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Well a kind of superstition that my friends in Bangalore follow and want me as well to

Whenever they start the car even if the front is right against the wall and they are supposed to reverse.
They will first put the car into First gear and move a bit and then only engage the reverse gear and start reversing:)
God only knows why

agree:

I was going to post something similar and you beat me to it!

The several drivers I had working for my family would always make it a point to first move forward and then reverse when getting out of the parking bay. Must be a "southie" trait? lol:

I have never heard of this ritual that involves engaging 1st gear before one reverses :eek:

Anyway, I am surprised no one has mentioned this, slightly off topic but still related to Indian motorists:
If you see a man sitting lopsided on his bike, you can bet your plums that he owned a Bajaj Chetak in the past :D

Slow moving vehicles (esp trucks)sticking to the right line on two and three lane highways is a definite Indian trait. Which in turn prompts overtaking from the left side. Other examples of Indianness on the roads and vehicle related behaviour that I have noticed.

Switching on hazard lights at intersections to signal that one is going straight ahead.:eek:

Flashing lights to indicate Police/RTO checking ahead.:thumbs up

In case somebody is inadvertently driving with lights on , the whole population will not rest till you are made to notice the error and switch off the lights.

Prayers to the installed deities on board: the longer the trip the longer the rituals.

I have noticed another habit of people making it a point to switch off the AC before starting the car, even on the ones with automatic climate control. Don't know if it's a India specific practice, but it irritates the heck out of me. :Frustrati

Err, I guess that is not a ritual, but a good habit of saving the load on the battery / ac compressor. How is having or not having ACC related to it ? :eek:

I do it. Whenever, the car is not ON, the AC Compressor is OFF and the blower is only ON.
When I start the engine, I switch off the blower as well, just to relax the load on battery.
I have ACC. Hope I am not following any myth !!

One more disgusting trait I've observed on roads in Maharashtra .....
You see, our drivers, especially hired ones must keep their mouths busy with all sorts of pan masalas and the likes. Once they are sick and done with it, they simply hold the steering wheel with the left hand, open the door with the right in a moving vehicle and spray the roads with their juice ! To hell with whoever's driving parallel or behind them... By the grace of God, they haven't graduated to relieving themselves from a moving car :Shockked: :Frustrati

Andy69 I was about to point out this trait of spitting in a moving vehicle.:D

Another trait that is very common at least in MP is that all taxi guys ensure that their cars are decked up with all sort of stickers/vinyls. For eg : almost every taxi Indica/Indicab is a 4×4.
Next come the auto rickshaw guys who are very passionate about illuminating every single corner of their interior and sometimes even the exteriors and how can I forget the deafening music systems which literally stab your tympanic membrane with every single beat so much so that you might feel like asking the guy to drop you at an ENT specialist's clinic before heading further :p

Indian National Car Trait # 1 : Ask the below question, ask everyone including the owner of Rolls Royce or Bugatti

Kitna Deti Hai ?
Average kya hai ?
( what is the mileage (km/litre) ?)

Indian National Car Trait # 2 ( from Truck and Bus driver's perspective) :
Raise the engine speed to max before switching off.

I like your country even though I have only been to Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Delft. I still have some old Guilders lying about somewhere at home.
I love the sight of the occasional windmill amidst of a sea of red or yellow tulips. Beautiful.
I would love to go to Nijmegen and Arnhem. Because I ve always wanted to see those places after watching A Bridge Too Far.
That picture. Is it an Alfa Spider? Or a Duetto?
Another thing, does Amstel beer come from Amstelveen? And Of course most of us would have heard of or eaten the lovely Gouda cheese...

Jeroen is partially right. Germans are sticklers to traffic rules, when it comes to "Überlandfahrt / Stadtfahrt" (City and country roads drive), because that is where they get caught the most with "blitzers" (speed guns).

Autobahns also have speed guns but their positions are mostly known to people. If they are new to the place, radio comes in Handy- they also keep on updating if a speed gun has been installed new.

One year of regular driving (testing) in the Autobahns, I now have a good 'feel' of where the speed guns may be.

Spike

My $0.02:
1. Whether you are driving an antique HM Ambassador with a Matador engine, or a Merc 220 CDI, you must revv the living daylights off the engine before turning it off.

2. You get your brand new car detailed at 3M and the likes, but still let pappu the watchman in your apartment wipe off the entire surface with his dirty rag every day.

Detroit, MI: It's morning, you start dressing. Remote-start your SUV that has a V8 under the hood - so that the car will be warm and comfy by the time you get out of the house and reach the parking lot a full ten minutes later. And you crib about rising gas prices when there's a $0.01 rise

EDIT:
Are you from the land of the lungi?

Actually, there might be some sense in that, or at least some historical perspective. Some gearboxes, in particular older ones, were actually easier to get into reverse if you put them in first first.

I make it a habit to switch of AC and fans and in a manual car to depress the clutch when I start my cars. It's all about reducing the load. Especially when you live in cold climates you can very quickly drain your battery. Depressing the clutch ensures that the starter motor doesn't have to turn the gear box. Again, at low temperature that can be very heavy with very very thick oil. Also, depressing the clutch is a little extra safety incase it is in gear.

Probably with a modern car and good battery the above doesn't make much sense at all. But it's just a habit, based on solid engineering principles. Maybe a bit dated, but hey I'm 55!

The Duetto is a Spider. Spider is Italian for open top sports car. There has been a long string of Alfa Spiders. The best known, is the 105 Series. It started with the Duetto, made immortal by a certain Mrs. Robinson in the movie The Graduate, then the Coda Tronca, the Aerodynamica or Series III and finally the Serie IV. All Serie 105 share the same platform and engines and many other components. But each has its distinct own look. Mine is the Serie III.

From there on a few years no Spiders in the Alfa line up, then the wedge shaped and the current ones.

Amstel beer is owned by Heineken these day and it is brewed in several Heineken breweries across the Netherlands. It started in the late 1800's I believe as an independent brewery, in Amsterdam. The river Amstel flows through Amsterdam and they were very close to it, hence Amstel beer.

Although Amstelveen is considered a suburb of Amsterdam, originally Amstelveen occupied a large part of what is now Amsterdam. If you're familiar with Amsterdam you might know where the famous City Concert Hall is. That used to be just about the border line with Amstelveen. There used to be, maybe still is, a house diagonally across from the Concert Hall that carried the crest of Amstelveen.

Amstelveen is named after the river Amstel and after "veen", essentially peat. This area of the Netherlands was reclaimed land with lots of water and thus the peat industry strived here for many decades.

Glad you like the cheese, so do most Dutch people.

Jeroen

Good stuff that cheese. But some might jib at the fact that I like munching on it along with a nice schnapps...

What about the beautiful 124 Spider and the iconic Giulietta Spider of Day of the Jackal fame?

This is a great thread!

I think the points raised by Shankar and InControl are the most defining "Indian" characteristic because it reflects our largely religious/superstitious mindset the most. One such trait is to offer a "worship" gesture every time you pass a temple on the road. I had to literally train my wife out of this habit when she started driving (I hope she doesn't see this!) Turning your head to the side and bowing and folding your palm may please the Almighty but it's downright dangerous! :D

On the other hand, the habit of incessantly honking and/or flashing your lights at the car ahead if it goes slower than what you think is the natural speed for that road is also very Indian.