[crazydiablo]

Yes shocks go weak as with use, but with Konis you can actualy increase the damping with age. Oh I would not have spend the money if I had to change them in another 40K, if thats the case its better to stick to stock shocks. But I believe Konis should last much more than stock shocks....but only time will tell.

[abhik]

I hope they do, and if you can adjust damping they will definately outlast stock ones. Glad to know this fact.

[crazydiablo]

I am right now in Kerala, after a fantastic drive through munnar. The car was a blast on the hills of Munnar. It was like power mode all the way in the hills and to the hell with the mileage.

Left bangalore at around 4 in the morning and reached Munnar around 12.30pm.

The latest additions to the car has really worked its magic man. I dont think I will go back to anything other than this setup. I have not reported mileage after this latest mods, its around 11.5kmpl with A/C on and around 120-130kmph on the highways. Its a mix of mostly power mode and very little mileage mode(when I was in bangalore city). Another reason for lesser mileage could be the grippy tyres, an not sure. Funny thing is that mileage is pretty much constant and very consitent.

Few words about the Konis. Absolute madness, these will take anything that you throw at them. Did some silly stuff with them and for the first time I feel that these are beyond my driving abilities. The way they stick to the road on undulations, up and down, twisties is mindblowing. Mid way corrections, reducing radius corners you name it this will eat it for breakfast! Love them......

Tyres are nice. I am confused about these because I lost one before I left bangalore to a side wall cut. But these took all the terrain without protest. Sticks like leeches on dry tarmac.....not so happy with wet or moist roads. They will start sliding but very controlled slide, just control with throttle. On dry twisties its very difficult to make them squeal, if so its temporary and they regain composure very fast.

Brakes or rather brake pads! These lock up even Neovas at even high speeds! You need a very firm and modulating pressure on the brake. Be very careful with these pads. I wouldnt recommend them for normal use. I believe these will be perfect on the track but for roads little dicey or probably overkill. So I jab hard, tyres chirp and then I modlulate from then on. I dont know if I will buy another pair. But if people are on 205 on 15 inchers these are justified. My tyres could not keep up with these. Brake fade is not there. Same pedal pressure through out the drive. Lots of brake dust. My both front tyres are black by the time I got home.

[kutlee]

great news. me too in suspension hunt. ohc has very few options. certainly not konis i guess. i think you need additional power to play with!! enjoy and thanks for the report!

[ScarySkulls]

Good to know it all went well.
Enjoy Mohith and good to know you are perfectly happy with Konis. I think now I can confidently tell this to Arup Sir without being bashed

[crazydiablo]

Yeah man, am perfectly happy with Konis. You can tell him my regards and thanks also.

This is my first long trip after the Konis, and it did not feel uncomfortable after aroun 800kms of driving. This had all types of road with highways, back roads, and the hills thrown in for good measure. This was probably the first mod I should have done.

[IronWolf]

Great Review of the Konis. clearly this is an important mod. I just wish they did not cost so much all around.

Your review is down to earth and something we can really relate to.

Thanks.. whats next?

[crazydiablo]

Thanks man, I dont know whats next. The journey of my street build ends here. I think if we take it any further it will cease to be a street/highway car anymore.

I just came back today after clocking around 2300 kms in the last one week. This makes it around 10300kms done after we started porting at 27K. Enough has been said about the cars performance and I dont have anything further to add.

I did not push it this time, but clocked a around 195kmph on the speedo in fourth gear. It gets upto 180kmph very fast and then take some time to move ahead. Mileage remains a respectable 11kmpl or there abouts(Does Neovas affect mileage?). Most of the time was around 140kmph which translates to 4k rpm in 5th.


Things to improve
1. Remap for the mode to richen it to suit my highway needs. My cruising is around 5th gear and 4K rpm and I need to optimize the map for that.
2. Need a better sounding/milder sounding exhaust. Most probably a good endcan should resolve my issue. I can keep this for later.
3. The cooling fan irritates with its buzz. Need a more silent one.

I would like to conclude my update here saying this build has been reliable for 10K and am sure it will continue doing so.

[v1p3r]

Great report. Good to see you're happy with the build.

Originally Posted by crazydiablo

Does Neovas affect mileage?

Yes, they do. About 1kmpl on average is what I found.

[iceman91]

195 in 4th gear!!!! What rpm where you at??? around 8k???

[crazydiablo]

Originally Posted by v1p3r

Yes, they do. About 1kmpl on average is what I found.

Ok that explains my mileage, I used to get around 12kmpl plus on my highway drives. I keep locking up the Neovas, have to be really careful when I break.

Originally Posted by iceman91

195 in 4th gear!!!! What rpm where you at??? around 8k???

Is something wrong? Because I was just shy of the rev limiter. I did not hit the rev limiter so I guess it must have been around 6500/6600 rpm. Things approach so fast at that point, I just glanced down at the speedo before letting go.

Things to keep in mind is that, I have not removed the stock revlimiter which is at around 6750rpm and I am running stock gear ratios and tyre is 195/60R14.

[iceman91]

cool, I am just wondering not disputing
I did cross 195 recently in stock gearbox but was in the 5th gear. remember doing 215+ in 5th gear at 6500+rpm hence the question.

Cheers

[crazydiablo]

Originally Posted by crazydiablo

The max I could hit on the speedo with wifey glaring at me was a 190kmph. This was on the L&T high way in coimbatore and 190kmph came up in 4th gear at around 6250 rpm. This was with 3 people in the car and a boot full of luggage. 2nd gear tops out at 105kmph and 3rd gear at 150kmph. I dont push in the first gear. Oh what a rush it was seeing 190ks on the speedo. The best a stock baleno would do is 175kmph on the speedo which was my personal best till now. Considering the fact we never talked about topspeed before the build and that it was never build for topspeed, topspeed is hardly a concern.

Considering the fact that redline is at 6750rpm and I had 500rpm more in 4th gear means conservatively we should pull atleast another 10kmph in 4th putting the topspeed at more that 200kmph. With less load and single driver this should be done with a lot easier. One thing I have noticed in all RDD builds is the way the car/bike pulls in top gear. Usually the car/bike runs out of breath in top but this one pulls and pulls like a loco.

This was my earlier best when I went last year to kerala. I think its pretty much the same and around what I guessed then.

Originally Posted by mclaren1885

I remember the baleno hitting 200 kmph on our Yelagiri drive in 4th. It maxxed out the speedo in 5th. So, AFAIK you hit the top speed in 5th.

This confirms what I have been thinking all along.

Another thing is that I might not be 100% accurate because at that speed I am more concerned about the road rather than speed.

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by crazydiablo

I keep locking up the Neovas, have to be really careful when I break.

Locking up at high speeds tells me something is wrong. wonder if you bias is off.

[IronWolf]

Originally Posted by v1p3r

Yes, they do. About 1kmpl on average is what I found.

Strange, how do the Neovas affect mileage that much. Cause you tend to be more heavy on the Gas / not letting up on the bends?

Originally Posted by iceman91

cool, I am just wondering not disputing
I did cross 195 recently in stock gearbox but was in the 5th gear. remember doing 215+ in 5th gear at 6500+rpm hence the question.

Cheers

Ahem, Sigh... your Balenos are in different league.