[Rajain]

After reaching K Gudi we spent time and the group split. 3 folks stayed back and another 4 moved towards Bandipur which is about 75 minutes from BR Hills.

Once again good roads continued and by 3 PM we were at Bandipur. After a quick lunch the group got together for safari. A light shower dampened the spirits and we prayed for the rain to stop. After about half an hour it did. In the morning dozens of animals had been spotted including His Highness the Tiger. During rain animals are not known to move around much but after it stopped we did see quite a few. His Highness could not be located though we came across fresh pugmarks. The jungle of course was looking so green and fresh.

Some pictures.

We came across this heard


He stood checking us


And decided to continue grazing


The jungle pathways


And then we found him grazing


He is unfazed


We spotted them at a distance


And the seniors quickly circled the younger ones


And then - the little shy one


And found him checking us from behind the bushes





His/Her Highness was hiding close by - fresh pugmarks were noticed. But we could not get a glimpse.

After each safari we came back and the usual exchange of checking what other groups saw. Bandipur has always been great with the animals and the forst preservation.


We decided to drive up again before leaving. This shot just outside the entrance.



Then we checked out and drove back to Bangalore - on the same route.



We came across lovely water body again -



We took the same road back - via BR Hills. The road has sparse traffic and animals do wander close to the road. And in another water body - this one pretty close to Bangalore we came across these winged creations -











All in all, a great 2 days out of Bangalore and great to unwind.

Cheers

[ecosport rules]

Originally Posted by Rajain

All in all, a great 2 days out of Bangalore and great to unwind.

Cheers

Hey Rajain,
Great compilation well written review
How is the racedynamics performing? Any long term issues.
Where did you procure the thule box from? Please do share the contact

[Rajain]

Hi Ecosport

Thanks for your kind words.

Now with about 16 months and 25000 kms on the odo it feels like good to report that we leaned towards making a choice for Ertiga.

There have not been any issues. Touchwood. Regular service. After the first 10k the next service has been with synthetic oil. Minor modifications. The race dynamice box has been performing well. I will send you the details of the place where i got it from. No issues at all.

I often get asked the question of 'kitna deti hai'.

21 kmpl - when driven sedately around 80 kmph.
18 kmpl - when driven at 100 kmph
17 kmpl - when driven at 115-120 kmph
16 kmpl - within city driving

All of these with ac on full time.

Typical service costs have been 3800-4200 rs. Overall, touchwood, good performance, low cost of ownership and running cost. Easy to run and maintain.

Cheers

Rajain

[Rajain]

Hello

Been almost a month since I updated the thread.

No issues to report. Routine drive to office and the weekend errands around. Life could have been more exciting if there was a long drive but we took time off over the Christmas-New Year time but had flown to the destination.

Before the Ertiga came into our lives, I used to use a Santro for city drive and Opel Corsa Sail for the highway/intercity runs which also meant that the total drive kms were shared. Now its just one vehicle.

Turning into almost 18 months of ownership and having just crossed 26,100 kms I have been pleased with the performance, cost of ownership and driving feel.

Cheers

Rajain

[chaxy]

Thanks and good to know your ertiga doing well post 25k. We just crossed 3k on our 1 mth old ertiga. Thread like your have helped me decide on ertiga. We bought it only for highway runs we do frequently. Interestingly I feel it is more of a highway cruiser than a city car.

[Rajain]

Originally Posted by chaxy

Thanks and good to know your ertiga doing well post 25k. We just crossed 3k on our 1 mth old ertiga. Thread like your have helped me decide on ertiga. We bought it only for highway runs we do frequently. Interestingly I feel it is more of a highway cruiser than a city car.

Hi Chaxy

I am now nearing the 30K service mark. Done 28K. You are right, it does have great highway manners. Speeds at 100-120 kmph are a sweetspot, overtaking is a breeze and wind noise at that speed is really contained. In the city there is a slight turbo lag, which in my case is contained by the Race Dynamics tuning box.

The fact that a diesel economy works so for me the cost of our routine Bangalore-Mumbai runs has literally reduced by half. Earlier in my Opel Corsa Sail it used to cost 10K return, I am now doing it in 5K return.

The suspension is well set up, the AC is working well these days with 35 degree temperatures, the space in the cabin is nice and flexible, the GC is impressive (Bangalore speed breakers can eat their heart out) and the steering is responsive.

Happy motoring.

