[sunil8089]

Agree...., Blazing red with beige interiors looks fantastic.

[anekho]

nice spark!

the blackened pillars look good - how were they done? was this a DIY?

cheers

[Joy]

@Sparkled: Thanks.

One more thing I want to know, when enquired about the front fog lights, the sales guy told me it will cost around Rs. 4k. He also mentioned that the after market lights will not be that much effective. Is it worth spending Rs. 4k on front fog lamps.

Also, will I go for original side strip or after market one?

Thanks in advance.

[Sawyer]

@anekho - no, the shop did it. The beadings of the windows have to be taken off so they end up covering the black tape where it meets them, and the black tape has to be applied without bubbles or wrinkles, it is a craftsmans job. One where the labour charge ( I still have to pay ) is justifiably a lot more than the material cost.
@Joy - I think that the fog lamps in a city car such as the Spark are more for show than anything else, so cheaper the better! Re the door strip, when I asked, the GM dealer quoted Rs 3400 for a strip that Autobild estimated to be Rs 20! I think the latter must have been a typo, they probably meant Rs 200, I got mine for Rs 450 in aftermarket.

[SPARKled]

I agree with Sawyer the fog lamps are not really needed except that they may enhance the looks of your car. And by the way I found the headlights of my Spark pretty effective and I absolutely loved the nifty head light leveling gadget installed in my car.

All GM genuine accessories are over priced and are of the same or lesser quality as what you you can purchase at your nearest car accessories shop. I would advise everyone to just take what ever accesssories that come free with the car and shop else where for everything else.

[Car&me]

Folks, with beige interiors I am finding an irritating glare on the front windshield (not always, but..). Reflection of the dashboard. I am trying to black the top part of it. I know there are options like painting that part of the dashboard or going in for a custom made cover for the top portion. Is there any ready made dashboard covers available for spark?

[Sawyer]

The Spark continues to delight - for city driving, with 2 on board, it is a better car than my i 20. More supple ride, and more chuckable. Easier to park in tighter spots too, and makes U turns like a charm. As it runs up the kms, 1800 so far, it is getting better and better in mechanical fit and feel. Engine is freeing up nicely. I have found that filling the tank to the brim, past the auto cut off, plays up with the fuel gauge that then sits on full for over 150 kms. And the last refill, it took just 16 litres from a little below half full to the auto cut off. So it will take me time to see exactly how much the FE now is, but I suspect it is close to 13 in the city. As the engine crosses 3000, I think it will settle down to 14 - as claimed by the salesman. The little car is proving to be a pleasure in every way, and with the three year maintainence and service umbrella, and pretty good service by Pashankar at Baner in Pune, it does look to be a great buy for primarily city use. I never used the OE Apollos for long, but the upgrade to the Michelins is also helping the ride remain supple, I suspect. I also got basic central locking installed, without remote, for the convenience it provides. Do not feel a similar need for the hand wound windows, since they are almost always up. At the price point, and for the application, I think it is a clear winner.

[Klever]

You are absoultely right about the fuel guage. Observed the same on my Spark too. Initially, I thought the needle stopped working.

I have done 10k+ and my FE in the city's bumber to bumber traffic is 13 with AC 100% on. On highways, I got 17.xx.

[BomBatt]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

I have found that filling the tank to the brim, past the auto cut off, plays up with the fuel gauge that then sits on full for over 150 kms. And the last refill, it took just 16 litres from a little below half full to the auto cut off. So it will take me time to see exactly how much the FE now is, but I suspect it is close to 13 in the city. As the engine crosses 3000, I think it will settle down to 14 - as claimed by the salesman.

Friends, be cautious while filling petrol to full tank beyond auto-cutoff ! I feel this is a new way of cheating (can't say intentionally or otherwise) unsuspecting customers.

I normally fill only upto auto cut. But once in a while, before going for long drives, I ask them to fill full tank.

Case 1
Two weeks back, I went to an IOC pump and asked for a full tank. At that time, I had at least 3-5 L petrol left in the tank. Auto-cut reached at about 28.xx lts. Now, the attendent lifts the fuel nozzle out and starts releasing the petrol very slowly. He would stop it and again start filling slowly. As I observed fuel meter, when it crossed 36 lts, I asked the guy to stop. But he ignored me and continued filling. Finally when it was 40.xx liters, tank got filled to the brim.

