[abirnale]

This has been an amazing journey - in about 10 months, 30,000 Km driven across just KA, MH, GA and a very small part of KL!

This happened a few days ago:







Saturday visit to Kokkere Belluru:
Here is a recap from Saturday: Me and my son visited Kokkere Belluru Birds Sanctuary. An early morning quick drive to the village through beautiful sugarcane and coconut, paddy fields from Mysore Road - Malavalli junction backwards, crossing over the Shimsha river was amazing! The bird Sanctuary is nothing but a small setup and is mostly community based. Migratory birds such as pelicans and Storks typically visit this area and they make nests all over the villages where they find safer and larger trees. You just need to park at some place (Sanctuary PIN on Google) and take a walk. Villagers are very friendly and can guide you to trees that have pelican nests!

Some pictures from this trip:





































30K Kms Overview:
Considering this milestone being crossed, I thought of highlighting some more observations about The Red Sparkle:

• The ownership has been largely without any issues and a lesser number of visits to ASC than I had imagined when I bought the car! The ESP blinking issue is something M&M formally concluded to be normal and there is no need to have a fix for it. I have just learnt to live with it :(
• The CarPlay integration and ICE features leave a lot to be desired - there is no update or fixes in sight that assures of zero blank screens, disconnections and slowing down the load times for certain apps. Not sure if this is part of those old chips which came early in the cars? By the way, knock-on-wood, there have not been any recalls, issues or niggles with The Red Sparkle so far. The only issue was with the co-passenger power window winding motor and that was addressed in the swiftest manner.
• M&M knows their powertrain like no one else! Beautifully tuned - biased towards performance and less towards FE! “Kitna Deti hai” type owners won’t find this great to own but for anyone who loves to drive across the length and breadth of the geography, this is it! I have not used Zoom mode other than when I needed to keep up with RWD Germans! Zap does just perfectly! And Zip is my choice of drive mode when I am not rushing to my destination!
• Like every other M&M car (for that matter most cars!), if you do any work related to opening any panels, you can expect minor niggles like rattles. Avoid as much as you can! I currently have one rattle of some plastic hard panel vibrating slowly in the dash on the co-passenger side. It was introduced probably after early days of SilverBox replacement - or during the first in cabin air-filter replacement. Real irritant this one is in an otherwise well-insulated and silent cabin.
• I have observed that after a while of usage of the car, when the novelty dies down, all you use is routine BT connections for phone, some music via connected app like Apple Music or YT music etc from your phone. The inbuilt navigation is perfect companion for second option in navigation. First still is Google Maps via Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. And while on this topic again, Android integration is far far better than Apple CarPlay - the issue is maps screen doesn’t occupy the full ICE screen like Apple CarPlay does when in maps mode.
• I have been changing the car engine oil every 10K and using the same M&M specified stock oil from ASC. They typically keep telling to change only at 10-30-50 and so on but I know I use the car a lot in idling mode for AC, calls on BT etc. and engine life is more used than just driving.
• I am yet to find the most ideal tires in this size for the car which are true AT. My need is for bad roads as well as fast highways. Not many options - not sure if this is still an odd size or tire industry still doesn’t consider this as a size worth spending their efforts!
• The SVR system is great for all-around visibility- I love this system! The complaint though is the inability to copy the footage’s when needed. Extremely cumbersome to retrieve the videos - and the fisheye/ wide view is almost of no use. I still need to explore using a dashcam. Ideally, the Adrenox should allow direct BT or Wi-Fi connection with ICE and retrieve recorded videos, stitched the way it shows on the screen and allow us to use it if we want to! And hey, with some of those settings on the car ICE, why not allow Adrenox to update directly? Too much to ask, I guess.
• The in cabin facilities still lack – a useful 12v socket in front for a portable tire inflator, missing boot light, missing ambient light, the third-row seats sit plush to make a flat floor but have lots of open spaces between seat edges and perimeter that you will end up dropping smaller items in that se holes! And I said this earlier multiple times - no usable space in the boot for small stuff storage. It’s my wish list to have some easy fitting/ removal system for the third row – it’s 99% unused for me and I can probably take those seats off and stow away until needed!
• The ADAS is kind of underrated - of late I am using all the features from ADAS, specifically AEBS, LKA + SmartPilot and Traffic Signs recognition. They have been absolutely helpful and without any issues. Not even once have I regretted it. It may be the case due to which the brake pad life is reduced but I am not complaining. The key to remember is - it’s the driver assist and not the driver substitute! I have been able to maintain legal speeds most of the time, thanks to the info that comes up on MID after reading the signpost which I have missed. The AEBS is an absolute must for ACC to work and that is such a help on long drives on those highways where lane markings are correct and no city-like traffic trying to occupy “whatever is left” of the road!
• So far, the headlights have been serving me well for city as well as highway drives. I can easily maintain low triple-digit speeds at night. I do not feel the need to upgrade the lights. The fog lights are not so great though - luckily in south India, there is not much fog. A tinge of yellow in dogs is desired for better visibility during real foggy conditions.

