Malayali Car Enthusiast to drive Tata Nano 25000 Km (Around India in 80 days) !

Mr Thomas Chacko preparing for the trip
Photo Source : www.manoetnano.com

1 Car Nut +  1 Wild Dream + 1 Tata Nano + 25000Km of Road  + 80 Days = Recipe for Epic Road Trip ? Definitely !

Kochi based auto enthusiast and long road trip geek  (among a long list lot of other illustrious achievements) Mr Thomas Chacko cooked up this dream road trip while editing the trip details of Suresh Joseph who covered all Indian state capitals and all zonal railway headquarters in a Maruti Swift.  Rather than do the same road trip he wanted to add some more excitement – by choosing to add in the farthest points of the country in all directions possible , making the distance to cover touch 25,000 Km and to do this in around 2.5 months.  He managed to sweet talk Mr Ratan Tata(through a letter) to have Tata Motors sponsor a Tata Nano as well.  Mr Chacko will be doing this trip without a convoy of on road assistance as well.  He is planning on doing all the driving himself but will have company with him across the trip from his family  – his wife, son, daughter, brother, sister and brother-in-law.The road trip has kicked off on May 3rd and is to conclude by July 20th,2012.

Just looking at the plans things seem easy – plain math says that 25000 Km in 80 days would come to 312 Km per day. Though the details of the specific daily routes/distances is not mentioned – it would mean driving a minimum of 6+ hours (assuming an average speed of around 55Kmph) each day. Of course this may vary depending on road conditions and traffic.

Using the Nano for such trips is not new – The Nano Superdrive event in 2010 covered 15,000 kilometers across 36 cities in around 26 days with multiple cars and drivers primarily with the intent to set at rest fears of the Nano’s reliability and safety. The Nano(s) came out of the experience unscathed.

However I wish there was a bit more to this road trip than the distance, endurance of man, machine and time factor – am sure its still not too late to use the publicity from this drive to benefit some charity or other. So far all that is clear is that the journey will be documented in a book called Mano Et Nano which obviously will be printed by Mr Chackos own publishing company. Will be a fun read am sure either way.

Do follow the updates from his blog www.manoetnano.com (I wish the site is updated frequently – it hasn’t been as of writing this post). Some funny comments to the initial post on the site ask if the Nano would crack first or the Chacko would ?

I salute Mr Thomas first for being a car nut and for being crazy enough to embark on such a trip. Am also happy to see his family come forward to participate and support  him on the trip.  It is truly an inspiration to see such road trips being planned and executed. Hope to do something like this before my bucket kicking.

What to do – You are driving and hear a siren ?

This is one of the first of a series I hope to write covering some tips and tricks useful in general city traffic and driving  building in a flavour of road safety.

Situation: You hear a siren while driving a car/two wheeler. What should you do ? Click on the image below for a flowchart on how to go about this.

What to do when you hear a siren while driving

 

Key Do’s:

  • Switch off the music if playing in your vehicle and immediately determine the location of the siren.
  • Safely and quickly do what is necessary to enable speedy movement of the vehicle to its destination

Key Don’ts:

  • Block the vehicles progress
  • Chase after the vehicle after it has passed to utilize its pathway to make good time.

 

A Request:

Please provide your inputs / suggestions on similar issues / items to write about.

Please share this to your friends and lets do our bit to drive safely while fully aware of rules and regulations – hope we can be the change !

Test Drive: Etios Liva GD SP Diesel

Etios LivaLIV TMRRW 2DAY is the tag line Toyota is using for its entry level Hatch – pitched at the millennial generation looking for a high quality brand name car – easy to drive and maintain. Suddenly after a long time feeling the need to do a TD – I requested for a test drive through the Toyota website on a whim on a Thursday afternoon scheduling a time for the next day 5 PM. No call no email till Friday morning when a person called to confirm the test drive request and mentioned the sales person would call and confirm the time for the TD. This happened like clockwork within a few minutes. There was a change in plan from my side and requested  the timing to be between 1:30 to 2 PM instead. This was agreed to. I gave my office address as the location for them.

At 1:28 PM I get a call from the sales person that he was outside our gate ! Wow – for the first time the TD vehicle has shown up at the time specified.  The sales guy made sure the vehicle was turned around and made easy to drive out for me (from a service lane still under construction that had open manhole covers) . That was a nice touch.

Test drive car was in Ultramarine Blue and was of GD SP (Safety Pack) trim. The color reminded me a lot of my Getz Electric Blue :-).  The test drive car came with a body kit that was an add on accessory – not part of the standard – but it definitely made the car look interesting and a bit sportier. The car without the under body skirts and spoiler looks very plain and unappealing.

There were stickers on the car to indicate it was a test drive /demo vehicle. Great – good to know am not driving a customer car. Digital odometer had around a bit over 9K Kms.  Interior of the vehicle was spic and span and clean.

Steering wheel was nice and chunky and of the right size to hold with a thicker portion at 10 and 2. Steering wheel had height adjust but the seat did not. Seat felt a bit lower than needed but I was comfortable within a minute of sitting in it with just adjustment for leg room.

For my height (5’7″) there was decent leg space in the driver seat and my left leg didn’t foul with the dashboard like it did in the Figo. No dead pedal available.

1st gear slotted in nicely and surely and starting off was a piece of cake with the clutch being light and easy to operate even for a first time user of the car. No heavy diesel car clutch issues I was expecting.

