[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Torqy

Well, that's not quite right. BANGALORE has the most off-roading guys. Here we rarely go ON-ROAD.

Come, see us off-road every day to office. Thanks to the Bangalore govt. though for this opportunity.

You haven't seen my town, how do you think I did so many SUV TDs on horrible roads? I might lose on the numbers, but not on terrain.

[vinod_nookala]

Originally Posted by Spitfire

@ vinod_nookala - So what did you get?

Hey,
Thanks all for your advises. After a thorough research and your experiences i finally decided on a MM540 DP 4x4 for off road use. Bolero at 7.40 lakhs was way too expensive for what you get and the ride quality on road wasnt great at all. All you get for a hefty sum of money are creature comforts and refinement of the engine . The vehicle isnt good either on highways not on off road. This was a 50/50 on /off road vehicle. Gurkha has a huge waiting period and i havent heard from the company since the time i have enquired them about the vehicle. Hence i thought they arent serious in selling me the vehicle and this vehicle too is a little beyond by budget at aboout 8 lakhs on road.

I finally decided upon a MM540 dp 4x4 and picked up one in running condition. Will build it up to my taste in some time. Meanwhile iam keeping my new Wagon R to provide basic on road comfort to my family.

Well about mm540, it is damn with no creature comforts on highway but has loads of pulling power and is good for off-road use.

Bolero 4x4 with scorpio 2.6 litre turbo engine (non crde), coil over rigid axle suspension will bridge the gap between a true off roader and a comfortable highway cruiser. Well for now, my wait for a large & comfortable 4x4 which is good both on and off road at a reasonable price (preferably below 7 lakhs) is still on!!

regards,

Regards,
Vinod.N
chennai

[maddy42]

Congrats vinod. Can we have some pics of the jeep and also which color it has

[gbpscars]

Hearty congrats on your choice Vinod!!!

It is good hear that you could draw a clear line between true off-road and highway comfort utilities. MM540 is a VFM choice for the former.

...and... where are the pics? please post them soon.

Originally Posted by vinod_nookala

Well for now, my wait for a large & comfortable 4x4 which is good both on and off road at a reasonable price (preferably below 7 lakhs) is still on!!

The same over here for me too. I have already stretched my budget twice in my year long hunt while holding on to temptations of modding my OHC. Will get my hands on one soon hopefully.

[Samurai]

Congrats Vinod, you made a great choice of choosing an exclusive off-roader.

Wish I had the choice of picking two vehicles, one for road and one for off-road. Considering most of my roads here look like off-road, I didn't have the luxury of separating my needs. I need to drive in bad roads a lot before reaching any good highways. Therefore, I had to pick a compromise in GV, a moderate off-roader and an excellent on-roader.

You can get lots of help in fixing your MM550 good with help of Chennai offroaders like Arka/headers. All the best.

[supercars]

The GV is horrible on the inside. The Interiors are very tough and if someone just hit the front seat(while sitting in the back seat) he might be heading to hospital very soon. :(

The engine size also has reduced from the earlier V6 to give more FE.

I did not even take a TD of the vehicle as I was very disappointed.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by supercars

The GV is horrible on the inside. The Interiors are very tough and if someone just hit the front seat(while sitting in the back seat) he might be heading to hospital very soon. :(

Just curious, you are comparing this with which other cars that you find GV horrible.

Originally Posted by supercars

The engine size also has reduced from the earlier V6 to give more FE.

Wrong assumption, the 2.7L V6 version has been reported as giving more FE than the 2.0L version.

[vinod_nookala]

Picture of my MM540 4wd....in a raw state.

regards

[vinod_nookala]

Originally Posted by maddy42

Congrats vinod. Can we have some pics of the jeep and also which color it has

hi,
These are the pics of my MM540 4wd....raw stuff u see!

[rrnsss]

GBPSCARS nailed it . A true blue off roader can never be a safe and comfortable vehicle.

I own a Gurkha LWB 4x4 and I love it to death. But I am currently going to buy a second car for my highway commute.

As far as Bolero 4x4 is concerned. I would not wish that even on my enemy.

The rest of the budget 4x4s all have open diffs and can easily get stuck ( except gurkha , but it is 7.5 L ) . I would suggest gypsy as it is the lightest and best bet offroad when it comes to budget 4x4s

Vinod Dude!!!! are you going to have fun or are you going to have fun? I used to have an MM540 hardtop and even that was a barrel of monkeys! ensaai!
how much does it have on the ODO and how much did you pay for it? and I hope you're going to do something about the corrosion problems that these bad boys are notorious for.