[KarthikK]

A long awaited update to this thread :

Why were there no updates all these days?? Simply because the car has just been doing its duty diligently and I have had nothing to report about the car. There have been no mods to speak of, so I'm saving those updates for when I get to achieve them in the coming months. In the past few months, the car has been racking up kilometres on the odometer with the daily 70km home-office commute. The odometer as of today stands at 27,900 km of niggle-free ownership experience, and as many as 13,000 of those are after the remap.

On the odometer front, I've just been clicking pics at every ton but failed to upload them. Here they go in a barrage - 20,000 to 27,000th ton :
















There are two maintenance-related updates on the car. The first is a visit to Madhus enterprises for the routine wheel alignment and hunter roadforce balancing around the 22,000th km.

The 'Abarth' arriving at Madhus







Hunter roadforce balancing complete!



The other maintenance-related update was a visit to Vecto motors for a small checkup I wanted done on the car. Around mid-May, the brakes were giving out a light squeal on gradual braking, although I felt no difference in bite power. Around the beginning of June, I paid a visit to Vecto motors at their new facility on Mysore road and got the niggle attended to.

Trusted and capable service advisor Surendra, who was at the helm of affairs here, attended to the car and we did a preventive replacement of the brake pads since they had very little life remaining. The brake pads had previously been replaced just under 10,000 km on the odometer (report found elsewhere on this same thread). Considering I have been pushing the car after the remap, I'm quite happy with the 17,000 km life that the pads have put up. I also changed the air filter and pollen filter, they were very dirty already.

Arriving at Vecto's new facility on Mysore road. The Abarth goes up on the lift


Old set of Brake pads



Promptly replaced with a new set of Brake pads - good to go for another 15k kms hopefully



The dirty air filter was also replaced with a new one



Total expenditure on the visit = Rs. 4408 /- (This will be collated and added to the excel sheet under misc. expenses when I go for the 30k service shortly). 'Break' pads indeed! *winks*



I was in and out of the service centre in a couple of hours on a Saturday morning, thanks to making a prior booking through their hotline. Before you ask, no the Indica was not there for a service



Other updates and observations: I am not at all happy with the Apollo Aceleres. At a little short of 25,000 km, I have suffered close to 25 punctures (total on all 4 tyres) and I'm not kidding. Each time I have visited the tyre centre near my place after noticing a quick pressure drop in one of the tyres and plugged the holes with the tubeless repair kit, but that's not the point. Each tyre has had at least 5-6 holes plugged in, some even more. I thought it had something to do with my route, but changing the route to a smoother, urban commute doesn't help either. These things seem to pick up all kinds of nails like they are magnets!! I'm not sure if it has something to do with my bad luck, or if the tyres themselves are like this. In stark contrast, my T-Jet runs on uber-soft Michelin Primacy LCs on all kinds of highway roads and those tyres haven't picked up a single puncture in 2 years of usage!!

Even the grip of the Aceleres is abysmal, so to speak. On hard braking, ABS kicks in very early on many occasions and on wet roads or hilly areas with curves, the grip is pathetic. Last but not the least, the ride quality is very harsh on these tyres. I really wouldn't recommend these tyres to anybody from the experience I have had. Prospective Punto owners, please, please consider swapping these tyres for better Michelins, Pirellis or Yokohamas straight out of the showroom. That way you will get much better buyback prices and bag the entire new set for around 10k net. I plan to dispose them at the 30,000 km service and swap to Michelin Primacy 3ST series of the same size.

My next update is due this weekend after a visit to Madhus for the routine alignment / balancing, and perhaps a detailing session at 3M car care.

[lurker]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

A long awaited update to this thread :

Why were there no updates all these days?? Simply because the car has just been doing its duty diligently and I have had nothing to report about the car. There have been no mods to speak of, so I'm saving those updates for when I get to achieve them in the coming months. In the past few months, the car has been racking up kilometres on the odometer with the daily 70km home-office commute. The odometer as of today stands at 27,900 km of niggle-free ownership experience, and as many as 13,000 of those are after the remap.

the Fiat 1.3 mjd is turning out to be a reliable workhorse post the 2012 updates. It is now beginning to compare well to Toyota in terms of reliability. It just keeps raking up miles without much fuss or grumble. Post 60K and post 90K are the 2 landmarks to watch out for in case of 1.3 mjd. If they too pass well, then there is no looking back, it will be the most reliable diesel engine in India.

[sai_ace]

Hi Karthik,

Any leads on the amber coronas for your car? I am looking at fitting projectors to my linea and I hate those Red/Blue demon/angel eyes whateva thats around. I want a simple flush fitting Projectors and nice Amber corona rings -me thinks they would suit the lineas personality very very well. Waiting for your updates on this.

cheers!
sai

[NFS2024]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

and as many as 13,000 of those are after the remap.