Pickup from stop was decent enough – didn’t push it but when moved into second the vehicle seemed a bit slow to respond. Unfortunately the lack of the tachometer meant I had no assistance to tell if I was shifting too early etc.

Drive in 3rd and 4th were decent – again within city roads the ride was smooth and minor bumps etc were not noticed.  Even on a badly paved road at slow speed the ride was comfortable. Only one sharp bump made the suspension make an awkward sound and the vehicle sprung up a bit.

The center mounted speedo is easy to read and I got used to it in no time.

Air-conditioning seemed adequate at fan speed #2  in the afternoon Chennai heat – but again the sales guys had the Ac running before the TD itself. Over #2 the noise was a bit much.

Doors felt a bit thin and didn’t have a solid feel on closing.

Rear hatch has to be opened via central locking and the hand grip of the opening was a bit awkward.

Positives:

  • GD trim comes with ABS. Need to go to GD SP for Airbags
  • Comfortable front seats – adjustable headrest can be lived with
  • Amazing space at the rear seat – 3 people in comfort with around 4 inches to spare of legroom till the front seat (set for my driving position).
  • Flat rear floor makes middle passenger comfortable
  • Fairly decent and usable bootspace of around 251L. When folded it goes to around 500L.
  • Service interval of 10K after initial service at 1K. Also option of Smile service packages for lower costs.
  • 3 years 1Lakh Km warranty
  • ARAI claimed mileage of 23.59 (Not able to test mileage in the short drive I did)

Negatives:

  • Noise from the engine sounded like a share auto. This was heard over the AC. I guess one will get used to it over time- but for the entire duration of the test drive – this bothered me.  The Figo in comparison had a muted thrum and the Maruti diesels had a similar muted thrum that was not annoying.
  • Horn sounded adequate but was only a single one.

Missing features (that would make this a truly great car):

  • Tachometer
  • Split folding rear seat
  • Seat height adjust
  • Music system (strangely they have speakers installed for the GD SP trim but no music system)
  • Fog lamps
  • Alloys
  • Climate control / switch for fresh air/recirculation – the slider is from 1980s !!!

Availability at this time is around 30-45 days. Price for top end GD SP Diesel trim on road Chennai is 7.14L.

Overall:

You get a Toyota badge on your vehicle for the price. Ride and handling are decent enough. Feature list is a bit short and makes the Figo seem like a major value for money deal.

Also points to think about – do you really need a diesel – if not then can you spend a bit more for the Etios sedan (in petrol) ? The pricing for the top end Etios Sedan diesel on road I felt was a bit too much coming at around 9.46 on road.

 

Other Notes:

PS: Images are from www.toyotabharat.com & toyotaetiosliva.in

I just noticed – almost every  image of the Liva on the Toyota websites – are with the body kit and spoiler and with alloys (found only on the VX petrol trim) !!!! One has to pay extra for the body kit to be added to the diesels.

 

Liva Without Body Kit, Alloys

 

 

<- What it looks like without the body kit (see circled areas). Couldn’t find any other image without the body kit on the site :-).

 

 

 

Liva With Body Skirts, Spoiler and Alloys

 

 

 

 

 

 

<- Looks much more improved with body kit, spoiler and alloys(see circled areas). Fog lamps as well.(Click on image to view larger size)

 

 

 

 

Vodafone India Promotion: Ride with Lewis Hamilton

Vodafone India is running a promotional campaign/contest for its subscribers to win a chance to ride with Lewis Hamilton in Chennai on September 17th.

There are two ways of participating  either through an SMS contest or through an online game. What are you waiting for – go check it out.

More details here: http://www.vodafone.in/vmm/pages/hotlaps.aspx

A Chennai “Swift Record of Records” Experience

<Statutory  Long Post Warning !>
[slickr-flickr tag=”swiftgwr”  items=”38” ]
The Pre-Experience:

I signed up for the Swift “Record of Records” event the day it was announced on the net. I even sent the links to people I know who owned Swifts. I was biting my nails waiting to find out the location and the timing to make sure I wouldn’t miss it because of other commitments. I was happy to find it was for Sunday morning at a time when I was sure I could make it. I got my Father also interested to come. I was very happy to get the courier on Saturday afternoon with the details of the venue and the time. No mention of needing to reach at a specific time and no mention of what is to be done there. I felt the listing of goodies to be given was probably not required. I would have gone there without the goodies as well. Also wished more details of the actual record were mentioned.

The Start:

We started out at 6.45 sharp – I get my habit of being punctual from my father and both of us were bathed and dressed by 6.30. Car was fueled up the previous evening itself and tire air pressure checked as well. We decided to take the Poonamalee High road to NH7 and as soon as we neared the Koyambedu junction we started noticing Swifts which we felt were on their way to the event. One orange car had a really nice body kit, 17 inch alloys, graphics with angel eyes headlamps, free-flow exhaust and multiple spoilers. Others had just graphics while others had alloys. The orange car with the body kit was driving at a moderate pace and driving carefully. There were a lot of swifts that darted between traffic like they were in a big rush to reach MMSC(Madras Motor Sports Club) track. Time was not even 7.10 AM.  A red swift with 4 youngsters with angel eye headlamps  and alloys was in a big rush. Strangely I was in a good mood and let all the “racers” go ahead. I was doing a sedate 70-80 when compared to everyone else.

