[thedreamcatcher]

Nice FE numbers. Initially I did not bother so much, but i dont think my Beat is giving me a good mileage. Pretty dissapointed with it. I have not checked, but it seems it it in the range of around 10-12. Only first check up service done till date

Also, where is the video shot, and though the name says daman, it is in India right? Love the alloys and the black bonnet. Further, why does the video date say 2007? Mistake in settings, or was the Beat secretly being tested at that time ;-)

[Topolino]

Thanks Salbin for the update. I have few queries:
1. Did you find any difference in performance and efficiency with the use of regular and premium fuel.
2. Please tell about your driving style, the usage of gears, gears in which most of the driving is done, traffic conditions (B2B/Crawling City/Normal City/Highway and % of driving in each of these), rpm band in which the car is driven, usage of AC, road conditions and pay load.
3. 100% Highway FE, also mention % usage of AC
4. 100% City FE, also mention kind of traffic (B2B/Crawling City/Normal City) and % usage of AC.

[salbin]

Originally Posted by thedreamcatcher

Nice FE numbers. Initially I did not bother so much, but i dont think my Beat is giving me a good mileage. Pretty dissapointed with it. I have not checked, but it seems it it in the range of around 10-12. Only first check up service done till date
Also, where is the video shot, and though the name says daman, it is in India right? Love the alloys and the black bonnet. Further, why does the video date say 2007? Mistake in settings, or was the Beat secretly being tested at that time ;-)

Generally I used to ask for the fuel bill during fueling and write the trip reading in the bill itself. Just accumulated the bills in the "toll ticket holder" and tabulated all the figures in an excel sheet during last week.
Suggest you to check the full tank to full tank FE continuously for few times and then determine the average FE. Do not conclude with single reading.
I came across that video in youtube while browsing. So not sure about the source and location. Daman is in India only. Dont know anything beyond this .

Originally Posted by Topolino

Thanks Salbin for the update. I have few queries:
1. Did you find any difference in performance and efficiency with the use of regular and premium fuel.
2. Please tell about your driving style, the usage of gears, gears in which most of the driving is done, traffic conditions (B2B/Crawling City/Normal City/Highway and % of driving in each of these), rpm band in which the car is driven, usage of AC, road conditions and pay load.
3. 100% Highway FE, also mention % usage of AC
4. 100% City FE, also mention kind of traffic (B2B/Crawling City/Normal City) and % usage of AC.

Hi Topolino,

Here is the answers to your queries in italic:

1. Did you find any difference in performance and efficiency with the use of regular and premium fuel.

I am not able to feel the difference in performance. But there is an improvement in FE.

2. Please tell about your driving style, the usage of gears, gears in which most of the driving is done, traffic conditions (B2B/Crawling City/Normal City/Highway and % of driving in each of these), rpm band in which the car is driven, usage of AC, road conditions and pay load.

I use the car mainly for
- my office- home travel,
- once or twice weekly shopping trips within city and
- few long distance trips- native/sight seeing(may be once in 3 months).
Distance from office to home is 20 km and 75% of the road is highway and free moving traffic. There will be traffic jam in the return trip.
Generally I drive in the lower rpm range ie. most of the time less than 2500rpm range.
Most of the time, I shift the gear to the upper gears as early as possible.
My morning trips to office will be a kind of rash driving most of the time(bcoz I am lazy and get-up late in the morning - so generally will be driving fast 80~110kmph to avoid late punch in the office).
Mostly 3 persons load(I do car pooling with 2 of my friends).

3. 100% Highway FE, also mention % usage of AC

16.2kmpl with 100% AC usage - (refer first 3 FE readings in my earlier post - before ECU remap)

4. 100% City FE, also mention kind of traffic (B2B/Crawling City/Normal City) and % usage of AC.

Not yet checked.

[Topolino]

Thanks salbin fo the detailed information. Overall FE of 16.5 kmpl in mixed driving (highway+city) is really great. I suppose you are the only one in the forum who is keeping upto date record of FE. I too pay a lot attention towards the FE. I observed a drop in FE after ECU remapping and also had knocking issue, so I reverted to the original ECU setting. Now I just want to check which ECU Setting is best for Fuel Efficiency. My car has now crossed 5000 km mark and soon I will check 100 % city and 100 % highway FE.
GM has also introduced New STech II Engine in the Beat being produced from February 2011, The specifications of both the engines are same and I think it is the same engine with new tuning (ECU Setting) suitable for Indian Driving Conditions as mentioned by you earlier. If you have any update please share.

