4th April 2010, 19:25
| #46 | ||
| BHPian Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 44
Thanked: Once
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- Yes, it was OMR. We need to do a Safari Owner's meet sometime before the summer vacations end. Quote:
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14th April 2010, 20:41
| #47 |
| BHPian Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 44
Thanked: Once
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14th April 2010, 21:49
| #48 | |
| BHPian  | Quote:
 Prem. | |
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15th April 2010, 00:05
| #49 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 2,649
Thanked: 4,536 Times
| Bose: Looks like you stay in Whitefield area as I see you getting the work done @ Favara car accessories on Varthur Road. Right? I too am put up in the same area and got a EX 4x4 5 months back |
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15th April 2010, 06:49
| #50 | |
| BHPian | Quote:
I have seen a couple of times, a NEW Cycus Grey EX in the stretch b/w Kundanahalli & KHT Motors while I was roaming around that area Prem. | |
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15th April 2010, 10:03
| #51 | |
| BHPian Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 44
Thanked: Once
| Quote:
BTW I am not happy with these Favara guys. Tend to be negligent about the way they fit stuff. | |
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16th April 2010, 11:54
| #52 | ||
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 2,649
Thanked: 4,536 Times
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21st April 2010, 20:29
| #53 |
| BHPian Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 44
Thanked: Once
| Finally managed to find some time to update the thread. Has been a very busy/active fortnight since the Safari arrived. Have done around 2200 km so far and a large portion of this is from the GOA trip we did last weekend. A bit of a background before someone asks .. GOA in April? I had to complete 4 dives for my open water PADI certification. <Yes, I am an amateur scuba diver> I needed to complete this before May since there is a time limit between the exam and the actual dives. The diving season in GOA ends in April hence the trip. Could have done Andamans but then it would have been costly and you cannot drive to Andaman ;-) Back to the Safari. The first few days went in getting acquainted with the clutch, gear change, turning radius etc. Used the highway route to commute to office so that I could get used to overtaking etc. A day before the trip I called up Concorde and sent the car for a basic checkup. The wheel alignment was wrong since I could feel the pull to the left and I also wanted to do something about the read door squeal. They sent someone to pick it up and I had the car back at 8 PM. I had also got the tyres filled up with nitrogen for the long highway drive. The had done a reasonable job on the door. The wheel alignment was OK and the only money I paid was 160 INR for the nitrogen. Other preparations for the trip included a mapmyindia roadpilot, a 12V tyre inflater, a converter for AC supplies from the 12V outlet <you can get one for 20 USD in Fry's> and the tubeless puncture kit from the my Honda. Music and movie CDs in case Khushi gets bored. The AC converter is a great help for running the laptop in the car. After looking at the Bangalore-Goa thread I decided to take the Belgaum-Amboli-Sawantwadi route to get to GOA. The Dive shop www.goaaquatics.com is in Calangute. So entering GOA from the north was preferable for me. Started from the basement at 5.45 AM on Friday. GPS showing ETA as 11.30 PM. I realized that the GPS assumes an average speed much lower than what one can achieve on the highway these days. Took some time to get tuned to the car .. reached Neelmangla in about an hour from Whitefield. The road stretch when you are just out of Bangalore in just horrible. Hope they really finish the construction soon. After Neelmangla the GQ takes shape and we started doing good time. 5th gear, 2100-2200 RPM, 100 kmph is the sweet spot. Really impressive noise isolation in this vehicle. Yes, I am saying this after riding a Honda for 6 years. The isolation is dB is Safari is definitely higher. The best part was the feel. Safari at 100 gives the same stability feel as the City at 75/80. My wife has the habit of monitoring the speedo from the rear seat when we drive the Honda but in this car she did not bother. A few pics of the NH  I am loving it  2100 rpm, 100 kmph   Road to Amboli from Belgaum      Refreshments at Amboli - Vada and Chai. Yummy  Berries  At the resort - Little Italy  Driving on the Ghat was a great experience. On the way to Goa it is mostly downhill. Kept at 3rd gear most of the time. Engine compression for slowing down. On the climbs just maintained the rev. The Safari pulls amazingly at 3rd at slopes which are at about 15-20 degrees. On the way back while I climbed Almod-Ghat I did the climb almost with zero clutch. 3rd gear, 1500-1700 rpm, 30-40 kmph. The traffic was of course low; but it was just so comfortable. Did Goa in 13 hours with peaceful driving. Top speed 110. The next two days were hectic. Out at the sea from 8 AM to 2 PM. Clocked 3.25 hours. Got my license. We dived off the Grande Island. Did Suzy's wreck.    At last we are done  Afternoons and Evenings were reserved for food and fun   Started on Monday at 6 AM. Took the Molem route. Extremely nice roads. Took the Khanapur shortcut to NH4. Made it to Bangalore in 12 hours A stretch on NH4A  Caught some welcome rain at Chitradurga. Tested the wipers. Front ones are making some noise in the initial few minutes. Verdict - If you want a vehicle to see India and you want to do it in style this is your car. |
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21st April 2010, 21:10
| #54 | |
| BHPian | Quote:
I think, I should also do the checkup prior to my next highway to be on safer side. Thanks for the tip. YES - 5th gear + 100/110 is just so comfortable and none can feel any vibration except a positive vibe and YES - my wife too has that habit and she didnt complain when we went for Tirupathi !Talking of up-hill, YES, its too good and I too liked the pull. Try 3rd gear + 2000 rpm + 50 kmph. You will love it even better ! 100% Agree with your verdict. Once again, you just make me travel to GOA. I dont know when I will ! Prem. | |
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21st April 2010, 22:51
| #55 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Mostly Mumbai
Posts: 1,702
Thanked: 1,452 Times
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22nd April 2010, 09:26
| #56 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Mostly Mumbai
Posts: 1,702
Thanked: 1,452 Times
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22nd April 2010, 13:36
| #57 | |
| BHPian Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 44
Thanked: Once
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The device is a simple one. Apart from the basic GPS most features have been disabled. e.g. I cannot get the GPS log out of the device. At least have not figured out an easy legal way. The GPS performance is nothing exciting but it serves the purpose. The TTFF <time to first fix> is about 30 secs to 1 min and the sensitivity is not great. I am not sure how it will perform in the urban canyons like mumbai but in Bangalore type of skyline it was OK. It had a constant error of 50-100m in the ghat roads and forests. I do not know if was the multipath effect or the error of the map. The navigator - Again simple. I could not force it to via through some destinations. I had to actually set it for the intermediate destinations in order to navigate. Summary - it is great VFM for India. 8K for the entire set. But I would not recommend the "device" if you were to use it for getting out of the parking lot of Ohare or JFK in search of your hotel. <you will not be able to load maps other than India but I was just giving an example> | |
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23rd April 2010, 12:19
| #58 | |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 2,649
Thanked: 4,536 Times
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Is RoadPilot a good VFM from that perspective? | |
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23rd April 2010, 14:53
| #59 |
| BHPian Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Delhi
Posts: 146
Thanked: 3 Times
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23rd April 2010, 15:55
| #60 | |
| Senior - BHPian  | Quote:
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