Cheers
Rajain

[chaxy]

hi Rajain
good to know. We crossed 6K in 3 months now all of it on highway driving. Fuel avg is steady 20kmpl with AC and avg 3-4 adults. 110 -120 is definitely the sweet spot. i particularly like the effortless 5th gear that pulls along right from 60 kmph onwards without downshifting. 200o rpm is where it shoots and most innovas have hard time catching up

bottom line according to me.
If you dont mind the family guy look this is great VFM car that packs quite a bit - good space, mileage, powerful enough, petrol like clutch and NVH, low maintenance, weekend highway cruiser. Strongly recommend ZDI only for ABS and Airbags.

[swiftdiesel]

Hi Rajain,

Great to hear your Ertiga doing well and I'm amazed at the number of BLR-MUM trips you're doing. I've been doing quite a number of highway trips myself and as of now my odo stands at 47,000 kms. Issues? NONE and even the MRFs seem to be holding up well for the mileage. Got the first puncture after 46000 kms but other than that, no electronic or mechanical issues. The vehicle is as good as new.

[Rajain]

Originally Posted by chaxy

hi Rajain
good to know. We crossed 6K in 3 months now all of it on highway driving. Fuel avg is steady 20kmpl with AC and avg 3-4 adults. 110 -120 is definitely the sweet spot. i particularly like the effortless 5th gear that pulls along right from 60 kmph onwards without downshifting. 200o rpm is where it shoots and most innovas have hard time catching up

The car certainly has been a right balance - space, utility, flexibility, reliability and ease of ownership. It does amaze me that with such a small engine it never feels underpowered. To think of it at one stage I was even looking at pre worshipped Fortuner or a XUV, but this has been a good vehicle to buy and own.

Originally Posted by chaxy

bottom line according to me.
If you dont mind the family guy look this is great VFM car that packs quite a bit - good space, mileage, powerful enough, petrol like clutch and NVH, low maintenance, weekend highway cruiser. Strongly recommend ZDI only for ABS and Airbags.

That was my choice as well. ABS though is available at VDI also, but I went for airbags at the higher end. I also wish they had climate control. Though no complaints at the AC and heater settings.

Originally Posted by swiftdiesel

Hi Rajain,

Great to hear your Ertiga doing well and I'm amazed at the number of BLR-MUM trips you're doing. I've been doing quite a number of highway trips myself and as of now my odo stands at 47,000 kms. Issues? NONE and even the MRFs seem to be holding up well for the mileage. Got the first puncture after 46000 kms but other than that, no electronic or mechanical issues. The vehicle is as good as new.

Hi swiftdiesel - 47K is certainly a fair bit of drive. Yes I am doing BLR-MUM runs 3-4 times a year; Pune another couple of times. The running cost has come down for me. 5K return from Pune and 6K for Mumbai return plus another 500-600 for local work there. It gives a lovely comfortable feeling driving at 100-110 kmph on that section of GQ. The speed handling, the steadiness, the highway manners - all make this is good long touring vehicle. In fact with 47K already, I think you should consider a long term ownership thread at 50K.

Cheers

Rajain

[Rajain]

Hi

Its been a while since I updated the thread.

With in laws in town it was time to drive out somewhere. It was decided that we go to see Meenakshi Temple in Madurai. From our apartment in Bangalore to the temple it was 445 kms one way. We decided not to make a one day trip instead booked ourselves a hotel there.

The route was Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri-Salem-Karur-Madurai - distance from home 445 kms

A leisurely start from Bangalore last weekend meant only 1030 before we could get started. Among the 4 passengers, only my better half had seen the temple before. Soon after we started she said we are all getting late and that the temple closes at 7 (which we later learnt is not correct). With senior citizens in the rear seat I had budgetted for 2 stops every 2 hours. This distance would typically take 6 hours if I was heading towards Mumbai. But the diversions till a few kms ahead of Hosur meant that we had already consumed 1 hour and travelled approx 50 kms.

So at 1130 I was staring at the very possibility of actually reaching our destination with the temple closed. From there on it was a steady 120 kmph. After the diversions ended a few kms after Hosur till Krishnagiri we still had some traffic but after Krishnagiri traffic really thinned out. And we were able to get to Madurai by 4.30. We missed a turn somewhere but were quickly back on the right track. Upon reaching Madurai we promptly checked into the hotel - Royal Court and took an auto to get to the temple. I won't go into the detail on the temple history and layout. Loads of websites have that detail. Lonely planet guide too has enough detail on it.

A light dinner and we all slept. Next morning was the drive back. Just a weekend outing but totally worth it. The vehicle performed very well. Steady 120 kmph with AC meant an average of 18.5. The highway is very good as well.

The temple, in one word, is amazing. Camera is not allowed inside the temple so all pictures inside the temple are from a Galaxy Note. The outdoor captures are from a regular Sony point and shoot. Hundreds of tourists were clicking with mobiles inside the temple. Nothing really compares to the magnificence.

