The connectivity from the expressway to Jaipur city is not good.

BHPian Amity recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Recently, I travelled from Faridabad to Jaipur and back on the Delhi-Mumbai expressway. Here are my observations:

I completed the onward journey of more than 270 Kms in around 3.5 hours (excluding a break at one of the rest stops and some Google Maps misdirections). The return journey from Nahargarh Fort to Faridabad took almost 4.5 hours due to Google Maps, a jam on the entry ramp from Jaipur and unruly traffic at Ballabhgarh.

The entry onto Faridabad bypass from Mathura Road (NH19) is not properly marked on Google Maps and it will just make you go in rounds. Instead of taking the correct exit onto the service road and then a U-turn under the bypass flyover to get onto the ramp, Google Maps takes you in the wrong direction and then asks you to get onto the bypass where there is no ramp at all and it will keep asking you to go in circles. The surface of the Faridabad bypass road is much better than the actual expressway. There are much fewer undulations and it is predictable. However, patrolling is not proper as I saw two-wheelers on this stretch. Though there are street lights on the Faridabad bypass stretch, the majority of them were not switched on.

The expressway, though wide and properly marked, does not boast of a good surface. There are a lot of undulations and jolts on the expressway, especially near flyovers or bridges. It is not a completely smooth ride. Already I could see many patchworks in the expressway and repair works were also going on. This doesn’t bode well for a flagship project. There is almost negligible patrolling on the whole stretch as I didn’t see patrolling vehicles during my travel. I believe there should be round-the-clock patrolling on this stretch as it passes through isolated areas. The boundary wall is already broken in many places and people were grazing goats in the area between the boundary wall and the main carriageway. This makes it risky for everyone and something which could be prevented if there was proper enforcement and regular patrolling. Local people were sitting on the railings of the expressway taking pictures or talking on phones as if it was some community park. It was a common feature throughout the expressway which shows a lack of willingness on the part of authorities to prevent such things.

There are some rest stops along the expressway but all of them are not functional. Some have coming soon boards showing for Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, Domino’s Pizza, etc. at the rest stops. Hopefully, it’ll be better by the time the complete expressway opens up. The washrooms at one of the normal rest stops (IIRC 99 km rest stop while going towards Jaipur) were much much cleaner than McDonald’s washrooms (coming from Jaipur) on the expressway. NHAI had constructed basic buildings for rest stops and now the same are being brought down/ refurbished by restaurants to bring it to their own designs. This I feel is a waste of time and money as NHAI could’ve just allotted some open slots to restaurants to bring up their own buildings. By constructing such basic buildings, NHAI must’ve paid contractors which must have been part of the consideration for deciding the toll amount and now the same is being brought down by restaurants as per their convenience. I believe it would’ve been much cheaper to just allot blocks and let restaurants construct their own buildings.

Alongside those boundary walls, locals have opened shops/ dhabas and truck drivers park their trucks on the shoulder to fetch something or have food. There were many trucks at such stops, sometimes more than 5 also. Such illegal stops are risky for everyone on an expressway and again highlight the lack of patrolling and enforcement on the expressway. I do hope that economical options are made available to truck drivers at the rest stops as it may not be feasible for them to otherwise have meals at eateries at rest stops. I saw trucks making a U-turn in the middle of the expressway and then driving on the wrong side at full speed, likely to one of the illegal shops/ dhabas they missed. There is no lane discipline on the expressway as trucks were there on all 4 lanes and cars had to zigzag through it all. This again shows a lack of patrolling and enforcement on the expressway.

The connectivity from the expressway to Jaipur city is not good. It takes you through the crowded parts of the city and wastes a lot of time. I saw that construction has already started on Greenfield Road to connect with Jaipur. I hope it is completed very soon as it will further reduce the time by at least 30 minutes. The entry ramp for the expressway while coming from Jaipur is very small and the toll plaza is almost at the start of the ramp. While returning, most of the toll booths on this ramp were non-functional due to so be technical faults and traffic was already stretching to the highway from the ramp. The staff at the toll plaza was completely clueless about dealing with it. They let us pass after keeping us waiting for more than 5 minutes. One surprising thing I noticed was that there is no separate toll plaza while entering from Faridabad bypass or exiting from the expressway to Faridabad bypass. I am guessing the toll plaza at Faridabad bypass ( which charges INR 50 for every single journey) doubles up as an entry/ exit toll plaza for the Expressway. It appears that our tag was not scanned at the entry ramp at Jaipur and therefore, no amount was deducted from the Fastag account when we exited the expressway onto the Faridabad bypass.

