[shankar.balan]

agreed. however it is a fact that the linea diesel is a tad underpowered for a rather heavy car.

the necessity to change into first while taking those hairpin bends or taking them in second are dependent on some of the below:
a. your momentum at the time of approach
b. the angle of approach at which you are attempting to take those bends
c. the line that you take "through" the curve
d. the weight of the car and the load in the car - people, luggage etc
e. your hill-driving knowledge, experience and skills
f. whether any traffic is on its way down and therefore coming at you in the opposite direction at the time you are taking the bend.

In my opinion I would still say that most cars, typically, would take many of those bends in first gear.

Just as a set of corollaries - the old Scorpio normal Turbo non-crde, could happily buzz up those hills and take many of those hairpin bends in second. Even this would need to move to 1st sometimes.
My Bolero (normal XD3PU engine) could take a couple of those hairpin bends in second but definitely used to strain a bit. to save the engine I used to take them in 1st.
these are all strong lugging engines with good torque - therefore there was no problem.
The crde scorp on the other hand, takes a couple of seconds for the turbo and revs to spool up and give the necessary thrust to go up while taking the bends. therefore it is eminently sensible to take those bends in first.

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

The scorpio is more powerful but weighs almost twice the linea which negates the bhp advantage. Only advantage is the RWD.

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

agreed. however it is a fact that the linea diesel is a tad underpowered for a rather heavy car.

the necessity to change into first while taking those hairpin bends or taking them in second are dependent on some of the below:
a. your momentum at the time of approach
b. the angle of approach at which you are attempting to take those bends
c. the line that you take "through" the curve
d. the weight of the car and the load in the car - people, luggage etc
e. your hill-driving knowledge, experience and skills
f. whether any traffic is on its way down and therefore coming at you in the opposite direction at the time you are taking the bend.

In my opinion I would still say that most cars, typically, would take many of those bends in first gear.

Just as a set of corollaries - the old Scorpio normal Turbo non-crde, could happily buzz up those hills and take many of those hairpin bends in second. Even this would need to move to 1st sometimes.
My Bolero (normal XD3PU engine) could take a couple of those hairpin bends in second but definitely used to strain a bit. to save the engine I used to take them in 1st.
these are all strong lugging engines with good torque - therefore there was no problem.
The crde scorp on the other hand, takes a couple of seconds for the turbo and revs to spool up and give the necessary thrust to go up while taking the bends. therefore it is eminently sensible to take those bends in first.

Got your point. In my 1982 jeep with 40 bhp and 16Kgm of torque I can take most of the inclines in 2nd gear, in fact I rarely have to use the first other than when starting from dead stop.

[firstguri]

A very well written travelogue with some very good pics as well. I liked the fact that you provided even the minutest of details.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

this is exactly the trouble with most drivers who dont understand hill driving.

you're supposed to always use the same gears while coming downhill, that you used to go up. this way you use the natural retarding effect of low gear and hence,dont end up with burnt out brake pads. In other words, if you smell burning brake pads, then quite simply, you've been driving in the incorrect gear and probably too fast.

Exactly. Most people dont know the art of hill driving. A lot of people engage clutch to upshift while going downhill which is wrong. Obviously they'll end up with burnt pads.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

the necessity to change into first while taking those hairpin bends or taking them in second are dependent on some of the below:
a. your momentum at the time of approach
b. the angle of approach at which you are attempting to take those bends
c. the line that you take "through" the curve
d. the weight of the car and the load in the car - people, luggage etc
e. your hill-driving knowledge, experience and skills
f. whether any traffic is on its way down and therefore coming at you in the opposite direction at the time you are taking the bend.

IMHO, another factor is how prone one's passengers are to car sickness .

My wife and older kid are and turned a startling shade of green when I took my Aveo (in 2nd gear) around those bends. Thankfully, as soon as I spotted the chameleon-like change happening next to me, I quickly moved to the 'changing to 1st gear before the turn' approach and found it much better for the engine as well.

[vinay.pillai]

Soon we were travelling through the Ooty town and after checking with few auto guys, we finally reached Hotel Taj Savoy, time in watch...exact 12 PM
Well when you say Taj, you expect the entrance to be as grand as other Taj across India but I am disappointed, a small narrow lane taking to the Hotel. We reached the hotel, parked the Linea and Elantra and went straight to the reception. Welcome drink served and after few formalities, Cottage key was handed over to me and luckily Bobby (fellow team-bhpian) also got the next cottage.
Now, cottage is not as grand as expected but good enough for a couple. Cottage opens to the garden of the Hotel. Not a good view of Ooty from hotel, infact no view, so if you are looking for a good view from your room or hotel then Savoy is not your place to stay. But it has a nice garden with a arrangement of bonfire. Few rabbit running around in the garden which really excites the kids and yes, my new friend – Bobby’s son was also excited. There is lot of stuff in the hotel for kids to enjoy.






