Looks:

A picture is worth a thousand words, so lets have a look.

Side view looks good, the tank looks macho and muscular. There is Yamaha logo just below the tank, which looks classy, covers some part of the engine from the side, and is of same color as tank. There is aluminum finish at the joint of tank and seat, which extents down till foot-rest. It gives a pointed and triangular look. Exhaust looks beautiful in twin-color tone, aluminum and metallic black. Its hexagonal in shape which is one of its kind. The brake disk also adds to the overall looks.

Front also looks cool, the headlamp is large and clear, has multi-reflector technology. The turn-indicators are sharp and pointed extending just by the side of head lamp. Engine is all black coated, which looks really good. The rods of front shockers are thicker than other normal bikes, which also makes it look muscular.

The instrument cluster is neat and stylish.  Tank looks good in twin color, having beautiful bolts like design. the fuel cap is of chrome finish.

Seat looks good, but not sure that it will feel comfortable to all kind of riders or not, because styling is so high that ergonomics might have been compromised to style.

So the verdict on looks is, it is outstanding and looks great.

Features:

Engine:

Single cylinder engine of Yamaha FZ16  has capacity of 153ccm, SOHC (single over head cam), air cooled, 4 stroke 2 valve engine which can produce max power 14 BHP and a max torque of 14 Nm which is quite impressive.

Suspension:

Yamaha FZ16 has a mono cross suspension on rear side which provides higher degree of stability, handling and greater comfort. In front side there is a Telescopic hydraulic suspension which provides greater shock absorption. This is only the second bike on Indian roads after Honda Unicorn to use mono-shock suspension.

Brakes & Tyre:

There is disc brake used in front wheel of Yamaha FZ16 is of large diameter (270 mm) which provide strong stopping power, higher degree of balance and good breaking performance, and in rear wheel there is drum brake. Tyre used in both wheels are tubeless tyres, with rear radial tyre having 60% aspect ratio which is first time in Indian bikes.

Exhaust:

The exhaust used in Yamaha FZ16 is of distinct shape. It is a 2-layer type exhaust which provides passage between main exhaust and sleeve, which leads to higher degree of cooling to sleeve for safety. The shape of exhaust own one more star in its look.

LCD - meter:

Yamaha FZ16 has a Fully LCD(liquid crystal display) meter having speedometer , tachometer , fuel gauge, high beam indicator, side indicator, neutral indicator and engine starting meter (which installed first time in bike). Theses all meters and indicators are designed and installed keeping field of vision in mind clearly.

Headlight and Fuel Tank:

Yamaha FZ16 has multi-reflector headlight which has a distinct look from front side, the fuel tank is of 12 liters capacity having muscular appearance with the help of plastic resin on steel tank which enhance look from side view. The use of multi-reflector headlamps is restricted to high-end bikes only, this kind of technology is usually used in cars.

Specifications:

Have a looks at the specification of Yamaha FZ16 summarized in the table below:

It comes in three colors, all are like racing and sporty spirited colors.

Midnight black , Lava Red and Flaming orange.

Review:

I am yet to have my ride on Yamaha FZ16, but from reviews that i have got from friends and magazines and newspapers tell that the bike is peppy and stylish. Got a style statement, makes my head turn whenever I see it on road. Given a chance, I would like to buy one. Although I have more love for cruiser bikes, but for a change, its good to leave a style statement.

Photo Courtesy [Yamaha India]

---
Related Articles at CarBlogIndia - All About Automobiles:

Indian market is now flooded with premium global car companies like BMW Mercedes Benz, Volkswagen, Skoda and what not.  Now driving luxurious cars is not a dream anymore,  all you need is good amount of money. Today we will focus on BMW 3 series.

BMW in Indian market has 3 series, 5 series, 6 series, 7 series, X3, X5 and M series.

