What a long and eventful day!
I could barely sleep last night knowing that I would be climbing into and driving away in my own Gypsy in the morning. Woke up at 5:00am and forced myself to sleep. I had to force my mind to dream about other less interesting stuff...like this gorgeous girl I am secretly infatuated with, among other things. Woke up again at 7:00am and jumped out of bed with a smile. Showered and started on breakfast and by 9:00am I was rearing to go. That was when I got a call from the dealership that my delivery was being moved to 11:30am due to delays at the dealership thanks to the enormous volume of vehicles being moved on Gudi Padwa. No a big deal
10:00am we left home and what a picture it was! My friend Ashutosh, brother Sriku (sriku on Teambhp) and I all stuffed into a tiny Maruti Alto tearing up the eastern express highway from Thane to Lower Parel (Sai Service). We got there at 11:00am and luckily most of the work was done by then. It seems like no matter how well you plan things, the dealership always HAS to cause delays. It is impossible to buy a new car and take delivery without spending at least 2 hours at the dealership. Such a waste of time!!
Thankfully the dealership had planned for this well and they served breakfast with a constant supply of water and other beverages so we were upset...but not complaining too loudly. Finally at 12:00am we were ready to go after all the paperwork was done and we drove straight to BKC in two cars (The Gypsy and the Alto) to pick up another friend. Together we drove to Saifee Tyres in Santa Cruz (Podar School Road) to get the BFGs fitted.
Tire Fitting:
Now I suck at bargaining and Saifee offered me 1700 for each of my stock tires. No problems here. The main issue was that they were out of BFGs and only had the Yokohamas in stock. Looks like all the advice I was getting from KSM and the others had reached God and he made sure that I would end up with Yokohama rubber and not BFG. Got the Yoko 215-75-R15 all around (5 tires). Saifee initially wanted 4900 for the Yokos while other dealers were offering it to me at 5000 (Crown - who finally offered them at 4600 and Infinity @Milan Subway who offered them at 4400. Neither of them had the tires in stock and the buy-back prices were about the same). I negotiated at saifee without being too aggressive and instead of 16000 including the exchange, I settled at 15000. This would include Tubeless valves, balancing and fitting. This whole exercise was done in about an hour and while the work was being done, we headed out for lunch at Sheetal Bukhara (Santa Cruz).
Got back in to see my Yoko shod Gypsy gleaming in the sunlight...a picture of muscle!
Tires done, I decided to head back home but remembered that I had to visit my Uncle in Goregaon so headed there in the Gypsy. Man the city roads are absolutely rubbish! Easter express highway is so nice in comparison. Finished up at Goregaon and headed back to Thane via Ghodbunder road and thats where the qualities of the Gypsy came through. All those bad patches were traversed with arrogance while the lesser cars had to slow down as the drivers puckered their rear-ends at the thought of what their suspension would go through
Got into Thane and headed straight to the temple for a quick Puja before parking up at home. Showered and settled down to type this out for those following this thread.
Initial Impressions:
It feels SO different to drive a brand new Gypsy! Everything is so tight and together. The gearbox feels clean and the shifts are reasonably precise. The steering is incredibly stiff and I had a much easier time steering Imran's Gypsy. I am hoping that the mechanism will loosen up over time...either that or I build up muscles to cope with the increased steering forces needed here.
The engine also feels tightly wound and although I don't exactly follow manufacturer prescribed run-in, I do vary revs through the range and give the engine time to cool down. I spoke to another Gypsy owner who got his brand new as well and he told me that the engine frees up considerably and gets revvier after the 3000-4000km mileage.
There are some weird sounds coming through from various parts of the car...like a different one every-time. Again the other owner informed me that this is normal and the noises show up and go away after the first service at which point of time, entirely new noises show up. The Gypsy makes noises and it is an orchestra when it comes to variety and timing.
Truth be told it was harder work than I was expecting, especially considering the ease with which I drove Imran's Gypsy. I guess the newness of the parts and the mating surfaces just getting to know each other contributes to this stiff feeling. I'll just man up to the task and learn to enjoy it while it lasts
If you haven't guessed already, I am having the TIME of my life!
Pictures: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/iipcache/136776.jpg http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/iipcache/136777.jpg http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/iipcache/136778.jpg http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/iipcache/136779.jpg http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/iipcache/136780.jpg