Overdrive December 2010 Issue Preview

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Piaggio guns for NanoMeet the cheaper, smaller, funkier nano rival

Piaggio is synonymous with the three-wheeled Ape in our country. It has been a successful product for ten years now, but the Piaggio

group is thinking bigger. It has plans to bring the Vespa brand back to the Indian scooter market next year, will launch Aprilia in the country with the RSV 1000R and most significantly it is all set to challenge the Nano with the NT3 concept shown at the Milan Motor Show.

Designed to meet the mobility needs in regions with the highest development rates, India, Vietnam and South East Asia in general, the car is all about keeping costs low while looking utterly stunning. Most significantly, while the Nano is a comfortable car for four, the NT3 seats only three people with the driver in the centre. The only other car where the driver was in the middle was the McLaren F1 supercar and that instantly adds to the desirability of the NT3.

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The NT3 seats three with two removable seats at the rear on either side of the driver, will cost less than the Nano and will return over 30km to a litre of fuel with any of the engine options. It will be launched in 2012 in India, Vietnam and SE Asia

DEC 2010 overdrive 39

overdrive DEC 201082

Mass classWords Sirish Chandran

The etios marks Toyota’s entryinto the volume segment in india

Dr i v eToyoTa eTios

It couldn’t have escaped notice that despite being a relative minnow (how small? Maruti sells 16 times as many cars, and even Chevy and Ford outsell it!), Toyota commands incred-

ibly good brand equity in India. For good reason too. We may not always be in sync with the ‘Toyota Way’ but fact is its slow, steady and research-and-more-research ap-proach has ensured that not a single dud has gone on sale in a decade. Remember the bread-box-on-wheels that was the Qualis? Hand on my heart I still maintain that even ten years down the line a better alternative has yet to go on sale.

And so with expectations banging against the rev limiter we trooped off to Japan for our first driving impression of the Etios – the car that finally marks Toyota’s entry into the volume segment in India, a segment it has inexplicably left untouched for a decade. Things didn’t kick off on a strong note though. The day was miserable, cold, spitting with rain, grey as Michelle Obama’s dress when she stepped off Air Force One. And the cars, no head-turners by any stretch of imag-ination, were in the worst possible colour for the conditions, a drab off white-ish hue that was splattered with grime and spray.

So let’s get the styling out of the way first. Remember the Etios concept that was dis-played at the Auto Expo? Remember the un-fortunate comments linking it to another stylistically-challenged rival? Well, things haven’t changed. Away from the strobes and flattering lighting of a motor show stand the car looks even more unimaginative if any-thing. Turns out the Etios concept wasn’t a concept at all. By then the styling had been frozen and showcasing the Etios at the Expo followed by the massive round of Toyota Q World road shows was to get the Indian pub-lic acclimatised to it. No matter how hoarse we cried (and we did!) the styling wasn’t going to change.

What we get then are plain conservative lines that, come to think of it, are typical of the way Toyota does things. Think back. Did

you ever stick a Toyota poster on your bed-room wall? No, its priorities lie elsewhere (which we will shortly come to) so on the outside you’re stuck with a car that will blend in the background. The best part of the car is the nose with the chromed upper slat of the grille (called ‘smile line’ – don’t ask!) and ver-tical ribs in the bonnet that extend into the grille to frame the Toyota logo. On the white car though this detail is all but lost – trust me, white is best left to the fleet operators, you want one in the darker colors. The car in these pictures also lacks the waistline rub-bing strips which break the monotony of the flanks and the side sill extensions which vi-sually lower the car and are part of the huge catalogue of accessories that Toyota hopes you will dip into generously.

Toyota claims the Etios was designed to be a sedan first and then a hatch so the boot doesn’t look like a cut-paste afterthought. That you have to agree with. Unlike the Swift Dzire the boot is well integrated and the Etios has the proportions and stance of a proper sedan. In fact when you compare it with the intended competition – Dzire, Fiesta, Indigo, Logan – stylistically the Etios seems par for the course.

Step inside and it’s not like things improve massively. The dashboard is again the same as what was shown at the Auto Expo save for the deletion of motor show trinkets and the retina-searing colours. And stylistically it is a rather plain affair, primarily rectangular in shape with the speedo sited in the middle on top of the central console (like the Indica Vista). Toyota’s engineers claim this is better for visibility but I have never been a fan of an expanse of nothingness staring back at me from behind the steering wheel and the Etios does nothing to win me over. The speedo dials also look like a giant sticker and it’s only in the night, when it is neatly back-lit, that it looks nice. Below it is an integrated stereo and the top end versions also get steering-wheel mounted audio controls.

