I just completed 4600 km, and thought I must put up an update here on this thread before I send the Punto in for the first service (5000 km). I wanted to do this at 4000 km, but anyway here goes:
A picture of the odometer taken at 4000, but it has been 7 days since then, and I have quietly lapped up another 600km.
On average I am doing 70 km per day. Thanks to the fuel efficiency of a diesel, using this car for office commuting puts me at peace when I go to the bunk to tank up.
A lot has been happening on the Punto's side of things since my last update. I have done 2-3 highway trips to maximize the running and accelerate the first service. The Punto was taken on a long trip to Chikmagalur and thereabouts (total round trip 700km), the travelogue is currently on the Assembly line and should find its way out in a couple of weeks. For teasers, here is a snap of the Punto from that trip:
There were a couple of other highway drives, including one with its elder sibling. I did manage to do a photoshoot of the T-Jet / MultiJet siblings and I am composing a very detailed comparo thread of the 2 enthusiast cars. This thread is also on Assembly line and should go live around the end of Feb, delay thanks to a hectic work schedule
On the merchandise front, I recently got a Fiat keychain from Ebay to go with the desmodronic foldable remote key. It is a clear fake, costs 300 bucks ONLY, but suffices to up the glam quotient
. The red is not so frightfully RED in reality, I guess the camera flash has caught it at the wrong angle *lol*
Ownership updates :
- The good luck of the T-Jet has rubbed off on its younger sibling. With 3 months of driving in choc-a-bloc traffic, with extreme care, the car has had absolutely zero scratches/blemishes. Touchwood! Hope it remains this way for as long as possible.
- The engine refinement has improved considerably, in fact by leaps and bounds. It almost feels like a petrol engine now, and passengers will hardly have any reason to suspect otherwise, unless you tell them it is a diesel.
- Driveability has improved along with the engine refinement. The engine is starting to open up now. The VGT is more eager to dart ahead, spools up earlier (around 1500 rpm) and is miles ahead of FGT turbo driveability. The VGT turbo feel is inclined more towards linear, smoothened acceleration which is better suited in traffic.
- The OEM tyres (Apollo Aceleres) are starting to get a bit noisy. Normally I wouldn't have noticed, but the minute I step into the T-Jet (which has Michelin Primacy LC) and step back into the Punto, the difference in noise is clearly observed. I'm putting a tyre upgrade on the anvil.
- Fuel efficiency in the city with peak traffic has improved to 15-16 kmpl with A/C on. I couldn't ask more than this really. This could also partly be because I switched to a longer route to office, via an interior state highway along agricultural fields, rather than the conventional Ring road with snail pace traffic.
- The 185mm Ground clearance is fantabulous on bad roads. I encountered treacherous roads during my recent trip, and the car didn't scrape anywhere. On the same road, my T-Jet would have hit its belly in 7-8 places. I can take the Punto anywhere and everywhere. Even Ladakh roads should be manageable with 185mm.
Niggles :
- This list would have been empty, but for that trip which I did to Chikmagalur. The roads to the Estate where I stayed were pretty treacherous, and doing those roads 4-5 times during our stay there, caused only ONE rattle - the left side front glass window when completely wound down makes a rattling sound (glass on metal) on very bad roads. Even this, if I wind up the glass (which I anyway do since I use A/C 100% of the time), it is not perceptible. I prefer my cars to be 100% super silent, and even the slightest rattle/sound annoys me. I'm going to get this rattle issue rectified during service.
That's it! Absolutely zero niggles faced during the 5000 km of ownership in my garage!
Other issues to be brought up at first service :
- I mentioned this in one of my previous updates - the driver side window makes some faint 'click' sound when it is being wound up. I suspect this is due to some dust near the power window motor assembly. I'll have it cleaned up during servicing.
- Due to frequent handbrake usage in choc-a-bloc traffic, the handbrake has become a little loose, in that it allows the car to crawl in the first position of locking. I will get it tightened during the first service.
- Slight amount of play in the left front door handle. I need to use 10% extra effort to turn the handle and open the door. I guess the cable of the handle needs to be adjusted.
My next ownership update will be after the first service at Prerana motors, which should happen probably during the next weekend.
On the modifications' side of things, I've done part of the visual makeover, the rest will be done soon along with other modifications. I'm just waiting for some months to accumulate some vitamin-M for some more modifications planned, and it will happen stage by stage. Here's a sneak peek at the next few tweaks on the anvil :
- Philips DRLs (February)
- RaceDynamics dual channel tuning box with replacement air filter (maybe K&N), and michelin tyres (March-April)
- ICE upgrade (June)
- Stanley red/black themed (full leather) interiors to mimic the bmw 320D sport theme interiors (July-Aug)
- Interior Neon lighting (Sept). Let me see if I can do a DIY in case it is simple enough.
My next update will be after the first service next weekend.