[ajay_msingh]

Hi Folks,

Just completed 5000kms in 6months and had to give my Manchester Red Cedia Sports for its second service recently. Performance to date has been wonderful and great. The car has been used 60% on highways and outstation trips and the remaining 40% in city. But somehow driving such a good car in city limits doesn't appeal me as have to be constantly shift gears and have to pray to find a empty stretch to take the car in higher gears for throttle. On highways, the car has performed magnificently, been mostly to Bangalore- Kochi, Bangalore- Yercaud, Bangalore - Madikeri, Bangalore- Nandi Hills, Bangalore- Horsely Hills etc. In city, its just been over the weekends and holidays and around the ORR closer closer to KR Puram, Kalyan Nagar stretch.

FE has been average. About 10.2 in city with AC and about 14 in highways. This is perfectly balanced keeping the engine capacity of 2.0liter. Never have driven above 130km per hour, cause wife does not like to drive at such speeds, but unfortunately son wants to add on the accelerator. Only one incident curtailed the car. On a trip to to Madikeri in Jan 2010, i was returning back to the home stay, where i was staying, that particular, the region was experiencing sudden heavy thundershowers, power was out and it was pitch dark. While returning after buying some items, I happened to climb over a uneven hump constructed by the owners to hold and drain out the large volumes of water that comes out from the higher coffee estates. The car front wheels climbed over the hump but got struck under the central underbelly. I struggled hard to hold the clutch and push the accelerator but the heavy car just did not budge. It just could not move. I knew, in the heavy rain, it was wise to pull out the car cause the soil beneath had also become sludgy. I somehow left the car in the estate and waited for help the next day. Knowing the car has a good ground clearance of 175mm, still the hump was higher enough and slippery though. Next day, we happened to get the estate laborers, cut the trough with agriculture knives and I was very careful that the instruments should not damage the underbelly and the muffler/silencer. The entire operation took about a hour and half and then we pushed it smoothly. Most of my friends who stay at Coorg regions were surprised to know that a car of this ground clearance was struck all night in a hump. Anyway, that was only off road incident in my six months beauty. Otherwise, no problems. I happened to give for check up for wheel balancing and alignment after i returned to Bangalore.

GPS NAV is a bit irritating as the processor speed is slow so is the response time. Most of the off road journeys, I have taken, the satellite connections never happens. So, the entire journey, the instrument says, "GPS is waiting".

A few minor niggles like GPS unit box noise while hitting rubber on harsh roads and front window/doors rattles. This was rectified after mush persuasion from the Southern Motors service guys. Only mods has been removing stock headlamps and tires. Have upgraded them to 100/90 Philip headlamps ( wanted HIDs, but later), removed stock BS RE88s with Continental Premuim Contact 2 tires of 205/60/R15. Seems smooth, hard compound, good cornering, steering feels a bit heavy at slow speeds but lighter at high speeds. A bit noisy though, but cant help, I wanted Michellin PP2 but could not get from any dealer in Bangalore & Mumbai. Had a reverse camera installed from Kenwood guys, works fine. Initial pick up slow, sometimes irritating but slowing picks up after 2000rpm and attains top speed thereafter. Braking is superb, you can be hitting at 140km but can come down to 20km in a matter of few seconds. Very confident to drive at high speeds. Taking the red beauty for another long drive to Ooty and Coonoor in May second week and will post the experience then.

[rishi_kapoor]

Thanks for the update Ajay. Could you share cost of camera and also post some pictures of installation? Thanks in advance -Rishi

[RajaTaurus]

Good report and great experience Ajay. The best thing I too found in this car is the braking. Exactly as you say, go to 140 and brake down to 20 within few seconds. All wheel disc does the wonder. And also at corners, if you accelerate when you approach and at the corner use slightly the brakes to control the speed, the EBD does wonders to take the corner stable and maximum possible speed. I have tried this during my last Bangalore trip and man, its amazing.
Enjoy the ride.

[kcnetid]

Hi all,

Was laying low for quite some time due to various other priorities. I completed 10k kms a few months back. Went on a Hyd - MP trip. Covered Bandhavgargh, Pench, Panna, Khajuraho and Kanha. Tiger sighting at B'gargh and lots of sightings of other wildlife all over.

MP roads are really good. The NH in Maharashtra is good in places and atrocious in others due to the highway construction. Ensured that we never drove after dusk.

Most of the navigation was via the built-in GPS which was VERY helpful in MP. The only time we had trouble was when we asked a local for directions and disregarded the GPS. The GPS is very handy for touring and is pretty accurate.

The car:
Is wonderful of course. ABS kicked in a couple of places and car handling is super even on messed up roads. You can do 60-80 with ease even on roads abused by trucks. Went off road in quite a few places and was very happy with the suspension. Due to the harder suspension, we can do fairly comfortable speeds even on gravel roads. Harder suspension evens out bumps at middling speeds. Lower speeds can create comfort issues.

Completed the 10k servicing after the trip and other than the mandatory fluid changes, there was no issue as such. The car looks and feels new.

Fell in love with the handling and braking all over again.

None of the steering wheel 'off center' issues I saw in other threads. No issue of car dragging in one direction. No issues of vibrations at any speed. If anything, high-speeds are smoother.
Thigh support and seating position needs improvement.
Will agree with others thats headlights can be better. Speakers can do with some improvement too.

