[sriswe]

smartcat,

happy birthday to both of you ....

[MX6]

Good lesson 3 you got there. Most often accidents happen in the first few months of a new car as drivers tend to become pilots. Once the first accident happens, most of the drivers become drivers again. It is indeed brave to accept how reckless you were in the beginning. Most don't acknowledge it. They consider themselves to be the best and safest till the first accident!
And happy birthday to you and the IPD.

[aargee]

Well, after joining TBHP, there're several things that I learnt; Now days I focus on driving with least usage of brakes & clutch. Most of the time, I get so involved in driving that, I'll be able to recall the vehicles, the junctions, the roads & sometimes even the vehicle numbers but can never participate in the conversation going on in the car.

As you said rightly, this was a good wake up call that happend somewhere close by rather than somewhere in the northern hills.

Originally Posted by MX6

Good lesson 3 you got there. Most often accidents happen in the first few months of a new car as drivers tend to become pilots. Once the first accident happens, most of the drivers become drivers again. It is indeed brave to accept how reckless you were in the beginning. Most don't acknowledge it. They consider themselves to be the best and safest till the first accident!

That's a good observation & absolutely true. Again, there're some people who learn from their accident & some morons who never learn from their own accidents or from other's accidents.

[sriswe]

Originally Posted by aargee

Now days I focus on driving with least usage of brakes & clutch.

+1 to that..aargee...now a days even i am practicing the same..In Hyderabad,
almost at every place I can practice this ... ..

smartcat,
good that you became a smart driver after this accident..

Thanks,
Srini..

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by MX6

They consider themselves to be the best and safest till the first accident!

Nowadays, I consider myself to be a dull & boring driver. Sometimes, my dad says "um, can't you go any faster than this?"

Originally Posted by aargee

Now days I focus on driving with least usage of brakes & clutch

Originally Posted by sriswe

+1 to that..aargee...now a days even i am practicing the same.

What's the funda here? Logically, it means you'll have to use the horn more!


Coming up next, a review (not a travelogue) of an underground cave resort called "Guhantara". A preview -

[addyhemmige]

Back after a short break, eh?? You haven't finished your Munnar story (except for the accident) and now you are already into the next one??

[SmartCat]

Well, that's how the story ended, rather abruptly. Towed the Optra back to Bangalore. So basically, I have never been to Munnar.

I intend to do Munnar trip (Second Attempt) sometime later though - have not given up on it.

[MX6]

Whew. You are alive. Was wondering whether youwent in to a post impact depression upon looking at your munnar crash photo (after years).

Can we switch dad's?

[ranjith.rajaram]

Originally Posted by smartcat

- Never drive on an empty stomach. We didn't have breakfast before leaving. Empty stomach reduces concentration.

- The person in the passenger seat has to watch the road too. And warn the driver about dogs, buses & trucks, old men & women trying to cross the road, suggest slowing down, keep an eye on potholes and so on.

- Driving at 160 km/hr is downright dangerous on our roads. We now drive at 90 km/hr and we still reach the destination pretty quickly (mostly with the help of aggressive gear changes). In rains, we now drive at 70 km/hr.

To add to your points
- Do have full stomach also which might cause you sleepiness during night as well afternoon drives.

- Have a lady (may be your wife, GF) on the co-passenger seat you will have free navigator with you. This was you will hear without paying for GPS (two wheeler coming from the left lane, reduce your speed, dog crossing the road, truck infront, a auto guy coming from the right lane, a cycle wala coming at a very high speed in the opposite direction )

- Its always better to drive in-between 80 - 90 km/hr on the highway where you have ample control on everything.

[aargee]

Smartcat - to use less clutch, brakes & less frequent gear shifts, I need to use more of brains & not of horns

Let me tell you how, you need to be in more of anticipation mode judging every wrong moves of everyone on the road. Like Memphis Raines (Nicholas Cage) says in the movie Gone in 60 seconds, the car is you & you are the car kind of mode.