Most of the speed cameras were not working on the expressway. Also, the speed shown on the cameras was almost 2 km/h less than the speed shown on the car speedometer. The exit ramp at Ballabhgarh onto NH 19 is very narrow and the service road where the ramp merges, itself is narrow. This was made worse by wrong side local traffic on the service road and caused a jam for at least half an hour, with no police to control it.

I believe it’s a good effort but needs a lot of support from people and law enforcement agencies to improve its standards.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Cumulative fuel efficiency of 17.6 km/l with two tank fills.

BHPian jithin23 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I took my Innova HyCross VX for an extended trip which went from Delhi to Chandigarh to Bir to Billing to Dharamshala to McLeodGanj and back to Delhi.

I did McLeodganj to Delhi non-stop for 11 hr 15 mins of driving with no break or stoppage. Here are my highlights from the trip.

Highlights:

1. Cumulative average of 17.6kmpl with two tank fills. Zero to full tank.
2. I did the last leg non-stop and when I parked the car at my house, I still had enough fuel to go to Agra and back.
3. The comfort is unparalleled. Near zero body roll even whilst pulling tight corners.
4. Very easy to fit into tight spaces despite its size. We encountered a massive traffic jam whilst going uphill from Dharamshala to McLeodganj and we did some really tight spacing which the car did with ease. We even managed to do a U-Turn at one point on a narrow road where even the Dzire ahead of us had to take 4 back and forths while the Innova managed it in 3.
5. The hill-hold function is a dream. It works like a charm and is very useful, especially since we were stuck in an uphill traffic jam for over 2hrs.
6. The gears take time to move to lower ratios hence you have to accelerate before steep climbing turns to compensate for the sudden loss of speed.

Lowlights:

1. The Apple Play JUST DOESN'T WORK. WHY WON'T TOYOTA FIX THIS? WHY TOYOTA WHY?
2. When you move from Park to Drive, the breaks make a weird sound. Not sure what it is, but it appears to be the electric parking brakes coming off.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

The engine is not only peppy and fun-to-drive, but fuel efficient as well; something I can't say about my SUV.

BHPian Highh5 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

A colleague of mine recently picked up HTX+ iMT Diesel in Imperial Blue. Honestly, I was not a big fan of earlier Seltos but this one changed my stance on this car to a large extent. My comparison will be with my Harrier which I've been driving for the last 2 years and 9 months and completed 42,000 km on that.

What I liked:

• Neatly integrated, High-resolution, sleek dual screens, one for infotainment and another for instrumentation console. Specifically the way they have integrated, they don't block the view of the dashboard, really love the integration/implementation.
• Camel Brown Leatherette Seats with a nice touch on the dashboard and door area lit up the entire cabin and gave an exquisite feeling.
• A lot of excellent additions such as dual-zone climate control, ambient lighting, electric seats, and front parking sensors don't make me feel that I'm missing something even though GTX+ and X-Line models are also present on top of that. No one can beat Koreans when it comes to features.
• I like the steering wheel as well, light, and perfectly sized and all the buttons look upmarket in comparison to my Harrier Steering wheel.
• The front seats are nice, with good under-thigh support as well. Honestly, it's better than Harrier specifically the under-thigh support.
• Love the DRLs of both the front and rear lights. The car looks smart and stands out in the crowd.
• I drove the iMT for the very first time, and somehow love the way it is implemented. There was a minimal lag in comparison to the Automatic Harrier I drive, which is no slouch either. Found Seltos diesel refined, peppy, and very easy to chuck around the city in comparison to Harrier.
• The engine is not only peppy and fun to drive but at the same time fuel efficient as well. Not the case with a bigger 2.0-litre Kyrotec engine, either you can have fun or have mileage.

