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-   -   Asterix, my 2021 Force Gurkha | The adventure begins (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/244904-asterix-my-2021-force-gurkha-adventure-begins-19.html)

The Indicators on the top of the fenders had water vapour accumulation from day 1. I thought in time it would evaporate but did not. I brought this to the notice of the SA and he immediately ordered the parts to be changed under warranty.

Both arrived today and were replaced.






I also wanted to make sure there was no more gear oil seal leakage after the fix carried out earlier. I was happy to note that there has been no gear oil leakage/drip anymore since the fix was applied.





The sound damping update is pending still since i want the technical specs of the sheets used. I will have them soon and make a proper post on the same in the next few days. I can confirm that there has been a marked reduction in external noise and sound filtering into the cabin ofcourse.. :)

https://youtu.be/yicSIxZgtTs

Here is the first part of the review of Asterix with Rajni Chaudhary. Hope you enjoy it.
The second part will have the drive and offroading along with her Thar.

First Dent & Scratch!!

So the day finally dawned that all new vehicle owners dread. The first dent or scratch and in respect to Asterix both!

I had just left home for the Ownership Review shoot with Rajni Chaudhary for her YouTube channel. Barely 50 meters from my house i was crossing a Hand Cart. It was a big one with a roof etc, the kind that sell food items.

As i was about abreast with it on my left side I saw it begin to topple as one of its wheels had gone into a huge pothole. The road divider was to my immediate right and i had no place to go to take evasive action. It all happened really quickly anyway.
I tried to accelerate away hoping it would miss Asterix but it was too late!

It crashed onto the side left fender of Asterix and there was nothing i could do to stop it. Luckily it missed the rear window.

I got out and inspected the damage. It looked pretty ghastly but i could make out that the paint was not too damaged. The marks were mainly of the paint of the hand cart. The dent though was considerable. It was a huge top heavy handcart and it took 3 people to set it back up again.

There was no point arguing with the guy. He had been reckless but now what was done couldn't be undone. I was seething at this misfortune and bad timing but left soon after. 3 seconds faster or slower either way and the cart would have fallen infront or behind me.

At home i used some Meguairs Polish to rub out the scratch. There is a slight scratch present still. The paint really held up well against the hard impact.

Today Asterix was dropped off at Retro Rraps where the Alloys and Grill had been painted earlier. They do a really professional job and do not believe in shortcuts.

Here are the pics of the damage.











Ricky at Retro Rraps assured me that he will have it looking like brand new again in 3 days time. Will update the "After" pics here once Asterix is home again.

Ah the battle scars all us new car lovers dread! Take it as a sign of good luck that nothing major happened, and Asterix will be back from the hospital, ahem paint shop :loveit, soon! Give him his meds on time and he will be hale and hearty in no time rl:

Ouch! That really hurts!! Have been following your ownership from day 1, and seeing this damage really gets to me - we all know how much attention to even the minutest details you've had for Asterix.

It's one of those things - like you said, ±3 seconds would given a different outcome. But my old man used to say "It came for your head, but stopped with the helmet instead".

Couple of days, and Asterix will be back like nothing's happened :thumbs up

Asterix is in good hands. I dropped in at Retro Rraps for a quick check today. The dent has been removed with a dent puller. They had filled in the body filler and were busy sanding it down vigorously when i got there.

Paint will only commence tommorow (Wednesday) and the whole process should be completed by day after (Thursday) evening.







Here is a look below the fiber wheel arch for anyone curious to know what under them.
The fiber wheel arch is held to the vehicle body by two bolts. All the extra holes one can see aren't used. The fiber wheel arch did also take quite a hard hit from the hand cart but held up well.

Update on the repairs on Asterix:

Paint was done today on Wednesday 2nd March. He should be ready for delivery by 2 to 3 PM on Thursday, 3rd March after Rubbing and Polishing has been completed.







