There’s a magic to the lake city of Udaipur: the gurgling waters of the Pichola, the haunting tunes of the flute, the

splendour of the lake palace that a king of means was inspired to build himself a similar lake city 3500km away

in far off Tripura. Cue a mad adventure - a lake city to lake city drive, from the West to the East, across eight states,

to the last unexplored frontier - the North East - in the raging monsoons, all to answer the burning question:

How good isthe new Swift?

UDAIPUR - GUWAHATIOur adventure begins on the banks of the Pichola with the backdrop of the lake palace and we’re off across six statesPage 129

GUWAHATI - CHERRAPUNJEEOff to the wettest place in the world where the new Swift faces off with the Polo 1.6 for enthusiast honoursPage 138

SHILLONG - UDAIPURThe big drive: new Swift faces off against six rivals down the most unexplored corner of the country Page 147

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Words Sirish Chandran Photography Gaurav S Thombre, Kishen Nanjappa

Trip-uraThe big test! Does the Swift have it in it to best the best hatchbacksin the country today? An epic drive to Tripura beckons

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SWIFT VS RIVALS

SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 147

Words Sirish Chandran Photography Gaurav S Thombre

Wet ‘n’ WildThe new Swift meets its first challenger - the Polo 1.6 on the soaking road to Cherrapunjee

There’s a saying in Assamese that loosely translated goes something like - the girls and rain in the North East are un-predictable. It’s utter nonsense

of course - there is nothing remotely predict-able about the North East, save for the rains that remain relentless and never stop. Ever.

Perfect timing on our part. In all of our 13 years we’ve holed sumps in Ladakh too many

times to count, had photographers throw up in every nook and corner of our country, driven through riots under armed escort, got roared at by lions in the wild and run out of fuel in corners vultures refuse to fly over. Yet we’ve ventured less than a handful of times to the North East despite the delectable prospect of virgin destinations and unspoilt splendour. We know it’s too bloody unpredictable. And that it rains in the monsoons. Non stop.

Yet we’re here, getting drenched as we load up the Polo at the Guwahati airport and five of us cram into it, cram being the operative word. Good thing that our shutterbug Gaurav is barely four inches tall and half as wide, and in those intimate confines, wipers thrashing furi-ously, headlights feebly penetrating the muck splattered off the never-ending convoy of trucks we head to rendezvous with the Swift that has made its incredible journey all the way

COM PA ROSWIFT VS POLO 1.6

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Words Sirish Chandran Photography Gaurav S Thombre

Wet ‘n’ WildThe new Swift meets its first challenger - the Polo 1.6 on the soaking road to Cherrapunjee

There’s a saying in Assamese that loosely translated goes something like - the girls and rain in the North East are un-predictable. It’s utter nonsense

of course - there is nothing remotely predict-able about the North East, save for the rains that remain relentless and never stop. Ever.

Perfect timing on our part. In all of our 13 years we’ve holed sumps in Ladakh too many

times to count, had photographers throw up in every nook and corner of our country, driven through riots under armed escort, got roared at by lions in the wild and run out of fuel in corners vultures refuse to fly over. Yet we’ve ventured less than a handful of times to the North East despite the delectable prospect of virgin destinations and unspoilt splendour. We know it’s too bloody unpredictable. And that it rains in the monsoons. Non stop.

Yet we’re here, getting drenched as we load up the Polo at the Guwahati airport and five of us cram into it, cram being the operative word. Good thing that our shutterbug Gaurav is barely four inches tall and half as wide, and in those intimate confines, wipers thrashing furi-ously, headlights feebly penetrating the muck splattered off the never-ending convoy of trucks we head to rendezvous with the Swift that has made its incredible journey all the way

COM PA ROSWIFT VS POLO 1.6

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High Roller The Ghost is the new definition for performance and luxury

T E STROLLS-ROYCE GHOST

The car is comfortably cruising at 160kmph with the power re-serve meter in the instrument cluster displaying 70 per cent power left. The cabin is quiet

with the V12 engine whispering away, the ride is plush and the car glides unlike any other. I step on the throttle and the car in-stantly makes the rear squat with the nose pointing upwards, leaps ahead in true super car fashion and comfortably reaches speeds above 230kmph. It was a unique experience as I had never driven at such high speeds be-fore and felt as comfortable as sitting in a La-Z-boy. The experience was just as the manufacturer put it – a magic carpet ride. This wasn’t a dream but exactly how I felt when I drove the Rolls-Royce Ghost. The last time you read about the Ghost in OVER-DRIVE was exactly a year back in the 12th anniversary edition, so for this year’s cele-bration, we decided to drive the car yet again and it’s a road test this time.

As a brand, Rolls-Royce represents the best among the best. Today the name is used as a benchmark for describing something

top-notch. The first thing that comes to your mind when you look at the Ghost is, ‘that’s a Rolls-Royce’. It’s an unmistakable design. The signature front grille with the ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ proudly sitting on top is a piece of art and will never go unnoticed. The Ghost was first seen as a concept in the 2008 Ge-neva Motor Show as the 200EX concept, however very little has changed from con-cept to reality. The styling is the main con-tributor to its appeal and at the same retains the Rolls-Royce theme. The designers of the Ghost call it the ‘yacht line design’ as the long front end pushes back the cabin while the body tapers down to a long rear overhang. The optional satin silver bonnet is specially painted to be seen only at certain angles and echoes the brushed stainless steel look of other models such as the Phantom Coupe and Drophead. The designers of the car used the company’s classic Rolls-Royce propor-tions, 2:1 ratio of the height of the wheels to the height of the body.

The Ghost name was used in honour of the Silver Ghost, a car that was produced in 1906 and was known not only for its im-

pressive dependability and refinement but also for its great flair and style. The current Ghost carries this forward by being regal and at the same time is more sculpted and flowing compared to other models in the Rolls-Royce range.

The signature coach doors make the car look distinctive. The interiors are well matched with the exterior and are as elegant as other Rolls-Royce models. The big diame-ter steering wheel reminds you of the Phan-tom, it combines classic styling but at same time is functional as well. Both front and rear passengers get control knobs which is simi-lar to BMW’s iDrive to control various multi-media features such as music, navigation and the on-board computer. The car even has a 12GB hard drive to store music from a pen drive or a CD. The Ghost’s 9.2 inch screen is hidden by an electric shutter made of wood. Heads-up display is also standard on the car. Rolls-Royce has not forgotten the rear pas-sengers, each of them also have a 9.2 inch screen. The car’s stereo consists of 16 speak-ers including two subwoofers and a 10-chan-nel amplifier. The screen also displays a bird’s

Words Halley Prabhakar Photography Gaurav S Thombre

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011162 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 163

High Roller The Ghost is the new definition for performance and luxury

T E STROLLS-ROYCE GHOST

The car is comfortably cruising at 160kmph with the power re-serve meter in the instrument cluster displaying 70 per cent power left. The cabin is quiet

with the V12 engine whispering away, the ride is plush and the car glides unlike any other. I step on the throttle and the car in-stantly makes the rear squat with the nose pointing upwards, leaps ahead in true super car fashion and comfortably reaches speeds above 230kmph. It was a unique experience as I had never driven at such high speeds be-fore and felt as comfortable as sitting in a La-Z-boy. The experience was just as the manufacturer put it – a magic carpet ride. This wasn’t a dream but exactly how I felt when I drove the Rolls-Royce Ghost. The last time you read about the Ghost in OVER-DRIVE was exactly a year back in the 12th anniversary edition, so for this year’s cele-bration, we decided to drive the car yet again and it’s a road test this time.

As a brand, Rolls-Royce represents the best among the best. Today the name is used as a benchmark for describing something

top-notch. The first thing that comes to your mind when you look at the Ghost is, ‘that’s a Rolls-Royce’. It’s an unmistakable design. The signature front grille with the ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ proudly sitting on top is a piece of art and will never go unnoticed. The Ghost was first seen as a concept in the 2008 Ge-neva Motor Show as the 200EX concept, however very little has changed from con-cept to reality. The styling is the main con-tributor to its appeal and at the same retains the Rolls-Royce theme. The designers of the Ghost call it the ‘yacht line design’ as the long front end pushes back the cabin while the body tapers down to a long rear overhang. The optional satin silver bonnet is specially painted to be seen only at certain angles and echoes the brushed stainless steel look of other models such as the Phantom Coupe and Drophead. The designers of the car used the company’s classic Rolls-Royce propor-tions, 2:1 ratio of the height of the wheels to the height of the body.

The Ghost name was used in honour of the Silver Ghost, a car that was produced in 1906 and was known not only for its im-

pressive dependability and refinement but also for its great flair and style. The current Ghost carries this forward by being regal and at the same time is more sculpted and flowing compared to other models in the Rolls-Royce range.

The signature coach doors make the car look distinctive. The interiors are well matched with the exterior and are as elegant as other Rolls-Royce models. The big diame-ter steering wheel reminds you of the Phan-tom, it combines classic styling but at same time is functional as well. Both front and rear passengers get control knobs which is simi-lar to BMW’s iDrive to control various multi-media features such as music, navigation and the on-board computer. The car even has a 12GB hard drive to store music from a pen drive or a CD. The Ghost’s 9.2 inch screen is hidden by an electric shutter made of wood. Heads-up display is also standard on the car. Rolls-Royce has not forgotten the rear pas-sengers, each of them also have a 9.2 inch screen. The car’s stereo consists of 16 speak-ers including two subwoofers and a 10-chan-nel amplifier. The screen also displays a bird’s

Words Halley Prabhakar Photography Gaurav S Thombre

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011162 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 163

COM PA RODUCATI MONSTER 796 VS HARLEY-DAVIDSON 883 SUPERLOW VS SUZUKI BANDIT 1250S

Words Shubhabrata Marmar Photography Gaurav S Thombre

Within reachWe ride three dramatically different but realistic big bikes... Which one to buy?

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011170 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 171

COM PA RODUCATI MONSTER 796 VS HARLEY-DAVIDSON 883 SUPERLOW VS SUZUKI BANDIT 1250S

Words Shubhabrata Marmar Photography Gaurav S Thombre

Within reachWe ride three dramatically different but realistic big bikes... Which one to buy?

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011170 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 171

F E AT U R EPORSCHE CAYENNE S

Pepper spray Words Bertrand D’souza Photography Gaurav Thombre & Ashok George

The Cayenne S takes its blend of hot and spicy to the cool of Shimla

I’m waiting for Sandeep towering at the far edge of my windscreen to give me a countdown. I look past his waist and the seat belt pales in sig-nificance against the sheer drop at

the edge of the road. If I go off here I don’t fancy my chances of coming out of this alive, and if I do, I calculate how much in debt I’d be if I have to crash the very expensive SUV I’m driving. Enough I calculate to keep me in hock for the best years of my life. I glance at the road and see the towering pine trees, hundreds of them all over the mountain and my odds of coming unscathed out of this drop to below 10 per cent. Then I see Sand-eep asking if I’m ready, my mind’s screaming no but my head’s nodding a yes. His request nevertheless is purely processional, count-down he will and I watch his fingers going 5….3, 2, 1, bang. I floor the throttle! What the hell am I getting myself into?

Six weeks ago while planning out the an-niversary issue we hit upon a brainwave, why

not race a fast exotic sports car against a very talented racer on one of our greatest driving roads in India. For such a feat we’d require to close off some section of road, so that meant seeking help from friends who run motor-sport clubs or organised motorsport events. We scoped South India but then realized the monsoons would create havoc. Central and East India were the same unless we were planning something against a hovercraft or speedboat with big life vests.

That left North India, which I admit is one of my favorite destinations to head to anytime of the year. Now if there is any motorsport event in North India that is worth mentioning it’s either the Desert Storm or the Raid-de-Hi-malaya. There were other plans for Rajasthan and Punjab so we decided to go with our plans further up North and enlist help from our friends, namely a fanatic who runs the illustri-ous Himalayan Motorsport, Vijay Parmar. And through him is where we hit upon a race to the top of the Jalori Pass or the Jalori Jot as it

is called locally, one of the toughest stages of the Raid-de-Himalaya.

The Jalori pass stands 3223 meters above sea level which by Himalayan standards isn’t very high up. Some of the other passes that you drive across exist at 4500 meters while others soar even higher. So the elevation isn’t the challenge, the angle of ascent is. Around six kilometers from the top of Jalori the climb gets so steep engines, transmissions work double overtime and well the result is usually overheating cool-ing systems. It’s sheer irony that at this alti-tude where the weather is generally cooler machines begin to overheat. This road was a phenomenal stage on the Raid De Hima-laya until the route got too commercial ending up with lots of traffic management issues. So around 3 years ago the rally stage was scrapped from the Raid but not from our memories.

Now the drive to Jalori from Shimla is epic as it passes through deep ravines, runs

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011180 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 181

F E AT U R EPORSCHE CAYENNE S

Pepper spray Words Bertrand D’souza Photography Gaurav Thombre & Ashok George

The Cayenne S takes its blend of hot and spicy to the cool of Shimla

I’m waiting for Sandeep towering at the far edge of my windscreen to give me a countdown. I look past his waist and the seat belt pales in sig-nificance against the sheer drop at

the edge of the road. If I go off here I don’t fancy my chances of coming out of this alive, and if I do, I calculate how much in debt I’d be if I have to crash the very expensive SUV I’m driving. Enough I calculate to keep me in hock for the best years of my life. I glance at the road and see the towering pine trees, hundreds of them all over the mountain and my odds of coming unscathed out of this drop to below 10 per cent. Then I see Sand-eep asking if I’m ready, my mind’s screaming no but my head’s nodding a yes. His request nevertheless is purely processional, count-down he will and I watch his fingers going 5….3, 2, 1, bang. I floor the throttle! What the hell am I getting myself into?

Six weeks ago while planning out the an-niversary issue we hit upon a brainwave, why

not race a fast exotic sports car against a very talented racer on one of our greatest driving roads in India. For such a feat we’d require to close off some section of road, so that meant seeking help from friends who run motor-sport clubs or organised motorsport events. We scoped South India but then realized the monsoons would create havoc. Central and East India were the same unless we were planning something against a hovercraft or speedboat with big life vests.

That left North India, which I admit is one of my favorite destinations to head to anytime of the year. Now if there is any motorsport event in North India that is worth mentioning it’s either the Desert Storm or the Raid-de-Hi-malaya. There were other plans for Rajasthan and Punjab so we decided to go with our plans further up North and enlist help from our friends, namely a fanatic who runs the illustri-ous Himalayan Motorsport, Vijay Parmar. And through him is where we hit upon a race to the top of the Jalori Pass or the Jalori Jot as it

is called locally, one of the toughest stages of the Raid-de-Himalaya.

The Jalori pass stands 3223 meters above sea level which by Himalayan standards isn’t very high up. Some of the other passes that you drive across exist at 4500 meters while others soar even higher. So the elevation isn’t the challenge, the angle of ascent is. Around six kilometers from the top of Jalori the climb gets so steep engines, transmissions work double overtime and well the result is usually overheating cool-ing systems. It’s sheer irony that at this alti-tude where the weather is generally cooler machines begin to overheat. This road was a phenomenal stage on the Raid De Hima-laya until the route got too commercial ending up with lots of traffic management issues. So around 3 years ago the rally stage was scrapped from the Raid but not from our memories.

Now the drive to Jalori from Shimla is epic as it passes through deep ravines, runs

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011180 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 181

F E AT U R ECAYENNE S VS WR450

Ashish Moudgil is the reign-ing champion of the Raid -de-Himalaya on a bike. Why is that so impressive? Because, the Raid is one of

the toughest off-road rallies in the world. The terrain and altitude make this a formidable event, so formidable that every year nearly half the participants drop out either due to sheer exhaustion or mechanical failure. The best of cars ceremoniously fail and have to be revived every day to continue, so to a biker riding competitively this is hell, albeit frozen over! And in this hell Ashish Moudgil has claimed victory five times, four in a row with the last one seeing him leading the fastest cars by over an hour.

But Ashish isn’t a person who fills up a room he enters with his presence, you’d prob-ably not even notice him in his wire frame glasses and wavy mop of hair. Neither is he a giant who towers over the Himalayas, at just a bit over 5’6” he can barely even get a secure foot down when he’s astride his Yamaha WR450. It is in fact comical to see him hop-ping from left to right foot trying to balance his bike when it’s parked. Yet he’s conquered these mountains making him the ultimate hurdle to beat for any other competitor.

The first three times he won were on a Hero Honda Karizma, which finally brought him the big ticket sponsor - Red Rooster Rac-ing. He’s obviously done them proud and today he’s with us as a benchmark pit-ting his brand of enduro riding against the Cayenne S. Ashish then is a cold clinical tool of speed and skill on probably one of the toughest rally stages in all of India, the road to Jalori. This by the way is not an attempt to see just how fast the Cayenne S goes, we’ve already established that, its 5.9 second burst to 100kmph is insanely quick. This battle is to evaluate just how well the myriad skills of the Cayenne S come together in ter-rains it was built specifically for but is rarely if ever, exploited.

