A budding car enthusiast from Bangalore

mvj1976 · 10th December 2009, 18:57

Greetings to everyone. This is my first post since I got my membership approved. Just wanted to provide a introduction about myself. I have been fascinated with bikes and cars since my teenage days. However, since we were not suitably well-off to afford a car, my interest got limited to reading about them in various auto magazines. Once I landed my first job after college, i immediately decided go for a vehicle which ended up being a Black Hero Honda Splendor. The bike lived up to its cult reputation and served me well for close to 5 years. I then replaced it with a Yamaha Enticer in Azure Blue colour (very similar to the Fox Trote Azure colour in Fiat Linea). This bike gave me a good ride quality compared to the splendour and I enjoyed it for a couple of years. However, seeing the traffic condition in Bangalore, I felt it was risky to continue using a 2 wheeler when I could very well afford a car.

With that thought, I went and got myself a Santro Xing Automatic in Passion Red colour from Trident Hyundai on Sankey Road. The automatic transmission made it a childs play to navigate the crowded bylanes in Bangalore and helped me get used to driving in heavy traffic. I had a wonderful driving experience with the car for 5 long years in which most of the driving was done in the city with occasional long drives to Chennai. However, when doing long drives in the Santro, my legs felt very cramped and had to take a break every 2 hrs. Since I am a tall guy (6'1''), the Santro did not provide adequate legroom at the front. Also, my office location changed from Bannerghatta Road to Whitefield. Since I am a resident of Banashankari, my daily commute suddenly increased from 10km to 30km in each direction. This began taking a toll on my wallet. I ended up filling a full tank of fuel every week.

After a while I started thinking about going for a new car which would be significantly bigger than my Santro and also run on Diesel fuel.

Seeing the choices in the market made my head literally spin. I spent hours every week trying to nail down which car I should go for. Finally, narrowed down to 2 choices, the Grande Punto and the i20. At this point, team-bhp came to my rescue. I read through all the forum entries for both cars and it became very clear to me that I should go for the i20. Hence, I booked a Sparkle Blue i20 CRDi ASTA on Nov 1st, 2009. Got the car delivered to me on Nov 27th, 2009. So far my experiences with the car have been extremely positive which I will be sharing on the forum in a separate thread.

Laxminarayan · 10th December 2009, 19:08

Hey MVJ,

Congratulations on your new car and a good intro as well. All the best and take good care of her and post some pictures as well.

Cheers,
Laxminarayan

Dippy · 14th December 2009, 11:14

Hi mvg

Welcome to Team BHP. The Santro AT was a perfect city hatch. I, as a serious supporter of AT cars would recommend an automatic for anyone driving in crowded city traffic. The i10 AT is doing a fantastic job of carrying on what the Santro started. I would be interested in reading a review of your Santro.

Congratulations on your i20 CRDi. Waiting to read your ownership review. By the way, how does it feel to get back to a manual after driving an AT for so long?

Take time to through the Announcements to understand how the forum works.

Cyborg · 14th December 2009, 11:52

Hi MVG,
Welcome to Team-BHP and congrats on the purchase of the i20 deisel.
Look forward to reading your thread on the i.
Regards

10th December 2009, 18:57	#1
mvj1976 Newbie Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 11 Thanked: 0 Times	A budding car enthusiast from Bangalore Greetings to everyone. This is my first post since I got my membership approved. Just wanted to provide a introduction about myself. I have been fascinated with bikes and cars since my teenage days. However, since we were not suitably well-off to afford a car, my interest got limited to reading about them in various auto magazines. Once I landed my first job after college, i immediately decided go for a vehicle which ended up being a Black Hero Honda Splendor. The bike lived up to its cult reputation and served me well for close to 5 years. I then replaced it with a Yamaha Enticer in Azure Blue colour (very similar to the Fox Trote Azure colour in Fiat Linea). This bike gave me a good ride quality compared to the splendour and I enjoyed it for a couple of years. However, seeing the traffic condition in Bangalore, I felt it was risky to continue using a 2 wheeler when I could very well afford a car. With that thought, I went and got myself a Santro Xing Automatic in Passion Red colour from Trident Hyundai on Sankey Road. The automatic transmission made it a childs play to navigate the crowded bylanes in Bangalore and helped me get used to driving in heavy traffic. I had a wonderful driving experience with the car for 5 long years in which most of the driving was done in the city with occasional long drives to Chennai. However, when doing long drives in the Santro, my legs felt very cramped and had to take a break every 2 hrs. Since I am a tall guy (6'1''), the Santro did not provide adequate legroom at the front. Also, my office location changed from Bannerghatta Road to Whitefield. Since I am a resident of Banashankari, my daily commute suddenly increased from 10km to 30km in each direction. This began taking a toll on my wallet. I ended up filling a full tank of fuel every week. After a while I started thinking about going for a new car which would be significantly bigger than my Santro and also run on Diesel fuel. Seeing the choices in the market made my head literally spin. I spent hours every week trying to nail down which car I should go for. Finally, narrowed down to 2 choices, the Grande Punto and the i20. At this point, team-bhp came to my rescue. I read through all the forum entries for both cars and it became very clear to me that I should go for the i20. Hence, I booked a Sparkle Blue i20 CRDi ASTA on Nov 1st, 2009. Got the car delivered to me on Nov 27th, 2009. So far my experiences with the car have been extremely positive which I will be sharing on the forum in a separate thread.
	() Thanks

10th December 2009, 19:08	#2
Laxminarayan BHPian Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 170 Thanked: 0 Times	Hey MVJ, Congratulations on your new car and a good intro as well. All the best and take good care of her and post some pictures as well. Cheers, Laxminarayan
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14th December 2009, 11:14	#3
Dippy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Mumbai, India Posts: 7,598 Thanked: 2,761 Times	Hi mvg Welcome to Team BHP. The Santro AT was a perfect city hatch. I, as a serious supporter of AT cars would recommend an automatic for anyone driving in crowded city traffic. The i10 AT is doing a fantastic job of carrying on what the Santro started. I would be interested in reading a review of your Santro. Congratulations on your i20 CRDi. Waiting to read your ownership review. By the way, how does it feel to get back to a manual after driving an AT for so long? Take time to through the Announcements to understand how the forum works.
	() Thanks

14th December 2009, 11:52	#4
Cyborg Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Bombay Posts: 1,765 Thanked: 4,109 Times	Hi MVG, Welcome to Team-BHP and congrats on the purchase of the i20 deisel. Look forward to reading your thread on the i. Regards
	() Thanks