Hola Senors , Senoritas

[Venkatesh.C]

Hi Folks,
There are 5 Cs in my life. Cars, CDs, Cinemas, Computers and Cameras(still). Started learning driving in a used Standard at school, owned/driven a bunch of cars in my life.
Standard Companion (Wagon type), 1965 Model
Premier Padmini (1965)
Premier Padmini (1985)
Maruti 800 (1994)
Dodge Neon (2000) - US (rented this car for 6 months)
Volkswagen Jetta (2000) (owned this for a year)
Toyota Corolla (2000) - Rented
Buick Le Sabre (2000) - Rented
Nissan Sentra (2000) - Rented
Toyota Camry (2000) - Rented
Ford Mustang GT (2001) - Rented
Mazda Protege (2001) - REnted
Ford Taurus (2001) - Rented
Back to India
Maruti 800 (1999)
Hyundai Santro (2001)
Maruti Alto 800 (2003)
Maruti SX4 vxi (2007)

Thats the list of cars owned /driven. Of all the cars i have driven, Mustang GT and the VW jetta still roar in my mind.

Its good to meet so many knowledgeable people here. Team-Bhp bailed me out when I went crazy looking for a mid-sizer. Thanks to the family of TBHPians, i was able to make an informed decision.
Now, am in to give something back in return to the fraternity.
Feels good to be here. Hope I contribute something sensible

[iraghava]

Welcome to the forum Venkatesh! That's a LONG list of cars you got there, I'm sure your input on some of them would be very useful to fellow members.

How did you find the Mustang to drive?

Anyways, have a nice time here!

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Venkatesh.C

Hi Folks,
There are 5 Cs in my life. Cars, CDs, Cinemas, Computers and Cameras(still).

You forgot chicks

Welcome to Team-BHP, venkatesh. Thats quite a long list of cars that you have driven and I am actually surprised that you remember all of them. Good choice with the SX4. Please do visit the board rules section to understand our forum protocol better.

[Sam Kapasi]

Hola Venkatesh, cómo es usted? No tenemos muchos señoritas aquí lol.

While that is an interesting introduction, why don't you tell us about what you do for a living?

Cheers and welcome to Team-BHP!

[theMAG]

Recepción caliente, Venkatesh. Btw, You'll find mainly (99.99 %) señors here. That leaves the rest 0.01% señoritas. Best of luck.

[nitrous]

Vanakkam!
I have 4 of those Cs except for the camera.
Join us at one of the meets.

[Steeroid]

Namaskaaram

Swagatham to Team BHP. Cant speak Spanish so this will have to do for now.

[saumil]

Welcome to T-bhp ! Its been a great experience for me so far & i hope you'll feel the same on the forum..

[Venkatesh.C]

Thanks for the overwhelming welcome folks. Let me try and reply to all . Chicks.. yes I dig those too. And I dont speak spanish either. Its one of those few one liners and words i use to begin a lame sentence a bit differently (hiheee)..
I'm an IT Architect working in Chennai. As for hte list of Cars, when you love them, you remember them all.. Same for the ones you hate.. I hated the Buick.. uuuaaah.. its a bloody boat.. not a car.
Mustang and the Jetta are the best of the lot.
Driving a Mustang on an american freeway is like walking a horse. You cant unleash the beast. Yet i did. I was on the freeway and a cop was
behind me.. perhaps daring me to try stepping on it. I just behaved myself and drove at 70mph (on a 55mph zone.. heck! everyone was doing 70).. as Then, there came my loong exit lane with a 1 mile marker. I got onto the exit lane and hte cop passed me. Then i stepped on it. I was at 100 and on the sixth gear(I was lucky to get a stick shift from an American rental!!!!) within the mile.
The car was purring, i checked the tacho and the engine was tumbling at 1800 RPM. Can you beleive it? 110 mph and 1800 Rpm! and the car did not even feel stretched..
Then came the spiral turn i did not slow down and just turned the steering hard to see what happened, Oh boy what a feeling that was.. you can feel the outer tyres baying like an angry doberman pinscher at her master and yet obeying and clawing on the road.. body roll was hardly there and my steering just gave me enough feed back to tell me that i just passed over a wet patch.. and i held on.. the tyres were squealing and (thankfully there were no cars in front of me.. )and the speedo was dipping to 80mph with all that resistance.. the amazing thing was she held the line. .no torque steer, no over stepping, no drama, just sheer sportiness, she held the line and turned the spiral like Rossi on a c bender and as i shifted down, she purred like a beast that just finished lunch and settled down calmly at the red light at the end of hte ramp and I felt like a king... thats what it makes you feel.. like a king..
There was this executive in a ford pickup waiting before me at the light.. normally, such antics will make americans jump out to the shoulder and holler away.. this guy was grinning away and winking at me..
and my day was made.. i still feel bad that i could not put her to some spritied driving on the highway.. too bad coz, cops(Mamu/Mama as we tamilians say) always keep an eye on the mustangs, vettes and vipers
so i had to tuck my tail between my legs..
Jetta was my personal car and will remain the best car I have ever owned.. Volkswagen always make you feel like you own a merc/bmw.. and thats all they are about.. 'being a class above the ordinary.. civics and corollas'.
She is the first car I put 'my money' down for and she will always remain the first love..


Cheers

[rockyb]

Hi Venkatesh - welcome to tbhp - fantastic writeup about the Mustang. Almost felt as if i was on it. In fact for most Americans its still a dream car - so i can imagine. 2001 sounds new - how is it compared to the classic ones (say 70s, 80s)