[Racer_X]

Originally Posted by the_skyliner

Sorry for the last minute cancellation but sukiwa and Asit know the reason.

BTW, where are the pictures? And also the detailed report?

Asit, I heard you have some free time, please take some efforts and put up a detail report of the meet.

Skyliner : I heard that the meet was a great success with lot of technical stuff being discussed regarding performance (spoilers etc.) and aesthetics. I am eagerly waiting for the detailed report. Asit please upload the snaps.
update the thread asap!

[etchemkay]

Originally Posted by Racer_X

Skyliner : I heard that the meet was a great success with lot of technical stuff being discussed regarding performance (spoilers etc.) and aesthetics. I am eagerly waiting for the detailed report. Asit please upload the snaps.
update the thread asap!

Looks like I missed a great meet too .. Had to travel to Mumbai around noon that day .. last minute plan .. And apologies for not informing here in time.

Asit, jdr and everyone else who attended the meet .. Kindly post your pics soon.

[ironshark]

Originally Posted by Racer_X

Skyliner : I heard that the meet was a great success with lot of technical stuff being discussed regarding performance (spoilers etc.) and aesthetics. I am eagerly waiting for the detailed report. Asit please upload the snaps.
update the thread asap!

Originally Posted by etchemkay

Looks like I missed a great meet too .. Had to travel to Mumbai around noon that day .. last minute plan .. And apologies for not informing here in time.

Asit, jdr and everyone else who attended the meet .. Kindly post your pics soon.

Hmm, I have missed quite a few official meets lately. looks like this was a great one as well. But, where are the pics? C'mon guys, let us kalti kings catch up with all the fun you have had. Please do upload lotsa pics. Asit, Sukiwa, jdr and others - please upload pics and a DETAILED report.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by ironshark

C'mon guys, let us kalti kings catch up with all the fun you have had. Please do upload lotsa pics.

Ahem, kalti kings? Plural term? It is good to see some more of my tribe

I just heard some news about sandwiches (food is my main concern!)
There is not a single word on how the drive went, which cars were driven by whom, no pictures of previously unseen people caught unawares stuffing food in their faces

Sukiwa can be blamed for the lack of pics
Jdr and Asit for the lack of write up
Who else was there?!

[venkat_iyer]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

Ahem, kalti kings? Plural term? It is good to see some more of my tribe

I just heard some news about sandwiches (food is my main concern!)
There is not a single word on how the drive went, which cars were driven by whom, no pictures of previously unseen people caught unawares stuffing food in their faces

Sukiwa can be blamed for the lack of pics
Jdr and Asit for the lack of write up
Who else was there?!

I was there, but unfortunately no pics. With regards the write-up, I think Asit and JDR can collaborate to put together a piece, what say Asit

[jdr]