On reaching:

We reached MMSC by around 7.30 ( there were uniformed guards outside the entrance guiding cars in) and found ourselves to be car #127 based on the number suck on the top right corner of the windshield by some guys in White t-shirts with Swift written on it. Wow 126 people beat us to Sriperumbudur. We saw two long rows of cars parked in the parking lot/field. We parked where we were told by the white t-shirts.  A steady flow of cars were coming in. After we parked – there was no one to tell us what to do or where to go. We see people walk to an asbestos shed and followed them. We see breakfast buffet is available there.  If we had known we would have come here and eaten – sparing my mother the hassle of getting breakfast ready before 6.30.  Still ok – we have some coffee and wait – no place to sit – just stand. No one seems to be in charge and no one seems to have an idea of what happens next. I assume we have to just wait around. Suddenly there is an announcement to all vehicle owners with numbers less than 200 to be near their cars. We foot it back to the car – a good 300- 400 meters back. It is bright and sunny at 8 and already I am sweating like an animal. I was expecting further announcements but there were none.

Waiting:

We wait near the car for a bit and don’t know what to expect. We see some cars parked in a line waiting to be let on the track. Since there was no one to guide the participants – people started getting in their cars and getting in line behind the initial line of cars. The event management team is nowhere to be seen – only some people doing the initial number writing and asking people to park in the parking lot. Cars started creating new lines in addition to the initial line. Few white t-shirts suddenly turn up and try to merge 5 lanes of cars into one going to the track. They are calling up each other on mobiles – very clear that they themselves were not sure what to do.

Finally we start moving towards the track on a small approach road that could accommodate one vehicle at a time. It took so much time that my father had time to go to the rest room and come back and I had moved only a few feet. There were some boys with rags and cleaning solution wiping windshields of cars heading to the track.

Some balloons were tied to the wipers but they started bursting soon with the heat. A lot of cars were seen stacked 4 wide on the track. The JK Tyre folks were the first ones walking around giving service discount coupons while we were waiting to get to the track on the service road leading from the entrance to the track.

We finally were allowed to get on the track and park. People had no idea how long it would take and what we were waiting for. This was probably around 8.40 something. Didn’t feel like getting out of the car either so sat for a while. Then noticed white swift t-shirt wearing people walking around handing out large envelopes to each car. We get one too and find they are stickers for the car. We also get some forms to fill for using the track and allowing Maruti/MMSC and everyone else from being held responsible for anything that could happen on track. There are other things to fill which will get us a fuel card and amusement park tickets. A sheet of instructions was also given. A small Adidas red and black bag with Maruti Swift on it was also given. The bag had a lot of the goodies like a t-shirt( unfortunately M size – I have to wait for my son to grow up to probably 14/15 – no one else at my home will fit into it), cap, JK Tyres tubeless tire repair kit, couple of key chains, towel, pens, tissues. Wow so far so good.

 

We sweat and sit for at-least an hour while stickers are put on the cars. I had brought my camera with me and took photos whenever I could. Unfortunately while taking the photos I didn’t notice the “www.swift-life.com” sticker was being put off center at the front of the car. It was too late when I noticed. The huge white “SWIFT” sticker on the roof was nice but didn’t  account for the curve of the roof and ended up being put in a way that is slightly off in alignment. Before I know it JK Tyre & Suryan FM stickers were also on the car. All this stickering work could have been avoided and instead spent on a good briefing for the participants regarding the event.

There was music playing loudly on the track and a lot of stalls with games seemed to be there. However since there was no announcement as to what the plan was – most people were in or around their cars. Only a few people/children went and played. I managed go get a bottle of water and bottle of Nimbooz – we had brought 2 bottles of water but they were already getting warm in the heat. I took photos of the car all decked out with stickers. Small thought goes through my mind wondering how difficult it would be to get rid of the stickers and the gum that gets left behind. I read the list of instructions given regarding the parade and find that the speed limit should be kept around 20 kmph and max gear to be 3rd. No overtaking no honking, no listening to music, no taking photos and no drinking, seat belts to be worn at all times. I was impressed by the rules. Didn’t think for a moment about if people would observe these rules.

Finally past 10 we see the start of the parade move. Still no announcements – I manage to get a photo of the starting set of cars and then rush into my car. Some people have left their cars and are at the stalls and do not know the parade has started. So it takes time for all to start moving. I get to a place where there is a video camera mounted on a huge swing arm that’s being moved all over taking photos of the participants.

The Parade Starts:

I see the lady from Guinness talking to a couple of guys who seemed to be the organizers.  4 lanes of cars were being merged into 2 lanes at the exits from the pits. I manage to shoot some more photos before handing the camera to my father to take some photos while I start to drive.  We hear snatches of instructions while we drive past the starting point – mainly hear instructions about keeping the driver side window open for hearing instructions. I dutifully open the window – AC becomes pointless now so open both front windows and have the blower going on.

One old dude with a funny mop like haircut feels he has to honk when the cars start moving and he keeps repeating the honking at intervals.

We notice there is one guy on a bike before the first corner to the side of the road doing nothing and around C3 there is one more guy on a bike and another on foot who are half heartedly yelling out to cars that they shouldn’t  stop but to keep moving. They do not look past where they stand where we have to slow down to a stop since the cars in front are not moving and we can see the cars all the way from between C3-C4 all the way to C8. We can see that those cars are not moving – there is no way we can move without breaking formation. We don’t move out of formation but inch along when the vehicles in front move ahead. The people who we saw yelling out don’t stop were the last ones for the entire track – we didn’t see anyone else anywhere on the track.

