[dot]

Originally Posted by Guderian

Wonder whether your dinner was spiked... such lucid thoughts.
And quite true about the owners of the upper end Toyota relatives of the poor old TFort ! In fact in Thailand etc the TFort is an almost agrarian workhorse !

Ah dinner. Son was making some noise, so decided to concentrate on T Fort. thoughts. You see, I had a soft top Gypsy once..:(

Checked the Thai Toyota website. The site made lot of funny sounds and then blanked out. Had to reload. And guess what, all the 3.0L variants comes with AT. Only a 2.5L variant comes with MT options. Looks like we are better off in India.

[Guderian]

Originally Posted by mdsaab

Great mileage for such a heavy 4x4.

PS: (Awww shoot ! I seem to be forgetting too many things today.)
Not just the weight part - also the fact that the TFort is a permanent AWD ! Despite that the FE returns are great.
Wonder whether like the Kaizen model Toyota has a Ki-De-Hai model.
Wonder whether the Chief Engineer/Designer san of Toyota had sometime, in the past, faced an sceptical Indian who repeatedly asked him - "Kitna deti hai ?!!" And Bingo ! That started the KiDeHai movement !

Originally Posted by dot

Ah dinner. Son was making some noise, so decided to concentrate on T Fort. thoughts. You see, I had a soft top Gypsy once..:(

Checked the Thai Toyota website. The site made lot of funny sounds and then blanked out. Had to reload. And guess what, all the 3.0L variants comes with AT. Only a 2.5L variant comes with MT options. Looks like we are better off in India.

Compliments to the son then - for making you think TFort !
Soft top Gypsy - isn't that a delicious thing ? Sometime in the hoary past of mine - almost went in for a Gypsy. But pulled out the last minute - even the dealers are not keen to sell it and the petrol engine angle.
About the Thai version - funny then what went into the thinking of Toyota to give India only the MT - price, CKD AT kit probs ? But I am glad they did what they did !

[mdsaab]

The moustache sounds interesting. Any sketches on how its planned to look?
Yeah, imagine its a permanent awd and yet this fantastic mileage. Commendable!
I think toyota has their hands full trying to dish out t-forts to customers waiting in long snaking lines. So till then, AT is the last thing they are thinking of.
One interesting point to note is that i feel ford has a mole in toyota, they knew the t-fort was only going to come with a MT. So Bang! We get an endeavour AT. Anyways while the endeavour is a great package too. Its still far off from competing with the t-fort.

[Manuuj]

Originally Posted by Guderian

Fantastic thought......how about the long weekend of Good Friday ? April 22nd, I believe ?

The Fortuner to Bison and Admiral..come in please. Long weekend of April 22nd seems interesting and even possible. Plans slowly forming, wheels being put into motion for a rendezvous at the LZ..I am keen on Bandhavgarh national Park. Its about 850 odd kms one way from Delhi. If its too far for you guys do suggest alternatives. Look forward to your comments!

Lets PM each other and see how we may put plans to action.

[Guderian]

Originally Posted by mdsaab

The moustache sounds interesting. Any sketches on how its planned to look?
Yeah, imagine its a permanent awd and yet this fantastic mileage. Commendable!
I think toyota has their hands full trying to dish out t-forts to customers waiting in long snaking lines. So till then, AT is the last thing they are thinking of.
One interesting point to note is that i feel ford has a mole in toyota, they knew the t-fort was only going to come with a MT. So Bang! We get an endeavour AT. Anyways while the endeavour is a great package too. Its still far off from competing with the t-fort.

Hi mdsaab, I am not very sure whether TFort still has snaking lines. Forget adult snakes, now it may be baby snake lines - for reasons as discussed in this thread earlier. I think the demand is coming down after the initial purchasers list has been whittled down by Toyota.
But yes, the Etios certainly has a 4 month waiting line.
And about the moustache here is a snap of what I want it to be like. Not sure whether I'll finally be able to get it fabricated. The chap I gave it to doesn't seem to be warming up to the idea. Wouldn't be surprised if I suddenly see our friend having mass produced it and many TForts sprouting it - and the guy not even thanking me for it !

Any comments ?

Originally Posted by Manuuj

The Fortuner to Bison and Admiral..come in please. Long weekend of April 22nd seems interesting and even possible. Plans slowly forming, wheels being put into motion for a rendezvous at the LZ..I am keen on Bandhavgarh national Park. Its about 850 odd kms one way from Delhi. If its too far for you guys do suggest alternatives. Look forward to your comments!

Lets PM each other and see how we may put plans to action.

Admiral to The Fortuner. Copy your message. Sent response. How do you read ? Confirm.
Would Nagpur and Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary be OK by you ? Confirm. Chart boys checking about Bandhavgarh NP from Mumbai and will confirm.

Come in Bison. Admiral to Bison come in. Sea squad sets sail soon. Charts being made ready. Join the flotilla.

Over.

