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Old 4th June 2007, 17:31   #1
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How good is Santro on long trip?

I've purchased a new Santro and planning to go places like ooty and goa in the next 6 months by road. I don't know about Santro's performance in the challenging driving conditions, specially in the hills. Does any bhpian has the experience of driving Santro in these conditions?
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Old 4th June 2007, 19:48   #2
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Don't worry Javed, your Santro will take you to these places and more, just don't drive at insane speeds and go easy on bad roads (if you have passengers in the rear seat). I used to take my Santro to Himachal and Garhwal and it used to perform flawlessly.
Enjoy your trips!
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Old 4th June 2007, 20:26   #3
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I have driven in a Santro to Munnar... it does its job pretty good. Of course there is no upper limit to the car which one can own, but by itself, Santro is a pretty good car... Though not a pure highway car, but can do the duty reasonably well.
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Old 4th June 2007, 20:29   #4
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I think member RKS might be able to give you some very useful tips..
But advice from my side: Please avoid very high speeds. Its a tall boy afterall.
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Old 4th June 2007, 20:31   #5
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I have driven to Ooty from Bangalore about a year ago. It did pretty well.. Dont forget you're in a Santro and it takes driving in the 1st gear climbing up!
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Old 4th June 2007, 20:32   #6
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Have done multiple trips to Kodaikanal and Coorg in the zipdrive.
I think it surprised us. Was on stock tyres and rims too.
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Old 4th June 2007, 20:33   #7
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Santro is ok to drive on the highway, only thing is the car lacks quick pickup after say 100-120 km/h. But care is to be taken while turning at high speed unless the casr has good weight.

A
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Old 4th June 2007, 21:29   #8
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At times I did switch the Aircon OFF while climbing up a hill or ghat sections (all of us know why!). Otherwise there are no much issues with longer drives and santro.
There are some nice threads in this forum talking about 'how to run-in a new car' and also another thread which sure would help you to prepare well for long drives etc. (search function works great here)

Happy journey and enjoy the tour!
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Old 4th June 2007, 21:40   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Absar View Post
Santro is ok to drive on the highway, only thing is the car lacks quick pickup after say 100-120 km/h. But care is to be taken while turning at high speed unless the casr has good weight.

A
Absar - dont you think its not wise to go at 120+ in a Santro?
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Old 4th June 2007, 21:43   #10
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Javed,

The Santro is a much accomplished car. If a smaller car such as the Alto can do a sound round-trip between BLR-Kolkata, there's no reason why the bigger Santro shouldnt be able to undertake a comparitively shorter journey.
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Old 4th June 2007, 21:57   #11
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It can be comfortably used for long journey, on good as well as not so good roads, and on hilly terrain as well. It can comfortably journey for over a thousand kilometers over good, not so good and horrible roads too ( personal experience). And that too without giving any trouble.
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Old 4th June 2007, 22:00   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Proxima View Post
Absar - dont you think its not wise to go at 120+ in a Santro?
Yes its unwise.. But I've done 140 in it, BUT only when I had good weight. If its light, its so scary to do even 120.

A
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Old 5th June 2007, 14:36   #13
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@ javed: Go ahead, your Santro will surely take you places, no matter the distance or the road condition (but there has to be a semblance of a road atleast).

However one thing that you could think of is to g0o the tubeless way and upsize at the same time, it does help in minimising scary moments on the highway if your a driver who floors the pedal and translates in a better gripping on the road. Since your car is new you could contemplate a change in footwear, check out on the financials you could be rest assured of another 40 ~ 50k miles of tension free driving.

Last edited by suren181 : 5th June 2007 at 14:37.
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Old 5th June 2007, 14:56   #14
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You can take the Santro on long journeys without any trouble, done that many times... And as Suren181 has said, i too would suggest you to go for broader tyres...
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Old 5th June 2007, 21:22   #15
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Santro is ok on a long drive, 120-140-160 its all good if the road is good. But there is one slight problem i think and thats the position of the Accelerator pedal. long continuous driving results in a pain in the calf muscles.
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