Automobile Technology

A colleague of mine was mad about this car. Ever since it was officially released, he had been seriously considering buying it until people began brainwashing him with useless but realistic facts. He decided to back out. There was a lovely post in facebook about e20's amazing features. It is now a four seater. Gives a mileage of 100 kms in full charge and takes about five hours to fully charge. So the cost in Bangalore would be about 50 rupees for 100 kms. It also have a top speed of 80 kph and lots of other bells and whistle, but at the end of the day it all boils down to how complicated your life would become with this car. Lets dig in. Complication 1 : Travel Radius What happens when you want to travel more than 100 kms? You should be an idiot to even consider buying a car if you want to travel between cities. What about going to WonderLa from electronic city? Ah! idiotic thought again. I hope you get the idea of how much you can use this car if you know what I a...

I got to see the new Alto 800 today. The first thing I got to see is this... What the hell is that gap there????? I understand Maruthi attempted something funky and cool with the rear lamps, but look at that cut? 

Wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year. I will try to come up with some exciting posts next year and hopefully it will work out better than what it is now. Thank you all.

Come on! Why not? They started off manufacturing cars by borrowing components from other companies. At one point Hyundai was struggling. Cost cutting resulted in poor quality and Hyundai was deemed as an unreliable product.  They even tagged it " H ope Y ou U nderstand N othing is D rive-able  A nd I nexpensive".  They started investing on quality, design and even tied up with Honda for quality survey and measures. Sales began to increase in 2004 and since then quality has never been a compromising factor. They hired new designers. Christopher Chapman, ex-designer of BMW was hired as the head of design in the US and Kia hired Peter Schreyer , a former Volkswagen / Audi designer.  The design has changed for sure. We see the fluidic vehicles everywhere and they simply nailed it. The fluidic Elantra for instance is just amazing. Suddenly it seems to me that Hyundai is at the top of the leader board and they are taking it seriously.  You should read t...

Innova gives a mileage of 11 kmpl of petrol. At 75 rupees per litre of petrol you would end up travelling 73.3 kms for 500 rupees. My i10 gives about 15 kmpl. That is about 99.9 kms; a difference of 26.6 kms i.e I could go from RT Nagar to Koramangala and back to RT Nagar (well, somewhat). You have a credit card with a 5 to 10 % cashback offer but you still end up spending more. If you are someone who works out your monthly budget you will notice how big an expense it is. So yes, mileage is important and I don't understand why in the name of luxury ordinary people end up making a mess of their life buying cars that simply don't meet the needs. I spend 7.5 lacs for a top end fabia and I expect a top end mileage out of it. Hell! It gives about 13 kmpl in city. So lets do some math. For 500 rupees petrol what is the total mileage in city you will get from the following vehicles with the assumption that its 75 rupees a kilometer. Alto - 17kmpl - 113.22 kms i10 - 15 kmpl - 9...

A tire that requires no air. Awesome isn't? Well.. its not a fiction and is very much in use right now.Michelin is developing a tire called the 'Twheel'. Its a tire and a wheel that requires no air. Bridgestone is also coming up with one. More info here Air less tire

On my way to Mangalore again for Diwali. This time the route was through Hassan. My i10 averaged at about 17 to 20 kms / litre with AC being on most of the time. The route was just amazing and you can simply cruise through to the city in about 6.5 hrs; assuming you don't halt anywhere.

Sometimes I think to myself.. hmmmm! I have the i10 and I wish I had the Polo or the Fabia or the Figo or the Punto; but back in 2009 some of these were not even manufactured and the others were expensive. My conscious at that time told me not to pay heavy for a car which would bear the brunt of the first time car driving experience from an inexperienced guy. I bought the car and I loved it. It was cute, quick, compact, much like owning a mini for me. Yesterday I got into a Figo and suddenly the thought of wanting to change my car crept in me. The key, the way the engine turns on smoothly, clutch, accelerator and the overall smoothness of the car was way different from the i10. Unlike the clutch in i10 which is tough, the Polo, Figo and Fabia have a smooth feel to it. It gives a better control while driving and therefore lesser stress, strain on the driver. Sometimes holding the clutch in the i10 can be painful in traffic. Anyways... looks like after three years its time for a cha...

Find my nice little android app in the Android Market to help you out with clearing your car loans (any loan basically). Prepayment Loan Calculator

What is wrong with Nissan? They come up with a beautiful car like the Sunny except that its got a butt of an elephant, Renault does the same mistake calling it the Scala and now its the Nissan Evalia. Nothing is wrong with the cookies in the jar. Its the jar that is not the right one. Seriously! Nissan has to invest on good designers. It just looks horrible in all directions. Why would I want to buy a car like this? Imagine having an image of the Omni in photoshop and then scaling it uniformly. That feels like the Evalia, but atleast Omni looks descent. This one is like errrrr! 'having no words to express it'. This is the only image I shall share. How cool is this!!!

