[cnu]

Yet another superb travelogue, as always

[PRS7]

excellent inspired call to take the less travelled eastern route on the way back. I am sure this would have been a treat to the eye and soul

[gopa99]

Excellent report. I too did this location a few weeks back from bangalore. While this taj property is new, some facilities for games and adventure are still coming up. We drove via hunsur, madikeri and sulia. While it was a beautiful drive, we missed the sunset on day 1 by a few minutes.
The bekal beaches are so well kept and my junior enjoyed his camel and horse rides. Overall this drive felt great in my Gen 1 creta! The return journey had us go via kannur and iritty to keep up a family commitment there; the KL roads were top notch however the roads soon into KA stretch and through to Gonikoppa were bad and broken , felt it was taxing on the fuel, ride comfort and our car!

[Voodooblaster]

Originally Posted by graaja

The Return Journey:

I decided to take a different route through forest roads and 2 lane roads. The route was Bekal -> Iritty -> Wayanad -> Perinthalmanna -> Palakkad -> Coimbatore.

But it was a refreshing drive through scenic forest roads and traffic free 2 lane roads till Perinthalmanna

You can also try the Bekal - Mananthavady (Wayanad DT) - Sulthan Bathery - Gudalur - Ooty - Mettupalayam - Coimbatore


If you have time You can add extra destinations and try the Bekal - Sullia - Madikeri - Mysore - Chamrajnagar - Dhimbham - Satyamangalam- Coimbatore route

[graaja]

Originally Posted by Voodooblaster

You can also try the Bekal - Mananthavady (Wayanad DT) - Sulthan Bathery - Gudalur - Ooty - Mettupalayam - Coimbatore


If you have time You can add extra destinations and try the Bekal - Sullia - Madikeri - Mysore - Chamrajnagar - Dhimbham - Satyamangalam- Coimbatore route

I had done the Gudalur, Ooty route once from Wayanad. But it was a pain crossing Ooty. So I decided to not take this route again.

I have done the Mysore route a couple of years back. That remains my favourite route to Bekal of all the routes I have done so far.

[Voodooblaster]

Originally Posted by graaja

it was a pain crossing Ooty

Crossing Ooty is a nightmare in weekends and public holidays, but don’t write off the route yet. If you have a chance to do the route in weekdays, it’ll be a great option. Driving between Gudalur &. Mettupalayam between 11 AM to 4 PM is very nice.

Of course experience of crossing Mettupalayam town and reaching Coimbatore (amidst maniac private buses) is a different matter. It’s high time govt. considers a bypass to Mettupalayam, preferably with another bridge over Bhavani river for the Ooty traffic.

[speedster786]

Top-notch travelogue. Bekal’s coastline is a true gem on the map.

[Robin43]

Originally Posted by graaja

Installation was straightforward. The installer brought the projectors to my place and carried out the installation. As the installation was done late in the evening, I did not click many pictures of the installation process. The installer removed some screws from the trim that covered the wheel well and opened the bumper a little to create access to the fog lamp. He completed the installation and adjustments through this small opening.

Hi Sir

Are you facing any kind of bumper vibrations after installing the fog lights. I got mine today for the fortuner and i can see there is a minor vibration of the bumper. The fog light seems to vibrate a bit even on a tarmac road

I installed them same FLP 2040 from a local vendor.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by Robin43

Hi Sir

Are you facing any kind of bumper vibrations after installing the fog lights. I got mine today for the fortuner and i can see there is a minor vibration of the bumper. The fog light seems to vibrate a bit even on a tarmac road

I installed them same FLP 2040 from a local vendor.

No. I don't see any vibrations of the bumper in my car. Check if the installer has put back all the clips properly while fitting the bumper.

[throttleAddict]

Originally Posted by graaja

Final Results and Comparison:

There is a day and night difference between the original headlights and the new projectors. The projectors have a very clean cutoff, which is below the cutoff of the headlight. This prevents the projectors from creating glare for oncoming traffic but lights up the road perfectly. I drove the car on 2 lane village roads, and even with bright headlights from oncoming traffic, I was now able to clearly see the road in front. The high beam is very well-focused and lights up farther distances.

I took several pictures to compare the original headlights and the combination of the headlights and the projectors. I used a DSLR in manual exposure mode so that the difference is accurately reproduced. Click on the pictures to open in full size for more details.

Attachment 2718452

Attachment 2718450

Attachment 2718453

Attachment 2718451

The brightness of the projectors is comparable to the adaptive LED headlights in my previous BMW 3GT. The original headlights of the Fortuner are literally like candles.

I also compiled a short video to show the performance of the projectors. The first part is the comparison shot with a DSLR with manual exposure, so the difference is accurate. The second part is from my dashcam during the drive through village roads.

https://Youtu.be/blOfrGwrlDE

Overall, I feel this is a very good upgrade. Now I will be able to drive in the night without worry.

That's all folks, I have for now!

Hi raja sir, thanks for sharing. I am also looking to install a 2"inch Fog lamps on my N-Line, preferably from a FNG or reputed garage within Coimbatore. Can you please share more info on where you got the installation done ? Is there a warranty for the 2040 and does installing one void any vechicle warranty ?

