I have seen this print ad earlier. GM India’s head striking a pose and promising to the car buying public, guaranteeing certain maximum maintenance expenditure otherwise they will refund the excess spending, though last time they had an Indian President and Managing Director.

It struck me as funny that time too but didn’t have enough time to actually analyse the thing. Now that I am out in the market looking for a new car, I have given it some thought and here are my conclusions.

The ad promises maximum maintenance expenditure for 5 different models over a period of 3 years

Spark                          Rs. 12999.00             *approx = 13000.00

Aveo – UVA               Rs. 14999.00             *approx = 15000.00

Aveo                           Rs. 15999.00             *approx = 16000.00

Optra Magnum          Rs. 17999.00             *approx = 18000.00 

SRV (Petrol)              Rs. 17999.00             *approx = 18000.00

* approximate figures are my own.

The company still believes in optical illusions which makes 12999.00 appear as 12000.00 to people like us with deep pockets but shallow brains, but that is a different point altogether.

In fine print the ad also mentions that the expenditure does not cover accidents, natural disaster, racings, tyres, batteries etc…standard list of disclaimers that any self respecting company gives. 

Anybody who has kept a tab on maintenance expenditure should know that the maximum maintenance expenditures excluding the disclaimed list mentioned are too high. I have been running my 7 year old fiat palio and after 7 years it has yet to run up a maintenance expenditure of more than Rs. 2 -3 thousand in any given year, other than the disclaimed list of course.

Can you imagine a new vehicle like let us say Aveo- UVA running up a maintenance bill of Rs. 15000.00 in three years.  The company’s marketing honchos have in the same ad mentioned that the vehicles are covered by a 3 years/  100000 kilometre warranty.

Note that both the warranty and maintenance expenditure promise are for 3 years and run concurrently.

This leads me to wonder whether.

1.  Warranty does NOT cover anything so in spite of such a generous policy you can still run up a bill of Rs. 15000.00 in 3 years??

2.  The car is so shoddily built that it needs maintenance to the tune of 15000.0 other than what is already disclaimed and other than what is covered by warranty??

So what are they trying to accomplish here?? They have promised something, which they know will never happen so they will never need to pay, so without paying they can bask in the glory appearing to be such a caring company, a company confident about the quality of its products.

If what they say is true and you actually need to spend say somewhere around Rs. 14999.00 on maintaining an Aveo-UVA (other than disclaimed list), while the warranty is also running, then God help them and the poor guy who fell for the promise.

When will these guys grow up and get over the fine print and convoluted logic and promises, which don’t mean anything other than showing lack of ethics, knowledge, education and basic human decency? I wonder if they thought that a nice white American face promising us the sky will make us dance with joy and queue up at the nearest GM showroom.

Frankly they don’t have bad cars. I loved their Opel Astra and my friends who have bought Aveo are also happy, but get over it, come with something new and honest.

This column is about how to get more mileage out of your Fiat Palio. Why Fiat Palio. Because I have one and I have perfected the art of getting Maximum mileage out of the machine. The tips here apply to most other Indian Cars also.

Fiat Palio in India is a much maligned model. To top its gas guzzling reputation the dealers and company left the customers in a lurch. Last year I read a news article in which the head of Fiat India was proudly announcing launch of online spare parts ordering system, wherein the dealers can go online and order the spares. They can also check a VOR (Vehicle Off Road) button and spares will be despatched on priority. The cynic in me didn’t fail to notice that why allow vehicles go off road in first place. It’s a shame that a vehicle of such calibre as Fiat Palio is allowed to remain off road as some Italian clowns didn’t have time to maintain adequate inventories. OK Fiat bashing is besides the point which can become a topic for another article.

You would like to ask how much mileage I am getting in a 1.2 ELPS (petrol) , model which is marketed in India. I am managing 15 Km/ Ltr on mixed roads, which includes bit of city, bit of open highway and bit of hilly roads with AC on 50% of the time. My Palio has been delivering this ever since I am running her. This is very much contrary to the general feedback that I have from people that they are barely able to get 10 or 12. Recently my father-in-law drove the same car and he could barely manage 9.

What’s the secret? It is all very simple actually….. First you must know your vehicle.