Not sure I do have a good communication skill as you, but I'll try to give you my best explanation. Basically, keep watching the front, back, sides, road, traffic, vehicles on front, back, sides, potholes & keep an eye on every housefly on the road; our car moves along with the traffic, but always expecting every wrong move & the action to be taken. In other words, control the car only using the gas pedal. I'm sure that in cut throat traffic this will not work, but from a little to medium traffic this will work.

So you're going to tell a cave man story huh? Hope its interesting.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by aargee

Not sure I do have a good communication skill as you, but I'll try to give you my best explanation. Basically, keep watching the front, back, sides, road, traffic, vehicles on front, back, sides, potholes & keep an eye on every housefly on the road; our car moves along with the traffic, but always expecting every wrong move & the action to be taken. In other words, control the car only using the gas pedal. I'm sure that in cut throat traffic this will not work, but from a little to medium traffic this will work.

I get it - basically anticipating what other vehicles might do.

Originally Posted by MX6

Can we switch dad's?

My Dad will feel at home with your diriving style (110 - 120 km/hr) - he cruises at that speed in his Santro.

Originally Posted by ranjith.rajaram

To add to your points
- Do have full stomach also which might cause you sleepiness during night as well afternoon drives.

I avoid having a heavy meal on long drives. "Butter Naan" and its cousins especially make me sleepy.

[MX6]

@aargee. You got it spot on. I drive with this mindset. Every moron on the road if has to fall in front of a vehicle, he'd choose mine. Every biker would try squeezing near me. Every truck would try to cut me off. This way I get very wary.
@Ranjith. You made me realise how nice my wife is yet again. Had a female given me running commentary, I'd have lost my nuts ages. She really appreciates the way I drive and is mostly silent in awe!
@Smartcat. When are you unleashing the troglodyte?

[SmartCat]

GUHANTARA REVIEW

Pic 1, 2 & 3: To appease the Travel & Car Gods, I'm uploading a couple of road photos to start off with. Guhantara (guhantara.com) is an underground (well, not exactly) cave resort about 20 kms from Bangalore. About 6 km from the NICE Road - Kanakapura Road junction, one needs to take a right turn (just after a tank bund) to reach this one of its kind exotic place.

Pic 4 & 5: We booked 2 nights at Guhantara and opted for the "Lithic Cave" accomodation. Since weekends are slightly more expensive, the receptionist will try to force you to book rooms on weekends (if they are not already filled up) - so be careful. Tariff per night rates are equivalent to two Optra tank fulls of petrol (normal, not "Speed"). We could have gone to Goa and come back instead - so this place is not exactly VFM. Our WiFi enabled pre-historic cave accomodation looked something like this -

Pic 6: The bathroom has a Jacuzzi-sized bathtub, made out of stone!

Pic 7: um, No! This is not a 16th century commode. It's a firewood powered water heater (used in winters).

Pic 8: The balcony area.

Pic 9 & 10: Our cave house also had a few pre-historic cave paintings on all its walls. And oh, our cave house was also equipped with a SunDirect satellite TV with an incredibly stupid & unintuitive user interface.

[Ranjan Sharma]

How did you keep the Optra for so long. Seeing you travelogue itself I am getting bored of 'The Optra'

[SmartCat]

Check the last few pages of "Fiat Grande Punto - Test Drive & Review" thread under 'Test Drives & Initial Ownership Reports' sub-forum. I'm waiting for the 90 BHP Fiat Grande Punto.

And yes, check the Classifieds section of Team-BHP after a few weeks.
Although being quite honest about the Optra's little Munnar adventure might have hurt its resale value.

My head is full of calculations like next 100,000 kms divided by 20 km/litre (diesel mileage on highways) = 5000 litres multiplied by Rs. 40 (diesel cost) and so on. Plus, something else that cannot be evaluated with the help of a calculator - SAFETY. I think I need a car with dual airbags & ABS.