Now Ashish is to ride his WR450 to the top of Jalori at full rally pace which is fast and no holds barred. That is why Vijay Par-mar has brought along some help to ensure the road we’ve identified is shut preventing any traffic movement uphill or down. The task it seems is relatively simple, a lot of the traffic coming down this way are familiar with his activities, shouldn’t be surprising because half the taxis in this region bear the Himalayan Motorsport stickers.

Ashish’s WR450 is a Yamaha 4-stroke off-road (enduro) motorcycle based on the

YZ450F a hardcore motocross bike. It makes around 42 horsepower has larger radiators for better cooling and slightly softer suspension compared to the YZ. Also unlike the YZ, the WR series of motorcycles have a tall ratio transmission which benefits off-road compe-tition riding as the distances are long and higher top speeds are prioritized over quicker bursts of power like in a motocross event.

Countdown time, Sandeep’s holding fort at the starting block and Vijay is managing the chequered. Ashish is the first to go setting a formidable time of eight minutes, 22.65 sec-onds. When he returns he’s panting wheez-ing, the six kilometers to the top seems to be harder than I thought, either that or Ashish is terribly out of shape. I fear it’s the former.

And so I find myself waiting for Sandeep to give me the countdown. He’s taller than the Cayenne S and from where I am perched I can’t exactly see his hand extended to count the numbers down. I begin adjusting the set-tings. Sport mode on, increase ride height a notch, switch off traction control and get the off-road mode into level one. I’m a bit terri-fied now, one because I’m sure the ride height is going to reduce itself once the Cayenne S picks up some speed and then with traction control switched off the track feels narrower and the drops steeper. I cross myself, say a prayer and see Sandeep folding his fingers.

5,4,3,2, 1…I mash the pedal to the floor and instantly feel the sweat racing from my chin past my neck with the shove that’s gen-erated. The climb up largely requires just the third gear, its explosive enough with suffi-cient torque to briskly brush aside the straight sections connecting the hairpins and corners. But the hairpins are where I need to dump the Cayenne S into second, these corners climb uphill steeply and third gear lets the Cayenne S drop out of the pow-erband. Second gear helps retain the mo-mentum though I sense there is some wheel spin when I whisk it around the hairpin. I also sense the tail stepping out slightly, there is after all 58 per cent torque channeled to the rear with the rest going to the front wheels. Yet the steering is precise and in-credibly direct, you know with inch perfect precision just where the front wheels are going to be and that helps control the slide around the hairpins.

Barely a kilometer into the stage, I see the surface gets rockier with larger ruts devel-oped from the time the monsoons began. The sides of the mountain are also closing in and I’m trying hard to block the drop on the other edge out of my peripheral vision. This

Words Bertrand D’souza Photography Gaurav Thombre

Mountain feverLuxury SUV or mental enduro rider. Who’s quicker?

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011188 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 189

F E AT U R ECAYENNE S VS WR450

Ashish Moudgil is the reign-ing champion of the Raid -de-Himalaya on a bike. Why is that so impressive? Because, the Raid is one of

the toughest off-road rallies in the world. The terrain and altitude make this a formidable event, so formidable that every year nearly half the participants drop out either due to sheer exhaustion or mechanical failure. The best of cars ceremoniously fail and have to be revived every day to continue, so to a biker riding competitively this is hell, albeit frozen over! And in this hell Ashish Moudgil has claimed victory five times, four in a row with the last one seeing him leading the fastest cars by over an hour.

But Ashish isn’t a person who fills up a room he enters with his presence, you’d prob-ably not even notice him in his wire frame glasses and wavy mop of hair. Neither is he a giant who towers over the Himalayas, at just a bit over 5’6” he can barely even get a secure foot down when he’s astride his Yamaha WR450. It is in fact comical to see him hop-ping from left to right foot trying to balance his bike when it’s parked. Yet he’s conquered these mountains making him the ultimate hurdle to beat for any other competitor.

The first three times he won were on a Hero Honda Karizma, which finally brought him the big ticket sponsor - Red Rooster Rac-ing. He’s obviously done them proud and today he’s with us as a benchmark pit-ting his brand of enduro riding against the Cayenne S. Ashish then is a cold clinical tool of speed and skill on probably one of the toughest rally stages in all of India, the road to Jalori. This by the way is not an attempt to see just how fast the Cayenne S goes, we’ve already established that, its 5.9 second burst to 100kmph is insanely quick. This battle is to evaluate just how well the myriad skills of the Cayenne S come together in ter-rains it was built specifically for but is rarely if ever, exploited.

Now Ashish is to ride his WR450 to the top of Jalori at full rally pace which is fast and no holds barred. That is why Vijay Par-mar has brought along some help to ensure the road we’ve identified is shut preventing any traffic movement uphill or down. The task it seems is relatively simple, a lot of the traffic coming down this way are familiar with his activities, shouldn’t be surprising because half the taxis in this region bear the Himalayan Motorsport stickers.

Ashish’s WR450 is a Yamaha 4-stroke off-road (enduro) motorcycle based on the

YZ450F a hardcore motocross bike. It makes around 42 horsepower has larger radiators for better cooling and slightly softer suspension compared to the YZ. Also unlike the YZ, the WR series of motorcycles have a tall ratio transmission which benefits off-road compe-tition riding as the distances are long and higher top speeds are prioritized over quicker bursts of power like in a motocross event.

Countdown time, Sandeep’s holding fort at the starting block and Vijay is managing the chequered. Ashish is the first to go setting a formidable time of eight minutes, 22.65 sec-onds. When he returns he’s panting wheez-ing, the six kilometers to the top seems to be harder than I thought, either that or Ashish is terribly out of shape. I fear it’s the former.

And so I find myself waiting for Sandeep to give me the countdown. He’s taller than the Cayenne S and from where I am perched I can’t exactly see his hand extended to count the numbers down. I begin adjusting the set-tings. Sport mode on, increase ride height a notch, switch off traction control and get the off-road mode into level one. I’m a bit terri-fied now, one because I’m sure the ride height is going to reduce itself once the Cayenne S picks up some speed and then with traction control switched off the track feels narrower and the drops steeper. I cross myself, say a prayer and see Sandeep folding his fingers.

5,4,3,2, 1…I mash the pedal to the floor and instantly feel the sweat racing from my chin past my neck with the shove that’s gen-erated. The climb up largely requires just the third gear, its explosive enough with suffi-cient torque to briskly brush aside the straight sections connecting the hairpins and corners. But the hairpins are where I need to dump the Cayenne S into second, these corners climb uphill steeply and third gear lets the Cayenne S drop out of the pow-erband. Second gear helps retain the mo-mentum though I sense there is some wheel spin when I whisk it around the hairpin. I also sense the tail stepping out slightly, there is after all 58 per cent torque channeled to the rear with the rest going to the front wheels. Yet the steering is precise and in-credibly direct, you know with inch perfect precision just where the front wheels are going to be and that helps control the slide around the hairpins.

Barely a kilometer into the stage, I see the surface gets rockier with larger ruts devel-oped from the time the monsoons began. The sides of the mountain are also closing in and I’m trying hard to block the drop on the other edge out of my peripheral vision. This

Words Bertrand D’souza Photography Gaurav Thombre

Mountain feverLuxury SUV or mental enduro rider. Who’s quicker?

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011188 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 189

Initial stretch is tarmac and can be less than perfect. Watch for police speed gun just before Panvel on-ramp

The twisties are awesome, but watch for slow traffic especially when heading

uphill. Can be slippery when wet!

F E AT U R EAUDI RS5 ON THE MUMBAI-PUNE EXPRESSWAY

Words Shubhabrata Marmar Photography Gaurav S Thombre

The best road in India experienced in one of the best sports-coupes in the country

Road trip

MUMBAI-PUNE EXPRESSWAY

Slow down. Slow down. Slow down. The bridge at the end is NASTY when

you turn towards Pune/Bangalore

This is an open scenic stretch that has mild curves and heavy crosswinds

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011192 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 193

KALAMBOLI

MUMBAI

PUNE

LONAWALA

The longest, flattest straight on the expressway. Beware of villagers crossing just before the bridge about halfway down the straight

BHATAN TUNNEL

KHALAPUR TOLL PLAZA

KHOPOLI ROAD

HP PETROL PUMP

TALEGAON TOLL PLAZA

Initial stretch is tarmac and can be less than perfect. Watch for police speed gun just before Panvel on-ramp

The twisties are awesome, but watch for slow traffic especially when heading

uphill. Can be slippery when wet!

F E AT U R EAUDI RS5 ON THE MUMBAI-PUNE EXPRESSWAY

Words Shubhabrata Marmar Photography Gaurav S Thombre

The best road in India experienced in one of the best sports-coupes in the country

Road trip

MUMBAI-PUNE EXPRESSWAY

Slow down. Slow down. Slow down. The bridge at the end is NASTY when

you turn towards Pune/Bangalore

This is an open scenic stretch that has mild curves and heavy crosswinds

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011192 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 193

KALAMBOLI

MUMBAI

PUNE

LONAWALA

The longest, flattest straight on the expressway. Beware of villagers crossing just before the bridge about halfway down the straight

BHATAN TUNNEL

KHALAPUR TOLL PLAZA

KHOPOLI ROAD

HP PETROL PUMP

TALEGAON TOLL PLAZA

Come together Words & Photography Ashok George

We take the German giant to meet the Aryan tribes of Dha and Hanu

When the Bealtes sang ‘come together’, they were singing praises about themselves. If you ask me though,

the chorus definitely has a lot to say about a world where hate would not prevail and there would be all round happiness and all the other ideologies that go very well with the 70’s, rock and roll and certain plant life. When we at OVERDRIVE sing the same song

(hell yeah! We sing too), we mean we’re bringing together two Aryans that have been separated for decades. Puzzled? Needn’t be. We are bringing together the iconic ML 350, the first luxury SUV to be launched in the country, and the Aryan tribes of Dha and Hanu. What’s the connection you ask? Well as we see it, the chunky SUV comes from the land of the autobahn and the tribe came from the same place, only a long time before the autobahn was even built.

Dha and Hanu are situated in the beauti-ful state of Jammu and Kashmir on the banks of river Indus. They were founded by early Aryans who made their way to India around roughly the same time that Akbar’s face used to adorn our national currency. Over the years the blue eyed fair haired Aryans have slowly evolved to look just like any other To-mojit, Digvijay or Harinder. The only traces of being Aryan lie in their genes and of course the local folklore.

F E AT U R EMERC ML 350 CDI TO DHA HANU

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011200 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 201

Come together Words & Photography Ashok George

We take the German giant to meet the Aryan tribes of Dha and Hanu

When the Bealtes sang ‘come together’, they were singing praises about themselves. If you ask me though,

the chorus definitely has a lot to say about a world where hate would not prevail and there would be all round happiness and all the other ideologies that go very well with the 70’s, rock and roll and certain plant life. When we at OVERDRIVE sing the same song

(hell yeah! We sing too), we mean we’re bringing together two Aryans that have been separated for decades. Puzzled? Needn’t be. We are bringing together the iconic ML 350, the first luxury SUV to be launched in the country, and the Aryan tribes of Dha and Hanu. What’s the connection you ask? Well as we see it, the chunky SUV comes from the land of the autobahn and the tribe came from the same place, only a long time before the autobahn was even built.

Dha and Hanu are situated in the beauti-ful state of Jammu and Kashmir on the banks of river Indus. They were founded by early Aryans who made their way to India around roughly the same time that Akbar’s face used to adorn our national currency. Over the years the blue eyed fair haired Aryans have slowly evolved to look just like any other To-mojit, Digvijay or Harinder. The only traces of being Aryan lie in their genes and of course the local folklore.

F E AT U R EMERC ML 350 CDI TO DHA HANU

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011200 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 201

Now everybody knows that Germany and Kerala have nothing in common. But ever since the launch of the new Audi A8, the similarity

has become almost uncanny! At least as far as massages go. Audi’s A8 with the relax-ation seats have become the next big thing in super luxury automobiles. When we got our hands on the A8, in true OVERDRIVE tradition, we were thinking about a com-petitor to the Audi in terms of comfort and relaxation. However, we just couldn’t think of any car to pitch it against. In the end, we

decided the A8’s rear seats are so good that it should be pitched against the ‘baap’ of all relaxation therapies - the traditional ayurvedic full body massage. And what bet-ter place to do this at than the Queen of the Arabian sea - Kochi.

THE WAY THE GERMANS DO ITYou must have read in our previous issues how magnificently luxurious the A8’s rear seats are. With its heating, ventilation and massage functions, the A8 has actually rede-fined the term rear seat luxury. What makes the A8’s massage seats stand out from

amongst competitors is the fact that it uses separate air chambers to massage the occu-pant’s back as opposed to the single lumbar air bag used in other cars. This allows the seat to offer four different kinds of massages to its occupant – pulse, wave, stretch and lumbar, with variable speed and intensity.

From the outside of course, the A8 L looks like any other A8, except longer. Open the rear door, sit inside and the first thing you see is the massive 10 inch LCD screen on which you can play DVDs. There is also an option which allows you to adjust the temperature in your corner of the car individually. Seat

Relax, take it easy Words Ashok George Photography Bertrand D’Souza

We pitch two unlikely rivals against each other

F E AT U R EAUDI A8 VS AYURVEDA

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011208 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 209

Now everybody knows that Germany and Kerala have nothing in common. But ever since the launch of the new Audi A8, the similarity

has become almost uncanny! At least as far as massages go. Audi’s A8 with the relax-ation seats have become the next big thing in super luxury automobiles. When we got our hands on the A8, in true OVERDRIVE tradition, we were thinking about a com-petitor to the Audi in terms of comfort and relaxation. However, we just couldn’t think of any car to pitch it against. In the end, we

decided the A8’s rear seats are so good that it should be pitched against the ‘baap’ of all relaxation therapies - the traditional ayurvedic full body massage. And what bet-ter place to do this at than the Queen of the Arabian sea - Kochi.

THE WAY THE GERMANS DO ITYou must have read in our previous issues how magnificently luxurious the A8’s rear seats are. With its heating, ventilation and massage functions, the A8 has actually rede-fined the term rear seat luxury. What makes the A8’s massage seats stand out from

amongst competitors is the fact that it uses separate air chambers to massage the occu-pant’s back as opposed to the single lumbar air bag used in other cars. This allows the seat to offer four different kinds of massages to its occupant – pulse, wave, stretch and lumbar, with variable speed and intensity.

From the outside of course, the A8 L looks like any other A8, except longer. Open the rear door, sit inside and the first thing you see is the massive 10 inch LCD screen on which you can play DVDs. There is also an option which allows you to adjust the temperature in your corner of the car individually. Seat

Relax, take it easy Words Ashok George Photography Bertrand D’Souza

We pitch two unlikely rivals against each other

F E AT U R EAUDI A8 VS AYURVEDA

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011208 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 209

T E STBMW X3 xDRIVE20D

Triple X Words Shubhabrata Marmar Photography Gaurav S Thombre

Can BMW’s mid-size SUV do a Vin Diesel on its enemies?

ROAD TEST 1054OD RATING PRICE ` 40,00,000 estimated

+ Dynamics package

+ Interior space

+ Performance

- Interiors aren’t distinctive

OVERDRIVE SEP 201190 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 91

T E STBMW X3 xDRIVE20D

Triple X Words Shubhabrata Marmar Photography Gaurav S Thombre

Can BMW’s mid-size SUV do a Vin Diesel on its enemies?

ROAD TEST 1054OD RATING PRICE ` 40,00,000 estimated

+ Dynamics package

+ Interior space

+ Performance

- Interiors aren’t distinctive

OVERDRIVE SEP 201190 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 91

ust a handful of years go, all the money in the world gave you the choice of just one car. If you wanted a supercar with four

doors on it, you could only opt for a certain German sedan. Which wasn’t a proper supercar, more like a luxury sedan on steroids. All that ended when Maserati, the Italian supercar maker, decided to make the Quattroporte, again.

The first one was back in 1963, a time when Maserati was altogether more successful. The Quattroporte (“four doors” in Ital-ian) was launched as a grand tourer, and was designed specifically as a performance sedan capable of doing 200kmph.This Maserati boasted of a 4.1-litre V8 engine that produced 256PS, and had a claimed top speed of 230kmph.

The car in the pictures, though, is the current Quattroporte, the fifth generation of the car that was launched in 2004 and then com-prehensively refreshed in 2009 – which is when the Quattroporte Sport GT S was launched. It is the car that led other manufacturers to think about four-door supercars. Maserati, now owned by Fiat Auto and which now shares its product development and engineering with Alfa Romeo (formerly with Ferrari), has recently announced their Indian innings, with the first showroom bearing the proud tri-dent expected shortly.

In anticipation, I not only drove the MC Stradale you read about last month, but also this, the Sport GT S, the absolute top of the line in the Quattroporte line-up.

On my flight to China to drive the Maseratis, I happened to watch the Jason Statham starrer Hollywood flick, ‘The Mechanic’. In the very first scene the movie has a drug lord whom Statham is supposed to kill being chauffeured in the current Maserati Quattroporte. One look and I knew that the car was Italian, just from the lines and the style. The car had instant appeal. There isn’t anything extraordinary in the styling itself, but the flowing lines give it the sense of being a supercar that you carry you family in without a second thought.