The seats are one-piece units with inte-grated headrests (similar to the i10) but they


DEC 2010 overdrive 83DEC 2010 overdrive 83

Scalpel edge Words Sirish Chandran

The seventh-generation of VW’s eponymousPassat is set for India launch in March 2011

Dr i v eVW PaSSaT

Such has been the pace of progress that the cars of today – the really good ones – are so sorted that there’s little left for succeeding generations to improve upon.

Take the current Passat for instance; just last month I got reacquainted with the 1.8 TSI and apart from a few styling tweaks I couldn’t think of anything that needed significant change. But with competition being so fierce, practically every day we find ourselves sitting through the launch of an all-new or at least completely refreshed model which, in the ab-sence of any glaring voids left to fill, are mostly

headlined by a reduction in weight, knocking off a few grams of CO2 and improving effi-ciency across the engine range. Necessary stuff in this age of environmental activism, but bor-ing as hell to write about.

The new Passat wasn’t expected to change the script. When it rolled on to stage amidst shooting flames and water walls at the jaw-droppingly lavish Volkswagen Group evening prior to the Paris Motor Show the first thing that popped to mind was the Phaeton. And then my mind wan-dered off to Barcelona (where I’d be driving the car in a month’s time) as, on cue, the

translator rattled out the CO2 and fuel effi-ciency numbers. It was the same script played out at a million car launches until the unexpected happened – VW’s board mem-ber for development Hackenberg, popped up on to the video wall to help a colleague open the boot by… waving his foot under the rear bumper.

Funny that the most boring part of the car figures right at the top of a test but this foot waving business was completely unex-pected. And it made hardened journos troop off, like little children, to wave their feet under the boot and watch it open.

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DEC 2010 oVerdrIVe 89


R i deHonda CBr250r



Words Shubhabrata Marmar Photography izzuddin Kamaruddin/Moto.Mania

Honda’s CBr250r promises to take the fight to the rest of the indian premium motorcycles. and how!

Battle stations


There are autumn leaves lit-tered around and a yellow flag is waving furiously at the edge of my vision. But the turn ahead is wide open and

the tarmac climbs up hard right after it. Hard on the power, hug the kerb up the kink and fly past the crest. Turn five at the Bira International Circuit lurks just below. It’s the entry to the first of two chicanes that brings you back on to the main straight. It’s a scary section on a truly fast motorcycle and the Honda CBR250R I am

riding is certainly fast enough for it to be frantic.

Crest the rise on the power with the front-end light and the engine singing, and then you’re already past your braking marker. Throw the bike from full power to full brak-ing fighting inertia to slow the bike for the chicane. Fail and you’d run on straight into the grass, but today that mound has at least five photographers looking deep into their lenses. Time to panic.

Panic, thankfully, is the exact situation that Honda built its C-ABS system for.

Honda intends to offer the CBR250R with C-ABS as an option in India - right now it’s the only option I have to save my skin.

Lest I come off glowing, this is more an oh-crap reaction than fast thinking on my part. I do my bit. I bring up the brakes to full power like I normally would and then go on squeezing for everything I am worth like a scared rat.

On the CBR, at full-on panic the bike jud-ders so hard that you’d think the front end had come clean off. But when you look past the juddering - and this isn’t easy - you realise


Animal instinct Words Bertrand D’souza Photography Gaurav S Thombre

T e STskodA yeti eLeGANCe

is the yeti cold and abominable or a warm fuzzy teddy bear?


roAd test 967OD Rating PRice ` 16.99 lakh ex-showroom Mumbai

+ Invigorating at first glance

+ Powerful diesel engine

+ Light nimble steering

- No Bluetooth connectivity

- Space best for four Getting a name right is no easy task. You think of all the per-mutations and combinations and how that name will sound twenty years ahead in time.

