[subraiyr]

Narayan

Congrats on the Storme and a great write up on the entire selection process.

Hydroplaning/Aquaplaning - Learned the truth of it last time when i went out in the rain. Was scary as i was traveling a bit fast and the vehicle did pull to the left. Adjusting the steering then required some arm power. But as Neel stated it is not about the pressure alone, it is about the car too. I have a Fusion and it just refuses to aquaplane while the Storme just has a mind of its own

Pull to the left - a lot of us have complained of this. I got the entire shebang of WB/WA and it has reduced drastically, but there is still a little bit which comes up. Guess have to live with it. Only time will tell on the tires

Him or Her - For me the Storme is definitely a Him. I call him Black Knight. Will need to do a review soon. Have to take pictures too. Will share shortly

FE 15+ is awesome. My last road trip i got 14, but then i was not in the sweet spot but was definitely bull dozing through. The vehicle has got such a brilliant character of chewing the miles effortlessly that i cannot but give it more power

Nice pics bro. Next time i come around to your hometown, lets try and meet up.

Problem of auto narcissism - as someone said if you don't have it then there is a problem. I park it in my office and after lunch i go down spend a few minutes with him and talk to him too. By the way, every time i tell my Fusion that i have to take her to the service station, she just becomes alright

Anyways, have a good one

[quadra]

Any update on the issue #2? Metal bursting sound when making a u- turn?

[narayan]

Originally Posted by quadra

Any update on the issue #2? Metal bursting sound when making a u- turn?

No update yet. Have to plan to take half day off from work to revisit the work shop. since it happens only in full lock U-turns taken in a hurry, I am not too impatient to get it fixed. But will get have re-checked sometime next week

[YGarg]

As for aquaplaning, it occurs when the water pressure build up under the tyres is sufficient to support vehicle weight. Since force= pressure*area, it leads to the inference that aquaplaning will increase with Wider tyres or Lighter vehicle (of course, tread pattern plays an important role here). Probably we should think twice before going for wider tyres!

[narayan]

Update:
Brake squeaking and metallic bursting sound while taking aggressive U turns is gone for now. But the seat belt squirrel squeak is irritating in an otherwise squeak free truck. Will need to have it checked sometime soon.

[amolpol]

Originally Posted by narayan

Update:
Brake squeaking and metallic bursting sound while taking aggressive U turns is gone for now.

Could you describe what you're calling an aggressive U turn maneuver. I wouldn't advise that you lock the steering to the extreme left or right and throttle it out on a tall SUV. There has always been a swoosh kind sound on full turns in my Safari when you held the steering in that position for more than 5-10 secs and it was never an issue.

[narayan]

Originally Posted by amolpol

Could you describe what you're calling an aggressive U turn maneuver.

Doing a full lock U turn quickly. At the very end of lock, there would be a mettalic bursting sound - not too loud. Apparently these happen when some stopper bolts are touched. As per SA, a very common problem in the Dicor and Storme. Anyway I wasn't too hassled by it and if I take the turn slowly I can avoid the sound

[hyper-VTEC]

@ Narayan: Hope you are enjoying your truck! I am still in the fence, will take a decision by Feb 2014.

Since you are in Chennai, wanted to ask you about the effectiveness of AC blower near the foot in second row in LX. I am thinking between LX and EX. LX do not have the roof mounted AC, so will the small blower near the floor enough to keep the second row passengers in comfort during Chennai heat?

On road price difference between LX and EX is INR 1,30,000/-
In that we get:
1. Roof mounted rear AC
2. Front and rear fogs - can be fixed later as a approved accessory from dealer. Not a deal breaker in South India
3. Rear glass wiper

Rear mounted AC is the only thing that is making me think about EX, but paying up 130K for this seems a high price. Request your experience, please.

P.S. Will meet you next week and see your beast in person

[narayan]

Update: 7000kms crossed so far in 4.5 months of ownership.

The beast is getting ready for another 2 long trips which should push the Odo well past 9500kms in the next 1 month. Since there would be one more family travelling with us, decided to go for a roof mounted luggage carrier so that all passengers can travel comfortably and enjoy the beast's class leading comform ( in row 1 and 2 only )

A pertitent point to note is that the Storme ( and the Dicor for that matter ) come with fairly impractical roof rails which limits the size of the carrier one can fit. The roof rails in the Fortuner or the Scorpio are far better and allows you to place the mounting rods wide apart for better weight distribution as well.

