[deetjohn]

Went for the morning session along with hsprabhu. It was a very nice meeting so many BHPians. Got back to Metro Ford in the Figo with amitoj and speedsatya after the session at Nice road.

Overall, nice outdoor session, good handbook and v. good lunch. Thanks Ford & TBHP.

Edit: Waiting for the pics.

[theexperthand]

Back after the session - it was nice meeting many BHP-ians and putting a face to the screen names.

A very well organised and informative course, and had fun during the practicals. Came back to the venue along with Condor and other two TBHP-ians in the Fiesta used for practicals - it seems like I managed to forget their screen names

Missed meeting H4WK - I was really looking forward to meet the spotter guru

Few snaps from the meet:

The Early birds:


























EDIT: adding few more random pictures.






















Ps: If any one have any objection to any of these pics, please report the post and ask mods to delete the pictures.

[ajmat]

Glad you guys had a great time. I arrived this morning from the US so was not able to make it and meet you all.

[mjothi]

It was an excellent session. Nicely organized.

And about Mr.Kaushik, man, the introduction session itself told how different he is. Loved it.

So, if the intro was excellent, the end was even great, yup. Yummy & yummy.


I did check with him about the presentation slides, but said he cant share them. But looks like most are covered in the hand book provided in session.

A big thanks for the organizers - both from Ford & T-BHP.

Sessions like this on a regular basis will definitely help everyone. I have a feeling that they may come up with paid sessions in short span. Which is also a welcome move.

[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by amitoj

Just back from the session.
Was nice meeting so many TBHPians.
The practicals were also interesting. Although we didn't learn anything "new" per se, it was a good revision nonetheless.

I did not take any pics since the H4WK was in town

I came back to the showroom from the practicals in the demo Figo that had gone with us. I was quite impressed by its ride quality. The engine (petrol) was a different story altogether.

Yeah.Most of us "knew everything" ,so this was a good revision .On the demo Figo ,we did get a chance to drive the vehicle back to the showroom (about 15 kms) in Bangalore traffic over a road which was full of potholes,speedbreakers and also a few fast stretches on the flyover where we had planned to test the Figo's horses.

The suspension and the build quality felt good ,with a big car feel .We didnt crash into potholes or over speedbreakers like a Maruti or a Hyundai car .But talking about pickup ...it was disappointing !! We were confused whether this was a diesel .The engine was so sluggish that I had to do constant gear changes and at times i did switch off the AC to get some additional power.The seats were also not very comfortable .The Zen felt like a rocket after driving the Figo .

Overall ,a very disappointing drive ,though me and Amitoj were discussing that it would be fun to drive on the highway where it would struggle to keep pace with the other cars and would hence keep us more involved .It might be a good car to be driven around in ,but as a driver ,I would never buy this engined car for sure .Now,we dunno if it was this particular TD (17,700kms)car that was so sluggish or if this is applicable for all petrol Figos.

Talking about the session ,it is definitely a good one for starters and I appreciate Ford taking this initiative to educate drivers on the importance of safety ( would be good if they take everyone's feedback on the Figo and make it a better drivers car ).It was also good to see the faces behind the T-Bhp IDs.

The practical sessions were fun

Thanks T Bhp ,Thanks Ford.

What could have been different:

- Ford should definitely have different presentations for different audiences.
-I would have wanted to see more on basic maintainence tips and tricks like - How to identify an uninflated tire,how to check for fluid levels( engine oil,PS ,brake oil ,coolant),How to check for the windhield washer fluid and how to clean wiper blades,correct seating position ,the right mirror settings,how to deal with panic braking by the vehicle ahead of you ( brake or swerve......),....


-

[Thil]

just returned back from the Afternoon session .A Very Good Session and informative .Tough most of the concepts were known to the educated group like Tbhp ,It was refreshing and the Practical session was sure fun and interactive . The Faculty really enjoyed answering questions ,though i am sure he would have not experienced such a knowledgeable audience so far . Thanks to Teambhp and Ford for making this event .

[vasanthn21]

Back from the afternoon session.

It was informative and a good reminder of some points. The statistics were helpful, hopefully can remember those.

Was driving a bit sedately on the way back (trying to be in the 1.5k to 2.5K revv band), don't know how many days this will last

It was nice to get a face to put on the T-BHP handles. Hope to see the pics from IronHawk in this thread soon.

[swiftnfurious]

Guys, none of you have actually mentioned what was shared during the session. Guess you all had a great time. So who will be uploading a detailed report on this? And if possible, names to the faces also please.

[phamilyman]

Interesting. Looks like a day well spent - but the hubert ebner slides are still the same as Feb 2007 when I cleared the defensive driving course with my previous employer

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Guys, none of you have actually mentioned what was shared during the session. Guess you all had a great time. So who will be uploading a detailed report on this? And if possible, names to the faces also please.

So there were two classes for the afternoon batch, just like the morning batch, I presume. At 2 pm, we took our seats, just behind the display cars at the showroom, where a make-shift class-room environment was arranged for us BHPians.

I loved the way we were introduced to each other, formally, of course. The paper-rocket idea was brilliant! My rocket nearly took out moderator Khan_Sultan's head! Apologies, Sir!

Getting back to the class. We were shown a couple of horrific videos of (staged) accidents that were caused due to utter carelessness. After which there was a brief lecture on how to drive safely, efficiently and economically. There was something that I learnt during the lecture, and I shall implement in my driving from now on, and that is the 3-second rule (6-second rule in the wet). Although it is very hard to do so, with commuters in Bangalore ready to cut you off even if they see a small gap, I shall try and inculcate this habit.

