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-   -   Spark LS LPG - 19000kms User Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-term-ownership-reviews/78605-spark-ls-lpg-19000kms-user-review.html)

HI All

My Sparky has just clocked 9000kms on the odo. I bought it in July 2009 at Anamallais Agencies in Coimbatore. As some would be aware, I'm based out of Coimbatore and put up in Chennai for work.

Initially, when I moved over, I had bought along my 2001 Uno 1.7 ELX. The car had clocked over 1.5 lakh kilometers and was still going strong except the AC which was letting me down quite often. I had the UNO for about a year in Chennai and by this time I had enough of the AC and started thinking of changing my ride.

I was looking at Diesel, due to my usage and my constraint was not more than 3.5 to 4 lakhs maximum. I was first thinking about used Diesels and ruled against it since I didn't want to get stuck up in service centers.

So was back to a dilemma when suddenly there was an ad in a newspaper of the Spark LPG. Immediately availed a test drive and booked it on the spot. I never considered any other car simply because of the following reasons:

1. Within my budget. (Rs. 3.72 on road for the LS).
2. No maintainence costs for 3 yrs.
3. most importantly, the best LPG kit for any car in India. Absolutely no difference in ride between LPG and Petrol.

So, I booked a sparkling white LS LPG, the first booking in Coimbatore. Had to wait for about 2weeks for the car to arrive and finally took delivery in July 2009.

It was the first car in town. Its a kind of a co-incidence, I believe since back in 2002, when my dad took delivery of the Palio 1.2 Sport, it was the first car in town.

Anyway, now back to the car. I got installed the Autocop-GM security system, 3M sun film along with art-leather seat covers from the dealer. Then it was time for ICE. I decided to shift the speakers from my UNO. I had a Sony MP3 paired to 6.5" Kicker components and 6x9 Coustic Kompressor at the rear.

Took the car to RM car decors in coimbatore where I had bought them for the UNO, but problem started, it was impossible to put in a rear tray to mount the speakers, thanks to the spare wheel mounted on the rear seat. Even putting in boxes for the 6x9's were impossible. So, I had to be content with only the components.

Since the components were 6.5", had to cut and alter the front door pads in-order to accommodate them. I opted for the Pioneer 2190UB and also got the Hella Supertone horn fitted.

Once all the work was complete, I then drove down from Coimbatore to Chennai. The car had just clocked 120 kms before starting off to Chennai. The drive was great. Since the car was pretty new, I never revved it to hard and maintained a speed of about 70 and never crossed 80 throughout the entire drive.

The car responded well. The only discomfort that I had was the lack of thigh support in the front seat. So had quite a few breaks and then reached Chennai. Drove the entire trip in LPG. Filled up 26 liters in Coimbatore and ran out of LPG on the way, which when calculated worked out to 14.75kmpl.

The fuel efficiency achieved was great considering ARAI claims 13.75 in LPG. Since then, there was no looking back. The Sparky has been serving tirelessly without any hiccups and has never show any odd signs.

I've hardly driven it in Petrol. I've also done quite a lot of long drives from Chennai, few trips to Coimbatore, once to Bangalore, once to Guruvayoor and so on. The car has lived up well and I've never had any regrets.

Its been constantly returning 11 to 11.5 kmpl in Chennai city on LPG with AC. Once I got around 13.4 kmpl in the same driving conditions in Petrol. On the highway, I've just drive once in Petrol and managed to get 17.1kmpl but during that drive, I clocked around 130kmph on quite a few occasions in the Chennai - Krishnagiri stretch. In LPG, I get a constant 14.5 kmpl on highway runs with AC.

On servicing and maintainence, well I just cant help but smile whenever I visit for a service. The first service at 900-1000 kms was done in Chennai at Sundaram Motors. It was just a re-assurance service nothing much. The second service at 5000kms was done in Coimbatore at Anamallais. It included oil and other related changes and also got wheel balancing and alignment done. On both occations, I had a big grin on my face on getting the bill. The bottom of the bill showed "Total amount inclusive of all charges Rs.0.00/-" :D. I'm even happy because I will be getting similar bills for the 3 years / 45,000 kms.

