[jalsa777]

A pictorial guide to the 2011 Autocar Performance Show.

NOTE : Videos, Pics & Report of the Maruti Auto Cross event have been added at this link.

We reached the venue at 11 am on 18th November. Right before the entrance itself, we were greeted by the bright red Mobile Store Rolls Royce. This car has now been a regular visitor at auto shows.


Collected our passes and the exhibition was officially inaugurated a few moments later. Inside, the first car was the beautiful Lotus Renault F1 car:




No forward facing exhaust on this one!








The Renault RS27 V8 2.4L engine:




Straight to the Supercar gallery now. There was a gorgeous red Ferrari 348 and a Mercedes SLS AMG. Honestly, the Ferrari comprehensively out-shadowed the Mercedes here:


























There were 2 competition cars at the show. The 2010 Championship winning WTCC Chevrolet Cruze and the 2011 VW Polo R Cup car:

[jalsa777]

Maruti Suzuki & Northern Motorsport created a proper Autocross track at the venue. It is approximately 800 metres long and has various features that make it challenging, as well as fun to drive on. Its a dirt track, making it super fun with the car sliding around corners. You can't do it without your handbrake!!

This is an ideal place for enthusiasts to safely have fun with their cars. The charge for 1 lap is a mere Rs. 200, and to take part in the FMSCI approved Autocross competition on Saturday and Sunday, the charge is only Rs. 500.

The average speed around the circuit is very low, and because of the tight nature of the layout, this makes for a very safe environment for someone to bring their car and drive.

Here are some pictures:

[jalsa777]

Jaguar & Land Rover were present with 3 cars. The gorgeous XKR RS Coupe, an XF RS and a Range Rover Sport.















Aston Martin were represented by the V8 Vantage and the Rapide














BMW had a menacing M3 in matt black. The other cars on display were the 650i and the 7-series.
























Rolls Royce had the Ghost on display:

[parrys]

Specially placed in the Super bike gallery was the Honda VFR 1200F, a Ducati Monster and a Heritage Softail Classic:




Also present at the event was Garware Motors (Hyosung) with two of its bikes : The GT650N which is a naked version of the fully faired GT650 (and also a few kilos lighter), and the Cruiser ST7:



BMW had four bikes on display, including the BMW HP2 (powered by a 1,170 cc, air/oil-cooled flat twin, 4-stroke engine that produces 133 hp and 115 Nm of maximum torque):


Also on display were the R1200GS, S1000RR and the K1600GTL:

[parrys]

Chevrolet at the ACI 2011:

The Chevy stand had the Cruze WTCC model on display. The WTCC car managed to grab attention with its blue and white paint job:




AUDI: The pick of the lot in this stand was the R8 Spyder in yellow. Also on display was the RS5, the new Audi A6 and the Q7. The RS5 with the blue paint job looked amazing. However, the A4 and A8 were missing:





Renault: No action from Renault. Was more like a showroom display with very few vehicles. The pulse got its share of attention just because of the bright shade it was wearing:



Nissan: The Fair Lady (370Z) was a crowd magnet:




Nissan also had the Micra, Sunny, X-Trail and Teana on display:





Skoda: Perfectly placed, Skoda stretched along one corner of the ACI Expo with its entire line-up of cars. Just so that we mention - Skoda somehow managed to get camera friendly models to accompany their cars:




Maruti Suzuki: With the Raid De Himalaya spec Swift and Grand Vitara on display:



Ford: Ford had a stall with posters of the Endeavour Hurricane Limited Edition, but had kept a Thunder+ on display. The interesting bit was an interactive screen where you could toggle through Ford's model range & feature list.

