[aburagohain]

excellent photos btb, the gleam is awesome, the alloys look just great! it is difficult to maintain a black vehicle, that too the size of the safari, but when it is clean and shiny, one forgets all the pain, congrats again!

[ram_hyundai]

Nice alloys buddie.Never saw one like that before.Good choice and how much did it cost you for the alloys?
ram

[Karandeep81]

very stylish alloys. enjoy the ride

[bIte tHe bulLet]

Originally Posted by aburagohain

excellent photos btb, the gleam is awesome, the alloys look just great! it is difficult to maintain a black vehicle, that too the size of the safari, but when it is clean and shiny, one forgets all the pain, congrats again!

thanks abu. i know man - it takes loads of blood and guts to keep it looking good... but coming from an army household - i'm used to elbow grease so, hopefully it should be 'not too bad!!'

i'd seen the alloys a good month before i got the safari and just walked into the shop and pointed to these without looking at anything else, when i went to have the footwear changed!!!

Originally Posted by ram_hyundai

Nice alloys buddie.Never saw one like that before.Good choice and how much did it cost you for the alloys?
ram

thanks ram. the alloys were 24.5 k. with the tyre upgrade and the trade in for my stock stuff - it came to about 37-38k. don't remember the exact figure but it was this much and not more.




thanks karan - they look quite nice on the move too!!! it actually makes the grey cladding look quite smart now me-thinks!!


cheers guys.

[hmishra83]

Awesome buy and all good investments that you have done so far in your vehicle. I think just get a decent film and leatherish (hate to write this coz of the heat) seatc covers...and you should be MAKING YOUR OWN ROAD in perfect form.

After whatcanthisbe bought the Pearl White and a few other members followed suit, I thought that was the best and most practical colour there is to it. Bu tI guess thats for the EX/VX. As far as the LX goes, I think you made the perfect choice. Let the plastic cladding remaing GREY (IMHO). You know how it is in Delhi, it pays to be GREY

Happy Driving.

[bIte tHe bulLet]

Originally Posted by hmishra83

Awesome buy and all good investments that you have done so far in your vehicle. I think just get a decent film and leatherish (hate to write this coz of the heat) seatc covers...and you should be MAKING YOUR OWN ROAD in perfect form.

After whatcanthisbe bought the Pearl White and a few other members followed suit, I thought that was the best and most practical colour there is to it. Bu tI guess thats for the EX/VX. As far as the LX goes, I think you made the perfect choice. Let the plastic cladding remaing GREY (IMHO). You know how it is in Delhi, it pays to be GREY

Happy Driving.

thanks mishra,

vkool film is on the anvil for the front windshield and i plan to keep the side windows and the rear as they are.

leather seat covers are on the anvil from stanley. not a fan of leatherite

i am keeping the claddings grey, originally they were to be painted in a contrasting deep silver. keeps the scratches at bay.. and btw - black ain't a practical colour - not in delhi - not anywhere! but then who cares eh?!!!?

cheers man!!

[bIte tHe bulLet]

hey guys,

now that she has run over 600 kms, this is what i have to update.

1. weird rattling noise in the dashboard, just behind the speedo console. has been there since the day we took delivery. very irritating - needs to be sorted out in 1st service.

2. the engine is gorgeous. she just effortlessly pulls like a mule! (which is one heck of a boon in delhi traffic). like all diesels though - the heavy clutch can get a bit tedious in stop go traffic.

3. once you get used to sitting high up on the road - it takes a little getting used to driving a hatch / sedan immediately after! (drove the palio on holi and the clutch seemed non existent and felt that my visibility was much restricted!)

4. the plastics in the safari aren't that bad once you start living with them... they seem flimsy but seem to hold up quite well - the gazillion tcic safaris floating around will bear out this point.

5. still driving on my 1st tank of regular diesel - will have initial fe figures in a couple of days. so far, it looks like a 10-11 kmpl figure (this is an approximation going by the position of the needle in the fuel gauge)

6. hissing sound exists in the power steering on both sides of full lock on steering, but as others have reported on the forum, this is normal. intrusive road and wind noise in the cabin - need to turn up ICE to drown it all out. (does it look like i mind?!?)

