[ssambyal1980]

Originally Posted by PapaBravo

Well by now, it must be clear that Sikkim happens to be our favorite destination since 50% of the travelogues written by me are on Sikkim.

@PapaBravo Thanks for a nice travelogue which gives an insight into the hidden Himalayan Jewel called Sikkim. Its nice to see the bonhomie shared between BHPians of the Calcutta Chapter. The captivating narrative along with the photographs makes for a joyful reading. For someone like me who is based near the Western Himalayan region, its always a longing to visit the eastern extensions of the range but nonetheless travel stories from the fellow BHPians provide ample dose of adventure till the unvisited is visited. Considering that you have ample driving/ownership experience of your Duster, have a query. How 'Duster' performs in the mountainous regions. Guess that with yours being an AWD model, traction won't be an issue at all and also coupled with that a ground clearance of 205 mm would mean a smooth sailing throughout.

[PapaBravo]

Originally Posted by ssambyal1980

@PapaBravo Thanks for a nice travelogue which gives an insight into the hidden Himalayan Jewel called Sikkim. Its nice to see the bonhomie shared between BHPians of the Calcutta Chapter. The captivating narrative along with the photographs makes for a joyful reading. For someone like me who is based near the Western Himalayan region, its always a longing to visit the eastern extensions of the range but nonetheless travel stories from the fellow BHPians provide ample dose of adventure till the unvisited is visited. Considering that you have ample driving/ownership experience of your Duster, have a query. How 'Duster' performs in the mountainous regions. Guess that with yours being an AWD model, traction won't be an issue at all and also coupled with that a ground clearance of 205 mm would mean a smooth sailing throughout.

Thank you for the appreciation ssambyal1980. Kolkata TBHP is indeed a closely knit group. Do visit this part of the Himalayas, & when you do don't hesitate to give us a ping. Will try & help in whatever way we can.

With many trips to Himalayas in Duster, I think it feels as home in the mountains. The gearing is the AWD is a plus. While taking a tight hairpin in Gangtok, I was in 2nd gear; Blackpearl told me that he would have required 1st in the Thar for the same bend. This may be because Thar has a low range TC, so a higher 1st makes sense. One hardly needs to engage 1st on any uphill climb. 2nd is good enough for most. Regarding AWD, its a bliss in snowy conditions. These travelougues (TL1 (Duster AWD Twins drive to Sikkim) & TL2 (White Sikkim in a Duster AWD)) will tell you how enjoyable the snow trips in Duster are.

The only drawback I think is the sensitivity to less air. When the air gets thin on the mountains & you have a moderately dirty air filter, the power is reduced substantially. For that reason, I always have a new air filter in my car. I change to new filter if I feel the engine is feeling stained. Changing filter is a 5 minute job & doesn't require any tool in AWD.

GC is 210 mm for the AWD version. Barring few off-road trails, the car has never bottomed out.

Regards,

Pawan

[Samfromindia]

Another great adventure with lovely cars and lovely people The best part of being in TeamBhp community is the support you get when the going gets tough ! Glad that you guys reached home safe without any major issues with lot of stories to share. Amazing pictures and narration, something which i have taken for granted after going through all the tales of the past.

[ssambyal1980]

Originally Posted by PapaBravo

Thank you for the appreciation ssambyal1980. Kolkata TBHP is indeed a closely knit group. Do visit this part of the Himalayas, & when you do don't hesitate to give us a ping. Will try & help in whatever way we can.

Thanks a lot.

With many trips to Himalayas in Duster, I think it feels as home in the mountains. The gearing is the AWD is a plus. While taking a tight hairpin in Gangtok, I was in 2nd gear; Blackpearl told me that he would have required 1st in the Thar for the same bend. This may be because Thar has a low range TC, so a higher 1st makes sense. One hardly needs to engage 1st on any uphill climb. 2nd is good enough for most. Regarding AWD, its a bliss in snowy conditions.

Good to know about Duster scoring over Thar. I guess the kerb weight of both the vehicles also has an important role to play. Duster AWD with a lighter kerb weight of 1300 kg has better power to weight ratio as compared to Thar's which weighs 1670 kg.

These travelougues (TL1 (Duster AWD Twins drive to Sikkim) & TL2 (White Sikkim in a Duster AWD)) will tell you how enjoyable the snow trips in Duster are.

Sure will definitely read both the travelogues.

