Is anyone a member of team-bhp?? What car to buy?

[santhosh]

Hi Santhol
You say your Esteem engine goes to 9500 RPM. The stock engine goes to 6500.
Have you strength ed the engine parts to take the additional load or its in stock condition
Can this RD ecu used to actually detune a engine? Sometimes bigger engines with loads of power is of no use when you are driving in congested conditions. As you say the RD ecu can be mapped as ones wants, it can be configured to give better efficiency when driving in busy city roads

Stock Esteem MPFI Engine is capable of much more than 6500 RPM but it is restricted by the factory to not go beyond the set limit. This is via a rev limit set into the ECU. In my Esteem, I have made some modifications to the engine, exhaust, air intake and gearbox (close ratio gearing) which is why my Esteem is able to handle these RPMS. The RD ECU is a very important link in this chain as it allows(configuration) you to provide sufficient fuel at these high RPM. I only make modifications that can be easily reversed. Hence have not made any extreme modifications like forged pistons/con rods. The MPFI Esteem Engine is a naturally fast engine and benefits with even some simple modifications if done right.

Yes, RD ECU can be used to detune a vehicle and thus get more mileage also.

@ santhol thanks for the reply, I was about to bump my post as I thought you must've missed it.

From what i gather RaceDynamics is a more flexible mod then say a Petes. Also if one gets the RD can the same chip be installed in another car?
& Can the install happen in mumbai? Or car must be brought to banglore?
Cheers

Yes, Racedynamics is more flexible IMO. Pete's is only available for select cars while RD can be fitted on any MPFi car. There is another version which can be fitted on any CRDi car. Install can happen in Mumbai also. I think KSMotorsports is one of the dealer who can fit in Mumbai. Those who are in Bangalore have an added advantage as RD is based out of Bangalore.

 

[santhosh]

The old Octy anyday - hands down the best built car at 10 big ones.

+1 to that, they were built like a tank. My neighbours crashed at 130kmph with the entire family. While the car was partially damaged, none of the occupants were hurt.

Another car that comes to mind is the good old Opel Astra. We had the club version. Unfortunately spares became too much of a problem and we had to let go to make way for the Civic.

 

[reignofchaos]

Hmm..would you say the Octavia 1.9 Tdi is a good option then to get used? My understanding is that the Octavia requires a lot of ongoing work on it to keep up.

As a used car you are better off with a corolla than an octy. The former is way more reliable.

@santhol2: To be honest, I couldn't appreciate the build quality of the old astra. Even my jap econobox is built much better than the astra. A friend of mine who owns an astra agrees as well (dr bass on this forum).

 

[Vijay_s]

I have a website & hosting resting free over 2 year, named pasout.com. I could host forum in that where people can discuss on cars, let me know any takers. I could afford ops expenditure if somone could offer moderating it.

 

[rikhav]

Hi Santhosh
Is the RD ECU addon or we have to replace the stock ECU with it? Also what is the approx price?

Totally agree with ROC on the Octy. Its superbly built but little high on maintenance. So for a used car Corolla is better option as its more reliable and if i am not wrong spares are cheaper then Octavia. Most important point would be Corolla owners don't complain about the ASS taking them for a ride.

 

[neo]

+1 For the a used corolla it is def a sensible buy & easy to maintain.
But can you share some more info model year, mileage etc.

For a 10 lac car it depends on how you use & what to want form the car. I don't think there is a clear winner any more as the octy is getting old & might be discontinued.
Cheers

 

[thevortex]

Thanks guys for the comments. I took a test drive of a couple of used Corollas today thanks to Flanker's kind help. And I liked what I drove.

And I am seriously considering getting one of the Corollas. Lets see how it goes.

Forgot to mention - the two biggest criteria for me when I am looking for a car now are engine and parts life and ground clearance which will help ride on the non existent roads here in Chennai. On both these counts, the Corolla leaves so many of the other options far behind. At least that is my understanding.

What do people think?

 

[reignofchaos]

If you don't care about brand, drive a Mitsubishi Cedia. You might have to stretch your budget a lac or so to accomodate it but once you drive it, you'll totally forget the corolla :lol:. You'd get a much newer car to boot for the same money as cedias have very poor resale.

 

[thevortex]

If you don't care about brand, drive a Mitsubishi Cedia. You might have to stretch your budget a lac or so to accomodate it but once you drive it, you'll totally forget the corolla :lol:. You'd get a much newer car to boot for the same money as cedias have very poor resale.

Hmm...the budget is not one for stretching. At least not as of now. So, I guess the Cedia may not fit in. However I saw many Lancers 1.5 Glx's and 2.0 diesels selling for less than 3 lakhs. Some having just about 60,000 kms on them. I drove one and was very impressed with the engine. But would they last me another 4 years? Plus I thought the Lancer was also pretty low slung - a problem with the non existent roads and towering speed breakers around? Even though the suspension is not too soft...

