[Utopian]

The indicator on the ORVM looks more like an aftermarket fitment rather than OE. Are you really sure that MSIL has started offering it as standard?
Good to see that the SX4 is doing well. Going to top up with CNG is really a chore.

[LithiumSunset]

It had to happen one day... I only wish it wasn't so soon. The car has been violated....

A short morning trip to collect something from Nehru Place cost me really dear. A motorcyclewallah came in from nowhere and simply crashed into my rear door, leaving three ugly scratches. It did not last one year unscathed in this wretched city.

I pulled over to the side thinking about the piling up traffic behind me, to accost the moron. The coward had vanished. I forgot this was Delhi.

Strangely I was very calm. Somehow I knew it was going to happen, doesn't everybody! Now I spend my time counting the number cars that have blemished exteriors and feel part of a crowd!

Someone once told me that Delhi cars show the most amount of dents, is that really true?

Don't feel like writing much else, but the 10k service is coming up. My dealership is very eager that finish the free services as soon as possible, and faithfully call me every month about the ownership of the car and the pending service. Most telecallers then add, "Sir koi denting painting to nahi karani hai". I used to half-jokingly tell them "Shubh-shubh bolo madam".

For once, wifey was very understanding and tells me that its not too bad or visible, but those scratches were made on my heart.

[sudev]

Should I say "heart felt condolences"??

Yes you are right a car in Delhi cannot remain scratch free. Pics??

[LithiumSunset]

On a drive today I suddenly experienced missing (knocking) and loss of power on my SX4 Green in the CNG mode. The car eventually would switch to petrol, although the CNG gauge showed at least one green LED. Later I got the gas topped up, but the behaviour did not change.

The car got its third service day before yesterday, in preparation of an out of town hill drive, beginning early Thursday.

I went to the dealership/service center, but all mechanics had left early for Divali and tomorrow will be an off day too. The car runs perfectly fine on petrol. Is there an element of risk in undertaking the trip? Is there anything I can check and correct?

Sorry to bother you on a festival day, but I wanted to play safe or am I being paranoid.

Happy Divali..

LS

[ishlinea7260]

Originally Posted by LithiumSunset

. The car runs perfectly fine on petrol. Is there an element of risk in undertaking the trip? Is there anything I can check and correct?

LS

As you said the car is running fine on petrol, so i guess it shouldn't be much of a problem. just keep her on the petrol mode and get it checked as soon as you can.

And Happy Diwali to you too!

[Utopian]

Originally Posted by LithiumSunset

It had to happen one day... I only wish it wasn't so soon. The car has been violated................
For once, wifey was very understanding and tells me that its not too bad or visible, but those scratches were made on my heart.

The violated part was the best.
Take a chill pill, man. You can't avoid such minor incidents in Delhi. I can only empathize.

[HONESTabdul]

Man!! Its scary hearing about a problem that might affect you too. I have a Wagon R CNG. uses the same set up as your CNG SX4. so do post your updates. Did you take her to the service station?? What did they say? I am hazarding a guess that a defective / fouled plug might be the reason.

[LithiumSunset]

Originally Posted by Utopian

The violated part was the best.
Take a chill pill, man. You can't avoid such minor incidents in Delhi. I can only empathize.

There is no option but to keep taking that pill on Indian roads, isn't it?

[Utopian]

That's very true.
Driving in Delhi is a tacit agreement that you are ready to live with minor scratches and dents on your beloved car.
Buying a silver colored car helps a lot.

[LithiumSunset]

Originally Posted by LithiumSunset

.......... or am I being paranoid......LS

I was being paranoid!

I gently broke the news of the CNG problem to the Wife, hoping she would not panic and think about cancelling the trip. I think I did not let my paranoia sneak into the conversation very successfully. We were able to leave early enough at about 7 in the morning, were at Parwanoo by 12 noon and at Narkanda at about 6 in the evening having spent an easy afternoon with lunch at Shimla and several photo stops enroute. We returned via Chail on Sunday. Four days of leisurely drives. If Shimla is horrible (except the Mall, where no cars are allowed and also probably because the mountain ends there, leaving no space to build any further, mercifully) Narkanda is certainly still nice. I was thinking of posting a TL but I knew it wont be a match on TSK1979's excellent account, so I'll just add a few pictures here itself.