The only drawback I think is the sensitivity to less air. When the air gets thin on the mountains & you have a moderately dirty air filter, the power is reduced substantially. For that reason, I always have a new air filter in my car. I change to new filter if I feel the engine is feeling stained. Changing filter is a 5 minute job & doesn't require any tool in AWD.

I see...In diesel engines the lack of power due to thin air at high altitudes is more pronounced due to their working mechanism. Decrease in Oxygen levels at high altitudes hampers the proper combustion of fuel-air mixture in the cylinders leading to lesser power output.

GC is 210 mm for the AWD version. Barring few off-road trails, the car has never bottomed out.

Definitely a ground clearance of 210 mm puts the Duster in the league of Gypsy. The only point where the Gypsy scores is its leaf spring suspension, which prevents its under belly from being scratched on off road trails but then the rigid leaf spring suspension heavily compromises Gypsy's comfort levels.

Warm Regards

[Madmax_SP]

Impressive TL. Considering the flood situation, surely a memorable and breathtaking trip. Sikkim is my favorite too! Hope to visit again!

[gmhossain]

Originally Posted by PapaBravo

... After all, for a traveler, if you are on the road, you have to be ready for everything.

Well said!

It's always wonderful to read your lively travelogue! Thanks for sharing those beautiful pictures and stories about your adventure through the flooded area. It looks bit scary though.

Pawan, it seems that flood in Bengal often would like to welcome you back after your drive to Sikkim! I could still recall your Brio drive through flooded SH-7 and its detour!

Cheers,

[gearhead_mait]

This trip had all the ingredients necessary to make the trip memorable. Traffic related hold-ups and flood affected zones on one side, and beautiful Sikkim and the lively pictures of each member of the group on the other, indeed a nice experience. Hope the duster is all ok now?
The pemayangste monastery is indeed beautiful and the prayer wheel is one of the largest. Were you guys present at the time of the prayer in the monastery? The chants along with the typical drum beats is an experience. The waterfall between Dentam and Pelling is the changey falls(I know there are quite a few by that name in north Bengal and sikkim).
Is Uttarey not accessible due the ongoing work in Singshore bridge?

[Dry Ice]

Holy moly, now that's what you call an adventure!

Good to see the group come out of it, safe and sound! You guys are making me feel like "East is the new North". With the NE/Sikkim/Bhutan/Nepal so close, the destinations are practically endless!

[wanderer4x4]

Originally Posted by PapaBravo

Around 100kms ahead of Siliguri, we got our first shock. My car started juddering & these warning lights came up.

Attachment 1670893

After a lot of calls to the ASC & members of Team Duster India(TDI), it was concluded that one of the injectors has been blocked. We tried flashing the error by disconnecting the battery terminals.....

Can you please share what eventually they did to rectify this problem? I too had exactly the same problem and they replaced the 3rd injector under warranty.

In my case, fuel quality should not have been the case as I'd been filling in one of my regular pumps and I've never had any issues previously. So my concern is whether this problem is something inherent and whether it will hit again pretty soon. With the injector replacement cost coming to about
Rs 30k+, such a hit after warranty is over is going to tear the whole pocket and not just burn a hole, what with 4 injectors raring to fail.

[vishwaschettri]

Originally Posted by PapaBravo

Well by now, it must be clear that Sikkim happens to be our favorite destination since 50% of the travelogues written by me are on Sikkim.

Epic Trip. I would be using this as my bible for my upcoming sikkim trip.

Do you have any idea if one can take zoom car from siliguri and drive to Sikkim. Is there any legal or taxi union issue?

After reading your thread in one go, I am even more tempted to selfdrive to Sikkim.

Cheers
Vishwas

[PapaBravo]

Originally Posted by Samfromindia

Another great adventure with lovely cars and lovely people. The best part of being in TeamBhp community is the support you get when the going gets tough ! Glad that you guys reached home safe without any major issues with lot of stories to share.

Thanks Sam. The support group were the heroes of this trip.

Amazing pictures and narration, something which i have taken for granted after going through all the tales of the past.

Originally Posted by Madmax_SP

Impressive TL. Considering the flood situation, surely a memorable and breathtaking trip. Sikkim is my favorite too! Hope to visit again!

Thanks Madmax_SP !!

Originally Posted by gmhossain

Well said!

It's always wonderful to read your lively travelogue! Thanks for sharing those beautiful pictures and stories about your adventure through the flooded area. It looks bit scary though.

