The Great Indian Roadtrip - Mumbai to Ladakh in a SX4

Maverick5490 · 2nd October 2008, 13:35

Nice write up there loco.. have to praise your guts and daring, just the two of you all the way up there and back.. although i would avoid ripping considering such a long trip, but there are certain stretches which cannot be resisted.. did this trip in '06 by road from mumbai in 2 Qualis'.. you guys are really tempting me to write my travelogue.. will start soon! and truly beautiful pics!! Rock ON!

Locomotive · 2nd October 2008, 13:40

Thanks Maveric. I tell you it was indeed difficult to resist driving fast on the empty straight, but otherwise monotonous GQ.

I look forward to reading your travelogue

Locomotive · 2nd October 2008, 13:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaysmokesleaves

Its great to see the amount of elaborate planning and preparation that you did for the trip. I picked up bad habits from my dad, of just packing up and pushing off at the thought of the word TRIP.
Hope to catch up with you in Mumbai. I suppose there is a Mumbai meet happening end of Oct.

cheers Jay. I also belong to your dads school of thought. Its just a lot more fun that way. Planning too much is a real killjoy. but we did read up a lot about this trip so that we know what risks we may face. also the books helped us somewhat.

I have not heard of this mumbai meet. what it is about and when is it?

jaysmokesleaves · 2nd October 2008, 14:14

@LOCO>> FYI
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/team-b...er-2008-a.html

sudev · 9th October 2008, 18:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Locomotive

How did the SX4 behave??

FE - 10 kmpl - average on highway and cities (max we got was 11.5kmpl). I expected at least 13kmpl (and done the costing as well based on this assumption). but to be fair we were really ripping it on the golden quadrilateral - going at a constant 130-140.

[SNIP]
FE between Manali and Leh was also a constant 10 kmpl

I just returned from the Raid and the total FE in my GV was 9.5. Amazingly the FE between Manali and Leh was 10.2 on way up (going easy) and 9.5 on way down. So SX4 and GV give comparable FE

sudev · 9th October 2008, 21:59

Some more pictures and commentary at http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-of...ml#post1009269

Locomotive · 12th October 2008, 23:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by sudev

I just returned from the Raid and the total FE in my GV was 9.5. Amazingly the FE between Manali and Leh was 10.2 on way up (going easy) and 9.5 on way down. So SX4 and GV give comparable FE

not bad at all. i thought the GV could seriously burn a hole through your wallet. congrats

i will chech out your Raid writeup. i will also do it someday.

memo45_m · 14th October 2008, 15:27

Loco dude I will bow to you and your brother on venturing in to such a trip in a car like the sx4, nothing beats the presence of the car on the highways and elsewhere as it will go were ever you decide to take it, and having a turbo adding 7.5 psi of boost makes the car just to good to live with. Even your FE figures are right on the mark, I din't see my car giving any better mileage on the highways before it got turbo'd.

Locomotive · 14th October 2008, 20:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by memo45_m

Loco dude I will bow to you and your brother on venturing in to such a trip in a car like the sx4, nothing beats the presence of the car on the highways and elsewhere as it will go were ever you decide to take it, and having a turbo adding 7.5 psi of boost makes the car just to good to live with. Even your FE figures are right on the mark, I din't see my car giving any better mileage on the highways before it got turbo'd.

Cheers dude. and congrats for your turbo'd SX4. Hope you have updated your thread with performance specs. I will check it out.

I took the SX4 to Ladakh inspite of a firm belief that I would have huge maintainence bill after the journey (the lure of the great outdoors was too much to resist i guess

) but there is not a single rattle right now. I am amazed. tough girl this SX4.

not bad if the turbo does not affect the mileage at all. perhaps I should also start thinking about it

jack33 · 15th October 2008, 00:40

I think it's unfair to compare the FE of the two in this particular road, becoz when due to a bad stretch while in a sx4 you may have to get in to 1st or 2nd gear while in an SUV you can easily do it in 3rd or 4th .Besides your driving experience in this route will definitely give the SUV an add advantage.

memo45_m · 15th October 2008, 13:51

@jack: its completely fair to compare both the vehicles as the sx4 outside India is actually available as a mini-SUV, that's why the Indian Sedan has 190mm as GC, the only difference is that the Sedan comes with a 1.6l engine for India, but the Hatch comes with a 2.0l engine that is serving in the new GV here in India.

f1fan · 15th October 2008, 14:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Locomotive

Cheers dude. and congrats for your turbo'd SX4. Hope you have updated your thread with performance specs. I will check it out.