What I don't like:

• The quality of the roof liner is very poor. A couple of dry clean washes and it is gone. Roof Liner of Harrier is miles ahead, properly knitted high-quality fabric.
• Headroom is very limited considering if one raises the driver seat to their highest seat adjustment. Harrier doesn't have any such problem
• Even though the knee room is good, under thigh support of the rear seats is not good in comparison to my Harrier.
• Ventilated Seats are more like a gimmick, didn't find them that effective.
• Space - One of the major reasons I didn't buy this car and instead bought the Harrier. Specifically, boot space looks decent on paper but is not a great implementation in real. Sitting three people in the rear is gonna be a tight affair.
• Safety is still a big question. Now don't quote me that Harrier is also not tested but I believe everyone is aware of what Harrier is capable of.
• High window lines and at the same time window size is small as well, made me feel claustrophobic initially at the rear seats. However, the Panoramic Sunroof helped a lot and made me feel at ease. Again, my reference point here was Harrier, its large glass area makes the cabin feel more lit and airy.

Will I prefer to buy this car in the future: Yes, I can. Really love the interiors, feels upmarket. Waiting for the facelifted Harrier and how it stacks against the competition. The only thing that can keep me away from this Car is the Bharat NCAP results. I hope this one gets tested fast.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Really happy with my Kia SUV & hoping for hassle-free ownership similar to my old Creta.

BHPian thesilentone recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hi all. After my last weekend trip to Pondy, I couldn’t update the thread immediately and could do so now only. Please note that any comparison mentioned is only with my first-generation Creta diesel AT.

The drive was actually a little tedious with very heavy traffic both ways due to Murtham dates, especially the Chennai to Tindivanam stretch. Due to this, I could not turn on the ADAS features and also couldn’t try the cruise control or paddle shifters.

The Tindivanam to Pondy stretch was, however, with moderate traffic and could finally free the legs. Wow. The car picks up speed effortlessly in the normal mode and we notice the speed only after the constant beeps keep reminding us that we should slow down. There is a definite difference we can feel in the various drive modes. The eco mode is useful only in crawling traffic for city drives. On the highway, normal mode is fine most of the time. For the moments when we want to put our foot down, sports mode is where the fun is. The tachometer dances to the tune of the acceleration and since the car is still in the running-in period, I limited the use of the sports mode to only a few minutes at a time. Waiting for another highway drive after the running-in period.

With regard to the ride quality, I stand corrected from my initial impression. On normal roads, the car is really smooth and an absolute joy to drive. On broken roads, however, the smooth ride gives way to some jarring moments and the Creta shod with Continental UC6 tyres certainly is more composed on those stretches. UC6 tyres on the Seltos could make the drive on bad roads better but I think that I will make the switch when the time comes for a change in tyres since it is not so worrisome as to do so immediately.

Another aspect I find better in the Creta is the position of the button on the gear shifter. The button at the back of the shifter in the Creta falls into place in my hand more easily than the Seltos which has the button on the side. Though it is something which I will get used to, the back seems to be the more logical location. In the Creta, I used to always use the hand brake while stopping at a signal. In the Seltos, the absence of the hand brake lever sometimes makes my hand fish for the lever at the signal.

Auto hold is a real boon in traffic. The minor downside is that the creep function does not work and in combination with the idle start-stop function, we need to apply the correct amount of pressure to prevent a hard take-off. The idle start-stop function works unobtrusively and does no harm in gaining a few sips of petrol. The idle start function cannot be disabled permanently but can be switched off whenever required at the start or during travel.

Apple CarPlay as known to all is only with the wired option and connects quite effortlessly with the USB cable. Google Maps can be used split screen as well as the whole screen and is really nice. I still have not used any other feature with Car Play. The wireless charger works well and the cooling function did prevent the phone from heating up. Full marks. I was initially a little unsure whether I had placed the phone properly and whether the phone was being charged, but later noticed that the charging indicator was lit up.

