Hi all

My friend has spare 15 inch steel wheels from his honda city

Will it fit my Petra (Siena) which has 14 inch wheels

Most likely not.
Fiat uses 4X98 tread pattern, which is unique for Italian cars.
Also the centre hole has different dimensions from any other wheel.....
You can use any wheel specially made for Fiat, Alfa or Lancia, that's it.

New shoes for my car

Searched for pirelli but supply is very erratic here in india so chose for michelin

The tyre name is michelin xm2

The xm2 is not a sporty tyre but comfort oriented and apt for road conditions here in bombay so chose the same as my car is never driven to the limits


http://imageshack.com/a/img96/5286/k7hs.jpg

Why did you choose 185/65-14?
Because of the bad roads where you live?

Original size is 175/65-14.
So 185/60-14 is the next size.
185/65-14 sidewalls are a little higher, giving a less sharp but somewhat more comfortable ride.

I don't think you will notice much difference though.

Michelin is of French origin, and amongst the best tyrebrands money can buy.

Hi peter

I knew this was coming

The tyre guy asked me specfically if i drive the car hard and my reply was obviously a no

I explained him that my car is mainly used inside city and so cant see high speeds and has to encounter sometimes very bad roads

So thats why 65 profile was chosen then 60 with 185 mm broad tyres. I was told that i will have a speedo error but i was ready to live that for thay extra bit of protection.

The rim size was big enough to accept the size

Michelin tyres are one of the costliest in india and xm2 model is one of the best all rounder tyre (mainly for bad roads and comfort oriented) money can buy in india

There are other tyres which are more rugged and can take worst of roads but ride quality and grip on them go for a toss

So overall this is a very balanced tyre

Hopefully on the weekend i am going for a 200 km drive with my friend and should be able to post my take on the tyres after the journey

But a proper conclusion can only come after using the tyre for more then six months

Next up is full body paint and seat modification as under thigh support is very bad and overall foam used is too thin

No time frame to complete the jobs mentioned. Will be done as and when time and pocket permits

Already i am being termed as a foolish guy who is putting so much of his hard earned money on a ten year old fiat

but i totally disagree with them

Be carefull the first ~100 km's with new tires.
Keep an eye on correct pressure, and re- tighten the bolts ( preferably with a torque wrench, 86Nm)

Okay
Did quiet a bit city driving (low speed to crawling traffic) today


Cant comment on handling or cornering as city driving in Bomaby means speeds below 60 but one thing is sure that in ride quality and braking there is a major improvement


The ride is not spongy and nor it it is harsh. In between which I feel is absolutely perfect


Brother has not brake tested because its not good for new tyres but kind of braking needed in city, the car feels grippy on even cement roads and feel is very good


This I feel is maybe because my earlier tyres had gone quiet old. Maybe difference between the tyre I use and any other tyre wont be that great but I feel so since tyres I had earlier were well past their age






I suddenly realized that I had to fix the driver side seat belt before the weekend journey. There was no tension in it


No where in city it was available (new or used)


I was in big fix and suddenly I realized I had met a road side mechanic (yes we do have road side garages here in India who basically repair cars on the pavement)


He had a non working 1.6 palio gtx which he used to store his tools. I was sure the seatbelt assembly would be in good shape to use it in my car.


He told me he will check and get back to me. It was working fine apart from having oil stains on the belt which I obviously cleaned


Got it at dirt cheap price. When my original seat belt was removed I saw that seat belt is made by an Indian company. That surprises me why it is not available easily.


Maybe because it hardly stops working and so no shop likes to stock it and specially for a car whose production is stopped since years


Only bad part is that It does not have a plastic cover to hide the nut. Its the top most nut where the seat belt gets bolted to the body. I could have taken the cover out of the older seat belt but I realized it was missing after I came home.


So I am leaving it as it is now as it no point going back for such a small thing


Following are the pics of the guy's palio























He offered me the alloys of that car which I felt were in bad shape. He told me he will repaint it and give to me


Is it a good idea to use them? Car has been at the same place for almost 3 to 4 years now




The seat belt











They guys working there inquired with me for how much I got the new tyres for and after I answered were giggling and talking amongst themselves that I spend as much I will get selling the car to buy new tyres for it

Have the wheels blasted and powdercoated, in the color you want.
Use correct bolts with them, torque the bolts at 90NM.

How about these:

http://www.ebay.nl/itm/TOP-4-Stuck-...1162717040?pt=Auto_Felgen&hash=item4ac6ca2770

Peter Pick-Up said:

How about these:

http://www.ebay.nl/itm/TOP-4-Stuck-...1162717040?pt=Auto_Felgen&hash=item4ac6ca2770

Click to expand...