Chaos Theory:

Till around C4 (4th corner) two rows of vehicles were moving beautifully maintaining speed and keeping distance. However as soon as we near the farthest end of the track from the pavilion we suddenly notice a couple of cars zoom through the middle of the two rows of vehicles and soon enough behind it others started  following.  These were definitely not maintaining speed, not maintaining formation nor driving carefully. All had their windows up as well.  Most didn’t have stickers applied or had numbers higher than 500.

The order began to turn into disorder at that point .People broke all formation and generally went for it zooming and racing all over the track.  I kept going at 20 for a bit then had to speed up to 30 to make sure I was not going to get hit by other vehicles. I didn’t go faster than that. Little past C10 we notice vehicles slow down quickly and come to a halt.  I do so as well and creep towards C11. There are 4 lanes at this point on the track and two sets of drivers driving on the grass/mud on both the sides of the track. We stop at this point for quite a while without making any progress.

Finally we reach a place past C11 where we can see C12 and the start of the track. Nothing is moving and we cannot tell why. Suddenly we see the vehicle start moving and more rush past us on the track and off the track as well. At the starting point we are made to keep going with no instructions whatsoever.  We pass C1,C2 and again the madness repeats. This time I felt it was worse since people were speeding much more than the first time. I stuck to the rightmost edge of the track and kept going hoping I wouldn’t get hit. I saw a couple of cars smack into each other – didn’t get to see how bad the damage was since I was too busy making sure I wasn’t going to get hit.

I had a very narrow miss when a Azure Grey Swift cut across my front leaving less than a meter to spare – he didn’t even notice my car while he cut across a corner ( I think it was C10) diagonally.

There was a bit when we were stopped near C11 where it was too far to walk to the start where all the people in the cars there had no idea what was going on at the start which was preventing the movement of vehicles.  People that heard the briefing about the windows being kept open had the windows open for quite a while but the heat at around 11 AM made it hard to sit without the AC and without any shade. Soon people were out of the cars and walking around outside.  Still smart alecs were driving off the tracks – wheels spinning and throwing up clouds of dust trying to get to the starting point – narrowly missing the people walking outside their cars.

Initially I thought we were at a position somewhere near the first quarter of the length of the parade but by the end of the second lap I realized I was in the last 2 quarters since most had overtaken us. By around 12.15 we were in the last quarter of the line.

We waited in the car for long time and couldn’t see any movement of the vehicles near the starting arch exiting the track. Some enterprising people moved aside the asbestos sheets and drove on the grass towards the pit lane since they got tired of waiting for the cars to move. Soon I realize there are very few cars behind me.  I also notice an exit gate has been opened that leads to the entrance and to the highway and people are leaving that way. I even saw an I10 come in through that gate.

The End:

We saw some people (official looking types – not sure if they were from Maruti or from MMSC) walk from the starting arch towards the side gate and while they walked past they said you can leave this way – take a u-turn and leave.  Some people including myself decided enough was enough and we backed up a bit , did a u-turn and drove off the track to the side gate. Strangely the people were giving out the fuel card and amusement park coupons there at the exit. Nothing was being collected from the cars (none of the cards we had filled were collected).  I grabbed what they were handing out and started off to the highway. Since it was already 12:45 we decided to stop for lunch at the hotel past Queensland and then head home. Finally reached home a bit before 3 PM.

In Hindsight Notes & thoughts of what could have been done better:

  • Who was responsible for the event ? Sponsorships are fine but there has to be one party owning such events and being responsible for them start to finish. No one dared own up for the fiasco – no one was to be seen managing or coordinating things.
  • Gaps in communication:
    • The initial details about the event gave a time saying 8.30-11.30.  Mistake one – this communication could have the detailed agenda mentioned to ensure people showed up on time.
    • A briefing of the volunteers should have been done. Also for 500+ participants probably at-least 2 volunteers for every fifty cars was required.
    • A briefing of all the drivers was required at the start. People who didn’t make it on time and didn’t get the briefing should not have been let on the track. Just the knowledge of what the rules of the event were and the fact that violation of the rules would result in the whole event not qualifying should have been mentioned. There should have been explicit instructions on “No Racing”.  If there was a problem with briefing all participants  at the same time– it could be done in batches of 50 each.
    • Most people who showed up (myself included) didn’t realize the record being attempted was the parade record and not the largest number per se that showed up. The sheet with instructions indicated they had planned for a max of 500 odd vehicles – but seeing what happened I feel even with half/quarter the number the organizers would be stumped.
    • Suryan FM one of the sponsors of the event could have made use of their FM channel by relaying instructions live over the air – this would have ensured all vehicles were synched up on instruction without any gaps. They instead were playing random music /some interviews of people at the event – I felt it was interviews of people still waiting to get on track.
  • A pace car/cars were required and volunteers should have been placed all around the track. Yes it was hot and would have been torture to stand in the sun but that’s nothing a good umbrella and sunglasses couldn’t remedy.
  • No signs of any ambulance or medical assistance /emergency breakdown/tow vehicle.  There were breakdowns we heard and people somehow managed to set things right on their own. I would be surprised if no one required some sort of medical assistance during the event. On a minimum there should have a doctor and ambulance on hand for any emergencies – people should also know what to do if there was an emergency of any sort – medical or mechanical.
  • There was absolutely no police presence!!! Whenever there are large crowds gathering – it definitely makes a difference to have police presence.  Of course this is on private property – but it is a public event – a request to the police and they would be there in full force. This could have prevented ugly fights from breaking out and also prevented petty theft from happening as well. I saw some youngsters break the binds on the stacks of tires near C11 and load up their car with at least 2 tires. What they can do with old tires is not sure – but they still stole it. I couldn’t see their car so don’t have the number plate.
  • The stickering work done all around the car could have been avoided – saved the expenses and spent it on communication of details of the event and probably saved hours of time.
  • Coupons for the petrol/diesel & amusement park could have been given at the beginning / it could have been communicated that coupons would be mailed to people if there was a delay.
  • There didn’t seem to be any media coverage of the event by mainstream media? Why? Finally the only mention in major papers was abou the Gurgaon event.

