Viable Hybrid Solution for Automobiles

It's not everyday that you get to witness a discovery, or get to stand on the same platform when a potential world changing announcement is being made. I guess those who witnessed such changes might not have known about the future at the time, however I recently had the opportunity to be present at such a function where the announcement was truly a world game changer!

Bharat Forge and KPIT Cummins Infosystems Limited have formed a joint venture to further their breakthrough technology of a fully compatible plug-in parallel hybrid system that can be fitted to small cars, sedans and even small LCVs. According to the company, the technology just takes 4 to 6 hours to fit onto a car, and viola, you have a hybrid car that can save you fuel in the range of 40-70 per cent! If that isn't magic, I don't know what is. Of course there is a cost to this technology, and the company is looking at it being in the range of Rs 70,000 and above for a kit, however if a manufacturer were to take this proposal up and provide it as an OEM fitting, the possibility of reducing the cost would definitely play up. Regardless, a low cost hybrid solution that can be retro fitted into a vehicle is literally unheard of, and the fact that this technology is born in India, is a sure reason for national pride.

The Indian manufacturing league is surely and steadily working its way up the ranks to finding its own place in the sun. With low cost viable solutions that have literally made the world take a look at the Indian market, this country is on a roll. Of course, due credit goes to the Nano which redefined the small car market globally, and now we have this hybrid technology, which, if you ask me is also set to redefine the market globally. The potential of such a device is immense and its only a matter of time before you see this on the roads (6 months, say company officials).

It's a bit of a wait and watch game, however if the technology works its wonders at saving fuel costs in the region of 40-70 per cent, I can see takers not just in India but globally!

Features Mantra

Car companies are perpetually finding ways to keep their cars in the limelight and therefore work towards increased sales figures. In utopia that might work, but with customers getting smarter this procedure can result in some flack.

Take for example the latest deal from Honda Siel. The company has launched an enhanced Civic for the market. What are the enhancements one might ask. Well, the enhnacements are steering mounted cruise control switches and turn indicators on the OVRMs! The higher end car gets a reverse sensor to aid in backing up the sedan.

Earlier, Honda had done the same with the Accord, by introducing a sun roof and lights in the footwell. The Jazz too has recieved some mild treatment in the last couple months.

So the changes have been made and they are mostly minor jobs that really don't tickle the senses. Customer feedback might mention that such features are great and everything, however the true requirement would come in proper model upgrades.

I personally feel that these changes are too small and customers won't really come rushing in to buy cars just because of these features. No doubt, they are all great features, but what I am getting at is the fact that on paper customers would like to see something a little more substantial. Small changes are good, but if you want to sell cars, the change ought to be substantial. Just by introducing a new color or 1-2 features in a car does not do enough to titilate the senses.

Though midlife changes are good, I would personally prefer that manufacturers consider customer feedback and then introduce the changes at an appropriate time when they can carry out more than just 1-2 features. Further to this, timing is also necessary. If the changes have to be restricted to 1-2 features, manufacturers should wait till either the festive season or the begining of a new year to bring in these mods. In that way, the package will look more complete to the customer and should yeild better results.

Hopefully we will see more elaborate changes in the future, and if not, then at least the changes will be better timed.

Reasons where you know you are a true Jeeper!

1. A new dent in the sheet metal actually fixed another dent, or it just added some character.
2. You know at least 3 800 numbers to aftermarket off-road business by heart.
3. You are on a first name basis with the guys at every local auto parts store in town.
4. You want to take things apart and rebuild them, even if they are not broken.
5. You have a monetary equivalent of a Mercedes Sedan invested into your jeep, but it still looks like crap.
6. You consider starting a vehicle five times in any given minute routine.
7. You own a vehicle, which now weighs 1000 pounds more than when it came off the showroom floor.
8. You look for jeeps in everything, and try to figure out the year and model.
9. You are the type of person who immediately goes postal if you sit in a highway traffic jam more than 5 minutes, yet you can spend six hours driving one and half miles and consider it to be a form of relaxation.



10. You'll stop and look at any old rust heap thinking parts vehicle.
11. Your Jeep has more (farm/boat/military/other) equipment on it than OEM parts.
12. The weatherman says "Stay in, it's dangerous" and you think "Time to go wheeling".
13. You are happy that you can't use 1st gear on the street.
14. A military convoy passes by and you only look at the axles, tires, and antennas.
15. You have enough straps, chains, rope, etc. in your Jeep to keep the Queen Mary docked during a hurricane.
16. You understand that JEEP is a way of life, not just for transportation.
17. You use a hose to clean the inside and the outside.
18. A low-rider Jeep pulls up next to you, and you get out and Bitch slap the driver.
19. You have a high-water mark on the Inside of the Jeep.
20. You use a ice scraper on the Inside of the windshield.