BMW 3 series sedan comes in following models

• BMW 320i
• BMW 325i
• BMW 320d
• BMW 320d Highline

Lets talk about some very special and high tech features that set the BMW apart:

Features:

Dynamic Stability Control (DSC):

While cornering Dynamic stability control continuously monitoring forces acting on chassis and checks that they are within max limits, if it seems to skidding the system suitably apply brakes on individual wheels as needed. There is Extended DSC which is only in 6-cylinder engines it has five more functions i.e.

• Brake stand-by: for reduced stopping distance in case of emergency.
• Brake drying: to enhance brake response during wet conditions.
• Hill-start: so that we can drive uphill without any worries.
• Fading compensation: to induce consistency even though the brakes have heated up.
• Soft stop: for smooth stops and reduced brake drive.

Run flat tyre:

One more interesting thing is we can drive more 250km even the tyre is puncture. This is due to a special reinforcement side-wall.

Tyre pressure indicator (TPI):

Tyre Pressure Indicator continuously monitor tyre pressure and indicate for air.

6 Airbag Safety:

BMW 3 series is equipped with electronic sensors and 6 air bags which make your drive much safe and secure.

Park Distance Control (PDC):

There are 2 ultrasound sensors, one in front and another on backside, which warns about the proximity of obstacles.

Intelligent Vehicle key:

There us an integrated chip on key which give valuable information’s like vehicle registration number, mileage & vehicle servicing status etc.

Automatic Climate Control:

A highly developed system which automatically controls air circulation, they includes micro-filters, condensation & sun light sensors & fast heating features that create comfortable atmosphere very quickly.

Start / Stop button:

Now the dive is just one finger away, you will feel like u are in cockpit and ready to take off. You can start and stop the engine at the click of a button.

Looks:

It looks classy, neat and impressive. Its a head-turner on Indian roads. BMW is kind of a status and style statement in India. The car looks huge in length, luxurious high end interiors that will spoil you with its comfort.

Specifications:

Now lets have a look at at the muscles of this baby:

---
Related Articles at CarBlogIndia - All About Automobiles:

Tip 1: Do not accelerate too fast

Too quick acceleration consumes too much fuel, accelerate slowly and gradually. That will save quite a significant amount of fuel in city driving.

Tip 2: Do not use clutch too much

If you use a manual transmission car, as is mostly used by people in India, do-not drive with clutch pressed, or use clutch only when needed, too much use of clutch will waste a lot of fuel.

Tip 3: Change gears appropriately

This is also applicable for manual transmission cars. Use correct gears at correct speeds, this will help save the fuel. For correct speeds, see your car’s user manual.

Tip 4: No Excuses to delay car service

Get the car serviced as per manufacturer’s recommended schedule. This will ensure good health of engine, less maintenance due to break-down.

Tip 5: Do you drive in dusty environment? Clean the Air-filter

If you drive in dusty environment the air-filter gets filled with dust and makes the engine suffocated. Clean the air-filter more often than the service schedule( say  every 5000 KM or so) , this will help the engine run more easy and consume less fuel. Trust me, its going to really help.

Tip 6: Red-Signal Ahead? Put the feet off the accelerator

If you are sure that you got to stop after next 100 or 200 meters due to a red signal, keep your feet off the accelerator and car will slow down on engine’s resistance, saving on fuel as well as the brake shoes, apply brakes only when about to stop. This is a great help to save that extra drop of fuel.

Tip 7: Air Pressure in tyres

Get the air-pressure in tyres up to the recommended pressure, and check it once at least in 15 days, it helps the car run smooth and drink less fuel.

Tip 8: Try to keep a constant max speed

When driving in a city or highway, try to maintain a constant speed, that will help the engine put less effort to accelerate or decelerate unnecessarily. This will help reduce fuel consumption.

Tip 9: Keep the window’s glass rolled up on highways

Driving with AC on and glasses rolled up will actually help the car move easy because when windows are open, the car faces more air-drag due to cross ventilation through car, thus consuming more fuel. So always try to keep windows rolled up specially when driving at high speeds.

