[Gansan]

Parked somewhere near the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, pondy. We are all ardent devotees of the Mother and wanted to take the car there asap:




My mother and wife with junior:


Yours truly, clicked by junior:

[Gansan]

Took the ECR while returning to Chennai, inspite of the fact that it will add 20+ KM to my trip. It has been a long standing desire to drive on the scenic,winding ECR. All pics clicked by junior:

[Gansan]

During another mandatory break 1 hour out on the ECR. Thought we might as well have coffee in this wayside hotel while the car cooled; but upon entering the place found coffee was not yet ready, only mutton biryani was available, and came out sheepishly! Spent the next 15 minutes lazing around the car:

[Gansan]

Two hours out on the ECR, time for the next break for the car. Halted at Motel Mamalla, Mahabalipuram. Here not only coffee, but piping hot samosas and cutlet also were available!

[Gansan]

Now for the driving experience. I drove rather sedately, maintained a speed between 50 KM and 80 KM, since the odo reading at the start of the journey was only 273 KM. Ensured to vary the speed now and then. Stopped the car for 10 - 15 minutes every hour. The car handled very predictably, no issues.

Checked the mileage too. As soon as I took delivery and filled petrol with the 5 litre coupon given by the dealer, took the car straight to Shell Chromepet bunk and filled a full tank of premium. Got down from the car and after the auto cut-off, told the girl to manually fill again till the petrol was just an inch below the mouth. Set the trip meter to zero and used in city for 172 KM before starting for pondy today. Did not re-set the meter while starting on the trip. It showed 321.10 KM upon reaching Pondy. Filled petrol at the Oshram Bunk. Same methodology, manual filling after auto cut-off till fuel was just an inch below the lid. Car took in 18.880 litres of BP premium. Mileage calculated 321.10/18.880 = 17.01 KM per litre. This is for mixed city/highway driving of 54:46, with about 65% usage of A/C.

Now for the best part: I reset the trip meter to zero at the Oshram bunk immediately after filling. When we reached the Chromepet Shell bunk, the meter read 153.50 KM. At least 120 KM of this was highway driving and about 33 KM city driving, a ratio of 78:22, with about 65 - 70% usage of A/C. Again filled her up with Shell premium up to an inch below the lid. She took in 7.41 litres. Surprise, surprise! The mileage was 153.50/7.41 = 20.72 KM per litre!

BHPians, tell me if my method is fool proof. This is the only method I can think of, short of doing a bottle test. I suppose the mileage will improve by about 2 KM once the engine is run-in.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by gpa

Gansan,

Those seat covers look fab! Clearer pics of the ICE will be better

Cheers,
gpa

My apologies! The pic of the HU went out of focus. And I think I will have to sit on the boot and aim upwards for a clear shot of the speakers! Will try again.

[nitrous]

Congratulations on the car, Gansan.
Good choice of colour.

[Gansan]

Thank you! I have always liked blue, but this particular shade was very tempting.

[misquitas]

Originally Posted by Gansan

Thank you! I have always liked blue, but this particular shade was very tempting.

Gansan, congrats on your new set of wheels and blue is indeed a nice colour. Do check if all FOUR doors have the safety switch that will illuminate the cabin light if any one door is not closed properly.

While some Alto cars in other parts of India have all four doors provided with this safety switch (check a related discussion on 'Modding an Alto' in this forum), my Alto LXI (May 2008) had only the front two doors with the door safety switches. I had to pay 60-odd rupees (plus Rs 100 as labour charges!) to fit the two switches on both rear doors. This is invaluable to warn you if your doors are not closed properly.

By the way, I happened to notice here in Goa (at the Porvorim Sai Service stockyard to be specific) that a new blue colour has been added to the Alto line-up. The colour is darker than Gansan's blue Alto and it closely resembles the Ritz blue. I wonder if there are any other changes to the legendary car besides the blue colour.

And talking about various hues of Alto cars, I never imagined that a red Alto looked that good, until I saw the pictures of Furious55's red-hot Alto on this forum. With the red bumpers and red door knobs to match the skin colour, her Alto really looks good from the outside. Certainly looks like an expensive Rs 4 lakh car. I hope to see it on the road, when I visit my wife's house in Margao-Goa.

I always believed that red vehicles look good and I even managed to get myself one of those rare Red LML Sensation scooters some years ago. Told my friends that important vehicles (like fire brigades and my Sensation) have a red colour so that they can easily be sighted on the road. Until one friend politely told me that most garbage vehicles in Goa are also red in colour!!!

[gpa]

Originally Posted by Gansan

BHPians, tell me if my method is fool proof. This is the only method I can think of, short of doing a bottle test. I suppose the mileage will improve by about 2 KM once the engine is run-in.

Gansan,

The tank full to tank full method is the best to check overall FE. It will give you an accurate figure. I usually fill up once every 2 weeks with driving only in the city and use the above method. I maintain an Excel sheet with the same and the graphs generated are useful to monitor the FE over a period of time. You can check my LTO report if you want to have a look.

Your overall FE will improve once you cross the 5,000 kms mark and you will see a slightly more significant change once you cross the 7,500 kms mark. The FE will stabilize at a particular figure once you cross the 10,000 kms mark.

Cheers,
gpa

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by misquitas

Gansan, congrats on your new set of wheels and blue is indeed a nice colour. Do check if all FOUR doors have the safety switch that will illuminate the cabin light if any one door is not closed properly.

Thanks for the info. Will check it pot.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by gpa

Gansan,

The tank full to tank full method is the best to check overall FE. It will give you an accurate figure. I usually fill up once every 2 weeks with driving only in the city and use the above method. I maintain an Excel sheet with the same and the graphs generated are useful to monitor the FE over a period of time. You can check my LTO report if you want to have a look.

The Excel sheet looks good. Will try to emulate that.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by misquitas

Do check if all FOUR doors have the safety switch that will illuminate the cabin light if any one door is not closed properly.

It works only on the front doors. Even the owners' manual mentions they are connected only to the front doors.

[gpa]

Originally Posted by Gansan

It works only on the front doors. Even the owners' manual mentions they are connected only to the front doors.

Gansan,

You can get the switches fitted to the rear door as well. Will act as a useful safety device in terms of warning you if the door is not closed properly. Certain batches of Alto's came with switches on all 4 doors.

[misquitas]

Originally Posted by gpa

Gansan,

You can get the switches fitted to the rear door as well. Will act as a useful safety device in terms of warning you if the door is not closed properly. Certain batches of Alto's came with switches on all 4 doors.

Yes, Please install the switches on the rear doors as well. The provisions are already there for the switches on the rear doors of the Alto and I pay only Rs 60 and had the two switches fitted on the rear door of my Alto. A very useful safety device to have.