Automobile Technology

Happy new year 2014 to all the readers. I am sorry for being off the radar for about six months. Its been a roller coaster ride for me since July after moving to our new apartment. This year I promise to stay hooked to my blog with more updates and news. And yes, my TVS Apache was practically dead without a drop of oil in the engine and I gave it a new lease of life at a cost of 12k. It is now as good as new, well... somewhat, and the best part now that I realize is the wheels have punctured only twice since 2007 and my bike has clocked more than 40k (bad number?) kms. However, the sad part is, I cannot go beyond 70kmph. The bike begins to vibrate and scares the hell out of me. Ok. Time to celebrate the last day of the year. Have fun folks! and have a good one.

Isn't this a good looking SUV? I bet you would agree with me on that one. The first time I saw it, I was impressed with how different it looked in comparison to the others in the market. In Bangalore I see only two SUVs that people prefer the most, Toyota Fortuner and Renault Duster. Yeah yeah! Mahindra XUV is a thing of the past. Now, you might see the Ford Ecosport as well. But why? Well, it looks stunning, has a turbo charged engine, is a SUV..... 1) Has good handling and dynamics 2) Noiseless cabin 3) Responsive engine 4) Spacious 5) A good gearbox (though you will have to step down a lot in the city) 6) A reasonable price tag 7) blah blah blah! Autocar review   The only feature you might probably not be happy about is the interiors. Other than that this car is definitely a success.

Datsun is the new entrant into the country. There is always competition and competition is stressful and tough to challenge. This is first time I am hearing of this automobile manufacturer. It will interesting to see what they have to offer to the Indian automobile industry. Datsun, a Japanese automobile manufacturer constructed trucks in addition to passenger cars in the early 1900s. Nissan used to market cars under the Datsun brand name. Nissan is currently the parent company of Datsun. Datsun 16, 1937

Maruthi Suzuki Ertiga seems to be a hit in the market. I see a lot of this elegant LUV on roads in Bangalore. The Ertiga being a 7 seater is giving a tough competition to the Toyota Innova which has been around for over nine years. The fact that it is a mini suv and is way less expensive than the Innova makes it a bang for the buck. I have read really good reviews about this car in terms of looks, space and overall features. The only negative review is the engine which might struggle at low RPM, resulting in frequent shifting of the gears. Though the Ertiga sports the K-Series engine which is much more refined, less noisy and fuel efficient, the frequent gear changing could be a little annoying and tiresome when driving around in the city.

Porsche Cayenne GTS is worth 1.3 crores and has a mileage of 5 kmpl. Audi 2.0 TDI is 44 lacs and has a mileage of about 10 kmpl. Skoda Rapid is about 9.5 lacs and gives a mileage of 10 kmpl. Audi 3.0 TDI is about 48 lacs and gives a mileage of 7.5 kmpl. Are these cars worth the bucks? Maybe, if the purpose is just to show off.

We all know that it gives 25.5 kmpl. Well, thats what the advertisements say, and the tests conducted in factory conditions. Even if it gives somewhere between 19 to 21 kmpl on road, depending on your driving conditions, it is still a good deal.  However, what is disappointing is the tv commercial itself. It shows the driver happy about the fact that his father in law had held the map upside down and does not regreat driving around because Amaze has a good mileage. I was arguing with my wife telling her that it would probably have been better if they told the world that you save a lot of money as it gives a better mileage, instead of saying it gives a better mileage so keep driving around. Right? Also, is it a Brio with a boot on it?? Yuck!!!!

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?