Tip 10: Buy fuel during morning hours

Buying fuel during morning hours makes sense, because the fuel is a liquid and cools during night hours as temperature is low, and it becomes more dense, so in night hours, you get more weight of fuel for same litres, so its like a bargain in fuel amount

Tip 11: Re-fuel your car when tank is close to half

This will help reduce the vapors formation in tank, which moves out as you open the lid to re-fuel, thus saving some amount of fuel in the tank.

Tip 12: Clean up the crap from the boot-space

Remove any un-necessary luggage or stuff that you don’t need from back space, that will let the car feel light and run easy on less fuel.

Save fuel, burn it less, save economy and environment both, for a greener and cleaner tomorrow.

Also try to follow a car pool if you are traveling to office or college, that is fun to be with some friends and it reduces traveling boredom too

Happy saving!

---
Related Articles at CarBlogIndia - All About Automobiles:

I felt really disturbed when my sister mistakenly scratched the left side front door against a wall. It was so badly scratched that even after getting a rubbing treatment some scratches were visible.

I asked the showroom guys, they gave me an estimate of Rs. 3000 for the job. I asked the local denting-painting guy, he asked for Rs. 1500 for the same. I decided to leave it like that only.

But one fine day I came across a web-site (www.com-paint.com) that sells car spray paints of the perfect colors based on various car brands. Each paint kit costs Rs. 300 for metallic colors and Rs. 260 for non-metallic color. So I ordered one kit for my Hyundai i10 of Champagne Gold color (metallic). In that kit, you get one paint spray can and one can of Finishing Solvent. There is a video on the web-site which tells you how to do the paint job over the scratch.

Now I will tell you how I did it and the pictures of the car after the paint was done. Read on.

The steps I followed were as per what I saw in the video over this web-site:

• Clean the scratched area with a clean cloth and dry it.
• Rub the scratched area with a wet emery paper (regmark) of 1000 number or higher.
• Now clean the area and spay the finishing solvent on the scratched area.
• Now put news papers with tape around the area to be painted.
• Hold the Paint can at a distance of 10 to 12 inches from the car surface and spray gently.
• Leave for 10 minutes to dry and again apply the finishing solvent.

The results were not very good, but the scratches were reduced considerably. Those scratches that were not deep, almost disappeared, but deep scratches were still visible, but less visible than before. The surface has become a bit rough and less glossy, but it looks better than when compared to scratches.

I would not recommend you to try this until you are sure you want to try it, as it can mess up with the looks of the paint if not done very carefully. See the pictures below for the results. There are some close up images too.

If you are doing it on your car, also get a polish and rubbing agent, that will improve the finish after you are done with the paint. But leave the paint to dry properly for at-least 4 hours before rubbing and polish.

A word of caution :  These paints look really bad on the body colored bumpers, as the finishing is really bad. On car body, the finishing was OK, but on Bumper it was BAD,as it does not spread well on the plastic-like bumper surface.

Above pictures tell you the story themselves. If you are not sure you can manage it, its better to get is done from a professional painter. Please leave your comments or suggestions below.

---
Related Articles at CarBlogIndia - All About Automobiles:

Its wider, longer and more attractive than the current model of Honda City. Has a beautiful, Honda-civic-like front grill. Interiors are no less attractive, it has got a beautiful central console, beige colored interiors, Honda-civic like steering wheel.

The seats are comfortable and wide, legroom is good, the interiors are classy and make you feel great when you are inside the car.

Lets have a look at the vital stats of the car, I mean the engine, power and other details.

The new Honda City Specifications are:

• 1500 cc IVETC Engine with 115 BHP Power output
• Manual / Automatic Transmission Options
• Formula 1 style Pedal Shift in Automatic transmission model
• Tachometer
• Automatic Climate Control
• Dual Airbags and ABS
• Immobilizer

The best thing I liked about the car is Formula 1 Style Pedal Shift of gears without using gears! This can also be called Sports Mode which will give the punch of manual transmission with comfort of Automatic Transmission. This mode is available only in 5 speed automatic transmission model.