[graaja]

Originally Posted by throttleAddict

Hi raja sir, thanks for sharing. I am also looking to install a 2"inch Fog lamps on my N-Line, preferably from a FNG or reputed garage within Coimbatore. Can you please share more info on where you got the installation done ? Is there a warranty for the 2040 and does installing one void any vechicle warranty ?

I found an independent installer who came home and did the installation. The 2040 comes with a one-year warranty, but I am not sure how much the warranty will be honored or supported.

Yes. Any electrical wiring changes will void the vehicle warranty. That is why I made all those custom cables so that no wires were cut or spliced, and I can go back to the original fog lamps without any hassles, in case there are any warranty issues.

[shardul_pathak]

Hi @graja, I notice a multi-color hue on your car's windshield. Have you gotten an anti-glare treatment done?

[graaja]

Originally Posted by shardul_pathak

Hi @graja, I notice a multi-color hue on your car's windshield. Have you gotten an anti-glare treatment done?

Yes. I have the 3M CR70 sun film on the windshield. Not sure if the hue is from the film though.

[graaja]

2nd Oil Service - 19,700 kilometers, @Siliguri

It has been some time since I updated this thread. In May, I finished a 24-day road trip to Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. The 20,000-kilometer service came up in the middle of the road trip. I had already planned to get this service done in either Siliguri or Guwahati. As the day I had planned in Guwahati was May 1st, and since it was a holiday, I got the service done in Siliguri. I called Topsel Toyota Siliguri on April 29th and scheduled an appointment for 10:00 AM on April 30th.

Reached the service center at 10:00, and was immediately attended by an SA. It took approximately 3 hours and 30 minutes to finish the service. They changed the oil, oil filter, and air filter, and topped up the AdBlue. I also took a spare 5-liter can and kept it in the boot.

Had a very good experience with the service center. The total cost was 9.6K, including 10 liters of AdBlue. A few pictures from the service.

The car is being taken into the workshop for service. Similar to the Coimbatore service center, they have a customer lounge with a large glass window through which we can see our car getting serviced.




The car is ready and looks as good as new after the wash.


The invoice: I was pleasantly surprised by the cost of the service. They have also noted down the brake pad thickness in the invoice. The thickness during the 10,000-kilometer service was 9 mm for the front and 8.5 mm for the rear. Now they are 8.3 mm for the front and 7.5 mm for the rear. I am not sure about the point at which they need to change. Assuming that to be 5mm, these pads have some very good life left in them.

[graaja]

A Road Trip to Arunachal and Meghalaya

I went on a road trip with my family to Arunachal and Meghalaya in May. This was an 8300-kilometer trip that took me 25 days to complete. As I do not have the time to write a complete travelogue, I am giving a high-level update on the trip, and a small photologue covering the trip in this thread.

There were three parts in the drive.

Part 1: My younger daughter joined me in the drive from Coimbatore. We took the Coimbatore - Vijayawada - Vishakapatnam - Konark - Kalyani - Siliguri - Guwahati route. On the way, we visited the navy museums in Vishakapatnam and the Sun Temple in Konark. I also got the car serviced in Siliguri.

Part 2: We picked up my wife and elder daughter, who took a flight to Guwahati. We drove in Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya for 11 days.

Part 3: My wife and both my daughters took a flight back from Guwahati to home, and I drove solo from Guwahati to Coimbatore. On the way, I spent a couple of days in Kolkata, where I took in some local sightseeing. I also met TBHPians Samba and ABHI in Kolkata, and moderator Sheel near Purnia.

The picture below shows the route map. Ignore the distance and time information. The actual distance was 8300 kilometers.


The following are the places visited in this trip:

Onward drive from Coimbatore to Guwahati:

• Navy and Submarine museums in Vishakapatnam
• Konark Sun Temple

Arunachal Pradesh:

• Tippi Orchidarium
• Nuranang waterfalls
• Tawang war memorial
• Teesri Udasi
• T-Gompa
• Madhuri lake

Meghalaya:

• Mawphlang Sacred Forest
• Mawrynkhang trek
• Arwah caves
• Nohwhet living root bridge

Kolkata

• Indian National Library
• Victoria memorial
• St. Paul’s Cathedral
• Birla Planetarium
• Kali temple
• Birla Science Museum

Picture below shows the drive summary.


Note: In the picture above, I mentioned that I visited the Navy Museum in Vijayawada. This is a typo and should be Vishakapatnam

Below is the trip statistics.

• Total distance covered – 8300 kilometers
• Total drive time – 161 hours 45 minutes
• Overall average speed – 51.3 kmph
• Total fuel consumption – 765 liters
• Total fuel cost – INR 70,066
• Total toll cost – INR 11,450

The Fortuner was an absolute joy to drive. Be it 4 or 6 lane highways, or broken roads, or flooded roads, the car tackled all the terrain without breaking a sweat. Below are several pictures of the Fortuner from various locations on the trip.

With Chilika lake in the background.


On the beautiful Puri-Konark road.


On the Konark beach.


Green fields before Siliguri.


Somewhere on the highway.


Beautiful forest roads in Arunachal.


In the mountains in Arunachal.


In Sela pass.


Sela pass.


PT Tso lake, Tawang.


In Mawphanlur, Meghalaya.


Somewhere on the forest roads in Meghalaya.


On a single lane road covered flanked by trees, on the way to Mawrynkhang, Meghalaya.


Somewhere near Cherrapunji, Meghalaya.