All in all, the Spark LPG is a great value package with complete peace of mind for the 3 years. The only case for concern is the rising LPG prices. It was Rs.28 per liter in Chennai when I got the car. Now, its gone up to Rs.33.

Some pictures:

congrats and thanks for this wonderful information , if possible post more pictures of the boot and under hood with the cylinder setup for an idea..

sure. will put them up by tomorrow.

spark lpg is indeed the best lpg car available today along with the service package it is a very good deal.
The only concern as rightly pointed is the rising cost of lpg which is almost near to the price of diesel.
Have a great time with sparky n drive safely.

looks stunning and a great review to boot. Thanks for posting! Hope you enjoy lots of trouble free miles with the white beauty.

Thanks all for your comments. Will post some more pictures shortly. Do bear with me.

Hi,
Nice review, the car looks neat and well maintained.Is the performance of the car affected while driving in LPG mode v/s petrol? Also can you switch to eother fuel while driving or do you have to stop and start.?

Can you please post some pictures of the LPG installation in the boot? Its one of the most underrated car in the Indian market.

Nice write up there. Isn't it adviced to start the car in petrol and then put it in the LPG mode? I personally think that its better to keep switching to petrol every once in a while to keep the engine smooth?

I'm sure GURUS would be able to comment better on this. BTW i like your number plate - but is it not illegal ( i mean the font size )

Looking forward for more pictures of the boot and the speakers too.

Hi sumeethaldankar, fuel mode can be switched on the fly. There is absolutely no difference between LPG and Petrol in the Spark. In fact I can make out only be means of the LED which glows green for LPG and RED for Petrol.

will post the pictures soon.

Hi harishnayak, the Spark's LPG kit is an excellent one and fully automatic to say the least. If the car is in LPG mode, it always starts in Petrol and automatically switches over to LPG once the engine temperature reaches 55 degrees.

Suppose, if the temperature is already 55 or above, it will still start in Petrol and switch to LPG after a delay of 5 to 10 seconds. So we need not be worried of it. Also there is an option of starting in LPG, it is given only as an emergency option to start the car if you end up dry on Petrol.

Regarding the number plate, I believe you are referring to the front one. Well, the guy who made these recommended me this size. I'm having this just because it looks a bit different from other Sparks on the road.lol: Planning to hang on to it for sometime before I change them.

That's cool and an eye opener for me cos i've never thought of fitting LPG or CNG in any of my cars although my bro is very keen on getting it on the spark as it's a heavy drinker ( around 12kmpl :( ).

I know the number plate looks cool until you get ticketed..hehe. Irony is most of the things which look good are kind of illegal like number plates , dark sun films.

I agree agree:. But I was once stopped in Chennai and left with a warning... it was not for the size of the plate though. The cops insisted that I need to get the plates screwed. I had just stuck them using the double sided stickers and not screwed. I then immediately got them drilled and screwed and hence hanging on to these since the cops didn't complain about the size.

Sorry for the delay in posting these...

The factory fitted fire extinguisher



The fuel change over switch



The dash...





The stickers I've put on instead of the aluminum or plastic steppers... serves the purpose and looks cool too...







The Kicker Comps...







The seats





The boot...

The spare wheel is mounted on the rear seat and the LPG tank takes the place of where the spare wheel is usually placed in the Petrol version. I believe people will agree that this is a pretty neat layout when compared to others LPG models in the market.

Petrol tank capacity remains unchanged at 35 liters while the LPG tank's capacity is 32 liters. GM recommends a filling capacity of 26 liters for safety reasons, ie., fill not more than 80% of the tank's capacity.

The car seems fully loaded.:) I see a K&N decal , do you have one installed in your car.