But can its four-door format and overall styling escape what you might label the drudgery of the sedan? Its low stance, coupled with the sporty, aggressive front-end and the large wheels quickly demol-ish any sedan-ness and lend that car a sharper, swifter aura. The front grille boasts the Gran Turismo-derived inward curving black vertical slats with the three-pronged Maserati logo, which looks sublime coupled with the LED-lined headlights. The sides sport trademark Maserati slots, apart from which the sides are smooth and free of fussy-detail which give the car an unmissable elegant feel. The rear boasts a set of large LED tail lamps while more sporty character comes from the exhaust tips that adorn the edges of the bumper. The wide rear and chrome line above the rear license plate give the Quat-troporte a stately feel, and its rear clearly hints at the car’s luxurious appeal. Without doubt, the Quattroporte is the most gorgeous four-door car on the planet in my opinion. In comparison, rivals such as the Porsche Panamera, Jaguar XF, Audi A8 W12 and the Ferrari FF can only try to look svelte. The Panamera for instance doesn’t really ap-peal as a Porsche. Same is the case with the FF. The Jaguar and the Audi on the other hand look like regular luxury sedans. I think what makes the Quattroporte special in comparison to these cars are its gorgeous dimensions - everything is just perfectly proportionate.

Step inside, and the first thing that comes to mind is the ease of ingress. Once inside, you will be forced to hold your breath. It’s a well-made cabin that boasts exquisite hand-crafted luxury, cast in Italian leather and wood. The central console houses most of the controls for this feature-rich sports sedan, and the dash, cockpit and front armrest together make for a classy feel. The paddle-shift levers

SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 213

Four-runner Words Abhay Verma

Getting a taste of Maserati’s top four-door supercar

DR I V EMASERATI QUATTROPORTE SPORT GT S

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011212

ust a handful of years go, all the money in the world gave you the choice of just one car. If you wanted a supercar with four

doors on it, you could only opt for a certain German sedan. Which wasn’t a proper supercar, more like a luxury sedan on steroids. All that ended when Maserati, the Italian supercar maker, decided to make the Quattroporte, again.

The first one was back in 1963, a time when Maserati was altogether more successful. The Quattroporte (“four doors” in Ital-ian) was launched as a grand tourer, and was designed specifically as a performance sedan capable of doing 200kmph.This Maserati boasted of a 4.1-litre V8 engine that produced 256PS, and had a claimed top speed of 230kmph.

The car in the pictures, though, is the current Quattroporte, the fifth generation of the car that was launched in 2004 and then com-prehensively refreshed in 2009 – which is when the Quattroporte Sport GT S was launched. It is the car that led other manufacturers to think about four-door supercars. Maserati, now owned by Fiat Auto and which now shares its product development and engineering with Alfa Romeo (formerly with Ferrari), has recently announced their Indian innings, with the first showroom bearing the proud tri-dent expected shortly.

In anticipation, I not only drove the MC Stradale you read about last month, but also this, the Sport GT S, the absolute top of the line in the Quattroporte line-up.

On my flight to China to drive the Maseratis, I happened to watch the Jason Statham starrer Hollywood flick, ‘The Mechanic’. In the very first scene the movie has a drug lord whom Statham is supposed to kill being chauffeured in the current Maserati Quattroporte. One look and I knew that the car was Italian, just from the lines and the style. The car had instant appeal. There isn’t anything extraordinary in the styling itself, but the flowing lines give it the sense of being a supercar that you carry you family in without a second thought.

But can its four-door format and overall styling escape what you might label the drudgery of the sedan? Its low stance, coupled with the sporty, aggressive front-end and the large wheels quickly demol-ish any sedan-ness and lend that car a sharper, swifter aura. The front grille boasts the Gran Turismo-derived inward curving black vertical slats with the three-pronged Maserati logo, which looks sublime coupled with the LED-lined headlights. The sides sport trademark Maserati slots, apart from which the sides are smooth and free of fussy-detail which give the car an unmissable elegant feel. The rear boasts a set of large LED tail lamps while more sporty character comes from the exhaust tips that adorn the edges of the bumper. The wide rear and chrome line above the rear license plate give the Quat-troporte a stately feel, and its rear clearly hints at the car’s luxurious appeal. Without doubt, the Quattroporte is the most gorgeous four-door car on the planet in my opinion. In comparison, rivals such as the Porsche Panamera, Jaguar XF, Audi A8 W12 and the Ferrari FF can only try to look svelte. The Panamera for instance doesn’t really ap-peal as a Porsche. Same is the case with the FF. The Jaguar and the Audi on the other hand look like regular luxury sedans. I think what makes the Quattroporte special in comparison to these cars are its gorgeous dimensions - everything is just perfectly proportionate.

Step inside, and the first thing that comes to mind is the ease of ingress. Once inside, you will be forced to hold your breath. It’s a well-made cabin that boasts exquisite hand-crafted luxury, cast in Italian leather and wood. The central console houses most of the controls for this feature-rich sports sedan, and the dash, cockpit and front armrest together make for a classy feel. The paddle-shift levers

SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 213

Four-runner Words Abhay Verma

Getting a taste of Maserati’s top four-door supercar

DR I V EMASERATI QUATTROPORTE SPORT GT S

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011212

Here’s your chance to get

on one of the

most challenging

race tracks in the world

Make yourdreams come true.

Behind the wheel of thissupercar

Italian Maserati

Terms and conditions: Contest open to all Indian nationals over 22 years of age possessing a valid driving license and passport. Winners will be provided with return air tickets, accommodation for one night near the circuit, transfers to and from the airport and circuit. All other expenses will have to be borne by contestants. Contestants will have to arrange visas and other travel formalities. Prizes are non-transferable. The decision of Automobili Italia Pvt. Ltd. and Infomedia 18 is final and non-negotiable. Contest closes on November 1, 2011.

ANSWER THIS SIMPLE QUESTION!

When was Maserati founded?

A. 1914 B. 1948 C. 1895

Mail your answers and address to contest@overdrive.co.in

subject ‘Maserati’, or snail mail to the editorial office address or

SMS OD<space>MASERATI<space>ANSWER to 51818

range in all its glory at anWinan all expense

paid trip to

experience the

international

race trackMaserati

Here’s your chance to get

on one of the

most challenging

race tracks in the world

Make yourdreams come true.

Behind the wheel of thissupercar

Italian Maserati

Terms and conditions: Contest open to all Indian nationals over 22 years of age possessing a valid driving license and passport. Winners will be provided with return air tickets, accommodation for one night near the circuit, transfers to and from the airport and circuit. All other expenses will have to be borne by contestants. Contestants will have to arrange visas and other travel formalities. Prizes are non-transferable. The decision of Automobili Italia Pvt. Ltd. and Infomedia 18 is final and non-negotiable. Contest closes on November 1, 2011.

ANSWER THIS SIMPLE QUESTION!

When was Maserati founded?

A. 1914 B. 1948 C. 1895

Mail your answers and address to contest@overdrive.co.in

subject ‘Maserati’, or snail mail to the editorial office address or

SMS OD<space>MASERATI<space>ANSWER to 51818

range in all its glory at anWinan all expense

paid trip to

experience the

international

race trackMaserati

Shimla is the capital of Himachal Pradesh. Why would I start with such trivial information? Because otherwise I would have said how awesome my

job is that I get to travel to all these exotic places and stay at these fancy hotels even though my paycheck would never allow me to do so. Oh! I am always hatching a master plan to get out of office on a paid vacation. And I was successful again. This time around, I was headed for the hills up north - starting from Shimla and ending at Rishikesh. And just like last time, I had with me my trusty companion, the Toyota Corolla Altis. Only this time she was black. And she had lost her 7-speed auto box, but only to be replaced by an equally awesome 6-speed manual.

So one fine Tuesday morning I found myself staring at the passing clouds through the window of an airplane that was taking Bert, our camera guy Pravin and me to Chandigarh. Our car was dutifully waiting for us when we landed at the airport, gleaming in the sunlight, ready to speed away towards our destination.

We had gotten word that nestled in the hills around Shimla is a very exclusive, very historic and very luxurious resort called Wildflower Hall. And since there were so many adjectives attached to this place, we could not wait to get there. Getting to Shimla from Chandigarh is fairly easy. Just follow the arrows that point towards Shimla. Seriously! You get out of Chandigarh, drive towards Kalka, pass Parwanoo, Dharampur, Solan and Kandaghat and voila! You’re in Shimla.

Now there are a few things that Shimla is famous for – apples, the narrow gauge Kalka-Shimla railway and 1.5tonnes of apples hurtling down the hill towards you in the form of fully laden pickup trucks. Other than that, there are also the spectacular views that surround you from every angle which has given the place the name “queen of hill stations”. Shimla has also recently started gaining popularity as a health tourism spot thanks to the city administration’s aggressive development plan. And being a tourist destination, medical or otherwise, the place has its own share of hotels and resorts. In fact the Oberoi group had their first hotel – the Oberoi Cecil – in Shimla.

The place we were headed to was also an Oberoi property and is one of their most

Over the hills& far away Words & Photography Ashok George

Enough of the plains,let’s hit the hills

T R AV E L O G U ERESORT HOPPING

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011286 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 287

This is a view that money can actually buy

The Lord Kitchener suite at Wildflower Hall

The Wildflower Hall has a temperature controlled pool that offers a view of the mountains

Shimla is the capital of Himachal Pradesh. Why would I start with such trivial information? Because otherwise I would have said how awesome my

job is that I get to travel to all these exotic places and stay at these fancy hotels even though my paycheck would never allow me to do so. Oh! I am always hatching a master plan to get out of office on a paid vacation. And I was successful again. This time around, I was headed for the hills up north - starting from Shimla and ending at Rishikesh. And just like last time, I had with me my trusty companion, the Toyota Corolla Altis. Only this time she was black. And she had lost her 7-speed auto box, but only to be replaced by an equally awesome 6-speed manual.

So one fine Tuesday morning I found myself staring at the passing clouds through the window of an airplane that was taking Bert, our camera guy Pravin and me to Chandigarh. Our car was dutifully waiting for us when we landed at the airport, gleaming in the sunlight, ready to speed away towards our destination.

We had gotten word that nestled in the hills around Shimla is a very exclusive, very historic and very luxurious resort called Wildflower Hall. And since there were so many adjectives attached to this place, we could not wait to get there. Getting to Shimla from Chandigarh is fairly easy. Just follow the arrows that point towards Shimla. Seriously! You get out of Chandigarh, drive towards Kalka, pass Parwanoo, Dharampur, Solan and Kandaghat and voila! You’re in Shimla.

Now there are a few things that Shimla is famous for – apples, the narrow gauge Kalka-Shimla railway and 1.5tonnes of apples hurtling down the hill towards you in the form of fully laden pickup trucks. Other than that, there are also the spectacular views that surround you from every angle which has given the place the name “queen of hill stations”. Shimla has also recently started gaining popularity as a health tourism spot thanks to the city administration’s aggressive development plan. And being a tourist destination, medical or otherwise, the place has its own share of hotels and resorts. In fact the Oberoi group had their first hotel – the Oberoi Cecil – in Shimla.

The place we were headed to was also an Oberoi property and is one of their most

Over the hills& far away Words & Photography Ashok George

Enough of the plains,let’s hit the hills

T R AV E L O G U ERESORT HOPPING

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011286 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 287

This is a view that money can actually buy

The Lord Kitchener suite at Wildflower Hall

The Wildflower Hall has a temperature controlled pool that offers a view of the mountains

Words Halley Prabhakar Photography Vedett Mototours & Imaginative Enterprises, WTR Magazine

F E AT U R EMALAYSIA BROTHERHOOD RIDE

Borneo to be wildRiding through Borneo on motorcycles is an awesome adventure. And you can do it too!

LUNDU

KUCHING

SERIANSRI AMAN

SIBU

BINTULU

MIRI

BORNEO, MALAYSIA

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011218 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 219

I’ve been places. I have seen a huge part of our country mounted on two wheels and there’s something about motorcycle touring that makes it ir-resistible to me. I love my cars, but

out touring on bikes, seeing the country, meeting people and experiencing cultures is a huge rush. But I had never done on for-eign soil. So my ride in Borneo… what a way to begin!

I was invited by Tourism Malaysia and WTR magazine to come ride on their annual Malaysian tour, this time, the destination was Borneo. WTR is a malay mag that focuses on motorcycle touring in the region. And Bor-neo is an island actually in Malaysia that also happens to be in Indonesia and Brunei by parts. I was the sole Indian on the ride, a mat-ter of pride for me.

I practically hopped and skipped in my airline seat from the excitement for the four hours it took me to fly into Kuala Lumpur. And on the other side, I met the other jour-nalists and riders who had come from Italy, UK, Russia, Indonesia and Malaysia. All of them love touring and shortly after our in-tros, we were trading stories. The riding cou-ple from UK turned out to be Simon and Lisa Thomas, who have been riding around the world for the past eight years now on their BMWs, a R1100GS and a R650GS. I discov-ered that hold multiple world records, in-cluding the world’s longest motorcycle ride – I was in seriously accomplished company.

After an authentic Malaysian dinner, we got much needed shuteye as we had to start early next morning. The next day, I was fly-ing to Kuching (which means little cat), the capital of the east Malaysian state of Sarawak. It is the largest city on the island of Borneo. We checked in to our hotel and met more

Words Halley Prabhakar Photography Vedett Mototours & Imaginative Enterprises, WTR Magazine

F E AT U R EMALAYSIA BROTHERHOOD RIDE

Borneo to be wildRiding through Borneo on motorcycles is an awesome adventure. And you can do it too!

LUNDU

KUCHING

SERIANSRI AMAN

SIBU

BINTULU

MIRI

BORNEO, MALAYSIA

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011218 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 219

I’ve been places. I have seen a huge part of our country mounted on two wheels and there’s something about motorcycle touring that makes it ir-resistible to me. I love my cars, but

out touring on bikes, seeing the country, meeting people and experiencing cultures is a huge rush. But I had never done on for-eign soil. So my ride in Borneo… what a way to begin!

I was invited by Tourism Malaysia and WTR magazine to come ride on their annual Malaysian tour, this time, the destination was Borneo. WTR is a malay mag that focuses on motorcycle touring in the region. And Bor-neo is an island actually in Malaysia that also happens to be in Indonesia and Brunei by parts. I was the sole Indian on the ride, a mat-ter of pride for me.

I practically hopped and skipped in my airline seat from the excitement for the four hours it took me to fly into Kuala Lumpur. And on the other side, I met the other jour-nalists and riders who had come from Italy, UK, Russia, Indonesia and Malaysia. All of them love touring and shortly after our in-tros, we were trading stories. The riding cou-ple from UK turned out to be Simon and Lisa Thomas, who have been riding around the world for the past eight years now on their BMWs, a R1100GS and a R650GS. I discov-ered that hold multiple world records, in-cluding the world’s longest motorcycle ride – I was in seriously accomplished company.

After an authentic Malaysian dinner, we got much needed shuteye as we had to start early next morning. The next day, I was fly-ing to Kuching (which means little cat), the capital of the east Malaysian state of Sarawak. It is the largest city on the island of Borneo. We checked in to our hotel and met more

Deja view! Words Bertrand D’souza Photography Gaurav S Thombre

Two anniversaries ago we took the R8 Coupe to the Thar desert, but we didn’t see much.

I have never ever seen a warning in a car that states the clutch is overheating. Never, ever! For a clutch to overheat it needs to have been fed some serious amounts of torque and

that too so blazingly quick that it has just no scope whatsoever to react as quickly without damaging itself in some way or another. That the performance is of an unprecedented magnitude is a given because this is the Audi R8 V10 Spyder and it’s one of the most impressive supercars in the world. And I’m driving it on what I presume is one of the best roads in all of India.

Continuing our theme of India’s greatest driving roads in this anniversary special brought us to Gujarat. It’s not a state that’s popular for its roads: people tick, traders tick, dhokla tick, prohibition tick, vegetarian tick, but it certainly isn’t the best of places to go looking for a road trip. But things are changing, when massive quakes struck the

Kutch region bringing the city of Bhuj to its knees a lot of international attention was diverted towards the area. In the years ahead this brought a fair amount of tourism to the region especially people wanting to visit and explore the little Rann of Kutch, help with rehabilitation as well as tour the Kutch national park.

The Kutch is also home to the Kandla port, one of the most important ports on the western seaboard. Owing to Gujarat’s heavy industrialisation a lot of goods move overseas through the Kandla port. That industrialisation has led to Gujarat building a highly advanced infrastructure network. And one such road we are here to explore is the one that connects Bhuj to Jaisalmer and Jodhpur. It starts life as the NH8A in the region of Kutch but once it gets closer to Rajasthan it’s the NH15 and it’s a magnificent stretch of road.

By itself the road is incredible, straight for

miles, smooth throughout and with well marked lanes, intersections and flyovers providing an escape from urbanisation. It’s a dual carriageway but you will always find locals wandering on the wrong side of the road on either a motorcycle or a tractor. Yet because the land is flat without much change in elevation you can see down the road for miles and be well aware of someone coming down the wrong side. It’s a fantastic road to hold some decent speeds on and is probably one of very few roads where you could easily max almost any car.

