[jkrishnakj]

Had a good return drive. The beast was superb in the ghats - both while climbing as well as the descent. Never felt unsafe. The overaking ability of the car in the climb towards coonoor was fantastic. Downshift once and it takes off smoothly.

We had good lunch at "SideWalk Cafe" - made famous by Rocky and Mayur on " highway on my plate". Good food, but certainly on the expensive side.

All in all, a fantastic trip. The beast returned a mileage of 10.43 ( full tank method ) in this trip.

One Long weekend followed another, thanks to the Royal Wedding. This ensured that a quick trip to Coorg was done.

We had booked Jungle Mount Adventures, at Kakkabay, at Coorg. The drive was fantastic. Took the Bangalore - Nice road - Srirangapatna Exit - KRS road - hunsur - Gonikoppal - Virajpet - Kakkabey.

Somewhere before reaching Virajpet , the A/C conked off. It was throwing out Hot Air..Very frustrating in the summers.

Checked the fuses and everything was alright. Called up SA of Concorde and he advised that the issue may be due to the gas. Couldnt find any TASS centres there.

Whilst the holiday was good, the drives were pretty HOT due to the scorching sun at Coorg during the noon time.

Left there sunday morning at 10.00 AM, took the Madikeri route this time. The roads from Virajpet to Madikeri were smooth and full of twists and turns. Madikeri to Mysore roads are super too.

Went to Concorde yesterday to check on the A/C. A wire had been cut and that is what caused the issue. I was told to keep my car away from Rats. I need to figure out a solution to the rats problem.

Well, the long pending film issue is sorted out. Got it fixed while i was at Coimbatore. Went to Sunshine Combines at Cbe and got it done.

Pending is the mods of the head lapms. Still got to get this done. Thanks to JK Das and a few others who have given ideas on how we can do this, it makes it a bit simple now. Just that i need to be in Bangalore for a weekend instead of driving out.

I have now finished 7053 Km's and am pleased with the ownership over the last 3.5 months, albeit a few niggles here and there.

[sami316]

Hi jkrishnakj,

Just read this ownership review. Its really comprehensive and very well written. Thanks for the excellent review as this was really helpful.

[jkrishnakj]

The every day drive between Home and office was boring ( not more than 3 KM's each way.. ). Withdrawal symtoms were setting in. Its been a while - i said to myself.

I had a day off on the 30th and that meant a very long weekend. Off we were with the T-Saf on a long drive. We went to Coonoor, stayed there for a night, and the next day, i drove to Coimbatore via Kundha / Kinnakorai / Karamadai. Long route, but super roads and scenery all around. We thoroughly enjoyed the drive. The drive up the Masinagudi route was a bit tough - i had to switch to 1st gear a few times.

At very sedate speeds at the ghats, it was panoromic scenary all around.

I was happy to have discovered a new route to Coimbatore from Coonoor.

T-Saf somewhere near Kundha Dam


The winding roads to Coimbatore from Kinnakorai


Very steep gradient - Water Pump House


Discovered another dam enroute


Overall, it was a trip with a lot of fun, pleasure, discovery and happiness.

As always, this time, the T-Saf returned a mileage of 11.6 KM/Ltr. Given that 30% of the drive was in ghats, i am happy with this.

Overall, in the 8000KM's,
(i) Love the space in the car. This makes you ignore the itsy bitsy plastics
(ii) Power and its overaking ability
(iii) Comfort in very long drives. Slot it in 5th gear, at a speed of 110-120, and it cruises comfortably.
(iv) Good After Sales Service experience( atleast, for me)
(v) No more niggles. I dont even hear the door / glass rattles these days

Engine Oil level was low when i checked the indicator. Got to check with Concorde. I dont see any leakage, but would still take it to concorde to get an assessment.

Got a full interior vacuum cleaning done this sunday thru Carnation. For Rs. 50, they did a very good job.

I am now awaiting the next long weekend.

I am also turning a bit lazy. Havent worked on the lamps yet..

[jkrishnakj]

Missed this bit..The carnation guys said that the engine oil level was low and i need to fill in and they were a bit pushy to do it right there. Politely refused and left after the vacuum clean.

I read in the forum and in the manual that engine oil change is to be done at 15K KM's. Mine just breached the 9K mark.

A quick call to the SA and he advised i top up HALF Litre of 15W40, Castrol oil.

