[pachchu]

Originally Posted by jasher26

great review! i wonder do they give the same kind of service in Mumbai.

its the perfect second car to have

I am not sure of Mumbai. A friend of mine in Pune inquired once. They said that the service person comes to Pune once in a few months from Bangalore and services all the Revas in Pune and goes back. So, check with Reva for A.S.S details for your city.

Originally Posted by d3mon

No! There are no gear shifts at all in the Reva!

It's like being in one gear all the time. No need to shift because of the flattest torque curve in the world

I am a little lost after reading a few contradictory posts on torque/power/acceleration/gears in this and one another thread.

Originally Posted by Eddy

The pics are as good as the review itself. Very detailed.

Can you post one more showing the rear seat space, with all seats in normal positions. Thanks

Eddy, I should have it this weekend.

[s_sasmal]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

So, unless one is 100% sure that the electricity being used to charge the batteries of electric vehicles is being generated through renewable sources of energy (hydel/wind/solar), I feel that it is not correct to market electric vehicles as non-polluting vehicles.

Generally speaking, electricity is sourced by burning fuel, but the efficiency of large scale power plants are far superior than burning fuel in car engines. The electric vehicles surely is greener that other vehicles. Nevertheless, the car is not 100% non-polluting vehicle.

Pachchu> This is serious and humourous review, both at the same time !!! 5 star

~SS

[fiery enzyme]

A very nice read .

[u_chill]

Very nice review. Seriously the best second car that money can buy for urban commute scenarios. Recently saw this written on a Reva bumper sticker at Hosur Road during peak traffic, "I hope some day you will join us"...Amen!

[CliffHanger]

@pachhu

Though I seriously appreciate your efforts to save this world, after looking at the pics I feel that your primary intention was to find a car that fits your cramped parking space. I don't find any other philanthropic reasons other than this..
I would have been happier if you had included this reason too at the start of your review..

[Jeep]

One heck of a review, Pachchu.

Loved the way you ended the review.

[Gansan]

Simply superb! Gives me a new perspective about the Reva,though I used to see them often when I was at Bangalore. Have seen just one or two here in Chennai.

Any idea about the engine life? I mean, the drive motor.

I would also like to try my hand at saving the world if a used Reva could be found. Any idea about the prices?

[pachchu]

Originally Posted by Gansan

Any idea about the engine life? I mean, the drive motor.

I would also like to try my hand at saving the world if a used Reva could be found. Any idea about the prices?

thanks. From what I know from earlier batch of Reva users, the drive motor has lasted them for as long as they have had the car i.e. 7-9 years. I will check with Reva-seva on that in my next visit.

I do see Reva for resale with 2-3L price tag from time to time.

Originally Posted by CliffHanger

@pachhu

Though I seriously appreciate your efforts to save this world, after looking at the pics I feel that your primary intention was to find a car that fits your cramped parking space. I don't find any other philanthropic reasons other than this..
I would have been happier if you had included this reason too at the start of your review..

Here's a quote at the beginning of my original post that you might have missed -

Originally Posted by pachchu

Why Reva (question specific to buying in India):

There are many reasons, but none of them hold water other than… To save the world!

Seriously, there is no single reason but a combination of all the following reasons.

<Snipped>

• And the deal-maker is…..we have a single long parking spot in our apartment basement which barely houses both Santro and Reva bumper to bumper (yes, I measured both the cars and the parking lot before buying it).

Please don't read too much into 'save the world' cliche. It was used in jest on both the occasions in the original post. But I do believe that if many people use Reva for daily commute in metros, it would make a huge difference to the traffic and pollution.

[Vicki_Rau]

Hi there Pachchu,
That was a great writeup.
We too have owned a REVA for over 2years now.
Only difference is my wife uses it more (I land up using the Innova for the office commute,you know which is the better car for crowded city street driving).
Yes, its a quirky car and we love it but.............
- we have had a horrible experience over the batteries
- it does have bad steering and the worlds worst brakes(you write about leaving others at a standstill blasting off from a traffic light). But, have you ever had to do a crash stop? It is a heart pounding knuckle whitening freaky experience.

What I like the most is the atitude of the Reva Seva people. Its more like being part of a family.


PS-Dont know whether you have read the related thread "2006 G Whiz review"

[pachchu]

Originally Posted by Vicki_Rau

Hi there Pachchu,
That was a great writeup.
We too have owned a REVA for over 2years now.
Only difference is my wife uses it more (I land up using the Innova for the office commute,you know which is the better car for crowded city street driving).
Yes, its a quirky car and we love it but.............
- we have had a horrible experience over the batteries
- it does have bad steering and the worlds worst brakes(you write about leaving others at a standstill blasting off from a traffic light). But, have you ever had to do a crash stop? It is a heart pounding knuckle whitening freaky experience.