Yet it’s not a terribly exciting road to drive on, there aren’t many curves to hold interest for an enthusiast and would almost be boring if not for two reasons. The first is that at a point between Adesar and Santalpur it dissects the Greater Rann of Kutch from the little Rann. A stretch of nearly thirty kilometers on this road offers you some of the most incredible sights of one of the

F E AT U R EAUDI R8 V10 SPYDER

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011224 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 225

Deja view! Words Bertrand D’souza Photography Gaurav S Thombre

Two anniversaries ago we took the R8 Coupe to the Thar desert, but we didn’t see much.

I have never ever seen a warning in a car that states the clutch is overheating. Never, ever! For a clutch to overheat it needs to have been fed some serious amounts of torque and

that too so blazingly quick that it has just no scope whatsoever to react as quickly without damaging itself in some way or another. That the performance is of an unprecedented magnitude is a given because this is the Audi R8 V10 Spyder and it’s one of the most impressive supercars in the world. And I’m driving it on what I presume is one of the best roads in all of India.

Continuing our theme of India’s greatest driving roads in this anniversary special brought us to Gujarat. It’s not a state that’s popular for its roads: people tick, traders tick, dhokla tick, prohibition tick, vegetarian tick, but it certainly isn’t the best of places to go looking for a road trip. But things are changing, when massive quakes struck the

Kutch region bringing the city of Bhuj to its knees a lot of international attention was diverted towards the area. In the years ahead this brought a fair amount of tourism to the region especially people wanting to visit and explore the little Rann of Kutch, help with rehabilitation as well as tour the Kutch national park.

The Kutch is also home to the Kandla port, one of the most important ports on the western seaboard. Owing to Gujarat’s heavy industrialisation a lot of goods move overseas through the Kandla port. That industrialisation has led to Gujarat building a highly advanced infrastructure network. And one such road we are here to explore is the one that connects Bhuj to Jaisalmer and Jodhpur. It starts life as the NH8A in the region of Kutch but once it gets closer to Rajasthan it’s the NH15 and it’s a magnificent stretch of road.

By itself the road is incredible, straight for

miles, smooth throughout and with well marked lanes, intersections and flyovers providing an escape from urbanisation. It’s a dual carriageway but you will always find locals wandering on the wrong side of the road on either a motorcycle or a tractor. Yet because the land is flat without much change in elevation you can see down the road for miles and be well aware of someone coming down the wrong side. It’s a fantastic road to hold some decent speeds on and is probably one of very few roads where you could easily max almost any car.

Yet it’s not a terribly exciting road to drive on, there aren’t many curves to hold interest for an enthusiast and would almost be boring if not for two reasons. The first is that at a point between Adesar and Santalpur it dissects the Greater Rann of Kutch from the little Rann. A stretch of nearly thirty kilometers on this road offers you some of the most incredible sights of one of the

F E AT U R EAUDI R8 V10 SPYDER

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011224 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 225

i of the storm Words Shubhabrata Marmar

BMW prepares for the electric future with its innovative i project

BMW have had enough. Instead of listening to doom and gloom stories about the end of the internal combus-tion engine and the need to

develop alternatives, they are embarking on what is easily the most ambitious alternative fuel vehicle program in recorded history. BMW has been trickling out information about their ‘i’ project, but the real shape became a lot clearer with the unveiling of the first vehicles of the project, the i3 urban hatchback and the i8 sportscar. Both were presented as concepts at a special event in Frankfurt, followed by a full day of technical briefings. The cars are to set to make their public debut at the Frankfurt International Motor Show.

Now, automobiles are easily understood today and you rarely need a full day to come to grips with a production car, still less when

what you are talking about is a concept of which a miniscule portion will be produced. That too in a watered down form, at some point in the future. It’s from this point the ‘i’ project blazes its own trail.

At its very core, the tag line BMW gives the ‘i’ range isn’t Ultimate Electric Driving Machine, but Born Electric. The manufac-turer made sure we understood that the ‘i’ project would be about vehicles and vehicle platforms created specifically for electric and hybrid powertrains. One of the technical sessions demonstrated quite easily how their Active E concept car would suffer when stuffed to the gills with i3’s powertrain.

It would lack space inside, would be startlingly heavy and the driving experience just wouldn’t be, as a consequence, some-thing BMW or its customers would appreciate.

But before we go to the cars themselves,

there are other critical aspects of this project for the company. Earlier this year, BMW created the BMW i Venture Fund in New York City to invest in and nurture location-aware software for smartphone applications - and you will see why in a minute. The ‘i’ cars will be supported by a lot of technology as you might expect. What you will be surprised by is that not all the technology is part of the powertrain or associated electronics. BMW intends to become, in addition to a car maker, a service provider. What services? BMW will shortly deploy a fleet of Minis and 1-Series cars across Munich - the city it calls home. Program members will be able to use their cellphones to accomplish a very cool thing. When they need a car, they will be able to locate and reserve the nearest available car from that fleet off their phones. And having used it and paid for the service (usually by the hour) they

will be able to walk away, allowing another subscriber in the system to use that car. The system will be a test project for one part of the ‘i’ program.

This isn’t a new idea though. A firm called ZipCar successfully offers rentals by the hour to American subscribers, using fixed parking lots across New York City (and over 50 other US cities where it operates) to allow customers to pick and drop off cars. You pay more for bigger cars and pay $60 (Rs 2700 approx) a year to subscribe. ZipCar also has smartphone app. But in their case, it works more towards reserving a car in a fixed location than finding an available, parked car.

BMW’s system is internally far more complex and to the user, far more powerful. BMW envisions simple geo-aware services starting from booking tables at a hotel and the ability to locate a car for you as the foundation. BMW is also working on a

navigation system that seamlessly talks to your phone and understands that roads and cars are not the sole mobility option open to you. The system will be able to route you so that you get to your destination quickly, through walking, public buses, metro or suburban trains as well as rental ‘i’ program cars to accomplish mobility. It will also be able to read parking information off the Internet and tell you where to find parking - which according to BMW accounts for 30 per cent of cars on the road in congested city centres. If you are in an electric car, you will be able to see your range as a circle on a map (with a larger circle for ultra-economy Eco Pro mode), as well as available (and busy) charging stations along with the ability to reserve them. To further leverage current resources, BMW is also working with software firms working on web services that will allow private homeowners to rent out

parking and electricity, which will dramati-cally increase both available parking space and available charging points. We had the op-portunity to play with a demo of the app on iPads and it is impressive. Further, BMW say the fact that the car and app can communi-cate over the Internet also makes possible other things like being able to switch on the aircon before you get to the car, or to have the car be fully charged for a big trip at a certain time in the morning and so forth.

While not directly related to the ‘i’ project alone, BMW also showed us glimpses of other systems that tie in to these sophisti-cated cars. There is a fully automatic parking assist program that is being worked on which will substantially do it all by itself. There is traffic jam assistance that can also brake, steer, accelerate and maintain its position in crawling traffic upto 40kmph, in theory allowing the driver to use time otherwise

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011232 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 233

F E AT U R EBMW i3 & i8 CONCEPTS

i of the storm Words Shubhabrata Marmar

BMW prepares for the electric future with its innovative i project

BMW have had enough. Instead of listening to doom and gloom stories about the end of the internal combus-tion engine and the need to

develop alternatives, they are embarking on what is easily the most ambitious alternative fuel vehicle program in recorded history. BMW has been trickling out information about their ‘i’ project, but the real shape became a lot clearer with the unveiling of the first vehicles of the project, the i3 urban hatchback and the i8 sportscar. Both were presented as concepts at a special event in Frankfurt, followed by a full day of technical briefings. The cars are to set to make their public debut at the Frankfurt International Motor Show.

Now, automobiles are easily understood today and you rarely need a full day to come to grips with a production car, still less when

what you are talking about is a concept of which a miniscule portion will be produced. That too in a watered down form, at some point in the future. It’s from this point the ‘i’ project blazes its own trail.

At its very core, the tag line BMW gives the ‘i’ range isn’t Ultimate Electric Driving Machine, but Born Electric. The manufac-turer made sure we understood that the ‘i’ project would be about vehicles and vehicle platforms created specifically for electric and hybrid powertrains. One of the technical sessions demonstrated quite easily how their Active E concept car would suffer when stuffed to the gills with i3’s powertrain.

It would lack space inside, would be startlingly heavy and the driving experience just wouldn’t be, as a consequence, some-thing BMW or its customers would appreciate.

But before we go to the cars themselves,

there are other critical aspects of this project for the company. Earlier this year, BMW created the BMW i Venture Fund in New York City to invest in and nurture location-aware software for smartphone applications - and you will see why in a minute. The ‘i’ cars will be supported by a lot of technology as you might expect. What you will be surprised by is that not all the technology is part of the powertrain or associated electronics. BMW intends to become, in addition to a car maker, a service provider. What services? BMW will shortly deploy a fleet of Minis and 1-Series cars across Munich - the city it calls home. Program members will be able to use their cellphones to accomplish a very cool thing. When they need a car, they will be able to locate and reserve the nearest available car from that fleet off their phones. And having used it and paid for the service (usually by the hour) they

will be able to walk away, allowing another subscriber in the system to use that car. The system will be a test project for one part of the ‘i’ program.

This isn’t a new idea though. A firm called ZipCar successfully offers rentals by the hour to American subscribers, using fixed parking lots across New York City (and over 50 other US cities where it operates) to allow customers to pick and drop off cars. You pay more for bigger cars and pay $60 (Rs 2700 approx) a year to subscribe. ZipCar also has smartphone app. But in their case, it works more towards reserving a car in a fixed location than finding an available, parked car.

BMW’s system is internally far more complex and to the user, far more powerful. BMW envisions simple geo-aware services starting from booking tables at a hotel and the ability to locate a car for you as the foundation. BMW is also working on a

navigation system that seamlessly talks to your phone and understands that roads and cars are not the sole mobility option open to you. The system will be able to route you so that you get to your destination quickly, through walking, public buses, metro or suburban trains as well as rental ‘i’ program cars to accomplish mobility. It will also be able to read parking information off the Internet and tell you where to find parking - which according to BMW accounts for 30 per cent of cars on the road in congested city centres. If you are in an electric car, you will be able to see your range as a circle on a map (with a larger circle for ultra-economy Eco Pro mode), as well as available (and busy) charging stations along with the ability to reserve them. To further leverage current resources, BMW is also working with software firms working on web services that will allow private homeowners to rent out

parking and electricity, which will dramati-cally increase both available parking space and available charging points. We had the op-portunity to play with a demo of the app on iPads and it is impressive. Further, BMW say the fact that the car and app can communi-cate over the Internet also makes possible other things like being able to switch on the aircon before you get to the car, or to have the car be fully charged for a big trip at a certain time in the morning and so forth.

While not directly related to the ‘i’ project alone, BMW also showed us glimpses of other systems that tie in to these sophisti-cated cars. There is a fully automatic parking assist program that is being worked on which will substantially do it all by itself. There is traffic jam assistance that can also brake, steer, accelerate and maintain its position in crawling traffic upto 40kmph, in theory allowing the driver to use time otherwise

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011232 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 233

F E AT U R EBMW i3 & i8 CONCEPTS

Dial 991We pay homage to the last of the 997-series 911

Words Ray Hutton

You could be excused for being confused by Porsche’s type numbers. The 911 is the model that made the German marque truly famous but

Porsche people never refer to it as such and it has only occasionally appeared as a badge on the car itself. Devotees talk instead about 964, 933, 996 and 997, iden-tifying the evolution points in the 911’s 48-year history.

From this month, making its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show, there will be another number to add to multiplicity of 911 variants: 991. The shape is familiar but this is one of the more significant develop-ments for the 911, with a new body/chassis made largely in aluminium, and subtly dif-ferent proportions.

August Achleitner, ‘Mr 911’ at Stuttgart, says that the new model had to be ‘better in every way’ than the current car. Quite a chal-lenge, given the way the 911 has been fine-honed over the years and particularly since the last version of the 997 has been widely

praised as the very best of the breed.We are happy to join that chorus of

approval for the last 997 – the Porsche Carrera GTS. A spell driving one on the best roads that southern England can pro-vide showed that this is a car that is at once mature and full of youthful vigour. And in its rarefied price class it represents the best value 911, including a suite of desir-able options that would previously have added ` 11.08lakh to the UK list price of ` 57.92lakh.

The GTS certainly looks the business. Our car, a coupe in Carrara (not Carrera), white with shiny black centre-lock wheels and red brake calipers showing through, sat low and wide, ready for take-off. The GTS has the wider rear bodywork and bigger, 19-inch wheels of the 911 Turbo and inside, Alcantara faux-suede cover-ing the steering wheel and sports seats gives some of feeling of the GT2 and GT3 track cars.

Actually, the GTS is a tweaked Carrera S. The 3.8-litre naturally-aspirated engine

has a 22PS increase in maximum power, to 414PS. A louder sports exhaust system, with four tailpipes, is standard. A pack-age called Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) brings variable damping with stiffer springs and a 20mm reduction in ride height and includes an electronic limited-slip differential.

414PS is only 12PS shy of the output of the 996 Turbo – one of the world’s fastest cars a decade ago – so the GTS has plenty of performance: a maximum speed of 305 kmph and 0-100kmph acceleration in 4.6 seconds. Furthermore, the GTS modifi-cations mean that the 420Nm maximum torque is delivered at 4,200rpm, 200rpm lower than the Carrera 2.

So this is a fast and usable everyday sports car. Porsche 911s have always been like that, except for the GT2, GT3 and RS models of recent years which are really road-legal race cars. You have to make a small compromise with the GTS in town or at low speeds on bumpy country roads as the suspension is too stiff for comfort. Also

Carrera GTS is last in the line ofthe current generation 997 series. Replacement 991 series (picture ofcar undergoing final validation in South Africa on facing page) set for unveiling at September’s Frankfurt Motor Show

DR I V EPORSCHE CARRERA GTS

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011240 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 241

Dial 991We pay homage to the last of the 997-series 911

Words Ray Hutton

You could be excused for being confused by Porsche’s type numbers. The 911 is the model that made the German marque truly famous but

Porsche people never refer to it as such and it has only occasionally appeared as a badge on the car itself. Devotees talk instead about 964, 933, 996 and 997, iden-tifying the evolution points in the 911’s 48-year history.

From this month, making its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show, there will be another number to add to multiplicity of 911 variants: 991. The shape is familiar but this is one of the more significant develop-ments for the 911, with a new body/chassis made largely in aluminium, and subtly dif-ferent proportions.

August Achleitner, ‘Mr 911’ at Stuttgart, says that the new model had to be ‘better in every way’ than the current car. Quite a chal-lenge, given the way the 911 has been fine-honed over the years and particularly since the last version of the 997 has been widely

praised as the very best of the breed.We are happy to join that chorus of

approval for the last 997 – the Porsche Carrera GTS. A spell driving one on the best roads that southern England can pro-vide showed that this is a car that is at once mature and full of youthful vigour. And in its rarefied price class it represents the best value 911, including a suite of desir-able options that would previously have added ` 11.08lakh to the UK list price of ` 57.92lakh.

The GTS certainly looks the business. Our car, a coupe in Carrara (not Carrera), white with shiny black centre-lock wheels and red brake calipers showing through, sat low and wide, ready for take-off. The GTS has the wider rear bodywork and bigger, 19-inch wheels of the 911 Turbo and inside, Alcantara faux-suede cover-ing the steering wheel and sports seats gives some of feeling of the GT2 and GT3 track cars.

Actually, the GTS is a tweaked Carrera S. The 3.8-litre naturally-aspirated engine

has a 22PS increase in maximum power, to 414PS. A louder sports exhaust system, with four tailpipes, is standard. A pack-age called Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) brings variable damping with stiffer springs and a 20mm reduction in ride height and includes an electronic limited-slip differential.

414PS is only 12PS shy of the output of the 996 Turbo – one of the world’s fastest cars a decade ago – so the GTS has plenty of performance: a maximum speed of 305 kmph and 0-100kmph acceleration in 4.6 seconds. Furthermore, the GTS modifi-cations mean that the 420Nm maximum torque is delivered at 4,200rpm, 200rpm lower than the Carrera 2.

So this is a fast and usable everyday sports car. Porsche 911s have always been like that, except for the GT2, GT3 and RS models of recent years which are really road-legal race cars. You have to make a small compromise with the GTS in town or at low speeds on bumpy country roads as the suspension is too stiff for comfort. Also

Carrera GTS is last in the line ofthe current generation 997 series. Replacement 991 series (picture ofcar undergoing final validation in South Africa on facing page) set for unveiling at September’s Frankfurt Motor Show

DR I V EPORSCHE CARRERA GTS

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011240 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 241

Achtung baby! Words Abhay Verma Photography Gaurav S Thombre

Riding the most explosive naked streetbike on the planet

Of all the automobile manu-facturers in the world today, only three manufacture both cars and bikes. Two are Japanese, namely Honda and

Suzuki. The third and only German manu-facturer is BMW. All three have their unique legacy in making automobiles, but the Ger-mans are known to take pride in everything they do more than anyone else. And with-out doubt, BMW cars and bikes both boast technical prowess – more to outdo their rivals rather than to make a point. But hon-estly, until a few years back I was not a fan of BMW’s motorcycles. They looked weird, and that was a time when I was hardly aware of the technology they packed in. Japanese mo-torcycles were a far bigger attraction for me. But then my interest in motorcycles made

me learn why BMW’s motorcycles are styled the way they are and how they boast of tech-nology I dare say would take ages to reach half the way across the world to the land of the rising sun.