Can you please elaborate your experience on the remap now that you have done a lot of kms on it? Is it worth going for it considering the fact that the gear ratios are not good in Punto unlike other cars?

Has the remap provided you a considerable improvement in driveability across the rev range? If so by how much percent would you say if you have to put a number to it. Would your remapped car be as good as the new polo tdi or an i20?

Has the remap by any chance tuned the engine for better NVH?

I already have experience with TOT in my previous car, its just that I have a feeling it may not work out with the Punto unlike Swift. Whats your opinion?

Thanks in advance.

[rideon74]

Hello there! I'm a Punto owner myself and I've had a Palio before the my red rocket came home. I've noticed a common factor in both of these vehicles: low back stiffness/pain due to the curved design of the seat - especially on long drives.

I'm curious to know if you've felt the same too. I know only another two Punto owners, so hence the Q. I've tried a few lumbar supports cushions (didn't work) and altering the recline, height and distance of seat to steering.

Mine is about three years old ow, and I intend to stick on with her (my Palio was given of after 1.5Lakh km & 6 year usage).

I just don't have the heart to re-do the brilliant looking seats provided by Fiat. Classy, aren't they? I don't face the problem when I'm out with my Scorpio. It's been four years with her and I've faced any such thing.

But the Palio and the Punto, well...two cars I simply love and it's coming to a point where I simply take a call on the seats now.

[rav11stars]

Just a note to say how much I've been influenced by your thread. I was going through every page and sometimes I felt like I was sort of obsessed. Thanks a lot for the wealth of information.

With your inspiration I'm going to start my ownership thread

[KarthikK]

It has been a long time since I had bid a temporary adieu to the modifications planned on this car. That wait has now ended for me and I am back with enhancing bits and pieces of the red rocket. The Abarth fake Evo Esseesse identity has been 1.5 years old. The entire appearance of the car and its identity will change in another 2 days. Many updates will follow by Sunday night. The 'Red Rocket' enters the next phase of modifications beginning today.
The tapering 'Abarth' stripes on the sides and the fake Evo look have become fairly common now. I decided it is time for a change in the appearance of this car, another fake Abarth nonetheless, and tons of showoff ops on the road with these cheap thrills. The car has been like an empty canvas for experimentation. Watch this space for more. It is now time for another phase of total appearance change.

Because change is the only constant .

P.S - I have crossed 30,000 km and 2 years with my next service report (due tonight), this thread will enter the long term ownership threads section. Thanks once again to everyone who contributed modding ideas over the course of these 2 years that this thread had been in the initial ownership threads section. It has been an amazing learning experience for me doing all these low key mods with your inputs, suggestions and pictures on many occasions. The journey only continues from here.

Originally Posted by lurker

the Fiat 1.3 mjd is turning out to be a reliable workhorse post the 2012 updates. It is now beginning to compare well to Toyota in terms of reliability. It just keeps raking up miles without much fuss or grumble. Post 60K and post 90K are the 2 landmarks to watch out for in case of 1.3 mjd. If they too pass well, then there is no looking back, it will be the most reliable diesel engine in India.

I agree with this. The car has been a fantastic urban workhorse for me out and out. I'm very satisfied with it as a product and the way it has been able to take abuse every single day on a tiresome daily office commute. Looking forward to many more kilometres of ownership on the multijet.

Originally Posted by sai_ace

Hi Karthik,

Any leads on the amber coronas for your car? I am looking at fitting projectors to my linea and I hate those Red/Blue demon/angel eyes whateva thats around. I want a simple flush fitting Projectors and nice Amber corona rings -me thinks they would suit the lineas personality very very well. Waiting for your updates on this.

Hi Sai, I haven't been checking with Satya recently. I definitely need the HID projector kit from FXR. I've been looking up RetrofitSource for some nice deals and will pickup the FXR stage IV kit with amber corona rings.
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/com...ofit-kits.html

They are rumoured to have discounts running around BlackFriday time (Nov 28 is black friday) and I intend to pick it up around then.

Originally Posted by NFS2024

Can you please elaborate your experience on the remap now that you have done a lot of kms on it? Is it worth going for it considering the fact that the gear ratios are not good in Punto unlike other cars?

Has the remap provided you a considerable improvement in driveability across the rev range? If so by how much percent would you say if you have to put a number to it. Would your remapped car be as good as the new polo tdi or an i20?

Has the remap by any chance tuned the engine for better NVH?

I already have experience with TOT in my previous car, its just that I have a feeling it may not work out with the Punto unlike Swift. Whats your opinion?