Manual transmission is also super smooth because of use of hydraulic clutch technology and cabled-gear shift. Which makes it easy and fun to drive.

The engine is really advanced and well in terms of both power and fuel economy. One very interesting feature of car is fuel consumption meter. It tells you how much fuel efficiency the car is giving under present driving conditions and approximate driving range with the amount of fuel present in fuel tank!

The central console looks neat and classy, makes you feel good about each rupee spent on this car. The air-conditioning knobs are round in shape and are nicely placed.

The exteriors are also beautiful with side lining of the car having a line running through. Back of the car looks good, looks more close to Honda Civic.

All good things come at a price, so does this car. The Ex-showroom price of Honda City MT in Delhi is from Rs. 7.7 lakh to Rs. 8.9 lakh. This is going to be a real tough competition to Maruti Suzuki SX4. Please leave your comments and suggestions in the form below.

---
Related Articles at CarBlogIndia - All About Automobiles:

Should I Get Teflon Coating On My Car?

To find the answer I read through many car forums and blogs, user reviews on Teflon coating. The conclusion of my research was that its a waste of money. Yes it gives your car a sparkling shine, but you might know the reality behind the so-called Teflon coating. Let me share my experience of the teflon coating and my research with you.

When I say Teflon coating for Car or bike is a waste of money, many of you might be thinking why waste when it gives a sparkling look to the car or the bike. Well let me tell you the reason for the same.

The very reason for not going for teflon coating is they do not use teflon for teflon coating!

Teflon is a non-sticking chemical also called PTFE (ploy-tetra-fluro-ethylene). The coating which is done on cars and bikes is not actually teflon coating, its just a good or medium quality wax polish with some other chemical compounds.

I got teflon-coating done on my bike some months back. They applied a paste kind of chemical and rubbed it on bike with a cloth. They dried it, and then buffed using a hand roller which had cloths rubbing against the bike body. After that, it was shiny and good, but that shine lasted for 2 weeks and then there was nothing un-usual. No special scratch-resistance, nothing!

The so-called-teflon gives a shine to your car which may last from a week to a few months depending on how good is the polish they use, and also depends on the way you use and your car.

If you drive in less dusty place and park your car or bike in shade, the coating may last longer.

What is the point in paying for what you are not getting?

In the name of teflon-coating, most dealers are doing a good quality of wax polish with buffing. So next time, you want your car to out-shine all the cars around, go to the dealer and ask him for good quality wax polish and buffing, and pay him for polish and buffing, and not teflon coating which they any ways don’t use.

Also, I would recommend you to buy a good quality polish or wax and do it once in a while yourself for your car if you like, its very easy and fun!

---
Related Articles at CarBlogIndia - All About Automobiles:

In this post I will talk about:

• How GPS Navigation System works
• Types of Navigation Devices Available
• Cost of GPS Navigation Equipment and Cost of using it

Cost of GPS Navigation System In India

GPS Navigation runs on many type of Devices like:

1. Dedicated GPS Navigation Devices
2. Mobile Phones which have GPS receiver
3. Laptop or PDA with GPS receiver

Dedicated GPS Device 

A dedicated GPS Navigation Device with maps will cost you from Rs 17000($350) to about Rs 20000 ($400). It has updated maps software installed in it, and you don’t need to pay any monthly amount for it there after

Mobile Phones with GPS

For a mobile phone, there are three different plans:

• For Windows Mobile version 6 or higher, you can buy maps for a fix amount, for example Rs 1200 ($25) for a city and Rs. 5000 ($ 100) . After this, no monthly charge or subscription.
• For non-Windows mobile phones with GPS receiver, you can buy a 6-months subscription for Rs. 1200 ($25). In this you access the maps software via GPRS of your phone.  So in this case you will be charged for GPRS traffic usage also.
• Third one is Nokia Navigator Series Mobile Phones with free maps installed. This is the cheapest way to use GPS Navigation as there is no extra subscription for maps software, but the quality and accuracy of the maps will not be as good as MapMyIndia maps.