I generally only listen to FM radio while driving and for the FM channels, the Bose speakers did sound good to the ears. Only musical connoisseurs can comment on the actual performance of other modes of music. There is something called mood lighting with various colour options for the ambient lighting. In this, there is an option for the lighting to dance with the music and the cabin converts into a theatre. Really Kia.

Initially, I was a little worried about the dark seats and the dark roof, but from the driver’s seat, I didn’t even notice them. My family members in the rear seat were busy chatting and I won’t be surprised if they didn’t even know in which car they travelled so someone who has travelled and noticed things from the rear should comment. The seats however are slightly on the firmer side, probably due to the ventilation system. I would have liked a little more cushioning to the seats, but not a deal breaker. Coming to the seat ventilation, it works decently and is a nice feel-good feature to have.

The 360-degree camera is really nice with good resolution and so also the reverse parking camera and blind spot monitors. We get a red coloured indicator on the side mirrors when any object comes into the blind spot area with audible beeps. Nice to have a safety feature.

Dual-zone AC is also a good feature to have. I won’t have to keep adjusting the temperature when my co-passenger feels cold or vice versa. To each passenger, his own.

I haven’t opened the sunroof even once and most likely am not going to open it at all except probably to show someone that it is present in this car. In my opinion, sunroofs should only be sold as an option in India but when did any manufacturer give us only what we want? There is no way we can avoid the forced add-ons.

The sliding compartment in between the front seats houses two cup holders and the sliding action is sheer class but unfortunately, one slot is used for perfume and the other for hand sanitiser, so I cannot really close the compartment. Another nice feature added to the list of unused items.

Premium dual-layer mats by Kia have reduced the space on the dead pedal and it is not convenient to place the foot fully on it. I would advise buyers to personally check it out before sticking it into the accessories list.

Overall, a big thumbs up to Kia. I am really glad with my purchase and hope that it provides me with the same hassle-free ownership as my Creta which has served me well for more than a hundred thousand kilometres and almost 8 years of ownership without any major issues.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

My only other experience driving on Indian roads has been my 10-year-old i10 and a Thar.

BHPian jazzy recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I finally got my GTX+ turbo petrol delivered yesterday and drove for about 20 km in the city. My first impression/observations:

• Cabin feels premium, although black interiors make it appear small, the sunroof compensates for it. I wish Kia provided the option of brown interiors of HTX+ in GTX+ too.
• Ventilated seats work, and can evaluate better after a long drive. I am one of those who would end up with a sweaty back within half an hour of driving, sitting on leatherette seats. I really wish these seats would be a boon for me.
• NVH levels are good, very good at slow speeds, a little noticeable at higher speeds but still okay.
• Bose speakers are just above average, even after trying multiple ways to tune the sound output, it didn't wow me or my wife.
• Tyre pressures are 38-40 psi, I wanted to reduce to 35 but decided to try with those for a while. Small bumps were not very noticeable, however, larger humps required slowing down.

The stiffness is definitely present but at lower tyre pressures, I guess, it will be manageable.

NOTE: My only other experience driving on Indian roads has been my 10-year-old i10 and a Thar.

I'll add more when I go for a longer drive and at higher speeds. One thing is for sure, this car feels so comfortable overall, that it really spoils you. At this price point, it's tough to find a worthy competitor in terms of features. And here's a pic

Here's what BHPian Ad1tya had to say on the matter:

The white is gorgeous. I wish the White came in for me before the Red, but I am happy with the Red too.

Reduce the pressure to 32. My car came with 44psi and I reduced it while refuelling right after the pickup, but the road noise and stiffness didn't improve. The only option is to change to different tyres, I changed them to Continental UC6 which is the only decent option in the stock size. The entire car's ride characteristics changed with them.

Here's what BHPian ssoni.1411 had to say on the matter:

Congratulations!! The white looks gorgeous. If I didn't have a white car already, would have definitely gone with the white.

Eagerly waiting to hear about your ownership experience!