All right.
It's been a week, and the memories of the trip are starting to fade already, but let me try and remember...
There were 6 of us (Asit, Venkat, Sudeep, Sukiwa, Abhay, and jdr), 5 of which left for Wai at around 8 am from Chandani Chowk; the sixth (Sudeep) would join en route.
As you can imagine, it being Sunday morning, traffic was light on the highway -- and it is at this point in my narrative that people start to wake up and think: light traffic? The trip was from Pune, yes? Well, to be honest, there was some undesirable traffic at couple of points, but nothing compared to the regular crawlers and clog-ers.
Sukiwa teamed up with Abhay in his workhorse Scorpio, Asit was sitting shotgun with Venkat in his tank-like Fortuner, and me -- I was left to contend with 2.6 and 3 liter engined vehicles in my puny 1.4 little i20. And at times -- to no one's surprise -- I was hard pressed to keep up with the Scorpio, till he stopped for fuel.
Surprisingly, Venkat was driving slower than I could manage to slowdown, so I decided to speed up a on the highway before Khambatki Ghat. (Relax, I didn't cross 120 in my little side-roller.) But while I had left the Fortuner far behind, I had a little race with a new Tata-like test vehicle -- a race I lost, the driver was so aggressive. I tried taking a picture, but taking a picture in an i20 at speeds over 80 while trying to keep up with aggressive drivers is fraught with risks I was unwilling to take.
While Abhay stopped to fill fuel, Sudeep caught up with him and trailed him all the way to the Mapro outlet in Wai, a few kilometres inwards from the Wai exit in his matching white 1.4 crdi i20.
Khambatki Ghat was an unadulterated dose of fun (at least for me): with my car in P2 mode of Race Dynamics Dual Channel Dieseltronic box and an empty, well maintained, one-way ghat road, I was pushing upwards of 70-75kmph. The ghat, since I reached it, all the way till I was through, including the one little slowdown at the very beginning where a truck moving at 11kmph was being overtaken by a truck doing 13kmph, took just 9 minutes.
I'm not to sure about the others, but I believe they faced more traffic in the ghat than I did. They also had bigger cars to maneuver through a narrow, bendy road with big rigs eating up tarmac.
Well, at Mapro outlet, the (my) first meal of the day was a pizza and some grilled sandwiches. The pizza wasn't great, but I liked it better than the sandwiches. You can form your own conclusions.
There were no strawberries to be had.
We stopped at the edge of the highway at Wai exit for tea. The rest of the guys left by 12:30pm, which left Sudeep and I comparing cars (his was a slightly older i20, missing only the DRLs AFAIK). Having left at 1:30, I was back home at 2:30.
No one took any pictures. So naturally, there's no proof that this trip actually happened. Other's can pitch in with information about the discussions that were had with food and tea.
The Polo GT and 320d were sorely missed.
We all made it home alive.
It was a good day.

Long I drove through heat and cold
Riding over potholes ill-healed of old,
Till at last I found a quiet, fast patch
Of road traversed in my little hatch.
Over straights and through twists and turns,
Out of the shadows into a sun that burns
I drove till I reached the Mapro garden,
Oh sorry -- their outlet -- I beg pardon!

Ok, I could rhyme on, but I'll stop -- you get the picture... and I do hope this piece comes close to a thousand words: a picture's worth.

jdr

Mod note: Please avoid typing with excessive "--". Thanks!

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by jdr

There were 6 of us (Asit, Venkat, Sudeep, Sukiwa, Abhay, and jdr), 5 of which left for Wai at around 8 am
I had a little race with a new Tata-like test vehicle -- a race I lost, the driver was so aggressive. I tried taking a picture, but taking a picture in an i20 at speeds over 80 while trying to keep up with aggressive drivers is fraught with risks I was unwilling to take.
Khambatki Ghat was an unadulterated dose of fun (at least for me): with my car in P2 mode of Race Dynamics Dual Channel Dieseltronic box and an empty, well maintained, one-way ghat road, I was pushing upwards of 70-75kmph.

Jaideep,

You missed me completely. Or did you confuse me with Sudeep. I was in my Punto and was trying to keep up with the i20. Even I raced a bit with the camouflaged Tata Zest, but the way the guy was driving decided to play safe.The Kambatki ghat drive was simply superb with a lone incident of biker skidding on the way up. Stopped at Mapro counter, met Venkat, Asit, Jaideep and others. Had a quick chat, couldnt stop for breakfast. Proceeded to Mahabaleshwar, the Wai-Panchagani ghat was even more challenging drive, but enjoyed to a hilt.

[jdr]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

You missed me completely.

Oh bugger! I did miss you completely. Sorry about that. You weren't officially part of the drive though... and as I said... the memory of that event starts to fade already. My apologies. Yes, that was my i20 you were trying to keep up with. Being in a Punto 90, I'd have assumed you'd leave me far behind, but I guess you might have been driving but your wife was in control, eh? Also, I was in P1 mode of the RD box...

[the_skyliner]

Originally Posted by jdr

Oh bugger! I did miss you completely. Sorry about that. You weren't officially part of the drive though... and as I said... the memory of that event starts to fade already. My apologies. Yes, that was my i20 you were trying to keep up with. Being in a Punto 90, I'd have assumed you'd leave me far behind, but I guess you might have been driving but your wife was in control, eh? Also, I was in P1 mode of the RD box...

