CARBON B4

I don't fully agreed that it has nothing to do with efficiency. Let me throw in a real life example, this is something I could not logically figure out. I used to have a 2003 1.3 Suzuki Jimny ( auto 4 WD ), this was always driven on the 2WD mode ( ie : RWD ) as there was no reason to have the 4WD engaged. The best fuel consumption I got from it was 6 Km/lt . I think most other members who have or had a Jimny could vouch for that. However a 1.3 Suzuki Liana ( Since I dont want to take a Toyota as comparision ) which is FWD will easily get 8 or 9 Km.Lt or even more. Both vehicles are almost the same weight, The Jimny has an additional diff but the Liana has 4 doors and longer, so its a trade off. There are other factors such as size and type of tyres , areodynamics, etc.. which may contribute to this , but my guess is its mainly due to the efficiency of a FWD set up.

Most of the Montero sport is purchased on the permit by govt officers. I think the new sport will do less on fuel as they are bringing down the auto version..

Thanks, let me try..

I have not said a FWD car is better than a RWD car, what I have tried to do is rationalize why majority of the cars are FWD. Although the weight is a factor this is not the only reason why the FWD is energy efficient, and a lot to do with the way the components are set up to obtain the best energy transfer from the engine to the wheels. What I mean by pushing is that the front engine has to transfer the energy all the way back to the rear wheels and these need to again push the front of the car which has the heavy engine. This issue will not apply in case of a RWD car where the engine is right on top of it, which is the case is most sports cars. What you have listed out are the advantages of a RWD, and I fully agree with each of them as a RWD is better in terms of handling, braking etc.....

You are right on the weight reduction, but my point is really on the transfer of energy. From the engine to the wheels, the shorter the distance the better it is.

The 307 is known to have a lot of electrical issues, but for Rs 2 Mn, you could get a really good 406 against a same condition Audit, which maybe more than 2 mil.

Basically what you are saying is that the D*alog SAT Nav is useless when you have google maps for free ? But for the GPS to work I need to hold the unit where there is open sky, and it finds it difficult to connect when inside a car. Is this normal ?

Oh... so this is the real issue, .... how could I have forgotten.

The move from the RWD to FWD is mainly due to carrying is better than pushing. In the RWD the rear wheels have to push the heavy engine which is in front Vs the FWD where the engine is right on top of the wheels. So the process is more energy efficient. Also the transfer of energy is better when the distance is shorter. On a different note I always find a RWD car more fun to drive, so if the Ford RS is marketed as a fun car to drive, they should have taken this in to considerations especially considering this will be driven by people who want to drive it hard in a fun way and not by a teenage girl just cos its got a line green color that may match her hand bag or shoes.......

Thank god this guy has stuck to one theme and painted all the " goday " mods in black,

Nicely mapped out route.... has anyone tried out the Dialog SAT Nav on the mobile phones ? I have a Samsung Anroid phone and they say it could be put on this phone but don't know if its as good as how they say.

Reckless driving ( Aparikshakari lessa dhawanaya ) .. is a court case but for speeding you can get a spot fine. Was at the Hulsdoff traffic courts yesterday, and the place is such a mess and so overcrowded with so many seat belt cases. Its shameful to see where our legal system has ended up.

Its a interesting question..... One argument against this is if when the car is moving both the a/c condenser and the radiator gets some natural cooling. Ans since this is not there the fans may have to work a little harder, but since the engine is on idle the rpm is under 1, which means its generating only small amount of power just to keep it without stalling. So we have a situ where the power is less, but the demand for power is more from the fans and blower. You could argue that car is intelligent enough to balance this by increasing the rpm when needed but I somewhow feel this is not good, as the ac fan is always switching on and off . But seriously why would anyone want to keep it running for 2 hours, you are just wasting the petrol and also polluting the environment. Btw you should not do this in a closed car park. I always try to take a calculated guess. If its a case where the wife has to go in to a cloths shop, best thing to do is to find a nice shaddy spot and switch off that engine..

