thanks folks! @djmykey: we should meet either at the CCD in TAIN square fatimanagar (next to HDFC) or the Costa Coffee opposite my office (perhaps next weekend?) next to the IBM building then you can check out the car. Get your ipod if you want to see the USB input/playback in action - I have a pen drive attached at the moment - but its nothing fancy really. superczar's also expecting a treat so he and any other pune folks are welcome too!
Back to the report:
Went out for a quick spin early this morning (730am) when there's little traffic. From the KROME mall on Sholapur Rd. to the Empress Garden road (War Memorial) on to the bridge approaching Taj Blue Diamond then on to cross Yerwada bridge for a short stretch of Nagar Rd (where I touched 80 kmph on the way out and 100 on the way back) then turning into Kalyani Nagar past Mariplex/GoldAdLabs finally taking a U-turn at the end of the Kalyani bridge and all the way back.
Since I don't have too many other cars to compare against except a Palio the ride is very poised. Can't say about handling really coz I was mostly driving in straight lines. Short sweeping turns at mid/low speed causes very little roll. Steering feedback is great (lets you feel unevenness/levelling/slope on the roads) yet does not vibrate on rough roads. Ride is quite smooth and the car is composed (passengers comfortable) at low and high speeds on bad roads.
Suspension/wheels make a dull thudding sound if you go quickly over bumps or small potholes but I like the audible feedback which alerts/reminds me to slow down. Dealer said tyre pressure was set to 30 psi but I have to check it out myself - probably next weekend when I top up and start recording actual mileage.
The music system has a "SVC" speed sensitive volume control option set to MID by default. I set it to HIGH and got good response from it at higher speed when the tyre/road/engine noise is up.
Once again (like during the test drive) faced trouble with the short-spaced gears when trying to quickly shift up from 2nd to 3rd but ended up missing 3rd and going to 5th. So I need to change carefully (pause momentarily in neutral) or just get a hang of the thing. Other gear changes in any direction is excellent.
Handbrake touches my leg near the knee as I like to rest legs on either side for support and that might be a problem for long drives. Steering is decent but after a couple of hours of driving my hands got a little sore so some thicker wrapping seems like a good idea for long trips.
Aircon is very nice - just left it on "auto" (climate control) and set to 25 degrees C for cooling or 22 for chilling effect. Min is 20 or 18 I think.
Speeds/revs (approx) during the drive:
3rd gear - 2000 rpm - 45 kmph
4th gear - 2000 rpm - 60 kmph
5th gear - 2000 rpm - 80 kmph
5th gear - 2500 rpm - 100 kmph!
I didn't rev beyond 3000 rpm (touched top speed 100 kmph today) and mostly hovered around 2000. Can't wait for 1000 km break-in to be done with so I can start pushing beyond 4000 rpm and jabbing the throttle a little more urgently
Stopped by Nucleus Mall along the way back and picked up some KFC and a Sony Cybershot DSC-WX1 digicam so expect some pics and HD video later tonight!
