About Me

I am a guy with petrol running in my blood and a V12 in my chest cavity. i have a dog with an attitude problem and my girl frnd is convinced that i am having an affair with my Scorpio. I will try to offer you best advices on how to maintain your SUV, and how to save this world :) bleh.

Popular Feature

Analysis and Review of Mahindra Xylo If you are someone who has been surfing the web and is interested in auto, it will be hard for you to miss the buzz .........Read more:

Analysis and Review of Mahindra Xylo














Aaaah well I need to talk
about this. If you are someone who has been surfing the web and is interested in auto, it will be hard for you to miss the buzz that is going on. Mahindra Xylo which was previously codenamed Ingenio was supposed to launch this month. But now it has been postponed to 13th Jan because of some idiots who created havoc in Mumbai with their AK’s. I cannot stop appreciating Mahindra for this decision they took considering peoples sentiments were already down.

Okay a little info on what Xylo is for people who are oblivious to what is happening around them. As far as the word is out Xylo is an MPV with a 2.5 liter CRDe. The specifications are obviously not revealed but what we all know is that Scorpio CRDe engine which is 2600 cc produces 115bhp at 3800rpm and 28.3 kgm of torque between 1700-2200rpm and Xylo is supposedly to have the same engine.

Now you must be thinking why a guy who swears by an SUV is talking about an MPV...that is because I am not in love with the word SUV, I am in love with its features! I propagate the carpooling concept very strongly and I think an MPV is par excellence in that matter. The only reason I didn’t like MPVs’ were because of the looks and the power which is usually compromised. However Mahindra is successful in creating an MPV which looks neat and masculine (according to Autocar image) and is also loaded with power.

Mahindra also launched this sweet little teaser website (www.mahindraxylo.co.in) which gives you sneak peak of Xylo. But what I liked the most about the website is the interview with the international photographer Lou, his views on Xylo really matters as he has seen so many international models first hand. The second thing I loved was that the website has a ‘be linked’ section in the website which has links to official pages on digg, delicious, Orkut and Facebook. I was wondering when was the last time an Indian giant ever had social media links on their website let alone be present in social media.

Mahindra is still young, hip and trendy…it reflects in their car design, their website and their attitude...I am sure this is what will make them go all the way in the global market…won’t be long before Mahindra will be compared to the likes of Porsche and Ferrari..Way to go! And thanks to Mr. Pawan Goenka and team, India will be proud of them!

New Idea for a weekend date!! (In my Scorpio)














Dates.

Not the fruit… the miraculous event where we guys end up spending our allocated budget for the entire year!!
So… Dates. Dates are a tricky thing. Where do you go? What do you wear?
Should you take her for dinner? or for movies? or for both?!
Should you… sorry, Are you… Are you supposed to get gifts? Flowers? Chocolates?... aaaaahhhhhhhh!!
You get the idea.

The Preface:
This weekend… 4th anniversary with girlfriend!!...
Had to try something new… She was in one of those ‘nothing is wrong’ mood…
Went for a date… in my Scorpio!!
Most memorable date till date!

The Date:
I picked her up from her house in Juhu and started off by giving her one of those big yellow flowers (her favourite… heaven knows what they are called). Then I attached my pen drive to the music player, reduced the bass from my woofer and played MLTR, James Blunt, etc. With the music system I’ve set up, it seemed like there was a band playing just for us! I kept changing the songs according to the moment and… I must say… having the remote attached to my Steering Wheel made it really convenient to keep holding hands every once in a while and also drive easily.

After getting a view of Juhu Beach we went straight to Carter road, then Band-stand. We had rolled the windows down to enjoy the cool sea breeze.
(note: she tied her hair so that she doesn’t get knots in them. Very important thing for girls but still very alien to me!)
Some times we would chat, some times we sang along and sometimes we just held hands, stayed quite and enjoyed the moment… basically, the idea was working, the drive was going well.
(note: wind on your face… sea… music… night- makes the atmosphere really romantic!)

It was time for the climax. I secretly called up a restaurant in Bandra (who I had spoken to before picking her up and also when we were leaving Juhu Beach) and said that I will be reaching in 5 minutes.
(note: no, after such a wonderful evening I wasn’t going to take her to some stupid restaurant!)
When I reached the restaurant many cars were parked there but i guess scorpio is not a car the waiter can miss. We picked up the food and went to Bandra Reclamation, where we parked the SUV with its back to the sea.
(note: the huge woofer in the rear seating space makes a good buffet table!)

The Climax:
We got out, had the Thai food - she loves it. Got back in the Scorpio, reversed it to face the sea now… pulled back our seats, reclined it a bit… I played her favourite songs that I was saving up for last… held hands… looked at the magnificent sea… looked at each other…then believe it or not we sat back and played snake and ladder like we used to when we were kids( the loser had to take the other shopping). Then an hour later I dropped her back home… before her mom would start calling!

