[motomaverick]

So after contemplating for a long time, I finally took the plunge and got a center arm rest fixed for the Manza.



This was ordered from ebay and is a universal arm rest. It costed around 980 bucks including shipping. From the looks of the box it came in, it is a Chinese made product but still of a pretty good quality.

I went to a neighborhood Auto accessories shop to get it fixed as I did not have the necessary tools to fix the same. The best part was he fixed it for 150 bucks. The shop in question is Auto Stop in HSR Layout.

Here the person is assembling the entire unit. Its pretty simple actually, you just have to fix all the legs and the arm rest base and voila you are all set, hardly took some 15 mins.



Here is how it looks after fixing it in the car. Yes, thankfully the beige color of the arm rest goes well with the car. The only tough part was the seats had to be removed to affix the arm rest onto the center console near the hand break. No worries about the thing vibrating or falling off as it is pretty tightly fixed.



Closer look at the resting part of the arm rest. The foam and faux leather (or is it leather) is pretty good and soft.



Yes, the upper portion glides forward by about 5 cms to give you extra length in case the gear shifter is quite far from where the arm rest is affixed.



Again the upper portion opens to reveal small space to store your purse or mobile.



Here is how it looks against the hand brake. Slight maneuvering of the hands is required to operate the hand brake but you tend to get used to it after a while.

[Abeer]

Originally Posted by motomaverick

So after contemplating for a long time, I finally took the plunge and got a center arm rest fixed for the Manza.

Which model is this and any idea if it would fit in Hyundai Accent GLE?

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by Abeer

Which model is this and any idea if it would fit in Hyundai Accent GLE?

This is a universal arm rest. I think you should be having a minimum of 15 cm of gap between the two seats.

[sachinayak]

The arm-rest looks great. Seems well integrated, guess even more because of the color match with the seat covers. Am now tempted to get this installed on my Manza as well. A few queries regarding this

1. Do you have a picture of this from the back seat?
2. Where did you buy this from?
3. How much did this cost?

[vrvarier]

Good buy, dude. I'm going ahead and buy this one. I had this plan, but I was thoroughly disappointed with the car vacuum cleaner, that I bought from ebay. Now that some one is vouching for it, I will go ahead and buy. Do you have a model/make name? Or just "universal arm rest" will do?

Man, every time I visit your thread you will have something interesting. Good going with Manza.

thanks.

[swami.n]

Thanks motomaverick. The arm rest looks cool and the color you've got seems to gel very well with your interiors. The images you have posted show it as much better quality than the images on the shopping site.

I have just ordered it in black for my figo. Hope the black is also good enough :-)

[swami.n]

Originally Posted by motomaverick

This is a universal arm rest. I think you should be having a minimum of 15 cm of gap between the two seats.

Hi motomaverick, I have gotten my black universal arm rest delivered.
Was this done after removing the front seats or just pushing it all the way front?
Was there any drilling done to the car's floor where the base of the arm rest holds the car?
It would be a lot helpful if you could post some images of where exactly the screws are put in the car's floor.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by sachinayak

The arm-rest looks great. Seems well integrated, guess even more because of the color match with the seat covers. Am now tempted to get this installed on my Manza as well. A few queries regarding this

1. Do you have a picture of this from the back seat?
2. Where did you buy this from?
3. How much did this cost?

Sorry for the late reply I did not come into my own thread for a long time

1. Sorry dont have pictures from the back seat but I can get you one.
2. I bought this from ebay. I think the seller is still selling a few arm rests. Click Here
3. It costed me 900 bucks including shipping.

Originally Posted by vrvarier

Good buy, dude. I'm going ahead and buy this one. I had this plan, but I was thoroughly disappointed with the car vacuum cleaner, that I bought from ebay. Now that some one is vouching for it, I will go ahead and buy. Do you have a model/make name? Or just "universal arm rest" will do?

Man, every time I visit your thread you will have something interesting. Good going with Manza.

thanks.

Thanks, glad you can get updates that are useful. With the arm rest its pretty relaxing on long drives. Initially, it might be awkward to operate the hand brake or gear but over time we tend to get used to it. Only thing I would advise you to do is attach a clamp from the seat screw as well and not just use the center console to fix the arm rest. Its more secure as a result. I still need to do that modification.

Originally Posted by swami.n

Hi motomaverick, I have gotten my black universal arm rest delivered.
Was this done after removing the front seats or just pushing it all the way front?
Was there any drilling done to the car's floor where the base of the arm rest holds the car?
It would be a lot helpful if you could post some images of where exactly the screws are put in the car's floor.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi Swami, yes the seats for my car were removed to get easy access to put the screws in the center console box where its fixed. No drilling done, just simply the screws were pushed in with force onto the plastic of the center console. If your car does not have a console around the hand brake then you can use clamps to screw it with the seats. No floor drilling.