Fiat is a very spirited vehicle and if you are bit heavy on the right pedal then the motor just revs on and begs to go faster.

1. You do not notice speed because of excellent noise damping, suspension and body work which does not shake or rattle as you rev up the vehicle, and you do not hear the engine until you have already burnt a lot of gas. Rarely any of us see the tachometer (which is the rev-counter).

So if you desire higher mileage then you must learn & practice as I have done. These can be applied to almost all the vehicles.

1. Do other things that they routinely tell you. Maintain good air pressure, service regularly, keep all fluids topped up and use good petrol. If possible us ones with cleaning additives.

2. Learn to be one with the vehicle, which is a slightly Zen concept, but just learn to feel the vibrations. Cars communicate through subtle vibrations through steering, seat & pedals etc. It is always not possible to check on the meters regularly.

3. Starting up : DO not press the accelerator pedal while starting, which is a hangover for us middle aged drivers who have grown up on Carburetted engines. The fiat and most other vehicles have MPFI engines, which do not need pedal pressing while starting.

4. After putting the vehicle into first gear, let in the clutch gently, feel it bite the drive train and then only push the race gently. Most cars including fiat are sufficiently powerful to take on the vehicle load without accelerating in 1^st gear. In fact I do not press the race till the vehicle has actually started moving.

5. Move into 2^nd gear quickly at about 10 kmph

6. Move to 3^rd at about 30 kmph

7. Move to 4^th at about 40 kmph

8. Drive in 5^th gear at all speeds beyond 50 kmph. Almost all cars including  the humble Maruti Alto, is able to pull from this speed upwards in 5^th gear.

9. Off course you may not be the first one of the block on a red light, but that’s not our aim here.

10. Switch on the AC once you have driven for about 2 mins.

11. In heavy traffic I generally put my vehicle in 1^st gear and allow it to coast with the pace of traffic without touching the accelerator. If required I coast in 2nd gear.Fial Palio can take this load with full AC. But it requires a gentle pedal if you are staring from stop with AC on.

12. While changing down shift from 5^th to 4^th only when you reach 40 kmph, 4^th to 3^rd at 30 kmph, 3^rd to 2^nd at 20 kmph, In a moving vehicle 1^st gear would be required only if you are slower than 10 kmph.

13. While driving uphill increase your gear changing speeds by 5 kmph to take care of momentum loss due to gradient. Mostly it will be very difficult to pull any decent gradient in anything more than 3^rd gear. DO not try to drive at 60 to 70 in 5^th gear at a gradient in full throttle. The vehicle might climb but after burning huge quantity of gas. As a thumb rule if you need to open more than 30% of  the throttle then shift down into lower gear. The vehicle is very comfortable at these speeds without any unusual strain, vibrations or noise.

14. I have specifically not given any speed limits as the Palio and most vehicles easily reach above 80 kmph with barely 20% open throttle

15. Someone might follow the speed  limits in each gear but still get less mileage. The key is acceleration. As a rule of thumb in normal driving do not open more than 20% of the throttle in normal driving. Allow the vehicle to gently accelerate to the indicated speed and then change up. Cruise with maximum 20% throttle, which is sufficient for 80 to 90 kmph on a decent road.

16. You can also open full and reach the indicated speeds faster but will also burn a lot of gas in the process.

17. Also there are other things such as anticipate your traffic and braking and drive accordingly. Don’t be surprised. Surprise leads to abrupt accelerations and braking which lead to excess fuel burnt.

18. For example if you are approaching dense traffic , let go of the pedal and coast to slower speeds and the drive on rather than running with throttle pressed till last moment, then slamming the brakes and again accelerating hard out of the traffic.

To sum it up the key is not low speeds, you can easily cruise at 80, 90 or 100 and still get good mileage provided you reach that speed gently without pushing too hard. In palio it is very difficult to know when you are pushing too hard because it is never too hard. You always want to go faster and the vehicle allows you to, without a hiccup or a stray sound. Key as I said before is to learn to listen with your hands and feet and your bums as you car tells you its time to shift up.

So drive gently and intelligently and see you mileage figures change. In the process you can also help cut on green house gasses emmision and pollution.