I took the SX4 to Ladakh inspite of a firm belief that I would have huge maintainence bill after the journey (the lure of the great outdoors was too much to resist i guess

) but there is not a single rattle right now. I am amazed. tough girl this SX4.

not bad if the turbo does not affect the mileage at all. perhaps I should also start thinking about it

Locomotive, hats off to you and your bro...
This might be

butwas curious to know the camera that you used during the trip as the snaps were really excellent.

Locomotive · 15th October 2008, 21:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by f1fan

Locomotive, hats off to you and your bro...
This might be

butwas curious to know the camera that you used during the trip as the snaps were really excellent.

Thanks for your compliment mate. I use a canon eos 400D with a sigma 18-200 OS lens. But as they say, its not just the camera

f1fan · 16th October 2008, 11:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Locomotive

Thanks for your compliment mate. I use a canon eos 400D with a sigma 18-200 OS lens. But as they say, its not just the camera

I agree but things like these can go both ways... I have seen good snaps go down the drain due to bad cameras and vice versa too.
In your case, I am sure it was a double whammy... good camera ( I am a big fan of Canon) and excellent surroundings.
As most of the folks on this thread mentioned: This is a great road trip and one should do this atleast once in his lifetime.

Locomotive · 16th October 2008, 22:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by f1fan

As most of the folks on this thread mentioned: This is a great road trip and one should do this atleast once in his lifetime.

I so totally agree mate. its a life changer. I havent spent a single day without rearing about of checking out pics of this route since I came back. I am smitten and am certainly going back next year

2nd October 2008, 13:35	#136
Maverick5490 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Thane Posts: 1,464 Thanked: 1,816 Times View My Garage	Nice write up there loco.. have to praise your guts and daring, just the two of you all the way up there and back.. although i would avoid ripping considering such a long trip, but there are certain stretches which cannot be resisted.. did this trip in '06 by road from mumbai in 2 Qualis'.. you guys are really tempting me to write my travelogue.. will start soon! and truly beautiful pics!! Rock ON!
	() Thanks

2nd October 2008, 13:40	#137
Locomotive BHPian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Mumbai Posts: 221 Thanked: 108 Times View My Garage	Thanks Maveric. I tell you it was indeed difficult to resist driving fast on the empty straight, but otherwise monotonous GQ. I look forward to reading your travelogue
	() Thanks

2nd October 2008, 14:14	#139
jaysmokesleaves Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Mostly Mumbai Posts: 1,702 Thanked: 1,452 Times	@LOCO>> FYI http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/team-b...er-2008-a.html
	() Thanks

9th October 2008, 21:59	#141
sudev Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Gurgaon Posts: 3,838 Thanked: 3,179 Times	Some more pictures and commentary at http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-of...ml#post1009269
	() Thanks

14th October 2008, 15:27	#143
memo45_m BHPian Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 299 Thanked: 70 Times View My Garage	Loco dude I will bow to you and your brother on venturing in to such a trip in a car like the sx4, nothing beats the presence of the car on the highways and elsewhere as it will go were ever you decide to take it, and having a turbo adding 7.5 psi of boost makes the car just to good to live with. Even your FE figures are right on the mark, I din't see my car giving any better mileage on the highways before it got turbo'd. Last edited by memo45_m : 14th October 2008 at 15:28.
	() Thanks

15th October 2008, 00:40	#145
jack33 BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: kochi Posts: 128 Thanked: 8 Times	I think it's unfair to compare the FE of the two in this particular road, becoz when due to a bad stretch while in a sx4 you may have to get in to 1st or 2nd gear while in an SUV you can easily do it in 3rd or 4th .Besides your driving experience in this route will definitely give the SUV an add advantage.
	() Thanks

15th October 2008, 13:51	#146
memo45_m BHPian Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 299 Thanked: 70 Times View My Garage	@jack: its completely fair to compare both the vehicles as the sx4 outside India is actually available as a mini-SUV, that's why the Indian Sedan has 190mm as GC, the only difference is that the Sedan comes with a 1.6l engine for India, but the Hatch comes with a 2.0l engine that is serving in the new GV here in India.
	() Thanks