Fiat Grande Punto Multijet Emotion PK

It is not correct to say that a spare wheel is only meant for short journeys. Rather that would mean that whever you put it that spare wheel it will have far lesser wear and tear as other three tyres. it will be a rough ride in the spare wheel. It will keep bugging you till the point you get the punchtured typre repaired and put back on.

For normal drving you got to have similar amount of wear and tear on all four tyres. That is why it is recomended that you not only get wheel alignment done at regular intervals, but also intercahnge the position of all the wheels. This way you could avoid situations where tyres on one side get worn a lot more as compared to the ones on other side. This affects, the suspension and overall handling of the vehicle.

I personally think that all cars that come with alloy wheels, should have the spare wheel in alloys as well. Besides causing the above mentioned problems, it really is an effort to replace the spare wheel every time you get the original tyre repaired.

For those you wanting that the spare wheel should be alloys too, thank your lucky stars that you are in India because forget alloy's, abroad you get a space saver - a tyre that's actually a size or more smaller then OE ones - with manufacturer's recommending you to stick to 80kmph with the space saver and getting the punctured tyre replaced asap!

I think Himanshu should write to FIAT about this!

He s got a point there. But to me it makes no difference at all. Lucky me but I hadly get a flat tire, say about once a year or maybe two.

Touchwood!

Himanshu's certainly got a point there. I remember seeing somewhere(probably in a auto mag) and article about the correct way for doing tyre rotation. It clearly showed that the spare tyre would  be taken as a normal regular tyre so as to maintain even wear & tear on all tyres. 

Well in case of spare tyre rotation the tyre has to taken out of the steel wheel and interchanged with the alloy - correct ?

I don't think that would be a difficult thing to do during rotation( every 5000 km or 10000 km).

Amit, how's the coolant consumption in your car been so far ? Ever needed to top-it up ?

I think that when I got the car from the showroom the coolant level was at MAX but now it's halfway in between the MIN/MAX levels.

well shankar,its normal,regarding the coolant level,in my linea,after 11000km,i found that the level had gone to the minimum level,i took the car to the ass,they took it inside and reved the engine,the coolant level was back to normal level,so didnt top up,so it seems that at idle the coolant level may show to be lower but may be adequate,it needs top up only at 15k kms i beleive

Hi Bala, even I have noticed that when the engine is cold the coolant is at the mid level but when running/hot it is at the MAX level.

I checked the manual and it said that the coolant level should be checked when it's cold. Another interesting thing I noticed is that there's no radiator cap in the Punto ! Someone told me that these days the cars don't come with a cap.

Anyways I am planning to buy a litre of PARAFLU UP and keep it with me whenever I go for the long drives.

Shankar, no radiator cap? That is impossible! Please recheck on this!

Amit, Shankar & Bala: No radiator cap even in my Fiat Linea.  Owner's handbook states clearly that the coolant level should be between the minimum and maximum mark when the engine is cold.  On the contrary, the engine oil level should be between the minimum and maximum mark after a few minutes after switching off the engine!