[sanjayc]

Reviving a dormat thread - and for good reasons, hope I don't get a warning;-}

Post the ice upgrade, it was time for shoes to be changed. A month or so back, got a puncture in the rear-right tyre. Tried fixing up the spare tyre as a stop gap measure..but was not able to remove the tyre..time to test Ford emergency service..and prompty within an hour they arrived and replaced the tyre with the spare.

Took the car to a nearby repair shop - tubeless puncture repair kit was used - but it was finally diagnosed that the puncture is towards the sidewall and cannot be repaired. A tube was inserted - so effectively for a month, I was running with a tube in a tubeless tyre.

With 8.4K on the ODO, decided to go for Michelin XM1+ 185/65/R14, but everywhere it was out of stock - meanwhile the ICE mania took over and this got postponed.

Finally, yday, got Yokohama C Drive 185/65/R14 - 4 nos for 3650/- per piece. The MRF stock ones wre traded in for 1250/- per piece..so nett price comes to 2400/- totalling to 9600/- + 400 for balancing etc etc..No 5th tyre in sotck, so the spare remains MRF - will change once stock arrives. Trade in value qouted for spare is 2000/-. Comes with bill & 3 yr Yokohama warranty card.

Post the new shoes, the steering feels a tad heavier, more comfortable on PITA-type road surface, small bumps are hardly felt. Roughness of passing over sharp edges like those of concrete manhole covers or potholes are now much less compared to earlier.

W.R.T. Road/Tyre noise, not much perceptible difference. Braking distance/grip seems to have gotten better - have not tried at higher speeds as yet though.

Keeping my fingers crossed on the FE part, which was hovering around 8..hope it does not fall further.

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by sanjayc

With 8.4K on the ODO, decided to go for Michelin XM1+ 185/65/R14, but everywhere it was out of stock

Sanju, if this post was made on a Monday morning, I would have assumed why you posted here on my humble page, but on a Friday morning....hmm, cant guess !!!

Anyway, so far I have nothing to cry about Michelins, its a fantastic shoe for any car. My ODO is now 6100 and 6050 kms is run on the Michelin. Rotation was done in the previous service. Spare tire is not yet used, its still a brand new tire in the boot on the steel rim.

Now I have an idea of covering few villages and cities in a single drive ( 4 days minimum), probably alone or with Unni (if his dates could match). It will be first of its kind in my life. Major inspiration is from your Kolkatta drive.

There will be only 2 things in mind: Pure driving pleasure and Photography I hope to make it happen end of October or beginning of November. Will update here as it will be more of a Fiesta report.

[sanjayc]

Long weekend..decided to while away some time. Who better than you for a extended tit-for-tat exchange.LOL. Just kidding.

Request a favor...it will be so kind and generous of you if you can please share some gorgeous snaps of yours (not you..your photography snaps, i.e.) which I can put as wallpapers on the JVC HU/laptop etc. To start with, some landscape snaps you took in Chennai will be great.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by sanjayc

Finally, yday, got Yokohama C Drive 185/65/R14 - 4 nos for 3650/- per piece. The MRF stock ones wre traded in for 1250/- per piece..so nett price comes to 2400/- totalling to 9600/- + 400 for balancing etc etc..No 5th tyre in sotck, so the spare remains MRF - will change once stock arrives. Trade in value qouted for spare is 2000/-. Comes with bill & 3 yr Yokohama warranty card.
Keeping my fingers crossed on the FE part, which was hovering around 8..hope it does not fall further.

Hi Sanjay,

Congrats on the new shoes for your beast. Any particular reason for the upgrade to the new size. Does this not null the warranty or is it the case that your service guys are Ok with the upgrade.

Frankly speaking I am very confortable on the stock tyre size, had replaced the stock tyres with Michelin XM1+ during delivery itself and the total swap (5) had costed me Rs 5K. Till date no issues and am getting the same experience as yours.

Believe me or not I had filled 38 lts on 6th Sept and 28 lts on 17th and the trip meter is reading 1110. I myself cant believe it sometimes and before I switched the engine On today made sure I was seeing something real. After office I will be refueling today.

[sanjayc]

Ghodlur, no particular reason..maybe the puncture just hastened things up a bit. I was planning to change the tyres in the 2nd year anyways.

This is not strictly an upgrade IMO. The stock is 175/65/R14 and the new one is 185/65/R14 - the profile remains the same..only the width of the tyre has changed.

After doing the ICE upgrade, I have thrown all warranty fears out of the window;-}

I had to pay double the cost becos of 8K+ ODO.

I guess your XM1+ also is 185/65/R14 profile, isn't it?

You are getting awesome mileage there it seems! I am happy if I get roundabout 8+ becos of my usage conditions which consists of very frequent short runs everyday.

[Gilead]

Originally Posted by sanjayc

W.R.T. Road/Tyre noise, not much perceptible difference. Braking distance/grip seems to have gotten better - have not tried at higher speeds as yet though.

Road/Tire noise would have been near zero after the heavy damping that went into your car. These new tires will have far better grip in the wet.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Believe me or not I had filled 38 lts on 6th Sept and 28 lts on 17th and the trip meter is reading 1110.

