Good evening folks. Some of you might recognize me from here:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/hatchb...k-dilemma.html
It started off as a hatchback dilemma, on which I spent weeks researching online, reading reviews, of course T-BHP, speaking to people and generally
not listening to my heart. Apart from what the majority said, I ended up booking one of the last new Palio Stile MJD's in the country. If you read the first few posts of the thread marked above (hatchback dilemma), you'd see at once that my heart fell for the Palio the second I saw her.
I took the delivery yesterday, even though it was scheduled as the day before (Friday the 13th turned out unlucky for some reason
and I couldn't make it to the dealership as I was stuck in a meeting). Saturday was pouring, heavy rain ensured that my baby was drenched and dripping while I sat nervously in the showroom talking to Architect from T-BHP about owning my new beauty and other tips and tricks. The on road price for this beauty was negotiated to about
3.7 Lacs all inclusive.
Two hours later, she was ready to rock and roll, and off I went. My driver was in my accent crdi (done 1.25 lac kms and still smooth as butter) in front, and I was driving with great restraint behind. I filled up about 15 litres of diesel and trundled off home. An interesting point to note is, after my i10 1.2 Kappa Asta, this was a whole different ball game. The Accent crdi resembled the drive a lot more, understandably though as they're both common rail diesel engine powered vehicles. My Stile chilled me completely even in the Delhi heat and humidity (heavy rains remember?). The car grunted on the roads and I took great care to keep the revs below 2k, and shifting at 2k as she seemed unhappy if I shifted at lower revs.
The ease with which the car handles in traffic is a sure shot winner in the long run. All you need is some tender clutch lovin' and she rolls forward confidently. I even slipped the car in 4th at 20 kmph, and there was no fuss whatsoever. I drove home and decided to give her a rest.
Early the next day (i.e. today), was the day my parents were returning, and I decided to take my brand new car as a warm surprise to pick them up from the international airport. The drive was complete paradise with wonderful wide open roads. The new T3 terminal is a pleasure to drive up to, a nominal toll charge of Rs. 13 and you can drive down these highways to heaven. Now, since I had some time to kill, the flight hadn't landed yet, immigration, baggage claim etc, I pulled over at a petrol pump to get some food and managed to click a few pics of the car.
*Note* - There was some kind of fluid dripping on the ground after the 22 odd km drive to the airport so I sort of panicked and called Architect. After some inputs, I found out it was water from the AC which is a perfectly normal thing as there's condensation on the AC ducts.
My parents had travelled abroad, so they were carrying a rather large suitcase and a slightly smaller one, both of which sat comfortably in the large boot! I can't imagine this happening in the i10. Well, moving on, as we were driving home, my parents were comfy in the back seat, but my mother kept telling me how plain it looked from inside, and how 'cheap' it looked. I took her comments with a good heart obviously but I did playfully argue with her as well. She was right though, the interiors are blissfully plain, but solid nonetheless.
I love driving barefoot by the way. I'm giving serious thought about starting a 'I Drive Barefoot' club on T-BHP, any takers?
Coming to the ride quality, it's not royal by any means. This might have something to do with the extremely high and rigid suspension and hard tires. I have been advised to go in for a tire upgrade, and for those of you who have the money and really really care, you should do this. Upgrade to 175's or 185's. I'll eventually upgrade to alloy wheels, but for now I'm happy with this. The gearshift feels strange after the i10, it's not so sure slotted. Sometimes I wonder if I actually engaged the gear or not.
The SDE model that I got comes with front power windows, power steering, cadaver chilling AC, fog lamps, and a tank like build quality. So once I got home the first thing was to decorate my baby!
*Note to Moderators and Staff* - Several of the stickers arrived in damaged condition guys :( I've sent a message to staff, but haven't been attended to yet. Thanks
I filled up the tank today so calculations for in city FE are presently underway, and I will update this thread as and when it happens. The car does not come with an audio system, so I will be installing one when I get some time off work too. To wrap up, it's been a wonderful wonderful journey getting this car and I'm extremely grateful to my friends on T-BHP for helping me arrive here. God bless and ByDesign out!
Note from Team-BHP Support : Please note that it is imperative for you to upload pictures directly to the Team-BHP Server. Please click here (Uploading photographs directly to Team-BHP) to view our simple help article on uploading pictures. The pics have been manually moved over to our server for you this time. Thanks.