At the end of it, this is mostly that one-car solution that does a little of everything for someone who doesn’t demand German-like performance or an American muscle or...

And now we head into the Xmas travel - hoping to drive more and bring you the updates from the road about our beautiful country and the car! Stay tuned.

[100Kmphormore]

I crossed 40k! Today, on our Feb 2013 Scorpio SLE. You sure drive a lot, excellent ownership thread.

[vroom_vroom]

Saturday visit to Kokkere Belluru:

Nice photographs @abirnale.

Little off-topic question.

Which camera and lens do you use to take these beautiful pictures?

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by 100Kmphormore

I crossed 40k! Today, on our Feb 2013 Scorpio SLE. You sure drive a lot, excellent ownership thread.

Thank you very much!

Originally Posted by vroom_vroom

Saturday visit to Kokkere Belluru:

Nice photographs @abirnale.

Little off-topic question.

Which camera and lens do you use to take these beautiful pictures?

Thanks buddy.

I use a canon EOS R7, 100-400mm RF lens. I use everything AUTO mode with either TV or AV priority and keep clicking. A slight crop is all that I do and post. The car pics are mostly with old iPhone 12 pro.

[PreludeSH]

Its great to see true "live to Drive" compared to some like me who "Drive to Live", especially with work from home

Hope Mahindra solves the smaller niggles still prevalent after they had had so much time.

[rajeevsulu]

That is a very crisp review. I hope to have a similar, not too troubled, experience with my xuv 700.Mine is only 4 months old with 9k kms on the click. Touchwood all good till now. Lovely clucks by the way.

[SID7115]

Originally Posted by abirnale

There is always something to discover in the car: see the video below

That's the best thing about this car. You find something new every time you drive it. Ours turned one last week and we have still not finished exploring all features.

BTW, I will be posting a detailed 1 year, 10K km ownership review soon. Stay tuned!!

[Caffeinated_Owl]

Originally Posted by abirnale

The silly part is - when the google maps show up on the screen during Apple CarPlay, it doesn’t allow the normal zoom in and zoom out using simple touch inputs we do usually - pinch in or pinch out using two fingers! Is it the same for Android Auto too?

As far as I know, the pinch zoom feature is not available on Google Maps for Apple CarPlay, but it is available on Android Auto. I'm not sure if this is due to some limitation in Apple CarPlay.

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by ramradcliff

I am attaching a couple of images from the review thread posted by PrasannaDhana. Is that how your car looked like while loaded? If yes, it's surprising that it didn't impact the way the car drove or any issues with GC!

Today I was driving towards Chitradurga and saw this fully loaded car with roof mounted luggage too. Visibly it felt as if like car was squatting! I followed the car for some distance and didn’t feel anything scary with it though - like the way it went over undulations or crossed over humps (there are not many on NH48 around Tumkur to really see the cars struggling).

I asked my companion to click the picture of the car and this is how it looked from behind:



Someday a measurement of real ground clearance with 7 adults onboard need to be recorded and the same with 4, 2 and none. Only then we will know what exactly is the change from GC perspective and a more informed guess at if this is a cause of concern if at all.

