Author name: Samba Sengupta

A friend of mine, Dr. Subhankar Mukherjee, was interested in taking a test drive of the Force Gurkha 5-door. He had a Thar and a Bolero before, so his love for butch SUVs is understandable. So Dr. Mukherjee, his daughter, my wife & I decided to check the Gurkha out. My take on the Gurkha is, as of now, purely based on city driving. I can’t comment on its off-road prowess until I take the car off-road. And I believe off-road is the place where the actual mettle of this vehicle can be recognized. My take on this car – The Pros – 1) Undeniable road presence and a head-turner. 2) Respect from other road users! Even the buses were not cutting into its lane, let alone the cabs or auto rickshaws! 3) Acres of space. 7 people can sit comfortably. 4) The front two seats are very comfortable with good support and armrests. 5) The ride comfort is good on bad roads. 6) This car dismisses the bad roads or potholes or small humps with ease. This car can go over anything with its homogeneous ground clearance. 7) The low-end torque is adequate. Even in 2nd gear, the car pulls ahead without pressing the accelerator. The in-city drivability is good. 8) Despite being such a huge car, this car is very easy to drive. Blind spots are negligible. The turning radius of the Gurkha is less than the Jimny! 9) Huge glass area gives the cabin a very roomy feel. 10) The car comes well-equipped from the factory itself. Like the OEM snorkel, plus other important accessories, can be bought from Force itself. One does not have to go the aftermarket way. Even the tires provided do not need an immediate upgrade. The neutral part – 1) NVH at city speed seems to be okay. Without driving on the highway, it’s not possible to comment on the wind noise or engine noise at higher RPMs. I felt the body roll while taking turns. On curvy roads or hills, it will be more prominent. But nothing to complain about, as this is a natural phenomenon for most of the body-on-frame SUVs. 2) The steering is not very precise. It has a vagueness. After a ‘U’ turn, the steering centers on its own, but the steering lacks the feel. 3) The height is not very practical for parking the vehicle anywhere. 4) The 2nd row bench seat looks basic but offers very good support and is comfortable. 5) The 3rd row bucket seats are comfortable, but the leg room will be good for a person of a height of 5 feet 9/10 inches max. 6) The AC cooled the cabin well, but it’s not a chiller. 7) The boot space with the 3rd row seats is compromised. Either one needs to remove the 3rd row bucket seats or use the roof carrier for long trips. 8) Elderly people might face difficulty in climbing up and down this vehicle. Though the grab handles are placed strategically, still, older people might find it a bit difficult. 9) The dealer network of Force Motors is still not at par with Mahindra, Maruti, or Toyota. Kolkata has only one dealer. 10) Though on paper the power figures are more than the Thar 3 door, the Thar is still much faster and smoother. The cons- 1) Though much improved over its previous version, the engine still lacks outright acceleration. Turbo lag can be felt, too. 2) The gear shift vibrates on starting the car, and the gear lever is placed a bit too far from the driver. 3) The gear shift felt rubbery. 4) The brakes felt spongy. Late braking is not recommended. 5) The interiors are very basic. 6) Hard plastic parts have been used everywhere. The interior lacks a sophisticated touch. 7) The Android Auto felt basic, the AC lacked climate control, though it has rear AC vents and manages to do its job well. 8) Our test drive car was pulling to its left if we left the steering wheel straight on straight roads. 9) Few uneven panel gaps. 10) Opening the bonnet when the engine is hot is a task. The latches and all are not well insulated and get very hot. It required two of us to open and close the bonnet! Who should you buy this car? 1) People who want to stand out from the crowd. 2) People who needs a butch comfortable 7 seater SUV which is capable off the road. 3) People who are not much bothered about the lack of sophistication this vehicle has. People who will accept this car, knowing its shortcomings. 4) Do you have a pet at your home? The pet will love the space this Gurkha offers! 5) People who go for solo adventure trips can have a few nifty features which can come in handy, like the Diff locks or the heated DPF line, while in places having sub-zero temperatures! The interiors look slightly basic. The boot space is less. Getting into the 3rd row is not difficult. It can be difficult for elderly people. 3rd row seats offer great support but lack leg space for tall people. The ground clearance is huge. An underbelly cover is not present. But it won’t be easy to damage the underbelly parts unless the driver is too careless. The engine bay looks busy. Thanks to USG Force, AJC Bose Road, Kolkata, for providing us with a long test drive. The staff were very cooperative and friendly.