Any thoughts / comments from other safari owners will really help. I plan to do this tomorrow morning. Lucky for me, there is a castrol outlet bang opposite to my residence.

Yesterday, my wife and I visited the concorde motors (bangalore) stockyard off sarjapura road to see some safaris. we were shown a new GX quartz black/real earth waiting to be picked. we noticed that the stepney cover was not black and real-earth but black and a shade of grey. first we thought that the unit was misfitted but the sales rep confirmed that all gx/vx now come with that shade of grey in the stepney cover. so from the back you would see three colors: black, real-earth and grey.

is it the same in older GX units too (post 2010 Oct) ? @jkrishnkj or someone owning the black dual tone comment on this please ?

The good news - later in the day, we ended up booking a black dualtone GX. It was a real difficult choice comparing it against the Pearl White but somehow we had to go ahead and make a decision !

[kaviprem]

Originally Posted by sarcar

Yesterday, my wife and I visited the concorde motors (bangalore) stockyard off sarjapura road to see some safaris. we were shown a new GX quartz black/real earth waiting to be picked. we noticed that the stepney cover was not black and real-earth but black and a shade of grey. first we thought that the unit was misfitted but the sales rep confirmed that all gx/vx now come with that shade of grey in the stepney cover. so from the back you would see three colors: black, real-earth and grey.

is it the same in older GX units too (post 2010 Oct) ? @jkrishnkj or someone owning the black dual tone comment on this please ?

The good news - later in the day, we ended up booking a black dualtone GX. It was a real difficult choice comparing it against the Pearl White but somehow we had to go ahead and make a decision !

Yes, Starting 2010 Jan, the spare wheel cover is recoloured to have Ferrari silver along with the body colour.

Prem.

[jkrishnakj]

Originally Posted by sarcar

The good news - later in the day, we ended up booking a black dualtone GX. It was a real difficult choice comparing it against the Pearl White but somehow we had to go ahead and make a decision !

Accept my heartiest congratulations Sarcar. Would love to see your ownership report coming up soon.

[camon]

Hi sarcar,

Congratulating you to reclaim your life with this black beauty.
Have safe drive.

Rajesh

[jkrishnakj]

9867 LM on the ODO. A fortnight back, i had a quick trip back to Irupu falls and back - a day trip. The previous visit to Irpu was in the peak of summers, could go and cool off in the waters. This time around, the waters were gushing and you could hear it from quite a distance. I had put those pictures on a different thread.

Tomorrow, i am off to Chennai. It is going to be a morning/evening trip. I plan to take the toll roads in the morning and come back through the old madras road. Shall update once i am back.

[jaysmokesleaves]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Missed this bit..The carnation guys said that the engine oil level was low and i need to fill in and they were a bit pushy to do it right there. Politely refused and left after the vacuum clean.

I read in the forum and in the manual that engine oil change is to be done at 15K KM's. Mine just breached the 9K mark.

A quick call to the SA and he advised i top up HALF Litre of 15W40, Castrol oil.

Any thoughts / comments from other safari owners will really help. I plan to do this tomorrow morning. Lucky for me, there is a castrol outlet bang opposite to my residence.

Engine should not consume ANY oil. If yours has consumed 1/2 liter at 9k kms, there is a problem. If it has not consumed half liter oil and you have filled half liter, then you are creating a problem for the turbo with excess oil.
Please ensure oil levels are close to exact.

[jkrishnakj]

Thanks so much JSL for your useful comment. Well, i havent dont anything as yet. I plan to visit Concorde tomorrow and see what they have to say.

A quick trip to chennai was a day well spent with the T-Saf yday. We left at 5 AM and reached Vadapalai at Chennai at 9.30 AM. I was doing some spirited driving after a long time. The early morning drive was full of rain and drizzles till we crossed Krishnagiri. After that, it was a breeze untill we hit Ring Fedder turn.

We left Chennai at 1.45 PM. Stopped at Vellore Saravana Bhavan for lunch. We then saw the deviation to "SriPuram". A quick glance to my wife and i understood that we are on.

This was our first visit to the Golden Temple at Sripuram. I was previously told that this place is always crowded and takes about 2-3 hours to have darshan. Sceptical we were, but i saw hardly any crowd. I would imaging a count of only about 50-60 people in the complex.