BMW started building motorcycles nearly a hundred years back and without doubt the greatest success for Stuttgart-based BMW Motorrad has been the boxer-engine equipped R1200GS that Shumi rode last month. At the same time, I was astride another BMW – and one that I can relate more to – the BMW K1300R. As I stood face to face with it, the first question that came to my mind was – what’s with the headlamp design? And not just the headlights, the front suspension itself appeared to belong to another planet. Plain ugly front I dare say. Discounting the quirky looking face, I must

BMW K1300RR I DE

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011244 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 245

Achtung baby! Words Abhay Verma Photography Gaurav S Thombre

Riding the most explosive naked streetbike on the planet

Of all the automobile manu-facturers in the world today, only three manufacture both cars and bikes. Two are Japanese, namely Honda and

Suzuki. The third and only German manu-facturer is BMW. All three have their unique legacy in making automobiles, but the Ger-mans are known to take pride in everything they do more than anyone else. And with-out doubt, BMW cars and bikes both boast technical prowess – more to outdo their rivals rather than to make a point. But hon-estly, until a few years back I was not a fan of BMW’s motorcycles. They looked weird, and that was a time when I was hardly aware of the technology they packed in. Japanese mo-torcycles were a far bigger attraction for me. But then my interest in motorcycles made

me learn why BMW’s motorcycles are styled the way they are and how they boast of tech-nology I dare say would take ages to reach half the way across the world to the land of the rising sun.

BMW started building motorcycles nearly a hundred years back and without doubt the greatest success for Stuttgart-based BMW Motorrad has been the boxer-engine equipped R1200GS that Shumi rode last month. At the same time, I was astride another BMW – and one that I can relate more to – the BMW K1300R. As I stood face to face with it, the first question that came to my mind was – what’s with the headlamp design? And not just the headlights, the front suspension itself appeared to belong to another planet. Plain ugly front I dare say. Discounting the quirky looking face, I must

BMW K1300RR I DE

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011244 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 245

Words Halley Prabhakar Photography Gaurav S Thombre

Frugal DieselThe newest diesel hatch is in town. Segment-leader Figo meets the Beat diesel

One and a half years, that’s exactly how long it has been since General Motors turned a new leaf in India by launching the Chevrolet Beat. The car has proved to be a brilliant package combining a great mix of style, interiors, efficiency and dynamics. It even went on to

win OVERDRIVE’s small car comparo in March last year. The car took off with great enthusiasm but with more manufacturers wanting a slice of the small car pie, the Beat eventually was overshadowed by its newer rivals which are available in diesel form as well. After announc-ing their plans to manufacture an India-specific diesel engine, GMI inaugurated the Talegaon engine facility near Pune last year and have finally launched the Beat in its diesel avatar, the company’s first diesel hatchback. We decided to pit it against the best diesel hatchback in its price band, the Ford Figo diesel. Can the Beat actually beat the Figo?

STYLING & DESIGNThe Beat has always been stunning to look at and even after being around for a while it doesn’t look like it is aging. It’s still fresh and stands out among other hatchbacks. The huge front head lamps and the signature Chevy grille immediately catch one’s attention while the upswept crease, prominent wheel arches and the recessed rear door handles give it a sporty character. From the rear, the car looks smaller than most hatchbacks but the tail lights add to the

sporty feel. The Beat really has no bad angle and looks good when viewed from any. Inside the car, the sporty superbike inspired in-strument cluster looks snazzy. The digital display shows the tacho while the speedometer is analogue. The design of the dashboard is attractive while offering good fit and finish, material quality and decent storage space. The car we tested was the fully-loaded ver-sion, so just like in the petrol variant, the diesel Beat also gets auto climate control, integrated stereo and that glossy piano black panel. The blue lighting for the stereo console, instrument cluster and cli-mate control knobs give it a funky look in the night.

The Figo design on the other hand is simple, not as young and vi-brant as the Beat. The car is a combination of the older Ford edge de-sign (giving it a slightly boxy look) and hints of Ford’s current Kinetic design language. The front end is pretty modern with its slick head lamps while the signature Ford trapezoid grille with black plastic in-serts gives a good contrasting look especially in brighter body colours. The pronounced wheel arches and subtle crease in the sides give the car a mature look. From the rear, the Fusion-like vertical taillights and a mock plastic diffuser adds some zing to the design. Inside, the Figo reflects its exterior design. It uses similar parts from the older Fiesta, such as the steering wheel, stalks, air-con vents and control knobs. The interiors look dated when compared to the Beat. The instrument cluster design and silver-finish centre console to name a few are the

COM PA ROFIGO TCDI TITANIUM VS BEAT TCDI LT (O)

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE250 251

Words Halley Prabhakar Photography Gaurav S Thombre

Frugal DieselThe newest diesel hatch is in town. Segment-leader Figo meets the Beat diesel

One and a half years, that’s exactly how long it has been since General Motors turned a new leaf in India by launching the Chevrolet Beat. The car has proved to be a brilliant package combining a great mix of style, interiors, efficiency and dynamics. It even went on to

win OVERDRIVE’s small car comparo in March last year. The car took off with great enthusiasm but with more manufacturers wanting a slice of the small car pie, the Beat eventually was overshadowed by its newer rivals which are available in diesel form as well. After announc-ing their plans to manufacture an India-specific diesel engine, GMI inaugurated the Talegaon engine facility near Pune last year and have finally launched the Beat in its diesel avatar, the company’s first diesel hatchback. We decided to pit it against the best diesel hatchback in its price band, the Ford Figo diesel. Can the Beat actually beat the Figo?

STYLING & DESIGNThe Beat has always been stunning to look at and even after being around for a while it doesn’t look like it is aging. It’s still fresh and stands out among other hatchbacks. The huge front head lamps and the signature Chevy grille immediately catch one’s attention while the upswept crease, prominent wheel arches and the recessed rear door handles give it a sporty character. From the rear, the car looks smaller than most hatchbacks but the tail lights add to the

sporty feel. The Beat really has no bad angle and looks good when viewed from any. Inside the car, the sporty superbike inspired in-strument cluster looks snazzy. The digital display shows the tacho while the speedometer is analogue. The design of the dashboard is attractive while offering good fit and finish, material quality and decent storage space. The car we tested was the fully-loaded ver-sion, so just like in the petrol variant, the diesel Beat also gets auto climate control, integrated stereo and that glossy piano black panel. The blue lighting for the stereo console, instrument cluster and cli-mate control knobs give it a funky look in the night.

The Figo design on the other hand is simple, not as young and vi-brant as the Beat. The car is a combination of the older Ford edge de-sign (giving it a slightly boxy look) and hints of Ford’s current Kinetic design language. The front end is pretty modern with its slick head lamps while the signature Ford trapezoid grille with black plastic in-serts gives a good contrasting look especially in brighter body colours. The pronounced wheel arches and subtle crease in the sides give the car a mature look. From the rear, the Fusion-like vertical taillights and a mock plastic diffuser adds some zing to the design. Inside, the Figo reflects its exterior design. It uses similar parts from the older Fiesta, such as the steering wheel, stalks, air-con vents and control knobs. The interiors look dated when compared to the Beat. The instrument cluster design and silver-finish centre console to name a few are the

COM PA ROFIGO TCDI TITANIUM VS BEAT TCDI LT (O)

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE250 251

LIVA UR CITY CONTEST The all new Toyota Etios Liva is a car for

tomorrow. Young, hep and cool Liva helps you take on the roads in an all new way.

Use only 120 letters and tell us which is your favourite city to drive in and why?

Send in your entries via any of the 4 options mentioned below...

...and you can win

Grand PrizeOne Lucky winner wins an all new Toyota Etios Liva.

Special PrizeWinners of the best entry from each of the Special PrizeWinners of the best entry from each of the Special Prizecities will get to drive around the city with the Overdrive team in a Liva and will be featured in Overdrive magazine. Get ready to be a Liva celebrity!TERMS AND CONDITIONS

models and images of the prizes shown in the pictures are for illustration purposes

court Jurisdictions only.

Tweet your answer mention @odmag in your tweet

OPTION 4

Go to the Overdrive facebook page and type in your answer

OPTION 3

SMS OD <space> Liva <your answer> to 51818

OPTION 1

Send in an e-mail to contest@overdrive.co.in

OPTION 2

LIVA UR CITY CONTEST The all new Toyota Etios Liva is a car for

tomorrow. Young, hep and cool Liva helps you take on the roads in an all new way.

Use only 120 letters and tell us which is your favourite city to drive in and why?

Send in your entries via any of the 4 options mentioned below...

...and you can win

Grand PrizeOne Lucky winner wins an all new Toyota Etios Liva.

Special PrizeWinners of the best entry from each of the Special PrizeWinners of the best entry from each of the Special Prizecities will get to drive around the city with the Overdrive team in a Liva and will be featured in Overdrive magazine. Get ready to be a Liva celebrity!TERMS AND CONDITIONS

models and images of the prizes shown in the pictures are for illustration purposes

court Jurisdictions only.

Tweet your answer mention @odmag in your tweet

OPTION 4

Go to the Overdrive facebook page and type in your answer

OPTION 3

SMS OD <space> Liva <your answer> to 51818

OPTION 1

Send in an e-mail to contest@overdrive.co.in

OPTION 2

APRILIA MANA 850R I DE

Split Personality Words & Photography Halley Prabhakar

Riding India’s second on-sale automatic motorcycle, the Aprilia Mana 850

Think Aprilia and two things come to mind. First, beauti-ful motorcycles with mon-strous engines, and the aura of a brand with no less than 45

world championships under the belt (which leads them to claim the title of the most suc-cessful European manufacturer in racing). Second, how they have super-impressive top-flight motorcycles (like the RSV4 or the Tuono V4R) and the super-impressive entry-level motorcycles (like the RS125, now RS250), but literally no famous motorcycles in the middle. At first glance, it’s like an Ital-ian pasta with the sauce missing! Or is it? To get a taste for the filling, we got a taste of the practical Aprilia street bike, the Mana 850. Saucy? Or bland? Let’s find out.

Aprilia entered the Indian market earlier this year, and is offering its entire line-up in-cluding the top of the line RSV4 superbike, the Dorsoduro 1200 giant supermoto, the mad-naked Tuono and this, the practical street bike Mana 850.

The Mana is an entry-level Aprilia - which means it is supposed to be cheap, versatile and aims to hook new customers and bring them into the brand. It’s also supposed to be a street bike which means a riding position, handling and ride quality balance which should make sense in our typically messy In-dian traffic conditions. And then it has an au-tomatic transmission, which is an additional distinction. While the manufacturer is yet to provide us with a test bike - indeed, their roll-out has been slow, they still only have one dealer and the delivery process is still slug-gish - I was lucky to sample the Mana on my recent trip to Borneo in Malaysia. Exclusive automatic for you people, then.

The Mana debuted at the Milan show in 2006, and was released in Europe as a 2007 model. The positive response and accolades did not come immediately, however, and it took a model update before the minor glitches

in the electronics were ironed out and the full benefit of the ride by wire and the automatic transmission was delivered, to be honest.

At first glance, the sculpted Mana 850 looks like any other European street naked. But sort of John McLane, it thinks differently - it thinks it’s partly a naked bike and partly a big, auto-matic scooter. The Mana debuted Aprilia’s automatic transmission (now also available on the more attractive, but oddly named Shiver). It’s substantially a scaled down CVT (continu-ously variable transmission), with seven pre-set ratios, and not a complex dual clutch sys-tem like Honda’s VFR1200F’s gearbox.

Utility is a major theme for this bike and the Italian design is quite clever. The obvi-ous charm lies in the oval twin-section head lamp and the short rear fairing. Thick 43mm upside down front forks and steel trellis frame add to the naked bike look. The 16-litre fuel tank is placed under the rear seat for a more even weight distribution and that also lowers the bike’s centre of gravity.

What’s in the tank, then? Space. The tank is actually a storage compartment - one of the reasons why it looks larger than usual. It has as special nonslip, non scratch coating and can host a full-size helmet inside, which means you can commute without having to lug a helmet with you once you’ve parked. There’s a light inside so you won’t fumble about in the dark, as well as 12V charger sock-et to charge phones with. You can also store the vehicle’s papers in here. To open, just hit the switch on the handlebar which only works when you are stationary. A manu-ally operated lever is under the passenger seat should the battery be dead.

If the battery were charged, what would also throb to life is the liquid-cooled 90° 839cc V-twin which produces 76.1PS at 8000rpm and 73Nm at 5000rpm. In compar-ison, the Suzuki Bandit 1250S generates 100PS and 108Nm. The Ducati Monster 796 on the other hand produces 87PS and 78.6Nm.

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011256 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 257

APRILIA MANA 850R I DE

Split Personality Words & Photography Halley Prabhakar

Riding India’s second on-sale automatic motorcycle, the Aprilia Mana 850

Think Aprilia and two things come to mind. First, beauti-ful motorcycles with mon-strous engines, and the aura of a brand with no less than 45

world championships under the belt (which leads them to claim the title of the most suc-cessful European manufacturer in racing). Second, how they have super-impressive top-flight motorcycles (like the RSV4 or the Tuono V4R) and the super-impressive entry-level motorcycles (like the RS125, now RS250), but literally no famous motorcycles in the middle. At first glance, it’s like an Ital-ian pasta with the sauce missing! Or is it? To get a taste for the filling, we got a taste of the practical Aprilia street bike, the Mana 850. Saucy? Or bland? Let’s find out.

Aprilia entered the Indian market earlier this year, and is offering its entire line-up in-cluding the top of the line RSV4 superbike, the Dorsoduro 1200 giant supermoto, the mad-naked Tuono and this, the practical street bike Mana 850.

The Mana is an entry-level Aprilia - which means it is supposed to be cheap, versatile and aims to hook new customers and bring them into the brand. It’s also supposed to be a street bike which means a riding position, handling and ride quality balance which should make sense in our typically messy In-dian traffic conditions. And then it has an au-tomatic transmission, which is an additional distinction. While the manufacturer is yet to provide us with a test bike - indeed, their roll-out has been slow, they still only have one dealer and the delivery process is still slug-gish - I was lucky to sample the Mana on my recent trip to Borneo in Malaysia. Exclusive automatic for you people, then.

The Mana debuted at the Milan show in 2006, and was released in Europe as a 2007 model. The positive response and accolades did not come immediately, however, and it took a model update before the minor glitches

in the electronics were ironed out and the full benefit of the ride by wire and the automatic transmission was delivered, to be honest.

At first glance, the sculpted Mana 850 looks like any other European street naked. But sort of John McLane, it thinks differently - it thinks it’s partly a naked bike and partly a big, auto-matic scooter. The Mana debuted Aprilia’s automatic transmission (now also available on the more attractive, but oddly named Shiver). It’s substantially a scaled down CVT (continu-ously variable transmission), with seven pre-set ratios, and not a complex dual clutch sys-tem like Honda’s VFR1200F’s gearbox.

Utility is a major theme for this bike and the Italian design is quite clever. The obvi-ous charm lies in the oval twin-section head lamp and the short rear fairing. Thick 43mm upside down front forks and steel trellis frame add to the naked bike look. The 16-litre fuel tank is placed under the rear seat for a more even weight distribution and that also lowers the bike’s centre of gravity.

What’s in the tank, then? Space. The tank is actually a storage compartment - one of the reasons why it looks larger than usual. It has as special nonslip, non scratch coating and can host a full-size helmet inside, which means you can commute without having to lug a helmet with you once you’ve parked. There’s a light inside so you won’t fumble about in the dark, as well as 12V charger sock-et to charge phones with. You can also store the vehicle’s papers in here. To open, just hit the switch on the handlebar which only works when you are stationary. A manu-ally operated lever is under the passenger seat should the battery be dead.

If the battery were charged, what would also throb to life is the liquid-cooled 90° 839cc V-twin which produces 76.1PS at 8000rpm and 73Nm at 5000rpm. In compar-ison, the Suzuki Bandit 1250S generates 100PS and 108Nm. The Ducati Monster 796 on the other hand produces 87PS and 78.6Nm.

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011256 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 257

E-cstatic!Mercedes-Benz E 63 AMG versus the Indian real world. Can the real world handle it?

Human beings are single-di-mensional characters. For instance, you cannot be Jay Leno funny and Barack Obama insightful at the

same time. You can sometimes be silly and indecisive, for sure, but opposites are hard to do. We think the reason is that we are organic, born of a sea of genetic informa-tion, with little control over our genetic matter and it’s manifestations. Which is probably why, Leno also has the largest chin in the world, and Obama is increas-ingly criticised as a US President who thinks too hard and does too little. The E 63 AMG, then, is better than human beings. It is based on the awesome new Mercedes-Benz E-Class, a good place to start. And then it roars its way to greatness.

