Kolkata Meet (Report and Pics Updated)

adhiraj · 28th May 2007, 00:43

It was a great meet, thanx to everyone for taking the initiatives & making this finaly happen. enjoyed thoroughly.

@ Abhishekda, thanx again for the ride. Dont forget to call me when you go for a spin with your souped up lancer

Wimwian · 28th May 2007, 00:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by shuvc

The timing of my departure from CCD was perfect. I came home, went straight to the TV and the 5 lights went out. Mclaren allllll the way .. yipee !

Lovely drive and great company. Thanks folks.

ps: F1 rocks - GP & GY (goodyear

)

Can't agree more... The Silver Arrows were so dominant, they lapped all the cars except one

Go McLaren!!

Awesome meet guys... thanks everybody for making this happen, and special thanks to shuvd and razor for the rides!!

Catch the pics here
Picasa Web Albums - Pratik - Team BHP Kolkata

More pics coming your way from Planet and Sumitro!!

akroy · 28th May 2007, 07:38

Excellent description and pics Planet....ya A1 Plaza is not in Kolaghat but near Kulgachia...

Abhi

toiingg · 28th May 2007, 08:51

Topped up petrol on Saturday night, told ‘Moin Bhai’ (he’s the guy who takes care of the cars) to clean the car and check stepney for correct pressure. Checked my mail for any final updates at 8:00 AM and saw a mail from Sumitro who needed a wakeup call. Changed and got ready, then called up Sumitro.

Number rang thru ! Tried again, and again …. And again! Same result. I thought that this guy is in deep sleep and probably dreaming of scampily clad PYT’s driving around in cars with FFE’s and CAI’s. Sent him a msg (yeah rite, what else could I have done ?) and finally got a reply that he’s awake and with a puncture(not him, his ride). Relief !!

Checked the car's tel-paani and left home (Damn it was HOT) to reach the designated venue and reached at 9.20 AM, noticed that I was the only one present. The guys who were supposed to ride with me backed out citing some stupid reason or the other (morons). I knew it was because of the heat. Thought to myself, ah well, maybe I was early and they should be here in some time.

Tick tock tick tock, lots of looks at the rear view mirror and a couple of smokes later I take a glance at the watch and notice that it is now 9.40 ! Crazy thoughts started coming to my mind. ‘Meet to aaj hi tha na ? Kahi aisa to nahi ki next week ka date tha and I thought ki it was today ?’ Did I mention it was hot ? Now I was sweating … AND tensed.

Waited another couple of minutes and I see a Black elantra coming from behind and parking in front of me. I knew it was shuvd’s ride and I heaved a sigh of relief.

Wimwian was riding shotgun. We all got off and started chatting up. A few moments later, we see a Palio pulling up … then a Swift … then a Baleno … Octavia … and ‘finally’ our ‘planet’ bhaiyya with ETC. Oh! Forgot to mention, razor (in the Octavia) had taken a wrong turn and landed up in Elgin road in search of the starting point and a few calls and directions later he was able to find us.

We all wanted to hear how the baleno sounded with the new FFE and so Sumitro happily revved it (we could all see the ear to ear grin on your face while you were doing so).
Took a head count …. Is anyone left …. Umm .. no ! Shuvc had said that he would meet us directly at A1 plaza so we started off.

1st crossing, and on the approach to the AJC bose road flyover, the baleno blasted off and the sound from the Exhaust was …. Well …. Amazing ! Actually, make it LOUD and amazing ! Noticed that the exhaust pipe was appearing to be lower (kind of looping below the body), later that was clarified that it was a stop gap arrangement as the original pipe had gone for nickel plating and once that would be installed it would be a perfect fit.

By the end of the flyover, almost everyone has gone ahead apart from the Palio, the 800 and myself (we caught a red light). Reached and crossed the Setu, and was on my way to Kona Expressway when I realized that everybody apart from Planet was waaaaay up ahead of me.

Decided to stretch my legs a bit. Car was running smooth till 120, once it hit 130 I could feel the steering wobble a bit. I thought the asphalt was uneven and maybe there were some bumps on the road which was causing this. Tried to accelerate thinking that the vibration would go away but the steering started shuddering more prominently so I knew that it was prolly the wheel balancing which was causing this. Dropped it down to 110 and was cruising. Reached and crossed the Toll booth and moved on to find that everybody who had gone up ahead had stopped on the side to let up catch up. So nice of all of you !

