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Old 11th February 2010, 15:25   #61
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Originally Posted by vivprasad View Post
...except that last weekend there was a wedding in the family, and everyone who rode in the SX4 with me found the car to be very comfortable. Naturally, it made me happy.
The secret is in SX4 the rear seats are more comfortable with very good back support compared to the front seats. It happens to be a çhauffer driven car.
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Old 11th February 2010, 19:40   #62
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It happens to be a çhauffer driven car.
You really think so DD? All the Team-BHP members who are owners drive their own SX4s, thats what I have gathered from the posts. Also, I do not find the front seats uncomfortable at all.
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Old 11th February 2010, 22:34   #63
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Originally Posted by DigitalDragon View Post
The secret is in SX4 the rear seats are more comfortable with very good back support compared to the front seats. It happens to be a çhauffer driven car.
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Originally Posted by vivprasad View Post
You really think so DD? All the Team-BHP members who are owners drive their own SX4s, thats what I have gathered from the posts. Also, I do not find the front seats uncomfortable at all.


I generally drive myself but on the few occasions that my brother takes the wheel, I also find the rear seats to be very comfortable.

The back seat is actually better than my Octavia's in terms of space and support.

The only issue used to be the central hump which was corrected from 2009 onwards.

Last edited by maglev : 11th February 2010 at 22:35.
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Old 12th February 2010, 00:08   #64
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I have no idea how the SX4 feels in the rear seat - The only time I was not in the driver's seat is when a couple of my friends took a small test drive.
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Old 22nd February 2010, 06:42   #65
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My previous post regarding FE said 11.3 (say 11), when the SX4 had done 210 kms from fuel tank top up to top up, of which 90 kms was on highway, and 120 in the city.

Yesterday, I got the car topped up again after doing 405 kms, and the FE stood at 10.2. This was purely in the city with 100% ACC on.
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Old 23rd February 2010, 00:55   #66
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Yeah, that's more like it!

Quite honestly, I cannot see how the VVT can give anything more than that without being driven sedately - read below 2K rpm - or without ACC.

It must be cold up there, have you had the heater on in your car?
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Old 23rd February 2010, 10:43   #67
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Originally Posted by Fornax View Post
Yeah, that's more like it!

Quite honestly, I cannot see how the VVT can give anything more than that without being driven sedately - read below 2K rpm - or without ACC.

It must be cold up there, have you had the heater on in your car?
I didnt know there is a separate heater button. I was thinking of increasing the temp on the ACC button for heating. Where is that exactly ?
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Old 23rd February 2010, 11:26   #68
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I didnt know there is a separate heater button. I was thinking of increasing the temp on the ACC button for heating. Where is that exactly ?
You are thinking right, there is no separate button, the knob is what sets the heater.
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Old 23rd February 2010, 15:03   #69
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Yeah, that's more like it!

Quite honestly, I cannot see how the VVT can give anything more than that without being driven sedately - read below 2K rpm - or without ACC.

It must be cold up there, have you had the heater on in your car?
Yes Fornax, its cold up here. All through end-December and January we had temp ranging between 3C min and 11C max, and the ACC (read heater under these conditions) came in real handy. I have set the temperature to 23C. If you take it below, the fan makes a lot more noise before settling down to a low soft purr.

And you are right, if you drive the SX4 for the pleasure, then the rpm goes up and so thus consumption. Frankly, I am quite happy with anything above 10 in the city.

By the way, I saw you buying a lot of goodies. Tell me the utility of the Tire Foam, is it the one for cleaning the tyres or for filling in to avoid/repair punctures.
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Old 24th February 2010, 00:00   #70
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Ditto, I loved every km of my 8.8 kmpl run completed recently. Regards the blower noise, I've noticed it to be much louder in the circulation mode than the fresh (?) air mode. You might wanna play around with it a bit - guess there are one too many settings to work with in the ACC.

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By the way, I saw you buying a lot of goodies. Tell me the utility of the Tire Foam, is it the one for cleaning the tyres or for filling in to avoid/repair punctures.
Its' of cosmetic value only, but works wonders in that department - with minimal efforts I might add. Within just 2-3 minutes, it makes your tyres looking brand new.

When I got my service done, they applied something similiar and I'd decided to go for it then. The results from the can I got were not as good as compared to the M.A.S.S. job, but close enough. I would also recommend the vinyl & dashboard cleaner, gave terrific wet look to the dashboard with minimal efforts.

Am yet to use the wax & rubbing compound though, maybe this weekend should be it
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Old 25th February 2010, 11:21   #71
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fornax View Post
Yeah, that's more like it!

Quite honestly, I cannot see how the VVT can give anything more than that without being driven sedately - read below 2K rpm - or without ACC.

It must be cold up there, have you had the heater on in your car?
Hey I disagree! One can get 11 in the city without 'sedate' driving below 2K rpm and ACC not on.. I did! Though in higher gears (esp 5th) its a bit hard to get city stretches where one can go past 2k rpm honestly... But yes I wasn't revving it into the red at every gear change, most gear changes at approx 2.5k rpm... And Pune is hot enough to require constant cooling from the ACC which I believe takes more out of the power...

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Am yet to use the wax & rubbing compound though, maybe this weekend should be it
Err why the rubbing compound? Does the paint have any blemishes/ scrapes?
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Old 26th February 2010, 00:49   #72
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Hey I disagree!...
Is it the fuel quality then? I mean if you got 11 after what you've described, then I'd feel cheated coz I never went past 4K (IIRC).