Here's what BHPian Sufficient_shop had to say on the matter:

Wow! White looks classy. I've chosen the same model in Silver. Now confused between Silver and White.

• What was the final on-road price?
• Did you go with dealer insurance?
• Which dealer did you go with?
• How was the delivery experience overall?

Here's what BHPian jazzy replied on the matter:

I would have gone with red if my previous car wasn't red.

GTX+ costs only 60k more than HTX+, so it makes little sense to buy HTX+ in my opinion

I got my own insurance and had to convince the dealer (Epitome Kia, Whitefield, as it's close to where I stay). Overall delivery experience was good, without any hiccups. Final on-road price, 24.3 including accessories, I opted for a handful of accessories including a dashcam. Also planning to buy the Kia Convenience Plus package which is an additional 45k approx.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Outright acceleration is outrageously quick for its weight, but the yet-to-launch Label Red is the actual Super SUV.

BHPian karan561 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Likes:

• Road Presence & Exclusivity (Design & Enormous Dimensions are unlike anything you'll spot on the road)
• Interior Design, Material Mix & 3D Roof-liner (Distinguishes itself from the current BMW lineup well)
• Fantastic Driving Performance (1st Hybrid by the M Division)
• Handling (Handles well for its weight)

Dislikes:

• Pricing (Out of reach for most of us enthusiasts)
• Ride Quality (Very Stiff in Sport Mode, saving grace is the tubeless tyres)
• Exterior Looks (Love it or Hate It Design takes time getting used to, needs to be carefully specced)
• 4.3 secs to 100 km/h is slow (If BMW is targeting the Super SUV space it needed a faster product but they have chosen to reserve this for the Label Red)

Video Review

The video is divided as per the following chapters below

• 00:00 - Intro
• 01:06 - Project Rockstar
• 01:49 - XM Nomenclature Story
• 03:31 - Platform Details
• 04:14 - Driving Performance
• 08:12 - Ride & Handling
• 10:02 - Exterior & Interior

For those who prefer text may read the following posts

Exterior:

The exteriors of this car are Radically Dynamic & Distinctive

I personally love how the car looks in the flesh right from the long bonnet, old-school two-box design.

Smoothly incorporating a stooping roofline as well.

Just the right amount of gold in this one.

If specced well then the XM looks menacingly good

The aesthetic muscularity continues at the rear with references to the M1 by incorporating double BMW logos.

Interior:

In comparison to the exterior, the interiors of the XM - I am sure most of us love it. The overall job BMW has done to distinguish this product from the rest is felt.

Familiar iDrive 8 screen, interesting to note that the Label red will get the 8.5.

The 3D Sculptural Headliner is the interior highlight for me.

Continue reading BHPian karan561's BMW XM review for more insights and information.

The engine felt much better than Maruti's K15C and city driveability was better than VW's 1.0 TSI.

BHPian Djay recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Got a chance to test drive the Honda Elevate yesterday. It was a fairly decent test drive covering open road stretches as well as city traffic, good enough to get an idea of the capabilities of the car and the engine. The variant distribution as per the attached brochure shared by SA confirms the one that was leaked and seems final.

Pros:

1. Power is adequate. Though the initial torque feels a bit lesser than the city, pushing the throttle further brings the i-VTEC to life. The engine kept pulling with a sweet sweet sound which was absolute music. Made me want to push the engine more. The engine has not lost its character even with the heavier body and boxy design.
2. The engine felt much better than Maruti's K15C and city driveability was better than the 1.0 TSI due to no turbo lag and smooth and linear acceleration. Other than the first gear, the rest of the gears are tall enough and the engine is tractable. So one can easily potter around in 2nd or 3rd in the city. Also absence of turbo lag makes city overtakes much smoother and you don't need to wait for the power to kick in in any gear.
3. Gearshifts are not super short, but slick and sure slotting. Also, the clutch is quite light and effortless. So shifting gears is a joy. This is one engine which is great fun to drive in its manual avatar.
4. The high bonnet makes it easy to judge the dimensions but also creates a bit of a blind spot in front due to its height. A front camera would have been super useful.
5. The legroom in the rear seat is plenty to move and stretch your legs. The seat base for all seats being low makes it very easy to get in and out for even senior folks despite the higher ground clearance.
6. The multi-mode reverse camera is good and the resolution felt adequate. Adaptive guidelines are a big miss though. The lane watch camera works great but comes only in the VX and ZX trims.

