Quote:
Originally Posted by abhinavb Hi Shankar,
What a great piece of information. Thanks for sharing  .
One quick question, based on your experience, do you think 1.3 S-Cross is capable of tackling a bit of hills, say Manali-Leh and Leh-Srinagar roads?
Thanks |
I have not driven those specific roads. But from what I have seen, even Maruti Vans and Maruti 800's buzz up and down those roads, so I would say yes, the 1.3 S Cross will make it, if driven correctly! Even these smaller engined Front wheel drive cars fly up and down quite easily!
We used to marvel at this capability of these little Japanese cars, when our old petrol Ambassador or petrol Fiat, used to wheeze and grunt up the hills under a full load. One had always to watch out for the right gear and momentum and angle of approach, keeping a hawk eye on the temperature gauge at all times.
Remember, not everyone who lives up in the high hills has access to upper end deluxe cars like these new generation ones - most of them manage with humbler means of transport and still get around quite well!
17 years ago this May, I watched a Maruti 1000 suffering a lot to climb certain sections of the Sigur Ghat in the Nilgiris. Simply because he didn't have enough momentum each time he took a hairpin bend. The same thing happened to me and my friend who were following in a Ford Escort Diesel 1.8 First Gen. Those Ford Escorts didn't have enough low end torque for those steep climbs, being inherently heavy RWD cars. Then Ford actually did a re-tuning of the engines to provide better torque and pulling power so the newer ones were able to deal with certain very steep sections.
Remember, as I said earlier, it is about the momentum, the right gear, the right angle of approach and the line that you choose to take around the curve while ascending a slope. A skilful driver can drive 'most anything up these pretty steep slopes as long as the surface and the tyres etc are up to it. Even the most skilful driver might struggle taking a very heavy 2WD Rear wheel drive car up a narrow, steep track whose surface is full of slush or wet grass, simply because the vehicle is too heavy to get enough purchase or traction, irrespective of what he may do.
Around 5-6 years ago we were driving a Subaru Forester (brand new) in England, way up in the Yorkshire hills. On Dirt tracks and grassy paths.
There were certain places we wanted to visit, this being James Herriot country and I wanted to see as much as possible.
Now, while James Herriot himself used to drive an ancient, wheezy Austin 7 or Rover or Ford in the early 1940's when he was a Vet there and as per his books and descriptions used to get around quite well up those steep farm tracks etc irrespective of rain, shine or snow/ice, my surmise is that one of the reasons for his success was the fact that those cars were inherently smaller and lighter and had the right sort of tyres to go up and down those roads. Of course, they weren't fast cars and neither did they have huge torquey engines and all the modern gizmos. A lot depended on the skill of the driver and the need to get where he needed to get.
In the same way, in rural France, you will see the humble lightweight 2WD Citroen 2CV going to some pretty steep places on all sorts of tracks!
Well, we went in Summer in that AWD AT Subaru Forester and there were certain sections of those roads (off the beaten track) where I did feel the Subaru slipping a bit because of its weight and size on the dewy grass / slushy wet surfaces that abound in those parts.
The lesson here is always be very careful about the inherent capacity of your vehicle before testing its limitations. In some cases, it is better to scout out the road on foot before taking the vehicle up.
There is a place near the Golf Club in Coorg (Virajpet) where the road was a steep, stony and narrow track. My Scorpio 2WD simply could not make it up that road, being a 2WD RWD and a very heavy vehicle. By contrast, a Maruti 800 and a Gypsy went up it, after a fashion! And a standard DI engined Mahindra Major with 4WD went up like a breeze!
I simply would not take my AWD 1.5 Ton Skoda Yeti up that road, notwithstanding all its inherent gizmos!
Always be aware of the limitations! Don't take unnecessary risks!