All in all I wish it had been managed better and that the crowd had also behaved better. We could have been part of a Guinness World Record – but I guess that was not meant to happen.

My Driving Resolutions for 2010

I usually do not make New Year resolutions. However this year I wanted to do things a bit differently and spent some thought on what I would try to follow as my driving resolutions for the year. Here they are:

  • To follow rules of the road & maintain speed limits
  • To use indicators while changing lanes always
  • To check all directions before turning /changing lanes 
  • To allow every “horny” and “flashy” driver behind to pass me when safe to do so
  • To not take it personally when cut off by rude drivers/bikers etc.
  • To drive defensively by staying alert, calm and composed on the road
  • To use the horn only when absolutely necessary ( reducing this has reduced my stress and made me a more careful driver)
  • To stretch every drop of fuel as much as possible – for our future generations
  • To limiting taking off from signals to once in a long while
  • To take public transport/company bus whenerver possible

Wish you all a great New Year and years to come – filled with the best of affordable vehicles, good roads, well behaved traffic and low fuel prices !

It sounds too good to be true – but just takes one person at a time to follow the rules and make the roads better –  that one person is you ! What are your new year resolutions ? Please let us know through comments.

10 Sure Ways to Cause Road Rage in India

Picture of angry man with cigarette and mustache.
Image via Wikipedia
This list of pet peeves are for me  – when encountered are sure to make me loose my cool on the road:
  1. Incessant honking – a butterfly flaps his wings – a honk, the signal is red – honk, traffic is moving honk – for everything !
  2. Flashing headlamps – demanding everyone move aside finally when given space/there is space overtakes and then pulls to a halt at the side! If you want to pull to the side you do not have to race several vehicles to do so. An indicator is all that is required.
  3. Repeated attempts to overtake when there is no place to do so safely(single lane roads).
  4. Changing lanes/weaving in and out of traffic.
  5. Vehicles that do not seem to know the concept of lanes and usually drive using 2 lanes.
  6. Vehicles needing to turn, taking up several lanes and chocking entire flow of traffic in all directions. Also bikers/other vehicles who need to go straight who will cut in front of those turning at a corner risking an accident to do so.
  7. Vehicles that follow without leaving a safe distance. They cannot possibly stop in time if vehicles in front have to stop suddenly. They will hit the vehicle in front then angrily accuse them of having ‘stopped suddenly’ !
  8. People driving (some times expensive sometime cheapo) vehicles that they didn’t put in their own blood sweat and tears to buy. Usually gifted/loaned/entrusted by their parents/employer who can afford it but cannot afford the time to teach them how to drive carefully and respecting other road users. TN07AQ1665 was an example for this a silver Skoda Octavia rashly driven by a chap with a cap could be a driver on GST near the Airport .
  9. People talking on mobiles without using a hands free. One idiot middle aged male in an Orange Indica who almost hit me didn’t have the grace to say sorry – I later saw he was both smoking and talking on his cell phone without a handsfree. If you know him TN07AT6004 please teach him some road sense and tell him Orange doesnt suit an Indica – it still sucks!
  10. People driving on the wrong side of the central road lines/driving in the wrong direction into traffic to ‘save’ a few minutes. Almost all bikers I have seen do this. I even saw a Tata Sumo cab yellow board cut through the divider plastic thingys and happily overtake on the new big flyover on Usman road near Panagal Park. Number plate unfortunately I forgot in my shock.

**Bikers who loosen stones of ‘piled stone’ dividers to beat traffic jams deserve special mention since they do this, speed away on the other side of the road leaving the bricks/rocks on the road for several other crashes to happen later at night**

All the above listed deserve the foulest and worst local curses known to man to be heaped on their heads. Hope they reach their final destination sooner and not annoy driving enthusiasts again 😉

Well this is the list guaranteed to boil and cook my goat. What are your top annoyances ?

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10 Tips for Child Car Safety

Free child looking out a window with reflectio...
Image by Pink Sherbet Photography via Flickr

I usually park my car in such a way that I have to back the car into the spot. Every time I do so, I worry that someone from my family will be behind the car and I may hit them by mistake. This fear has grown ever since my son started walking a couple of months ago.

I saw this on the net: Miracle Baby Pinned Under SUV Survives Unharmed. I proceed to freak out even more.  The story referenced a website called: http://kidsandcars.org/ which seems to be a site collecting and maintaining statistics of children injured/killed in accidents involving automobiles. Their statistics reveal that of all fatalities involving children from 2002 – 2007 the top 3 reasons were:

  1. 44% were due to “back overs” (backing up over a child)
  2. 17% was due to “front overs” (opposite of back over)
  3. 16% due to Hyperthermia.