I have aggregated few facts of mishandling of brand new cars as well as sold cars in the Indian Auto dealerships. Let me share the facts. I have kept a track from unloading the vehicle from the truck, to driving it to the stock yard, the way cars are handled in the stock yard, the way they are driven back to the showrooms for delivery and how they take care of your car when you give it for servicing or fitting the accessory. I will not take the name of any particular dealer over here but have seen almost the same scenario across India. This post is not directing to all the showrooms across India but many do so. 1) Unloading from the truck- The showroom guys or the truck drivers with there assistant mainly do this job. I have seen while unloading once a car slipped of from the slop and it hit the lower driving shaft. Few guys lifted it back and it was parked by the side. Now if the new cars driving shaft gets damaged who will be responsible for it? The factory has sent a perfect car but it gets damaged while in the transit and the blame goes to the car manufacturer for procuring a defective vehicle. Secondly i was shocked to see a driver took his friend along with him with a 2 liter bottle of diesel. He pour that in the vehicle and he was training his friend how to drive! No wonder few new cars land up with a higher odometer reading at the time of delivery. Now when the owner will buy that car he has every chance to get a car with shortened clutch life. Again the manufacturer is blamed for no fault of them. In another occasion i saw a car while getting loaded in the truck for going to the showroom. The guy climbed up the slope so fast that he goes and straight away hit the car parked in front. Both the cars suffer a damaged bumper and they were again off loaded from the truck and went inside the factory for repair job. Again the owner will get a brand new car with a repair job. These are three occasions i witness and am sure there will be many more. 2) Driving from the truck to the showroom stock yard- New car has less fuel. So what the driver did was he was putting the ignition on and off for several times. So the fuel pump can get some fuel. With very less fuel in the tank it can affect the fuel pump. Secondly when the car got started he was revving like hell! A new car with hardly 1km in odo is revved hard! Another driver put on the self in 1st gear with out clutch and the car jumped forward then he just holds the accelerator and tries to start the car. This is what they do to start the car. Once they are on road they are no less than a F1 driver! Oh did i mention the cars with factory fitted music systems and air condition are treated as air conditioned Disco on wheels. 3) Inside the stock yard– Most of the showrooms don’t have shades in there stock yard. So for a good period of time your new car is exposed to a layer of dust, rain, harsh sun light and the heat of the day with rolled up windows. It can fade the plastics and make the rubbers hard. The car cabin in summer becomes no less than a hot oven! I wonder does it damaged the electronic systems inside the car or not. At least if they keep a window 1 inch open it can disburse the heat. But they never do that. Apart from the above points the more worst case occur during the monsoons. Few stock yards are placed in low lands and during heavy rain those places get water logged and the cars are kept in 2-3 feet deep water for few days. This has happened with few eminent dealerships in India. The good dealers scraped the defective cars and the rouge dealers sold those cars to the customers. 4) Driving from stock yard to the showroom- Its pretty similar to the situation i said in point no 2. 5) At the time of delivery- This is the time your car is pampered the most. Every one will clean it polish it. They will show you how they take care of your prized possesion. Starting from the cleaner to the manager of the showroom will take good care of your car. 6) Fittings of accessory- There are few experienced mechanics, few are novice. The novice ones are under training. If the experienced mechanic do the job you are lucky. But when a trainy mechanic is doing the job for your car i am afraid of the out come in the long run. What i have seen is if its a costly car the experienced mechanics always do the job but in case of a cheaper car the trainy / newbie will try to make there hands set. 7) After deliver you give your cars for the routine servicing – The service executive will be polite with you and will pose as if he is the most knowledgeable person out there. He will try to influence you to get the unnecessary jobs done. For example- Engine de-carbonizing on a car with around 20-30k in the odo or cleaning the braking system every 10,000 etc etc. The mechanic will come to test drive. They will drive the car in the most disgusting way like sudden steering the car, sudden braking, revving it hard, jumping from stand still and what not. I wonder why those are required for a car which has no complaints and if a car has a particular problem he should focus on that. Now what can be the remedies for all these- Buy a car when you can spare some time.