[salbin]

I clocked top speed of 150kmph last week. For the past 2 weeks, I literally abused my car by over speeding, quick accelerations and rash driving.
Not cleaned the car for a period of 2 months. Generally it happens just before giving for the service. So this time it is the 10K km service and the odo was @ 9800kms.
There was a small vibration due to the wheel unbalance at higher speeds(120+).
Left the car at Kropex today morning and got it back just now.
Generally I am happy with the workmanship of Kropex guys.
The vehicle was washed, thoroughly cleaned and polished.
Oil and oil filter were not changed. Planned in 15K km service.
I instructed them not to replace the pollen filter. Asked them to clean it with high pressure air blow.
There were lot of dust.. it was literally blocked. I remember our T-bhpian Sajjt mentioned about this some time back with some photos. I was lazy in doing this myself.
Actually, the removal is very easy.
My suggestion to all Beat owners : It is must to clean the pollen filter once in 3-6 months and this can be done easily by yourself, without the help of any tools. This also eliminates the bad smell from AC.
Since I had complained about the vibration, they did the wheel balancing for all the 4 wheels. Initially, they charged for the wheel balancing. Then I argued with them by showing the bottom lines of the service coupon mentioning the service charges are free and parts are chargeable and finally got it free. Even though I know the wheels needs to be balanced, I did not tell them to do the wheel balancing - instead I told there is a vibration and that needs to be rectified - one more point to support my argument .
The balancing weights(sticker type for alloy wheels) were billed and the total bill came to Rs. 141/- only.
Overall I am happy with the Kropex service.

[salbin]

After seeing some cars with beautiful LED DRLs (Daytime Running Lights) while I was in Germany, I have become a fan of these DRLs (not the chinese LED strips commonly available here).
Is there any possibility of getting this type of good quality LED DRLs in India?
My Hella Lights :: LEDayFlex DRL


If anybody has done such retro, please do share some info here.

[thedreamcatcher]

Salbin. I was curious to know how the handling of the car is. Why, because, I am pondering alloys, and was thinking of 14 X 5.5 J, rather than the 4.5 and wanted to know how the cars handling has been for you so far.

1. How good is it at cornering
2. Any issues felt so far
3. Any sign of wear and tear

Thanks

[salbin]

Originally Posted by thedreamcatcher

Salbin. I was curious to know how the handling of the car is. Why, because, I am pondering alloys, and was thinking of 14 X 5.5 J, rather than the 4.5 and wanted to know how the cars handling has been for you so far.
1. How good is it at cornering
2. Any issues felt so far
3. Any sign of wear and tear
Thanks

Handling has definitely improved, especially while cornering.
As I have mentioned in this thread earlier, there is improvement body roll due to the wider track compared to 4.5" wide wheels.
See the side-by-side comparison of 5.5" with 4.5" here:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post2099629
BTW are you planning for tyre upgrade along with alloys?
You will get lot of variety designs in 14x6J size. 14x5.5 will be less in variety. So consider 14x5.5 if you are not upgrading the tyres. Otherwise you can consider both 14x5.5J and 14x6J.

I have driven close to 13K kms, so far no issues with the car.


Now following mods in the pipe:-
- Smoked tail lamps - I got 2 bottles of VHT Nite Shades shopped. Planning for a DIY. Hope to get it completed in 1 or 2 weeks time.

- Had planned for carbon fiber vinyl for the door handles(DIY). But dropped it because the vinyl film I got was not good quality. It was not getting stretched according to the shape. So dropped the plan.

- LED DRLs - Ordered one set of Merc style DRLs through ebay. Yet to receive the item.
Here is the one I have ordered:

Just did a pic editing in mspaint to find how it looks like after fitting on the car:

[thedreamcatcher]

Thanks for the reply Salbin. No I am not considering tyre upgrade and only going in for alloys. I thought of 5.5s because they give the car a better look. But didnt want to compromise safety for looks.

Great to know that the car is fine on 5.5. 6J will be too much for the stock tyres to handle and does not make sense.

And by the way, where did you get the VHT Nightshade from? I am eager to procure it and could not find it online. Planning to smoke my other cars lights

[salbin]

Originally Posted by thedreamcatcher

Thanks for the reply Salbin. No I am not considering tyre upgrade and only going in for alloys. I thought of 5.5s because they give the car a better look. But didnt want to compromise safety for looks.
Great to know that the car is fine on 5.5. 6J will be too much for the stock tyres to handle and does not make sense.
And by the way, where did you get the VHT Nightshade from? I am eager to procure it and could not find it online. Planning to smoke my other cars lights

That is exactly the same logic when I selected 14x5.5J wheels.

