[Samurai]

Originally Posted by dkaile

And I was just watching BBC entertainment the other day and was mighty pleased to note that our Toyota Fortuner (in it's HiLux avatar from which it is derived) became the first car to reach the North Pole!

Don't forget it had some extreme modifications that must have cost a fortune.

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Don't forget it had some extreme modifications that must have cost a fortune.

That's quite evident from the photograph's Sir, and it would have been impossible to traverse the ice mountains at the North Pole without those modifications. Even with these added in it used to suffer days where it could hardly do 1 mile in a whole day. I saw the entire program. BUT it was a TOYOTA, being driven by 2 middle aged 'unfit' men, not professionals. And they managed to do it somehow, though helped in no small quarter by a fledgling team accompanying them. But there were times when they got stuck and no team member could reach them for hours and they had to manage on their own. Quite a interesting program that. Jeremy made a fool of himself, as usual... lolz

The major modifications to the 'trucks' included:

• The standard wheels and tyres were replaced with bespoke Arctic Trucks wheels and 38" studded snow tyres. The tyres were able to run at pressures as low as 0.2 bar (3 psi) for better traction over snow. The tyres are called Arctic Trucks AT405.
• The wheel arches were raised and extended to protect the larger tyres.
• The standard 3.0-litre D-4D engine (same as in our Fortuner) was modified to cope with the very low temperatures. Heaters were added to increase fuel and coolant temperature, a large heavy-duty battery was fitted and the air intake was modified.
• A 90 litre auxiliary fuel tank was fitted.
• The gearing ratio was lowered to 1:4.88.
• Two winches that could be fitted either to the front or rear of each of the vehicles were carried, in case they got stuck in the snow.

The Hilux (on which the Fortuner is totally based) was chosen because it had proven itself to be exceptionally durable. The car had featured in various Top Gear challenges, being floated out to sea, set on fire, and finally being placed on top of a high-rise tower which was then destroyed in a controlled demolition. After all this, the Hilux was still able to be driven away. The Hilux was therefore the obvious choice for this test of endurance.

Rock on T...

[Samurai]

I had seen the that topgear episode few months back, so I knew all the mods it had.

[Monaro CV8]

^^
That truly is one commendable feat by Toyota.
I was aware of the Hilux Artic Trucks and the world record they had set in 2007. But Thanks for bringing it up here. And where else - at a wonderful Toyota experience thread!

Gees, now I'm looking for the collector's item DVD of this documentary

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by Monaro CV8

^^
That truly is one commendable feat by Toyota.
I was aware of the Hilux Artic Trucks and the world record they had set in 2007. But Thanks for bringing it up here. And where else - at a wonderful Toyota experience thread!

Gees, now I'm looking for the collector's item DVD of this documentary

Thank you Monaro CV8; That DVD is now also on BD and in HD, so it will definitely be worth it for all T lovers.

---------

The Corolla 2004 Long Term Ownership Review 55000KMs is now online. Thanks to all the mods at TBHP. Have a look here - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...t-55000km.html

[AlphaKilo]

Originally Posted by dkaile

Sorry for the late replies mates. Was away on work for a few days. Though I was keeping track of the forum, didn't have time to post replies.

Well, the SAD news is that my Falcon has been STOLEN....

For minute my heart stopped! Phew!!

Sir, one suggestion, if you take a look around in TBHP you will find that Ambipur has some negative effects on the dash and many pics and complaints are there. I would suggest you better switch to some other car perfume before it gives falcon a skin allergy.

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by dkaile

The Hilux (on which the Fortuner is totally based) was chosen because it had proven itself to be exceptionally durable. The car had featured in various Top Gear challenges, being floated out to sea, set on fire, and finally being placed on top of a high-rise tower which was then destroyed in a controlled demolition. After all this, the Hilux was still able to be driven away. The Hilux was therefore the obvious choice for this test of endurance.

Rock on T...

A team from India drove to the South Pole on the same type of modded Hilux. There is a picture in my ownership thread of a red Hilux carrying an Indian flag.