They showed the car in the Jan 2023 Auto Expo, and started taking the bookings for the vehicle before revealing the price. Till June they got a decent number of bookings.At that time the speculative price for the Jimny was that it should start from approximately Rs 9.99L on the road. But once Maruti got a good number of bookings they got greedy and overpriced the car. The attitude of the Nexa dealers then was like take it or leave it. Even I was looking for the Jimny at that time. When I saw I needed to pay Rs 16.30L OTR to buy the Jimny in June/July last year, I paid the road tax for my Duster AWD and retained the Duster. As we see everywhere, dealers stocked up the Jimny a lot, taking bookings on fake customer names to get the car allotted for them, so they could sell it by asking for a premium or make the customers buy compulsory accessories from them. But the money we earn at the end of the day is our hard-earned money. Seeing the pricing too close to the Thar many people simply backed off. By September the sales came down and the dealers had unsold stock. During December, MSIL realized that the number of 2023 manufactured unsold cars is huge and they suddenly gave a discount of 1-2 lakh rupees. Then the pricing was acceptable though not totally VFM. At that time many people including me bought the Jimny. Then they suddenly announced from 2024 onwards the original pricing would be back, & it was heard that MSIL would send the car to the dealers only on booking. So people who trusted Maruti again bought the car by paying full price from Jan to June.During June the marketing team up MSIL realized they needed volume and they suddenly slashed the price by 3L. Now people who bought this car in the first half of 2024 feel cheated! In the end, it is Maruti’s product and they can even price it at Rs 25L and then give a discount of Rs 15L and bring the price down to 10L. They have every right to do it. Now they are saying they will give this discount till the 15th of this month! Then people will again have to buy the Jimny by paying full price, and then again during the year’s end Maruti will decide to throw in some discounts and the people who will buy in between will pay a few lacs more! It’s funny how in a year the same car was sold for 12L, 14L, and 16L! This can be a very good case study for the MBA students on how not to screw a product! Jimny comes in only a petrol 4WD variant and this car is destined to sell less. It will never sell like a Fronx or Brezza. The target customers for Jimny are fewer & MSIL being a mass market player they are looking for volumes from Jimny too. Their advertisement for this product was wrong too. They only highlighted the off-road part. They have never shown how this car can be used as a daily driver’s car too! Now the way they are giving discounts and bringing back the old price will screw up this product further. For god’s sake, Maruti should admit their mistake and rework the pricing. Make the current discounted price the permanent price, and invest in proper ads showing the capabilities of this car other than the offroading part. Then slowly expect a decent increase in sales. 500-1000 units per month will be more than enough for this car. This car can never sell like a Thar. Thar has diesel, a 2WD, a convertible top, and a wow factor and in India, the Thar is a much more established brand. I have heard people commenting on the Jimny as mini Thar. This says a lot about how successful the Thar is in India. A thorough rework of the pricing and fresh marketing is the need of the hour.Plus few niggles such as the braking issue at higher altitudes, the scratch marks on the propeller shaft have been reported for a long time and MSIL is silent about it. This is what people do not expect from MSIL! Why do people buy MSIL cars? The car will be value for money.Jimny without discount is not even close to this! The car will provide a good resale value.People who bought the Jimny for Rs 16L already lost 3-4L by a month! The car will be niggle free.Few niggles have been reported and Maruti did nothing to address that. A few higher-ups from MSIL must have royally used their brains to think out of the box on how they can fleece the customers to make some quick profit. But in the end, they failed miserably, & they ruined the market value of a product that so many people wanted to buy for the past so many years! This needs special marketing skills!A small tip – Learn how to set the initial pricing right and hike it with the increase in demand for the product from Mahindra!  

