ODO 36k Kms. Long term overall Update.
1> The Blue boy carried us on a 700km, 2 day trip to nearby place. We were 2 people with minimal luggage. I did most of the driving.
2> The key now works well after battery replacement. Range is improved and car can be unlocked from inside the house.
3> The More I understand this engine, the better it feels. The Small engine needs to be gunned till 4k RPM to get some decent performance. Also, I have changed my gearing a bit towards the aggressive side. I now do 80 in 3rd, 100 in 4th and 140 in 5th. The buzz of engine is loud but i'd just call i music
. The FE has seen a drop due to the above, as the FE of this trip was about 14 KMPL.
One thing to be proud is that this engine (Paired with Advanced Driver) has the
capacity to beat vehicles with twice or so of its power. We were able to beat an energetically driven Chevy Cruze which is 150 HP. We could see the whiff of black smoke from exhaust (as when a diesel is being driven pedal to the metal).
4> The Roads throuout the trip were some of the worst. We are talking October and the roads are still not packed up. The Roads near Aurangabad gave me an
Impression of Apollo Moon landing. Craters were huge and they were everywhere! Wish I had a moon buggy rather than i10 that time!.
Some potholes were so huge that even trucks were going to opposite lane to avoid them or had to swerve around them. Somehow i10 always sees worse roads than my larger vehicles.
On the brighter side, Less width of i10 allows me to bypass some potholes, which would'nt have been possible in SUV/ Jeep.
5> FE on recent 3 trips has been hovering near 14~ 16 KMPL. Its all a mix of my energetic driving, Potholes and traffic!
6> A Honda city slowly hit the Navigator side mirror in city traffic (He was creeping up). No visual damage or scratches seen. Mirror simply folded itself. Gave him a smile and moved on.
7> Recent trip was about 5 hours of Night driving and i got time to appreciate all the front lighting in my car.
First, the Cree 30w LED headlight bulbs. Nothing but praises. The beam pattern is correct. No glare. High beam adds distance and height to the beam as it should. There were no signs of overheating or fading even after continuous 3+ Hours use.
I was able to compare my LED headlights to a BMW x5 with full LED headlights. We were driving parallel for quite a sometime. I observed beam patterns on road as well as on rears of other vehicles. I would say. Not bad! The Brightness was about the same. BMW had slightly better cutoffs (Projector, so naturally). Actually, I would've been angry if we switched vehicles. Why is BMW asking so much money for something that can be competed with 5k worth of LED upgrade?
Halogen High beam assists- Punchy, Great distance. Total Thumbs up!
My lamps are better than BMW when I turn these babies on!
8> The yokohomas made it through quite a something. Potholes at high speeds. Driving at 50kmph on broken surfaces. Unmarked speedbreakers. Panic braking due to bikers cutting in. Everything.
These are great tyres. They lost 1 PSI each after 700km of abuse. I carry my inflator all times and can get em back under regular pressures in a few minutes.
9> I am not satisfied with the Brightness of my DRLs anymore(Yes I am comparing to the BMW driving near/Around me). My hands are itching. Perhaps something will come up. I am thinking to go for smaller, more brighter DRLs this time. I do not want them to circle entire headlight bezels. A sharp, Punchy setup (Less area= More brightness per sq.mm with same wattage) is on my mind. Thinking high power LEDs from Cree or even COB ones from Ebay.