[Gaboonviper04]

Originally Posted by ROG_AK

Good to see another RS review, even after the car is discontinued! It's a great car overall, mine is close to 50k now with no major issues (touch wood). I did do a remap and a couple of other upgrades. I've grown quite attached to it now and will keep it till it lasts

It is strange that your glove box does not have a light. Mine does

Hey, thanks for reading! I'd love to hear more about your remap, what exactly did you do, and what are the performance figures you managed to squeeze out? And if you got this done in Bangalore, please share details of the place so that I can go check it out. Thanks! (Or please share a link if you've already posted about it)
And about the glove box lights, I messed up. Good catch, I meant to say that it comes with lights but no cooling. I only realized later, and I thought it's a minor detail and to let it go.

[ROG_AK]

Originally Posted by Gaboonviper04

Hey, thanks for reading! I'd love to hear more about your remap, what exactly did you do, and what are the performance figures you managed to squeeze out? And if you got this done in Bangalore, please share details of the place so that I can go check it out.

I got it done at a place called BelleVue Performance (located opposite the BWM showroom in Lavelle Road). The tune is actually from ATM Chiptuning. The process is pretty straightforward:

1) Your current ECU map will get downloaded
2) It is sent to ATM for modification
3) Modified map gets flashed to ECU

Power figures are 120hp and 190Nm.

[Gaboonviper04]

Originally Posted by ROG_AK

I got it done at a place called BelleVue Performance (located opposite the BWM showroom in Lavelle Road).
...
Power figures are 120hp and 190Nm.

Oh wow, thanks for sharing that information; being totally new to this space, I really appreciate the help.
101-120bhp and 150-190Nm sounds super exciting, and that's a fifth of a jump in power! Much more than I was expecting. I'm going to try and meet them this weekend, and will update the thread on the other side.
Thanks again.

Karthik

[Gaboonviper04]

It was time for a bit of basic TLC ..

The Karcher K4 does a remarkable job (no association with the brand)!




This is just the 3M shampoo with the foam lance. Any better shampoo to be used with a lance once I finish my 3M one?



Post wash:


Post waxing:

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by Gaboonviper04

]

This is just the 3M shampoo with the foam lance. Any better shampoo to be used with a lance once I finish my 3M one?

Which foam lance do you use? I have MJJC one(even Wavex one is good). You can use Meguiar's Hyper Wash/Turtle Wax ICE Snow Foam/MEGUIAR'S Ultimate Car Snow Foam/Chemical Guy's Mr Pink. These are one of the best shampoos for thick suds.

Some videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0plgm3tqcfQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJrSygI3BdM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rrw-ib94A8c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8tV2RHeWoo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo1lXjegEJA

In my experience, Megs Ultimate Car snow shampoo gives the densest foam, followed by Chemical Guys Mr. Pink(available in India via Petes Automotive). Although you can get thicker foam from 3M also, provided you increase the concentration a bit.

Happy Shopping.

Regards,
Shashi

[Gaboonviper04]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

Which foam lance do you use?
...
In my experience, Megs Ultimate Car snow shampoo gives the densest foam, followed by Chemical Guys Mr. Pink(available in India via Petes Automotive).

Regards,
Shashi

Hi Shashi, thanks for those suggestions and for the videos. I'm using Karcher's own foam lance (FJ-6), and with these other products, I think it should be much better. You're right, even 3M can be thicker when I increase the concentration.
In fact, I've been looking for Chemical Guys' stuff for a while now but they're not easy to get hold of. Didn't know about Pete's and will check them out right now.

Thanks again,
Karthik

[Gaboonviper04]

Update:

The RS went through its third year service- no issues to report other than some minor scratch removal job that needed to be done on the front bumper (those happened while the car was parked in town and we were away, so no idea how). Nexa did a great job, I can't even tell that there were any scratches at all.
Prior to the service, I had got wheel alignment/balancing done at a nearby highly-rated place, and the steering vibrations that occurred around the ~115 kmph mark disappeared. It was a relief to not have these vibrations and for the first time ever! To the best of our recollection, the car always behaved like that past those speeds, ever since it was new. And getting balancing done at Nexa last year hadn't fixed the issue. Thanks to SS80's suggestion to go to an FNG, I can report happily that the vibrations are gone, and the car's fully stable even though the steering is a bit light past a certain speed. The alignment was within spec, but the balancing was off.

Originally Posted by SS80

Although in general terms, Baleno is a light car, the issue with steering that you explained, sounds more to do with wheel balancing, alignment and improper tyre pressure (over inflated). Try to get these done at a manual wheel alignment place and you should see a difference.

A more exciting update: Before the service, I got the ECU remapped and the performance figures that Bellevue quoted were similar to what ROG_AK mentioned. Folks there were helpful although it took them a good amount of time fiddling with connector cables before they managed to talk to the ECU. Once that was sorted, it was pretty quick to download the original map and then upload the new one. Thanks ROG_AK for your inputs!

It's been more than a month since we got this done and I wanted to drive the car for a while before writing about it. Now, I can't really tell the difference in terms of outright performance as the overall capability of the 3-cylinder is rather limited (or I'm stupid), but one thing for sure is that the throttle feels a bit more sensitive, and the response feels more linear, smoother and predictable. The car intrinsically felt smoother when compared to before. That difference alone makes it worth for me, although I wish it was a little more palpable. We also swapped out the air filter for a K&N one.

Originally Posted by ROG_AK

I got it done at a place called BelleVue Performance (located opposite the BWM showroom in Lavelle Road). The tune is actually from ATM Chiptuning. The process is pretty straightforward.
Power figures are 120hp and 190Nm.

[SS80]

Happy that its sorted. Please do share pics of before and after scratch removal job. Also how much did they charge for the same.

[Gaboonviper04]

It cost 2,000/- for the whole job. I'm tempted to say 2,000 only! They needed to work on about a third of the bumper area to be able to match the colour perfectly. Here we go:

Attachment 2210160

Originally Posted by SS80

Happy that its sorted. Please do share pics of before and after scratch removal job. Also how much did they charge for the same.

[ROG_AK]

Originally Posted by Gaboonviper04

Update:
It's been more than a month since we got this done and I wanted to drive the car for a while before writing about it. Now, I can't really tell the difference in terms of outright performance...

I guess it is simply a case of getting used to it. The overall change in engine character makes the car that much more enjoyable to drive. Would recommend trying XP 95 from Indian Oil, slightly better throttle response and the engine feels noticeably smoother. Still testing out mileage figures.