You might even have to think how that name would work globally. Tough ask then, getting the name right. Skoda has already faced that problem with the Laura, ahem… which when used in the local rustic sounds like a very bad expletive. But it’s not just Skoda, several other manufacturers have faced simi-lar problems. Either the name does not ring any bells or it’s too awkward to be pro-nounced easily or correctly by the large non-English speaking populace. So what do you get when you name your latest offering after an animal that is more fiction and debatable fact, the Yeti? Blank stares, abject bewilder-ment and I can’t even begin to imagine how many more versions will emerge once it fil-ters down to India’s grassroots.

Quite frankly, how many know that the Yeti is a legendary creature that supposedly exists in the higher reaches of the Himalayas? The Yeti is said to be a fairly large, muscular, naked and hairy biped. What Skoda has launched is none of these. The Yeti, Skoda’s first attempt in the SUV segment, is rather small as far as SUVs go and there isn’t much hair on its chest. So any connection to the abominable snowman is actually slimmer than the fact that the snowman exists.

We had driven the Yeti in Europe roughly around a year and a half ago. It’s finally here but in all that time, the segment the Yeti will find itself in has largely been unoccupied. In time the Yeti will compete against the BMW X1 which is yet to be launched and perhaps the Nissan Qashqai. For now though it only has to upset the Suzuki Grand Vitara and that should not be too tough a task, given that the Vitara sells in dismal numbers.

In Europe the Yeti has already received a lot of accolades ever since its launch in 2009. But this is a typical European SUV and for India, Skoda has kept the spec virtually in tact. The big question is just how well does a made in Europe for Europe SUV fare in India?

DeSign & StYLe

The Yeti is based on the Volkswagen Group A5 (PQ35) platform intended for compact sized vehicles. But the styling is sort of an ex-tension of the Roomster, Skoda’s MUV that played the part to a ‘T’. It wasn’t a good look-ing MUV by any standard, yet its design was celebrated because it was clever. Like the

Com pa roVw VENTO AT VS HONDA CITY AT


Auto combatWords Halley prabhakar Photography Gaurav S Thombre

Can the vW vento automatic dethrone the Honda City automatic?

The increase in living standards has given us many reasons to indulge ourselves with auto-matic tools in our daily rou-tine. The automatic washing

machine rinses and dries your clothes, your microwave’s auto defrost feature helps you thaw frozen food in a jiffy, an electric tooth-brush is easier to use and requires very little effort to brush your teeth while the push of a button in the elevator has made us allergic to stairs. All these tools have one common function, to make life easier and smoother. In the same way automatic transmission

cars have been preferred over a manual in most traffic congested urban areas. Except in India. We haven’t moved on from manual transmission cars and have been straining our left hand and leg with gusto. It seems we haven't realised automatics are much more convenient. Until recently the only options in C-segment automatic transmis-sion cars were the Maruti Suzuki SX4 and the Honda City. The City is the current seg-ment leader and has been the preferred pick. But now the Volkswagen Vento 1.6 auto-matic wants to crash the party. Is the City's undisputed reign over?

The design and dynamics of both cars have already been written about extensively in the October issue of OVERDRIVE. To recap, the unique ‘arrowshot' design gives the City a very striking appearance and a racy character. The Vento with its simplistic lines looks sporty, elegant and very Euro-pean while the boot has been integrated seamlessly into what is inherently a hatch-back design.

Talking interiors though, the City offers slightly more overall space, with generous leg room and knee room, a fully flat floor and wider seats in the rear. The Vento runs



Swede coffee Words Bertrand D’souza Photography Gaurav S Thombre

T e STvoLvo xc60 d5

Does Volvo have a tough time pushing sales of its cars now that it belongs to the Chinese? Well, it’s a very difficult ques-tion to answer. Nonetheless

in the last few months it’s the one question that’s been asked millions of times. Every manufacturer loves the Chinese. Sale of cars in China has overtaken the once largest auto-motive market in the world, the USA (in 2009 China consumed over 13.5 million cars com-pared to 10.4 million sold in the US). But how many around the world buy cars manufac-tured by the Chinese? Look at Rover and how it has fared. Yet while Volvo may have a tough time ahead, what is clear according to Stefan Jacoby, the new chief executive of Volvo Cars is that Volvo for all intents and purposes will operate as it always has, but without much Chinese involvement in their product line.

In India that perception and direction is not going to make much of a difference be-cause Volvo, despite introducing itself in this market nearly three years ago, hasn’t made the slightest dent yet. The problem isn’t with the products, both the XC90 and the S80 were as good as the competition though a bit old fashioned and boring. The image Volvo has isn’t that of a winner, it isn’t a brand you’d aspire to own. And despite earning the tag of making the ‘safest cars in the world’, every-body else also makes 5-star Euro-NCAP rated cars, which leaves Volvo with what exactly?