[mdsaab]

I like the moustache posted in the example. Just a quick Q, will the lines be visible on the road while driving at night? Am reffering to the part of the grill which protects the headlamps.

[Guderian]

Originally Posted by mdsaab

I like the moustache posted in the example. Just a quick Q, will the lines be visible on the road while driving at night? Am reffering to the part of the grill which protects the headlamps.

Hi mdsaab, Valid issue - But going by what I have seen, those grills wont cast a major shadow on the road - it is too close to the source for that. But yes the total amount of light falling on the object/road/path will certainly be lower due to the opacity of the grills.

[Guderian]

Sunday - A Day in Motion ! Mar 27, 2011

No, no please don't jump to hasty conclusions !

I didn't spend the better part of the day in the bogs with a singing belly.
Motion here is as in locomotion.

Of course firstly was the usual but rather delighful task of decking up the Admiral and getting him ready for the week. As explained last week the activity begins at the crack o' dawn. And now the pix would do the tricks !

First - placing the safety hazard triangle in place. Admiral's bay is round the corner of the building and to clean him up well especially the quarter deck I have to lower him from the ramp.


Then check up of the tyres and topping the air. This week reduced the air pressure from 37 to 32 PSI and shall check the results.


By then the GDW (Gaadi Dhone Wallah) arrives and begins his trapeze act !

This guy Ramchandar is a gem ! He has been with me, in uniform, for 10 years now. Started with the Zen when I moved into the colony and been with me ever since. Been through the Zen, saw me through Guderian the Scorpio and now serving on Admiral Togo. First class chap. If the Zen, Scorp and the Admiral were/are in perfect shape he is a major contributor really. Oh yeah - he has his idiosyncracies - but then is forgiven after I spot a gleaming and flawlessly cleaned vehicle.

Then I begin work on the engine room...errr...bay. Quite dusty after a week:


Quite spit and polish after the splash of water and wipe up and READY FOR INSPECSHUN SAAAH ! :


The GDW completes the interiors and the exteriors. But I still have some special sections of the ship to be totally polished:
The ship's plate:

The bunker point !:



The gaps in the rear deck - packs a lot of dust n muck:


And so on !

Have been noticing quite a few differences in the engine bay compared to my previous ride. And here are some:

There's no radiator cap in the TFort. The coolant reservoir acts as the 'mai baap sarkar' for the radiator. So the old shout of "Arre Babloo - abbe jara radiator mein paani bhar de re chokre..." by the wayside garage owner is now consigned to the pages of automotice history, I guess !


The clutch master cylinder has no clutch oil reservoir of its own. The brake master cylinder has a reservoir that doubles up as the brake/clutch oil reservoir too. Sharing is caring ?!!


Bulk head wire intake points have cute looking rubber arrestors.


The fuel filter assembly of the TFort looks like the bridge of a Dreadnought class battleship !:


Plenty of sponge inserts - though very well secured and solid ! To give the vehicle an overall soft feel ?


I certainly do not like (add it to the dislike list !) the quality of the beading. Some of them are malformed from birth. Another case of poor quality third party supplier in India or elsewhere ? Outsourcing ? Baaah !


And I could keep showing you all the different design aspects till the cows come home. But I am getting carried away. Shall do so duly over a period of time.

But amidst all this I forgot to take care of a deep danger.

Stuka Bombers !!! Air raid warning sounded too late:


Admiral suffered a massive hit on the Forecastle (Fo'c'sle deck):


The bomb shrapnel and damage was cleared by the GDW and before further dives were attempted, Admiral, all gleaming, was moored back in his bay and I too made way back to the ward room for a good scrub.

And that's when an idea struck me n the LoH. Why not take a spin as usual to the city and our favourite location - Kala Ghoda ? I was game for anything that involved the Admiral. The offspring showed no inclination at all and wanted to make hay when the old foggies weren't at home - possible calls to GFs, internet, a pizza brunch. I couldn't care less as long as I got a long drive with the Admiral irrespective of who was where and doing what !

Soon enough Admiral was here:


And then here:


Right from my early professional days in Bombay (as it was known then ) - Bombay Sundays really meant something to me and the LoH ! And KG - just love the place. Even just driving around and observing things is a delight !
Picking up music from RH, knick knacks from here and there, pavement shops.....Samovar, Khyber, Jehangir, Regal.......ahhhh Sunday bliss.


What wouldn't I give for the Bombay of 60's and 70's ! Swinging times !
With these nostalgic thoughts a few delightful bits of music, odds and ends were purchased and I was savouring the moment when an alarm was sounded:
SDB Dauntless Dive Bombers !
Getting ready for action:



We threw smoke and moved around in circles to avoid the dive bombers and were soon out of range.

And soon found ourselves here. Now who doesn't know this place ?

A million Indian movies began here - with a village yokel landing up here with a tin box. And decades ago, another village yokel had landed up here with a pucca black tin box, from Bangalore (yeah those days Bangalore was a village) and now he believes owns the city, just because he drives a TFort. The arrogance of it all !

