| Lucky Sparky ! Thrilling 750 kms completed !!
On Friday, October 19 at 9 am I get a call from Nagaraj, sales executive, Garuda Autocraft informing me that the Spark I booked one week back is on the way to the showroom from their stockyard. At the time of booking I had told him that I would like to inspect the car before registration. So, I get ready and kickstart my bike straight to the showroom.
I park my bike and head towards showroom entrance, and I see one dirty Black Spark being parked in front of me. At the same time, Nagaraj comes out, greets me, and opens the bonnet checking engine and chassis number, and tells me - yes, this is your car. I was stunned. There was atleast 1 truckload of dirt and mud all over my brand new Spark ! It looked like at least 5-year-old car. I yell at him "This cannot be my car ! this is not a new car !!" Laughing out loud, he says, "let me show you a magic" He pours 2 buckets of water on the car - and wow ! I just could not believe my eyes... He says that by 5 pm in the evening car will be ready for delivery.
I am a new driver and so I call my bro-in-law to drive the car from showroom to our house. Me, my wife, my sister and bro-in-law reach showroom exactly at 5.30 pm. Nagaraj gives a 30-minute demo, and by the time we receive the key, it was 6:50 pm. My wife tells me that from 6:30 to 7:30 pm on that day, it was "Amruthagalige" (some auspicious time). So, my bro-in-law drives my Sparky to home. On the way, we purchase all pooja items and park our Sparky in front of Eashwar temple
which is right next to our house. Just then, it drizzles for 5 minutes, and the priest of the temple tells us that this is a good sign.
My Sparky, she arrived on Durgashtami and she is black - So, we name her "Kali"
For the next 2 days, it was my bro-in-law who drives Kali. He is an experienced driver. He has been driving since 15 years now. He has owned every car from M-800 to TATA Sumo. On these two days, we drive some 150 kms visiting our relatives place etc all around Bangalore.
Somehow, my bro-in-law is not too impressed with my Kali. Here are some of his viewpoints
External looks:
Though very cute, Wagon R looks better. Tubeless tyres are bonus.
Interiors:
Ok, but he expected better quality plastics. He was surprised to see the speedo at the center of the dashboard. He was irked with the position of indicator and wiper levers. Steering seems large. The center RVM is too small and he was very much uncomfortable seeing into it. Seats are comfortable. Here, my sister says this is the most comfortable car to sit
in the rear.
Engine & Gear:
According to him, Sparky has smoothest and most silent engine. He loved it so much that he wanted to go on a long drive on highway right away! Gear shift is ok. He felt less power in 2nd gear when compared to Wagon R. Clutch and brake, he felt good.
For next 15 days, me and my wife get up at 5 in the morning and we drive Kali on Rajajinagar Chord road and Mysore Road. It was absolute pleasure driving when there is no traffic. Here, 80% of driving was done by me. Both of us are extreamely happy with our Kali.
Having gained enough confidence, we decide to go on a long drive. My wife decides that we go and visit this Goravanahalli Lakshmi temple near Tumkur. We call my sister and she also wants to join us. So, on Thursday, 8th November (which was a holiday), with me on the driver's seat, my wife next to me, my sister and her 2 kids and my mother on the back seat - I remember our Nimz and say Go Sparky Go !
Approx 60 kms on NH-4 highway towards Tumkur upto Davaspet was a dream ride. But the next 40 kms was a nightmare. This is the worst thing I could have ever done to my new Sparky. This entire stretch is sort of off-road filled with huge potholes and craters. I could only drive in 2nd and 1st gear, and 2-3 times, my Sparky took terrible underbody hits. It took us almost 3 hours to reach the temple. On the way back, we go all the way to Tumkur and come back to Bangalore. I felt very bad that Kali had to take such a torture. But my sister was very much impressed with the ride. She said if we had come on their Wagon R, her back would have been broken by now. She actually promised me that their next car will be Spark. Even kids enjoyed the ride and the elder one said she felt like she was sitting in an aeroplane !
I was not entirely satisfied with this drive, so I tell my wife that I would like one more long drive with only she next to me and nobody else. She thinks I am totally crazy. Anyway, this time she selects "Mekedatu". On Saturday, 10th November, me on the driver seat and only my wify next to me, I again remember our Nimz and say Go Sparky Go ! We take
Kanakapura Road both up and down which is not such a good road.
This time, we had taken lot of music CDs - right from Kannada devotional songs to P B Srinivas to Dr. Rajkumar Hits; from Himesh Reshammiya to Kailash Kher and all the way up to, believe it or not, "Ride the Lightning" - METALLICA !!! We enjoyed each and every moment inside the car as well as outside.
Here are my impressions:
I am madly in love with my Sparky, and saying anything good about her will be biased. So, only some negative points.
On highway in 5th gear at 80 kmph speed and if I suddenly brake and the speed drops to say around 50, I had to shift to 4th gear again. Even in 4th gear, I felt I need some more power. After that tortuous journey of Goravanahalli, I felt like I had to press the brake pedal little harder. Also, in 2nd gear, when I just touch the accelerator pedal, I felt some strange vibrations. Other than these no other problems.
Now, about FE:
On 2nd day, we take Kali to Chord road Shell petrol pump. I reset the trip meter "B" to 0 and when Odo was reading 77, fill the tank full until autostop. Then before our 2nd trip, to Mekedatu, we go to Mysore Road Shell. Now, Trip meter reading was 405 and ODO 482. With autostop at this time, Kali takes 26.6x Liters. So approx FE was 15.1x. Considering all the above conditions, I feel this is OK.
Now, why Lucky Sparky ?
I had applied for 1.2 Lakh personal loan from Stanchart for downpayment. But things moved so fast that before getting loan, I had to make downpayment. I do online trading in stocks. So, I sell shares worth 1 lakh for making downpayment. Just after I sell the shares, Markets start falling. I receive the personal loan Cheq for 1.2 L next day. After 2-3 days, I could buy same shares again, Now for less than 70,000 ! I made cool 30 - 35 K in just 3-4 days. Add to that approx 50 K discount on my Sparky. Isn't that Lucky Guys? | 
18th November 2007, 01:56
Indeed Very sweetly written. Never did my attention got distracted while I read this. I savored every word of your review