You mean to say you are getting a mileage of 17 kmpl on a Fiesta 1.6? I don't even get that on the highway. You sure you don't have a defective console or something? lol

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by Gilead

You mean to say you are getting a mileage of 17 kmpl on a Fiesta 1.6? I don't even get that on the highway. You sure you don't have a defective console or something? lol

I had done a Mumbai-Pune trip in between which may be the reason for the such an mileage. I sometimes thought it was a defective console coz the DTE dances like a break dancer ans is a real PIA. Net net I am happy with Fiesta (imagine getting more than the hatches)
Parapappa, I'm Loving it.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by sanjayc

After doing the ICE upgrade, I have thrown all warranty fears out of the window;-}

I guess your XM1+ also is 185/65/R14 profile, isn't it?

You are getting awesome mileage there it seems! I am happy if I get roundabout 8+ becos of my usage conditions which consists of very frequent short runs everyday.

Mine is still 175/65/R14. I was intially kind of scared to go for a warranty void hence kept the same tyre widt size as the stock MRF. I went for the Michelin's based on the reports on the forum. I wanted to see how the tyres perform during monsoons on Mumbai roads and was extremely satisfied with the performance which I will be detailing in my 1yr ownership review.

Regarding mileage as you once had suggested was may be due to highway driving and non traffic period which I agree to mostly.

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by sanjayc

Long weekend..decided to while away some time. Who better than you for a extended tit-for-tat exchange.LOL. Just kidding..

Sanju, glad that you guys have come out of the hole to instigate the mods to close another fiesta thread

OT: I am not sure of your requirements as wall-paper, thought some 'skimpily clad' stuff already does its work . Need to know the display resolution first to personalize a proper wall paper for your HU. You can check my facebook and flickr pages, if you dont find anything, let me know what you want, I will shoot one and send to you..

Flickr: shajufx's Photostream
http://www.facebook.com/shajufx

Reading the mileage figures of Ghodlur, buddy are you sure you are not running on Ramar Petrol ? LOL

[sanjayc]

Shaju, the native resolution is 800x240 but the HU can take upto 8192 x 7680 resolution. Don't you worry on the resolution part...will get the scaling myself.

Great..hope you don't mind if I do flick some of your Flickr images...of course, due credit will be given wherever used.

OT: Will trade off your beautiful shots anyday for most of those photo-shopped skinny's.

[shajufx]

Finally, there is a navigation assistance added to my Fiesta ! Its nothing but a Holux 1000 C (Rs.2560/- from ebay with 10% festival discount) that receives GPS signals and runs my SE Vivaz with MMI maps (All India maps version 4.0 for Rs.1990/- as e-buy). This is the cheapest method I could compromise for my long drives that are coming up from next weekend. Total cost Rs.4550. Its just slightly bigger than a match box and can be thrown anywhere in the car.

Product link: HOLUX - The Pro Name in GPS

Few questions that might come up from members:
1) Is not Vivaz having a built-in GPS ?
Yes, it has, but somehow it doesn't function with MMI maps and its a common issue reported in many international forums.

2) How is the mobile display useful compared to a dedicated navigator screen ?
SE Vivaz has a 3.5 inch display thats equal to the smallest and cheapest navigator available from MMI named 'Roadpilot' selling for Rs.8000.

Another positive side of this product is: Its highly portable ! Holux 1000 C claims a 20 hours battery life and the SE Vivaz is yet to be tested with full time display. If I use another handset for receiving and making calls during the travel, I think Vivaz should give a minimum of 6 hours or more which is not a worry as car charger is always handy if its a drive.

Fiesta is getting ready for a 1200 kms drive next week, new navigator will be tested to its best.

[unni.ak]

Originally Posted by shajufx

Finally, there is a navigation assistance added to my Fiesta ! .......

Fiesta is getting ready for a 1200 kms drive next week, new navigator will be tested to its best.

Ah good good! So you settled for the phone than an stand alone device. It has its positives for sure. Congrats!!

Where are you going, the 1200km drive? Have a fun time!

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by unni.ak

Where are you going, the 1200km drive? Have a fun time !

Thanks buddy !

Fiesta is taking a Velankanni ride, but it wont be a usual straight drive from Bangalore. I have my first cousin settled with her family at Karumanthurai some 60 kms from Salem (hill stations). So we will be visiting her, taking her experienced driver with us when we continue from there after a decent break and rest, because we plan to start from her home in the night and reach Velankanni by next day early morning. As you know, I dont drive in the night and prefer not to miss my sleep too

Overall I expect this trip to me more fun-filled with the family. My DSLR will have a busy time too as we will visit some most scenic places in TN in this trip. I can keep the driver seat or passenger seat empty, if you wish to join

[unni.ak]

Originally Posted by shajufx

Thanks buddy !

Fiesta is taking a Velankanni ride......I can keep the driver seat or passenger seat empty, if you wish to join

Do let me know when the trip is. Let me check what can be managed!! Anything for a drive, and no passenger seat business!! You should know that by now.

[Chillout]

Guys, a quick question, yesterday I drove a Fiesta diesel and I was surprised that it was a lot easier to drive than my Petrol. The reason for that being the Power steering was much more responsive than my Petrol. It literally felt like a Honda city wherein even a 3 yr old could turn the wheels.

I was wondering if the steering is a tad harder for all Petrol Fiesta's Mine has always been a little hard from day 1