Will I buy a Jimny today, especially after the release of the Roxx? Yes. Reasons- Roxx is not available in the petrol 4wd version. I love the Jimny for its size. I am at more peace maneuvering a small vehicle on our congested city roads or narrow hills roads rather than showing off the road presence of a bulky vehicle. I will avoid the diesel Roxx as I do not want the Bs6 tantrums. If I need to buy a 5/7 seater 2wd SUV with loads of features, I will buy cars like the Taigun/Kushaq, Xuv7oo, or even the ScorpioN. Why will I compromise on the ride quality or the highway fun when I am buying a 2WD car? So what is the only car am left with in this budget? The Jimny! I used to see the Thar as a pure true blue off-roader from the day it was launched more than a decade back. The new gen Thar came in 2020 and it was like fresh air. In the affordable range, buyers in India got an off-roader that can be comfortable to drive and fast too. Thar was the first vehicle in India to change the concept that Jeeps are barebone and basic. But now the Roxx has taken it to a whole different level! White interiors, panoramic sunroof, and a plethora of features are its highlights.The day RWD Thar was released, it was for the mass market. I am the kind of guy who still prefers the old gen Thar Crde over the Roxx! But that’s me, that’s not the Indian market.The only Thar I am ready to pick even today is the Thar 3-door Petrol 4×4. For me, every car is built for a purpose & that should not be diluted. It’s either black or white. So my thought process goes like this- Sedans with high GC make no sense!Jeeps with a 2WD make no sense! But both the above are practical choices for the mass market. It is sad, if I look for ten Thar Roxx reviews hardly one or two reviews will highlight its off-road prowess. This is a vehicle where 9 out of 10 reviews should highlight its offroad prowess! But 9 out of 10 reviews will highlight its features, power figures, and looks which the people are looking for! When the Jimny was launched, almost 10 out of 10 reviews highlighted its off-road capability rather than its on-road capability. That worked against the car! How many people need an off-roader with no road presence or fancy features? That was meant for the niche segment, but MSIL targeted the mass market without the ingredients the mass market wants & that too with atrocious pricing! There is a huge difference between what I want and what the mass market wants-  What does the mass market want? LooksRoad presence/sizePowerSafetyFeatures Which car provides all the above? Hence The Thar Roxx & the Jimny Suxx!  Regarding Maruti, the less I speak about how they goofed things up, the better! Earlier I have written a bit on this-

Firstly I want to thank Royal Motors, Kolkata for providing me with a pretty long test drive. The car I drove was a diesel manual, 2WD. Few observations with the car in random order- From the outside, the Roxx looks huge, but from the driving seat, it’s very easy to drive. The ergonomics looks fine. The overall visibility from the commanding driver’s seat makes things easy on congested roads. The blind spots are negligible, plus the driver can see the full bonnet.The ORVM coverage is good too.The 360-degree camera and all the other electronic aids make this car very easy to drive. The steering is light. It weighs up with speed. Highspeed maneuvers do not feel nervous. The steering auto centers perfectly after a ‘U’ turn. The steering precision is okay. I never had a problem placing the front wheel on my desired path. This was a problem with earlier Mahinda’s with a vague steering precision. It’s much much improved now. The ride and handling are miles ahead of the Thar 3-door. Though the ride, especially on the rear is a bit bumpy on bad roads, it’s still acceptable. I won’t say the ride quality is plush, but for a body-on-frame rugged SUV, the ride quality is okay. Body roll can be felt on turns and sharp maneuvers. But that is not unusual for a BOF SUV. The seats felt comfortable with enough support and space. The footwell was pretty narrow. On long drives, it may hurt! The clutch is light but the travel is on the longer side. The gear shift felt rubbery. It lacks the Japanese feel. The diesel engine is super smooth. At low RPMs, this engine demands 1st gear, which came as a surprise to me! While crossing the road humps, the car demands 1st! I expected it to be effortless on the 2nd!But revving this engine is fun! Just tap the A pedal and this car gains speed pretty fast. Highway drives will be fun. Cruising on triple digit speed is an effortless job for this engine. This car should be a very good highway cruiser! The NVH management is overall good, but if one lugs the engine, the body vibration is on the higher side. This can be felt on the gear lever as well. The brakes are good! Even at high speed without any downshift, the brakes can slow down the Roxx pretty fast. Plus harsh braking does not affect the dynamics of the car. It comes to a halt in a straight line without any fuss. The electronic aids work as expected. The AC cools well. But December is not the right time to comment on the effectiveness of the AC! The sound from the stock music system was good. Coming from the Jimny, it feels like an upgrade, except that Mahindra has not provided a 4WD in the petrol Roxx. Hence, if a Jimny owner wants to go for an upgrade, one may not consider the Roxx after all. (Possibly one has to wait for Renualt to launch the Duster 1.3L turbo petrol with AWD! ) Jokes apart, if one is okay with owning a diesel, then the Thar Roxx 4×4 will be a good buy.  