Picked up some older relatives from Nzb to Hyd. Usually they get uncomfortable with anything > 70 kmph (in other cars). They tend to keep looking at the speedo and warn me to slow down. This was their first time in my Cedia and they all fell asleep while I was coolly doing 120kmph on the highway.

They realised the speed only after it was pointed out to them.

If you have a 10L budget and are looking for an exciting car, Cedia is the one. Take the sports version and you get all the goodies like leather seats, GPS, Momo steering. The only thing I fitted extra was foot-mats.

[pawan_pullarwar]

Wonderfull review. What is the max speed you touched and how was the handling on high speed?

Once I come back I want to look for a sedan with long trip, high speed, should swallo indian road, comfirt car.

[kartho]

Originally Posted by kcnetid

Picked up some older relatives from Nzb to Hyd. Usually they get uncomfortable with anything > 70 kmph (in other cars). They tend to keep looking at the speedo and warn me to slow down. This was their first time in my Cedia and they all fell asleep while I was coolly doing 120kmph on the highway.

They realised the speed only after it was pointed out to them.

I had a similar experience- my wife who usually keeps a close watch that i dont cross 90 kmph was quite relaxed till 160 kmph, the car was very stable but the wind noise was giving it away !

It was nice reading your experience with the car, looks like you've been upto a lot of touring, i have done only about 4k till now. So, not much to share. Surely its a great car. Every time i push the pedal in the second and third gear in city traffic, the urge with which the power is delivered is awesome, the feeling excites me everytime ! The only issue i face is ever since a friend closed the rear left door quite heavily once (by mistake), i can hear a constant rattle type of noise every now and then from the seat belt hook area. I took it to the service center once but the noise did not come up, when it suddenly comes up its a little irritating, i am waiting for the noise to become a regular thing, so, the service center guys can fix it.

[khoj]

The Ghost who Rattles has struck!

I hear a new noise every time I start up my car. Time to buy some new CDs and crank up the volume. In all seriousness though, I too have a similar noise coming from the front left seat belt hook/housing. Comes and goes on its own accord.

Originally Posted by kartho

The only issue i face is ever since a friend closed the rear left door quite heavily once (by mistake), i can hear a constant rattle type of noise every now and then from the seat belt hook area. I took it to the service center once but the noise did not come up, when it suddenly comes up its a little irritating, i am waiting for the noise to become a regular thing, so, the service center guys can fix it.

[Prozac]

KCNETID - I totally loved reading your article, especially the line - "The public road is the leash and not the habitat.
...........And damn the resale value."

[baz_303]

What a car and what a wonderful review! Thats quite a start you have gotten off to ( as far as 1st cars are concerned).

Cedia is one of the best Sedans around ( that unfortunately and inexplicably hasnt been as succseeful as it should have been). One of my friends owns it and LOVES it!


Wish you all the very best and loads of safe motoring!

[kcnetid]

Originally Posted by ajay_msingh

Hi Folks,


GPS NAV is a bit irritating as the processor speed is slow so is the response time. Most of the off road journeys, I have taken, the satellite connections never happens. So, the entire journey, the instrument says, "GPS is waiting".

I usually switch off the GPS and switch it on when this happens. Click on Menu -> Exit. Let it come back up and click on 'Navigation' again. Sats get detected and GPS starts working.

[Motoringlover]

Hi Kcnetid, Mate could you please advise me if you are aware of a mitsubishi dealer in hyderabad, i want to know more about a cedia. The one in Kondapur shut down and are not planning to seel anymore, i am hoping you can help me out.

Thanks pal.

[mandheers]

hi kcnetid; iv too joined the Cedia owners club. partial thanks to you & reignofchaos' posts and this thread ;-)
also, the new 2011 cedia might get a downgrade from HM; check attached. they might do away with the momo steering & oz alloys.
iv posted pics on another thread; but here they are again.

[gaurav_chopra04]

Originally Posted by mandheers

also, the new 2011 cedia might get a downgrade from HM; check attached. they might do away with the momo steering & oz alloys.

I too heard something similar, a friend was keen on new sports but the buggers no more have them. These people have gone crazy, and this shows they do not intend to get the new lancer sometime soon. I mean look at the new tacky tacho, and the ugly doule din, or the non leather interiors.

If they still want to sell this model, better get an EVO 9 shape and plonk a diesel in there, they might ge able to get it to some decent sales, but with the current cedia...FORGET IT HM.

[mandheers]

Ok, need some advice here. My car came back from 1st service after 1000kms. The Motordrome guys have changed the air intake (assuming that's what it's called); basically it's a closed unit now with air intake reversed or from the bottom. I remember having read it somewhere on a thread here but need advice. Will drive and see how it fares or get it reverted back to the original. The service advisor says this is a newer version and the one that came factory fitted was older.

[khoj]

Yeah they do that as per them the scoop lets in rain water. The Cedia owner who reported this on another thread had some issues with poor pick up etc and got it reversed if I recall clearly.

I drove my Cedia through the waterlogged roads that we had in Dilli this year on account of the extended rains and never had an issue. You could ask them to flip it back if you have any issues.