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Err why the rubbing compound? Does the paint have any blemishes/ scrapes?
Yeah very minor ones, apparently the large size means a great hiding place for kids.
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Old 27th February 2010, 11:09   #73
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Is it the fuel quality then? I mean if you got 11 after what you've described, then I'd feel cheated coz I never went past 4K (IIRC).
Adulteration is certainly an issue, and also lets not forget that petrol dealers usually short-change. The litre is never 1000 mL, its less, and different dealers set their pumps to different levels, you may be getting 900 mL for all you know everytime the pump display says 1 L. The electronic pumps that are prevalent now are certainly more difficult to rig, but I have heard that its possible.
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Old 26th February 2011, 19:59   #74
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Re: The Dream White SX4 VVT ZXi Comes Home

I noticed, after I logged in today, that I am writing exactly one year after my last post, which was on Feb 27, 2010.

Since my last posts were on fuel consumption, let me just mention here that after the first service, the mileage dropped down to 7.5 km to the litre. I took the car to the service station and had it checked. They tweaked the spark plug gaps and the mileage was back to the more familiar 8.5/9.

Let me start this post by saying that I am loving the car more and more. Here, I give a short description of a road trip we did last summer. I am fond of driving, and have usually preferred road trips because they are so much more convenient (so long as you have a place to park). My son had forewarned me early last year that when he came during his semester break, he wanted a road trip, and so I planned one during summers to the Kumaon mountains (Uttaranchal). The round trip was: Lucknow-Kathgodam-Binsar-Jageshwar-Nainital-Lucknow. We started with 2789 on the odo that read 3840 when back home. That is 1051 kms, of which about 750 kms were on plains, and the rest on the hills.

The first leg, Lucknow-Kathgodam was on the plains, naturally, Kathgodam being the start of the climb, and where we took the night halt. This stretch of 365 kms was very good, good, and not so good. We also took one halt midway. My wife was in the rear while my son was in front with me, tinkering away with the music system. The SX4 was remarkable on the road. The stretches which were sort of normal, we were driving at around 110 kmph, but in the very good stretch, 6-lane toll road, I drove at 140 kmph...its was exhilarating, for one, the car rode absolutely steady, well on the ground, with not a shred of vibration on the steering wheel. And also, during turns (of course, not at 140, but at slightly lower speeds, though still fast enough) I was not bothered by body roll. In so far as the noise of the "famed" JK Vectra tyres are concerned, it was not very high, though I must admit that a lot of it was drowned in the blaring music my son chose to play. But certainly a word about the rear seat...my wife loved the comfort that the rear seat offered. And the ACC, having set it at 22C, I just did not have to bother, the cooling over the entire car was perfect (outside temperature during this time was around 44C). It was set like that on the plains as well as on the mountains.

The fuel tank was topped up in Kathgodam, the mileage came to 11.85, not forgetting of course that for a considerable distance, the car ran at 140 kmph.

The SX4 negotiated the climb from Kathgodam to Binsar (distance about 175 kms, height 2400 mt above sea level) remarkably well, though at some points I had to switch to a lower gear to rev up. The road grip was excellent, and the curves were negotiated with elan. This of course was upto the entrance of the Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary. Our accommodation was reserved in the Tourist Guest House which is a few kilometres inside the sanctuary, and the last point up to which tourist vehicles are allowed. The road is a mountain forest road, very narrow, rough, steep in places, but beautiful...it was a pleasure to take the SX4 up this road, though twice I had to stop, reverse so as to give way to a descending vehicle (the rule is that the climbing vehicle has the right of way, but how many know, and even if they do, how many care). Reversing on that was, in hindsight, thrilling, but then it needed absolute concentration, what with the SX4s big rump.

In Binsar, you are with nature...no electricity, no tv, no geyser etc, candles in the room at night and so on...nice, early morning an excellent view of the snow capped himalayas right in front. Beautiful.

The next day we drove to Jageshwar, which is 65 kms from Binsar at a height of 1870 mt, and then towards the afternoon, drove straight to Nainital, another 90-odd kms at a height of 1938 mt. When I sought directions to Jageshwar from Binsar, I was told of two routes, one of them a barren, rough forest track, motorable but unmetalled. We chose this one, and for a stretch of 18 kms, we saw not a soul, not a vehicle, and the road was indeed rough. The SX4 suspension however, made the ride comfortable enough.

Three days in Nainital, and then directly back to Lucknow, a drive of about 9 hrs, with one 15 min stop. Having got the tank refuelled at Kathgodam on the way up, I got it topped up on the way down. On the hills therefore, with the climbs and descends, and low speed, the mileage was 9.01, say 9 kms to a litre, which I think, is very good on the hills.

Our speed on the way back was not as much as the first day. For some reason, there was a fair heavy vehicle traffic, and I could manage a top speed of only 80-90 kmph (as against the 120-140 while going), very occasionally touching 100 but not crossing it. In Lucknow, I got the tank topped up. The mileage was a very impressive 15 kms per litre.

Three sets of data thus on fuel consumption...driving around 110-140 kmph: 11.85, hills: 9, and 80-90 kmph: 15.

All that driving, and as I said earlier, I love the car even more. It was fast, smooth, comfortable, untiring, and given the fuel economy, satisfying.

I am also uploading some pictures. I shall write another post on the third service and after, and a few glitches that cropped up, but were taken care of efficiently by the dealer/Suzuki.
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Old 26th February 2011, 20:05   #75
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Re: The Dream White SX4 VVT ZXi Comes Home

Placing the pics separately, somehow they did not get uploaded with the main story.
Attached Thumbnails
The Dream White SX4 VVT ZXi Comes Home-forbhp03.jpg  

The Dream White SX4 VVT ZXi Comes Home-forbhp04.jpg  

The Dream White SX4 VVT ZXi Comes Home-forbhp06.jpg  

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