Some pictures -

[Rajain]

Hi

Its been a month since I updated this thread. In the last month a couple of trips to nearby areas and the service at 30,000. I actually took it at 29,000. Nothing to report on the service and no fixes required. Routine engine oil changed - fully synthetic Castrol Edge, cleaning and the like. I also got a 3M interior cleaning done. The charge for the service was 6200 and interior cleaning 3100.

What have I added? I added a medical kit, a hydraulic jack, an air pump, a lantern, a few extra tools and a Coleman sheet which also doubles up as blanket and rain protection. In the last few weeks I have helped 3 stranded co-travellers. Some pictures attached.















The lantern, the hydraulic bottle jack, the air pump and the tools were all with and were in my previous car. The medical kit is new. I used the space behind the third row to place them.

Cheers
Rajain

[Rajain]

Hello

The last few weeks have been testing times for the AC. The temperature in Bangalore has been crossing 35 and when parked in sun the cabin becomes an oven. I am sure those in other parts of India must be facing 42-43 degrees (or even 45 in some cases).

The question may arise if the AC is indeed effective considering how small the engine is. A short answer is while there are cars with better air con (even my 13 yr old Opel Corsa Sail has better AC) but given that the cabin is large, there are lots of big glass the AC that Ertiga comes with does do a pretty good job. It is certainly not the best or the coolest. Then one has to be somewhat creative. So this is what I do -

Soon after getting into the car after it is parked in the sun for long, I roll the windows down, then have the AC working on fresh air intake for a few minutes and slowly have the windows go up plus use sun shade in the middle row. The sun shade is a lighter colour to help reflect heat off. The middle row AC also is used to throw cool air behind.

Additionally, I think the following contribute to better cooling in the case of my Ertiga - the doors have a padding (the sound deadening one), the top has a roof top box (so no direct sunlight on the roof), the floor has 3M mats.

After about 10-12 minutes there is a perceptible change in the cabin air and the AC feels effective. There is no impact on the engine of the AC being on or off. I have leather seats but I have noticed after a few minutes of AC they are comfortable.

Cheers

Rajain

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Rajain

Hello

The last few weeks have been testing times for the AC. The temperature in Bangalore has been crossing 35 and when parked in sun the cabin becomes an oven. I am sure those in other parts of India must be facing 42-43 degrees (or even 45 in some cases).

The question may arise if the AC is indeed effective considering how small the engine is. A short answer is while there are cars with better air con (even my 13 yr old Opel Corsa Sail has better AC) but given that the cabin is large, there are lots of big glass the AC that Ertiga comes with does do a pretty good job. It is certainly not the best or the coolest. Then one has to be somewhat creative. So this is what I do -

Soon after getting into the car after it is parked in the sun for long, I roll the windows down, then have the AC working on fresh air intake for a few minutes and slowly have the windows go up plus use sun shade in the middle row. The sun shade is a lighter colour to help reflect heat off. The middle row AC also is used to throw cool air behind.

Additionally, I think the following contribute to better cooling in the case of my Ertiga - the doors have a padding (the sound deadening one), the top has a roof top box (so no direct sunlight on the roof), the floor has 3M mats.

After about 10-12 minutes there is a perceptible change in the cabin air and the AC feels effective. There is no impact on the engine of the AC being on or off. I have leather seats but I have noticed after a few minutes of AC they are comfortable.

Cheers

Rajain

Fully agree with you on the AC. Incidentally we are discussing the same today in my ownership review too. The Huge glass area and volume inside is one reason the AC takes a while to cool but this is certainly not a deal breaker.

Once it cools, there is absolutely no cause for concern at all.

By the way, time to change the Title of your thread with 30k Kms update. 17K is something my Ertiga has reached last week .

[rajshenoy]

I have been parking my car out in the open during the peak summer afternoon and the car heats up to beyond 40-45 Deg inside. I also have art leather seats.

I also do similar to what you do
1. Roll down all windows for first couple of mins
2. Turn on the AC with windows still rolled down
3. Slowly close the windows 70% by 5 mins and Switch on the rear blower even when i am driving alone for 5-10 mins and that helps in rapidly cooling the cabin.

So from my observation, Cabin cools down within 10 mins(Applicable for Bangalore summer)

[mohan41]

I agree with all your observations about AC. I find it is quite effective and I don't see any effect on driveability of the car.

However, there is a significant drop in FE, at least 2kmpl drop compared to the FE during winter days. With 100% city driving, I get around 13-13.5kmpl nowadays andI used to get around 15-15.5kmpl during winter. I would like to know your experience with FE when AC is used all the time. Idle RPM shoots upto almost 1000RPM when AC is switched on from 800RPM without AC. I think the ECU injects more fuel for same amount of throttle when AC is turned on.