I have to say, I am pretty satisfied with the remap and the way it has boosted driving pleasure by miles. Well the 1st gear and 2nd gear are not so well matched, so your sudden 0-100 or 0-60 dashes will show a reduced time compared to the competitors. However, mid range is very, very punchy and can give other diesel hatches a run for their money. Coupled with some nice handling and braking, it can outrun the competition if you throw in some curves too. I haven't done any shootouts / comparos so I can't tell for sure how much is the difference. It would suffice to say that a remapped 90HP is far quicker than most other hatches out there. Barring the GT TDI and GT TSI (and maybe the Liva 1.5), I think this car should be far ahead of the rest of the hatchbacks. It clocks around 11.5s to the ton now on the vbox, which is almost close to the stock GT TDI's and TSI's 10+ figures. The stock Punto 90HP puts out 15.8s to the 100, so you can imagine the difference in performance. That's a full 4.3 seconds shaved off.

Originally Posted by rideon74

Hello there! I'm a Punto owner myself and I've had a Palio before the my red rocket came home. I've noticed a common factor in both of these vehicles: low back stiffness/pain due to the curved design of the seat - especially on long drives.

I'm curious to know if you've felt the same too. I know only another two Punto owners, so hence the Q. I've tried a few lumbar supports cushions (didn't work) and altering the recline, height and distance of seat to steering.

Mine is about three years old ow, and I intend to stick on with her (my Palio was given of after 1.5Lakh km & 6 year usage).

I just don't have the heart to re-do the brilliant looking seats provided by Fiat. Classy, aren't they? I don't face the problem when I'm out with my Scorpio. It's been four years with her and I've faced any such thing.

But the Palio and the Punto, well...two cars I simply love and it's coming to a point where I simply take a call on the seats now.

I have never faced any issue with pains or stiffness of any sort so far; been doing 4-5 hours per day, everyday in the Punto without issues. Neither do I have any issue with long drives in the Linea. But yeah, ergonomics are like a mixed bag and some people do have issues with the seating position and reach of the different levers / controls / steering wheel. Try getting different seats/extra foam instead of selling the cars away for a somewhat trivial reason *winks*

Originally Posted by rav11stars

Just a note to say how much I've been influenced by your thread. I was going through every page and sometimes I felt like I was sort of obsessed. Thanks a lot for the wealth of information.

With your inspiration I'm going to start my ownership thread

Thank you so much for the kind words and I am looking forward to reading your ownership report of this car just as you were to read mine. Thanks again!

[rav11stars]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Attachment 1046519

I've got a doubt that I thought I'd ask you first The mudflaps: I got similar mudflaps from FIAT. I've been observing cars (Hyundai, Maruti) and found that other than the rear mudflap there's a plastic cladding covering the opposite side of the mud flap in the wheel well. I'm not sure if I've put it correctly. In this pic we can see the metal body of the wheel well.
However I found them to be missing in Punto and Indica. Is this known and normal? Can we get such claddings for Punto as well. Other than looking good, it'll prevent mud and water from getting splashed onto the body.

[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Watch this space for more. It is now time for another phase of total appearance change.

Because change is the only constant .

I quite literally jumped out of my office seat expecting some update Karthik, the moment I saw your thread in bold today morning !!


By far one of the most interesting threads & ownership report on TBHP. Its been over 3 months (Last year technically ) since any updates.

Please update this thread with some eye candy.

[Repsol]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

The entire appearance of the car and its identity will change in another 2 days. Many updates will follow by Sunday night. The 'Red Rocket' enters the next phase of modifications beginning today.

Hi KarthikK,

What about sharing the latest status of Red Rocket which is due since Oct '14

[MrA]

Thanks for the in-depth review Karthik. Can't recall when was the last time I read such a thorough review covering each and every aspect of a car. I wish someone had posted a review like this for Evo 90hp. I badly want to buy the Punto Evo 90hp, however, the nearest dealer and SC is 300km away from my city(Srinagar-Kashmir) and I'm very apprehensive about the ASS. Have read innumerous posts/complaints about the FIAT ASS and how they don't respond/care. I actually got a taste of it when I called the FIAT customer care, the woman on the other end was not responsive at all, didn't even help me with my query and simply hanged up.
And regarding your car, it simply looks like a dream, I'm completely enamored. I wish they had retained the external shape/esthetics, I find your model(Grande Punto) better looking than the Evo. Hope it's running hassle-free and not troubling/nagging you

P.S. This is my first post/comment on Team-BHP, my account got approved just a few hours ago

[abhii176]

Yours is one drool worthy ride Karthik. I have been following this thread since you've set it up and really admire the way you have transformed your ride. I've just become a member and I just had to come visit your page and post here.
Eagerly awaiting updates on your next set of mods - especially the FXRs. Am hoping to go the FXR way myself and knowing that you have successfully installed them would be very encouraging.
I've actually seen your ride quite a few times, parked in MLCP. My humble Punto used to be parked somewhere around as well admiring your red rocket.

[johy]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Thanks for reading! I'll be back with another update very soon - the photoshoot out on the open roads.

Hi KarthikK, I know this is a someone old post by you, but can you comment if these badges/emblems from Ebay UK will fiat a regular Linea T-Jet?

Appreciate your reply.