BHPian
Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Lucknow
Posts: 154
Thanked: 114 Times
| Re: The Dream White SX4 VVT ZXi Comes Home I noticed, after I logged in today, that I am writing exactly one year after my last post, which was on Feb 27, 2010.
Since my last posts were on fuel consumption, let me just mention here that after the first service, the mileage dropped down to 7.5 km to the litre. I took the car to the service station and had it checked. They tweaked the spark plug gaps and the mileage was back to the more familiar 8.5/9.
Let me start this post by saying that I am loving the car more and more. Here, I give a short description of a road trip we did last summer. I am fond of driving, and have usually preferred road trips because they are so much more convenient (so long as you have a place to park). My son had forewarned me early last year that when he came during his semester break, he wanted a road trip, and so I planned one during summers to the Kumaon mountains (Uttaranchal). The round trip was: Lucknow-Kathgodam-Binsar-Jageshwar-Nainital-Lucknow. We started with 2789 on the odo that read 3840 when back home. That is 1051 kms, of which about 750 kms were on plains, and the rest on the hills.
The first leg, Lucknow-Kathgodam was on the plains, naturally, Kathgodam being the start of the climb, and where we took the night halt. This stretch of 365 kms was very good, good, and not so good. We also took one halt midway. My wife was in the rear while my son was in front with me, tinkering away with the music system. The SX4 was remarkable on the road. The stretches which were sort of normal, we were driving at around 110 kmph, but in the very good stretch, 6-lane toll road, I drove at 140 kmph...its was exhilarating, for one, the car rode absolutely steady, well on the ground, with not a shred of vibration on the steering wheel. And also, during turns (of course, not at 140, but at slightly lower speeds, though still fast enough) I was not bothered by body roll. In so far as the noise of the "famed" JK Vectra tyres are concerned, it was not very high, though I must admit that a lot of it was drowned in the blaring music my son chose to play. But certainly a word about the rear seat...my wife loved the comfort that the rear seat offered. And the ACC, having set it at 22C, I just did not have to bother, the cooling over the entire car was perfect (outside temperature during this time was around 44C). It was set like that on the plains as well as on the mountains.
The fuel tank was topped up in Kathgodam, the mileage came to 11.85, not forgetting of course that for a considerable distance, the car ran at 140 kmph.
The SX4 negotiated the climb from Kathgodam to Binsar (distance about 175 kms, height 2400 mt above sea level) remarkably well, though at some points I had to switch to a lower gear to rev up. The road grip was excellent, and the curves were negotiated with elan. This of course was upto the entrance of the Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary. Our accommodation was reserved in the Tourist Guest House which is a few kilometres inside the sanctuary, and the last point up to which tourist vehicles are allowed. The road is a mountain forest road, very narrow, rough, steep in places, but beautiful...it was a pleasure to take the SX4 up this road, though twice I had to stop, reverse so as to give way to a descending vehicle (the rule is that the climbing vehicle has the right of way, but how many know, and even if they do, how many care). Reversing on that was, in hindsight, thrilling, but then it needed absolute concentration, what with the SX4s big rump.
In Binsar, you are with nature...no electricity, no tv, no geyser etc, candles in the room at night and so on...nice, early morning an excellent view of the snow capped himalayas right in front. Beautiful.
The next day we drove to Jageshwar, which is 65 kms from Binsar at a height of 1870 mt, and then towards the afternoon, drove straight to Nainital, another 90-odd kms at a height of 1938 mt. When I sought directions to Jageshwar from Binsar, I was told of two routes, one of them a barren, rough forest track, motorable but unmetalled. We chose this one, and for a stretch of 18 kms, we saw not a soul, not a vehicle, and the road was indeed rough. The SX4 suspension however, made the ride comfortable enough.
Three days in Nainital, and then directly back to Lucknow, a drive of about 9 hrs, with one 15 min stop. Having got the tank refuelled at Kathgodam on the way up, I got it topped up on the way down. On the hills therefore, with the climbs and descends, and low speed, the mileage was 9.01, say 9 kms to a litre, which I think, is very good on the hills.
Our speed on the way back was not as much as the first day. For some reason, there was a fair heavy vehicle traffic, and I could manage a top speed of only 80-90 kmph (as against the 120-140 while going), very occasionally touching 100 but not crossing it. In Lucknow, I got the tank topped up. The mileage was a very impressive 15 kms per litre.
Three sets of data thus on fuel consumption...driving around 110-140 kmph: 11.85, hills: 9, and 80-90 kmph: 15.
All that driving, and as I said earlier, I love the car even more. It was fast, smooth, comfortable, untiring, and given the fuel economy, satisfying.
I am also uploading some pictures. I shall write another post on the third service and after, and a few glitches that cropped up, but were taken care of efficiently by the dealer/Suzuki. |