 

[dinyaar]

You know while I accept that an Opel astra/vectra/skoda octy etc etc are well built they are not a patch on the Jap Honda/toyota when it comes to efficiency,resale,maintanence etc etc.
The worst car that I ever had was an Opel Corsa 1.6. It made the biggest hole in my pocket and I swore off the brand entirely.
For less than 4L the best used option I can think of is the Type 2 Honda city or if lucky a VTEC. Problem is the guys who have these cars know what its capable of and often misuse /modify these gems. I would avoid such cars but there are instances of old parsi owned (& self driven ) 2001/02 1.5 EXI selling for 3.4/3.5L and that is a deal IMO. Only problem is the ground clearance once laden but then the joy of the engine is too much and I can overlook that niggle. Its a hassle free car and one that i intend to keep till its a heap!!!! I dont recommend this but guys who are not car buffs have put 185/70 R 13 instead of the 175/70 R 13 that Honda provided and u can some more GC. Of course the option of going 14" is naturally there.
New around the 10L I guess a cedia but as ROC pointed out a ridiculous resale but if one is intending to keep the car for a while that becomes a non issue. An Octy is now too old a model to spend 12/13 L new IMO. I would take the civic any day any time at that price (as I did) as I preferred it to the Altis as a self driven car.
Rgds

 

[thevortex]

I actually drive an Opel Corsa now (the 1.4 version) and I have really had no problem with it at all. In fact it has been an exceedingly sturdy, zero maintenance vehicle for me for the last 4 years and some.

The only problem I face is one of ground clearance. Statistics wise its ground clearance is on the higher side, but when it is laden, its already plush and soft suspension (which in many ways is its strength) turns out to be the weakness. Which is why I am looking for a car with a somewhat stronger suspension and better ground clearance.

I am not able to find any City VTECs having run less than 1 lakh kilometres here in Chennai. Plus I did not really look at them seriously because of the ground clearance angle.

 

[goyal.sanchit]

@ Thevortex


The 1st 2 lines of your post look like you have just taken words from my mouth! :lol:


Even I have An Opel Corsa 1.4l version from past 3-4 years and it has be great! The only issue with it is the suspension, alignment and tyres.


When we had test driven the car we gave it a thumbs up becoz it had excellent suspension!! But just few months after we bought it the suspension went from bad to worse. Though more than the car I would blame it on the alloys.

Ouf friend had already warned us that DONT GET ALLOYS ON OPEL. He said you will face problems in future and the company will say "Its alloys" and the mechanic will say "Its opel!! "

We got the alloys. And from that day the alignment is always out leading to quick and uneven balding of tyres with frequent puncters and suspion is very poor.


Still I am much happy with the car!! We have a Honda city and the side mirrors are always broken and a little hit and the car is dented whereas there are no such issues with OPEL Corsa!!

 

[ravin]

The Bimmer is the best of the 3 choices.

The E90 model, N42 2.0 litre petrol engine + aftermarket 20" rims and low profile 40 series tires + Bilstein B8 or Koni is a kind of MAGNET for attracting beautiful girls :yahoo:

The Bimmers' n/a engines can really be pushed to the limit :licklips:

I still own my old E36 M43 1.8 litre and cannot part with it......it is fun to drive a BMW.

The Germans (or myself) would say bums mich wieder if you own a BMW, when it comes to repairs

 

[neo]

@Santhol2 Any idea on the pricing of RD for petrol & crdi engines?
@Vortex if you are looking at ride comfort & esp on rough road i don't think a honda city would serve your purpose.

Thanks
Cheers

 

[santhosh]

@Santhol2 Any idea on the pricing of RD for petrol & crdi engines?

I paid around 25k for the petrol version. There is another higher version which can manage a turbo-charged engine. IIRC, this was an additional 7k. I am not aware of current prices for both petrol and CRDI engines. Check out their website and contact them. If you need Karthik's number, PM me

 

[neo]

Thanks again. I've pmed you
I'm tempted to go the rd route. But i'm holding my self as my octy is about 3 1/2 yrs old , has done 75k kms & so might use for another year or 2 max . Also i'm note sure if the breaks on the octy are good enough to handle the power increase.
Cheers

 

[goyal.sanchit]

Well going by the current discussion in the topic this post might look an Off topic post!! :lol: :lol:



We got the delivery of BMW 320i on 18th but due to exams I couldnt post the pics earlier. So here are the pics-

Corona rings-

Alloy-

Interiors-

The Idrive-

Tail lights-

 

[reignofchaos]

Is BMW giving I-Drive on the 320i as well? Was that an option you chose or part of the standard package?

Great looking car btw. BMWs look best in white.

 

[goyal.sanchit]

Is BMW giving I-Drive on the 320i as well? Was that an option you chose or part of the standard package?

Great looking car btw. BMWs look best in white.

Thnx!


The BMW 3 series model was changed 9-10 months earlier and now the IDRIVE comes as part of the standard package. Infact the Idrive of new 3 series is more advanced than the idrive of 5 series.

The idrive of 5 series can play tv but not dvd whereas the idrive of 3 series can play both tv and dvd.


Though 5 series model would be changed this year and the sales rep was saying the cost would go up by aroun 25% !!!!!!

 

[neo]

Congrats sanchit! Nice pics. Enjoy the car.
Cheers