Out of the first 3 issues you have mentioned the last two does not seem serious : When the wheels go over a large pot hole your tyres may change direction slightly, just like if you roll a single tyre it will change direction the moment it hits a small rock. Obviously since the steering is directly connected to the tyre, this too will move and it perfectly normal. On the 3rd point, since your car maintains a straight line on the high way the alignment appears ok . But the real issue maybe your steering wheel is not aligned. What I mean by this is that you would assume that the wheels are straight when you hold the steering straight, but actually the you steering wheel is a little out ( Maybe due to the impact ) . This is the reason that when you let go the steering it it corrects itself with the slight movement , but your car stays in the correct place. Wrt the nose, well any unusual noise should be checked up asap, as chances are if you ignore the problem may be much worse than when it initially started off. " Nip it in the bud " . Since this noise comes 4 to 5 time a second it could be some electrical issue, as I would assume you go over a pot hole at a very low speed.

The agency has changed hands a few times, this is what I found on the net. We used to have a Upali Fiat , it was a good car and its a shame they could not continue it. Anyway the dealership is in Union place large as life at the previous Ishara Traders building. FIAT first entered the local market in 1903 through Colonial Motors. In 1973, flamboyant entrepreneur Upali Wijewardene began assembling the FIAT till 1976. From then the agency was retained by Colonial Motors before Premier Automobiles took over in 1993 until 2005 when Euro Motors came along.

Sorry, I don't have a clue for anything around that area , but I can recommend a very good place in kotte.

33 psi is a little too much, there is a reason why the manufacturer has taken the troble to print the correct psi on the side of the door. Too much pressure is not very safe especially when going outstation. Well there is no oil called Suzuki oil ? also you don't need to use synthetic oil on this engine , so mineral oil is fine, a semi-synthetic would be better if you could afford it. But 10 to 11 Km/lt for a 1.3 Auto sounds very good ( City running ) , are you quite sure you were getting this ? The 8 Km/lt seems to the normal rate for this model. My neighbor had it and he was complaining on the fuel efficiency. The difference in fuel consumption is way too big for it to be due to ( oil, air filter, plugs ) , and such a thing cannot suddenly happen. Since you mention of a raw petrol smell chances are there could be a leak somewhere. Would be good if you give us an update on this ,

Nice driving , but doubt he could do all that in a FWD car.

Mr Sylvi, You seem to be getting up rather early..... The west will always look down on us Asians, this happens even in most multinational companies, but things are changing . If you see most boards of the big global corporates have Indians. Recently the Head of Deutsche Bank

Think both cars are from Thailand , Viso is the better option simply as its a Toyota and the second hand mkt loves a Toyota. Also much more Vios out there than the City, which means better availability of parts. I alos thing the Vios looks better compared to the City Aria .

For me the wheels on the Allion always seemed a little disproportionate to the size of the car. There is this other possibility that this car may have been actually lowered in Japan. Some of these guys do it as they dont have too many bumps, I have seen a few such modified Prius on our roads where the ground clearance is just a few inches. As mentioned by NEXUS if what you have is the std tyre and wheel ( 185/70R14 ) there is absolutely no point in trying to change the alloys or the tyres. Your problem is defintielly something else. Also at what speed do you take these bumps ?

Checked with UML, and they dont offer a petrol version to SL, what they say is if they do get a petrol it will be the same price as a diesel ? I simply cannot understand their way of pricing its just not logical.

Drag race ?

Guys, Now that we have a few new Motero sport out there, was thinking if anyone has some feed back on this vehicle. from What I heard everything is good in this except for the comfort factor. Is there any truth in that ? And how will it compare to the Fortuner ? I know the Sorento is much better in comfort. Also it looks like most of the permit guys are buying this over the Kia. Maybe as its a newer model and Mitsubish. Which means the second hand market will be flooded in 3 years time. There are quite a lot of the older models advertised and the prices are very reasonable ( Around Rs 6 Mn) , but all of them are manual, which is the biggest drawback.

Thanks for sharing Melo555, Its a good article, from whats mentioned wrt the ride hight its actually better if the rear is slightly raised than the front. Therefore having slightly bigger ( taller) tyres at the back maybe ok. At least good till his next tyre change. But I think in the case of a AWD car this should be avoided.