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.

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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:

Mahindra Xylo- the exterminator crushes competition

“Thousands across India have outgrown their sedans and are getting set to have the time of their lives in the Xylo” said Mahindra officials. Well their statement definitely holds true as they did have 17000 booking since the launch 5 months back. Oh what a journey it has been! Although I am typically fond of my SUV but can’t help notice how well Xylo is doing. I observed that consumers consider Xylo the bigger Nano. I asked one of my colleague who purchased a Xylo as to why he preferred Xylo over Scorpio (I was convincing him to buy a Scorpio as if I were a salesman at the dealership). The dialogue that pursued is put below as is.

Friend: Bro I have a family of 6. Xylo provided me good leg room and the third seating was also comfortable to fit a 6 footer like me.
Me: Hmm for you it’s understandable. But is it any good for offroading and long highway drive. I thought you like doing that. Is it a compromise for your family?
Friend: No. Maybe it doesn’t look like an SUV but sure does perform like one. And it performs best on highway on high speeds. The traction on the wheel is great. It’s almost as if the vehicle is automated and I am the dummy. Plus come on it has all great tech features and the ABS. And I don’t need to tell you about its price. Its damn affordable! The price was another reason to choose it over Scorpio. I thought I would fit in a good audio-video system with the money I save. I think Xylo should have been renamed “Mahindra Macro”.
Me: Huh? Why??
Friend: Welll Tata has Nano. This is 3 Nano’s combined together plus it makes sense, has more features and is superb to carry friends and family, unlike Nano, So Xylo should have been named “Macro”. lol
Me: Bad joke bro. lol. I’ll still go for Scorpio. It looks more muscular. But well its fine at least you bought an MPV.

Well I realized many people are comfortable with MPV as an option to SUV while many can’t even differentiate between the two. I don’t fit any of the two and love my Scorpio. As long as it is an Indian manufacturer, has good mileage, comes with a great price tag, and helps the concept of carpooling I think its fine for people to buy Xylo. And as it shows they already are! I am worried about competitors like Innova, I wonder what they have up their sleeves because if they don’t have anything they better start looking.
Bad boys, Bad boys what you gonna do? What you gonna do? When Xylo comes for you! :)

Effective ways to save fuel – Tips which will save you some money

With the budget coming in the fuel prices are expected to go up. I don’t need any market analyst to tell me that. Fuel is a finite source and the more we deplete it the more it will cost. Well trying to get a better mileage is not just good for your pocket but also for the environment. I am sure most of them don’t care about the latter so here are some tips to save you some money.

Don’t use your accelerator like a drum pedal. Stop alternating between high and low speeds. Accelerate your vehicle slowly and steadily and quickly jump into high gears. Always try and drive on high gears but at the same time on a hill slope always be on lower gears. Consciously practicing this can help you save 40% of your fuel consumption

Please drive your vehicle under the speed limit mentioned on the roads (wherever it is mentioned) not only because it will save your life or some fine but also because it will help save some fuel. Less fuel is consumed at slower speed (no theory needed to prove this). If you go from 60 km/h to 95 km/h your fuel consumption increases by 20%

Try buying the new micro hybrid variety of vehicles which Mahindra and Tata are giving as an option in higher variants. It basically cuts your vehicles idling time. I understand switching off your engine in traffic jams and restarting sometimes becomes a pain, the microhybrid technology does exactly that without you needing to interfere.

Under-inflated tires increase consumption by 6%. Keep a check on your tires air-pressure frequently. This practoise may spare your life and also save you some money

You can also reduce costs by using your air conditioner sparingly. If you think its cold enough outside, open the windows. This will also help you stay awake on long drives. Depending on the speed though, using an air conditioner can be efficient. So the faster you are, the more efficient it might be to turn the air conditioner on due to wind resistance on the windows.

In the owner’s manual there is detail of which fuel best suits the vehicle (yes there is something called as the owner manual which comes with the car). Always try and use the fuel best suited for your vehicle type. Apart from fuel it will also save you some engine maintenance.

As I always say, keep servicing your vehicle from authorized service centre. A properly tuned engine can increase 50% fuel consumption and a poorly maintained Air-filter can reduce 10 %

While parking your vehicle check on a few things:
Switch of all power accessories like the AC, music system etc so that the next time you start your vehicle it doesn’t need to draw extra power to start
Check if the fuel is cap is tightly sealed
Try to always try to park it under some shade. It keeps the car cool and the engine does not have to provide additional power to the AC to cool the interiors. It also helps prevent fuel evaporation.

New “Reclaim your life” campaign from Tata Safari-a fake!

When I saw the new Dicor Ad first time I was floored, from shots of snow covered mountains to sunny terrains and waterfalls. New Zealand looked picture perfect and the narration said ‘If you looked back on your life, what would you remember? The corner office? The corporate power plays? The VIP lounge?’ and I was like how did they manage to make such a classy Ad till i unraveled the truth.