Cons:

1. Though the car is big, the cabin space has been a bit goofed up. The seat base is short and under-thigh support for all seats other than the driver is inadequate. Sitting in the front passenger seat creates a knees-up position and one has to keep their feet on the angled floor, but that's also not too comfortable. Rear-seat passengers will also need to keep their feet on the angled floor to be comfortable. The City is more comfortable to sit in.
2. The rear seat width is a bit tight for 3 people and the angled door edge does not have padding like the Honda City. Best for 3 slim people. 3 heavier folks will not be too comfortable for sure. Also, the raised middle seat is a bit of an issue for long drives. Will be best to add foam in the seat covers to level it (not possible in the top variants though).
3. Overall fit and finish is not as good as the City which definitely feels more premium.
4. No idea why Honda has removed the rubber beading from the doors and placed it on the body. Not sure whether this will cause water seepage issues and require a compulsory rain visor. Can't figure out what Honda achieved by doing this.

Overall this is a decent all-rounder without excelling in anything. That's why it has to undercut the competition by a fair margin to attract attention. The SV variant of the City is better specced than the V variant of the Elevate. So ideally the Elevate SV variant should start at 9.99 or max 10.25 lakhs with the V variant coming to 11.25 lakhs. Honda has a tough job pricing this by under-cutting the City as well as the competition. If Honda over-prices this one, it will be another failure. Honda has tried with a decent attempt and hopefully will not screw it up with the pricing.

PS: The Phoenix Orange colour is properly metallic and not like the old Jazz orange. Plus it's available only on VX and ZX as per the attached brochure. Also attaching an image of the colour palette. Except for the orange one, all colours are carried forward from the City.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Fuel efficiency was 12.6 km/l on the MID & 11.7 km/l via the tank-to-tank method.

BHPian dileep recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Our White Zeta AT arrived at NEXA GMS Road. (Here's why we chose the AT over the MT transmission)

The delivery experience was normal. NEXA didn't insist on anything that I did not want. Insurance was as per my choice and I could avail of the 50% NCB from my old policy. The only delay in getting the car (7 days from paying the money) was the inefficient RTO at Dehradun. All in all pretty good.

After driving it around the city and a run to the airport we made a weekend trip to Kanatal which is about 70 km from Dehradun (see attached map). The road is all mountains and sometimes the surface is poor. It was raining all the time and plenty of landslides on the way. There was also a lot of fog and I sorely missed fog lamps.

3 passengers and weekend luggage. The car performed superbly. There was no issue anywhere about losing power while climbing uphill, no issues in doing hair-pin-bends, the steering returned to the centre and did not need correction, and the AT worked like a charm - the only time it hunted for gears was when I gave an extra throttle input. Drove 95% with the OverDrive button ON and I did not feel the loss of power.

While returning to Dehradun there had been major landslides and the car overcame all the bad patches effortlessly. Then there was a road block near Mussoorie and we had to take a very narrow and steep path through town to reach the main highway. This was so cool in the Jimny because of its small size and great view. Here the AT was a boon because I had to constantly stop and move as there was local traffic on the road.

Jimny near Suwakholi. Thick fog

As a habit, I turn OFF the Engine A-Stop button after starting the car because it just doesn't help most of the time.

I'm running on stock tyres at the recommended 26 PSI and it's doing fine. The only accessories are floor mats and mud flaps, although I'm planning to get fog lamps installed soon.

There was a fair bit of interest in the Jimny up in the hills where people had not seen the car - policemen on duty, hotel staff, co-travellers, chai walla, selfie groups on the Mussoorie road, etc. were all pretty excited to see the car and appreciate it. Plenty of Thars along the way, but I did not notice any undue behaviour.