Before starting from Bangalore, I did one good thing. I booked to & fro ticket in Nilgiri Hill Express to enjoy the famous hill train ride.

Train leaves at 3PM from Udamangalam i.e. Ooty . Ticket was taken till Coonor (reaches at 3:45 PM) and return ticket in train which leaves at 4:30 PM from Coonor to Ooty. So our plan was to enjoy only the train ride on the first day. After such a long drive, we wanted to take some rest.

We quickly had our lunch in Savoy’s restaurant and requested the reception to get an auto for us. At 2:30, auto guy picked us and dropped to the station (took 5 min to reach, charges – Rs. 40). And we were at station waiting for the train for the arrival. Both, me and my wife has never seen a hill train (in actual) and we both were pretty excited. Station was full of both Indian and foreign tourists and local crowd was very less.


I started taking some snaps. Watch was saying 2:50 PM and finally I heard the sound of the something which we all in station were waiting for. Turned to see it and there it was entering into the platform.


Soon it halted and our coach was just in front of us. And then we took snaps in the famous way everyone especially the couple takes.


We have booked our tickets in first class and as there are only 16 seat for first class, not much crowd was there in FC. Took our seat and luckily we got the window seat (one which opens towards the valley). Well as it was pulled by diesel engine, you will not hear the famous whistle of steam engine but wait this train goes from Ooty to Mettupalayam and at Coonor (where we have to get down), steam is attached to take to Mettupalayam.
Soon the train started moving and we started our first journey in a hill train. My wife, with handycam in her hand was on window and me with my DSLR on other. Oh Sorry, I forgot to mention anything about weather. It was cloudy in Ooty with slight drizzle but this is the weather we both wanted to have and now let the pics do the talking about the journey to Coonor























After 45 mins of train ride, we reached Coonor. As our train was entering the platform, a big group of foreigners with all DSLR (felt like some professionals) were taking pictures of the train. And yes, I did gave a pose by standing on the door

[vinay.pillai]

We got down from the train and our return train was waiting for us in other platform. Had a coffee with some snacks in platform, well both snacks and coffee were better, much better than what you get in a Bangalore Rajdhani. Above photographer group were now gathered around the engine of the train we came. They were taking snaps of steam engine getting attached to the train. I also tried my hand and here is the result.




We then decided to board our train, crossed over to the other Platform were our return was standing, took our seat and at 4:30 PM, the train left Coonor for Ooty. Now, when the train comes from Ooty, it is pulled but when it goes to Ooty, it is pushed. And as we were sitting in the last coach i.e. the first class, our view was great but the because of the cloudy weather, it was dark…..couldn’t take many good snaps with DSLR but here are few













After 1 hr journey (took 15 min extra as the train has to climb to Ooty), we reached Ooty. Took some snaps with the engine and as we are tired and as it was getting cold, we took an auto to the Hotel.

[shankar.balan]

nice pics vinay
brings back a lot of memories for me especially the train and station
nice pics of the mist and the greenery too
the happiest years unfortunately appear to be long gone though!
cheers

Originally Posted by vinay.pillai

We got down from the train and our return train was waiting for us in other platform. Had a coffee with some snacks in platform, well both snacks and coffee were better, much better than what you get in a Bangalore Rajdhani. Above photographer group were now gathered around the engine of the train we came. They were taking snaps of steam engine getting attached to the train. I also tried my hand and here is the result.
Attachment 181310
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Attachment 181312

We then decided to board our train, crossed over to the other Platform were our return was standing, took our seat and at 4:30 PM, the train left Coonor for Ooty. Now, when the train comes from Ooty, it is pulled but when it goes to Ooty, it is pushed. And as we were sitting in the last coach i.e. the first class, our view was great but the because of the cloudy weather, it was dark…..couldn’t take many good snaps with DSLR but here are few
Attachment 181313
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Attachment 181315
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Attachment 181317
Attachment 181318
Attachment 181319
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After 1 hr journey (took 15 min extra as the train has to climb to Ooty), we reached Ooty. Took some snaps with the engine and as we are tired and as it was getting cold, we took an auto to the Hotel.
Attachment 181324

[beejay]

Vinay, I had noticed that you had mentioned of tea and snacks in the Coonoor railway station.

The guy who runs the canteen is quite famous in town too, he makes the best samosa in town. I am sure you would agree.

[Ramsagar]

Nice pics & travelog.Pics of Line & Elantra would have bought more justice to the thread.