21. The AAA guy breaks down, you stop and fix his problem and get back on the road.
22. You'll drive 2 days at 600 miles a day so you can spend 2 more days driving 3 miles per day.
23. You have more pictures of your Jeep than of your kids.
24. You spend more time deciding which $3.00 bushing to use than you do on personal hygiene.
25. You take your date home early on a Saturday night so you can work on your Jeep.
26. You call a scratch or dent, a beauty mark.
27. You roll it over and don't get upset.
28. You puke when you see a RAV-4.
29. You pull into the Unplowed parking spots on snowy days.
30. You take your friends wheeling and they say, "Trail?; I don't see any trail!"
31. You've been forced to add CJ, YJ, and TJ to your spell checker.
32. It rains and you don't care if your top and doors are on or off.
33. You change your plugs in the parking lot at work while on break.
34. You get more heat through the holes in the floor than you do through the heat vent.
35. Every page of your repair manual has greasy finger prints on it.
36. Every car wash in town has banned you for life.

Article Bashing and the Art of Website Marketing

It seems that the mantra to marketing your website is to lash out at someone else! Well, that is just what the following site insists on doing to every manufacturer, car model and journalist in India! They call themselves a reliable source of information, but with such lashing I believe that they are just demeaning their own status and while they do get more 'hits' and their ratings go higher on Google, the product suffers from a bad taste as the forum falls into name bashing and mockery. I speak of no other site but www.team-bhp.com .

Team-BHP was once known as an independant forum where like minded indidivuals could discuss their favourite topic-Automobiles. They could offer tips, share stories, images and generaly build a bond over a common topic. That was when life was good on the site. Today, Team-BHP has gone to the dogs. The forum is a dumping ground for anyone who wishes to sensationalize a topic. Be it from the Skoda service indicent to defaming journalists just for some laughs and kicks. Responsibility is a word that they don't know, and in the name of freedom of speech, they think they can get away with anything.

Honestly, their credibility is waning. They have pushed the limit on that front, and though they claim to have so many followers, the truth remains that it is a select few that write everyday, while the rest remain silent or have left the site a long time ago. I, for one, used to have an account there...its still there, but I don't log on anymore, for the line of thought that Team-bhp has followed does not match with mine.

Responsibility is the need of the hour, and Team-bhp obviously doesn't believe in this. They have become the 'Aaj Tak' on automotive blogs, forums and websites.....no credibility and just lame efforts to be sensational. Boys, grow up. Maturity should have hit a long time ago, but in your case....get a life!

World Records we would like to see!

With Maruti setting a world record recently, I got thinking about a list of world records that I would like to see from Indian manufacturers! Here goes:-
1) Hindustan Motors for producing the Ambassador for over 60 years and not letting it gain vintage or classic status!
2)Tata Motors for producing the most amount of cars that have a fanbelt squeaking problem.
3) Hero Honda for finding the most applications for a single 100cc engine ever.
4) Toyota Kirloskar for selling a breadbox (qualis) and making mad money.
5) Mahindra & Mahindra for finding the maximum number of applications for its jeep chassis
6) GM India for being the Annu Mallick of the Indian car industry
7) REVA for the most impractical offering in India
8) Force Motors for making a living out of Mercedes-Benz replicas (too bad the quality was downgraded so much)
9) Maruti Suzuki for the largest slashes in vehicle pricing ever ( Versa and Boleno)
10) Volvo India for their ability to think positive even 3 years down without selling a vehicle!

Maruti Suzuki Sets World Record!

I've always been a fan of the Guiness Book of World Records. Surely, it takes some amount of talent and endless amounts of patience to perform and win one of these covetted awards. Having said that, I never thought that I would be witness to an actual record being set, however that was set to change on the 30th of May 2010.

Maruti Suzuki India Limited managed to set a record of their own on the morning of May 30th. Yeah, temperatures were soaring, but that didn't stop the tons of Suzuki Swift owners from showing up to be a part of this record.

The agenda was to gather more than 250 Maruti Suzuki Swifts at a single location, making it the largest gathering of a single make and model ever! Now, Maruti, not being the ones to take chances, organized gatherings of Swift owners in Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi. The final stand was over 610 cars in Chennai, with around 400 in Mumbai and 340 in Delhi! That's right, the record was broken thrice over in a matter of hours!

It might not sound like much, however it surely was a sight to see. I was just happy to bear witness to this feat, and is sure was a way to celebrate 5 years of the Swift in India.

VW POLO CUP

I recently got to drive the VW Polo Cup car in Coimbatore. The little hatch has been converted into a rather awesome track machine and boy was it fun out there on the track.

VW has fitted the Polo with a 1.6 litre R4 Common Rail diesel engine that is capable of making 130BHP and 250Nm of torque. Mated to a 6 speed stick shift, the car is an absolute delight to drive. It powers up like nobody's business and thanks to the stiff suspension and wide slick tyres, it sticks to the tarmac like glue, making it possible to hustle the car through corners and just floor it down the long straight stretch.

With the VW Polo Cup kicking off next weekend, I can only say that I am jealous of the 20 drivers who have been selected to take part in this prestigious race.