On the other hand, with all the discounts from Toyota, the Hilux is also not much far away in terms of pricing from the Thar Roxx top end diesel 4×4! And, for those who do not need 7 seats or 4×4, but are looking for a rugged 5-seater SUV with enough space, then the Roxx petrol is a good option. At the price of a Creta/Seltos this car offers more value. But if one is looking for more highway drives rather than driving on bad roads then the monocoque crossovers are more comfortable & fun to drive. The Roxx looks imposing look from the outside –

“Idiot!” “That guy has no driving sense!” “Who gave them the driving license?” “He is driving like an idiot!” These are the most common exasperations we use while driving. I agree that there are even worse cuss words we use, but let’s not even get there! Okay, I agree that I am the best driver out on the road! But let us take a deep breath and a step back and examine what we can consider doing to improve myself and ensure that even if there are idiots on the road, my driving aces a tricky situation and everyone is safe. Driving at a safe speed, maintaining proper lane, following the law, keeping safe distance, keeping our nerve are a few cliches that all of us would have heard. Majority of us know the basic safety measures that we need to follow on road. Or do we? When there is a mess up on the road, I may be equally affected whether I was driving accurately or not. In every situation, we either already know or we need to reflect what could have I done to avoid the situation. Or how I could have been more prudent in avoiding the situation. If we have the right of way and the other car cuts into our lane, we blame the other driver and rightly so. But in this we have to accept that this sort of driving is a commonplace thing and we have to be prudent enough to ensure that our vehicles – whether 2 wheeler or 4-wheeler – are safe. Many people ask me to teach them how to drive properly or how to drive fast. Driving fast is not necessarily unsafe, but there is a proper method to achieving it, that includes knowing your car and its limitations, understanding rules, understanding our own limitations in reflexes, our own mental agency. Driving is a learned skill – driving fast is sharpening that skill mindfully over years. Listen to the feedback given by others. They can be right or wrong but taking the feedback first is important.

Got a chance to check out the Curvv EV & the Curvv Diesel. My impression – Let me start with the EV first.I was skeptical about the looks from the pics, but in person, the car looks good. From the Indica days, Tata has come a long way. This car looks futuristic! The color options chosen by Tata are also gorgeous and tasteful. One can choose right from the jazzy flame red color to the subtle pure grey. The virtual sunrise shade looks good too. Driving the EV I drove it for only 8 kilometers. Few observations – The ergonomics seem to be sorted. Finding my perfect seating position was easy and I was comfortable from the word GO! The pickup is excellent in sports mode. The city mode and the eco mode have enough grunt for city driving. The steering feedback is good. The suspension is tuned on the stiffer side. One can feel the undulations on the road. With speed, the ride quality gets better. Handling is good, but body roll can be felt on sharp maneuvers or turns. The brakes are good. The brake pedal feels progressive. NVH is fantastic! Driver’s visibility is good. The thick A-pillar does create a bit of a blind spot, but that’s within an acceptable range. Due to the awesome ground clearance, there is no tension while crossing the huge roads humps or on bad roads. Driving the diesel MT Drove it for a very short distance. It reminds me of the Nexon diesel. The clutch pedal is super light. Nice low-end torque. After driving the EV it felt like the NVH is higher in the diesel. But the cabin is well insulated from the engine noise. From outside the diesel clatter can be heard. The gear shift is smooth, but not as slick as the Japanese cars. Checked this car in the evening, and the white LED headlamps provided good visibility. The QC issues in the new cars – In one car the one touch-up/down on the driver’s side power window was not working. In the EV, the TD car’s steering was off-center towards the left. Panel gap?  Could have been neater! Few other points- The AC is powerful. Rear AC vents are present. The stock music system provides very good sound. The ventilated seats were comfortable. The seats have good body contours and provide good support and comfort for long drives. The panoramic sunroof is a must-have feature to add premium feel to the car. Last but not least, wishing Tata Motors success through the roof with this one!           