We could tell you that this thought popped into my head while we were out cruising in it, but that wouldn’t be pos-sible. While we were driving it, the only thought in our heads were wow and super-awesome. The reason the E 63 is better than human beings is that it’s a bit like a gun. It’s nice to have one, but it isn’t necessary to either wave it around or to randomly shoot people with it. But if you really wanted to, you could.

We still haven’t quite understood why every time we come upon a powerful car, the violent analogies start f lowing like blood in a Tarantino movie. Er... But we do understand the need for it, because there is hardly any other way to convey the sensa-tions of the car to you. Let me give you an example. We pull out from behind a truck to pass it. Child’s play in something as pow-erful as this car, right? We then note that thanks to a gentle foot on the accelerator, it hasn’t changed down a gear. No problem. We surge purposefully forward in relative quietness. Then suddenly, the truck com-

ing towards us seems to be going a hell of a lot quicker than we first estimated. Or maybe we are going too slowly. Solution? We kick the accelerator pedal with a fury born of urgency. This causes quite an event-ful chain of sensations. First, the AMG Speedshift MCT 7-speed sports transmis-sion changes down two gears instantane-ously. Then the V8 under the hood erupts in a glorious roar that is angry and happy, all at once. It sounds, literally, like you have your own thunder machine. The revs rise madly and that sends incredible amounts of torque to the rear wheels, a vast 285-sec-tion tyre that was put in there for its ability to grip and transfer power to the ground. It tries valiantly to maintain a good rela-tionship between the road and the torque. Inside the cabin, the rumble of the V8 is interrupted by a sharp chirrup of the tyres losing grip for a second. Then, simultane-ously, you get punched into your seat by a giant hand and the traction control light starts to flash urgently. The acceleration is so hard that the first few times, you forget entirely to breathe, to steer and get so con-sumed by the gathering momentum that it won’t even occur to you that backing off the throttle or depressing the brake lever will restore order.

But this is not our first time. With the traction control firmly on my side, we slice deftly back into my lane, nearly two hun-dred metres ahead of the vehicle we were passing, and count to ten calmly before the oncoming truck ahead actually passes my car. All that takes exactly 10.24 seconds to happen. 0.24 seconds to go from no-hurry to warp speed, and ten seconds to revel in the performance until the truck passes.

That is a brutal demonstration of the sort of the power the E 63 AMG is capable of.

But while human beings can only be one thing at a time, the AMG uses all of

A DV E RTOR I A L

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011266 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 267

E-cstatic!Mercedes-Benz E 63 AMG versus the Indian real world. Can the real world handle it?

Human beings are single-di-mensional characters. For instance, you cannot be Jay Leno funny and Barack Obama insightful at the

same time. You can sometimes be silly and indecisive, for sure, but opposites are hard to do. We think the reason is that we are organic, born of a sea of genetic informa-tion, with little control over our genetic matter and it’s manifestations. Which is probably why, Leno also has the largest chin in the world, and Obama is increas-ingly criticised as a US President who thinks too hard and does too little. The E 63 AMG, then, is better than human beings. It is based on the awesome new Mercedes-Benz E-Class, a good place to start. And then it roars its way to greatness.

We could tell you that this thought popped into my head while we were out cruising in it, but that wouldn’t be pos-sible. While we were driving it, the only thought in our heads were wow and super-awesome. The reason the E 63 is better than human beings is that it’s a bit like a gun. It’s nice to have one, but it isn’t necessary to either wave it around or to randomly shoot people with it. But if you really wanted to, you could.

We still haven’t quite understood why every time we come upon a powerful car, the violent analogies start f lowing like blood in a Tarantino movie. Er... But we do understand the need for it, because there is hardly any other way to convey the sensa-tions of the car to you. Let me give you an example. We pull out from behind a truck to pass it. Child’s play in something as pow-erful as this car, right? We then note that thanks to a gentle foot on the accelerator, it hasn’t changed down a gear. No problem. We surge purposefully forward in relative quietness. Then suddenly, the truck com-

ing towards us seems to be going a hell of a lot quicker than we first estimated. Or maybe we are going too slowly. Solution? We kick the accelerator pedal with a fury born of urgency. This causes quite an event-ful chain of sensations. First, the AMG Speedshift MCT 7-speed sports transmis-sion changes down two gears instantane-ously. Then the V8 under the hood erupts in a glorious roar that is angry and happy, all at once. It sounds, literally, like you have your own thunder machine. The revs rise madly and that sends incredible amounts of torque to the rear wheels, a vast 285-sec-tion tyre that was put in there for its ability to grip and transfer power to the ground. It tries valiantly to maintain a good rela-tionship between the road and the torque. Inside the cabin, the rumble of the V8 is interrupted by a sharp chirrup of the tyres losing grip for a second. Then, simultane-ously, you get punched into your seat by a giant hand and the traction control light starts to flash urgently. The acceleration is so hard that the first few times, you forget entirely to breathe, to steer and get so con-sumed by the gathering momentum that it won’t even occur to you that backing off the throttle or depressing the brake lever will restore order.

But this is not our first time. With the traction control firmly on my side, we slice deftly back into my lane, nearly two hun-dred metres ahead of the vehicle we were passing, and count to ten calmly before the oncoming truck ahead actually passes my car. All that takes exactly 10.24 seconds to happen. 0.24 seconds to go from no-hurry to warp speed, and ten seconds to revel in the performance until the truck passes.

That is a brutal demonstration of the sort of the power the E 63 AMG is capable of.

But while human beings can only be one thing at a time, the AMG uses all of

A DV E RTOR I A L

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011266 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 267

C-iesta Words Ashok George Photography Gaurav S Thombre

Yet another C-class comes to us for testing, but wait a minute...

DR I V EMERCEDES BENZ C 200 CGI

Around the time when the C200 Kompressor was re-placed by the C200 CGI we were all very grim faced. But not because the new

generation C-class was a disappointment (in fact the CGI made 4 per cent more power than the Kompressor). The frowns were be-cause Kompressor was a much cooler name than a couple of alphabets put together. Adding to it was the fact that it was spelt with a ‘K’ instead of a ‘C’. Since then, the CGI has gone ahead and turned our frowns up-side down with performance that made its predecessor become a happy memory. And

now, nobody seems to mind that this par-ticular C-class is the reason why the Kom-pressor is dead.

Now, the C-class as we know it is not a very old design. The car which is barely two de-cades old saw its last design revision in 2007. And at the Detroit Auto Show, 2011, Mercedes-Benz unveiled the facelifted C-class.

The exterior of the car sees some design changes, the most obvious being that kink in the headlamp which makes it look aa lot like the Laura’s headlamps. The bumper too has been redesigned and now gets LED day-time running lamps and larger air dams. The combination of the new bumpers and

OVERDRIVE SEP 201184 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 85

C-iesta Words Ashok George Photography Gaurav S Thombre

Yet another C-class comes to us for testing, but wait a minute...

DR I V EMERCEDES BENZ C 200 CGI

Around the time when the C200 Kompressor was re-placed by the C200 CGI we were all very grim faced. But not because the new

generation C-class was a disappointment (in fact the CGI made 4 per cent more power than the Kompressor). The frowns were be-cause Kompressor was a much cooler name than a couple of alphabets put together. Adding to it was the fact that it was spelt with a ‘K’ instead of a ‘C’. Since then, the CGI has gone ahead and turned our frowns up-side down with performance that made its predecessor become a happy memory. And

now, nobody seems to mind that this par-ticular C-class is the reason why the Kom-pressor is dead.

Now, the C-class as we know it is not a very old design. The car which is barely two de-cades old saw its last design revision in 2007. And at the Detroit Auto Show, 2011, Mercedes-Benz unveiled the facelifted C-class.

The exterior of the car sees some design changes, the most obvious being that kink in the headlamp which makes it look aa lot like the Laura’s headlamps. The bumper too has been redesigned and now gets LED day-time running lamps and larger air dams. The combination of the new bumpers and

OVERDRIVE SEP 201184 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 85

What happens when an INRC co-driver and a national level motorcy-cle racer decide to race against each other? Yes I

am talking about Abhay ‘Stunter’ Verma and me ‘Handbrake Halley’. We have been work-ing at OVERDRIVE for over three years now, but never had a chance to race against each other. So when Aamby Valley at Lonavala in-vited us to experience 19 Degree North, their new adventure park, we knew what was to be done. Abhay was fresh from riding ATVs last month and had even pulled a wheelie which went on to become his profile picture and got hundreds of likes. The first time I rode an ATV was at a friend’s farm and had ended up going the wrong way into a ditch instead of

drifting around a corner. Riding an ATV isn’t easy, and one needs to shift body weight to steer, just like riding a motocross bike. 19 De-gree North has a developed a special 1.5km long off-road track for the purpose. They claim the track is one of its kind in the coun-try, and is best when riding in the monsoons given its slushy nature. It involves a series of obstacles from start to finish, and these in-clude several bumps, chicanes, tight corners, a high jump ending in a tricky left-handed curve apart from water-logged sections that leave you covered in muck. To experience the track, one can choose from a range of Polaris ATVs ranging from a tiny 90cc ATV to a monstrous 500cc one.

For the purpose we decided to try the Po-laris 300 ATV. The 300 features a butch front

end, and looks ready to devour any kind of terrain. As I climbed onto the ATV, the riding position felt comfortable, yet aggressive, and one that would allow me to shift around as and when needed to negotiate corners. It fea-tures a 299cc air/oil-cooled engine with CVT transmission. It also has four wheel drive, which can be engaged on the fly. To keep it fair, we decided to ride two laps each which included a practice lap and a qualifying lap. Abhay went in first and was going flat-out in-stantly. The stunter eventually clocked a time of 2 minutes, 18 seconds. Next was my turn and I took it easy in the practice lap, making mental notes - being an INRC navigator did help! The obstacles and jumps were well de-signed; and the Polaris went through every-thing that came its way effortlessly, allowing

Down ‘n Dirty Words Halley Prabhakar Photography Gaurav S Thombre

We go mud splashing with Polaris ATVs

POLARIS ATVR I DE

The stunter-boy trying hard to fly on the Polaris Sportsman 300

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011274 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 275

What happens when an INRC co-driver and a national level motorcy-cle racer decide to race against each other? Yes I

am talking about Abhay ‘Stunter’ Verma and me ‘Handbrake Halley’. We have been work-ing at OVERDRIVE for over three years now, but never had a chance to race against each other. So when Aamby Valley at Lonavala in-vited us to experience 19 Degree North, their new adventure park, we knew what was to be done. Abhay was fresh from riding ATVs last month and had even pulled a wheelie which went on to become his profile picture and got hundreds of likes. The first time I rode an ATV was at a friend’s farm and had ended up going the wrong way into a ditch instead of

drifting around a corner. Riding an ATV isn’t easy, and one needs to shift body weight to steer, just like riding a motocross bike. 19 De-gree North has a developed a special 1.5km long off-road track for the purpose. They claim the track is one of its kind in the coun-try, and is best when riding in the monsoons given its slushy nature. It involves a series of obstacles from start to finish, and these in-clude several bumps, chicanes, tight corners, a high jump ending in a tricky left-handed curve apart from water-logged sections that leave you covered in muck. To experience the track, one can choose from a range of Polaris ATVs ranging from a tiny 90cc ATV to a monstrous 500cc one.

For the purpose we decided to try the Po-laris 300 ATV. The 300 features a butch front

end, and looks ready to devour any kind of terrain. As I climbed onto the ATV, the riding position felt comfortable, yet aggressive, and one that would allow me to shift around as and when needed to negotiate corners. It fea-tures a 299cc air/oil-cooled engine with CVT transmission. It also has four wheel drive, which can be engaged on the fly. To keep it fair, we decided to ride two laps each which included a practice lap and a qualifying lap. Abhay went in first and was going flat-out in-stantly. The stunter eventually clocked a time of 2 minutes, 18 seconds. Next was my turn and I took it easy in the practice lap, making mental notes - being an INRC navigator did help! The obstacles and jumps were well de-signed; and the Polaris went through every-thing that came its way effortlessly, allowing

Down ‘n Dirty Words Halley Prabhakar Photography Gaurav S Thombre

We go mud splashing with Polaris ATVs

POLARIS ATVR I DE

The stunter-boy trying hard to fly on the Polaris Sportsman 300

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011274 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 275

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011102 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 103

DR I V EFORCE MOTORS FORCE ONE

Onederful? Words Sirish Chandran Photography Gaurav S Thombre

Is the Force One any good?

You don’t see too many these days but back in the day, and I’m talking two de-cades ago, the Trax was as popular as it’s contemporaries - the Sumo, Arma-da et al. It was built like a tank, was de-

signed by somebody with access to a lot of rulers, had space, could take serious punishment and under the hood was the best engine in its segment; an engine that in a previous avatar was to be found under bon-nets sporting the three-pointed star.

Today Bajaj Tempo is no more, having been re-christened Force Motors five years ago, the curly F in a roundel has been straightened out but the Trax still continues in a multitude of wheelbase and seating ar-rangements for the rural market. While the group has grown into one of India’s biggest component suppli-ers, assembling engines and axles for Mercedes-Benz and has a JV with MAN for trucks, to you and me Force Motors is a virtual non-entity, making nothing of in-terest. That’s what Force One is set to change.

Too martial that name if you ask me but it suits what is essentially a big brute of an SUV. The presence is imposing and the stance hulking. All the traditional SUV cues are there - flared wheel arches, lots of sus-pension travel, high ground clearance, tons of metal. However even though I have a personal preference for SUVs, to my eye the Force One looks dated. Force Mo-tors have given it new projector-type headlights with integrated daytime running LEDs and a new chrome grille but the basic styling remains true and unchanged from the Guandong Foday Explorer III.

Back the truck up a minute. Before you start scream-ing, let’s clarify that this is not a Chinese SUV. To save on the huge costs of setting up a press shop for what will be a low-volume product, Force Motors buys the panels pre-stamped from China; they point out it’s like buying steel, which every automobile company does, but in finished form. Which is true, but that also means Force Motors have bought a ready-made platform and deftly side-stepped the fundamental design and engi-neering steps. It saves lots of time, resources and money but also leaves them with a package that isn’t the most modern nor has been subjected to any crash testing.

In China Guandong sell both the Explorer III and an upgraded version called Explorer 6 that gets a truly horrific chrome front grille though other details like headlamps, tail lamps and even interiors are far more modern. Guandong’s operations include not just man-ufacturing vehicles but they also supply body panels

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011102 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 103

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011102 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 103

DR I V EFORCE MOTORS FORCE ONE

Onederful? Words Sirish Chandran Photography Gaurav S Thombre

Is the Force One any good?

You don’t see too many these days but back in the day, and I’m talking two de-cades ago, the Trax was as popular as it’s contemporaries - the Sumo, Arma-da et al. It was built like a tank, was de-

signed by somebody with access to a lot of rulers, had space, could take serious punishment and under the hood was the best engine in its segment; an engine that in a previous avatar was to be found under bon-nets sporting the three-pointed star.

Today Bajaj Tempo is no more, having been re-christened Force Motors five years ago, the curly F in a roundel has been straightened out but the Trax still continues in a multitude of wheelbase and seating ar-rangements for the rural market. While the group has grown into one of India’s biggest component suppli-ers, assembling engines and axles for Mercedes-Benz and has a JV with MAN for trucks, to you and me Force Motors is a virtual non-entity, making nothing of in-terest. That’s what Force One is set to change.

Too martial that name if you ask me but it suits what is essentially a big brute of an SUV. The presence is imposing and the stance hulking. All the traditional SUV cues are there - flared wheel arches, lots of sus-pension travel, high ground clearance, tons of metal. However even though I have a personal preference for SUVs, to my eye the Force One looks dated. Force Mo-tors have given it new projector-type headlights with integrated daytime running LEDs and a new chrome grille but the basic styling remains true and unchanged from the Guandong Foday Explorer III.

Back the truck up a minute. Before you start scream-ing, let’s clarify that this is not a Chinese SUV. To save on the huge costs of setting up a press shop for what will be a low-volume product, Force Motors buys the panels pre-stamped from China; they point out it’s like buying steel, which every automobile company does, but in finished form. Which is true, but that also means Force Motors have bought a ready-made platform and deftly side-stepped the fundamental design and engi-neering steps. It saves lots of time, resources and money but also leaves them with a package that isn’t the most modern nor has been subjected to any crash testing.

