Thread Starter
#1
Background
Cars, Cars, Cars, have been my ultimate passion, ever since I knew cars, my favorite toys were cars, and the best one I have is a Porsche 911 replica remote controlled, I got as a gift from US, in 1981. My Dad, a mechanical engineer, himself, was also passionate about cars,engines, suspensions, often he would explain all these for long periods of time, but we could not afford one, until the last years of his service in a central government employment as General manager.
Time flew, so did my passion for cars too, got glued to the technically most advanced sport on the planet, Formula 1, my idol, model, Michael Schumacher, Ferrari. This opened up so much more information to cars at time when there was no "google.com" no internet. Learnt and knew things like aerodynamics, exhaust systems, braking systems, wish bone suspensions, tyres, carbon fibre, whew...!
Most important to learn, driving, handling straight lines, handling curves, all in all, controlled safe fast driving.
Our first car 1994
Dad's first car and my first fling with The Car, was a used Maruti Omni red in 1994. A 1987 model, flat top omni. At a time, when the only cars available in India were Premier Padmini, Ambassadors, Marutis, this was indeed a premium, a time when just owning a car was premium, be it any. With this started, my tryst with cars, the drive, the suspension, their torque, the music of the engines, the Bhp, what not, with Dad educating me on so many things. So I started driving in 1994. Our car, being a used car, the visit to the local repair shop was often too, I would spend hours at the shop, knowing and learning from the mechanics, about our car, about other cars, different problems, different solutions etc.
>> Fast forward to 2004
Dad had passed away in a scooter accident in 2002, I landed my first job in 2004, and the very first thing that came to my mind was to change the Omni to a better car, A new car. With not too many choices for a small car, Pooling in almost everything, I had,( I didn’t have much), with lots of help from Mom and a loan from Icici Bank, got my first car.
The standard Maruti Alto,
No Ac,
No Power steering,
No Power windows,
Just a plain car, but an awesome car. It had/has a lot of torque for a small car. great steering since it is direct, hard suspension. Have had, some of my best long journeys with this car, and almost every time, have left, most enthusiast bigger car drivers to see my rear bumper. Ikons, Mondeo’s, Astra’s, Innova’s, etc.
The big advantage of my alto, was/is, it is fitted with a K&N performance filter, giving that extra punch, Aura alloys, which made the handling much better, but the biggest advantage is, it is a small car, and it can push through traffic, where bigger cars cant. Of course on a straight line, dash, the bigger cars would easily, lunge ahead, but where do you have straight, open roads in India without traffic congestion, there is traffic and traffic, within very short distances. That was where the Alto would pull and clearly get ahead. Had a thoroughly enjoyable time leaving so many bigger cars behind.
>> Fast forward to 2010
The trusted Alto, was doing great, but with new cars in the market, the beautiful stance of newer cars, the missing features on the alto, the what not, was attracting me and playing with my mind, after all the Alto was 6 years old with 65K kms on the Odo. Discussed with family and finally decided to change the car, looked at several cars,
New Honda city, - petrol, expensive
Hyundai i20 (D), - Good, great torque and turbo rush, but boat feel, very light steering, 3months waiting period
Fiat Punto (D), - Good, It was a Fiat, from the makers of Ferrari, Alfo Romeo, Maserati, great suspension, great handling, good torque coming from a petrol Alto
Fiat Linea (D), - All the above of the punto, under powered
Swift (D). - SIX MONTHS waiting, No- way, and TOO MANY SWIFTS on the ROAD
After 4 months of search and research and team fiat.in finally decided it should be the Fiat Punto 90 Hp, was simply bowled over by the looks, the stability, the robustness, the handling, the ride. The level of gadgetry, wow. Got the beauty in December 2010, registered in 2011, It was kind of a dream come true car. As this was going to replace my two wheeler, the beautiful and powerful, Yamaha R15, we decided to keep our trusted Alto, too, as this would be used by my sister.
The Fiat Punto 90 Hp, gave me kilometers and kilometers of driving satisfaction, 54000 Kms in 2 ½ years. People would ask me, you have paid so much to get a Fiat, I would tell myself, what do you know, what a Fiat is, the super well built body, body control, suspension, and handling - corner the Fiat on a 90 degree to 100 degree corner at 120 kmph, then you would know, what a Fiat is. Great car, great dynamics, good driver seating, very very good steering, very good to hold with the palm rests, great steering mounted controls with Blue me, nice to show off the speech recognition, voice controls, with the Blue me lady guiding me, voice enabled calling.
Just wow.
But... the car lacked outright performance, it took time to spool the turbo, took time to build the torque, the car would come to its own after 80-90 kmph,(2500 rpm) that is when the torque was at its peak on 5th gear, but where in India you can reach 80-90 consistently every time, we have our traffic. thought of tuning boxes, but the thought of the engine life scared me off.
The result --- me who had been used to show my rear to others, had to get used to seeing the rear of others. By the time, turbo spooled and car opened up, my competition mainly the i20 crdi and sx4 diesel would be long gone, but the other cars including the swift were manageable, the punto would keep them at bay. But this was getting to me. I thought probably, I am growing old @ 36 years.
Fiat service and Road side assistance.
I have to mention here the Fiat RSA is great, just a call and they reach you, within an hour.The service at Fiat service centers is not as bad as I had heard on forums, but still have a lot to improve, leaves the customer a little bit disappointed, when you have to leave the car, more than once for resolution of the same problem. But livable problem. But then why do you have to live with a problem, when you can avoid it.