After a lot of market "research" and checking various threads, finally went for the below roof carrier model. Went to a dealer at GP Road ( Chennai ) and got it fixed. Obviously extremely amateurish installation but do we have a choice ?! Hopefully I wouldn't see luggage dropping off in my upcoming trips.

Carrier name: Welcome Quest 4X4
Cost of the carrier : Rs5600
Installation: Rs 150
Unwarranted tip to someone who was hanging around while the installation happened: Rs10
Total damage: Rs5850
Shop name: Padmavathi Agencies

Need to somehow get rid of those 4X4 stickers though.

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by narayan

A pertitent point to note is that the Storme ( and the Dicor for that matter ) come with fairly impractical roof rails which limits the size of the carrier one can fit. The roof rails in the Fortuner or the Scorpio are far better and allows you to place the mounting rods wide apart for better weight distribution as well.

You can't say that about the Dicor in which the integrated rails above the rear quarter glass can also be used whereby you can fit a really big roof carrier whose front portion is fitted onto the regular, more conspicuous roof rails.

Originally Posted by narayan

Carrier name: Welcome Quest 4X4
Cost of the carrier : Rs5600
Installation: Rs 150
Unwarranted tip to someone who was hanging around while the installation happened: Rs10
Total damage: Rs5850
Shop name: Padmavathi Agencies

Congrats! It looks neat!

[narayan]

Originally Posted by directinjection

You can't say that about the Dicor in which the integrated rails above the rear quarter glass can also be used whereby you can fit a really big roof carrier whose front portion is fitted onto the regular, more conspicuous roof rails.

DI - I get what you are saying but it may not be practically possible. Pls refer a sample Dicor image below ( taken from the net - all copyright of respective owners). You are probably suggesting that the front mounts will be in the regular roof rail and the rear mounts will come from the separate light grey plastic section. Some issues with this arrangement
1) The roof rails and the light grey plastic ( above the quarter glass ) are not aligned in a straight line
2) The roof slopes upwards after the black roof rails

Keeping these in mind, I havent seen anyone fitting a large roof carrier on the Dicor ( searched extensively on the net for images but only saw these small roof carriers on the black rails ).

But its probably worth experimenting.

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by narayan

You are probably suggesting that the front mounts will be in the regular roof rail and the rear mounts will come from the separate light grey plastic section.

That's exactly what I was suggesting.

Originally Posted by narayan

Some issues with this arrangement
1) The roof rails and the light grey plastic ( above the quarter glass ) are not aligned in a straight line
2) The roof slopes upwards after the black roof rails

Keeping these in mind, I havent seen anyone fitting a large roof carrier on the Dicor ( searched extensively on the net for images but only saw these small roof carriers on the black rails ). But its probably worth experimenting.

Actually, I had seen a Dicor in Delhi that had the kind of carrier I was talking about. It didn't look great but had lots of space for luggage (although I'm not sure how much weight the roof is designed to bear). The carrier wasn't inclined either - it looked parallel to the road - I suppose some spacer type of thing must have been used while fitting. Sorry, I have no pictures! Cheers & Best of Luck!

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by narayan

U

A pertitent point to note is that the Storme ( and the Dicor for that matter ) come with fairly impractical roof rails which limits the size of the carrier one can fit. The roof rails in the Fortuner or the Scorpio are far better and allows you to place the mounting rods wide apart for better weight distribution as well.

Installation looks neat, however you may take a relook at how your radio antenna is snagging under the roof carrier member. It may lead to the antenna getting damaged, at the least you would have static in your radio reception.

[4x4addict]

@narayan. Roof carrier looks great. Next time you take it off , see if you can saw off a few inches from the cross rails neatly and put the caps back. The rails extending out to the side spoils the looks.

[narayan]

Originally Posted by 4x4addict

@narayan. Roof carrier looks great. Next time you take it off , see if you can saw off a few inches from the cross rails neatly and put the caps back. The rails extending out to the side spoils the looks.

Yes I have some plans for the roof carrier when I remove it.
1. Get rid of all stickers
2. Paint it a light grey shade which contrasts well with the silver body color.

Will try out your suggestion as well.

In fact I want to paint the wheels also to a light shade of grey.

After fitting the roof rails, I have been getting some additional attention on the beast starting with some local politicians who had come to fix some loud horns in their Xylo. They suggested I fix some bright lights on to those protruding rods ! These guys will never change !