7. black is a nightmare to keep clean - be prepared to slog to own this colour!!! as others have mentioned earlier - the cabin gets like a furnace - especially in the hot delhi sun and you need sunfilm protection to help kill some of the heat coming through the windshield etc.

8. for all of those with doubts about the ac efficacy in the lx - have no fear. it is more than able to cool the car down; it takes a tad longer to do so, but once the cabin is cool - it stays cool!!!

9. and finally - she gets to stretch her legs on the 5th. driving up to the glasshouse on the ganges with family in tow!!!! then going camping into the sangla valley / valley of flowers in june! time permitting, leh trip being planned for later in the year!!!

- finis -

[bIte tHe bulLet]

hey guys, these are some of the last from this set that i shall put up. once the road trip(s) begin - expect lots more in the travelogue section!!!

[adc]

Originally Posted by bIte tHe bulLet

9. and finally - she gets to stretch her legs on the 5th. driving up to the glasshouse on the ganges with family in tow!!!! then going camping into the sangla valley / valley of flowers in june! time permitting, leh trip being planned for later in the year!!!

- finis -

Yes enough of the much needed decorations, now do the highway journey that it is meant for. And of course a big congrats, the world/road does feel/look different on a Safari.

[kkdelhi]

Originally Posted by bIte tHe bulLet

2. the engine is gorgeous. she just effortlessly pulls like a mule! (which is one heck of a boon in delhi traffic).

Wow, I am so glad to hear this. The one thing I wanted in this beast was an effective pulling power.

I'm eyeing the 2.2 VTT as an option this summer. Do you think buying an LX will see me miss out any of the important features of an EX (which you might be missing, if at all)? I'm willing to listen to any reason to prefer an LX over an EX.

[theMAG]

All these new Safaris is making me feel desperate. Anyone know how I can come up with 10 lakhs overnight?

[kkdelhi]

Originally Posted by theMAG

All these new Safaris is making me feel desperate. Anyone know how I can come up with 10 lakhs overnight?

1. Have 20 lakhs.
2. Then go play the stock market.

[bIte tHe bulLet]

Originally Posted by adc

Yes enough of the much needed decorations, now do the highway journey that it is meant for. And of course a big congrats, the world/road does feel/look different on a Safari.

thanks adc - you were one of the pioneers of the 2.2 and your posts were followed with much enthusiasm!! hope your babe is doing well and that you have managed a couple more trips out with her?

without sounding like one of those geeks who can't get over his/her newest toy(s) (!!) yeah, it does feel a lot different owning/driving a large suv for the 1st time - it all feels very regal actually!

Originally Posted by theMAG

All these new Safaris is making me feel desperate. Anyone know how I can come up with 10 lakhs overnight?

hey mag - you only need 8 lakhs man! and what are banks for? use and abuse!!!

cheers guys

[bIte tHe bulLet]

Originally Posted by kkdelhi

Wow, I am so glad to hear this. The one thing I wanted in this beast was an effective pulling power.

I'm eyeing the 2.2 VTT as an option this summer. Do you think buying an LX will see me miss out any of the important features of an EX (which you might be missing, if at all)? I'm willing to listen to any reason to prefer an LX over an EX.

dude,

pulling power exists in tons. it possibly doesn't have the outright low end grunt of the 3.0l safari but this is infinitely more driveable in the city. you can leave it in 2nd/3rd and potter around town, till the cows come home!

okay - the lx vs ex debate can rage forever, so i will not add to it. what i will do is put my reasons down for picking up the lx even though the ex was in budget.


1. body coloured bumpers and cladding

i live in delhi and with the traffic being what it is, there is not a hope in hell that the cladding and/or bumpers are going to remain scratch free for any length of time. repairing includes lots of cash and heartache - i wanted neither (although at one point i WAS toying with the idea of painting these a contrast to the black coachwork)

2. height adjustable driver seat

i'm fairly tall and since i shall be driving the safari primarily - visibility is not an issue, although as and when the wife wishes to drive (very rarely - she finds it too big!) we might regret not having it then!