The car gave us no trouble at all, anywhere. I just did not use the CNG mode. I got a highway petrol mileage of 15.5 km per liter and a mountain mileage of 14.5 kmpl. My only peeve is the loss of an opportunity to test the highway CNG mileage, that will have to wait for the next trip out of town. I took the car upto 130 a couple of times but 99.99% of the drive was in my comfort zone of 90 to 100 kmph. I am just not interested in racing at all... This was a holiday and we had a great trip to Narkanda that started on the day after Divali.

The Tuesday that followed saw me at the Service Center. The team there kept tinkering for couple of hours to finally show me a suspect part that needed replacement. A part they don't carry in stock so they just put it right back in saying that they will speak to the 'M' Company about the availability. I waited for the call from the Service Manager and finally called him to know the status. He promptly replied "Sir maine to kaha tha, ki gaadi 2-3 din ke liye chhodani padegi". So I had to remind him that he was supposed to call me about the availability of the part so that I could leave the car with them.. Anyway, the car was handed over to the service center for fixing the current problem of loss of power on CNG on Wednesday, 9th Nov. Two days later I call again only to be told that it has been taken to the factory. If I am correct, the service centers are not yet equipped to handle the CNG side of the mechanics. The service manager has informed me of some imported Italian part that needs replacement. What I am disappointed about is the amount of time they are taking in getting the job done! I hope they are not importing it specially for my car!! I don't think 'M' Company is in that serious a trouble, is it?

The car has been with them for 5 days now and there is no clear indication when it gets back to me. The service center did finally give me a replacement car yesterday. I am hopeful that the problem will be fixed and I will be spared the torment of dealing with a lemon.

[LithiumSunset]

I got my car back today. A part called 'PIPE ASSY CNG DLVY' worth Rs.23440.00 got replaced. Labour was free and I did not pay a paisa, being under warranty, (other than the half full petrol tank they emptied, in the process).

Learnt two important lessons:

1. "Never keep your petrol tank empty, even if one drives on CNG most of the time", and paradoxically
2. "Never give your car to the workshop with any significant amount of petrol in it", they are bound to empty it.

Ironically, the replacement car I was provided could not even complete the 7km drive from my home to the workshop, when I went to collect my car in the evening! That is how careful they are when they leave their car with you!

However, the Oyster Blue 'Green' car seems to be back to where it was before the malfunction. Hopefully that should be the end of the adventure!

[LithiumSunset]

Wow, time flies fast, doesn't it!

One year ago that pin holding up the gear assembly of my ride broke down, by evening the Oyster Blue 'Green' car was home. Well, my old, reaaally old ride still rides well. Atlas made good bicycles, it has been with me for 31 years! The colour is all faded but that's about all.

The new ride had a hiccup, and it seems its been only that. I think its back to its original self. There is a brief resonant sound, usually in the first gear rev up but I cant replicate it always. Other than that I don't hear any of the Maruti's promised squeaks, but it must be my ageing ears (which according to the wife, had 'aged' about 20 years ago!).

The past year has been satisfactory as far as the fuel bills are concerned. But honestly I hadn't bargained for this kind of inflation in the CNG prices. I have tracked data for fuel prices over several years. My data shows that the annual inflation for the three fuels in Delhi has been:

Petrol: 18.35%
CNG: 22.48%
Diesel: hold your breath, 9.13%

I plotted the effect of long term inflation on the three fuels. At current rates CNG prices will catch up with diesel prices in TWO years! I was myself surprised and disappointed to see how the so called abundant fuel has seen steady upward price revisions. In the last one year of my ownership of a CNG car, the price was revised FIVE times. It was Rs.18.9 / kg in May 2009, now it is Rs.32! The corresponding no. of times of upward revision for petrol is 6 and for diesel, only 3!