Now Spark fuel tank capacity is 38 lts, but I know that it can take upto 40 lts. But where did 4-5 lts of petrol that I already had go?

Case 2
Sometime back, I go to a Shell pump and ask the guy to fill full tank. Now my fuel indicator was at 1/4 th mark meaning I had at least 8-10 ltrs in the tank. Auto cuts off at 24.xx lts. Now same drama as explained above continues. At the end of it all, my Sparky takes 35.xx lts.

Needless to say on both above cases, the calculated FE goes for a toss. I am very very sure they managed to cheat me atleast 3-4 lts of fuel.

But this may not be the case always. After the auto cutoff, if the attendent were to fill rest of the fuel at full speed, there may not be much of a loss.

Now, whenever I need full tank, I ask them to fill 6 more liters after auto-cutoff. This method gives me an FE of 14.xx in Bangalore city and 16-18 on long drives consistently

[Sawyer]

@Bombatt - I am not sure that what you say is true in all cases at all pumps, but there is a very good case to be made for not continuing to fill past the cut off, as you have pointed out.
I have now made it a practice of stopping as soon as the auto cut off happens. After all, it isn't as if we are heading off to Leh - fuel is available all over the city and the tank of the Spark filled in this manner gives enough of a range.
Actually, I have hit on an even better idea - fill in Rs 1000 worth of petrol when the tank drops to a quarter full. That should give a range of 250-300 kms to the next fill, and given my usage pattern, also allows for the fuel to not get stale.

[chbpreddy]

Did not think I needed a separate thread to post this. So tagging along. Mods: Please fork as appropriate. I took delivery of my Spark LS LPG about a month ago.
After all the help, guidance I got from this site, I thought it is criminal not to let you all know how this site helped me with all the decision making and made my car buying experience good and that your help is really really appreciated by many rookies like me . Thanks to Mods for getting me in easily into this great group.

I should say that initially I did not even know what I wanted out of my car. This was partly because I never had any. I was pretty much content with my Honda Unicorn for the past 4 years. I quickly turned to internet to research first on the requirements and what to expect of a car. I read posts from three other forums at least before seeing tbhp and once I'm here I have never visited those forums again. I spent 5 hours a day reading at least for a week and then I could decide on the below requirements.

Smallest dimensions, turning radius possible but should be able to seat 4 medium built people with ease. (Because my parking is in a small cellar and very very small.)
should be able to go on long drives of up to 500 kms at a strech.
should give mileage more than 12 kmpl (petrol).
should preferably run on alternative fuel (Deisel, LPG/CNG with Petrol)
should not cross 5 L on road budget.
Should not be same as my neighbors (A-star, Santro). Don’t ask me why. even I don’t know.

So I started looking for cars and finally could shortlist Alto, Wagon-R Duo, Ritz VDI, Estilo VXI, Vista ,Aveo UVA and of course Spark. I10 was never in the list because I never had a good feeling about it and Hyundai in general. Wagon-R was quickly out of the list as it is an outgoing model. Alto for similar reasons and partly because on the way to my home town there are steep hills and good length of ghat section and I had a feeling Alto might struggle in Ghats. Vista was out because of big dimensions and turning radius. It will be tough to park it without scratches in our cellar. Aveo due to mileage and 'not so great' reviews. Besides, it did not seem like a value for money for many other reasons. New Estilo was a good contender but I heard from others in this forum that the mileage in the long run is in question and the general feeling about this car was that this might not stay in competition for long time. So this was out with some difficulty. Ritz is something I liked totally (even the rear). In fact, looks were the last priority for me. Did not find a single negative thing about this car. Even took a test ride of a VDI. This was amazing car and nothing in the world seem to compare to this in its class and segment. I was totally prepared to stretch my budget and go for it. Don’t remember exact figure but Maruti people quoted more than 5.2 on road for VDI. Simultaneously, I started collecting information about Spark also and found that there are irresistible offers. With 37 K discount + 5 K corporate discount + 5 K accessories I’m getting LS LPG for 4.10 L. This included (central locking, ICE). On Ritz there was no discount at all (This was about a month ago). It was quite obvious that economically Spark is more viable. At this time, I started doing calculations on how the extra amount spent on LPG (about 35 K difference between Spark LS and LS LPG) , Diesel ( about 75 K between Ritz LDI and VDI) will even out in the long run and diesel did not look convincing price wise. Also, Ritz is little big for the parking place I have. I took about 2 weeks contemplating these two options. Spoke to many people and read a lot to come to a decision. I agree these two options does not even seem to be close in terms of their segment and cost etc. But with me, this was the case. Spark LS LPG pitted against Ritz VDI. Heart said Ritz but mind wants to go for Spark.
Finally I made my decision. It was Spark LS LPG. It had been about a month since it was delivered a drove around 450 KM.


