[amoghchaphalkar]

@ Amit : Are you planning to change the engine oil after 1500 kms ?

[amit]

Originally Posted by amoghchaphalkar

@ Amit : Are you planning to change the engine oil after 1500 kms ?

No I plan to stick to the manufacturer recommended service intervals. The car has completed over 1,600kms and it's beginning to feel better to drive so I don't think a change is needed. Will checking the engine oil by feeling it between the finger's help to decide if it needs to be changed due to presence of metal parts?

The second full tank of diesel is completed.

MID : 19.90kmpl.
Manual : 18.98kmpl.
Error rate : 4.85%

The error rate after first tank full was about 1%.

After I filled her up yesterday, I drove for 140kms, 80kms of which were hardcore Mumbai city driving.

City route was Chembur - Sion - S.V.Road - Vile Parle(W) - back on S.V.Road - Bandra Station road - Bandra Worli Sea Link - Worli - Haji Ali - Vama at kemps corner - back through Haji Ali - Worli - Siddhivinayak - Dadar - Kings Circle - Sion Hospital - Sion - Chembur. After that it was highway driving from Chembur - Kharghar - Chembur.

The days of zipping across the city on a National holiday are long gone. Exit at Worli on the BWSL was jammed. Traffic was horrendous, held up at certain places due to Lord Ganesha's being taken home. Lowest mileage shown by MID was 15.1kmpl. The third tankful is going to be interesting because it's going to have a mix of hardcore city and my usual highway-city driving routine. Today after I reached work in the morning, MID was showing 17.1kmpl.

[amit]

With 23/8/09 being a holiday, I decided to take off to Gujarat for the weekend. Monsoon ravaged roads and the Punto at 18xxkms meant that I almost went for the keys of the SX4 but at the last minute I decided to take the Punto along for a 400+ kms highway drive and thank God for that decision.

We tanked up at the IOC fuel pump at Sector 17 Vashi at about 9.20am and set off on our highway jaunt. We finished off the round trip at 421kms and my observations:

- Punto is a highway star. It was born for the highways. What a cruiser! So solid. So safe. So sure. It leaves a lot of more expensive cars feeling like outdated old relics. All along the Mumbai-Gujarat highway the car felt like it was bolted on the roads.

- The seats are just FANTASTIC! Even after a 4 hour drive, I was so comfortable and in fact, felt like I was good to go on for at least a couple of hours more. The seats hug you into position and despite the slightly lacking underthigh support, I never felt minutely uncomfortable. In comparision, the Palio's hard seats made me tired about 3 hours into a drive. In fact, Punto's seats are better then SX4 too.

- Ever since I test drove the Linea in January, I found the steering a bit too high set even at it's lowest position. This could be uncomfortable in long drives is what I remember thinking then and this was always at the back of my mind till now. But there was no such issues. The trick is to really sink into the seats of the car and then drive. Never for a second I felt like I was stretching up to hold the steering.

- On the way back, something happened to the car somewhere post 2000kms. It suddenly felt raring to go, the engine felt revy, the tacho was eager to zoom. There was a stark difference in the way the car behaved on the way back to Mumbai. The car felt ready to zoom, to get ahead. The engine felt a bit freed up. The return journey was far more entairtaining then the drive to Gujarat. So good is the engine opening up that I remember wondering if I need to pete it anymore. Yes, first and second gear's are the problem area and always will be but from third the car just felt so much more easier and lighter on the go.

- Ride and handling are just a class apart. The road coming back to Mumbai from Virar is quite bad and the Punto took all of it in it's stride. Thank God that I took the Punto because the SX4 would have left us shaken and stirred on those roads.

- Since the car is still in running in, I restricted myself to 100 - 110kmph / 2500-2700rpm. At 100 I felt like I was doing 60! So stable and sure is the Punto that I was holding the steering in two fingers and actually found myself thinking about how bloody good the car would be with a 1.6L MJD and 1.4L T-Jet. Come on, Fiat get these engines in here. The Punto deserves them.

- I have done this trip in the Palio S10 , Ikon 1.6, SX4 and now the Punto. All the cars took an average of 3 1/2 hours to get to the destination.

Trivia about the trip.

- We stopped over at the Parsi da Dhaba on the way back before Talasari for their famous Doodhpuff but for our bad luck it wasn't avaliable on that day. Since we started off after lunch, there wasn't much we wanted to eat but I tell you we had the most divine Paneer pakoda's there. These guys have their own dairy and make all milk products in house and that panner was divine! It was so soft and fluffy and it just melted into our mouths! The place is a delight for non-vegetarian's and I know where I am going to have lunch the next time!

The restuarant building was really well made too. Check it out:



The Punto outside the Parsi da dhaba.





Took some random shots of the highway.





The monsoon season made for some very lovely scenary.



- I know what everyone is thinking. The answer to the million dollar question. Mileage.





All my highway drives from now on will be done in the Punto.