It’s not just another paper or brochure we get while buying the car. Let me list a few points where it can come in handy. 1) Understanding your car better:A vehicle is composed of thousands of components. It’s not possible for us to know each and every component. But knowing a few important ones can make life easier. At least we can know a few basics like what PSI the tyres need, which grade engine oil we should use and what’s the oil capacity, what’s the brake oil used in the car (like Dot 3/Dot 4), the amount of coolant the car requires or maintaining the idling rule in cars having a turbo and many other such things. Now depending on your curiosity, you can go into further details. I have read my car’s owner’s manual nicely and I do feel it helped me learn a lot about my car. Yes, I know we don’t need to know things as service center guys take care of everything. But should we blindly trust them? At least I feel that I should know the basics of my car. 2) Safety tips for driving:We go through the internet for safe driving tips. But, look at the owner’s manual, it does have a few pages, which very well explains how to drive safe. I have found it in almost all the manuals that I have gone through. If one follows it, I am sure he won’t be a loser! 3) Service center guys take you for a ride:It’s very common that service center guys ask for de-carbonizing the engine, cleaning the throttle body, cleaning the brake assemble or disinfecting the A/C blower! Here, in Team-BHP, we have seen service center guys taking customers for a ride many a time and charging a hefty amount. Just read the manual and see what are the parts that need to be replaced and what are just to be inspected. At the service center, if the service executive says anything more, one can simply deny and save his money! I have saved money a few times at Maruti service centers in Bangalore. 4) Car stops in the middle of the road:If the car stops in the middle of the road, it may be due to a very simple or basic reason. It’s not a must that something has to be grossly wrong! If the battery terminals get lose or there are sulphur deposits on the terminal, it can leave your car stranded. If you can identify the problem and you have the owner’s manual in your car, even a simple DIY can take you out of the situation and if you fail, you will get the phone number of the nearest service center for your car. Even a blown up fuse can be cumbersome at times! Yes, with a blown fuse, a car can be stranded. But, if you know how to change it or where the fuse box is located, you can do it yourself. In cars like the Etios/Liva, the fuse box is located in a tricky position, like behind the meter box console. So, many can’t locate the exact place. But, from the manual, it’s just a 2 minutes read to locate the spot! Almost every car comes with a few extra fuses in the fuse box for emergency use. So, from the manual, one can make out where they are put and which are the extra fuses. 5) Need to do a small DIY like cleaning/changing the airfilter/spark plug or some other components:Recently, we went on a trip to the Himalayas, where the conditions were very dusty. One of the cars in our group started to lose power because of a choked up air filter. For that car opening the air filter box was tricky, so the owner couldn’t open it himself and clean it. He had to drive like that for 70-80 kms and get it done in a local garage. After the trip, i just took the owners manual from him and found out that how to open and clean the air filter was beautifully instructed! So, simple DIYs like cleaning the A/C filter, air filter, disinfecting the A/C and few others can be simply done at home! 6) Need to maintain a service record for your car:We can maintain the service history of our cars by entering it in the manual and getting it stamped with the date and odo reading. Many a time, we lose bills. So, a stamped manual can be a proof of the service history of the car. It can add to the resale value too. 7) Before going ahead with any modifications, one should check what’s best suited for your car. So accordingly you can plan your steps & go ahead:For example, if the car has 55/60 stock head lamp bulbs and the fuse used is a 15 amp, what changes or relay is required to upgrade them to 90/100. Many a time, after fitting a powerful horn in place of the stock unit, we see people ending up to a blown fuse. Wrong installation can damage or burn the wiring. Wrongly modifying the engine to increase power can definitely shorten its life too. 8) When you give your car to a FNG (friendly neighborhood garage):A garage guy repair cars of every brand. So for changing some fluid, he might not know about company-specified fluids or other components used in your car. It’s best to guide him with the help of the manual by telling him what you exactly need. 9) For new 4X4 owners:An experienced 4×4 owner will definitely be a technically sound person. But, if a person like me buys a 4×4, to understand the whole mechanism of the system and how it works, there can’t be a better place than the company-provided manual for that particular vehicle. 10) Always keep the manual in your car:From the above points it’s obvious that in case of an emergency, if the manual is kept at