Having freaked myself out enough – I started to worry that since this is not tracked well in the US which usually has statistics of everything, the statistics in India would be very different. I do not even want to think of it since it will be more gruesome than the US statistics. Rather than think about that I thought maybe I should put together some tips for parents / drivers.

Tips for vehicle drivers with little children around:

  1. Check for small children hiding/playing immediately in front of , behind or under the car before starting. Always!
  2. Secure children inside the car in child seats or have adults who are secured with a seat-belt hold the child (India specific – since the usage of car seats is minimal).  Child car seats are best kept in the rear seat away from airbags if present in the car. When held by an adult make sure their heads are away from window panes since bumps on the roads could cause their heads to hit the glass. If asleep they should either be held by an adult -not left on the seat alone.
  3. Children should never be allowed to stand inside(in the middle of the seats etc.) a moving vehicle since sudden stops could cause them to fall.
  4. Children should not be allowed to sit/lie down in the luggage area of hatchbacks or SUVs where there are no proper seats.
  5. Never  leave children in vehicles alone. Parental supervision is a must. Doesn’t matter if it is hot or cold or whatever in between.  (Recently a car was  stolen from near the Chennai airport with 2 children in it – thief lead police on a chase until he was finally stopped.)
  6. Enable the power window locks and child locks on the doors to ensure that children cannot open the doors/windows unless under adult supervision. If the windows are to be kept open (no A/c or non-working a/c) make sure the children’s hands and feet are always in the car and never outside.
  7. Keep enough toys/food/water in the car and always have an adult to keep them entertained and busy to prevent them from crying/distracting the driver thereby causing an accident.
  8. Check for little hands and feet when opening/closing doors/windows/trunks/bonnets/tailgates etc. Applies when sliding/folding seats/gloveboxes/cigarette  lighters as well.
  9. Do notallow children who are not old enough to drive a vehicle.
  10. Drive carefully, within speed limits, follow all rules, be courteous to other motorists and set a good example to the young impressionable minds in the car.

Request: Dear readers – have I missed any key tips ?  Please doadd more tips through the comments – I need your help to  build this list up.  Please do share these tips with parents of small children who may find it useful as well.

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An Indica Experience of ~ 9 years & 1,25,000 Km

This post is written by one of the readers of this blog Jacob Chacko who on request shared the ownership experience of his Tata Indica (he owned and drove it for around 9 years clocking around 1,25,000 km in the duration selling it this past Friday). Thanks Jacob Chacko for sharing your experience with the Indica!  Here is his story with photos of his car: 

After 11 years on a petrol Ambassador, I had begun to feel weary of driving with such a heavy steering wheel (perhaps, because I was also growing in age), that I started looking for a new Car. India’s dream car, TATA Indica had been launched just about a year ago. The euphoria that peaked with margins for new Indicas had died down and teething troubles had taken over. Since I was contemplating a change from an Ambassador, my priorities were adequate space (for my parents), ease of ingress and egress, driveability and good fuel efficiency. I needed to run 1000- 1500 km a month and a diesel alternative to my ambassador had become rather imperative.

 The TATA tagline was quite impressive : “The space of an Ambassador with the efficiency of a Zen at the price of a Maruti-800 !” This description vastly suited my requirements. I did a TD to verify facts. The space indeed was fine. The diesel engine did not sound all that bad – certainly not the roar of (shipping) diesel engines that were doing duty on some Ambassadors. The only competitor was the Fiat Uno, in which efficiency and build were reported to be superior. But, then TATA was coming up with a passenger car for the very first time. Who wouldn’t give them a try, especially in the context of the near-repulsive service from Uno’s then dealers, TVS ? The decision in favour of Indica was rendered easy by a comparative feature that appeared in one of the auto magazines, which gave the verdict, something to this effect : Despite, all that, the scales can be  seen ticking the Indica way with the claimed superior fuel efficiency at much lower vehicle costs. The local TATA dealership took personal interest, offered freebies and supervised the delivery of an Emerald Green (no semblance to green ; more to grey, though !) Indica in November 2000.

I remember I was ecstatic all through the running-in period : it had already fetched me a fuel efficiency of 17 kmpl ! And, I did like the soft sound of the new diesel engine.

 Problems It was smooth riding until around 37000 km when trouble surfaced with the car showing excessive oil consumption. Besides oil changes specified at service schedules, I had to keep topping-up every now and then. I had maintained my own diary on the mileage and the oil consumed. I started writing letters to TATA management, with little reprieve.

This went on until the vehicle clocked about 70000 km. Meanwhile, confronted with my repeated visits to the TASC with the very same complaint of excessive oil consumption and allied effects of excessive smoke on initial starting etc., the service advisors privately hinted that engine overhauling was the only way out. They narrated several instances of similar occurrences and how, after engine overhauling, such vehicles were rendered out of the clutches of this malady.

After repeated complaints to TATA management, the TASC was instructed to conduct a HOC Test (High Oil Consumption Test). All oil was drained out of the sump, weighed and poured back before it was driven by TATA (me seated alongside) for 300 km at a stretch. The residual oil was again drained and weighed.