Rear seat-belt fix - enough of us have cried over this and as someone mentioned 'clips' can be used to put off the alarm when no passenger is travelling. I had an old seat belt from my Qualis which I've modified such that the seat can also be folded. I have to find one more clip and do the same for the other side. Photos will explain.

The green pouch you see on the rear seat head restraint is an old part of a camera bag that fits well there and provides space for nick-nacks.

The ODO reads around 350km. FE - 12.6 as per the MID and 11.7 as per the tank full method. Of the 350 I'd guess about 100 in the city (slow heavy traffic typical of Dehradun at certain times - especially weekends) with AC; 150 in the mountains without AC (slow speeds due to fog and road conditions) and 100 mixed city and some straight roads with AC.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

I was extremely impressed with the DCT's shifts; how quick and smooth they are.

BHPian qr20de recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

So managed to hustle (pestering) a limited test drive of the GTX+ petrol turbo DCT. Initial thoughts:

1. In an aggressive driving style, the engine is very responsive but does get a little loud higher on the revs. I was extremely impressed with the DCT's shift; how quick and smooth they are. I tried the paddle shifters too and was very impressed. Car feels planted.
2. In a sedate driving style, the engine is very quiet; you can only hear the wind noise from the a.c. and ventilated seats. You barely notice the DCT shifts
3. The lane-keeping tech and emergency braking with definitely take some getting used to; especially the lane keeping given that it adjusts constantly in your hands
4. The blind spot views in the cluster, ventilated seats and driving position, especially for the adjustable thigh support, (I'm 6'4") are a huge blessing
5. The ISG system works really well. You can hear the starter motor slightly (this is not the same system as the Maruti SVHS, because it's not got a hybrid battery. It uses DC-DC converters to restart the engine on idle.)
6. You'll need a day to go through all the settings in the infotainment system considering there's so much personalization to be had.
7. The cabin is for sure a little claustrophobic because of the all black so the sunshade will mostly always be open

The dealer told me that the GTX+ diesel should get approval this week while the petrol should be done by the end of next week, in Tamilnadu

Hope it answers some fellow members' questions or at least gives some insights.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

This is our 4th Toyota, after the Qualis and a couple of Innovas in 2005 & 2011.

BHPian car_guy1998 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

My observations after driving our Hycross for 120 km a while ago:

1. The engine is dead silent no one knows whether the engine has been switched on or not. After using this, our Honda City Diesel felt coarse.
2. The car has been gaining some attention in our gated community as ours is the first Hycross in our gated community in the sea of Crystas, Fortuners, Thars, Cretas, Seltos and to some extent, XUV700 and a guy in our gated community had asked whether this is XUV700 or not as he felt Hycross similar to it and the same guy himself owns Crysta 2.4Z.
3. Ingress and egress in this car are quite easy and my folks loved the comfort it offers.
4. Speakers are below average and deserve an upgrade.
5. HU is a bit laggy and Apple CarPlay gets disconnected sometimes on its own and needs to be connected through a regular USB cable. Maybe, a software upgrade by ASC would help improve the lag.
6. MID showed 4.6l/100 km after driving for 120 km and the overall mileage it showed is 21.7 km/l.
7. Seats are quite comfortable though seat covers are needed to be installed, which will be done soon front seats felt as if I'm sitting in a Fortuner and felt better than Crysta and the previous Innova.
8. Ride quality is superb even and the tyres were on 33 psi.
9. Steering is super light and lighter than the likes of Crysta, Fortuner and previous Innova, which we used to own and even lighter than our 2014 Honda City iDTEC.
10. MID felt a bit confusing to use though it'll take time to get used to it.
11. Doors are quite heavy that we had to shut the doors again even after not getting shut and impressed with the build quality it offered.
12. Headlight throw is a bit ok despite having LED lights and needs improvement in this regard. Any solutions for this?

Oh yes, this is our 4th Toyota (had owned Qualis previously and a couple of Innovas, which were in 2005 and 2011), and also, this is our first AT (Hybrids are anyway AT by default)

The present odo in 2 days of ownership is 229 km.

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