[Jeash.vk]

Whoaa... what a vehicle, what a drive (refer video). Any one who read the review, but missed the video - please go back and watch it. What an awesome drive! My heart was in my mouth and the jaw was hitting the desk when I was watching it. Imagine how thrilling it would be to sit inside that! Lucky you Rehaan. You beauty Neville.

BTW - Rehaan - no videos of you driving it?

[Sudan_NFS]

Good review Rehaan, seems like a good off-roading vehicle with good power but with a higher price.
I am not sure why this vehicle needs to be made road legal,this is purely for off-roading.Yes there would be difficulty in transporting the vehicle, but a pickup truck should be enough for that.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Rehaan, any idea how this buggy will perform when the track/road is wet, as in during or after rains?

Not sure exactly what your question is here... but it will really depend on the type of dirt surface you're on. Given that off-road traction is limited to start with - I'm guessing there probably won't be as large a difference as if you were comparing a sports car in the dry/wet. Also, worth mentioning here is that the car has been designed to be sprayed down entirely with water for cleaning - so a little rain shouldn't bother it from that point of view.

As for on the road, a switch of shocks and wheels/tyres can make a pretty capable track machine from the looks of it (at least with the higher-powered sequential shift models in the UK). However, the 70 BHP + CVT of the Cyclone might leave you wanting more power on a racing circuit though.


Image source

Originally Posted by karthik123

Wow, nice to see this! I like it without the body panels though.

You'll probably prefer the older look then (I think its exactly the same tube chassis). Check out this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4DrVWjCORo

I'll let someone else answer your other questions...

Originally Posted by Jeash.vk

BTW - Rehaan - no videos of you driving it?

Nope... though I think it worked out a lot better this way!

Originally Posted by Sudan_NFS

I am not sure why this vehicle needs to be made road legal, this is purely for off-roading.

It would just be a lot more convenient and usable. Imagine not being allowed to wear your running shoes anywhere other than on the treadmill.

cya
R

[virtualdanger]

Awesome stuff; would love to drive one of these, though it would take a while to get comfortable.

Would need a nice outdoor place for it, and with it not being street legal, its too expensive as a toy.

Perhaps if this was given out on rent in a place that also had access to suitable outdoors, it would be ideal. Pay to use, have fun, and be assured that there is a place to enjoy it.

[sharanvenu]

Colin McRae in 2010? Well, that can't be true..!

[nitrous]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

One of the highlights was Colin McRae picking a Rage buggy as his weapon of choice for the Dakar rally in 2010.

You sure?
Well, Colin Mcrae died in 2007.

[karan561]

Nice review & definitely an exciting entrant in the Indian market.

I was just thinking, with 70 bhp & 1/2 Ton weight, a similar but lower with semi slick tires can be easily made road legal & be something like an Indian version of say a KTM XBOW or may be an ARIEL ATOM.

^ that kinda vehicle if made more attractive (looks) will be much more value proposition in terms of performance & uniqueness even @ 12L price range.

What say ? Is Rage already working on something similar to offer ? In fact is a TORNADO (as i have already thought of a name for it ) on the way after the CYCLONE.

[vvijay]

It is noteworthy to mention in this thread that this buggy is almost similar to the mega competition SAE India conducts for all graduate Engineering colleges called "Baja" (Pronounced Baha) where every student participates representing the college as a team, design their own buggy and showcase it.

And here's my buggy, my friends and I made back when we were at college

Not 130BHP/tonne, not 11.83 lakhs either but a whole lot of fun back then.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by sharanvenu

Colin McRae in 2010?

Originally Posted by nitrous

You sure?

Yikes! Thought "that wasn't so long ago" when I wrote that date. Corrected, thanks.

Originally Posted by karan561

What say ? Is Rage already working on something similar to offer ? In fact is a TORNADO (as i have already thought of a name for it ) on the way after the CYCLONE.

They actually already have the "Hurricane", "Storm" and "Comet" - so i guess Tornado could fit in too!

In India, I don't see any plans of a road/track-going version at the moment. Maybe if/when its street legal it would be worth considering.

cya
R

[Nilesh5417]

Offbeat reviews like this maketh team-bhp! I don't know if i'll ever own one of these things and enough of land to ride them like they are supposed to be ridden (or driven?). But you sure had fun with that thing cause it comes across in the write up. Looks like it kept you mighty interested to note the minutest of the details.

[naturaldisaster]

really awesome product! and equally awesome product review. the eye for detail and the clear pics have geven me a clear idea of what the thing is. although the 11 lac price tag clearly denotes that this is intended to be a niche marketed RV buggy.

by the way, a little rant from my side: there are people wishing that this vehicle would become street legal and all. but isnt asking to make a wild RV buggy street legal soliciting rash driving? i mean what else could this thing be used as on the street.

i feel that its good that this buggy is infact not street legal because its not for transportation.

as i said, a rant :P

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by naturaldisaster

by the way, a little rant from my side: there are people wishing that this vehicle would become street legal and all. but isnt asking to make a wild RV buggy street legal soliciting rash driving?

'Rash driving' comes from the driver, not the vehicle!

A rash driver will drive rashly, even in the pope-mobile.

Originally Posted by naturaldisaster

i mean what else could this thing be used as on the street.

- Mostly to get from one off-road location to the next. (Eliminates the need for a trailer, etc).
- Ability to drive it to the service station for a check-up. (Eliminates the need for a trailer or home-call).
- Also, for leisurely spins. Eg. imagine you owned this at your holiday beach/hill-station home. Wouldn't you rather take this for a quick spin to pick up eggs and bread from the market, rather than your daily driver.

cya
R

[ringoism]

Well, yeah, the price is certainly ridiculous...

But this looks like about the best way yet available in India to reduce by probably hours the record times for each leg of the Raid-de-Himalaya rally. I'm pretty sure that nothing else we've seen out there - on any number of wheels - could touch it.

Re: Street legality (lack thereof) for such an application... well, okay, skip the first stages (on mainly proper roads). Ship it to Manali, fire it up on race morning, and simply keep it floored between there and Leh. Who's gonna stop ya??? (in truth, no local ATV's between Manali / Solang / Rohtang are licensed, and they all see public road use - often with whole families aboard).

So I just leave it here: If someone out there has a little more money than sanity / good sense / scruples re: civic responsibility... well, I can't imagine a more entertaining way to arrive at Leh .

-Eric

[ringoism]

Originally Posted by vvijay

It is noteworthy to mention in this thread that this buggy is almost similar to the mega competition SAE India conducts for all graduate Engineering colleges called "Baja" (Pronounced Baha) where every student participates representing the college as a team, design their own buggy and showcase it.

And here's my buggy, my friends and I made back when we were at college

Not 130BHP/tonne, not 11.83 lakhs either but a whole lot of fun back then.

I had no idea till now that the Indian colleges were doing that too!!! Fantastic!!! I saw one of the competitions in West Texas way back (1991), the year before my own school got involved and designed/built their entry. Great fun.

But yeah, 1000cc really changes the whole game (I think the SAE regs limited entries to 8bhp or something at that time)...

-Eric

[sarathlal]

Chance to see the buggy in action, in three cities!