And we finally found ourselves here, before we headed back to base:


At base after I cast lines to secure the Admiral and after he was safely in, I looked up to see:

I showed it a tongue.

And splat ! The agent orange ( a defoliant from Vietnam days) landed on my skull.
Now do you see why this day was called a Day in Motion ?!! Movement one way or the other was all around me.

Now coming to matters of discussion:
- On reduction of tyre pressure I felt that the tyre hum had come down by a reasonable level. Was that psychological ? Cause logic says if the rolling resistance is more, which happens when the surface area increases when the pressure of the tyre reduces, then the noise should be more right ? So then puzzled by this development. Need to check it out.
- The comfort has substantially increased.
- The FE could have reduced as per the MID. Need to check the pucca way.

At a macro level - in one month's time I have put the Admiral through a variety of runs and terrains. Highway, bad roads, mild off roading, city roads, heavy traffic, light runs - just about every condition possible except hard off roading and throwing him at boulders. I had been for long searching for a vehicle that would serve on the weekdays as a office runner. And on the weekends serve to satisfy the urges of a weekend warrior. I could not find one for a long, long time. Tried quite a few vehicles. But none gave me the comfort of a city runner and highway blaster. Of an executive mobile at times and rock climber at times.

Yes, it is expensive by my standards. But then I know I have spent my money wisely. As of now. Touchwood !

And now at the end of one month of running it all I can say is - If there's a paradise on Earth, it is here, it here, it is here (Firdaus/Jehangir ?) - to view it from my words - If there is a city and rock runner at once, it is this, it is this, it is this !

Thank you all for patiently reading the trash and poppycock I put up all these days. From now on updates would be at major odometer mileposts.

Of course, it shall be my delight to keep the thread going for everything else including cheerful banter and exchange of information !

[Manuuj]

Originally Posted by Guderian

Admiral to The Fortuner. Copy your message. Sent response. How do you read ? Confirm.
Would Nagpur and Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary be OK by you ? Confirm. Chart boys checking about Bandhavgarh NP from Mumbai and will confirm.

Come in Bison. Admiral to Bison come in. Sea squad sets sail soon. Charts being made ready. Join the flotilla.

Over.

Nagzira seems fine..only an additional 355 kms from Bandhavgarh..and I love to drive! The Fortuner will be made ready for Battle and join up with Brothers in Arms at dezignated LZ.

I think i will leave a bit early and stop for a night or two at Bandhavgarh before meeting up with you all at Nagzira.

Will keep my fingers crossed all our plans work out..awaiting response from Bison!

[Guderian]

Originally Posted by Manuuj

Nagzira seems fine..only an additional 250 kms from Bandhavgarh..and I love to drive! The Fortuner will be made ready for Battle and join up with Brothers in Arms at dezignated LZ.

I think i will leave a bit early and stop for a night or two at Bandhavgarh before meeting up with you all at Nagzira.

Will keep my fingers crossed all our plans work out..awaiting response from Bison!

Great ! Will tic tac with you this week on the phone.

Bison come in !

[Ricky_63]

This thread is sure turning addictive by the day !! Fortuner-atly I am above the age limit where that would be a problem..trying very hard to match the linguistic skills of the thread starter but failing.

Never mind there is always another day !!





Cheers

[Guderian]

Originally Posted by Ricky_63

This thread is sure turning addictive by the day !! Fortuner-atly I am above the age limit where that would be a problem..trying very hard to match the linguistic skills of the thread starter but failing.

Never mind there is always another day !!





Cheers

Ricky-Tikki-Tavi ! Ahhh you so remind me of the writings of Rudyard.....
Well dear chap the addictions of the day are not truly bothersome - 'tis the nightly addictions that one must keep a lookout for !

Thank you very much for praising the drivel that I've put up here, sometimes even I surprise myself !

[Guderian]

Originally Posted by Guderian

SDB Dauntless Dive Bombers !

A thousand apologies for this post - Please read that as SBD Dauntless Dive Bombers !

[amitwlele]

Oh man i wish to be back in Mumbai after reading your post.

I am surprised that the Admiral did not give firing orders after seeing the bombers from such close quarters and beat a hasty retreat into its den

[AvonA7]

@guderian sir - Couldn't stop myself from increasing the no. of posts in your thread -

1. have seen many Fortuner's on-road and must admit they deserve the special treatment on our Indian roads ( I mean autos giving way, 2 wheelers going left to make way for the beast!). I think T-Fort is the best vehicle to prove that "size does matter on Indian roads". Your pic - My-Toyota-Fortuner-bull-bar-fabricated.jpg, looks IMO one of the best I have seen till date even though w/o wheel cap etc.

2. Pic #3.jpg (post #233), could see that your trapeze GDW is using a normal cloth for cleaning the FORT, as in T-BHP I am sure you must have come across the car care thread, would be better to equip him with latest tool (read microfiber cloth) for his daily trapeze show.

*Please do not take it as a gyan, just shared some gyan which again is gained from this very informative and honest forum.