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

A team from India drove to the South Pole on the same type of modded Hilux. There is a picture in my ownership thread of a red Hilux carrying an Indian flag.

Thanks for bringing it to our notice mate. Don't know how I missed that on your brilliant thread.

Originally Posted by AlphaKilo

For minute my heart stopped! Phew!!

Sir, one suggestion, if you take a look around in TBHP you will find that Ambipur has some negative effects on the dash and many pics and complaints are there. I would suggest you better switch to some other car perfume before it gives falcon a skin allergy.

Oh! That's news to me. Will keep a close watch on this Ambipur thing. Anyways, I am just using the Ambipur cover on some other Japanese branded perfume whose cover had broken off in a day. Hope to recover my Falcon back this weekend.

[dkaile]

So I got the Falcon back home yesterday.

I also visited Galaxy Toyota, Kotla, Opp Defence Colony, N. Delhi to take a demo of the MegaAudio ICE System which they are installing officially there after having a talk with Mr. Prateek of Megaaudio. The system looked of decent quality, equivalent to the stock Touchscreen they are installing in the Corolla, though it's 6.2" screen looked a tad bit smaller than the stock unit on the Corolla.

They gave me demo installing it in the Etios. Yes, it's a universal fit for Etios/Innova/Fortuner, as its size corresponds to a stock 2-DIN unit, and doesn't require any irregular shape on the facia like in the case of the Corolla/Camry units. It also boasts a 4GB internal memory which can store music of 6CD's inside the unit at all times. Music could be copied from any usb drive to the internal memory. The quality of parts and especially the iPod adapter looked very high and I was also informed by accessory manager at Galaxy, that this unit has been "officially" approved by Toyota so all warranties will be in place, though I doubt the official part.

They were quoting a price of Rs. 35,999/- for the unit including Maps by Map My India on sd card which fits neatly into the slot on the front facia (refer to the photo attached). It also has 2x USB ports and I was informed by Mr. Prateek that their USB supports Hard Diisk Drive upto 500GB which is very good. It had dual zone and also capability to install a separate sub-woofer. However the dual zone function, i.e. videos playing through the 2 screens attached to the back of the Front headrests, only supported videos played through the DVD drive and NOT the USB. The videos through the USB were visible only on the front screen which was a bit of a damper. GPS signal could not be received as the car was inside the showroom and I think the installer did not even install the GPS antenna. The total installation process was a max 10 minute job on the Etios as everything was plug and play and no special sockets were required.



It also came with a decent remote for the back seat and a separate Mic with cable which could be attached near the Driver Sun Visor internally for crystal clear conversation through bluetooth. The stock Corolla unit had no separate mic and mic was inbuilt on the Head Unit itself and was missing the GPS and also Steering Controls for Phone, which is a glaring omission by Toyota for Indian market. The Megaaudio unit was capable of storing all your phone contacts and also displaying their caller ID's on incoming/outgoing calls.

Off Thought Observations - One thing I noticed at this Galaxy Toyota outlet was the huge supplies of OE accessories for all Toyota Cars. I had a look at the Etios and Liva Diesels which were there for demo. Except the Centrally mounted Instrument panel and the garish Red upholstery design on the top model, both seemed pretty decent on the quality front, and the space on the back seat was even more than in my departed Corolla. It could easily seat 3x 6 footers like me. I also test drive the Altis Diesel once again. And after driving the humongous 3.0L diesel of the Falcon, this engine's acceleration really seemed puny in comparison. I could really notice the turbo lag that all were talking about with this 1.4L diesel which was really noticeable below 2000 rpm. Surely a 15L car does NOT deserve such a puny diesel.

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by dkaile

only supported videos played through the DVD drive and NOT the USB. The videos through the USB were visible only on the front screen which was a bit of a damper.

Did not really get that clearly, so it cant play videos on the center (if one installs it on a fortuner hanging from the roof kind), and only on the center console in between the driver and front passenger?