Cars, Cars, Cars, have been my ultimate passion, ever since I knew cars, my favorite toys were cars, and the best one I have is a Porsche 911 replica remote controlled, I got as a gift from US, in 1981. My Dad, a mechanical engineer, himself, was also passionate about cars,engines, suspensions, often he would explain all these for long periods of time, but we could not afford one, until the last years of his service in a central government employment as General manager.
Time flew, so did my passion for cars too, got glued to the technically most advanced sport on the planet, Formula 1, my idol, model, Michael Schumacher, Ferrari. This opened up so much more information to cars at time when there was no "google.com" no internet. Learnt and knew things like aerodynamics, exhaust systems, braking systems, wish bone suspensions, tyres, carbon fibre, whew...!
Most important to learn, driving, handling straight lines, handling curves, all in all, controlled safe fast driving.
Our first car 1994
Dad's first car and my first fling with The Car, was a used Maruti Omni red in 1994. A 1987 model, flat top omni. At a time, when the only cars available in India were Premier Padmini, Ambassadors, Marutis, this was indeed a premium, a time when just owning a car was premium, be it any. With this started, my tryst with cars, the drive, the suspension, their torque, the music of the engines, the Bhp, what not, with Dad educating me on so many things. So I started driving in 1994. Our car, being a used car, the visit to the local repair shop was often too, I would spend hours at the shop, knowing and learning from the mechanics, about our car, about other cars, different problems, different solutions etc.
>> Fast forward to 2004
Dad had passed away in a scooter accident in 2002, I landed my first job in 2004, and the very first thing that came to my mind was to change the Omni to a better car, A new car. With not too many choices for a small car, Pooling in almost everything, I had,( I didn’t have much), with lots of help from Mom and a loan from Icici Bank, got my first car.
The standard Maruti Alto,
No Ac,
No Power steering,
No Power windows,
Just a plain car, but an awesome car. It had/has a lot of torque for a small car. great steering since it is direct, hard suspension. Have had, some of my best long journeys with this car, and almost every time, have left, most enthusiast bigger car drivers to see my rear bumper. Ikons, Mondeo’s, Astra’s, Innova’s, etc.
The big advantage of my alto, was/is, it is fitted with a K&N performance filter, giving that extra punch, Aura alloys, which made the handling much better, but the biggest advantage is, it is a small car, and it can push through traffic, where bigger cars cant. Of course on a straight line, dash, the bigger cars would easily, lunge ahead, but where do you have straight, open roads in India without traffic congestion, there is traffic and traffic, within very short distances. That was where the Alto would pull and clearly get ahead. Had a thoroughly enjoyable time leaving so many bigger cars behind.
>> Fast forward to 2010
The trusted Alto, was doing great, but with new cars in the market, the beautiful stance of newer cars, the missing features on the alto, the what not, was attracting me and playing with my mind, after all the Alto was 6 years old with 65K kms on the Odo. Discussed with family and finally decided to change the car, looked at several cars,
New Honda city, - petrol, expensive
Hyundai i20 (D), - Good, great torque and turbo rush, but boat feel, very light steering, 3months waiting period
Fiat Punto (D), - Good, It was a Fiat, from the makers of Ferrari, Alfo Romeo, Maserati, great suspension, great handling, good torque coming from a petrol Alto
Fiat Linea (D), - All the above of the punto, under powered
Swift (D). - SIX MONTHS waiting, No- way, and TOO MANY SWIFTS on the ROAD
After 4 months of search and research and team fiat.in finally decided it should be the Fiat Punto 90 Hp, was simply bowled over by the looks, the stability, the robustness, the handling, the ride. The level of gadgetry, wow. Got the beauty in December 2010, registered in 2011, It was kind of a dream come true car. As this was going to replace my two wheeler, the beautiful and powerful, Yamaha R15, we decided to keep our trusted Alto, too, as this would be used by my sister.
The Fiat Punto 90 Hp, gave me kilometers and kilometers of driving satisfaction, 54000 Kms in 2 ½ years. People would ask me, you have paid so much to get a Fiat, I would tell myself, what do you know, what a Fiat is, the super well built body, body control, suspension, and handling - corner the Fiat on a 90 degree to 100 degree corner at 120 kmph, then you would know, what a Fiat is. Great car, great dynamics, good driver seating, very very good steering, very good to hold with the palm rests, great steering mounted controls with Blue me, nice to show off the speech recognition, voice controls, with the Blue me lady guiding me, voice enabled calling.
Just wow.
But... the car lacked outright performance, it took time to spool the turbo, took time to build the torque, the car would come to its own after 80-90 kmph,(2500 rpm) that is when the torque was at its peak on 5th gear, but where in India you can reach 80-90 consistently every time, we have our traffic. thought of tuning boxes, but the thought of the engine life scared me off.
The result --- me who had been used to show my rear to others, had to get used to seeing the rear of others. By the time, turbo spooled and car opened up, my competition mainly the i20 crdi and sx4 diesel would be long gone, but the other cars including the swift were manageable, the punto would keep them at bay. But this was getting to me. I thought probably, I am growing old @ 36 years.
Fiat service and Road side assistance.
I have to mention here the Fiat RSA is great, just a call and they reach you, within an hour.The service at Fiat service centers is not as bad as I had heard on forums, but still have a lot to improve, leaves the customer a little bit disappointed, when you have to leave the car, more than once for resolution of the same problem. But livable problem. But then why do you have to live with a problem, when you can avoid it.
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