Got out, and walked around, there were people taking pictures, chatting up and collectively wondering where planet was. ‘Someone’ quipped that he was probably enjoying the drive with his girl. (umm.. that was me).

Some time later planet comes along and we all move on, as usual the Skoda & the baleno zoom up ahead and the rest of us are cruising on, sometime later we pass a lot of road side dhabas and a lot of petrol pumps IPB, IOC, BP, Reliance .. and so on. I’m happily tailing the Swift and we are moving on …. Looked to my right, saw the Sher-e Punjab dhaba, up ahead I see the Kolaghat crossing which we used to take when going to Digha. Saw the swift slowing down and parking to the side. Came to know that the A1 plaza was left far behind (remember the Reliance bunk that I mentioned that we passed 10 kms back?).

Ok, no worries … we just turn around and head back. Ok we actually took a wrong turn (again) and had to turn around once more to get on the right way(ring-a-ring-a-roses). Reached the place (finally) and got out from the air conditioned comfort only to realize it was bloody hot ! AND humid !! Started sweating from places where I didn’t know pores existed !!

A quick smoke and we all get in, place the order and keep chatting about cars, some ‘interesting’ tbhpians from Calcutta and some occasional quips about the delay in getting the food. We could all make out when the food was finally served, all of a sudden the tables which were the loudest till now, there is deafening silence.

Food was ok, not bad, but nothing to write home about either. Gather outside and pop the hoods of the Baleno and check out the install. Revved it once again and marveled at the sound.

Nice !!

Check the Skoda’s hood and check out the engine vengine. By now the sun & the heat (and our obsession with cars) is getting on the ETC’s nerves and they decide to move into the cars. A couple of quick photos later we are on the way back home.

Great meet, awesome cars, fantastic drive, amazing people …………. KILLER heat.

Lets do it again !!

Regards

Sarvagya

planet_rocker · 28th May 2007, 10:34

entering the 2nd Hoogly Bridge:

while at one toll gate:

NH6 the lonely drive:

while coming back:

the lovely Victoria Memorial - as viewed from the bridge:

the plaza:

the members:

BlackPearl comes in:

shuvd and shuvc:

check out shuvc's topi:

p_r - the devilish laugh:

SaurabhM with family:

from right to left: babhishek, shuvd, black pearl, toiingg:

while waiting for the food:

Lunch time:

toiingg n blackpearl hogging:

wimwian & razor4077 - kya re kya soch raha tha?

planet_rocker · 28th May 2007, 10:36

while waiting for me on the NH6:

waiting for razor4077 and blackpearl - before the drive:

the rides:

razor's octy:

shuvd's elantra:

saurabhM's palio:

blackpearl's baleno:

babhishek's swift:

toiingg's OHC type 1:

soak up the sun / how to toast the cars?

planet_rocker · 28th May 2007, 10:38

checking out the rides eh?

GY F1 rocks kya?

the elantra's speedo 180 bas kya?:

the members:

from left to right:
razor, p_r, babhishek, shuvd, blackpearl, toiingg, blackpearl's friend, Adiraj, SaurabhM and shuvc

in my place : wimwian

@mods: sorry couldnt upload them in one post. number of pics limited to 20 per post.
@guys: i have not uploaded the close-up pics of the fairer s3x.

1100D · 28th May 2007, 10:59

Great meat (meet I mean), missed it!

planet_rocker · 28th May 2007, 11:08

@ 1100D - yeah! we missed you too. dont worry - come back here after the assignment and we will have a bigger meet for sure.

@ 1100D - the reason behind me driving at 60KPH had something to do with the tyres of the m800. otherwise it could have run much better. you were right - a bajaj re80 overtook me on the NH6. it was a very irritating scene. i wish the weather was much better (read: rainy / cooler) and i would have taken the fiat - i missed her throughout the drive. but i am glad she was at home resting and i didnt take her out for the drive - although i cleaned her in the morning when it was cloudy and i thought that it will rain - but d@mn the heat was too much.

razor4077 · 28th May 2007, 16:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by planet_rocker

@guys: i have not uploaded the close-up pics of the fairer s3x.

Kya close-up pics??

