Just remembered that I had forgotten to post pictures...so here's the update with pics.
Have covered 2,500 kms on the Dicor now (about 18 days), and just returned from a 3 day journey along these lines:
1. Cochin - Palghat
2. Palghat - Chalakudy - Athirampilly/Vazhachal - Sholayar Forests - Valparai.
3. Valparai - Udumalpet - Munnar
4. Munnar - Thekkady
5. Thekkady - Pala - Cochin
90% of the route was through Ghats and/or Forests and the trip began with an off-road stunt to visit our ancestral temple in Palghat. Nobody's ever travelled to the temple by a vehicle since it is set amidst paddy fields which are approached through a rocky trail. Thanks to the Dicor, we drove upto the temple and back, the 4wd very sure-footed on the loose rubble covering the rock up a rather steep gradiant as well as the narrow, slushy paths between the paddy fields. Quite effortlessly, too.
Thereafter we took the forest route to Valparai which has been extensively covered by Vinsanity and Artofzen in various write-ups. What made the trip very difficult was the incessent rains that brought the fog down by around 5 pm, making it dark. We were pretty scared as elephants are known to roam around these places and we could hardly see more than 10 meters ahead. If there were elephants (and there was elephant dung on the roads!!!) we'd know only if we ran into one of them...
Stopped by at the first human settlement after the 55 kms forest drive in the dark to buy some yellow plastic 'kit bags' that we cut up to cover the headlamps to provide some visual solace. I havent been happier to see people...
The road after the Malakkapara border to Valparai was pretty badly broken and was at best a jeep tril. The situation improved only after we started from Valparai the next day to Udumalpet, where half of the distance consisted of pretty decent roads. Halfway to Udumalpet the roads became bad once more.
Topped up fuel at the Reliance pump outside Udumalpet, the odo showing 465 kms. We topped up 46 litres, which gave an average of 10 kmpl which I thought was pretty good considering the terrain, average speeds and extended runs in 3rd gear with liberal use of the 2nd to get out of badly potholed stretches.
From Udumalpet, the road through the wildlife sanctuary upto the Kerala border was very bad, with deep ruts throughout. Saw some Zens and Santros zip by occassionally and wondered how many bones the occupants still had intact. After the Kerala border the road surface was excellent, but the route was full of twists and turns. Had to go slow on some of those corners as the Dicor became difficult to handle on the tight ones. Wondered whether I should shift to 4WD, but the surface was too smooth to take that chance.
Stayed at the Tea County in Munnar, reaching there at about 2.00 pm after a 9.30 am start from Valparai and started out for Thekkady by mid-morning the next day.
THe last few days have seen incessant rains in Kerala, and the drive from Munnar to Thekkady became a challenge with fog enveloping most of the route with heavy rain to make things worse. Made slow progress with headlights and hazard lamps on, honking away at every corner and hairpin bend. Stopped at various occassions for tea in the hope that the fog with clear, but it didnt let up till we left the tea gardens.
After this, things became even more difficult with good stretches punctuated by potholed and cratered sections at every curve or bend. One also had to start looking out for maniac bus and jeep drivers. Most of the scenery was lost on me.
Day 3 started out with a futile visit to the Thekkady lake where we saw nothing but a couple of buffalos. The drive down from Thekkady was initially quite good, but turned difficult with thick fog and heavy rain setting in once more. The Dicors brakes started locking up occassionally during the descent, and when we stopped for chai there was an acrid smell from the rear drums. Had to change my driving style thereafter, using the engine more to control the descent. No more problems with the brakes, but this is a heavy vehicle to control using engine braking alone...
Took secondary roads after Ponkunnam, through Palai and Malliyur to reach Cochin by dusk (started at around 2 pm). The journey would have been killing on any other vehicle, but I found myself raring to drive more at the end of it all.....
We'd misplaced the camera somewhere while moving into the new house, so we had to do with cameraphone photos. Here are some of the Dicor snaps...
Overall fuel economy was about 10.5 kmpl for the whole trip. No problems with the car despite the punishing terrain, but I've had an issue with the ergonomics - operating the fog lamp requires you to take your eyes off the road, which can be dangerous. I went off the road on a couple of occassions while fiddling with the switches. The other major problem on this long trip was that it was impossible to change CDs on the head unit (the only one that plays MP3s since the changer doesnt) while in 1st, 3rd or 5th gears. One had to shift gears to 2nd or 4th to change CDs, which is very annoying.
Braking on this vehicle is an issue, though its always braked in a straight line. Heavy usage of the brakes seems to cause the rear drums to overheat, causing them to lock occassionally therafter. I need ABS. Another issue was that the tyres seemed inadequate, especially while taking the curves on the ghat at a decent speed. Need 255s real fast, as the Bridgestone Dueller 235s dont seem to be upto the mark under demanding conditions.