[karan561]

I'm back with yet another driving travelogue & this time touring around the beautiful cities of Toronto & Montreal.
The cars i drove this time are as follows;

DODGE CHALLENGER R/T;




Exterior Styling & Design Cues;



IMO is the most muscular off all the American muscles on offer (i mean this v/s the Mustang, Camaro)

There's no mistaken that this is a classic design.

Classic was cool before, cool today & shall remain for the future too. Classic is timeless.

But this is indeed a retro modern muscle car.



^ Rest of the elements like the headlights again offer a perfect blend like the design is retro but again it is having the modernity coz it incorporates projectors.



^ The R/T package offers the heritage R/T decal on the side. there are more options of decals you can choose too but this being available on this trim level.

The hood offers a bulge and air vents to keep the engine well fed to generate all that power and those HEMI badges on the side help send out an aggressive message that this car aint to be messed around with.

Engine Specs;



5.7L HEMI V8
Power: 375 HP
Torque: 555 NM

Though i would have loved a M/T, but you know how rental companies operate, it is extremely rare to find a manual so yes this was an A/T & an 8 speed auto.

Interiors;



Like the exteriors the interior theme is set again by combining retro with technology inside. Right from the big retro dials to the touch screen audio system. Also another example is the way the windscreen angle is set, defining the muscle car experience. The dashboard seems the be inspired by the '71 model.

Driving, Ride & Handling;



Driving an ICON, yes thats what it felt like.

Though being a 5.7L V8 this isnt particularly fast as we all know the big daddy Hellcat is almost double on power @ 707hp. So yes performance wise thicar does the 0-100 sprint in 5.1 sec.

I did have the opportunity to attempt a few launches of which il upload the video later on.

Mind you this car aint slow, it is scary in a whole lot of a dramatical way. The car charges on like a mad bull on full throttle and the drama it creates while accelerating isnt actually as fast as the way it is charging but the feel is supercar'ish which i like.



The ride was surprisingly decent considering the car was riding on huge 20" rims.

Rest handling was good for a highway cruise and im sure would not be no German car like on a track or on twisties but it is acceptable.

Practicality ?



Definitely practical & useable, obviously it aint no sedan level practical but it is definitely a large car. Being a coupé it is tight at the back but the rear seats are much more usable (thanks to the 3 butt config) than a Camaro and the Mustang (not sure about the recent one)

The boot space is decent too.



Also i believe the cabin is having good visibility making it more driver friendly i say this coz i have driven the Muscle cars before in the USA.



Driving this bull for a day i can definitely say that what Dodge has created is best modern day muscle car & THE DODGE BROTHERS WOULD BE PROUD

JEEP CHEROKEE, 4x4 Trailhawk edition;



The Jeep Cherokee was my ride for Montreal, which i drove from Toronto.

Styling;

The first thing that comes to the eye are those sharply angled slit headlights. Its pretty much of a like it or hate it design philosophy.

Rest of the car is well designed to everyones tastes and does well to stand out amongst other wannabe SUV's

TRAILHAWK EDITION;

The car was a unique Trailhawk edition having some modifications to make it more OFF ROAD capable.

1) Active Diff Lock & Locking rear axle.
2) 1" Lifted suspension
3) Off Road Alloy Wheels
4) Off Road Spec A/T Tyres
5) Underbody Skid Plates for Off road use
6) Aggressive Trail hawk ed specific vinyl Work
7) Tow Hooks & Roof Rails



I did not have the opportunity to take the Cherokee OFF ROAD to be honest but it indeed gave a much solid feel compared to the regular Cherokees i was spotting around.



Other OFF ROAD tools included;

1) Terrain select ( Mud/Sand, Snow, Rock)
2) Hill Start Assist

So basically i was on a holiday with my wife so these off road artillery were kinda overkill for me this time around.

Engine & Driving Performance;

Specs;

3.2L V6

Power: 271 Hp

Torque: 325 NM

Being a V6 it definitely sounded good and power on full throttle was enough to keep this heavy car going strong.

On the flip side as the torque numbers suggest it did feel lumpy on mild to mid acceleration and the car only feels fast on full throttle. Otherwise it is pretty sufficient to do 100-120 km/h cruising speeds i.e. the legal limi on the Canadian highways.

There was a surprise which i discovered only later that this was a 9-Speed gearbox.



This helped to stay efficient too and it was surprisingly decent on FE

FE i got on this 500 km road trip from Toronto to Montreal was aprox 10 -10.5 km/l which is good for this car IMO.