In India the largest promoters of Volvo are the expats and surprisingly according to Volvo India, those in the construction busi-ness. Safety as the new breed of real estate developers understands is paramount, which is why the move to own Volvos. But that seg-ment of buyers is very small. What Volvo needs is a vehicle that can give them the de-sirability factor, turn consumer away from the BMW, Merc and Audi and make them go ‘Vol-wow’. Enter the XC60.

DESIGN & STYLING

Good looking is a very mild term for the XC60, in pictures or in the flesh this is a stun-ning SUV. It’s as breathtaking as seeing a

The xc60’s full-bodied brew stimulates from the first sip


roAd TeST 970OD RaTING PRIcE ` 39 lakh approx

+ Gorgeous inside and out

+ Ride quality

+ Obviously safety

- Loud engine

- Efficiency


Cutting edge Words Vijayendra Vikram Photography Gaurav S Thombre

...but is all this tech worth it?

T e SThonda vfr1200f


road TeST 971OD Rating PRice ` 17.5 lakh ex-showroom Delhi

+ Dual clutch transmission

+ Futuristic looks

+ Ergonomics

- Pricey

- Takes time getting used to The first time I rode the Honda VFR1200F fitted with a dual clutch automatic transmission in Japan last year, I was fasci-nated by all the technology it

packed in, but it was tough for me to accept it as a motorcycle. I mean, aren’t scooters sup-posed to be automatic? Flipping through the product presentation, the new VFR seemed more complicated than a woman (at least on paper), while riding this automatic around a race track required more planning than get-ting married or starting a family. Let’s face it, the absence of clutch and gear lever below the left foot is hard candy to swallow for any biker. I sorely missed blipping the throttle, clutching and downshifting before a corner and it took me some time getting used to letting my fin-gers assist in the crucial stuff - shift gears that is. By the end of the session I was wondering why we had been wasting time on the track rather than heading out straight for the moun-tain roads.

The VFR1200F isn’t your regular sports-bike. It’s a sports tourer, something you would love to ride around the Alps. It is an important motorcycle for Honda and is the latest descen-dant of the legendary VFR family that dates back to the eighties and stands for V-Four Rac-ing. The last VFR, the 800 was perhaps the least successful of the lot and then Honda too seemed to be busy with the flagship CBR sports bikes, almost wilfully ignoring the sports-touring sphere. The Super Blackbird, for instance, after it fell prey to the Suzuki Hayabusa simply hasn’t been replaced so far.

Then Honda shocked everybody with a radical VFR concept at Intermot in 2008 (that didn’t even have moving wheels). The high tech VFR1200F was launched a year later and Honda was back in the sports-touring game with a bang. The USP of the new bike? It’s du-al-clutch automatic transmission.

Soon after its international debut, the VFR1200F has landed on Indian shores. With its revolutionary technology it appears to be a great bike to ride in our conditions, at least on paper. Be it crawling in city traffic or taking that long ride on the Golden Quadrilateral, this VFR seems up for the challenge. True blue bikers will still find it hard to accept and I went through the same again, this time back home. But will the VFR convert you? I had a few days with the bike to find out.

Design & builD

I wouldn’t say the VFR1200F is a beautiful bike but yes, it is very interesting to look at and this

Dr i v ealfa giulietta


roMeo & GIULIETTA Words ray Hutton

The Alfisti are among the most ardent classic car enthusiasts, and last month they gathered in their thousands in Milan, Alfa Romeo’s ancestral home, to cel-ebrate the marque’s centenary.

The mood was happy and optimistic. Only a few weeks before, Sergio Mar-chionne, the chief executive of Fiat, which owns Alfa Romeo, had said that he

was ‘unequivocally committed’ to the development of Alfa over the next five years and that it would have a full range of cars to enable it to compete against the German premium brands in all the major markets.