Laptop or PDA

If you have a laptop or PDA with built-in or external GPS receiver attached and an Internet connection, you can use the plans same as windows mobile, or also use Google-maps service for navigation. I don’t have detailed steps on how to do that, for that you need to explore more features of Google-maps or Yahoo-maps etc.

How GPS Navigation System Works?

The GPS navigation works on the principle of telling location by catching the signals of three or more GPS satellites at one time. Good thing is that its for free. You don’t need to pay catching these signals. Just your device should have a GPS receiver. Its as free as listening to FM radio without paying for radio service

I hope you like this information. If you want to add something, or have a suggestion or comment, please leave a comment below. Get more such tech updates in your inbox by clicking here.

---
Related Articles at CarBlogIndia - All About Automobiles:

This is a concept car, the look and the features displayed in this concept are top-notch, but when you are going to buy an A-star starting this October 2008, don’t be carried away by above pictures, because the production model is going to be a trimmed down version of this concept version.

The actual car which you will buy will have:

1000cc Engine:  Euro - 5 Compliant : Suzuki K series

3 - Cylinder Engine with 4-Valves per Cylinder

67 BHP Maximum Power

Good Fuel Efficiency

5-Speed Manual Transmission

A/C without automatic climate control

Power Steering

The A-star will be a car segment which will lie in between Alto and Swift . It will come at a segment approximately parallel with Wagon-R. The price of A-star will be between 3-4 Lakh.

The A-star will also be exported to European countries, where it will replace Alto. So, it will be called Alto in Europe and A-Star in India. In fact the real A-star will look bit different from the above concept car because of its Head-lamps, Tail-lamps and Grill styling.

Below are some pictures of the A-star that will be launched in Europe with name Alto, so you can expect the similar looks of A-star to be launched in India.

My personal views on A-star:

A-Star is going to be a good car because of its styling, fuel efficiency and pricing. It has got all good ingredients to attract buyers who want decent features at low price. If you want a value for money deal, it is for you. But if you are looking for top-notch luxury, its not the car for you. The styling is although good, yet it may not satisfy your need for high-luxury.

Its going to compete head on with Hyundai’s i10 and also going to be a competitor to Maruti’s very own Wagon R, because if I have to but a Maruti car in budget of up-to 4 Lakh, I would definitely buy A-Star rather than Wagon R.

Wait and Watch:

If you want to buy A-star as soon as it is launched, I would say be patient. Let there be an official launch, take a test-drive and then decide. Also you must take a test drive of Hyundai i10 before taking a decision on buying A-Star, because I personally feel that you should never by a car until you take a test drive.

When I bought Hyundai i10 few months back, I was seriously considering Wagon-R also, but test drive was an eye-opener, as Hyundai i10 is far more smooth and comfortable when compared to Wagon-R, which I discovered only after a test drive.

If you have any comments or suggestion, please share through comments below.

Updated on 16th November 2008:

The official launch date of Maruti A-star is expected to be 20th November 2008.

Updated on 20th November 2008:

The A-star has been launched on 19th November officially. The A-star is available in three variants, Lxi, Vxi and Zxi. Good Thing is that all three variants have Power-Steering and AC as standard !

The top variant Zxi is value for money with high end features like ABS, Airbags, remote locking with alarm, In Built Stereo Music System with four speakers, all doors power windows, premium seat fabric, body colored outside mirror covers, body colored door handles, immobilizer, tachometer.Just like Maruti Sx4, its also a value for money package!

The max power of the A-star is equal to that of Hyundai i10 iRDE 1.1 litre version. Although its 20% less compared to new Kappa Engine of 1.2 litre of new i10.