The temple is WOW !. (Its a different issue that i dont love Pomp and Splendour when it comes to temples). The lawns are manicured to perfection. The stone sculptures are tastefully placed in the gardens. The trees look they were imported from middle east. The world "Inside" and "outside" the temple is a Himalayan Contrast. The several KM's of forceful walk till you hit the sanctum sanctorum was doing a lot to the stiff legs. We reached the mail complex and there you see so much Gold in one go - oh boy, where do they get so much Gold ?

We left in an hour after the darshan. It started drizzling, then, it turned to a bit of heavy rains, it then started pouring and then i sould say that in one stretch, it was akin to someone pouring buckets and buckets of water on your windscreen.

Speeds considerably slowed down. Came to the 80's. Then, the agony - i see the "Allaudin" light on in the console - trouble i say. It flickers and then, goes off. I say to myself that the T-Saf is upto its tricks. In a few seconds, Agony again and a few seconds later, it was OK. Agony - OK , this cycle went on for 2-3 minutes. My attentioin was on the wipers, the service light and suddenly, i enter an area where there is massive consolidation of water. I hadnt noticed this and in a speed of about 85 KM's or so, i sense that my vehicle is verring left, then right and i could feel the rain water splash the chassis. OMG - that was a heart stopper of an incident for me.

Thankfully, rains stopped and so did the service light that was coming on. Saw a few nasty accidents on the way.

Well - didnt i say that i plan to take the toll road one way and the old madras road on the return - what did i do ? At each place where i was paying toll, i took the "Return" fare, which was cheaper, totally forgetting that the plan was different. So, i ended up the Blr-Hosur-K'giri-Ambur-Vellore-Kanchi-Poonamalle route itself, both ways.

[verditer]

Hi JKrishnaKJ

Good to read about your day trip to Chennai. The high speed drift on water is scary.. I've also experienced it myself couple of times, and try to be really careful when approaching water puddles. Especially if the water puddle is close to the median, you may really end up crashing into the median, if the water is more than a inch high or so...

I think it has to do with the tyres or the weight; I guess at high speed the vehicle almost floats on the water and there is absolutely no friction... Very dangerous situation.

[jkrishnakj]

So, with a 10,000 KM + safari, what should one expect.

1. I see a few plastic screw covers missing ( the ones that cover the holes on the door trims etc.. ).
2. The T-Saf becomes a lot more smoother to drive.
3. The noise is so refined ( vis-a-vis the first 2K KM's).
4. You get used to the plastics and the odd imperfections ( not sure odd, or many imperfections).
5. You understand your vehicle a lot more. This is one vehicle which will make you learn about it - atleast for me, that's the case.
6. The larger visibility sometimes makes you overconfident, and a bit towards the arrogance stage - atleast, i have tended to overtake in the narrow bangalore roads. I used to hate the Sumos/Qualis taxi guys doing this, but every now and then, i have done this as well.
7. I am used to seeing the Vernas, Swifts, Innovas and a few other sedans zip past you on the highways ( perhaps, my driving style - 110-120 KM/Hr).
8. You discover new parking places - given that you are confident to take the vehicle on any kinds of roads.
9. Especially with a Black colour, i have now started "admiring" the vehicle when its dirty - actually, lazy me to clean it up.
10.Your friends want to have a quick go at the car and you learn the art of saying "no" politely without offending them.
11. There are withdrawal symptoms when you dont do a 200KM drive for more than a fortnight.
12. You know that the T-Saf can throw surprises at you, every now and then. Sometimes, when its gasping for breath in 3rd gear sometimes ( it misses a beat or so), it can equally surprise you with some its overtaking agiligy on the highways - its so smooth.
13. The "tiredness specturm" of long drives get shifted - i used to have a comfort zone of 350KM a day drive, its now gone up to the 700 KM mark a day, before i feel tired.

This is what came to my mind. Will be glad to hear from other T-saf users as well.

@jkrishknakj One of the best ownership memos I have read
Do you have any comments on the gearbox ? Do yo feel any change while shifting of gears such as more play, loosening or stiffness etc ?

[jkrishnakj]

Sarcar - Thanks for your kind words. Have you taken delivery of your GX ? Look forward to the pics and your ownership experience.

As for the gear box, i havent seen anything that has either improved / deteriorated over the last 6 months. I used to find it hard in the initial days and i still find it hard to slot gear, but, i have got used to it. I certainly dont find any play. Stiffness - yes, when i slot to the first gear. But, i am completely used to the gear box now.

Do i find any difference between the EX that i owned earlier and this GX, - the answer is NO.