Only a few months before, the prospects for Alfa Romeo’s second century looked bleak. Marchionne’s previous target of 300,000 cars a year and a return to the US had not been achieved. Sales in 2009 had barely reached over 100,000; too few to justify its survival as an independent brand.

the new model from alfa for its centenary year, the giulietta, is a key development for the marque


Seoul to sold Words Shubhabrata Marmar Photography Gaurav S Thombre

Hyosung is back with a brand new Indian partner. And these two bikes are coming to showrooms shortly

R i deHyoSung gT650R & ST7

oveRdRIve DEC 2010140

The motorcycle market in India is a lot of things, but what isn’t obvious to most people is that it’s a properly tough market to operate, survive and thrive in,

in that order of rising difficulty. The estab-lished names make it look easy, but it isn’t. And Garware Motors, the newest entrant into our market is about to find this out.

To be precise, though, Garware Motors isn’t a new name. The Garware group of in-

dustries actually started with an eponymous company in the thirties that was based out of London and employed in supplying cars like the Lagonda to the Indian maharajahs. The company did well for itself until the ban on imports in the fifties ended the business. By then, thankfully for the group, they had di-versified into other businesses.

Dia Garware Ibanez, who heads Garware Motors today, says that the name is a way of paying homage to her grandfather who start-

ed the original company. It’s a return to the roots, as it were. She weaves an interesting tale where the group was looking to diversify from their core businesses - elastic bands that go into Jockeys and so forth. They spoke to KTM, but Bajaj became part-owners and they also pursued Triumph, who are still not ready to enter India. And then S&T Motors, who bought over South Korean premium motorcycle major Hyosung approached them to (re-) enter the Indianmarket.

DEC 2010 oveRdRIve 141

One Suz fits all Words Shubhabrata Marmar Photography Gaurav S Thombre

T e STSuzuki Bandit 1250S

When the Suzuki Bandit first came out in 1990 (as a 1991 model), it brought cheerful, af-fordable performance

to the masses, as it were. What began as a 250 and 400 grew up the displacement ranks and in 1996 one of the most popular models in the range ever, the GSF1200 Bandit went on sale. The current model dates back to 2007 and it sits on and builds upon the mighty reputation that this simple, but immensely capable motorcycle built for itself.

Where the bikes of the day were either committed sportsbikes, soft tourers or dull commuters, the Bandit was a revelation. It created a new niche called Sport-Standard. In effect, a naked bike with sporty intent. The intial 1200 was based on the GSX-

R1100’s engine - a great starting point. This big Suzuki is another legend in its own right and its engine powered a whole bunch of memorable Suzukis, including the Ban-dit. By 2007, the Bandit had gained enough momentum to allow Suzuki to give it what it needed, a brand new, built for the pur-pose engine.

To give you a little more background, Ban-dits are known as some of the best do-it-all motorcycles on the planet. They have sporty but substantially upright riding positions, plush seats, good ride quality, sharp handling and plucky motors that pull at all revs. Their easy tune-ability and relative cheapness, has meant that stunters and that end of the mo-torcycling crowd has found the Bandit very useful indeed, which is why, the Bandit is also known as a hooligan motorcycle.

Can the Suzuki Bandit 1250S really do it all?

Overdrive DEC 2010146

rOad teSt 972OD Rating PRice ` 8.50 lakh ex-showroom Mumbai

+ Refinement

+ Ride quality, ergonomics

+ All-round ability

- Styling is bland

- Yellowing chrome

DEC 2010 Overdrive 147


Urge to splurge Words Martin Alva

All of us want luxury wheels, and even the entry levels will do

F e At u r eAffordAble luxury Automobiles

Ask anyone in India, they want better. Hell, that holds true for everyone, all over the world. In the context of this article, of course, we are

talking about luxury cars and motorcycles. I set out to meet representatives of manu-facturers and their dealers to see if the upper end of the Indian automotive market permits you to upgrade - via finance, if needed - without busting your bank account.

Affordable luxury though, is a contra-diction in terms. Exclusivity - by tightly controlled supply or by high prices - is one of the key elements that defines luxury. True luxury, by definition, cannot be affordable. But the rate at which luxury cars are selling in India is almost enough to make you question that key tenet. There are, of course,

a number of well-documented reasons for the ballistic sales. There are 1.2 billion of us Indians now, and the one per cent of the population that is officially well-heeled, amounts to a whopping 12 million. Market research estimates that the Indian luxury car market will grow steadily at 25-30 per cent per annum. Bugatti sold its entire Indian allocation on the day of the launch, and we’re talking ` 16.5 crore a piece. The beautifully hand-crafted Rolls-Royces have been sold out for this year, all the allocations for 2011 have also been taken care of and Rolls hopes to sell over 70 cars in India by 2013. That’s 70 cars with a price tag of over ` 3.5 crore each. The recent purchase of 150 Mercedes-Benz cars in a small town like Aurangabad has emphasised the fact that an increasing number of Indians are now in a

position to afford lavish, expensive cars. The missing marques are headed our way as well, with Ferrari intending to paint the country red next year, and Aston Martin likely to come in around the same time.