The ex-showroom price of Maruti A-star Lxi is about Rs. 3,50,000 (about $ 7000)

The On-road price of Maruti A-Star Lxi is about Rs. 3,80,000 (about $ 7600)

The ex-showroom price of Maruti A-star Vxi is about Rs. 3,80,500 (about $ 7600)

The On-road price of Maruti A-Star Vxi is about Rs. 4,10,000 (about $ 8200)

The ex-showroom price of Maruti A-star Zxi is about Rs. 4,15,000 (about $ 8200)

The On-road price of Maruti A-Star Zxi is about Rs. 4,50,000 (about $ 9000)

---
Related Articles at CarBlogIndia - All About Automobiles:

I tried to clean it with a dry cloth, and my hard luck, it stuck even badly on the surface. Then I remembered the trick I used few years back to clean my refrigerator’s surface. In this post I am going to share the method I used to clean it up.

For cleaning the chewing-gum stain or other hard sticky stains,  you need two simple things, two pieces of dry and soft cotton cloth piece and a few tea-spoon of kerosene oil.

First of all, try to pluck whatever part of the chewing gum or the stain from the car or bike’s surface. After this there will be a thing sticky layer still stuck to your car or bike surface.

Now take one piece of dry cloth and dip it in kerosene oil, rub the stain on the car with this damp cloth wet with kerosene, you will see that it will dissolve the chewing gum. After it is dissolved, take the other piece of cloth, which is still dry, and wipe off the dirt from the car or bike surface with light hands, that is it, done!

I did it today and had such a sigh of relief to see my new car shining as ever

---
Related Articles at CarBlogIndia - All About Automobiles:

What’s the difference between i10 Kappa and i10 iRDE ?

Technology:

Kappa is a technically advanced engine as compared to iRDE Engine of Hyundai i10. the iRDE engine was an enhanced version of Hyundai Santro Engine. But Kappa is a different design which is technically advanced than the iRDE engine of i10. In tech jargons, it has four valves per cylinders compared to three in iRDE, it has a Dual over-head cam-shaft (DOHC) compared to standard Single overhead cam-shaft (SOHC) in iRDE, it is made of super light weight die cast aluminum. In short it has got better ingredients

Power:

Now we are talking for something real , the power. i10 Kappa has a power output of 80 BHP

compared to i10  iRDE which has a max power output of 66.6 BHP . What does it mean? Well it means a lot for the feel of the car, the pick-up and the punch. Its a considerable difference of 20% which means a good amount!

Mileage / Fuel Efficiency:

If you are worried about ever rising fuel prices, then don’t keep away from i10 Kappa just because it has got a bigger and more powerful engine, because you will be surprised to know that there is almost no difference in the fuel consumption average of i10 Kappa and iRDE. In fact, Hyundai claims that i10 Kappa delivers 4% higher fuel efficiency than i10 iRDE. But for practical aspect, you can say that i10 Kappa will not consume more fuel compared to i10 iRDE.

Price:

Rightly said that everything comes for a price, so does the better technology . i10 Kappa is priced a slightly higher than i10 iRDE, simply because it has better technology, more power and good fuel efficiency. But its pure value for that extra money.

Looks:

There is not big difference in exterior looks except for the rear spoiler logo at the back of the car which says 1.2 Kappa. For Interiors, they have been made sporty for certain Kappa variants by providing metal finish inside handles, leather wrapped Steering wheel, gear knob and hand brake, which you will not find in iRDE.

Verdict:

You must have guessed by the comparisons I have made above that Kappa is a clear winner

But if have bought i10 iRDE before Kappa was launched (I am also one of them ) Don’t loose heart, because i10 iRDE is itself a great car from every aspect when compared to other cars in this segment. Please Share your views and experiences of i10 via comments below. Click here for more such updated directly in your inbox.

---
Related Articles at CarBlogIndia - All About Automobiles: