15 days & 1500 km
Putting the car to work makes us grow fonder of it.
During the last week the car has completed its first long trip and has been put to the test of sorts especially with its luggage carrying capacity. That is 3 large bags, a trunk a couple of gym bags and a few cartons were loaded into the car. The 750 km long trip was done in two days with an overnight stop.
With all the luggage loaded, the car showed signs of a controlled squat. The suspension however, never bottomed out during the entire trip through the northern country roads leading up to the Shivalik foothills. A trip that was thoroughly enjoyed by the occupants. Some thoughts on the vehicle are compiled below:
Engine:
-It runs hot. It is always on 3 bars on the temp. gauge. The 5th one is red.
-Good FE (18kmpl) till 2 bars on the temp. gauge and it drops on the 3rd bar (16 kmpl), then stabilizes.
-Takes about 2 hours to get to 3 bars.
Gearbox:
-Whine on downhill drives while using engine braking.
-Transmission noise when lugging in 6th gear and accelerating from below 60 km/h. Discovered while resuming cruise control.
Steering:
-A touch on the heavy side for the city
-Weighted feel on the highway
-Good feedback from the road
-Return to center is well sorted
-Minor vibes felt on the steering till about 25 km/h which vanish after that mark.
Eco mode:
-Pedal has to be floored till 90 km/h, after that the response becomes normal
-Sluggish overtaking on single lane highways when loaded
-Sluggish ascent on slopes.
AC:
-Excellent cooling.
-Heater when used with defogger directs heat to the windshield and the feet and not at the face (which maker one feel drowsy quickly).
Headlamps:
-Low beam throw is not sufficient nor is it of acceptable brightness.
-Follow me home can be activated by pulling the stalk once in some way before leaving the car. Or, from the key fob.
-Needs to be driven on high beam even on pitch dark streets for confidence sake.
Suspension:
-No bottoming-out with a fully loaded car with luggage.
-No noises from the suspension components either.
-Sharp bumps and expansion joints are audible but mostly because of the tyre noise rather than the suspension components.
-No rattles and squeaks yet.
Fuel Efficiency:
-15.4 km/l over 940 km 80% highway (a mix of Eco+ City)
-600 km range achievable on the highway.
-Reserve light + sound alert comes on when 100 km of range is left.
Audio Head Unit:
-Running on Software Version: R7.20 (Release Date - 14 December 2019)
-Listening to music is surprisingly enjoyable. You get to hear a few notes and instruments you never paid attention to before.
-The HU pairs with only one phone at a time.
-Android Auto (AA) experience has been really poor (though the phone connected did not have the AA app installed, but I doubt if that was the reason). 2-3 second lag in the the screen inputs. Location on screen hangs if the cell reception is lost (for instance when receiving a call) and requires re-connection. Un-intended detection of “Ok Google” from the conversation among passengers also happened a few times.
iRA:
-Setting a trip destination on iRA is of no use as the HU has no way of displaying the navigation route set on iRA on its screen.
-iRA doesn’t have an AA compatible app and hence cannot be mirrored on the HU’s screen.
-Trip statistics do not show FE achieved for the trip.
-As suspected, the mud-flaps are not sufficiently wide enough to stop the dirt being flung onto the rear quarter panels by the front wheels. Should think of getting some PPF coating on that area.
-Wiper jets provide a nice spray for the front. Coverage by the arms is good. Operation of the wipers is relatively quiet. The rear wiper jet is mounted on the arm itself and lets out a weak trickle.
-Seats are comfortable and hold you snugly. Good support from the seats negates the unsettling effect of body roll to an extent.
-Auto Lock @ >10kmph. Auto Un-lock when engine is turned off.
-Fuel filler door is operated manually by a lever on the floor. The only thing present on the floor.
-Carpet does not have tabs for securing the driver floor mat. The 3D mats eat up the space available in the foot well - you scrape the dead pedal during clutch actuation.
-Floor mats bought from the aftermarket supplier fit well with the Velcro at the bottom. however the raised edges need something similar to keep them in place neatly.
-Front passenger can clearly view the LCD on the instrument cluster. No issues with viewing angle. No issues of the display becoming dull in bright sunlight too as it is well placed in the binnacle.
-My brother felt that the armrest padding should have been better.
-USB and aux port placement is such that a dedicated cable kept connected at all times suits better.
-The sunroof is nice to have in the winters to fill the cabin with some light. Takes the gloom out of the cabin.
An
unusual occurrence: You need to unlock the car and then open the boot by pressing the request sensor. If you are in the proximity of the boot when the car is locked and press the request sensor, the alarm goes off. Other option is to open the boot via the key fob. Am I missing something here?
Received an SMS for
TCM update clearly mentioning the VIN of the car. What could it be? T=Transmission? Turbo?