He should be looking like new soon enough. It is such a relief for me to find a professional body shop like Retro Rraps where major and minor bodywork repair, modifications, PPF, ceramic coating etc can be carried out with complete peace of mind!
:thumbs up :)

Goes without saying this is NOT a paid promotion. Ricky has quoted me a very nominal amount of Rs.5000 which is more than fair for this job.

Love the tyres & alloys on Aestrix. Can you please share where to get same as am very tempted to file this in my to do list upon getting SUV.

Also how is it to drive in city traffic and in terms of accelration in stop gap and red lights?

Thanks

Here is a video of Asterix driving in congested city traffic.

https://youtu.be/KqkVEqkj1L4

As i have mentioned in my earlier posts the high seating and narrow boxy design makes it quite easy to drive within city, highway or offroad. Acceleration is linear and smooth. You will not feel any punch from its 90 bhp OM616, Mercedes derived, 2.6 liter Engine.

Tyres and Alloys were sourced from BK tyres, Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi.

Thanks to fellow bhpian Vignesh ji and his Island Gurkha Django i managed to source 2 Special Vehicles Division badges for Asterix as well from a site called Drivenation on Instagram.



I went ahead and designed a "Rain Forest Challenge India Champion" Badge considering that the Gurkha has won this championship a number of times. This badge too will adorn Asterix soon.



Both badges are 75 mm in diameter.

Here is the 3rd part of Asterix's review by Rajni Chaudhary.
I did make two mistakes in this video.

1. I applied brakes instead of letting Asterix go down in 1st gear low under his own power. This caused a slight slide. But at no point was it out of control.

2. I said that the "Endeavour" is a monocoque construction vehicle not body on frame. I meant to say "Jeep Compass" as thats what we were talking about.

Enjoy the video :)

https://youtu.be/H1ikWGowajM

Both Badges arrived and have been mounted on Asterix. He wears them like medals.
Special thanks to fellow Bhpian Vignesh for helping me source them.

I got 2 badges made of the "Special Vehicle Division" one for each fender and one badge of the "Rainforest Challenge India Champion" for the rear of Asterix.

"Drivenation" on Instagram is the manufacturer of these badges. I have no monetary arrangement of any kind with them and am simply naming them here so that i do not have to answer the same question about the source multiple times.

Here is a review of Asterix with a popular Hindi Car review channel on YouTube. Hope you enjoy it. I had given credit to Vignesh for the Special Vehicles Division logo but they seemed to have edited that bit out.

https://youtu.be/U7uM74N5YZM

Saw that, excellent review. But I was expecting Asterix to scale a hill and see the look on their faces :)

The thing that was apparent to me (not sure if anyone else would notice) was that as a customer how close knit you are with Force Motors. They listen to feedbacks, fix it and the next person buying the Gurkha doesn't have to deal with it.

The level of involvement of customers and the manufacturer is unparalleled IMHO and this has been the case with Vignesh too.
IIRC Trojan has had mixed experiences but if the manufacturer is listening and acting that should change very soon. Will keep an eye out.

Saw the Asterix for the first time on video with two six footers, front and rear. The cabin space was astounding !
I hadn't imagined it to be this much.

Pictures don't do justice to the Gurkha, it has to be experienced and ideally bought.

Force still has to improve on some aspects of their quality and need urgently to increase manpower in terms of Service Engineers. Once they do that things should improve significantly sales wise also for them.

True about the Gurkhas size. It really is big and somehow yet so nimble and maneuverable in traffic!

Here is my very own first full length review of Asterix. Have not covered many areas but will cover those too in other upcoming videos.

https://youtu.be/s1M4_gQHTSQ

I would appreciate greatly support and love from my fellow Bhpians.

- True, when I told some of my friends about the Gurkha their reaction was "what the hell is that".
When I showed them some pics of the Asterix especially the side by side with the Thar and G-Wagen, their reaction was "What the Hell is this thing!" with mouths wide open :D

- Excellent review, waiting for the off road version :)