Thanks for the detailed report, jdr.

I would recommend to ride pillion with Asit next time as he is the best rider I know when it comes to attacking corners up hill. During Lavasa meet 320d had no chance to match him.

However, so sad to miss this one but will be there for the next one sure.

Asit, next time bring your bike for testing the larger sprocket.

Cheers!

[asit.kulkarni93]

Thanks for the report jdr.

Originally Posted by the_skyliner

Thanks for the detailed report, jdr.

I would recommend to ride pillion with Asit next time as he is the best rider I know when it comes to attacking corners up hill. During Lavasa meet 320d had no chance to match him.

However, so sad to miss this one but will be there for the next one sure.

Asit, next time bring your bike for testing the larger sprocket.

Cheers!

Well the large sprockets are out. I am back to the stock setup. And i really dont feel safe taking a pillion rider on my bike. The braking gets affected.
But as you mentioned about attacking the corners, well the best cornering machine is the 3-series and who else can handle it better than you. So jdr or rather anyone who gets bored of their cars on the corners should experience skyliner driving his 320d up lavasa. I can never forget that one ride up.
Thanks skyliner
Well if anyone wants to have a ride in a car with best body roll. I would be happy to get my family's Wagon-R.

[jdr]

Originally Posted by asit.kulkarni93

Thanks for the report jdr.
Well if anyone wants to have a ride in a car with best body roll. I would be happy to get my family's Wagon-R.

I dunno about that Asit. I think my i20 can give tough competition to your wagon for body roll... but only above 100kmph. under 100 it seems to do well. I need stiffer suspension!

-jdr

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by jdr

Being in a Punto 90, I'd have assumed you'd leave me far behind, but I guess you might have been driving but your wife was in control, eh?

Small Correction. I own a 75HP Punto and yes with wife sitting besides, the urge to floor the pedal was limited and now a days even my son warns me when the needle hits the 80kmph to slow down. With two limiters in the car I guess I have to obey.

[Amey]

Seems like you guys had a lot of fun! Although I am not regular on the forum these days, I was aware of this drive but sadly couldn't make thanks to work

I must say JDR, you are a brave man to throw that i20 around corners and doing it at 70-75 km/h. Hats off to your driving man.

Guess the i20 has better suspension setup than the Fluidic Verna ?

Hey JDR, how is the Zen doing man ? Any progress on the Modifications ? Very much keen to follow this project of yours, very interesting. Good luck mate!

Anyway, I guess I also missed that fun drive to Lavasa when that mean F30 was cut loose!

Aaah I remember those numerous drives to Lavasa

Let's do lavasa once more ? a Quick drive to and fro with a tea break ? What say guys ?

[etchemkay]

Although Lavasa is a good road, it's a little too "been there done that" now. Any other options?

In any case, I'm in for the drive.

Originally Posted by Amey

Seems like you guys had a lot of fun! Although I am not regular on the forum these days, I was aware of this drive but sadly couldn't make thanks to work

I must say JDR, you are a brave man to throw that i20 around corners and doing it at 70-75 km/h. Hats off to your driving man.

Guess the i20 has better suspension setup than the Fluidic Verna ?

Hey JDR, how is the Zen doing man ? Any progress on the Modifications ? Very much keen to follow this project of yours, very interesting. Good luck mate!

Anyway, I guess I also missed that fun drive to Lavasa when that mean F30 was cut loose!

Aaah I remember those numerous drives to Lavasa

Let's do lavasa once more ? a Quick drive to and fro with a tea break ? What say guys ?

[Abhay]

I am in for a drive as well..but as I said that day, a drive on the NH4 with tonnes of sunday traffic and containers/lorries isn't my idea of a fun drive....we should look for some backroads perhaps? any suggestions guys?

any other bikers apart from Asit?