The Best part:
And after I dropped her she kept messaging me as to how wonderful the evening was and that this was the best date ever!! The best part was that both of us never felt that we were sitting inside a car. Scorpio has got so much room it felt we were sitting in a planetarium and gazing at the marvels of nature!
I don’t want to put a cost to it but it was an anniversary date and it cost me just Rs. 1500!!
BEAT THAT!



PS:Next I am going to take her for a long drive...Longer than she can imagine ;)...Planning to touch Goa and back in 24 hours... I am sure my Scorpio can do it and that would be one more adventure to share with my first love (my Sco
rpio that is!)

The basics of Tyre Burst / Blow Out







1. How To Handle A Tyre Burst:

a. What Not To Do:
DO NOT PANIC!!
Yes… no matter how many times you hear this about everything else in life, its true. If you panic, you tend to hurry and not think clearly and in that you may end up doing one of the following things that you are not supposed to do.

DO NOT SLAM THE BRAKES!!
Although it may seem like the wisest thing to do it is not. Why? Because one of your tyres is out of your control (it burst!) and when you apply brakes, it will do so to every tyre but only three will respond favourably. So, depending on the speed of the vehicle, it may end up skidding sideways or rolling around in circles like a ballerina till it hits something!!

DO NOT STEER IN ANY DIRECTION!!
Again, even though it is a reflex action that when a car gets out of control you tend to steer it immediately to the side, don’t do this because, as mentioned, one of your tyres is not responding and will only make matters worse.

Ok, yeah, I know it seems like I’m saying “just close your eyes and pray” but no, that’s not what I meant. Now comes:
b. What To Do:
Depending on how fast one’s reflexes are and how much one can remember at the particular time, here is the list, somewhat in order:

HOLD THE STEERING TIGHT!!
Hold the steering wheel tightly so that the vehicle doesn’t start banging into everything around it.

LEAVE THE ACCELERATOR… NOW!!
You have to get the machine to slow down. So that you can do something about it. Leave the accelerator so that the deceleration process begins.

TURN ON THE EMERGENCY / PARKING LIGHTS!!
It’s a wise thing to let the people behind know that something is wrong and they should also slow down a bit and definitely not try and overtake you.

GEAR BRAKE!!
Just because I said don’t slam the brakes doesn’t mean you don’t have to slow down! Gear brake (but not at once!! Don’t get it down from 5th to 1st!!). Slowly get it down.

SIGNAL AND GENTLY STEER ASIDE AFTER SPEED HAS DIED OUT!!
Had to steer eventually, but do it only after giving an indication of the same and after speed has died out considerably! AND do it gently! No sudden movements!

2. How Do You Know It’s a Tyre Burst?:

You may actually think it’s an earthquake but its not. The vehicle will vibrate. Steering it will become difficult. The steering will start tilting more to the side of the tyre burst. There will be a loud sound as if the vehicle hit something (in some small cases the air will flow out steadily and you wouldn’t even get to hear the sound). Naturally your vehicle is programmed to steer left when you take your hands off the steering, so don’t get confused, only when your steering wheel is tilting to any side even when you have your hands on the steering there is a grave problem. Either your axle is broken or you have a tyre burst situation.

3. Prevention:
Many people say that filling in too much air in the tyres will cause it to burst but the fact of the matter is that a person will purposely have to fill a crazy amount of air in the tyre to make it burst while driving. That being said, don’t fill in too much air. Mostly it is less air being filled into the tyre or old and peeling tyres that burst.

So, all being said and done, always maintain right air pressure, always use healthy tyres and always keep a spare tyre( it’s useless if you don’t have the jack and Tommy, so keep that too) … just in case!

Indian SUV are more fuel efficient than the big American SUV ?


Are you waiting for me to answer??!!
Come on folks, we all know the answer... For anyone who is still in doubt, the answer is a big and loud YES! The single largest selfish reason for people in the U.S. to have started dumping the idea of getting an SUV is the rise in fuel prices. And because of this, the monstrous American SUVs (who are HEAVY fuel consumers) have become unaffordable and impractical. Our Indian counterparts, however, will keep finding a rising market share due to the practicality of the Indian SUVs.
I’m calling them practical because they keep in mind the needs and wants of the Indian consumer.

Big family? – More Space!
Wanna save money? – Fuel Efficient!
Horrible Roads? – Great Suspension and ground Clearance!
Neighbour’s envy? – Stunning Looks!