[Su-47]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

you're supposed to always use the same gears while coming downhill, that you used to go up. this way you use the natural retarding effect of low gear and hence,dont end up with burnt out brake pads.
......
Ask any hill-dwelling person - I would say 9 out of 10 would have some odd story to relate concerning the bad road habits of the "plains-drivers".

+1 to what you've said, been practicing this for a while, but, have seen occasional "hill-taxi-drivers" not following this. They put the vehicle in N and simply roll down. After knowing this brake-heat up theory, can't help but get scared if you are riding in on of these taxis.

[beejay]

Originally Posted by Su-47

+1 to what you've said, been practicing this for a while, but, have seen occasional "hill-taxi-drivers" not following this. They put the vehicle in N and simply roll down. After knowing this brake-heat up theory, can't help but get scared if you are riding in on of these taxis.

Suicidal. Are you sure these were TN 43 cabs. Most of them do not drive this way or must be the occasional black sheep.
There were maxi cabs which shuttle Ooty to Mysore who used to do this. Crazy. I presume they expect a better average on an idling engine.

[Majic]

Vinay, very beautiful pictures brings me back memories of my schooling days in Ooty and i very clearly remember running through the tunnel,i.e, the first one while coming out from the Ooty station, do keep the report going

[shankar.balan]

no way TN 43 and TNN etc would consider such tricks. In all probability these would be something like TN 37,38,39,01,02,05,07,09,22,23 and KA 01,03,05,09,11 types.
I know this sounds biased but hey, Ive seen too many of these plains clodheads driving incorrectly in the hills.

Originally Posted by beejay

Suicidal. Are you sure these were TN 43 cabs. Most of them do not drive this way or must be the occasional black sheep.
There were maxi cabs which shuttle Ooty to Mysore who used to do this. Crazy. I presume they expect a better average on an idling engine.

[shankar.balan]

wonder if its the same school i went to.
PM me then and lets figure it out!
cheers

Originally Posted by Majic

Vinay, very beautiful pictures brings me back memories of my schooling days in Ooty and i very clearly remember running through the tunnel,i.e, the first one while coming out from the Ooty station, do keep the report going

[vinay.pillai]

Well, we came back from the train journey and that was something we enjoyed after such a long time, truly speaking more than the drive to Ooty. When we reached hotel, .saw junior Bobby enjoying the cycle ride in the hotel compound. It was 6 PM in my watch. We went to the room and got fresh. Got a invitation from the hotel for a small party in the garden around bonfire. We all(Me, My wife, Bobby, Bobby's wife) gathered and enjoyed the party. There were lot of fun games and prizes. After the party, we all went for dinner in the hotel (Hotel had a buffet arrangement). We had a nice dinner and came out to the garden and surprise surprise!!!!!
Well, wifey’s literraly forgot that they are with their husband, junior AB, yes Abhishek Bachan was sitting on the sofa at the reception. Slowly, one by one other movie stars came out. Came to know that crew of Mani Ratnam’s movie ‘Ravana’ are staying in the hotel. Met almost all the crew including Mani Ratnam and other south Indian stars. So, for the first time in life, wifey slept without even saying gudnite.

Anyway next morning, we got up early for Independence day celebration at the hotel and then after breakfast, decided to go out in Linea for a visit to some of the famous points of Ooty and also for a long pending photo session of Linea.



But as we walked towards the parking, saw another beauty and took some pics with it.



Finally loaded in Linea and started driving around Ooty. I must say, the roads around Ooty are really good. Being Saturday and 15th August, Ooty was really crowded.





After visiting few tourist points, I finally found a point to take portfolio for my beauty and here is the portfolio shots

























After the photo session, we all went to the famous Chinese restaurant of Ooty, sorry I forgot the name of the restaurant. We had a nice lunch and then came back to hotel. I spent remaining time playing almost all the sports/games available in Savoy with junior and senior Bobby. Ladies were busy with their famous chit chat and thats expected, they met their heroes the previous nite....
After evening tea, we joined the other guest in hotel for bonfire. and exactly after 1 hr, we opened out bar inside our room to celebrate, well lot of things, meeting a fellow team-bhpian, a new friend, independence day, Linea, etc. etc.
And by the time we closed the bar, it was 11 PM. Then we decided to have a light the fireplace in our room and then by the time, we got to bed, it was 3 AM.
Got up early next day morning, and went for a walk around hotel. I must say, morning in a hill station is really beautiful and fresh, much much much better than city especially Bangalore.
Had a early breakfast, had a photo session in the garden and packed our bags for the return trip, yes 2 days over and truly speaking it was tough to pack our bags. Heart was saying, just stay on man, where are you going but you don’t have a choice.
And I saw the same feeling in the face of Bobby and his wife. Checked out at 11 PM and loaded our car with bags.