In all seriousness, was a blast... had a great time. Thanks all for making this a great meet and lookin fwd to the next one.
@1100D: u were missed dude. but we missed mercedes even more

planet_rocker · 28th May 2007, 16:46

@razor - dont bother yaar... the pics are already there in the link given by wimwian. just that i dint upload it again. thats it. you are right, we missed Mercedes - cus the last time i spoke to her over phone, she said, "Gaaiii (Gaadi)...vvvoooo (vrooom)" and was crying cuz she couldnt fix the roof of her Honda S2000.

edit: i hope you were talking about the Merc C and not the LHD Merc E 320.

shuvd · 28th May 2007, 19:13

A very enjoyable meet indeed! Only problem was that my ugly duckling's ac had conked out. Again

We missed all who couldn't attend. Would have been fun with 1100D's Ikon in the foray!

The speedo reads 160, not 180. The car is steady at these speeds but, would have felt more confident with better shoes. Gotta get rid of the stock Kumhos.

Some daru would have been highly appreciated after the hot day though.. but, no one seemed game

Guys, the petrol engined cars were the stars all right, but my ugly duckling did put up a brave fight!!

speedzak · 28th May 2007, 19:33

WOW!
That seems like another great meet. Nice to see you all enjoyed.
Good pictures and nice writeup too.
Keep it up.

shuvc · 28th May 2007, 20:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by shuvd

Guys, the petrol engined cars were the stars all right, but my ugly duckling did put up a brave fight!!

Petrol stars !! IMO you were the star all the way ! That torque sure comes in handy when you need to floor it after slowing down for the trucks to give away.

@toingg - great writeup ! @Planet now has someone to share the load of penning the reports

planet_rocker · 28th May 2007, 23:15

thanks Zak! this was indeed one of the best meets - well actually, i had more fun in Raid-de-Rajarhat...but this was something totally different. great meet. looking forward to the next one.

@shuvc - you are right - @toiingg has indeed done a great job - thanks buddy. it is a very nice report. i hope you have a decent pic of your OHC. i tried to get more but the heat was too much :(

@shuvd - oh! i thought it was 180. thanks for correcting me

go guys, can we plan up for the next meet from now?? lets make it sometime in July when the weather is more enjoyable and rainy and slippery ... and if everything goes right i will put back the slicks (5-20-14) in the rear...i have kept two in the store room - just incase.

28th May 2007, 00:43	#286
adhiraj BHPian Join Date: May 2006 Location: Toronto Posts: 62 Thanked: 5 Times	It was a great meet, thanx to everyone for taking the initiatives & making this finaly happen. enjoyed thoroughly. @ Abhishekda, thanx again for the ride. Dont forget to call me when you go for a spin with your souped up lancer
	() Thanks

28th May 2007, 07:38	#288
akroy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: San Francisco, CA, USA Posts: 2,423 Thanked: 85 Times View My Garage	Excellent description and pics Planet....ya A1 Plaza is not in Kolaghat but near Kulgachia... Abhi
	() Thanks