Does this play DivX/Avi as well or only DVD Video? also through the USB if it cant play the video then what does it play? only music/mp3?

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Did not really get that clearly, so it cant play videos on the center (if one installs it on a fortuner hanging from the roof kind), and only on the center console in between the driver and front passenger?

Does this play DivX/Avi as well or only DVD Video? also through the USB if it cant play the video then what does it play? only music/mp3?

It can DVD's/Divx/MP4/avi's etc. all formats through both dvd as well as usb, BUT it will show up on the front as well as rear screen only when it is being played through the dvd slot player. Through usb, all format videos will play as well as show, but only on the front screen and not on the rear ones, strange as this may sound and illogical too.

[dkaile]

So my Falcon had its first mishap yesterday . Caused while sleeping peacefully in my driveway in the dead of the night. Here's the damage -


Got it? Did not? Here's a close-up -



So my over enthusiastic Labs took a liking to bumper yesterday night. Most probably because of some other dog marking his territory there and this is what they did -



The scratches are deep and quite gnawed at as you can see. So off I went to the my Friendly Neighborhood Car Accessory Wala (FNCAW, lolz its a Generale' effect) and bought all possible stuff with him for this (and some more which I may need later on)




(You can zoom in to this enlarged image for detailed instructions)

Total damages were - 190 for F1 Scratch Out, 225 for F1 Protectant spray, 110 for the Waxpol Polish (Deal for these 3 items was finalised at 500 bucks, quite reasonable I would say). Got the Waxpol Tyre Shine online from ebay at 199/-

NO USE as you can see from the picture. As F1 Scratch Out clearly states that it CANNOT remove deep scratches.

So now the decision has to be made whether to just get those lines touched-up at the A-S-S (which would be free for me) or to get that portion of the bumper re-painted. As the scratches are nearly below the bumper and are visible on a closer look, I think the latter would be an overkill.

What say, friends?

[Monaro CV8]

dkaile mate, sorry about those nasty scratches your Falcon has had.

The dogs think the falcon for a bird, to be hunted and preyed upon, it seems

Re: you getting the whole bumper painted..I would say no (IMO), wait for a few more (scratches) then you can think of such a thing.

I noticed that the falcon is yet to be badged with T-BHP; suggest you can also patch-up the area with a nice T-BHP sticker.
See..it can be a win-win situation for the both of you!


And about your dogs, do keep a few pungent sprays handy (like the spray used to prevent the dogs from hurting themselves while scratching their ears or body, due to mites, etc.). You may spray the probable areas where you think the dogs may dig into the falcon. This will dissuade them.

cheers

[amitwlele]

Originally Posted by dkaile

So now the decision has to be made whether to just get those lines touched-up at the A-S-S (which would be free for me) or to get that portion of the bumper re-painted. As the scratches are nearly below the bumper and are visible on a closer look, I think the latter would be an overkill.

What say, friends?

@dkaile - Sorry to read about this. But on first glance it is not immediately visible. Only the close ups look bad. But i think repainting the bumper would be an overkill. Touch up would be the way to go in my opinion.

Also as Monaro mentioned possibly a T-BHP sticker. Only point is i am not sure it would look proper, considering the peculiar position of the scratches.

[Guderian]

Hi dkaile,
Bahut dukh hua yeh khabhar sunke. Afsos ke Falcon ke bumper aur aapke dil ko gehri chot puhunchi.
Umeed rakhta hoon ki sthiti niyantran mein hai.

Hope you didn't abuse your cute Labby (whose snap I recall a few snaps ago...) in Dharam-paaji's standard dialogue - "Saa** Kutte main tera khoon pee jaoonga !"

Seriously now - I would suggest just get a brush touch up done with a matching paint - Toyota Mica Silver - (Dupli-Color Code IF7) and leave it at that. Don't do anything beyond that - like filling and covering etc or painting the entire bumper !
Alternately you could look at fixing large strips of silver coloured bumper protectors on it. That would work well too.
Do let me know of the developments.