[dhondusaxena]

I also got a similar one fixed, but it was broken at the TASS. Has been lying with me ever since. It is not as sturdy as the stock ones which comes in other cars. Also if you have a toddler and he steps onto it, it is bound to break. If someone finds a sturdy one, please do recommend.

[Chitta Pradhan]

Originally Posted by motomaverick

Update about the DieselTronic by Race Dynamics on the Manza
In fact in terms of real world gains I would say except for Verna I do not think any of the stock diesel sedans selling in the C category can catch up to this shark.[/list]

Hi !

I have some how missed your wonderful post. Happy that you are enjoying your car.

For sometime now, I am thinking in line of a RD box for my 1.6 CRDI Fludic Verna. I have been quoted a price of 20k. I can only get the box by courier after making full payment in advance. I do'nt think there should be any problem in purchasing the box this way. I need your valuable inputs on my following queries:

1. Can I get the box installed myself.
2. With stock 128 bhp & 240 odd nm torque, is it advisable to go for RD box?
3.Turbo spools up somewhere around 1500 rpm & thus turbo lag is not a big problem. Will the box help reduce the lag further?
4. Is FE increase claim of RD realistic? If yes by what % in P1 & P2 ?
5. You have mentioned that there is no increase in engine sound. Are you sure about this in both P1 & P2 ? I am very averse to more engine sound. If engine sound becomes slightly louder, I would prefer not to go for the box.
6. Will the box affect the engine in any manner & reduce the life?

FYI, my car is Aug-2011 model, done 35k. Current FE on highway with 100% AC at 100-110 kph is 18.5-19 km/l. City FE is lowish at 12-13 with 100% AC.
I have extracted a max highway FE of 22.5 km/l ( TFM) @ 75-80 kmph, 100% AC & alone in the car.

I can n't tune the car because no expert hands are available around. If any one knows about any reliable tuner in Kolkata, plz. let me know. I drive to kolkata once in every six months.

Cheers

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by Chitta Pradhan

Hi !

I have some how missed your wonderful post. Happy that you are enjoying your car.



I can n't tune the car because no expert hands are available around. If any one knows about any reliable tuner in Kolkata, plz. let me know. I drive to kolkata once in every six months.

Cheers

Hi Chitta, glad you found my post helpful, let me try to elaborate on the points you have mentioned. Mind you I have moved out of RD box long time back as the car was remapped.

1. Can I get the box installed myself.
Yes, you can install it yourself, you just need to find the ECU connectors, the rest is just plug and play as all connectors and wires are provided.

2. With stock 128 bhp & 240 odd nm torque, is it advisable to go for RD box?
Well this is very subjective, more power is always welcome but more than power I felt the box made a difference in drivability.

3.Turbo spools up somewhere around 1500 rpm & thus turbo lag is not a big problem. Will the box help reduce the lag further?
Don't think it will alter it too much but since you do not have much of a lag, there will be no decrement for sure.

4. Is FE increase claim of RD realistic? If yes by what % in P1 & P2 ?
In P1 mode I used to get 1 to 1.2kpl more than stock mode. But P2 you will get same or less.

5. You have mentioned that there is no increase in engine sound. Are you sure about this in both P1 & P2 ? I am very averse to more engine sound. If engine sound becomes slightly louder, I would prefer not to go for the box.
In P1 mode the engine noise was less, but when you are in P2 mode you generally want to accelerate faster so the noise does increase, but I think Verna is quieter than the Manza even in stock mode.

6. Will the box affect the engine in any manner & reduce the life?
The box does not effect anything, it is us who can adversely effect the engine, as some of us tend to accelerate hard to get the feeling of more power after fitting the box, as long as you are using it normally everything should be fine.

[motomaverick]

30,000 KMS Service Update

The white whale finally crossed 30k kms this month and was duly sent to its 5th Service. There were a lot things that I had planned as listed since, the car will be going on a Ladakh circuit this August.

1. Clutch overhaul – there was constant shudder and hardness of the clutch, partly I guess it can be blamed on my driving style as few months back I somehow used to ride the clutch
2. Brakes Check & replace
3. Engine Oil & Oil filter
4. General Service
5. Suspension checks
6. Turbo & Intercooler check and clean – Had observed some oil stains near the turbo hose and hence decided to get it checked and cleaned.
7. Wheels Change – This is specifically for the Ladakh trip as I didn’t want to risk bending or breaking the alloys.
8. Duplicate key – One of the two keys was broken for a long time, hence, had to make this for the trip
9. Air Filter change
10. 3M Anti Rust coating – Patch work check on the already done underbody coating.