Indians however, are less price conscious and more brand conscious when it comes to luxury automobiles. Brands that offer the same creature comforts or performance at a lesser price but are identified as safe, economical, practical brands don’t quite generate the same cache or luxurious aura. For instance, consider the Skoda Superb 3.6 4x4 and the Mercedes-Benz C200 CGI. They both cost roughly ` 30 lakh. Of the two, the Skoda offers more space, more gizmos and ride quality that at least equals the Mercedes. But when it comes to choosing between the two, most would just rather have the Merc’s


(Clockwise) The 3 Series has the lowest sticker price among entry level luxury cars while A4 has the highest. The 3 Series is available for a downpayment of ` 14 lakh and an EMI of ` 19,000 per month while the A4 costs ` 19 lakh downpayment and EMI of ` 27,000 per month

keys in their pockets. BMW and Audi command the same brand value.

To start, for reference, let us look at the top-end cars from manufacturers which play the features, comforts but lower price game. The Toyota Camry AT costs ` 30,81,632 on-road Mumbai. The dealer offers 90 per cent finance on the ex-showroom price, which means you pay ̀ 7 lakh as down payment and over a five-year period, you pay roughly ` 48,000 per month as EMI. The Honda Accord V6 is priced similarly at ` 30,00,452 on-road Mumbai. You pay ` 6.5 lakh down, ` 50,400 for five years, again on a 90 per cent finance scheme. The Skoda Superb V6, similarly, is ` 30,71,520 on-road Mumbai. It is also offered with a 90 per cent finance scheme that requires you to pay ` 7 lakh down, and ` 49,000 per month for five years.

Now let us talk about the luxury brands. They have all tied up with banks to offer some rather clever finance options - which we will discuss below - to accommodate those who’re close to the sort of profile who can afford these cars, but fall short by a small margin. I spoke to the dealers in Mumbai where the prices are some of the highest in the country to understand the process, and the nuances of buying a luxury car on a budget. I found that how you pay the price is the critical factor and the EMI spread is the key to making these cars affordable.

The sales executives first introduced me to the buyer. He is usually a family man, over 30 years of age and already owns a premium midsize car like the Honda Civic or the Skoda Laura. He is looking to upgrade and ‘arrive’ in the big league. Those on a budget will

usually sell their existing cars in the process of the purchase to make their payments for the bigger car easier. For instance, if you sell your three-year old Honda Civic, you can reduce your payment burden by ` 7-8 lakh which goes towards the down payment for you luxury car. I must warn you that prices change all the time, but the ballpark should remain the same.

The cheapest Mercedes-Benz you can buy in Mumbai is the entry-level C-Class. It costs ` 29,45,417 on-road - just under the top-of-the-line Camry, Accord and Superb we talked about. The down payment is higher - ` 13 lakh, but half of this usually comes from the sale of premium mid-sizer. You will be able to choose a five-year scheme as usual, but if you opt for a bullet scheme (see box for detailed explanation), the EMI drops to just

camry to nashikt r av e lo g u e


di-wineInto Nashik’s wine region with the Toyota Camry automatic Words Kshitij Sharma Photography Charles Pennefather

“How do you distinguish wines?” Charles asked me. It was not quite out of the blue. Firstly I’m supposed to be knowledgeable about food and beverages having stud-ied hotel management for four years. Secondly, we were in Toyota’s top-of-the-line luxury sedan, the Camry automatic, heading for Nashik, India’s premier wine region.

Our almost 200km journey began from Mumbai, which seems like the most crowded city this side of the Milky Way. And words cannot express what a godsend the Camry’s automatic gearbox proved to be in the traffic chakravyhuh. It did all the work as I played around with the audio controls on the smooth and responsive steering wheel, perched in the very comfortable driver’s seat. And the USB and aux connectivity was making the journey very enjoyable. I must say though that it took us a good hour and a half to get out of Mumbai. But I was none the worse for the wear because it seemed like child’s play in the Camry automatic.