Pawan, it seems that flood in Bengal often would like to welcome you back after your drive to Sikkim! I could still recall your Brio drive through flooded SH-7 and its detour!

Cheers,

Thanks a lot Hossain Sa'ab, the feeling is mutual. You have good memory !! Yes, this was the second time we faced floods while coming back. But thankfully, we had HULK this time. I am sure Brio would not have been able to pass that flooded stretch.

Originally Posted by gearhead_mait

This trip had all the ingredients necessary to make the trip memorable. Traffic related hold-ups and flood affected zones on one side, and beautiful Sikkim and the lively pictures of each member of the group on the other, indeed a nice experience. Hope the duster is all ok now?
The pemayangste monastery is indeed beautiful and the prayer wheel is one of the largest. Were you guys present at the time of the prayer in the monastery? The chants along with the typical drum beats is an experience. The waterfall between Dentam and Pelling is the changey falls(I know there are quite a few by that name in north Bengal and sikkim).
Is Uttarey not accessible due the ongoing work in Singshore bridge?

Thanks Buddy !! Yes, this trip really had all the ingredients on can think of !! The Duster is perfectly fit now.

The wheel at the monastery was indeed quite big. We could not synchronize our visit with the prayer time since we had a bit tight schedule. Thank you for naming the fall. I have been there so many times but have never been able to find out the name.

Regarding Singshore, according to the locals, there is another longer route which is not so good which can be taken if you want to drive to Uttarey. Otherwise the transshipment method works with people walking on to the other side & getting into another vehicle.

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

Holy moly, now that's what you call an adventure!

Good to see the group come out of it, safe and sound! You guys are making me feel like "East is the new North". With the NE/Sikkim/Bhutan/Nepal so close, the destinations are practically endless!

Thanks a lot Dry Ice !! Being originally from North but currently staying in East, I think East has a fair bit of variety in terms of destinations. The good part is that a lot of places are unexplored & tourist free.

Originally Posted by wanderer4x4

Can you please share what eventually they did to rectify this problem? I too had exactly the same problem and they replaced the 3rd injector under warranty.

In my case, fuel quality should not have been the case as I'd been filling in one of my regular pumps and I've never had any issues previously. So my concern is whether this problem is something inherent and whether it will hit again pretty soon. With the injector replacement cost coming to about
Rs 30k+, such a hit after warranty is over is going to tear the whole pocket and not just burn a hole, what with 4 injectors raring to fail.

True wanderer4x4, it does cost a bomb. 110 PS Dusters have perennial problem of Injectors getting blocked. The 85PS has Magneto injectors while the 110PS has piezo-electric which have extremely fine opening in order to attain maximum atomisation & efficiency. The sad part is that these were designed keeping EU standards of fuel. The overall fuel quality here in India isn't that great. The dirty fuel clogs these injectors pretty fast. There were many injector failures till 2015 post which Renault decided to do something about it. So, 2016 onwards, they have a different Fuel Filter in order to have cleaner fuel delivery to the injectors. The good part is that it is a direct fit in the older models and doesn't require a change in fuel pump or any other peripherals. These ones cost about 3k as compared to 1.8k for the older ones. I believe, instead of a recall, they have strated fitting it to the older cars on the next change (which happens after every 20k kms). I am not sure how successful this would be but we have to hope that this would resolve the injector issue.

Originally Posted by vishwaschettri

Epic Trip. I would be using this as my bible for my upcoming sikkim trip.

Do you have any idea if one can take zoom car from siliguri and drive to Sikkim. Is there any legal or taxi union issue?

After reading your thread in one go, I am even more tempted to selfdrive to Sikkim.

Cheers
Vishwas

Thanks Vishwas !! Do get in touch if you need any other help regarding the Sikkim planning. I have seen Selfdrive Zoom cars in Sikkim, but I think the best way to find out would be calling the Zoom office in Siliguri. For all the local sightseeing, you may have to take SK taxis though.

Regards,

Pawan

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by GwD

Hats off to you all and thanks for sharing your journey. Each time I read the TL it felt I was there with you throughout. It was an awesome adventure and your narrative takes all your readers with you.

It was nice meeting you the other day at the Nexon event. I looked up your introduction thread and wanted to post, but it has already been closed. Please do attend our local meets if time permits and all the best for your upcoming HP trip. Will wait for your travelogue.

[SVK Rider]

Hats off to you guys. Great pics with some thrilling experiences you had while returning.