At these rates of inflation CNG will lose its advantage over diesel in about three and half years. You must remember that the car still needs to burn petrol. My car burns about 0.3 litre of petrol for every 1 kg. of gas in the city drive and since both petrol and CNG have have high inflation rates, our fuel costs will continue to be ABOVE those for diesel driven cars, forever! Things will change only if the taxes on petrol are brought down or diesel is taxed similarly and I don't see that happening soon.

Here is what is in store on fuel prices on the long term: 5 years from now Petrol could be Rs.152 per Litre, CNG Rs.88 per Kg and Diesel Rs.64 per liter and if you continue to drive a petrol car ten years from now, petrol will be about 3.5 times the price of diesel at Rs.354 per liter and CNG would not be far behind at Rs.243 per KG! Enough of this depressing business.

I'll end with a few pictures from our recent (ok, not so recent) trip to the mountains. Cheers

We headed out by 7AM and were in the vicinity of the hills by about 11AM

This was of course the excellent road from Chandigarh to Parwanoo.

We parked the car in Shimla, had lunch and wife shopped for a pair shoes from a Chinese shoe shop. The shop keeper spoke very good English and Hindi of course!

Please note the contraption used to get a good fit!

Shimla is a nightmare, extracting the car from the maze of a parking lot took the better part of an hour.

I was reminded of the small square shaped game in which sliding the plastic tiles gets you the picture or sequenced numbers.

But Shimla is otherwise a different nightmare or should you call it a daymare? Who does this to a hill side?


There are better sights though, such as this Public library, feels like some small European town..

You will have to ignore Hanuman ji standing up on the Jakhu Hill!

It was almost 4 by time we cleared the tunnel, which was fortunately manned by a traffic cop. The road is good till a little short of Fagu, where it deteriorates into a dirt track with billowing clouds of fine powdery dust.

We reached Hotel Hatu by about 7 in the evening but not before witnessing these..

(to be continued..)

[Max]

LithiumSunset, thanks for your post, i never new car burns 0.3ltr petrol over 1kg CNG. Also, never knew about inflation in CNG as it is mass transport fuel.

Please, Do keep posting. Was you able to get CNG outside delhi?

[LithiumSunset]

Originally Posted by Max

LithiumSunset, thanks for your post, i never new car burns 0.3ltr petrol over 1kg CNG. Also, never knew about inflation in CNG as it is mass transport fuel.

Please, Do keep posting. Was you able to get CNG outside delhi?

Inflation is very real, my friend. It pervades every aspect of our lives, but a fuel inflation of 23% on a mass transport fuel is just ridiculous!

There is no CNG outside NCR. CNG outlets in NOIDA and Gurgaon are there, but there is no point in going there, it will take you at least an hour or more to get a fill. Delhi is a much better story.

[ptaneja]

Guys,

I have searched all the relevant posts made on CNG earlier - and more confused I am than before.

Here is the story - I have recently purcahsed a 4000kms driven SX4 ZXi VVT (May 2010) from Apra Motors(true Value). And I am looking forward to get it converted to CNG.

Please dont tell me disadvantages of CNG - I have a Swift ZXi which is nearing 1,10,000kms - out of which about 85,000 are purely on CNG (BRC kit + Advancer - not even a lambda installed) - I absolutely have NO issues at all.

On reading various forums, various threads here, good explanations by "wolfenstein" - I wanted to go ahead with the same kit as my old swift has. On the other hand Apra is forcing me with a sequential kit costing 65k - i do understand that it's more beneficial than the normal kit, but does it justify double the price? Moreover, I can't go against Apra as they are the one's who would honor my warranty for a year.

So, should I go ahead with sequential kit ? Also whats the best brand for it ?

Or can I try arguing with Apra on installing a normal kit ? (unless someone has a known buddy in Apra )