Hi peter
Shipping will turn out to be very expensive

Just ask the seller.
Shipping for 4 wheels within Europe is only 25 euro's ( that;s about 20 US dollars).
So shipping outside Europe shouldn't be that expensive imo.

rikhav said:

Hi peter
Shipping will turn out to be very expensive

Click to expand...

One more important thing
The alloys on ebay are 15 inchers and my new tyres are 14 inch

Right!
But the ENZO H alloys are available in 14 inch as well.
They are German made, and are excellent quality, not like most el cheapo chinese wheels...

Peter Pick-Up said:

Right!
But the ENZO H alloys are available in 14 inch as well.
They are German made, and are excellent quality, not like most el cheapo chinese wheels...

Click to expand...

Very true peter
German production quality is a grade. Will write to the seller

Completed one way journey. Road is mostly straight so could not try cornering ability

But little bumps and waves on the road did not disturb the car at all.

It gripped the road very well giving confidence to the driver. Still speed above 120 kph was not exceeded

Road noise, i am not sure. I felt it was a little less then older bridgestones. But i am ok with a little noise

I woule be happy if the tyres offer good grip after little bit of age and also stay durable.

That is more important

Hi all and specially peter


Updating this thread after a long time.


Don't sit on the PC for long , just check my emails




Gave my car for denting and painting and solving some small niggles here and there.


There was quiet a few rust buildup on the bonnet and other parts of the car which were taken care of. The firewall and underbody were treat with anti rust




But small niggles are not getting solved.


One is that the intermediate setting on the wiper works as normal 1st speed. There is no pause between wipes like it should. It just works as it would when we put wipers on 1st speed.
Not sure when this issue cropped up as rains just started and so before wipers were hardly used


will it be the issue with wiper motor or some relay?


Also the headlights are very weak. The headlights as such are in good shape, the insides have not turned yellow.
But still the road ahead does not get lit up. There is absolutely zero light on the road, as if headlights are not on. This is when the road is poorly lit.
On absolute dark patches there is more light on road but nothing great.
I even changed the bulbs but there is no improvement


Will changing the complete headlight assembly will solve the issue?


I tried my best to align the headlights but there is no major improvement


With these 2 issues it becomes difficult to drive in the rains specially when its rains hard and traffic conditions are bad


Apart from this, there is no major isues with the engine and suspension

I had something like that with the wiper on my old Fiorino, it turned out that I changed the complete wipermotor for a new one...


Are the conections on the bulbs OK?
They will burn up after some years, resulting in poor brightness.
Furthermore, use only quality bulbs, no fake China crap.
Bulbs like Philips, Osram or General Electric are well worth the extra money.

Peter Pick-Up said:

I had something like that with the wiper on my old Fiorino, it turned out that I changed the complete wipermotor for a new one...


Are the conections on the bulbs OK?
They will burn up after some years, resulting in poor brightness.
Furthermore, use only quality bulbs, no fake China crap.
Bulbs like Philips, Osram or General Electric are well worth the extra money.

Click to expand...

Thanks Peter as always


Yes, the bulbs are original Philips, basic but Philip soriginal
I just got them changed thinking old one would have passed their life. My cousin helped me with the alignment, which did improve things but nothing where it should be. So I guess at a later date I will have to buy completely new headlight assembly which by the ways costs a bomb now


Okay so, I will try to find a new wiper motor

I mean, is the socket OK?
Is your car H4 equiped?
There are replacement H4 sockets on the market, common problem.


http://www.ebay.nl/itm/H4-Lampenfassung-Stecker-Sockel-Socket-Licht-Plug-bulb-inkl-Kabel-Lampenstecker-/321072397486?pt=DE_Autoteile&hash=item4ac167fcae


or this:


http://www.ebay.nl/itm/Hella-H4-Stecker-Fassung-Sockel-Socket-Licht-Plug-Play-R2-Gluhlampen-Universal-/251440429243?pt=DE_Autoteile&hash=item3a8b0478bb




How is the plastic lens, is it perhaps faded on the outside, due to UV rays..??
Use some car cleaner to polish it, might help.


http://www.ebay.nl/itm/CCP-Headligh...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3f34d5fb51

hi peter
Yeah car has h4 and h7. H4 socket is ok, I mean it works. Do I have to look for any other abnormality?

Cleaning the outer side of lens is a good idea. Its easy to do so should not be an issue. Will surely do that

Some H4 sockets are slowly burning up inside, causing bad grounds, and the bulb to be less bright after a while, only changing them for new sockets will cure this.
And no, it's not so easy as it may look to clean the plastic lenses, be carefull not to destroy them...!!
You may consider to have them professionally done, I'm sure they are in your country as well, as fading plastic headlight lenses are a worldwide problem...