3. beige interiors

oh boy - the MOST contentious issue! i like the beige but in our conditions - it gets filthy really quickly. an innova in the family has interiors that look like it's come back from war torn beirut! i know this is individual and some people take better care of the insides than others, but with a black car - there's enough to look after outside without having to worry about the inside as well!!! in any case, reports on the forum state that the lx now comes with beige interiors as well - so this is a moot point!

4. rear overhead ac

this is possibly the one thing that i wanted the most. because of the really large glasshouse and the fact that the insides are cavernous, the a/c had one heck of a job to cool the insides down. the o/h unit helps big time in this regard. BUT as i've mentioned in the last couple of posts - the rear blowers at the bottom also do an admirable job of cooling. the only thing is that it takes a little LONGER to cool it all down. if it gets too much in the delhi summer - i will have it done as an aftermarket fitment though.

5. cubic printed centre console

i can have the same thing done with carbon fibre sheets that are available even on this forum!

6. remote entry with immobiliser

already installed with an autocop. a similar system exists on my palio and the immobiliser works perfectly if you misbehave with the car!!!

7. analogue clock in the centre console

????

8. alloy wheels

the ex 2x2 didn't have it and neither does the lx. in any case i wanted to change the stock wheels and tyres - so it didn't matter either way.

9. ICE

i was originally going to change the hu and rip out the speakers etc so again this was not an issue that came into consideration. it may do for other people.


with all these thoughts having gone into the purchase decision, i opted to save the 1.4 lakh difference between the 2 variants. i have now used some of the cash to do what i WANTED to with the car, which includes an auzo 7" rv camera as well which i would not have had on any ex model at all. some nifty wheels and fantastic michelin tyres. and some really good ICE, which makes the whole driving experience so much more enjoyable!

as it pans out, with my prelim mods now complete - it's come to 8.85k, since on road it cost me 8 in delhi. i'm glad i made this choice and do not regret it for one moment. for me, it got really difficult to justify the price difference, especially when i knew that there were things that i would still have wanted to do, and i wouldn't have had the cash to do it.

let me reiterate as at the outset, these are MY individual reasons and not reflective of everyones choices. take your time and make yours wisely!

Originally Posted by kkdelhi

1. Have 20 lakhs.
2. Then go play the stock market.

really funny, but thats also one of the reasons that FURTHER money can't be spent on some stuff i wanted for the black beauty!!

the stock market is killing me at the moment and i have no options but to ride the storm out. can't afford to take the hit.

cheers dude.

[jkdas]

Originally Posted by bIte tHe bulLet

hey guys,

now that she has run over 600 kms, this is what i have to update.

2. the engine is gorgeous. she just effortlessly pulls like a mule! (which is one heck of a boon in delhi traffic). like all diesels though - the heavy clutch can get a bit tedious in stop go traffic. [hehe]

3. once you get used to sitting high up on the road - it takes a little getting used to driving a hatch / sedan immediately after! (drove the palio on holi and the clutch seemed non existent and felt that my visibility was much restricted!)[and getting in and out]

4. the plastics in the safari aren't that bad once you start living with them... they seem flimsy but seem to hold up quite well - the gazillion tcic safaris floating around will bear out this point. [no issues till now. Not that bad as people say]

5. still driving on my 1st tank of regular diesel - will have initial fe figures in a couple of days. so far, it looks like a 10-11 kmpl figure (this is an approximation going by the position of the needle in the fuel gauge)[12 something for me AC + city drive]

6. hissing sound exists in the power steering on both sides of full lock on steering, but as others have reported on the forum, this is normal. intrusive road and wind noise in the cabin - need to turn up ICE to drown it all out. (does it look like i mind?!?)[not all that loud and its audible only at locks]

7. black is a nightmare to keep clean - be prepared to slog to own this colour!!! as others have mentioned earlier - the cabin gets like a furnace - especially in the hot delhi sun and you need sunfilm protection to help kill some of the heat coming through the windshield etc. [but its looks great!]

- finis -

Awesome pix.

Those tyres are?