In China Guandong sell both the Explorer III and an upgraded version called Explorer 6 that gets a truly horrific chrome front grille though other details like headlamps, tail lamps and even interiors are far more modern. Guandong’s operations include not just man-ufacturing vehicles but they also supply body panels

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011102 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 103

Terms and conditions: Contest open to all Indian nationals over 18 years of age. Winners will be provided with return air tickets to New Delhi, accommodation, transfers to and from the airport and circuit. Prizes are non-transferable. The decision of Force India F1 and Infomedia 18 is final and non-negotiable. Contest closes on October 10, 2011

WIN!!!TWO LUCKY READERS WINAn all expense paid trip to watch the Indian Grand Prix on the 30th of October 2011 as VIP guests of the Force India F1 team. Interact with Force India drivers, hang out with the team and have the time of your life in the hospitality suite! PLUS TWO READERS EACH WINThe opportunity to meet Force India’s F1 drivers during fan interactions at Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi

JUST ANSWER THIS SIMPLE QUESTIONForce India F1’s drivers are:A. Adrian Sutil B. Paul di Resta C. Both

Mail your answers to contest@overdrive.co.in subject ‘Force India’ or send snail mail to the editorial office addressSMS OD<space>FORCEINDIA<space>ANSWER to 51818, Tweet your answer to @odmag

And, in not more than 50 words (or 140 characters if you tweet to @odmag), tell us why you will be cheering for Force India.

FORCEINDIA LIVE!

Terms and conditions: Contest open to all Indian nationals over 18 years of age. Winners will be provided with return air tickets to New Delhi, accommodation, transfers to and from the airport and circuit. Prizes are non-transferable. The decision of Force India F1 and Infomedia 18 is final and non-negotiable. Contest closes on October 10, 2011

WIN!!!TWO LUCKY READERS WINAn all expense paid trip to watch the Indian Grand Prix on the 30th of October 2011 as VIP guests of the Force India F1 team. Interact with Force India drivers, hang out with the team and have the time of your life in the hospitality suite! PLUS TWO READERS EACH WINThe opportunity to meet Force India’s F1 drivers during fan interactions at Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi

JUST ANSWER THIS SIMPLE QUESTIONForce India F1’s drivers are:A. Adrian Sutil B. Paul di Resta C. Both

Mail your answers to contest@overdrive.co.in subject ‘Force India’ or send snail mail to the editorial office addressSMS OD<space>FORCEINDIA<space>ANSWER to 51818, Tweet your answer to @odmag

And, in not more than 50 words (or 140 characters if you tweet to @odmag), tell us why you will be cheering for Force India.

FORCEINDIA LIVE!

OVERDRIVE SEP 2011114 SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 115

Second shot Words Halley Prabhakar Photography Abhay Verma

The Tata Aria is here in its 4X2 avatar. We find out if it’s finally value for money

We all know what an SUV is. We also know what a hatchback or a sta-tion wagon is. Then what exactly is this

crossover that everybody seems to be talk-ing about. Simply put, it’s a cross between an SUV and a station wagon. India is not new to crossovers. There was the Fiat Palio Adventure and the even more recent Mit-subishi Outlander. But then Tata went ahead and made India’s first indigenously devel-oped crossover in October 2010 - the Aria. Tata sought to break new ground with the 2.2 litre DiCOR powering all four wheels and offering a long list of electronics and gizmos that included ABS with EBD, ESP, traction control, six airbags, satnav and

cruise control, an impressive list indeed. But in spite of all these features, the Aria didn’t rake in the expected numbers, the hefty price tag being the main reason behind this. And so, almost a year since its launch, Tata Motors has finally decided to give this cross-over another shot. Say hello to the Aria 2WD. Better late than never we say.

The Aria is arguably one of the better de-signs to come out of Tata Motors in the re-cent past. Not that Tata is a stranger to world class design what with examples like the Si-erra, Indica (you have to agree it did look good when it first came out) and the Nano. The sheer dimensions of the Aria give it a strong road presence but it is very MUV-like and quite different from the two box designs of the CR-V or Captiva. The 4x2 variant does

not see any design changes and looks exactly like the 4x4 except for the badging.

Among the carry forwards from the 4x4 variant is the 2.2 DiCOR engine. The motor has remained untouched and retains its power rating of 140PS at 4000rpm and the torque figure of 320Nm at 1700-2700rpm. This means that the 4X2 version retains the same strong driveability of the 4x4 Aria. The Aria’s G76 Mark II transmission has been reworked for even slicker gearshifts and shorter throws (the same gearbox will be available in the 4X4 model as well) and it is better than the Innovas. The 4x4 Aria used an electronically controlled 4WD sys-tem, which meant that with the press of a button on the dashboard the car trans-formed into a rear-wheel drive, engaging

only the rear axle. All this has been ditched in the new Aria which translates into huge cost savings for Tata while also making it a regular rear-driver. This also explains the drop in price. In fact, Tata Motors hope to sell more 4X2 Arias just like the Safari (70 percent of its sales is the 4X2 version).

On the handling front, the new Aria is just as good as the 4x4 version. It feels light at low speeds and stable even when the speed-ometer needle is leaning towards the right. This is thanks to the double wishbone setup at the front and the 5-link unit at the rear. The ride is smooth enough to leave the occupants

feeling comfortable over most surfaces ex-cept the harshest. However, the plush ride does not come at the cost of dynamics, lead-ing to a very well balanced car. The steering still feels a bit light at high speeds leaving the driver slightly nervous when steering into corners. The car retains the four disc brake format from the earlier variant, which means that it doesn’t lack stopping power in any way. The 4X2 retains the ABS with EBD but will not have traction control or ESP.

Clockwise from top: The Aria interiors are pretty much the same as the 4WD variant, save the steering mounted controls missing in the Pure variant. The engine retains the same numbers as the 4WD variant. The simple dials are easy to read and give all the required information to the user.

THE 4X2 VARIANT DOES NOT SEE ANY DESIGN CHANGES AND LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE THE 4X4 EXCEPT FOR THE BADGING

T E STTATA ARIA 4x2

SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 115

Think Ashok Leyland, and what comes to your mind? Trucks and buses of course. They have been one of India’s leading manufacturers of commercial

vehicles, around since 1948, a year after In-dia’s Independence. In fact Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister convinced Raghunanadan Saran, an industrialist to enter into automotive manufacturing who went on to start Ashok Motors and assemble Austin cars. Fast forward to today and the company has a presence in the entire truck range from 7.5 tonnes to 49 tonnes. However, the company has never had any product in

the under 7.5 tonnes segment. That’s where the joint venture with Nissan Motors comes in. I was in Chennai to drive Ashok Leyland’s first ever LCV, the Dost.

Not so long ago, one had no option but to transport goods in big trucks or puny rick-shaws into town. All that changed a few years back when 1-tonners such as the Tata Ace ar-rived, it not only was easier to drive but also offered more comfort. India today has the fifth largest CV market in the world and one can choose over 16 different LCVs. The gov-ernment is working towards improving rural connectivity and the transition from animal carts to vehicles has led to the increase in LCV

sales and will continue to rise every year. Ma-jority of these buyers are younger drivers who expect the vehicle not only to deliver but be stylish and comfortable. Ashok Leyland and Nissan didn’t want to be left behind in this fast growing market, and hence after three years of rapid development work, they are now ready to launch the Dost.

The Dost is an India-specific project that has been developed after interacting with drivers around the country. To start off they went about building a vehicle that has a larger footprint than the Ace but smaller to LCVs such as the Bolero pick up. More importance was given to space and comfort. The vehicle

Friend indeed Words Halley Prabhakar Photography Joshua Navalkar

Driving Ashok Leyland’s first LCV

has been designed in-house by Ashok Ley-land-Nissan’s young designers in Chennai. This reflects in the design, it approaches a very simple design language and at the same time it’s very practical. The quality of plastics and the fit and finish is on par with MPVs which is a good sign for an LCV. The interiors are more MPV like with good seating position and a large glass area, the space is definitely one of the highest in the segment. The seats recline and fold downwards too, an extra seat has been placed above the engine cover which when combined with the foldable front seats acts as a flat bed for the driver to rest. The Dost also features air conditioning, some-thing not found in an LCV.

From the outside, the Dost doesn’t feature a prominent front grille but uses the compa-ny’s flowing garland nose seen on other Ashok Leyland products. The headlamp is a clear lens unit that features what the design-ers call hockey stick shaped indicators. Most LCVs in India feature a flat front end but the Dost has a short nose that is not just a cos-metic feature, hidden inside is a bull bar mounted to the ladder frame that acts as pro-tection when there is a collision. The flat bed is also designed to give highest loading area and can take a load up to 1.25 tonnes which is more than most of its rivals. The Dost we drove even featured 14-inch alloy wheels

From the rear, the Dost looks like any other pickup. Instrument cluster looks fresh and uses design cues similar to the headlamp

Interiors are very MPV-like while dual tone is a segment first and will be offered only in the top end variant

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The three-cylinder engine produces maximum power of 55PS and a healthy 150Nm of torque

The Dost is rated to carry a payload of 1.25 tonnes

DR I V EASHOK LEYLAND DOST

DR I V EMAHINDRA GENIO SINGLE CAB

IngenioWords Ashok George Photography Gaurav S Thombre

Want a vehicle to lug 1.2 tonnes of anything around?

At OVERDRIVE we test cars nonstop. And most of the time you can see us at a cer-tain petrol pump near a cer-tain expressway, sipping cof-

fee and discussing how cars behave on the road. Most of the guys who work at this cer-tain petrol pump are very familiar with our faces. We too know them pretty well consid-ering how often we go there. So when we pulled into said petrol bunk in a Mahindra Genio with yellow plates, we were a bit taken aback when we did not get the same treat-ment we usually get. And when we rolled our windows and stuck our heads out, we were greeted by a “Sir! Aap?” and a puzzled expres-sion. This was how the Genio’s test began.

The Genio is Mahindra’s effort to increase its dominant share in the pickup segment. If the nearly identical 1.2 tonne payload capacity does not say this, the list of features surely will. The Genio is a very handsome looking pick-up. The first time I saw one on the road, it was barrelling down the hill at me in Shimla. Truth be told, I almost leaked some body fluids that time (almost). So I know for a fact that when

Mahindra claims the Genio’s front end looks intimidating, they are not kidding. The clear lens head lamps, the chicken mesh grille, the kinked turn indicators and sporty bumpers come together in one good looking package. In the cosmetics department, that’s all I have to say about the Genio, because after the front half of the vehicle, it is just a plain sheet metal loading bay. Look at the vehicle from the side and you realize that at almost 5.3 metres, the Genio is really, really long. Anyone (especially people not used to large vehicles such as this) attempting U-turns on highways should bear in mind that more likely than not, your rear end is going to be sticking out and in the way of oncoming traffic.

Once you step inside the cabin, you have to step out again instantly. Not because there’s a snake inside, but to make sure that you’re in a Genio and not a Xylo. The dash in the Genio is borrowed from the Xylo. The only difference being that in our test car the AC vents and all knobs had been boarded up with bits of plastic. The steering wheel and gear lever are from the Xylo as well. The in-strument cluster layout too is similar but in-

stead of the same instrumentation, there is only a speedo, fuel gauge and temperature indicator. The wing mirrors are not internal-ly adjustable though. Maybe I’m forgetting this is a commercial vehicle after all. The seats offer good support but lack a head rest and height adjustment. The beige colour theme looks better than the grey or black that seems to be a mark of commercial vehi-cles these days.

The Genio runs a 2489cc inline 4-cylinder mDI CRDe engine that churns out 76PS of power and 220Nm of torque with all that torque spread between 1400 and 2200rpm. This is 40Nm more than its closest competi-tion, the 207DI. In our test we saw a top speed of 138kmph on the speedo with the actual speed being 127kmph. I must say that this is way more than the 120kmph claimed by the manufacturer. 100 klicks came in at 26.94 seconds in very wet conditions. The power is delivered via a 5-speed manual transmission which Mahindra calls NGT 520 R V1.

Mahindra uses independent front suspen-sion and rear leaf springs on the Genio. The ride quality, Mahindra claims, enhances ride

comfort. But this being a load carrier, it is de-signed to carry heavy loads and typically softens once fully loaded. Unladen, the ride is rather stiff. It runs ventilated discs in front with drums at the rear. They bring the vehicle to a stop from 60kmph in 24.22m within 3.25 seconds. But it needs to be said that under hard braking the Genio feels very unstable, again something that gets sorted once it is fully loaded.

The manufacturer offers the Genio in sin-gle cab and double cab variants. The single cab is bare basic with only adjustable steering as a plus point. The double cab variant mean-while is, for lack of a better word, quite fancy. It comes loaded with goodies such as aircon, a 2-DIN music system with CD changer and USB connectivity and car like seating. Pretty good value for money we feel. The Genio can only be registered with yellow plates in Maha-rashtra and while going to print Mumbai prices were not yet available. The single cab is priced at ` 4.99 lakh (ex showroom Navi Mumbai) for the BS3 version. The double cab is priced at ` 5.46 lakh for the base version and ` 5.95 lakh for the high end VX (both ex-showroom Karnataka). With so much going for it, we feel that the double cab VX is clearly the cream of the lot. So now whenever you need a vehicle to lug stuff to your farm or to add to your fleet of CVs, you know where to go. As for the competition, the Genio says only one thing – bring it on!

SPECIFICATIONTYPE Inline 4-cylinder, 2489cc

Max power 76PS

Max torque 220Nm@1400rpm

LxWxH 5275x1840x1870mm

Price ` 4.99 lakh (ex showroom Navi Mumbai)

+ Looks, interiors

- Ride quality, braking hairy when unladen

Clockwise from above: The Genio would have looked much better with those hub caps we saw in the brochure. The clocks are a very standard affair, but easy to read. The 2.5-litre engine makes 76PS and 220Nm of torque

No we did not mix the pictures up with that of a Xylo

Clockwise from above: Huge cargo bay might whack into things if you’re not careful. A fog lamp would have filled up that space really well. Another Mahindra with a name that ends with O

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Oil in-Fluence Words & Photography Abhay Verma

The Renault Fluence diesel goes under the road test scalpel

In June 2011, we tested the Renault Fluence petrol, pitting it against the Toyota Corolla Altis and the Skoda Laura. Back then we had reported that the Fluence’s styling is better

than the competition and that on the inside it boasts of well-appointed, class-leading inte-riors, bettering the competition in terms of space and comfort. The petrol engine is a bit of a let-down though, with rivals sporting slightly more powerful powertrains, but the Fluence makes up for it with its frugality. Apart from that, the car boasts of several convenience features and has four airbags and ESP. In short, the petrol Fluence did not fare badly at all. This month, we managed to lay our hands on its diesel sibling.

From the outside, it is next to impossible to distinguish the diesel from the petrol, ex-cept for the dCi badge next to the rear number plate. But step inside, and as Sirish pointed out couple of months ago after driving the petrol and diesel variants back to back at the media drive, Renault has stripped down the interiors heavily for the diesel, which is bizarre. The dif-

ference in trim levels is huge, and the diesel has to make-do with interiors dominated by black and grey plastics. It does not even get a leather-wrapped steering wheel, forget climate control, AUX, USB, Bluetooth connectivity, leather seats, rear sun blinds and rear air-con-ditioning vents that the petrol variant has. This gets further baffling on finding out that this is the sole diesel variant. The engine is the same 1.5-litre, in-line four cylinder dCi motor seen on the Logan previously and on the Micra diesel more recently. The Logan diesel was a runaway success for the Mahindra-Re-nault joint venture, and the car’s highlight was its engine. The Logan diesel was immensely popular as an entry-level sedan given its high-ly frugal nature. This is the engine Renault plans to use in its future models in the country such as the Duster though the Koleos will get a 2.0-litre diesel.

For the Fluence, Renault has given the en-gine a power boost, given the car’s positioning as a D-segment sedan. The 1.5-litre engine makes 106PS at 4000rpm in this guise, which does not sound like much, despite the hike in

power. But this is still better than the Corolla diesel’s 88PS. Maximum torque produced is 240Nm at 2000rpm. This tried and tested mill feels smooth under the Fluence’s hood, and is not noisy either, with diesel rattle staying low. With the Fluence diesel, the French manufac-turer is hoping to capture the attention of those looking for a frugal D-segment sedan and the car gets a six-speed manual gearbox with tall ratios. The gearbox feels good as gears slot in well, but shifts have a slight rub-bery feel. Given the fact that the engine focus-es on returning fuel efficiency rather than performance, it is not exactly a delight to push to its limits.

There’s massive turbo lag below 2000rpm to begin with, and in order to keep moving you need to keep the yellow tachometer nee-dle above it. In fact, the turbo lag coupled with the tall gear ratios is a major disappointment when it comes to spirited driving. In our per-formance test, the Fluence diesel managed to hit the ton in 13.5 seconds from standstill, going on to cover the quarter mile in 19.38 sec-onds at 121.72kmph. Registered top speed is

167.5kmph, but the Fluence takes forever to get there. What the Fluence diesel is good at is re-turning impressive fuel efficiency numbers. In our city run, the car covered 13.8km on a litre of diesel, the number stretching to 22.4km on the highway. This translates to an overall fuel efficiency figure of 15.7kmpl.

The Fluence petrol has impressed us with its ride and handling, and the diesel is not any different. Ride quality is plush, and the sus-pension gobbles up bad roads without any fuss. It makes for impressive handling and has a planted feel even while cornering at high speeds. Straight-line stability is good, but just the like the petrol the missing feed-back and weightlessness of the steering wheel is a deterrent to high speed runs. But, the Fluence is highly impressive in terms of providing comfort to its occupants.

