My First Car "The Rally Alto"

[shonty]

Well it all started back in 2007 when i got the family's old car, an 05 Alto Lxi done 40k kms. The car's body was in good shape, just some minor scratches & dents. Only the front right quarter panel & A pillar was uneven due to some small accident damage. Also the clutch, tyres & suspension had worn out. Now this is a very peppy car & i love the way it breezes through city traffic. Fuel efficiency is also amazing as its just a 0.8 L engine. Got the clutch & suspension changed. drove it stock for a few months. It was my first car so i got deeply involved in exploring the possibilities & modifications i could do to it. I am a fond of rally cars & their solid ability to handle abuse. I love exploring the outdoors & touring. Did some R&D over the internet & made a little list in my mind. Only thing that troubled me was "it was getting bullied by larger cars on the road"
Some pics of the car when i got it:


Blackened the door pillars & got new local wheels caps


I noted on some cars that upsized tyres add to the muscular profile of the car. So my first priority were bigger tyres & alloys becoz the stock tyres were already bald & were getting punctured frequently. Started searching the market for genuine stuff that would last & also stay in my budget of 20k. Alloys had to be NEO as i didnt wanted to risk any breakage due to abuse that i will drive it through. Tyres, i wanted bridgestone but due to budget i had to stick to goodyear. A certain type of alloy on the NEO website caught my eye "13inch rally" it had to be an upsize so i finalized the tyres 165/65-13 goodyear GT3. I got the alloys for 11k & tyres for 10k, both set of 4. Got the suspensions stiffened 1inch to avoid body scrapping on bumps.



The car suddenly responded the way is wished after the upsize. Handling & traction improved drastically. Also didnt hit the fuel economy as vastly as i expected
Got some ICE & accessories done the next day:
* Vxi type internally adjustable ORVMs
* Fake roof scoof
* Door visors
* Type 2 clear lens tail lights
* Xenos front power windows
* some Scorpio brand central locking with window auto-up
* Red seat covers to match the colour
* Philips rally 100/90 bulbs
* Garware international 70%
* Pioneer DEH-2150UB
* Sony Xplod 6x9 speakers
* Sony 4 channel amp
* JBL 1000w basstube


Finally, i had the car personalized to my needs & enjoyed every moment of driving her. She proved reliable & handled all those (minor) uneven roads & scorched the city roads with all that lil bling bling added
Next step, some performance mods!! Watch this space

 

[cooldhaya]

Hey that is one cool and sporty looking Alto. Tastefully done , not overdone anywhere!

 

[sriharsha]

great looking car buddy. akash hope you are seeing this.

 

[shonty]

This is what she used to be in 2009. I do agree that i overdid it this year.
And to everyone here, just for the info, when i mean "Rally" i dont mean rally prepped mechanically for real rally racing. I just mean the slight rally type touch to it & that added muscle for giving it a butch look instead of the gud ol' traditional family car.

 

[shonty]

(un)successful performance mods

After driving her for a few months I got the idea of a FFE & K&N replacement filter for some performance increase. Now these type of things are surely hard to source in Indore, but got a K&N replacement filter through a friend who had a friend dealing in this stuff. Also got a RPM gauge, GT wing spoiler & stainless steel free flow end can from him. He refused to do a full FFE job & further to my problems, i could not get it done anywhere in indore, so had to stick to the dual end can just for that nice needed roar







But in the end of it all, simply loved the ownership of my first car. Did a lot of exploration & trekking with her in the woods & around Indore after all the work was done. Had an amazing time with her. The best days of my life. She proved her rugged personality everytime i put her to the test, pushing her to the limit. To be honest got front alloy bent once, the whole steering rod & suspension arms took severe hits. Later changed them all & no more off-roading now. She is still laying in my garage shining at me

 

[jalex]

I really dont know what's wrong with people these days,First we had an "Abarth Punto". Now there is a "Rally Alto". This is so deceiving. What are you all trying to do grab attention? Well let me tell you its doing it definitely but not in the way you think. Mods please rename the thread to "Accessorised Alto'' and save people some trouble.

This is what she used to be in 2009. I do agree that i overdid it this year.
And to everyone here, just for the info, when i mean "Rally" i dont mean rally prepped mechanically for real rally racing. I just mean the slight rally type touch to it & that added muscle for giving it a butch look instead of the gud ol' traditional family car.

If that is the case you should not have named the thread 'the Rally Alto' in the first place.

 

[ilango[speed thirst]]

Hey shonty , i hope you had a spoiler too !

 

[sriharsha]

IMO nothing looks overdone in the pics above.
or were you trying to tell that the car was overdone after these pics were taken? in that case, please put up the pics of the so called 'overdone car'. lets see how it looks. :-)

 

[shonty]

I really dont know what's wrong with people these days,First we had an "Abarth Punto". Now there is a "Rally Alto". This is so deceiving. What are you all trying to do grab attention? Well let me tell you its doing it definitely but not in the way you think. Mods please rename the thread to "Accessorized Alto'' and save people some trouble.




If that is the case you should not have named the thread 'the Rally Alto' in the first place.

Dude, i knw how u feel. But i tried to themed it as a rally car. Thats what i call it brother

 

[RSM]

shonty your car really looks sporty to me. Excellent allloy and tyres.

 

[shonty]

Face lift & Rally lights

I wanted to add skirts to it but i knew it would reduce the ground clearance & may break by any severe hits so i decided to just change the front bumper & headlights to new alto clear type. Got it all done & the car looked so refreshed. Also added indicators on ORVMs, underglow LEDs, radiator LEDs, new front fog lamps & a sports steering wheel. I always wanted those 4 molded rally lights on the hood. Now i knew these were available in the market & had seen them on a lot of SUVs. Now i wanted to fit them on the hood but the dealer said it wont fit without modifying the hood heavily as they will focus down. So i had to agree to fit them on the roof




Well, to be honest the light & throw are brilliant. There are 6 halogens, 4 focus the road & 2 focus the sides. They lightup EVERYTHING on the road. Driving on the highway at 12am is a dream Only problem is that they blind oncoming traffic so i dont light them in city.

 

[AMG]

Hey,
great mods.

Did anything underneath the car?
I mean any suspension mods?
Harder springs?
Strut braces?
Anti roll bar?

 

[shonty]

Thanx

Hey,
great mods.

Did anything underneath the car?
I mean any suspension mods?
Harder springs?
Strut braces?
Anti roll bar?

I could not source springs & braces in indore for the alto
But stiffened the suspension by adding 1 inch spacers.

 

[jalex]

Dude, i knw how u feel. But i tried to themed it as a rally car. Thats what i call it brother

Well, I was a little pissed off with another member in here for naming his thread inappropriately and felt a little cross when I saw your car's pics and learnt that it is not an actual rally or race car. I felt the same thing repeating again.
I used to be in the motorsport scene starting from 1996-2004. And I miss those days. I really want to see more people and talent coming in. But all I see is rice-boys.
So it sort of disappoints me.
Anyways your car looks nice (minus the roof lights and spoiler,If it was me I would have gone for Hellas and that too around the bumper area).
I would have to also say that the exhaust mod was useless, right?
You should have tried someone at Delhi or Mumbai,they could have made and sent it to you by parcel.

 

[AMG]

Smoke the headlamps for a more complete look.