Many vehicle owners these days are taking their cars out for vacations to destinations that are beyond the beaten tracks. Thanks to the new good roads and highways and increased connectivity, this is now more and more possible and the preference for taking one’s own vehicle is becoming more common for the sheer pleasure of driving. However, beyond the regular Shimla, Manali, Darjeeling, Gangtok, Jaipur of the world, there are a lot of offbeat destinations where we want to drive down for the first time, but we are not sure as solo travellers, lest “something” should go wrong. Ever wondered what that “something” could be? Is it the vehicle, or is it our fear of getting stuck in an unknown place in an inopportune situation? This is not meant to be an offroading thread, it is rather a thread on how one can use one’s knowledge of their own cars, and their own driving prowess for navigating through offbeat destinations. So is it a 4×4 vehicle that gets you through?Now in an affordable range there are many 4×4 vehicles available, which can ferry a small family comfortably. But there are terrains where a 4×2 will also go with equal ease. There are also many expedition teams who take people for self drive to off-beat places. If a person has not much prior experience of off-road trails, these guided expedition teams are a good way to experience the not-so-regular terrains. Few people have adventure-ready vehicles equipped with things like off-road tyres, high lift jack, winch, sand ladder, shovel, snorkel and many more. And they mostly know when to use these appropriately. There are people who want to venture solo, or many people venture with their 2WD cars. But that fear of “something” may be a situation where one is stuck in an isolated area, where there is no network in the phone to call for help. On the other hand when a not so equipped driver visits a place in a stock car, they may not be that prepared to take on a tricky situation. Plus carrying too many extra gears for the car will not leave enough space to pack your own luggage! Is a 4×4 or SUV mandatory to take on bad roads? Not always! Even sedans and hatchbacks can negotiate bad roads if driven in the right way. It is important to understand the limitation of your vehicle before venturing. So let us have a small discussion in regards to travelling on the roads less traveled! Again a simple normal tar road can get tricky if it snows, rains or after a landslide! Now OTRs and off-road clubs are getting popular day by day. I believe that in most cases the cars are more capable than their drivers, primarily because we do not spend time to know our cars and stretch them to their threshold. It is important to stretch one’s driving capabilities and one’s vehicle in a measured way in a more controlled environment so that both our driving skills and our knowledge of our vehicles come handy in real life situations. My suggestion will be, if you are into solo touring, and even if you do not own a 4×4, still sign up for OTRs to gain experience.Drive a car in the OTR, and if it gets stuck, there is ample instant help available. Knowing this, will give you the comfort of also making an attempt of trying to recover the vehicle by yourself – which is extremely important. There are loads of self-recovery tactics, and those videos are hugely available on YouTube. I will share few links in this thread. One can learn from them and practice. The below pics of my Duster and Etios are from OTRs, just to see the limitation of the vehicles & its driver. Now I know how much water the Duster can handle or how much slush the Etios can handle! On the first attempt the Etios was stuck in slush when I attempted to drive slowly and the car had to be towed out. In the 2nd attempt I used momentum and was able to come out from the same slush. For the Ecosport rocking the vehicle helped with slow release of clutch and by minimum usage of the accelerator. The front left wheel actually got bogged inside the loose gravels. It went in till the rim and the wheel was loosing traction. I will share my own experience Know your car well! You should know the underbelly of your car like the back of your hand. If your car does not have an underbelly protection then knowing the location of the important components like the sump, oil filter, gear box, silencer box, catalytic converter, differential, the lowest point of your car etc. is even more important. While attempting a water crossing, know the placement of the air intake pipe, whether the ecu is water proof or not, knowing these are important. The essential items to carry while travelling to offbeat places Toolkit. Tow rope and shackles. Tyre inflator An extra tube Jumpstart cable Extra fuse Few spares (Most cars have their own weak point, identify that and be prepared for that.) Extra mats A small shovel One 20L jerry can Zip ties Snow chain/Nylon ropes. All the above hardly require one duffle bag. Now, coming to places like Ladakh/Spiti they are no more off-beat destinations. There are ample of help available everywhere. But then there is always that off-beat place which one can opt to explore. Common places where our cars may get stuck Water logged roads or water crossings Inclines with less traction Snow Slush Sand Now many cars come with terrain mode. They have special modes like snow/slush/ rock/ sand. These work in tandem with the traction control. The traction control detects the wheel spin and the Ecu controls the power supply accordingly. But many cars do not have these modes, but they only have a traction control. Traction control can be helpful and