[abirnale]

The mediocre plan for the Xmas trip, executed best!

When our plans of visiting KL with a houseboat cruise as the main attraction didn’t materialise due to the costly accommodations, we tried looking inside KA. We tried to get a couple of nights on Bhadra River Tern Lodge - at the whopping cost of 45K for our family. just before booking on the JLR site, we decided to trash the plans for the holiday and stick to being indoors. And then a couple of weeks ago, a casual connect with Clarks Inn in Badami, we found one large room open where they would be able to accommodate us for two nights - without delay we booked it. And thus we were out for Xmas holidays by road, one more time!

Sunday to Tuesday was the original plan. Reaching Badami by lunchtime, and visiting the caves and Bhoothnath temple was the first-day itinerary. The Clarks Inn is located within walking distance from the site of the caves. We could just check in, leave our car in the hotel and take an auto to the site. The hotel has limited parking but if you are game, they let you take your car to the nearby petrol bunk (owned by the same family who owns the hotel) and ferry you from there to the hotel! The petrol bunk is just about a KM away.

The plan for Monday was to visit Pattadakal and Aihole and if time permits, do Kudal Sangama on Tuesday morning before returning to Bangalore. Monday was our best day - early morning departure from the hotel to Pattadkal, followed by Aihole and then Kudal Sangama - all three were done by lunchtime. The Xmas holidays are when many nearby schools plan their visit to the ASI sites - it's free to kids. ASI does this commendable job! Of course, it makes these places crowded. The key though is to visit the places early in the morning. Pattadakal was that way our best visit - gorgeous sun rays on the temples, lush green around the grounds and no noise or kid’s cacophony! For every monument we visited, we used the govt guide. They almost brought history alive in front of our eyes - kids loved it. I hope they remember at least 25% of everything they heard!

Our visit to Kudal Sangama wasn’t a great one - it's a place primarily crowded with temple visitors. Garbage all around, bad parking manners - we didn’t enjoy it much. The blessings in disguise though, we decided to head to Ilkal - some Saree shopping! After all, I don’t want to make my “better half” a “bitter half”. The route to Ilkal, Kudal Sangama was deliberately chosen through the countryside. We were rewarded with a lot of bird sightings on our route. Junior was extra watchful - sighted Indian Golden Oriole, Indian Treepie, Many many Indian Rollers, bee-eaters and Drongos! We took stop at our will at the farm sides, went in, made friends with villagers, and ate our snacks wherever we parked! We were enjoying it to the fullest!

When we were returning back to Clarks Inn, Badami to settle for the evening, we thought about visiting Vijayapur Gol Gumbaj on Tuesday morning and then returning to Bangalore by late night. After a casual check on google maps and a couple of phone calls, we found another great stay option in Vijayapura - Kyriad Hotel. They had a deluxe room with breakfast! We decided to stay in Vijayapura on Tuesday and return to Bangalore on Wednesday. The distance between Badami and Vijayapura is just two hours - we again made the best use of our Tuesday morning. We first visited the lake near Kendur (near Badami) where we spotted many River Terns - our wish to see terns in Bhadra came true at Kendur! After birdwatching and a good breakfast, we went to Vijayapura. Around lunchtime - and then finished visiting all the main attractions in Vijayapura. As I said, the Gol Gumbaj was also crowded in the noon/ evening due to a lot of school kids. It wasn’t worth waiting in queue to climb up in the dome and experience the sound travel - it wasn’t going to be pleasant at all. Our guide (he is apparently the senior one who gave a guided tour to like is Sudha Murthy and our political top brass from KA - coveted guide!) was extremely helpful and knowledgeable - he took us to all corners of Vijayapura, showed us the important places, explained the history, took tons of family pics and dropped back to the hotel! here too, we decided to leave the car in the hotel, took an auto and went around. An evening tonga ride was the best moment kids enjoyed.