Oil consumption was calculated as : Weight of oil x 1000 / 0.88 x Km run.

In my case, for 299 km, the difference in weight of oil was observed to be 125.2 g.

Thus,  125.2 X 1000 / 0.88 X 299 = 475.83 ml / km

TATA explained that 500 ml / km was the maximum permissible limit for Oil consumption (but, I was not shown any documentation to attest this claim) and that, therefore, this value was indeed within limits ! The fact that the value was almost at the max. of the permissible limit was not a matter of concern to them.  Even so, it was clear that at as low a mileage as < 70000 km, the car was already nearing the upper limit of “permissible” oil consumption. The import of the idiom, “You can take a horse to water, but cannot make it drink,” dawned upon me with full force.

My last resort was to address none other than Mr Ratan Tata himself. If this excessive oil consumption were not to be attributed to flaws in manufacture and / or in strict quality control, were Indica cars expected to undergo engine overhauling at mileages as low as 70000 km. His office replied that Mr Tata was on tour and that the matter would be attended to by others. This question, finally, fetched me some minor discounts by way of piston rings and accessories for carrying out engine overhauling at < 70000 km ! 

TATA ought to be more receptive to customer feedback / complaints and should demonstrate the resolve to redress genuine grievances to mutual satisfaction. For those like me who were prepared to accept the new Indian venture with all its teething troubles, TATA – through their actions, rather inaction – seemed to prove the point that they cared a hoot for us ! They ought to display the readiness, leave alone the grace, to acknowledge deficiencies / faults.

Visits to TASC (Focuz Motors)

This car has been with me for 104 months now and has clocked 125000+ km. I have strictly adhered to TATA recommendations on service schedules and have maintained it with utmost care. In all, I have had to make 49 visits to the TASC, of which 23 were for regular service check-ups at specified intervals. In all fairness, I must compliment the service personnel at the TASC (Benz Motors, later renamed as Focuz Motors) for being receptive, considerate and helpful. I might well be one among their long-standing customers. 

Other issues / repairs

After overhauling of the engine, there has not been any complaint of excessive oil consumption or the like. Other issues have been the following :

  • Clutch plate replacement at ~ 70000 km (done along with engine-overhauling)
  • Glow plugs were the most problematic, requiring 8 replacements
  • Steering rack and pinion assy was replaced at ~ 95000 km
  • Wheel cylinders replaced 6  times
  • Ball joints replaced 8 times
  • AC bearing, compressor repairs effected at ~ 87000 km

Summary
Despite all these troubles, this Indica of mine has never let me down on the road. Fuel efficiency was an average of 16-18 km/ litre within the city (with AC) amidst Cochin’s notorious traffic snarls and between 20 -22 km on the highways (with AC). It has even peaked to 24 km / litre at times.

The first battery had a remarkable life of 68 months !

I have bills, vouchers and accounts of every expense incurred at TASC all through the past ~ 9 years and ~ 125000 km. Costs for maintenance (includes spares, lubes, consumables, servicing, labour and taxes, but excludes tyres, battery and fuel) of this vehicle have worked out to an average of ~ 80 ps per km.

My Next Car – Not a TATA:

The new version — Indica Vista is generous on space and tempting in appeal. User reviews that sing praises (for sure, they have the right to do so) to the vehicle are all written based on the early few thousand km experience. Problems crop up only after the vehicle has run ~ 15000 km. All across the web, I have come across only a single review from an owner who had used his Vista Quadrajet for ~ 16000 km and that review was indeed daunting. I wouldn’t want to risk a repeat of the snags I faced – all of which could be traced to manufacturing defects arising out of severe deficiencies in strict quality control at every stage, including that at the site of the vendors that supply spares to TATA cars. After all, isn’t experience the best teacher ?

TATA badly needs to reorient their functional priorities to be sensitive to the needs and perceptions of the customer, if ever they intend to befriend and build lasting relationships with him. The Indica Club, launched by TATA with much fanfare, appeared to have met with a premature death; TATA did not seem to be bothered even by this.

Therefore, sadly though, I have decided to trade off my Indica for another brand from a different manufacturer, keeping my fingers crossed on what might yet lie in store for me now !

PS:  Please do reach out to Jacob through the comments here on this post in case you need any tips or advice on Indica’s. Am hoping to get an update on his experience with a new brand of vehicle after his move from Tata.

Hyundai I10 Automatic – Short Test Drive

One of my colleagues at work mentioned a problem he was having. He had one car (Wagon-R) and was trying to teach his wife how to drive. For days he and his wife would venture out early in the morning for his wife to attempt getting familiar with the car, the gears, the roads, pedestrians, two wheelers and also slopes of flyovers and railway underpasses. To top it all they stay in a place called Choolaimedu which has one long really really crowded narrow lane permanently full of all types and modes of transport.  Very little progress was happening from the aspect of the wife learning driving.

Finally they test drove a semi-automatic with the contraption called an “auto clutch” which gets fitted to a regular manual car. I remembered some ownership reports of the same and pointed them to it and they decided not to attempt getting it. They ventured back to the driving sessions but without much interest. Somewhere along the way when I was asked about the auto clutch I had told my colleague about the Hyundai I10 automatic which now replaces the original cheapest Hatchback from Hyundai – the Santro. He and his wife test drove the I10 and felt their needs would be met by it and decided to buy it. They got it for 4.85 lakhs on road with some corporate discounts and some offer. I got to see the car one evening last week. :-).

electric_red

Outside:The exteriors look like any other I10 – just a small badge at the left rear stating ‘Auto’ shows something different. The car color was Electric Red. The pull type door handles worked well and the door was light easy to open. Felt very similar to a Santro. I don’t care too much for the front of the car but can live with the looks of the car from the sides and the rear. The rear roof spoiler accessory makes the car look much better. So will wider tires, nice alloys and dark tints.