With the diesel variant, Renault is trying to offer a D-segment sedan not too expensive to live with given its frugal nature. And un-like most other manufacturers, Renault has priced the diesel cheaper than the petrol. The Fluence diesel retails at ` 13.47 lakh ex-show-room Mumbai, about a lakh and half below the petrol that retails at ` 14.94 lakh. One of the reasons is the lack of creature comforts in the diesel variant, apart from the cost of manufacturing the diesel engine being lower than the petrol for Renault. Overall, the car makes sense being a comfortable sedan that is easy on the wallet as well. And given its styling, build quality and frugal nature the Fluence diesel should definitely eat into the share of the Toyota Corolla Altis diesel and the Skoda Laura diesel.

Clockwise from top: The 1.5 litre dCi motor feels underpowered, but is frugal and smooth. Diesel variant has to make-do with spartan interiors in comparison to the petrol. Nothing to differentiate between the petrol and diesel except for the dCi badge

Economy (kmpl)

City Highway Overall

13.822.4

15.9

Tank capacity 60litresRange 957km

PERFORMANCEAcceleration

Braking �with ABS)

kmph

sec

0-400M: 19.38s/121.72KMPH Standing 1KM: 34.69s/152.78KMPH Top speed: 167.58KMPH

ROAD TEST

4.12 6.41 9.83 13.50 18.86 25.62 38.26

140100600 120 16040 80

0 6 12 18 24 30 36 42

80-0kmph

100-0kmph

39.88m/2.99s

59.83m/3.66s

40m 60m 80m0m 20m

1057

75%

SPECIFICATIONSDrivetrain

Type In-line 4-cylinder, diesel

Installation Front transverse, FWD

Valvetrain 4-valves per cylinder, DOHC

Displacement 1461cc

Max power 106PS@4000rpm

Max torque 240Nm@2000rpm

Power to weight 83.13PS/ton

Kerb weight 1275kg

Transmission 6-speed manual

Wheels & Tyres

Rim (F/R) 6.5x16J alloy

Tyre (F/R) 205/60 R16

RIDE QUALITY IS PLUSH, AND THE SUSPENSION GOBBLES UP BAD ROADS WITHOUT ANY FUSS

IN�GEAR ROLL�ON

KMPH 4TH 5TH40-50 4.20s 8.78s50-60 3.33s 5.56s60-70 2.35s 3.89s70-80 2.04s 2.74s80-90 1.99s 2.63s90-100 2.12s 2.72s

20-80kmph in 3rd 14.62s

T E STRENAULT FLUENCE 1.5 DCI

Super SixGetting acquainted with the new flagship A6

“We think by 2020, India for us could be the size of Japan, something like 25000 units a year.” Those were Audi CEO Rupert Stadler’s very words when we inter-viewed him back in March at the 2011 Ge-neva Motor Show. Stadler went on to say that after investing a lot of money in the market and setting up an established dealer network and getting the basics right, vol-umes would naturally follow.

Clearly Audi believes it’s on the right track as the company has unleashed an onslaught of new cars in the market. Over the past eight months Audi have released eight new cars and their variants. The A6 3.0T is launch number nine. Is this just another entry in the Audi log book or does the 3.0T really hold its own and find a firm footing in the rapidly burgeoning Audi line-up?

STYLINGYes, the design is very similar to most new Audis coming out today but we’re just going

to have to accept that and stop whining about Audi’s lack of identity in its range. If you manage to put that thought aside, you’re immediately greeted by a rather handsome design, right from the subtle new shape Bul-garian beard to sharp headlamps flowing through the expansive but not unremarkable body work along the sides and culminating in the familiar but well designed rear. The previous generation was an excellent car all round but was let down by an unremarkable design in a market where looks rank high on a buyer’s priority list. Audi may not have gone in an entirely new design direction but they’ve dropped the staid and mundane theme that plagued the old generation car and that in itself is a positive step forward.

Open one of the well weighted doors and slide into the all new interiors. Near identical to the interiors on the 3.0TDI we tested last month, this is without doubt one of the fin-est in its price range. The brown leather clad seats are firm but supportive. The dash takes

cues from the A8 and is all the better for it. What you get is a mix of leather, wood, alu-minium and soft feel plastic that together give you the feeling of being ensconced in true luxury.

I liked the slide out screen for the simple reason that it’s out of sight when you don’t need it, giving the dash a clean uncluttered look. The big screen isn’t your only source of information with the LCD screen between the dials giving you a plethora of details like real time mileage, energy consumption, time, temperature and more. Space is on par with the competition but it’s the quality and manner with which it has been used that sets the A6 apart.

CHASSIS AND SUSPENSIONThe 3.0T uses the same underpinning as the 3.0TDI that we’ve discussed in detail in the last issue. I will however give you a concise overview of all you need to know. The body is still primarily a high strength steel con-

struction but close to twenty per cent of the car is now forged from aluminium. The sus-pension uses a fair helping of aluminium in its construction as well. The result? A signifi-cant reduction in weight, close to 100kg, as compared to the earlier generation car.

The talking point of this seventh genera-tion car is the new air suspension system with the Drive Select feature. What this lets you do is set up the suspension based on your requirement. You can choose between comfort, dynamic or individual modes or just put it in auto and let the car decide.

Drive select sport mode also sets up the seven speed S-tronic box’s shift times/points, adjusts the throttle response and weights the steering wheel. There’s a discernable dif-ference between the modes and you can quite literally feel the car crack its knuckles and flex its muscles when you shift from comfort to dynamic mode. It’s almost like the car’s telling you it’s ready for anything you throw at it.

RIDE AND HANDLINGDriving in comfort mode in the city has the steering be no heavier than in a Honda City, the car being surprisingly easy to drive through traffic considering its dimensions. Show the A6 a long straight road and she settles down beautifully at about 100kmph, engine purring just over tick over, suspen-sion soaking in most minor surface undula-tions and keeping you comfortably isolated from the road. The steering weighs up nicely in dynamic mode but could have done with more feel. The ride quality isn’t as plush as say an E-Class but is pretty close and signifi-cantly better than the 5 series’ more stiffly sprung feel.

Hit some curves and Audi’s work on this new chassis immediately come to light. The car handles vastly better than its predecessor. In the real world with crests, dips and the odd pothole I’d go as far as to say the A6 is even better than the 5 series whose stiff suspen-sion bounces it around too much and has it

crashing into dips. The A6 on the other hand doesn’t have a nose heavy feel and lands flat. Take another look at the jump shot we had on last month’s opening spread if my word isn’t good enough. However, that’s not to say the A6 is a better handler than the 5 because it isn’t, it’s just a better real world performer.

ENGINE The 2995cc direct petrol injection V6 engine is boosted by an intercooled mechanical su-percharger sitting between the two cylinder banks. The rotor unit, electrically controlled butterfly valve and heat exchanger are all en-cased in a single piece housing. The four blade rotor has a 160 degree angle twist and is mounted on an anti friction bearing. It also gets a special coating to minimize losses from friction.

Words Rishaad Mody Photography Gaurav S Thombre

Clockwise from left: Dials cloned from the A8. Interiors are the current segment benchmark in terms of quality and kit. Supercharged engine makes for proper low down poke

THE TALKING POINT OF THIS SEVENTH GENERATION CAR IS THE

NEW AIR SUSPENSION SYSTEM

T E STAUDI A6 3.0T

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F E AT U R EFERRARI WORLD DESIGN CONTEST

ductive motor and a hydrogen generator, a physical flywheel energy storage system and Maglev wheels (elevated wheels like on the Maglev high-speed trains).

Second prize went to Xezri by Azerbai-janian student Samir Sadikhov at IED, Turin for his vision of the ‘most beautiful Ferrari ever’. Inspired by natural wind the Xezri fea-tures flexible aerodynamic elements and a wing positioned horizontally on the roof of the car which is raised at 200kmph to func-tion as a spoiler and also send cooling air to the engine. It also has small air-turbines in the side intakes to charge the interior devices like the air-con, stereo et all.

Third prize went to RCA London’s radical Cavallo Bianco – a concept that takes into account climate shifts where frozen lakes will be abundant and rich playboys will need a Ferrari hypercar to race over frozen lakes to luxury ski resorts. It uses a turbo charged 4-cylinder engine running on bio-ethanol to generate electrical power, pass-ing through a battery to eliminate turbo lag and driving an electric motors at four corners for maximum grip in icy conditions.

A jury special award for the most un-expected technological solution was con-ferred on Chinese designers Pan Dai, Zhou Yimin and Wu Jia of Jiangnan University (China) for ‘the drake’ which features ad-justable wheels that narrow and widen and a power sensor body frame that reads the driver’s feeling and modifies the vehicle’s body – made from hyper connective tissue that can be forced to open and stretch out - and thus altering the aerodynamics or even opening up to reveal a ‘strong light shining inside’.

The three finalists received their prizes from Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemo-lo, CEO Amedeo Felisa, Paolo Pininfarina, Chairman of the Pininfarina Group which has partnered Ferrari in the styling of its cars for over six decades, and Flavio Manzoni, director of the Ferrari Styling Centre, which organised the contest. Said Montezemolo, “Nurturing the creativity of young people is a fundamental strategy in every walk of life. The Ferrari World Design Contest represents a window that we want to keep open on the world and the creative energy of the next generation. I am certain that some of these suggestions will come to light in the Ferraris of the future.”

Okay, the next Ferrari won’t turn into a sour puss if you’re having a bad hair day but the design ideas could inspire Ferrari road cars in the not so distant future.

Design student dream up the Ferrari of the future

FutureFerraris

A winter Ferrari for a frozen Riviera, designed for racing over an ice lake and arriving at a luxury ski resort. A Ferrari with a power sensor body

frame that allows sensors within the car to read the driver’s heartbeat, widening of the pupils and sound of his voice to modify the vehicle’s body. A Ferrari powered by a hydro-gen fuelled superconductive motor mated to a physical flywheel energy storage system that powers helium-cooled Maglev wheels. A Ferrari that uses air-turbines to charge the interior devices.

Now if you’ve gotten over your palpita-tions, relax, this isn’t the follow up to the Ferrari FF – these are submissions from the brightest design students in the world in the annual Ferrari World Design Contest. The 2011 edition of the contest received over 200 projects from 50 international universi-ties, only natural considering the prize for the top two places is an internship at Fer-rari’s Centro Stile design studio. The brief for the contest was simple: to design the Ferrari hypercar of the future with a focus not only on exterior lines and elegance but also finding ways to reduce fuel consump-tion through alternative propulsion systems. Or in Ferrari’s words, a ‘pure hypercar with technology and materials from the latest generation, a car with an extreme architec-ture, while functional under every aspect’.

From the entries the jury that included Flavio Manzoni, Ferrari senior vice president of design and Andrea Militello, Ferrari exte-rior designer whittled it down to just seven schools namely Istituto Europeo di Design (IED), Turin, IED, Barcelona, IAAD - Turin, Col-lege for Creative Studies - Detroit, Jiangnan University, China, Royal College of Art (RCA), London and the DSK International Design School in Pune (all three students were French). These schools were then tasked with creating 3D models in Autodesk Alias and 1:4 scale physical models which were presented to the world last month at the awards cer-emony at Ferrari’s Maranello HQ.

Top honors went to Kim Cheong Ju, Ahn Dre and Lee Sahngseok from Hongkik University for their entry dubbed ‘Eternità’, the judges deeming the South Korean entry to provide the finest interpretation of Ferrari’s design brief for a thoroughbred hypercar brimming with new generation technologies and materials, an extreme (‘hyper’) car not only in its architecture but also in every other aspect. How hyper? The Eternita featured light-layered carbon surfaces, a supercon-

Winners of the World Design Contest with Ferrari F1 driver Fernando Alonso andFerrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo

XezriInspired by natural wind Xezri features flexible aerodynamic elements and a wing positioned horizontally on the roof

Cavallo BiancoRCA London’s entry envisages a Ferrari to race over frozen lakes to get to luxury ski resorts

F750 & FussoEntries from Pune-based DSK International School of Design penned by a trio of French students

DrakeRadical idea in this Chinese entry are the wheels that can narrow and widen

EternitàWinning entry from Hongkik University features light-layered carbon surfaces, superconductive motor, hydrogen generator and physical flywheel energy storage system

Fast tense Words & Photography Bertrand D’souza

Can the new Laura vRS rekindle the fire the Octavia vRS first lit?

DR I V ESKODA LAURA vRS

I’m looking for the sweet spot in the new vRS but it just does not seem to exist. I go out onto the test track for one more attempt, go through the motions and it’s still not there. Fine,

I back off and let the clutch cool down, I can smell it through the firewall and the shut windows. Minutes later I’m back out search-ing for numbers that will make my day. Un-fortunately those numbers don’t material-ize. I resign myself to the fact that perhaps the vRS isn’t that quick. A 0-100kmph time of 8.6 seconds in the slightly damp condi-tions is the best this car can do today I guess. Then I turn to my archives and see just how much slower the standard Laura is and woah there, the standard Laura with the

1.8TSI engine turns out to be three tenths of a second quicker.

The new vRS is the performance variant of the Laura, at least that is what we are led to believe by a very enthusiastic Skoda spokesperson. Well I do know that the vRS is the performance version because I drove it in Prague some time ago. It was as ener-getic as a kid after his first cuppa coffee ever. And infectious too, that energy lay thick in the air and any one driving the vRS couldn’t help but absorb some of that. It brought up a grin every time you floored the throttle, especially with the thought that after I drop the wife to her place of work, life is going to get exciting as I drive to mine.

And the vRS was a hoot, lighting up front

tyres at every traffic light in Prague like an uncivilized hooligan. The suspension was tuned on the stiffer side and Prague’s cobblestoned streets beat a wicked tune when you drove over them. But you learnt to ignore all that every time the rev needle stroked the red line.

Now the vRS has finally come to India and well I thought to myself how about don-ning my bad boy mask and indulging in a bit of uncouthness. Until I did the numbers which completely blew out whatever candle I had lit for it.

The vRS you get in India isn’t the same car that I drove in Europe. It does not have the 2.0-litre TFSi engine that makes 200Ps of max power and 280Nm of max torque. Nor

the 2.0-litre diesel (yes the vRS also has a die-sel in Europe!) with 170PS and 350Nm of torque. Nor the 7-speed DSG gearbox.

What it offers is the standard turbo-charged 1.8-litre TSI engine with 160PS and 250Nm. Now those are tidy figures for a stan-dard saloon and one that is the most power-ful in its segment, but it’s not enough for one that sports very special alphabets in its no-menclature. Still, you can appreciate the per-formance that this car provides. Acceleration is sharp, and with the 6-speed manual trans-mission the combination works very nicely towards providing a sporty aura. In fact it’s

one of the few cars in that segment that gets to above 200kmph pretty easily. I can only wonder what the proper 2.0-litre turbo pet-rol of the full blown vRS would feel like.

So what you get in the Laura vRS is a pretty nice body kit with new bright work and sporty interior accents. On the outside the Laura vRS will be distinguished by the slim spoiler attached to the boot and the chunky honeycomb bumper grille. The vRS badge on the grille and the boot lid isn’t very noticeable and would need a sharp eye to spot them. The alloys are new with slight-ly lower (205/55) 16-inch Eagle NCT tyres provided by Goodyear. Horizontal LED

Clockwise from top: For the price, interiors could have had a few more goodies, especially steering mounted stereo controls. The gear lever lacks the vRS badge which the Octavia vRS had. Sporty seats with suede finish carry that special badge, but doesn’t quite make up for its absence on the gear lever

THE VRS YOU GET IN INDIA ISN’T THE SAME CAR THAT IS SOLD IN EUROPE

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Head checkWhy motorcycle helmets aren’t really optional

F E AT U R EMOTORCYCLE HELMETS

The human body is designed to handle slow speed impacts and things were fine until personal transportation began to exceed these speeds. As we started to go

faster, we also started to fall harder and there’s only so much battering that the human head can take before it quite literally cracks like an egg. And truth be told, you could be in trouble long before suffering an impact that can crack your (thick) skull. Helmets are one of the only

solutions when it comes to keeping one’s head intact in the unfortunate case of an accident. This article deals with everything you’d ever want to know about helmets and aspects regarding their quality, the range that’s available to the Indian user and more.

It all started with the race between Ameri-can bike makers Harley-Davidson and Indian Motorcycles to build the fastest motorcycle in the 1930s and 40s. As the focus of motorcycles shifted from basic transportation to raw speed,

Vega Corrah Safe Samurai Studds Rhyno

SEP 2011 OVERDRIVE 297

FITA snug fit with a secure feel is what the Samurai brings to the table. More suited to medium sized

heads

FINISHFinish is fair but the graphics and paint job is not

as fresh as on the Studds lids

MATERIALSA polycarbonate visor is standard

` 1250

FITThe cheapest helmet here, the Corrah could

use more padding and has an average fit. It best serves smaller heads

FINISHFinish is good and you couldn’t ask for

more at the price

MATERIALS The Corrah uses a fibreglass shell and

an acrylic visor ` 998

FITDecent fit that could do with a more support at the cheeks. Offers good visibility. Visor is tough

to remove.

FINISHExcellent finish that gives the feel of a much

more expensive product. Matt finish looks great but is dificult to keep clean

MATERIALS

Polycarbonate shell and visor` 1295