Here is the Safari Ad



Of course it did not do any justice to the brand as the film is about giving up the ‘corner room’ and then living life. The Ad must have been developed with the insight that majority of people aren’t following what they had dreamt of in their early days.

But an average Safari user is not the corner room, VIP lounge guy anyway – he is the earthy, outdoorsy guy and the Ad may miss the real Safari audience. And somehow I felt that they were not able to portray the ‘office slavery’ concept properly. There was no frustration or aggression which usually the ‘corner room guys’ have.

I felt deep inside that concept was fine but it does not fit safari properly. It looked more like an Ad for New Zealand tourism. Maybe a high end SUV would have fit into this classy, soft Ad that they have made for the corporate executives.

And guess what came as a shock. While looking around I came across a Landrover Ad which is based on the same concept. After seeing it I realized what a cheap imitation our Ad is. Here I thought that Indian creative guys are getting better but they couldn’t even copy the Ad as is. My hunch about safari being a mismatch in the Ad was right the ad was for Landrover. I am disappointed.

Here is the Landrover Ad



Top gadgets and accessory for Indian SUV 2009 - part 4

ROAD SPEED LIMITER

This is for parents who are worried that their children maybe driving rash at great speeds. This gadget can surely prevent a lot of accident situations. The Road Speed Limiter controls the vehicle speed at a programmable set speed. So if you dont want your child to drive above 80 Kmph then you should look at this option. Your child will not able to change the settings as it is password protected. It also helps improve fuel economy, since set-speed does not cross the optimum vehicle speed. It also increases Engine life and reduces operating and maintenance cost. Well it sounds like a great option but would cost around 12-15,000 INR but if you look at the positives and the money you will save by installing this equipment you should get a return on investment within a year.
Things to check before buying

· Types:
A) DC Motor type (single speed)
B) Fuel Solenoid type (single speed and dual speed)
· Micro-controller based design
· The product should not reduce fuel flow to engine and ensure full power to it
· Password protected

Top gadgets and accessory for Indian SUV 2009 - part 3

SAFE REVERSE ASSISTANT

I know, you are a great driver your estimations are never wrong and you can park your car on any terrain with ease. But well mistakes happen and if you are not sure you should use the reverse assistants. There are two types of reverse assistants: Back mounted camera and Back mounted sensor.


Back Mounted Camera

This arrangement has a camera fit to your rear bumper and an LCD to view it on your dashboard. Whenever you switch to reverse gear the camera activates giving you a low angle view on your background. This camera prevents you from bumping into sharp low lying object which you wouldn’t have seen otherwise. You can get this for around 6,000 INR

Things to check before buying
· Flush
mount waterproof camera
· CMOS Night Vision Camera
· IR Distance: 3M-5M
· Power Consumption: DC12V

Back Mounted Sensor

For the ones who don’t want to spend a lot of money on reverse assistant you can install the back mounted sensor. Usually most cars are giving away this gadget in the high end versions. I Know for sure that Scorpio does. This arrangement works with a sensor on you back bumper which gives the distance between the car and the nearest object lying behind. The data is projected on a special mirror for the driver. Whenever you are too close to an object the sensors start to beep alarming the driver. You should get this for around 1,500 INR

Things to check before buying
· Choose sensor colour similar to your vehicle body colour ( so that it is not noticeable)
· Software programmed
· Distance measurement through display
· Alarm indication with different tones

To check more gadgets click here

Top gadgets and accessory for Indian SUV 2009 -part 2

GEAR LOCK

Well manufacturers are trying their best to prevent theft of the vehicle. New Scorpio has vehicle immobilizer, vehicle tracker etc. but you can do your part for ensuring safety by installing a gear lock. It basically is a mechanical lock which locks the transmission / gear lever in the reverse position. It uses an unique type of key which is not easily duplicable. It shouldn’t cost you more than 1500 INR. It will protect your investment for sure. There are basically two types of gear lock: U Type and Pin Type. You can check out the difference by searching online.

Things to check before buying
· Superior grade hardened steel.
· Proper installment knowledge by the dealer

For more gadgets click here

Top gadgets and accessory for Indian SUV 2009

ROOF MOUNT TFT LCD MONITOR

MUST MUST MUST have an LCD monitor in your SUV. It is definitely great entertainment for people sitting behind as well as you when someone else is driving. An SUV has great head room so I would advise you to have a roof mounted LCD. Not only because it fits perfectly for a good viewing angle but also because it will not distract the driver (LCDs on dashboard tend to do that). Usually people sitting in the back row of an SUV tend to feel claustrophobic because they can’t see anything right ahead. A roof mounted LCD will keep them relaxed. It is also useful to keep your kids from distracting you. So all in all a great deal. And you should find a good monitor for around 8000 INR

Things to check while buying

· English OSD Menu
· Display : TFT Active Matrix System
· High Resolution
· Two Video Inputs
· Full Function Remote Control
· Dome Lights
· Built in IR Transmitter
· Built in Clock

For more gadgets click here

 

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