It is very difficult to find VHT nite shades in India.
I searched almost all the auto accessory shops in Bangalore. People are not even heard about it.
It is available widely in international online stores like ebay.com and amazon.com etc starting from $7 and above.
But the problem is aerosol sprays are not allowed to ship internationally through air.
After communicating with lot of sellers, only one seller agreed to ship it. It was a guy from ebay canada. The shipping is too expensive. $40.
Even though only 1 can is more than enough for a pair of tail lamps, I bought 2 cans since the shipping cost is same for single pack and 2 nos pack.
The cost of 2 nos pack is $21. Total expense came to $61.
It took more than 15 days to get the item delivered.
You may also search for any other better deals than this.
I am having the 2nd can kept in the same box packing. In case if you don't get any better deals, then I can share it for the actual cost.

[Auto freak]

@Salbin,
The LED DRLs you've got are just awesome and with the smoked tail lamps, you'd have one of the best looking Beats around!
Can't wait to see your ride decked up! Watching this space!

[salbin]

Almost finished smoking of tail lamps using VHTniteshades.
It was a DIY except for the clear coating(I did not get clear coat spray can).
Did the clear coating at a local paint shop using Du-pont clear coat.
Now only final polishing is left-out.
These are the items used:
- VHT niteshade
- Du-pont Clear coat (I got 100 ml as loose quantity)
- 2000 grit wet/dry sand paper
- masking tape
- liquid soap(vim liquid)
- microfiber cloth
- small quantity of thinner.
First removed the tail lamps, masked the plastic area with tape. The bulb openings were also masked to prevent dust/paint spray entering inside the reflector.
Sanded the surface using 2000grit sandpaper with liquid soap to remove the smooth glossy surface and get a dull surface.
Cleaned thoroughly using a cloth and thinner.
Now the VHT spray was applied. 3 coats were applied with a gap of 10~15mins. May be ~1/3rd quantity is left-out in the VHT can.
I think 3 coats are good enough for the black looks.
I left it for 1 full day drying before the clear coat.
Again one more light wet sanding before applying the clear coat.
Applied around 3 coats of clear coat spray. Around 3 hours required for the clear coat to get dried.
Now one more wet sanding and rubbing compound-ing is required to get the final finish.
Here are some photos:
These are the items used:

Tail lamps removed; pin locator holes are visible.

Masking of sides and bulb openings:

VHT nite shade was applied in 3 stages, 15 mins apart-
1st coat:

2nd coat:

3rd coat:

Before applying clear coat:


After applying clear coat:


Finally fitted on the vehicle without polishing..I am lazy and don't have patience:

[Daewood]

Originally Posted by thedreamcatcher

No I am not considering tyre upgrade and only going in for alloys. I thought of 5.5s because they give the car a better look. But didnt want to compromise safety for looks.

Even i went by the same logic as you and upgraded just the alloys. 5X5.5J
But now i feel i made a mistake. Do go for 6J alloys and wider tyres. Atleast 175R1465. You will get a lot of alloy options in that size, plus you will get better handling and steering feedback from wider tires. The stock tyres are a complete mismatch for this car.

Originally Posted by salbin

100% Highway FE, also mention % usage of AC

16.2kmpl with 100% AC usage - (refer first 3 FE readings in my earlier post - before ECU remap)

I recenly did 2 highway runs.
1. around 250km in NH 7 with 100% auto AC
mileage was 18kmpl. At speed around 85-90km/h
2. The same distance in the opposite direction but wet roads, frequent braking and 100% Auto AC
mileage was 17kmpl. At speed around 60km/h

My city mileage is around 11.5-12.5 with 100% manual AC and mostly driven in 2nd and 3rd gear.

[sajjt]

Salbin, Nice DIY with all the details. Would love to see your ride in real flesh once you are in Cochin. BTW, what about the reverse light performance after smoking?

[salbin]

Originally Posted by sajjt

Salbin, Nice DIY with all the details. Would love to see your ride in real flesh once you are in Cochin. BTW, what about the reverse light performance after smoking?

Sure.
The inspiration behind this mod was a red Beat with smoked tail lamps seen near Edappally during my recent trip to Cochin.
It is not too dark as it looks like.
I am yet to check the reverse light in the night.
Will try to post some pics with the reverse lights and brake lights on.

BTW I received the DRLs just now. But feeling lazy to install it.