What I like the most is the atitude of the Reva Seva people. Its more like being part of a family.


PS-Dont know whether you have read the related thread "2006 G Whiz review"

I would like to hear more about your horrid experience. This forum is as good as any, so feel free to bring out the negative points to benefit the consumers as well as the company so that they can improve on it.

I have read the g-wiz thread. if you have posted in that thread, I'll take a look at that too, though I didn't remember reading any such thing.

reva-seva people have been 'training' me about the batteries from the beginning, i.e. how often should you recharge, what to do when you are leaving out-of-town for long trips, how often to water refill, driving pattern, etc. So, I've followed their advice and so far have managed to keep the car in good running condition.

I did mention about the brakes being inadequate in my original post. Never had to do a sudden stop, but I am aware of the brakes limitation, so I do keep a more than usual buffer in front of me. I just hope that I don't have to do the knucke-whitening sudden stop any day. that's one of the reasons I take the Reva and my wife takes the Santro. I can handle these situations better than my wife, so I would like to believe.

while in the US, I have undergone MSF training (I used to ride an R6 while in the US) which plants a few safety tactics in your mind, most prominently 'scanning' and '12-second visibility.' I believe in Indian driving conditions, both come very handy whether you are riding or a bike or a car.

[raamki]

An awesome review pacchu, very nice descriptive pics as well!! thanks a ton!! wifey is a huge fan of the Reva and is absolutely going to love reading your post!! infact, she's been wanting an automatic for quite some time!

btw, i was looking up the Reva India website and thought i should share a picture of the supposedly next generation Reva designed by DC!! she's a serious looker, really hope to see her on our roads soon!!

[driftagain]

Loved your review. I too stay in Bangalore and see some of these around plenty of times. Your review makes me feel like doing a test drive.

Actually once I saw that a lady was in a Red Reva on a slightly uphill road, there was a jam. Her car started to roll back and she couldn't stop that by brake or accelarator. The guy behind actually stopped it with hand. Have you ever faced such scenario or was it for the older model?

[beejay]

Originally Posted by raamki

An awesome review pacchu, very nice descriptive pics as well!! thanks a ton!! wifey is a huge fan of the Reva and is absolutely going to love reading your post!! infact, she's been wanting an automatic for quite some time!

btw, i was looking up the Reva India website and thought i should share a picture of the supposedly next generation Reva designed by DC!! she's a serious looker, really hope to see her on our roads soon!!

This is a prototype and still being tested by Reva. Unlike the Reva they are trying to give this a higher range. Top speed has also been increased.

[fuhrer]

Excellent write up pachchu :-)
Your write up inspired me to look up for this car. Indeed i searched an online second hand car dealer and found only 4 cars . anyways i drive a minimum of 35 to 40kms per day and its very hot here in chennai most of the time so i better stick to a normal fuel car

[pachchu]

Originally Posted by raamki

An awesome review pacchu, very nice descriptive pics as well!! thanks a ton!! wifey is a huge fan of the Reva and is absolutely going to love reading your post!! infact, she's been wanting an automatic for quite some time!

btw, i was looking up the Reva India website and thought i should share a picture of the supposedly next generation Reva designed by DC!! she's a serious looker, really hope to see her on our roads soon!!

It is a concept car not in production. I have a calendar full of those pictures. Lookup Chetan Maini in youtube and you will find a few videos of this.

Originally Posted by driftagain

Loved your review. I too stay in Bangalore and see some of these around plenty of times. Your review makes me feel like doing a test drive.

Actually once I saw that a lady was in a Red Reva on a slightly uphill road, there was a jam. Her car started to roll back and she couldn't stop that by brake or accelarator. The guy behind actually stopped it with hand. Have you ever faced such scenario or was it for the older model?

That used to be a problem in earlier reva. They have added a new anti-roll technology in Reva-i (2007 model onwards) which brakes automatically if your feet is neither on accelerator nor on brake and if the car starts rolling backward or forward. So, you never free roll in either direction, but still, this braking doesn't stop you fully and you have to apply brakes to stop if you start rolling on uphill.

Secondly, the boost mode is quite powerful, so perhaps she panicked and didn't engage boost mode.

Thirdly, typically in petrol automatics, when you engage "Drive (D)" mode and release your feet from the brake, the car starts moving forward in 1st gear. That is why, the AT drivers need to keep their feet on the brakes even at signals if they don't change from D to Neutral. In Reva, that is not so. If you release your feet from the brakes, the car stands still on a flat surface. It will roll slowly if not on a flat surface and you have to press your feet on the accelerator to make it move in the direction you want to go.