28th May 2007, 08:51	#289
toiingg BHPian Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Calcutta Posts: 639 Thanked: 266 Times	My take on the meet. Topped up petrol on Saturday night, told ‘Moin Bhai’ (he’s the guy who takes care of the cars) to clean the car and check stepney for correct pressure. Checked my mail for any final updates at 8:00 AM and saw a mail from Sumitro who needed a wakeup call. Changed and got ready, then called up Sumitro. Number rang thru ! Tried again, and again …. And again! Same result. I thought that this guy is in deep sleep and probably dreaming of scampily clad PYT’s driving around in cars with FFE’s and CAI’s. Sent him a msg (yeah rite, what else could I have done ?) and finally got a reply that he’s awake and with a puncture(not him, his ride). Relief !! Checked the car's tel-paani and left home (Damn it was HOT) to reach the designated venue and reached at 9.20 AM, noticed that I was the only one present. The guys who were supposed to ride with me backed out citing some stupid reason or the other (morons). I knew it was because of the heat. Thought to myself, ah well, maybe I was early and they should be here in some time. Tick tock tick tock, lots of looks at the rear view mirror and a couple of smokes later I take a glance at the watch and notice that it is now 9.40 ! Crazy thoughts started coming to my mind. ‘Meet to aaj hi tha na ? Kahi aisa to nahi ki next week ka date tha and I thought ki it was today ?’ Did I mention it was hot ? Now I was sweating … AND tensed. Waited another couple of minutes and I see a Black elantra coming from behind and parking in front of me. I knew it was shuvd’s ride and I heaved a sigh of relief. Wimwian was riding shotgun. We all got off and started chatting up. A few moments later, we see a Palio pulling up … then a Swift … then a Baleno … Octavia … and ‘finally’ our ‘planet’ bhaiyya with ETC. Oh! Forgot to mention, razor (in the Octavia) had taken a wrong turn and landed up in Elgin road in search of the starting point and a few calls and directions later he was able to find us. We all wanted to hear how the baleno sounded with the new FFE and so Sumitro happily revved it (we could all see the ear to ear grin on your face while you were doing so). Took a head count …. Is anyone left …. Umm .. no ! Shuvc had said that he would meet us directly at A1 plaza so we started off. 1st crossing, and on the approach to the AJC bose road flyover, the baleno blasted off and the sound from the Exhaust was …. Well …. Amazing ! Actually, make it LOUD and amazing ! Noticed that the exhaust pipe was appearing to be lower (kind of looping below the body), later that was clarified that it was a stop gap arrangement as the original pipe had gone for nickel plating and once that would be installed it would be a perfect fit. By the end of the flyover, almost everyone has gone ahead apart from the Palio, the 800 and myself (we caught a red light). Reached and crossed the Setu, and was on my way to Kona Expressway when I realized that everybody apart from Planet was waaaaay up ahead of me. Decided to stretch my legs a bit. Car was running smooth till 120, once it hit 130 I could feel the steering wobble a bit. I thought the asphalt was uneven and maybe there were some bumps on the road which was causing this. Tried to accelerate thinking that the vibration would go away but the steering started shuddering more prominently so I knew that it was prolly the wheel balancing which was causing this. Dropped it down to 110 and was cruising. Reached and crossed the Toll booth and moved on to find that everybody who had gone up ahead had stopped on the side to let up catch up. So nice of all of you ! Got out, and walked around, there were people taking pictures, chatting up and collectively wondering where planet was. ‘Someone’ quipped that he was probably enjoying the drive with his girl. (umm.. that was me). Some time later planet comes along and we all move on, as usual the Skoda & the baleno zoom up ahead and the rest of us are cruising on, sometime later we pass a lot of road side dhabas and a lot of petrol pumps IPB, IOC, BP, Reliance .. and so on. I’m happily tailing the Swift and we are moving on …. Looked to my right, saw the Sher-e Punjab dhaba, up ahead I see the Kolaghat crossing which we used to take when going to Digha. Saw the swift slowing down and parking to the side. Came to know that the A1 plaza was left far behind (remember the Reliance bunk that I mentioned that we passed 10 kms back?). Ok, no worries … we just turn around and head back. Ok we actually took a wrong turn (again) and had to turn around once more to get on the right way(ring-a-ring-a-roses). Reached the place (finally) and got out from the air conditioned comfort only to realize it was bloody hot ! AND humid !! Started sweating from places where I didn’t know pores existed !! A quick smoke and we all get in, place the order and keep chatting about cars, some ‘interesting’ tbhpians from Calcutta and some occasional quips about the delay in getting the food. We could all make out when the food was finally served, all of a sudden the tables which were the loudest till now, there is deafening silence. Food was ok, not bad, but nothing to write home about either. Gather outside and pop the hoods of the Baleno and check out the install. Revved it once again and marveled at the sound. Nice !! Check the Skoda’s hood and check out the engine vengine. By now the sun & the heat (and our obsession with cars) is getting on the ETC’s nerves and they decide to move into the cars. A couple of quick photos later we are on the way back home. Great meet, awesome cars, fantastic drive, amazing people …………. KILLER heat. Lets do it again !! Regards Sarvagya
	() Thanks

28th May 2007, 10:34	#290
planet_rocker Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bong-land Posts: 2,323 Thanked: 426 Times	Drive to Reliance A1 Plaza - Pics entering the 2nd Hoogly Bridge: while at one toll gate: NH6 the lonely drive: while coming back: the lovely Victoria Memorial - as viewed from the bridge: the plaza: the members: BlackPearl comes in: shuvd and shuvc: check out shuvc's topi: p_r - the devilish laugh: SaurabhM with family: from right to left: babhishek, shuvd, black pearl, toiingg: while waiting for the food: Lunch time: toiingg n blackpearl hogging: wimwian & razor4077 - kya re kya soch raha tha?
	() Thanks