Inside:  The interior was beige mostly except for a dark brown section on the dashboard which seemed to have no reason to be there and looked very weird.Front fog lamps not present and neither were the rear wash wipe and demister. I sat in the passenger seat initially while my colleague got the car out of the parking lot and onto the road. The engine sound was almost nil inside the cabin and the transmission didn’t have any weird jerks while shifting. He didn’t have any trouble maneuvering the car from the basement through streams of people walking around. We finally got to an empty stretch of road and I was offered a chance to TD, I had initially refused but didn’t want to pass this opportunity so I got into the driver seat.

The seating position was good and very “Santroish” with good visibility all around including from both outside mirrors which were just the right size and in the right place. The gear knob had a silver finish piece on top and felt just the right size to hold and also had the button to lock the gear in place when not pressed.

auto_trans

Drive: I pressed the brake down, started the engine and moved from Park into ‘D’ for Drive. When I lifted my leg off the brake the car gently started moving without any jerks. To pick up pace one has to gently push the accelerator and the car does respond. Of course not with the urgency of a manual but decent enough.

I didn’t want to push this new car much but before I knew it it was touching 60 KMPH ! No harshness from the engine nor any significant increase in sound. I could feel the automatic transmission shift up through the gears – but only since I was keenly expecting it and listening for it.  Making a ‘U’ turn at a break in the median was really nice, just stop wait and when a good sized gap appears in oncoming traffic just ease into it by pressing the accelerator. No attention required to shift gears up and both hands are free to manage the turning of the wheel.

The stretch of road I drove the car on was mostly well paved so didn’t hit any potholes with the car. The only rough stretches that were there we covered with great care since this was an brand new car without even its number plates. It had decent enough clearance for normal bumps and speed breakers without any issue.

Slowing down also was easy enough just press down on the brakes accordingly and the transmission moves down accordingly. I didn’t get to test panic braking but wish this car came with ABS as it would be good to have.

No tachometer on the version I drove (Magna trim) was the only negative I could think of… But again it is not really required for an automatic where the transmission will shift up a gear before things get too hot.

Overall I think it is a good car.It felt much better to drive than the last automatic I had driven ( a Santro automatic). I have driven an automatic Honda Civic  for a couple of years – this one comes nowhere near that car – but for India and the space and traffic that exists here – it is definitely sized right. The pricing as always  I wish it could have been cheaper as it makes a lot of sense to get an automatic in crowded cities.

Ownership Experience:Since I took my time writing this up I got to hear of the ownership experience one week past purchase. The views of the two drivers of the car echo the differing expectations men and women have of the vehicles they own and drive.

The husbandwho was very enthusiastic about the ease of driving the car still says its very easy to drive in peak traffic but has now started cribbing that it doesn’t give the rush and response as his car a manual transmission Wagon-R. He is back to driving his manual shift car.

The wife on the other hand is overjoyed at getting a car of her own that she can drive almost everywhere due to its compact size, good visibility and most of all she can concentrate on the road and on avoiding the many million maniacs driving alongside without any worry whatsoever about stalling the engine on starting or needing to worry about shifting up and shifting down and clutch modulation etc. Within a day of purchase she was happily driving through the railway subway near Loyola college coming from Nungambakkam towards Choolaimedu which has a pretty nasty upward slope ending at a stop light which 99% of the time will always be red forcing the motorists to wait on the upward slope.

Agony usually happens in new drivers who have to start off from a stop on a slope and usual mistakes while starting are rolling too far backwards and hitting the vehicles behind, cars in front rolling back and hitting your car or the most common one of stalling the engine and not being able to start back again. Honks from motorists behind the new driver will add to the stress. This crazy slope is now handled by this new driver with the automatic geared car where she only has to press the accelerator just enough to move up. Husband still has to sit with his eyes closed beside her but that’s better than having to watch the road, her and keep reminding her to shift up since the 1st gear alone cannot be used :-).

The wife who loves this car so much hasn’t driven manual transmission cars enough to appreciate the fine level of control – for such a driver the automatic makes a lot of sense and can be the best thing for them to drive. For drivers very experienced with squeezing out the most of mileage and power from their vehicles an automatic may not be very engaging to drive.

PS: One item I do not have but will update later is the actual fuel efficiency of the car. Hope to get it from the owners after they drive it for a bit.

Photos: From the Hyundai India I10 Website – since I didn’t have my proper camera with me and the ones with the phone camera suck 🙁

External Link:An old post on Cybersteering that has a round up of automatics available back then and with tips on how to drive with an automatic: http://www.cybersteering.com/cruise/feature/karma/auto.html

Auto Clutch review : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/accessory-part-reviews/47407-autoclutch-review.html?highlight=hyundai+I10+automatic

Other I10 Auto Reviews: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/50519-another-automatic-house-i10-automatic.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/56981-my-new-hyundai-i10-automatic.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/57765-yet-another-hyundai-i10-automatic-w-pics.html