Color: Linen Beige exteriors with Beige interiors.
Variant : LS LPG.
On road price: 4.10 including ICE (HU: Sony DVD, Speakers: Sony Xplod at front and rear) , central locking, seat covers, steering cover, mats, mud flaps, reverse parking sensor, Ganesh idol, car cover.
Dealer : Orange Banjara Hills.


Below is my experience:

+ves:
Car delivers everything it promises. Reasonably good performance, Spacious interiors. Did not measure the mileage properly but it seems to be about 12. (Distance / no lts)
Steering is very responsive.
Has great initial pickup. So I'm guy going forward first at a traffic signal.
Lot of space inside for its size. Even the boot was bigger than what I imagined (considering LPG tank located in it).
Peace of mind with extended warranty and zero maintenance.
No other can come even close to the way this can zig zag into the busy city traffic. I think this is mainly due to the low dimensions + great power combination. I'm only a little more careful than driving my bike.
Ac is fast and good.
Hassle free buying experience and customer care.
Beige color looks good inside and outside.
Parking , U-turns are very very easy.

-ves:
Only problem I faced so far, and I fear that might become more apparent in future is that while running on LPG, acceleration is not that good 5th gear. Even after fully depressing the accelerator, nothing seem to happen.
So cannot overtake vehicles confidently while running on LPG in 5th gear.
However, at the same time, there seem to be some kind of pull happening in 3rd and 4th gear. Meaning, the vehicle accelerates though I dont press the accelerator.
Breaking is predictably slow. I need to break really hard to stop the vehicle if the car is going beyond 60.
No tachometer. Even my bike has it. Don’t know why a car is missing it.
AC/fan is a bit noisy at 100%.

So in retrospect, do I regret not going for Ritz? Not really. When I think of the scratch I got while parking my Spark, I know it could have been a bigger scratch if it was a Ritz.
When I think of about 1.2 L I saved, I feel very happy. This car will serve my office commuting for the coming 5 years for sure.
When I have more money, I will buy a second car (much bigger than Ritz ) for other uses, like lenghty highway drives with my entire family.

Sorry I don’t have any pics at this time. but will post then in a week for sure.

I'm yet to get sun film done and planning to go to minster road to get this done along with others like side beading for door protection etc.
Also, planning to give for one month reassurance check this week.

I would like to thank Sawyer for this thread as this thread and his clarity on his requirements helped me decide mine.

[vikrantj]

@chpbreddy. Congrats on your new Spark. Believe me it is more than capable of delivering what it promises. Mine is 1.5 years 17100Kms and still beats the hell out of Ritz or Punto or whoever comes in the way. And yeah it puts a big smile on my face when I can overtake Mercs and BMWs of the world in Pune's bumper-to-bumper traffic with no sweat at all.

--Vikrant

[Sawyer]

Happy to have been of use. The car just gets better once some kms are on it - by that I mean 3-4000, and the fuel economy gets better as that happens. And it gets to grow on you - I prefer it to my i 20 for most drives, except the e way ones.

[chbpreddy]

Thanks again Sawyer. I hope the average gets better with the mileage.
Here are some pics of the car before it becomes old

[vikrantj]

@chpbreddy,
Get rid of that hugh "ORANGE" sticker asap.

--Vikrant