Driving & Interiors;



The car has excellent visibility & a great driving position.

The ride is also very smooth and compliant considering it is a modified spec/trim. Obviously it did feel slightly soft on the turns & you dare not get too adventurous coz this aint no sporty SUV/X-over.

Overall the car was decently equipped right from the TFT screen to the Off road toys. BUT it did not have a GPS, sadly had to manage & it did eat up my mobile data, huh !


BMW X3 M-Sport;



This was my uncles car in Toronto and i did my bulk of driving in this car.

This X3 was the 28i version hence had the same engine as what i have in my 3er i.e. 2L Turbo (N20)

This was interesting experience for me but before i give my impressions just look at this car, the M-Sport version looks absoloutely delicious;





^ those wheels for your info are 19"ers wrapped on 245 square setup.

Stunning aren't they ?

Interiors;

The car had beautiful color theme i.e. exterior white, interior red. this wasnt the coral red what i have but that suttle rusty red i.e. more of brown less of red went well with the car. I had always liked this shade after i had sat in Akshay1234's X3.

Rest the car was pretty featurepacked and that sunroof was properly large and loved how it brought that extra life in the interiors.

Rest feature list included an HUD, full i-drive, CRUISE CONTROL (not that stupid LIM feature which is barely useful).

Driving/Ride/Handling/Performance;



This handling was simply superb and it was sucha fresh change & welcomingly intutive over the Cherokee. No Comparison.

Also runflats were doing just fine and this technology is surely meant for these kinda roads & no complaints here of "hard/poor" ride quality.

Performance / pick up wise it did feel tight almost on par with my 3er (slower coz of weight) but by no means lack the punch.

Gearbox was the same 8-speed ZF unit (not sure wether it was sport gearbox like what i have) but felt the gearshifts to be equally fast.

Also do note the steering which was nice to hold specially when you have an ///M Logo staring back at you.

Overall i drove this car for about 1000 kms and have gained respect for the X3. It indeed is a good option for someone who wants a compact but spacious 5 seater X-over SUV.

[karan561]

TESLA MODEL S P85D;



I had this amazing opportunity of spending some time with the TESLA MODEL S P85D.

The interior felt as if i was in a ccontrol room thatnks to the long touch screen interface. Rest the car truly feels special and makes you feel that what future is all about. Those people who were scared of what will happened when we run outa fuel we would have to drive golf cart like cars ? Wake up ... This is it ! Let the fuel run out coz this car is beating supercars and how !

The time i spent in the car was exactly the same day the LUDICROUS MODE update was introduced by TESLA.

What this does it transforms this already powerful car into a insanely poweful BEAST.

Transforming into a 762HP of insanity i.e extra 71hp. All these ponies to the rear wheels



MAZDA 3;



This was really a fun car as this was my brothers car which we did a good amount of local running around in Toronto.

This car had a 2L 4 cyl engine, BUT the fun part was the fact that it was an M/T

The car being a stick shift was so much rewarding and fun to drive after driving the more powerful cars which were Automatics.

Also i was proud of myself that i was able to adjust to driving a M/T LHD well.

Rest, il keep updating the thread with more pictures and details of the roadtrips done with the above cars.

Thanks for reading guys !

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues Section. Thanks for sharing!

[karan561]

Mapping the major Roadtrips done in this travelogue;

Cheltenham Badlands;



^ The Badlands were done in the bad ass Challenger R/T

Toronoto - Montreal - Toronoto;



^ This was the longest roadtrip of my vacation & was done in the Cherokee.

Niagra Falls, ON; (Canadian Side)



^ This was done in the BMW X3

Sand Banks;



^ This was again done in the BMW X3

[karan561]

Cheltenham Badlands;

The Badlands are dry terrain lands formed by soft rocks & clay which have been eroded by wind / water.

The Cheltenham badlands are relatively small located in Caledon, Ontario.

The drive to the badlands was truly amazing as we did this on a weekday and we practically had no one around that area max 2-3 tourist cars, rest were locals of that area.

Here's a pic of the Badlands from the Challenger;

[karan561]

Car Rental Charges;

Dodge Challenger R/T;

The Challenger was rented through BUDGET rentals and the rate was aprox INR 7750/Day

Jeep Cherokee;

This was rented through HERTZ & got her for aprox INR 5250/Day

PS - The above pricing is inclusive of taxes & basic insurance.

[karan561]

A parting shot with the Challenger at Budget Rentals;



Oh yes & i repeat this was a proper v8