Team-BHP - The First Grand Vitara on Team-BHP

Quote:

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez (Post 5676467)

Your use cases for the GV make a Jimny sound like a very good choice.

Yeah, get a Jimny Zeta Manual and keep it for the next 20-30 years :). They are giving upto 3 lac discount on zeta varient plus you have been a loyal customer to maruti. They will definitely sweeten the deal.

Between, my friend got me the cruise control switch from USA( ebay procured). Need to get it fitted following khan_sultan's instruction in another thread. My aim is to get respectable milage on highways using CC set to 80 kmph.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samurai (Post 5676411)

Yes, since I was thinking about selling it, the workshop friend said to leave it to the next owner to decide about it.

By the time I drove the Tucson for 1000kms, I knew what I am going to miss... :coldsweat

In January this year I spent close to 100K on completly changing all possible failure parts of my Grand Vitara - water pump, thermostat, lower arms, ac clutch and many small items. Turns out it was a proper expenditure. The car drives like new and feels and rattles better than some new cars my friends have.
Change the clutch assly and drive for another 1Lakh kms.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samurai (Post 5676011)

After driving the Tucson for 1000kms on all kind of terrain and also driving the Grand Vitara during the same time, I discovered the stark difference between the two vehicles.

While Tucson is a great highway car and AWD, it is not really a true SUV. It is primarily a SUV shaped sedan. On bad roads, I am forced to drive it like a sedan. The suspension simply can't take the abuse like Grand Vitara can. On narrow two-lane roads, Tucson is slower than Vitara because it can't overtake the bigger vehicles with one tyre outside the tarmac.
I actually found myself taking the Vitara when I needed to visit places with narrow roads and difficult parking situations. Why should I give up this truly rugged SUV?

So, Grand Vitara stays as my second car in Udupi.

Could it be you are suconsiously mollycoddling the Tuscon, as it is a new car?
Drive hard. Worst case you will have to service the suspension a few years earlier that ideal!!:D

There is no denying the superiority of a full time 4WD system over AWD.
And I feel the AWD system will be better for highway drives than the 2/4 WD transfer cases of the Thar and Jimny. Though I have to really drive these two before fully endorsing my hunch.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sridhar-v (Post 5677242)

Could it be you are suconsiously mollycoddling the Tuscon, as it is a new car?

Not at all. If you remember, I took the Vitara offroading in the very first week.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sridhar-v (Post 5677242)

Drive hard. Worst case you will have to service the suspension a few years earlier that ideal!!:D

I did that on the two 400kms drives so far. The violent feedback through the steering wheel convinced me it is not up to it. Potholes that are easily dismissed by the Grand Vitara are really unsettling the Tucson. Yeah, on the smooth highways, Tucson is just fantastic.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samurai (Post 5677447)

Not at all. If you remember, I took the Vitara offroading in the very first week.

I did that on the two 400kms drives so far. The violent feedback through the steering wheel convinced me it is not up to it. Potholes that are easily dismissed by the Grand Vitara are really unsettling the Tucson. Yeah, on the smooth highways, Tucson is just fantastic.

The Grand Vitara has hydraulic steering which has a considerable resistance to movement. All people driving it remark that the force required to move the wheel is much more than their other Maruti cars.
Try creating a custom profile with specific mode of the electric power steering, if that is possible. Then you can see which mode suits rough roads and which suits highways drives.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samurai (Post 5676011)

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I recently brought home XL6 in its Alpha+ MT Splendid Silver avatar, and I couldn't help but notice that it's exterior (esp the front & side) are blatant copy-paste of this Grand Vitara and then modified to look a bit modern!
Such a ageless design.
Imo, if you have a usecase for your GV & have space for parking, then donot sale it!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Styler (Post 5650423)

I'm thinking of ordering H7 and HB3 from this Amazon India link to replace both High Beam and Low Beam.
Will they fit without cutting the rubbers is the Headlight housing is difficult to know.
Styler

Late to reply to this post but I would suggest you to plonk in IPH M617 Bi-Led Projector Fogs, the connections are truly plug and play with no splices whatsoever and the installation is also pretty easily. You can activate the high beam as well and it has a really good throw with a sharp cutoff and three color temperatures 3000k,4300k and 6000k I believe. Only thing to keep in mind is that small portion of the bumper ears for the fogs needs to be trimmed but that won't disallow you to revert to stock fogs in the future. This is done to allocate space for the adjustment screw at the side of the projector fog and thats about it. You can get the projector fog kit from either Blaze India or even CarHatke website. They have listed it for 5600rs or so.

Regards
Ashton Castelino

Did a small 2 day trip to coorg. Stayed at two homestays. Decided to take GV for the trip. First homestay had some steep roads where I used 4H high and 4H low just for sake of using it. Couple of times it pulled up the stoned steep paths in regular awd mode in 2nd gear. Got around 10kmpl FE. Estate owner was surprised to see a 15 year old suv in such good condition. Gave all credit to precious owner :).

Few pics of GV.

Thanks to Delhi NCR/NGT diktats, the time has come for me to replace my 2009 Grand Vitara 2.4. Looked all around for a suitable replacement, Compass came close however the petrol engine was anaemic and interior cramped, Jimmy felt the same. Really hard to find a solid 5 seater 4wd/awd petrol SUV. Finally settled on a 2.4 Honda CRV AWD AT. CRV is definitely more plush and great on highways but I still miss the rugged/go-anywhere feeling of the GV.

Have listed my GV in classifieds.

Have had it for almost 9 years, it has been a painless experience so far and really sad to think that I had to say my goodbye to this car. Very few cars can replace this one