[ronk]

Anyone tried the polo 1.6 in the hills? I had great expectations from mine, and although it definitely was quite nice, the initial lag till 2k rpm is real irritating! For decent surface, narrow hill roads I'd love an old carb 800 with k&n, free flow and abs/airbags (wishful)! However, among the current cars I really loved the yeti. Pliant ride, small dimensions and awesome smooth torque delivery make it a beautiful drive!

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by ronk

the yeti. Pliant ride, small dimensions and awesome smooth torque delivery make it a beautiful drive!

I don't think, Yeti has much torque to speak of. It loves revs & is eager to hit 5,000 revs on the console, but downside being, is dead beyond 2K and you have to constantly shift gears. The GB is butter smooth, so that is some solace.

Originally Posted by Sheel

I have found small SUV's to be the best. I have driven the Yeti 4X4 extensively. Duster AWD should be good as well as well as Scorpio 4WD.

[AWD]

Originally Posted by GTO

The best vehicle would be the Duster AWD The Duster has mind-blowing ride quality on bad roads.

AWD Duster has similar suspension setup as the regular 4x2 Dusty ? AWD & regular Duster have same ride quality ?

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

The Yeti, in my opinion is by far the BEST all rounder for India.

For the hills & other far flung areas one also needs a vehicle which has adequate service backup in those areas. If local mechanics are also able to work on it, no worries then. I guess Skoda looses big-time in such situations.

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by AWD

AWD Duster has similar suspension setup as the regular 4x2 Dusty ? AWD & regular Duster have same ride quality ?

The AWD Duster has a multi link suspension, which is completely different from the 2WD's torsion beam. The AWD Duster's ride quality is supposed to be better than the 2WD's, which make it better than the 2WD Dusters awesome ride quality.

For the hills & other far flung areas one also needs a vehicle which has adequate service backup in those areas. If local mechanics are also able to work on it, no worries then. I guess Skoda looses big-time in such situations.

A Yeti MT may not be unreliable, but the Duster AWD will be much more reliable. You're less likely to be left stranded by a Duster compared to a Yeti.

I would doubt Renault's service presence in some areas. In that case, try the S-cross. (The 1.6 has a lot of turbo lag though) Or the Creta.

[AWD]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

The AWD Duster has a multi link suspension, which is completely different from the 2WD's torsion beam. The AWD Duster's ride quality is supposed to be better than the 2WD's, which make it better than the 2WD Dusters awesome ride quality. clap.

Ok, I was a bit not clear on this because most other 4x4 vehicles in India trade off ride quality compared to their 4x2 variants. Good its not so with the Duster.

But does on the paper ride quality come true in real conditions ? As such Renault is not providing AWD variant test rides, owners could shed light on this.

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by AWD

But does on the paper ride quality come true in real conditions ? As such Renault is not providing AWD variant test rides, owners could shed light on this.

Send a PM to @BlackPearl and ask about the ride quality. He owns one.

http://<br /> http://www.team-bhp.co...gal.html<br />

It's a pity that Renault isn't offering test drives.

[Captain Haddock]

Good thread. My Wagon R with it's 3 cylinder engine struggles on very steep inclines and the tall frame of the car is really scary when tackling hairpins. My old Tata Estate was a good performer on hills. On good highways she could hardly reach 100 Kmph but still remember driving that car to munnar with full load and the car would climb the hairpins in third gear. That car as per my knowledge had a 2 L diesel from tata's 407 lorry. The RWD may also have helped it climb with such ease. Was safe as a tank on those long trips. So I guess rear wheeled SUVs with torque rich engines would be great.

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by Captain Haddock

Good thread. My Wagon R with it's 3 cylinder engine struggles on very steep inclines and the tall frame of the car is really scary when tackling hairpins. My old Tata Estate was a good performer on hills. On good highways she could hardly reach 100 Kmph but still remember driving that car to munnar with full load and the car would climb the hairpins in third gear. That car as per my knowledge had a 2 L diesel from tata's 407 lorry. The RWD may also have helped it climb with such ease. Was safe as a tank on those long trips. So I guess rear wheeled SUVs with torque rich engines would be great.

It was actually the brilliant low end torque of those old school diesel engines.
Today Common Rail engines suck when it comes to low end torque, NA petrols feel more torquey than most common rails.

[chandra1]

How do you guys think the new Renault Kwid will fare in hilly roads? I am planning to buy this car and I will be taking occasional trips to hills.

