[Motard_Blr]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

Autocar had also done the Endurance test for the Karizma too.
One question, why are the cars fitted with extra lights for such endurance runs? The same was done for the ZMA too.

It's called the Endurance challenge for a reason: the cars are being run non-stop day and night except for driver changes, refueling and maybe maintenance. I presume the track is not lit so the drivers need extra lights to keep them safe.

[discoverwild]

I have done 8500 kms on the Vista in 25 days pan-India, expressways, national highways, village roads, no roads etc. Never had an issue except a slow puncture due a bent rim in Mumbai. Daytime temperatures of up to 51deg. The last leg was an almost non-stop 1050 kms from Kolhapur to Coimbatore in 12 hours. (2 hour break, 800 kms nonstop in a little over 7 hours, with just a fuel pitstop).

Amazed at how these guys have done it in less than 3 days. Says a lot about the car.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by discoverwild

...I Amazed at how these guys have done it in less than 3 days. Says a lot about the car.

Simple - closed roads / compound means no traffic / jaywalkers or stray animals. A bunch of drivers would mean lesser breaks for the machine. And then the opportunity to do constant & controlled speeds.

[discoverwild]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Simple - closed roads / compound means no traffic / jaywalkers or stray animals. A bunch of drivers would mean lesser breaks for the machine. And then the opportunity to do constant & controlled speeds.

Not as simple as it sounds. It gets monotonous, boring and tiring too. Definitely bunch of drivers, so the car is running almost constantly. They have averaged 130kmph which is not normal cruising speeds. It's definitely much higher.

[m3_07]

This goes on to show how serious TATA is working to change the common perception with anecdotal results.

On serious note, they could have included the Hexa too, if this isn't too much of an ask. Not sure how many contenders in this segment have been in this kind of a test cycle.

Great going TATA. Perseverance wins !!

[mrbaddy]

Pictures from Day 1 of the event:




















Source: India.com


Video Links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMkwC6w2hQM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysIdkkVvRrs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFsrGlCnae0

[mrbaddy]

Pictures from Day 2 of the event:





















Source: India.com

Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BOB_pczeYU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxYvGMNquZI

[sachinayak]

And they have completed 100 hours non-stop.



As of 96 hours, the stats are as follows

ZEST
12,318 Km

BOLT
11,697 Km

TIAGO (P)
11,976 Km

TIAGO (D)
11,731

Average speeds between 120+ to 138 kmph.
Image Source: Twitter

[mrbaddy]

Pictures from Day 3 of the event:































Source: India.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW_mTUxD1wk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvxnQewkjV4

[mrbaddy]

About

How far can a car go nonstop? And how much time will the car take to cover that distance? That, in a nutshell, is precisely what we are trying to attempt here with the Tata Motors Geared for Great Challenge. But how does one fathom a record attempt of this type? When you clock 3086km of motoring in one day, it equates to covering a distance that’s beyond even Kashmir to Kanyakumari!

The average Indian motorist logs in about 1200-1500km a month. Even if you take the higher figure, it works out to 18000km a year. Let’s throw in another 2,000km assuming the motorist may want to undertake a road trip during the year which takes the average kilometres driven to 20,000 a year. One of our objectives in doing this endurance drive is to see how quickly we can accelerate logging in a year’s motoring on the speed bowl. The challenge will be attempted using a stock standard car from the Tata Motors stable. At the end of it all, who knows, we can go for 6 months of motoring, 9 months, a year or even more!

Endurance, however, is not just about logging in distance. It is also about doing that in the shortest possible time. We’ll be going for records starting right from 10km, 50km, 100km, 200km, 500km, 1000km all the way up to 20000km and as far as we can go. Hourly record attempts will be made i.e. kilometres logged in 1 hour, 2 hour, 4 hour, 6 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours and then multiples of 24 hours – much the same way as how the world body does it. Distance records may also be made in both kilometres and miles. At the same time fuel efficiency run will be recorded with the same identical cars as the ones to be used for the flat out endurance run. These would be run at a certain specific speed band of 50-60kmph (the average speed on our roads) with a full tank of fuel. This test will be conducted at the innermost slow lane of VRDE and until the car runs out of fuel after which it will be refueled and the fuel efficiency computed. Tiago from Tata Motors, Zest from Tata Motors and Bolt from Tata Motors will be subjected to this test and with a different set of drivers.


The Venue

Feats such as these can be attempted only on a track which can sustain very high speed runs and even though India has 3 race tracks: Sriperumbudur in Chennai, Kari International Speedway in Coimbatore and the Buddh International Circuit in Noida, the ideal venue for a record attempt of this kind is the 4.2km lap length NCAT (National Centre for Automotive Testing) Speed bowl of the VRDE (Vehicle Research and Development Establishment) in Ahmednagar. The VRDE has four different bankings of varying degrees to help aid the cars keep the same speed on the corners as on the straights. What is also important is that the degree of difficulty differs from one corner to the other given the degree of banking employed. It was at the VRDE that the first and the only ratified attempt was made and it still stands to this day.