[VahanPujari]

Amit

Where exactly is this Parsi da dhaba? I frequent Surat & always have to struggle to get a good joint. Are they also good in Veg?

[Gandhi]

Great report Amit . You are really enjoying your beauty.

[vishwask82]

Amit ->

Good that you took GP over SX4 for a long drive and at the end what matters the most is that you are very happy for the selection. Nice report with a very good FE...Njoy your beauty


- Vish

[amit]

Originally Posted by VahanPujari

Amit

Where exactly is this Parsi da dhaba? I frequent Surat & always have to struggle to get a good joint. Are they also good in Veg?

Parsi da dhaba is right next to the famous Dairyland on the highway going towards Mumbai before Talasari. In fact, the management of both Dairyland and Parsi da dhaba is the same.

Vegetarian menu is very limited but for those looking for genuine Parsi non-vegetarian food, this place is a must visit. I also picked up a box of caramel choclates (like Ecliar's) and elachi shrikand and both were yummy! Their dairy products are just fantastic.

[amit]

Just finished a telephonic survey with J.D.Power on sales and dealership expereince. It lasted about 5-7 minutes and most questions were either to rank on a scale of 1 to 10 and answer in yes or no. Part of the survey also focussed on the ease of loan process.

[amoghchaphalkar]

Originally Posted by amit

Just finished a telephonic survey with J.D.Power on sales and dealership expereince. It lasted about 5-7 minutes and most questions were either to rank on a scale of 1 to 10 and answer in yes or no. Part of the survey also focussed on the ease of loan process.

Is this a random sample of customers that is chosen or do all customers get these calls ?

I haven't even got a call from Fiat or Tata about my sales and dealership experience !!

OT :

Amit : did you get the left ORVM replaced ?

[amit]

Is this a random sample of customers that is chosen or do all customers get these calls?

Since the call was from J.D.Power, I guess only a random sample of customers got it. I was specifically asked when I got the car. When I said July 12, the guy said and asked if the booking was done in June.

After the questions were over, I was specifically asked if these answers could be shared with Fiat.

I haven't even got a call from Fiat or Tata about my sales and dealership experience !!

I got a call from Tata asking about the sales expereince a few days after I got delivery of my car. But, there were no calls from the dealership or the salesperson post delivery.

Amit : did you get the left ORVM replaced ?

Yes. On 13/8/09. The pictures you see on this page are with the new mirrors.

[VahanPujari]

Originally Posted by amit

Yes. On 13/8/09. The pictures you see on this page are with the new mirrors.

What happened to ORVM?

BTW where in Gujarat did you visit?

[amit]

Originally Posted by VahanPujari

What happened to ORVM?

I was driving towards Vashi on a rainy night, the traffic light at Wockhardt signal was green for vehicles. Suddenly a pedestrian tried to cross the road looking the other way! He hit the left OVRM and the glass and cover fell off. Luckily I was driving slowly. I didn't stop the car or else I would be hammered and my car possibly damaged by the hordes of '1980's Amitabh Bachchan's' roaming around on our roads.

It took about 8 days for the part to come in stock.

External mirror electric with sensor Rs.1,555.56+VAT
Mirror Cap Rs.51.56+VAT
Painting Rs.350
Labour Rs.150.
Total cost including all taxes Rs.2,388.

BTW where in Gujarat did you visit?

Valsad.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by amit

The first milestone is achieved. 1000kms is done.

Another situation I have noticed. Driving smoothly, traffic slows down and I go from 2000rpmX5th gear to 1000-1200rpmX4th. Then traffic begins to open up. I tap on the pedal and the revvs take time to build up. GTX / S10 owners will know what I am talking about. By the then the Civic behind me with it's revvy IVTEC motor is all spooled up and is starting to flash it's headlights at me. Once 1800rpm comes, the Punto moves ahead fast, you dont' feel the sudden whoosh though, it does it very silently and stealthily.

Those were exactly my obervations today when I TD'd a Punto MJD with a pal today---perhaps I was accustomed to the Fiesta this long that led me to this feeling. Downshifting to 3rd brought the josh back in the Punto.

The only thing odd we felt was the spongy clutch---but we got used to it by the time the TD ended. It's one heck of a car, and had great handling and ride quality.

[amit]

Latest mileage figures:

754kms on a full tank of diesel with about 125kms still to go as per MID.



Overall mileage consisted of 421kms of highway drive on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway that returned a mileage of 23.5kmpl. The balance 333kms in Mumbai brought the overall mileage down to 21.3kmpl.

[StarVegabond]

Originally Posted by amit

Latest mileage figures:

754kms on a full tank of diesel with about 125kms still to go as per MID.

Overall mileage consisted of 421kms of highway drive on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway that returned a mileage of 23.5kmpl. The balance 333kms in Mumbai brought the overall mileage down to 21.3kmpl.

Hi Amit,

Fantastic FE numbers your punto is returning.
it is almost twice my ANHC delivers in the city driving conditions.
more over ANHC is petrol

enjoy man, you made a wiser decision to go for diesel & Punto.