I got to see a Pulsar 200 in action recently and what is interesting is that bike makers are beginning to think outside the box to compete in the market. I could not find the silencer. I had once asked myself out of curiosity if it was ever possible to have a car not look like a car but still is a car? The same with a bike too. Thats just me like the mars rover 'Curiosity' trying to find answers on how life formed. Imagine a car with just three wheels but handles like one with four wheels. This would not only reduce the cost of manufacturing but also reduce pollution by not having to create one more for every vehicle in the world. Anyways, I got a bit distracted there. I just woke up from a good sleep and my mind is fresh. So, the Pulsar 200 has its silencer neatly hidden below the chassis. Its called the underbelly exhaust. Imagine the silencer of the Fazer but nicely tucked in under the bike instead of jetting out of it. How creative is that? Overall the bike itself looks ...

There is nothing like the Alto. It is a small car but is seriously packed with energy. Mangalore city probably has more Alto's than anywhere else in the country or it seems like that to me because everytime I go to my hometown I get a see a lot of it. Maruthi finally decided that its time for them to focus back to the roots. The Alto now has a fresh look. Everything inside seems to be more or less the same. The exterior has been redesigned and it does not look bad. Customers are in for a delight.

I read an article about this bike and I wished to share it. Its the C 1 from Lit Motors. A fusion of a bike and a car. Its enclosed like a car and also has a steering wheel and does not tip over. So you can take it anytime and wherever you need without worrying about balancing it. The C 1 makes use of two large gyroscopes to balance itself. Its a got a metal shell and has a top speed of 120 miles. Since its electric it can tavel 200 miles on a full charge. We definitely need such vehicles in a country where commuting long distances is very common and people are constantly concerned about the money it takes to fuel up their vehicles every day. What more, less congestion and more comfort and it is still a bike. Here is a video of this cool bike

They stunned the country with the XUV and then came the Renault Duster and they began to wonder hmmmm!!! why not experiment with the Xylo??? We will chop it, redesign it just a little and tell the world its a mini SUV that costs less and is better. Seriously???? It would have maybe worked if Mahindra decided to chop the XUV instead of the Xylo. What was Mahindra thinking? 

We all love the splendor. It was ideal for all age groups, was light, neat and sleek. It offered low maintenance and had a very good life. Years after it was launched I still see a lot on the streets now. However time moves on and things change. Bajaj Discover seems to have dethroned the best selling motorcyle and is now world's largest selling motorcycle. I am not a great fan of Bajaj products. I feel their design always lacks something. Personally the Splendor will always be my favorite. 

I could not resist but post this video from head to head. This is simply awesome especially because of the background music.

The F12 Berlinetta is the latest from Ferrari. Its lighter, faster and meaner and yet its fuel efficient and environment friendly with lower carbon emissions. It boasts a V12, 6262 cc engine, 7 speed gearbox and is the fastest car Ferrari has ever produced. Its reaches 100km/h in 3.1 seconds. Check out this awesome review from Auto Express to know more.

I have not seen many Nissan Sunny's on road. I get it that it is a CAAAARRRRRRR! but hey! don't you guys get it. It is just simply not looking good. Renault decides to come up with Scala with the same looks. What is wrong with them??? I had an experience in the back seat of the Sunny recently and yes it is definitely a CAAARRRRRR!!! There is a lot of space inside the car. Your kids would not have any issues having fun in the back seat. However what disappointed me the most is the design of the exterior and interior of the car.  Exterior The huge buttocks of this car makes the car's rear stand apart from the front. What was Nissan thinking??? While the front looks descent the rear looks all messed up. Even the side profile of the car is not appealing. Each element of the car is actually good but the way they have been integrated together is what makes it unattractive. Nissan messed it up big time. Interior Again individually all elements speak up just...

I got a chance to experience the Polo yesterday and I must say that I finally am convinced that all I heard about Volkswagen is indeed true. Let me get into the facts right away. These are simply what I feel about the car. What i like: I have seen several reviews claiming the ride quality of Volkswagen to be one of the best in the market. This is true. Few of my colleagues in the car felt the same too. The ride quality is definitely way better than most cars in the market today. I had always been crazy about the looks of a car. The new Fludic Verna for example has a very different and classy look; echoing "Fludic" from front to rear. At the same time many feel its ride quality is not as smooth as it should be. The fact is a driver is going to spend 100% of his time driving and its important a buyer pays more attention to the drive quality and comfort over the looks. So yes, the ride and comfort in the Polo is simply good. This is a verdict from four of us inside ...

I don't understand the purpose of this car. It's small and costs over 4 lacs. What will you do with a car like this? Maybe go for a drive to have some tea!!! It's compact and Honda has designed it well. I mean, there is leg space, there is this little boot space, there is good visibility and there is all the goodies (well not all of them) you need in a car, but is it good enough?. It sports a1.2 litre engine and is definitely power packed, the drive is smooth and so is the performance and hey! its Honda. Personally I feel it is smaller than the i10 and comparing its price to what it offers it does not seem worth the money to me.