The Event

Geared for Great is an all Indian effort starting from the concept to the venue to the cars to the people to the execution to the time keeping lap recording – just about everything that will go into executing this landmark event.

Not just the engines, everything associated with this massive record-breaking event is completely Indian. For instance:

Cars : Manufactured and built by an Indian OEM – Tata Motors
Venue : VRDE, the premier proving ground for the automotive industry in India
Drivers & Crew : All Indian
Governing body : The event is run under the aegis of an Indian federation FMSCI
The technical conduct of the event is being done by an all-Indian outfit, Godspeed Racing.
The vehiclesare fuelled by the largest Indian petroleum major IOC.
The cars will run on tyres by one of the foremost Indian tyre makers, JK Tyres.
Wizcraft as an on ground partner has been instrumental in setting up the logistics and event set up of this mega challenge.
The event has been conceived by a home-grown pioneer in the television space : Zee Media Corp Ltd.
The endurance drive is the brainchild of Adil Jal Darukhanawala, the man who did the first record attempt and who heads Zee Media’s portfolio.

Source: India.com


Some Stats:

6 Hours
Zest P 769 km(128 kmph Avg)
Bolt P 735 km (122 kmph Avg)
Tiago D 722 km (120 kmph Avg)


1000 km
Bolt P 7:22:29
Tiago D 7:30:49
Zest P 7:38:39

10 Hours
Bolt P 1322.7 km
Tiago D 1305.8 km

1500 km mark in just over 11 hours

2100 km clocked by Bolt in just over 17 hours.

24 Hours
Bolt P 3161 km
Zest 3135.6 km
Tiago P 2975 km
Tiago D 3139 km

37 Hours, Sailed past 5000 km. Tiago ahead of Zest & Bolt.

48 Hours

Tiago D 6415 km
Bolt P 6364 km
Tiago P 6313 km
Zest P 6313 km

* - Different numbers from Twitter sources & India.com (but numbers are close). Posted India.com numbers above for 48 hours.

50 Hours, covering 6698.2 km broken the longest distance covered by any Indian car without stopping.

60 Hours
Tiago 7991.4 km
Zest P 7847.7 km


96 Hours
Zest P 12,318 km
Tiago P 11,976 km
Tiago D 11,731.4 km
Bolt P 11,697.6 km


Economy Run:
Bolt P - 1344.1 km with 47 litres of fuel (28.326 kmpl) (Aircon switched off)
Driven at 55-60km/h
Ran for 27 hours before it ran out of fuel and was towed back to the pits.


Some Other Points shared on twitter/videos:

Production Specification cars without any changes to even the rims/tyres (Adil in a video)
VRDE Circuit has four corners. Corner C is the toughest.
68 records in first six hours


Source: Various Twitter Handles

[sachinayak]

Latest update from twitter

120 hours plus already logged in & 3 of the 4 have already zipped past 15,000km of nonstop high speed motoring

[mrbaddy]

After 125 hours

Zest P. : 15,856 km
Bolt P : 15,184 km
Tiago P : 15,501 km
Tiago D : 15,353 km

Source: Twitter

Looks like they are going for 20,000 + km.

[mrbaddy]

Photos from Day 4:









































Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AikBk6LXLEA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKGeHGbdBrU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YFyJWSusS8

Source: India.com

[mrbaddy]

Photos from Day 5:



























Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f088H44_U8c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8HD5Ja9Fvo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENJ_WpbOII4

Source: India.com

[swiftnfurious]

The numbers have started looking good. What's the oil change interval and the breaks the machines are given during this run?

I was thinking it's just like 10 mins or so between the driver switches, but looks more.

PS :: The Tiago looks quite good and unlike any TATA!

Edit:

Originally Posted by discoverwild

Not as simple as it sounds. It gets monotonous, boring and tiring too. Definitely bunch of drivers, so the car is running almost constantly. They have averaged 130kmph which is not normal cruising speeds. It's definitely much higher...

The guys who have signed up for the drive are not randomly picked; some of them are rally drivers while some motor journalists. These guys love driving too. I (don't belong to any such categories) can drive a car for upto 10 hours with minimal (bio) breaks on normal highways which requires a whole lot of attention, negotiation with other vehicles on the road, gear changes, bad to worse roads and varying terrains / gradients.

A whole lot of this stuff is taken care of at the venue and hence it'll not be as tiring as someone who drives in real world conditions. For the same reason, a driver can munch many more miles at a higher average speeds too. The difference here is; if they are clocking a 130 kmph average speed, that means they are almost always at those speeds.

My average speeds on regular drives are around 60 kmph, even after driving certain stretches at 120 kmph continuously for short bursts and mostly being at 100 kmph. The fact is, there is almost zero focus on the (capability of) drivers in this event; it's PURELY the machines.