28th May 2007, 10:36	#291
planet_rocker Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bong-land Posts: 2,323 Thanked: 426 Times	while waiting for me on the NH6: waiting for razor4077 and blackpearl - before the drive: the rides: razor's octy: shuvd's elantra: saurabhM's palio: blackpearl's baleno: babhishek's swift: toiingg's OHC type 1: soak up the sun / how to toast the cars? Last edited by planet_rocker : 28th May 2007 at 10:44.
	() Thanks

28th May 2007, 10:38	#292
planet_rocker Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bong-land Posts: 2,323 Thanked: 426 Times	checking out the rides eh? GY F1 rocks kya? the elantra's speedo 180 bas kya?: the members: from left to right: razor, p_r, babhishek, shuvd, blackpearl, toiingg, blackpearl's friend, Adiraj, SaurabhM and shuvc in my place : wimwian @mods: sorry couldnt upload them in one post. number of pics limited to 20 per post. @guys: i have not uploaded the close-up pics of the fairer s3x. Last edited by planet_rocker : 28th May 2007 at 10:50.
	() Thanks

28th May 2007, 10:59	#293
1100D Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Calcutta Posts: 4,390 Thanked: 4,079 Times View My Garage	Great meat (meet I mean), missed it!
	() Thanks

28th May 2007, 11:08	#294
planet_rocker Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bong-land Posts: 2,323 Thanked: 426 Times	@ 1100D - yeah! we missed you too. dont worry - come back here after the assignment and we will have a bigger meet for sure. @ 1100D - the reason behind me driving at 60KPH had something to do with the tyres of the m800. otherwise it could have run much better. you were right - a bajaj re80 overtook me on the NH6. it was a very irritating scene. i wish the weather was much better (read: rainy / cooler) and i would have taken the fiat - i missed her throughout the drive. but i am glad she was at home resting and i didnt take her out for the drive - although i cleaned her in the morning when it was cloudy and i thought that it will rain - but d@mn the heat was too much.
	() Thanks

28th May 2007, 16:46	#296
planet_rocker Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bong-land Posts: 2,323 Thanked: 426 Times	@razor - dont bother yaar... the pics are already there in the link given by wimwian. just that i dint upload it again. thats it. you are right, we missed Mercedes - cus the last time i spoke to her over phone, she said, "Gaaiii (Gaadi)...vvvoooo (vrooom)" and was crying cuz she couldnt fix the roof of her Honda S2000. edit: i hope you were talking about the Merc C and not the LHD Merc E 320. Last edited by planet_rocker : 28th May 2007 at 16:53.
	() Thanks

28th May 2007, 19:13	#297
shuvd Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Calcutta Posts: 1,081 Thanked: 7 Times View My Garage	A very enjoyable meet indeed! Only problem was that my ugly duckling's ac had conked out. Again We missed all who couldn't attend. Would have been fun with 1100D's Ikon in the foray! The speedo reads 160, not 180. The car is steady at these speeds but, would have felt more confident with better shoes. Gotta get rid of the stock Kumhos. Some daru would have been highly appreciated after the hot day though.. but, no one seemed game Guys, the petrol engined cars were the stars all right, but my ugly duckling did put up a brave fight!!
	() Thanks

28th May 2007, 19:33	#298
speedzak BANNED Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: India Posts: 4,347 Thanked: 27 Times	WOW! That seems like another great meet. Nice to see you all enjoyed. Good pictures and nice writeup too. Keep it up.
	() Thanks

28th May 2007, 23:15	#300
planet_rocker Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bong-land Posts: 2,323 Thanked: 426 Times	thanks Zak! this was indeed one of the best meets - well actually, i had more fun in Raid-de-Rajarhat...but this was something totally different. great meet. looking forward to the next one. @shuvc - you are right - @toiingg has indeed done a great job - thanks buddy. it is a very nice report. i hope you have a decent pic of your OHC. i tried to get more but the heat was too much :( @shuvd - oh! i thought it was 180. thanks for correcting me go guys, can we plan up for the next meet from now?? lets make it sometime in July when the weather is more enjoyable and rainy and slippery ... and if everything goes right i will put back the slicks (5-20-14) in the rear...i have kept two in the store room - just incase. Last edited by planet_rocker : 28th May 2007 at 23:28.
	() Thanks