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

Send a PM to @BlackPearl and ask about the ride quality. He owns one.

http://<br /> http://www.team-bhp.co...gal.html<br />

It's a pity that Renault isn't offering test drives.

@landcruiser123, I wish I owned a Duster AWD but unfortunately I don't
Sutripta, Cloudmobile_deb, PapaBravo and GhostRider28 own Duster AWDs. They will be able to give proper feedback about the ride quality. As far as my rides are concerned, both have horrible ride qualities - the Bolero LX 4WD and the Thar.

[gkrishk]

Originally Posted by lalittalwar

But, I will still place my bets on a nimble hatchback. Havent taken the GT uphill, but I am sure it will be fun too.

I drove my Polo GT TSI to Munnar and Kodaikanal and absolutely loved both experiences. Its nimble, sure-footed and fast.

[amit_snk]

IMO its different cars for different roads. Recently went on a trip to Srinagar on my 800, 5 speed. Here is the crux of my experience: during normal paved road underneath with steap bending, puny 800 just muscled every Innova, Tavera, Xylo, Scorpio and also Duster in front, mind you I wasn't going at a break neck speed (between 60-70kmph, I got a fuel economy of 24.5kmpl from the trip, proves I was driving sedately)

Problem starts with non paved roads underneath: During a small stretch (approx 10 kms) of road between batote and ramban, I just had to hold on to my spine as well as the underbody of the car.

My take is on normal paved roads: low ground clearance hatchback with decent power will give you ultimate pleasure. But on twisties with bad roads look no where else then a high ground clearance, good suspension vehicle.

In case of diesel hatchbacks, turbo lag can be a great spoiler. Last year went on a Jammu - Shimla trip on a Ford Figo 1.4 tdci. Car performed decently up till Chandigarh after that, on twisties, it was just pathetic. Due to turbo lag had to constantly downshift to 2nd or 1st to spice up the turbo.

Just for reference, my Skoda Fabia with 1.4 TDI, pump duse engine with very little turbo lag performs brilliantly on hilly roads in my state.

[lancer_rit]

I think it depends very much on the tarmac.If there are twisties and roads are not too bad, a sedan (or a hatch which is not a tallboy) with good handling, ride and steering gives the highest pleasure. No two ways about it.
If roads are badly broken, then higher GC and getting a modicum of comfort / ability to drive at a decent clip makes a lot of sense as GTO says. Duster AWD is great here - bear in mind that its quite sedan like in its handling dynamics.

I love to drive in the hills and twisty roads, also with a fair bit of gradient etc. My Lancer with a 187mm GC, independent suspension and that superb steering, pretty much feels blissful though its now 12.5 years old and at 137000 km. Did a trip to Valparai recently where the roads were fabulous, I wouldn't drive anything else. With the High GC (for a sedan), and upgraded 15" alloys, I also drove some 10km or so over mud and rock roads to a waterfalls etc. No sweat! Have driven over no roads, mud roads, rocky and gravel tracks without ever facing any major issue.

[vartakavi]

Has anyone used a Fort Ecosport petrol on narrow twisty roads? I am looking to buy (may be a Used car) a Petrol car to keep at our cottage near Kodaikanal. My usage will be very low (may be 3000 kms a year) and the car will be under cover for three to four months at a time. Need it mostly to commute to town (10 kms away) a couple of times a week when we are staying there. The last one km up to our cottage is very steep and narrow - my old Indigo diesel used to struggle in first gear to get up. My current Innova pulls up with ease, but is not easy to manouvre on the narrow curves. How about the 1.0 litre EcoBoost engine on the Ecosport? Does it have a turbo lag? Fuel efficiency is not important to me, but the car should have loads of low end torque and should be reliable. The problem in a place like Kodaikanal is that the nearest Service Centres are at least 100 kms away, if not more.

[Anwesh]

Originally Posted by Captain Haddock

My old Tata Estate was a good performer on hills. On good highways she could hardly reach 100 Kmph but still remember driving that car to munnar with full load and the car would climb the hairpins in third gear. That car as per my knowledge had a 2 L diesel from tata's 407 lorry.

The 407 has a brilliant 3 liter engine that is completely different than the 2 liter Estate engine. The 407 engine block is also the base for the 3 liter DICOR engine that came on the second generation Safari.

Regards,