So, in the country where “Bada hai to behtar hai!” (bigger is better!), our car makers are offering the looks, the economy, the space, the comfort, the affordability… basically everything that the American consumers have been wanting from their SUVs. But then, the question arises, what is different? What are we doing different to make these mean machines purchasable?
The answer is pretty simple as well… we aint giving that much power.
Why? U may ask…
Well, because we don’t need it! I Can’t think of any mountain or “off-road” in any part of this country where these cars cant go!
I have been to a lot… and I mean A LOT of remote places in this country with horrible roads and found our rugged Mahindra Jeep running around! So big fancy SUV… not really a necessity.
What about the Himalayas? U may ask…
Let me inform you, Gypsy King is ruling the place for a long time now… even in rallies!
For the cities there are 3 major players, in the ‘absolute-affordable’ market I am talking about. They are- Tata’s Sumo Grande and Safari and Mahindra’s Scorpio. All three of them have a good market share of their own. The difference? Well this is the interesting part. New Sumo (Grande) and Safari have the same engine. In fact almost everything is similar, if not same (and I personally like Grande’s looks better)!
As for Safari and Scorpio (arch-rivals), Safari gives a little more bhp but then they are using more RPM to get there. I would have preferred if they used other methods to get there since that way they could have been able to maintain a good fuel economy. Since looks are a very individual choice… this is the point where Scorpio definitely scores one-up over Safari- Fuel economy.

does driving an SUV need SPECIAL SKILLS??


I dont think anyone will disagree with the fact that there is a huge rise in the sheer number of SUV's that are being seen in the cities. In fact, this SUV trend is pretty evident throughout the country if u go to see (and i am happy!).
As i've already said in my last post(click here to see), the skills of the drivers are equal in both the cities (Delhi-Mumbai). That being said, many people think that driving an SUV specifically needs special skills since it is a bigger, heavier vehicle with the chances of a 'turtle' happening always at a high due to its high ground clearance... They are right and wrong.
Now, while driving an SUV is not half as difficult as driving jumbo jet! The above mentioned have been the issues that have been coming forward with SUVs in the past. But then we can also be assured that the companies who are investing millions on these cars will take care of any problem that arises (if they wanna continue earning the millions, that is!)
The latest mHawks, for instance, that have come out from the Mahindra stable, are equipped with features like:
ABS (or Anti-lock Braking System) that makes sure u don't lose the control of your car and if the car is in control it will never 'turtle'.
Cruise Control, this is perfect for long drives/highways where u can rest your feet and let the machine take over for a while as it continues to move at a constant, controlled speed.
The Parking Assist is a small but important feature that will be used the most often in the cities i guess. It is helpful while reversing the big beasts to park them. Ultra-sonic sensors judge the distance between the car and anything in the way and display it on the rear view mirror! Very Bond... James Bond!
Sounds so simple isn't it? Well, it actually is. ABS, cruise control and parking assist apart from stuff like 'fire retardant upholstery', 'rain sensor' and 'crash protection crumple zone' make the experience of driving a SUV further more enjoyable, safer and u dont need special training for it either!

are DELHI drivers BETTER than their MUMBAI counterparts??



NO, period.
sorry to break the entire summary in the first line itself but its a fact. I am, today, breaking a myth I have been hearing of for a long time, every time traffic in the city is discussed.
Come on guys (and gals, since they have also commented to my posts), this is INDIA and every metro has similar drivers (I dont mean chauffeurs I mean drivers).
Driving pleasure is greater in Delhi, marginally, not due to the miraculous existence of better drivers in that city but because it is the goddamn capital of this country and due to that it is witness to:
  • better quality roads
  • more fly-overs
  • stricter police restrictions
how does being the capital result in these 3 ultra important points coming into creation? because my friends, the capital of our wonderful country has cars equal to Mumbai, Kolkatta and Hyderabad combined!
And most importantly, it has 90% of the VVVVVIPs (politicians) staying there and they do not like travelling on bumpy roads. Also, like Ostriches (who hide their face in the ground and think the predator cant see them), they make the city they live in look beautiful and think that the entire country looks like this!
Anyways, forget about them... if I start I wont be able to stop myself. Coming back to the main point, the drivers in both these cities are equally skilled, in fact the public transport is much better in Mumbai (im talkin about buses not metro) but our Pandus here are happy taking their small bribe n letting us go where as the thulle over their have an axe on their head to keep traffic in control.
Systematic traffic lines followed in Mumbai is very visible when you compare it with any other cities in India, therefore Mumbai definitely has more patient drivers than their counterparts.
 

xylo_wallpaper_1

Tata_Sierra_82111

square1

Maruti-Grand-Vitara-2.0-AT1

clouds

clouds over the highway

xylo_wallpaper_21

mahindra.classic.1601