On Wednesday before we left Vijayapura for Bangalore, we decided to visit the Gol Gumbaj one more time - early at 6 am! We were the second visitor of the day there. This was another best moment - experiencing the sound travel without a big crowd, could sit at the top of the Gumbaj and watching the sunrise, record the time-lapse too! While we were getting out of the premises, we spotted a lot of peacocks and peahens, a couple of Indian spotted owlets, and a bunch of rose-ringed parakeets! Luckily, I carried my EOS-R7 and 100-400mm lens!

And thus after a long wait, we did one proper driving vacation! A relaxed drive back home and back to work by the next day. The Red Sparkle was the best companion - we did some spirited runs between Kudal Sangam - Ilkal as well as an extremely relaxed drive from Vijayapur to Bangalore via a quick break at Almatti Dam bridge! The overall FE for this trip was the highest in the entire ownership duration! I got an average of 13.6kmpl with luggage and people on board all the time, through country roads as well as highways! The people in Bagalkote and Vijayapura District are the sweetest ones! Extremely hospitable, helpful and in general content! The weather was great too - not much scorching heat (about 30 degrees max temperature during the day). Breezy mornings, busy evenings, decent hotels, good north Karnataka food - what else do you want on a drive-cation? The Khanavali we visited in Ilkal needs a special mention - Shanti Sadan in the Gandhi Chowk! The holige with ghee, the Saaru with Holige, the special pickle to go with white rice, and the sambar. I would go there again just to eat this food!

And to sum up now, here are some pictures: Destinations (in no particular order), Birds we sighted, and the car - in subsequent posts.















































Birding pictures - continued in next post.

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by abirnale

here are some pictures: Destinations (in no particular order), Birds we sighted, and the car - in subsequent posts.

The birds we sighted:

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by abirnale

here are some pictures: Destinations (in no particular order), Birds we sighted, and the car - in subsequent posts.

The Red Sparkle:



























And here we stand at the end of the trip: odometer at 31630 Km mark! Closing the calendar year strong - with the hope that 2023 will be even more fun and many more drive-cations!

Stay tuned - will bring more updates as I enjoy #TheRedSparkle ownership!

[haisaikat]

Beautiful captures, both the landscapes and the birds. The place Vijaypura and the route to Ilkal seems to be a perfect outing place. The red machine looks stunning from all the angles. The massive sunroof seems put to best use under such a white cloudy sky. Wish you many more beautiful family road trips, keep posting.

[appupandya]

Hi, Abirnale,

I always wait for your posts as we both share the exact same variant and colour of the XUV.

In your review you have mentioned about trying to find an A/T tyre for your vehicle.

I have two questions

1: In your 30k kms of driving how many times really Awd has kicked in to help you out of a situation?

2: Do you think an Awd system of our car which has very limited off roading capabilities, really require AT tyres? can we take it to the unbeaten path?

P.S: MRF Wanderers does have the size of AT tyres you are looking for

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by appupandya

I have two questions
1: In your 30k kms of driving how many times really Awd has kicked in to help you out of a situation?
2: Do you think an Awd system of our car which has very limited off roading capabilities, really require AT tyres? can we take it to the unbeaten path?
P.S: MRF Wanderers does have the size of AT tyres you are looking for

Thank you!

AWD helps in more than one way - the biggest gain is for tackling the torque steer for me. I want to think of myself as moody driver! When I need the car to jump out and surprise, I just floor the A pedal! The rear wheels take the excess load and doesn’t let any power waste. Thats pretty much on almost every overtaking and probably one of the reason why my car’s FE is low. And yes, I did use it to mild off-roading, including one real climb on nearby hill where only the real 4x4 have ever made it. I also took the car at the peak of Mandalpatti near Madikeri. All of those times, Car did fantastic - it sure has SUV genes. I still wouldn’t dare to put it to the Thar like tests but for sure gives that extra push to rear wheels when no other FWDs can.

The AT tire need is not because I want to go off-roading always - it’s because I do that 5% off-roading and a lot of bad roads with gravel and stones that typically I have seen damaging the soft tires. Hence I want to try the AT tires - and they better have V rating

Thanks - I will check MRF. Hopefully they are V rated tires.