We were more than happy with our Duster AWD. But then a few factors made us reconsider retaining our Duster. If I list a few- The frequent diesel bans on NCR. This made me think about the future of BS4 diesel cars. The fuel injectors in the Duster were already very sensitive, but especially when the BS6 diesel came into the picture, I was not very sure how they would hold up in the long run. The car was out of warranty, and any parts replacement in the Duster was pretty costly. The availability of spare parts off the shelf was not always the case. For a few spares, we had to place an order and wait for a few days. This made me think about what would happen if something went wrong while on a trip. We can be stuck for a few days. Especially after the launch of so many new 4wds, the resale value of the Duster was declining fast. Plus the discounts Maruti offered on the Jimny were one of the major deciding factors too. Which cars did we consider? The budget we fixed was roughly Rs 20L.A few things that were non-negotiable- It had to be an AWD/4×4 Manual transmission We were strictly looking for petrol These ruled out the ScorpioN & the Gurkha. The XUV7oo AWD was not in my consideration. It was too sophisticated for my liking! I wanted something that would be more raw & abuse-friendly. Though diesel, I still loved the Compass AWD, but at that price, we could have grabbed the Hilux with all the discounts Toyota was offering! I have always drooled on a red Hilux! If the above cars were available in petrol with an AWD/4×4, this ownership review could have been for a different car! So the options left for us were the Maruti Jimny, Toyota Hyryder AWD/Maruti Grand Vitara AWD & the Thar Petrol MT. I was eyeing the Jimny for a long time. There was no immediate plan to get the Jimny. I casually took a few test drives and drove it off the road too. I liked the car, though, I was well aware of the shortcomings of the Jimny.But I always felt paying 16L+ for the Jimny was not worth it. It felt overpriced by a couple of lac rupees’. In December 2023 when Maruti came up with a good discount, then it was no barrier for me to pick up the Jimny. I got a good deal for my Duster from Cars24 and I let the Duster go, and bring in the Jimny. Why do I opt for the Alpha variant over the Zeta? Cruise control Tinted glass Fog lamps Alloy wheels What do I like in the Zeta variant over the Alpha? It has got a key to start the car! I hate this push-button switch!The yellow halogen bulbs can be upgraded in the Zeta, whereas I can’t do much to the stock-led lights of the Alpha!The stock rims on the Zeta look cool. Dealership experience We bought the car from Machino Techno, BT Road, Kolkata. The deal they gave was fantastic and the lowest we could get in Kolkata. The final OTR price was Rs 14.42L.This included the following-Comprehensive B2B insurance with RTI.5 years extended warranty2 years CCPLife Time TaxThunder Kit However, the dealership experience was strictly subpar. They promised me an OCT/NOV manufactured car, but when I did the PDI, it turned out to be manufactured in July. Overall the car passed all the parameters during the PDI, so I went ahead with the purchase. A couple of pics from the PDI day- I asked them to get the insurance from Tata AIG, Go Digit, or ICICI Lombard, and they agreed on that, but without my permission they got it done from Iffco Tokio. I had a bad experience with Iffco Tokio with my Ford Figo earlier, so I wanted to avoid it.I asked them for a registration number which ends with an odd number. As my other car ends with an even number. So by any chance, if the odd/even rules come into the picture in West Bengal, I can have one car at my disposal anytime. They ended up giving me an even number.The good part is, though I got an even number, the number looks fancy.On the delivery day, the cleanup was shoddy and I could see a lot of swirl marks on the black paint. A couple of pics from the delivery day- Pros & cons Pros- Peace of mind. Be it the mechanicals of the car, after-sales service, or the rough roads, one does not have to worry about it. This car can easily cruise between 90-110 km/hr on the highways for the whole day. I have pushed the car to higher speeds too, it can reach high speeds, but that is pointless in a Jimny. It’s not meant for that. The body-roll & ride quality are quite sorted for a body-on-frame car. I will not compare it with the Duster, but it is quite sorted if I look at this car individually. The small footprint with high ground clearance is just tailor-made for rough hilly terrain. This car is very easy to drive under any circumstances. In 2WD itself this car is highly capable. At places where local drivers suggested 4WD will be required, with the ESP off in 2WD mode this car easily crossed those sections.This car is a mighty capable off-roader even in its stock form. During off-roading, the Allgrip-Pro with all the electronic aids works like a charm. The ESP is very aggressive. Even before the tires screech on fast turns, the ESP gets activated and cuts off the power. The AC is a chiller, & the heater works like a charm. The 1.5L NA engine is super tractable for perfect throttle modulation on steep inclines or bad roads. I felt the throttle input to be perfect too. I won’t be going for an additional throttle controller. Regarding the