[parrys]

Mahindra Outdoor: As always, Mahindra had a small off-roading show next to the exit. Also on display here was the Thar Adventure model (no clue if its for sale - comes with a hard top):






Harrison ATV: They also had a small off-roading corner for demos:

[parrys]

Other Stuff:

Race Dynamics had their piggy back ECU module on display. This box is for diesel cars, and gets four selectable driving modes. You can shift between the modes, on the go, via a remote:


'The Moto Shop' was showcasing 2 products. An oil additive (EZI) and a coolant (Engine ICE):



They had an interesting demonstration wherein a piece of metal was rubbed against another; first, with oil applied and then with the additive applied. The difference between the two was demonstrated:



Here's the coolant





Something wrong with the simulator. The car used to accelerate without pressing the pedal, and the technical team just couldnt manage to get it right, so we moved on:



A F430 replica by Executive Modcar Trendz


A TATA Winger totally revamped from the inside, with Lounge seats and an LCD TV:





Also present at the ACI 2011 was Narain Karthikeyan:










Unique, portable MP3 players on display:








RC Cars also made it to the event with a small track for trials. We also saw a few people actually buy them by the end of the day:




The range of these exhausts started from INR 4500 for the smallest muffler and went upto approximately INR 11000 for the carbon fiber version:

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Indian Car Scene. Thanks for sharing!

[raj_5004]

I have only a few pics, cam was acting weird.

The ICE installs are by BHPian Ramie.

[noopster]

Lovely pics jalsa. You seem to have reserved some extra TLC to lavishon the BMWs A man after my own heart I see!

What was the purpose of this exhibition, if I may ask? The thread title says "Autocar Performance Show" but then how come the Micras and Veritos- hardly performance cars- ended up there? Also I didn't really get the bit about racing your own car around teh track at a price- was that also related to the show or something that's available as a normal service at the venue?

[swiftnfurious]

Lovely pics & superb thread! Rated 5 stars! Do you by any chance have a video of the autocross action ?

[parrys]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Lovely pics & superb thread! Rated 5 stars! Do you by any chance have a video of the autocross action ?

Since you have asked, I do have a small Clip of the Autocross where one of the Organizers was driving.
Enjoy the video

The ACI - Autocross 2011.mp4 - YouTube

[el lobo 6061]

Jalsa thanks for the awesome pictures. Now would definitely attend APS 2011.

Originally Posted by noopster

\What was the purpose of this exhibition, if I may ask? The thread title says "Autocar Performance Show" but then how come the Micras and Veritos- hardly performance cars- ended up there? Also I didn't really get the bit about racing your own car around teh track at a price- was that also related to the show or something that's available as a normal service at the venue?

I understand your views Noop. Its just a way to get all the possible selling cars in India under one roof for the consumer to see and feel them. We know the Aston's, M3, Ferrari, SLS and many more. But the aam admi doesn't, for him its at least a place to see and understand them.
As Jalsa wrote, there is a fees of Rs. 200 for which you can drive your own car on the track.
At last will only say, "Something is better than nothing".
We would be able to see real supercars during the Parx Super Car show in 3rd week of Jan 2012.

[shekhar_gogoi]

Awesome pics Jalsa. Sure to visit it after seeing them. Can anyone tell if and what performance parts are available there?


We can also have a small TBHP meet there if anyone's interested and can decide on the time. Anyways anyone want to tag along with me lemme know. Would love some company.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by noopster

What was the purpose of this exhibition, if I may ask? The thread title says "Autocar Performance Show" but then how come the Micras and Veritos- hardly performance cars- ended up there? Also I didn't really get the bit about racing your own car around teh track at a price- was that also related to the show or something that's available as a normal service at the venue?

You don't seem to be familiar with the Autocar Performance Show, I reckon.

This show is more a mini-Auto-Expo than an actual 'performance-show'. Not only do we get to see some serious wheels, the automobile-companies get this opportunity to flex their muscles in front of a crowd of people that lap it all up. The chances of a person checking out some of these cars at such an expo will be a lot higher than at their respective showrooms. It's like one big shopping-mall! It's a great opportunity for car-manufacturers to showcase their latest, and word-of-mouth will get even more people to swing by.

But it will take a long long time before it reaches the SEMA level. Local tuning-companies need to buck-up and get their act together. This is a brilliant platform for them, and they should make the most use of it.