Seeing the list of things the SA wanted more time which fortunately I was willing to give this time, and after depositing the car on Friday took the delivery only yesterday i.e. Monday. Finally, the list of things that actually happened and my observations are as below:

1. Clutch Changed: The clutch assembly was completely changed under warranty, this was a nice surprise and I was informed that within 30k kms Tata usually considers this request based on SA feedback. So my heartiest thanks to the SA.
2. Brakes – The brakes were checked and were still good for another 5-6k kms. I was advised to get them checked during the trip so this is one additional work on the itinerary. Why I agreed for the same was that I wanted to completely use the brakes before changing and as such the braking power is not less.
3. Engine Oil & Oil filter – Surprisingly I paid only Rs. 1200 approx for the engine oil. How come? Well it seems there is a directive in Fiat to use Petronas 5w40 fully synthetic engine oil, since Prerana Motors & Vecto are same they are using this same engine oil for MJD engine cars. This oil costs approx 400 bucks per liter.
4. Suspension Check – All 4 suspensions were checked and oiling done. Only the right rear suspension was changed as the struts were leaking oil it seems. This was also under warranty.
5. Turbo – The oil leak near the hose pipe is common among all MJD cars from Tata it seems. Though the intercooler & turbo were checked and found to be fine. I in fact checked around 2 Manza’s and 1 Vista and all of them had a dirt deposit near the hose. This looks like a design flaw.
6. Wheels – Earlier in this forum I had mentioned that Tata was charging 1300 per OEM steel rim. Well this time I took a chance and bargained citing the fact that a costlier Linea has rims for 800 bucks ( I am not sure but I had heard ), so finally the SA relented and agreed to speak to the workshop manager to see if any discounts can be given. What he informed me was that he told the manager that this customer is not buying 1 but 4 so we should offer some discounts, as such we don’t sell this part quite often. So finally I had to pay 830 per rim.
7. Air Filter Change – The air filter component was changed and the filter lid was also changed due to a design change in the Manza. The club class it seems comes with the new lid design. I didn’t see any difference but since it was just 120 bucks I did not probe further.
8. Duplicate Key – One of the two car key was broken due to a freak accident last year, till now I was using only one key, but since Ladakh trip is coming up, I finally got another made. This was done for a charge of 2300.
9. Head Light – I had asked for headlight focusing as a usual request but to my 2nd surprise, they actually replaced the left headlight unit as there was some problem with the focusing screw. Since it was under warranty, I had no issues.
10. DDIS – The driver information system was actually having problems with the digits getting displayed properly, so this was also replaced under warranty.
11. Rear Seat Lock – After putting seat covers the rear seat was not locking in place, this was fixed this time around.
12. Underbody Coating – The patch work was completed duly.
13. General Service – All the rest of the oils were topped up. Coolant was changed as it had discoloration. All the rest of the parts greased.

So overall the car went in looking like this



And it came out looking like this. My very own NASCAR Manza



Observation: This time finally I have come out of the service center completely satisfied. I was satisfied due to two reasons:

1. All the work and some more were completed to my satisfaction
2. I only had to shell out 15,000 INR as the final bill amount including all of the above things. Labor was approx. INR 4500 while parts somewhere around INR 10500

Extra Expenditure: The only extra expenditure that I incurred was on the battery that went kaput on the day the car went into service. I spent some 4900 for a new Exide Max DIN55 battery. I was looking for Amaron but unfortunately the battery does not fit the compartment.

[adroit]

Originally Posted by motomaverick

So after contemplating for a long time, I finally took the plunge and got a center arm rest fixed for the Manza.
T

Nice addition but don't you think it will create problem in using handbreak ? i have got the Safari Armrest installed in my Manza and they are very cool in terms of comfort and very strong too.

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by adroit

Nice addition but don't you think it will create problem in using handbreak ? i have got the Safari Armrest installed in my Manza and they are very cool in terms of comfort and very strong too.

It does come in between but with time I have got used to it. How different is the Safari arm rest? I thought its arm rest is attached to the seat itself?

[adroit]

Originally Posted by motomaverick

It does come in between but with time I have got used to it. How different is the Safari arm rest? I thought its arm rest is attached to the seat itself?

Yes. they are attached to the seat and very strong. It does not come in between the hand break & give perfect reach for the gear shifts. It doesn't feel like jugad in anyway. I will try to post some picture of the same today.