gauge meter on a clean white tissue paper and see the color to examine.

Thats nice to hear... by the way I think you should start a seperate thread on Linea ownership which will give everyone a one point reference. Looking at the thread title no one would expect it.

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by opendro

I called and verified that Concorde still does not have the alloys for Linea. I also want to buy for the spare wheel.

Great to see the attitude at the FIAT workshop change . Hope they keep up the enthusiasm sustained over a period of time.

By the way, I still have not received an update from you on the below. Thanks in advance

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

Which color did you buy. I guess i missed the color, if you had already mentioned.

Also how good is the head light beam spread quality of both the low and the high beam and the head light illumination. Also inputs on the actual utility of the Fog lamps.

[downsouth]

Dr. Amit and Opendro

Congrats on the Linea, I know it is really late but I had not checked on the threads lately. Both of you have provided excellent inputs. I will keep looking out for more updates from both of you.

Enjoy and drive safe