After the interactive theory session, we were shown the door. Literally. We proceeded towards the bus that would take us to a closed section of the NICE corridor, where two cars, a Figo and a Fiesta were waiting for us. Several BHPians volunteered and had a go in both the cars. They helped demonstrate how to brake effectively and drive safely.

By then, most of us had polished off the Dominos Pizza parcels that we were given, and by 5:30 pm, we found ourselves back at Metro Ford on St. Marks Road.

It was great meeting all you nice folks! Had a good time talking about cars, and other inconsequential things!

And a special thanks to veteran sticker-spotter IronH4WK, for giving me a lift!

[doxinboy]

Good day everyone!

I'm glad I attended the noon session, more than anything else it was awesome looking at so many cars studded with Team stickers. Oh yeah! First thing everyone asked "what's your handle?". Being my first impromptu Team-BHP meet, it felt really great.

About the event
Well organised, given the fact that space was premium, I would give them thumbs up, two LCD TV, two microphones, wireless PPT slide control, uniformly cushioned seats, bottled water, notepad, pen and manuals for the participants. Mini bus, Fiesta Classic and Figo used as shuttle for practical sessions at NICE road. The noon session was slated for high tea at the conclusion of the event, but was surprised that we were given decent lunch.

The theory part was presented by Mr.Kaushik, nice funny fellow, and it surrounded the concept of Safe Driving, Economy and Environment. Videos, stats and ppt did prove worthy. Repeated emphasis was laid on the following points:
1. Wear seat belts, both front and backseat passengers
2. Drive slow(Buddha Driving)
3. Avoid distractions while driving
4. Avoid piling unnessery things in the car. "it is a car not a cupboard"
5. Use 1500-2500 RPM aka the green zone to maximise economy
6. Turn off the ignition if the Signal is beyond 60 seconds
7. Keep the ORVM open at all times
8. A liter of petrol produce over two kilograms of carbon dioxide
9. Maintain at least 3 second gap between cars in the highway
10. "do what you can, with what you have, where you can" - FDR
11. "be the change you want to see" - M.K.Gandhi

The PR liaison Ms.Karishma told me that Genisis is handling PR for Ford, Bosch and Volvo, that is the reason we got calls from their call centre. The next stop for them seems to be Delhi.

[vasanthn21]

Hey Doxinboy, your teaching experience shows in your writing! A very crisp summary covering everything important.

Wonderful writeup!

[VeluM]

Originally Posted by doxinboy

Good day everyone!

I'm glad I attended the noon session, more than anything else it was awesome looking at so many cars studded with Team stickers. Oh yeah! First thing everyone asked "what's your handle?". Being my first impromptu Team-BHP meet, it felt really great...

Well said, and well detailed, doxinboy. I was also happy to see such a large number of cars sporting TBHP stickers in one place. I think I was the only one who got there late :P so was seated at the absolute back of the room.

The event was generic, and geared more towards the general car buying public. As the Driving Skills For Live manual states, this program is aimed more at "first-time car-buyers/drivers on the road", which is an issue in "Asia Pacific and Africa markets" where the percentage of such customers is significant and "accident rates that are among the highest in the world."

Therefore, this program was entirely non-technical and designed to encourage people to adopt basic safety precautions while also discouraging fast/reckless driving through emotionally evocative videos.

I appreciate the effort by Ford, and think they're doing a great job by targetting their customers. It is probably going to be said that they should hold this program for a wider audience, but since such programs are a cost to Ford, I think if each manufacturer did the same, it would cover most car buyers anyway.

I participated in the sudden braking manoeuvre (as passenger) as well as the trailing-too-close braking manoeuvre (as trailing driver), and it was interesting to note that despite trailing at a relatively slow speed of 50kmph (and my reasonably fast reflexes ), I would have travelled through 50% of the Fiesta if I had actually been trailing behind it!



The biggest three take-aways for me were (in no particular order):

1. 3 second rule for highways (6 seconds in poor weather/visibility)
2. Never trail too close - even for a second!
3. Rear-seat passengers too MUST belt up

Now the not-so-good:

In the first sudden braking manoeuvre where I was a passenger, we were in the Fiesta.

The driver (a youngster, I don't know his handle) started off by over-revving, burning some rubber in first and shooting up to 40 in second and then shifted directly to 5th, and then proceeded to lug the engine till the U turn where we had to pick up & maintain 50 till the red markers.

I thought at the time that excitement of driving a Festa 1.6 and unfamiliarity with the brilliant gearbox caused the error. Later, during a rolling start he again burnt some rubber and was generally twitchy/jumpy.

I had put the entire episode down to excitement when later on the bus the person sitting beside me (a non-BHPian who regularly follows but hasn't been able to join yet) mentioned that this BHPian didn't have a car license and didn't really know how to drive!

I was shocked more by the fact that this was being laughed about at the rear of the bus by this and other BHPians I don't know what I should have expected, but I neither expected someone without a license to drive, nor other BHPians to laugh about it.

Sorry about the dampener, but the thought of an inexperienced driver wheel-spinning a 1.6 Fiesta on a road with a dead-end with me in the front passenger seat (though belted up) did spoil my mood a bit.

[uday.ere]

Ok, my contribution from the morning session folks.

Was nice meeting so many Team BHPians. Overall a nice session to 'refresh' what one already knows.

The slides used in the presentation were not available for sharing, hence putting up pics of the handbook given at the end of the session. These comprise a few slides from the presentation (does not cover the entire session, but can be used as a refresher guide by those who attended!!)

Thanks to the organizers and GTO

Cheers,
Uday

[GTO]

Guys,

Thanks for sharing pictures + report, and I'm sure there are more coming. I'm glad that most of you found value in this session. One takeaway for me after attending the DSFL session at the Ford Factory in Chennai is this : I insist that rear seat passengers also buckle up.