Let’s brush up a bit on history before entering wine country. Legend has it that it was in Nashik that Lord Ram spent his 14 years of exile. Nashik is derived from ‘nasika’, which in Sanskrit means nose. It of course alludes to the tale of Laxman cutting off demon enchantress Shurpankha’s nose. Nashik was also the site for a number of battles between the Marathas warriors and soldiers of the East India Company. Trimbakeshwar, situated 38km from Nashik houses one of the twelve jyotirlingas in India. It is from here the river Godavari originates. As per mythology, Nashik is one of four places where the elixir of immortality, the ‘amrit’, fell to earth from a pitcher as gods and demons battled for possession of the elixir. The Sinhasta Kumbh Mela is held once in 12 years in Nashik and Trimbakeshwar. The Mela rotates among the four holy sites every three years. Steeped in religious history, it’s no wonder that Nashik is called the Benares of South India.


Piaggio MP3 Hybrid


R i de

It’s funny how things progress. They creep up on you from nowhere until they just won’t go away. Suddenly, what was once a laughable fad be-comes mainstream, like this electric

motorcycle and scooter craze.Battery-powered bikes started out as

pointless machines to be scoffed at by us in-ternal combustion engine lovers. Today, they’re becoming commonplace. I see them everywhere, plugged in to the mains outside people’s homes with an electric cable run-ning through a bay window, or at the car park at work plugged in to new purpose-built charging stations.

Plus there’s that electric bike champion-ship that first saw the light of day at the Isle of Man TT of all places. Electric bikes are all about a health-conscious, clean world; the TT is an old and much loved relic from a world where excitement and bravery came way before safety.

Now the Zero Carbon, Clean Emission GP - or TTXGP - also has rounds at various short circuits around the UK. And of course, this means development. Racing has the power to accelerate at a million miles an

hour the process of turning what is still a shaky two-wheeled proposition into a viable solution. At the moment the electric bikes only do one lap of the glorious 37.5-mile TT mountain course because the batteries wouldn’t last any longer (they’re no Dura-cells!), and it takes a long time to charge them up again once they’re flat... two-hour pit stops are hardly conducive to an exhilarating race. Battery range is a problem at the short circuits too: at Anglesey the race leader ran out of charge which lost him the win to the fast and fabulous Jenny Tinmouth. So I guess in this respect the TT, with its super-long lap, is the ideal location for electric bikes to be developed, as longevity and bulk - the latter being a definite no-no in racing - are the bane of electric bikes (think batteries).

In 2007 I attended the launch of a new Vectrix electric scooter, practically unique in the market back then. It wasn’t bad at all; there was plenty of power for a swift com-mute, and enough torque (772Nm) for burn-outs as you can see! Vectrix later came out with a gorgeous electric motorcycle proto-type too, but it never made it into production as the bikes and scooters were too expensive

Words Harriet Ridley

electric powerdoes Piaggio’s three-wheel MP3 Hybrid herald the dawn of the electric-powered vehicles age?


December 2010

I n d I a ’ s n o . 1 c a r & b I k e m a g a z I n e

Ducati Diavel testastretta 11° engine, 162Ps, 127.5nm

Ducati Diavel testastretta 11° engine, 162Ps, 127.5nm

Sand is geologically classified as rock but it should be classified as liquid. I can say this because I spent ten whole days riding on the sands of the Thar, crashing

into it a zillion times (somersault, face first, you name it) and having the sand getting in places I never thought possible. And it all started with the invitation for the Royal En-field tour of Rajasthan.

Vikram who had gone on this ride last year, said that not much of it would be on tar-mac. I’m an off-road type but I was a bit wary since I had never ridden a Bullet.

I was the first to arrive at Jaipur, the flag-off point for the ride. Ride leader Kanwardeep (KD in short) offered me a Classic 500 with off-road tyres. And it seemed so spiffy, I did not think twice. The next day our group of twenty Bulleteers left for Mahansar, a small village 250km away. This was my first taste of riding on sand. When your bike goes through a sand trap it starts to shake like a dog’s tail which sends your heart dashing towards your

throat. And after only a 100km the Classic’s seat did not feel so comfortable any more. I put it down to the mismatched seat springs and the suspension. It took us the whole day to cover the 250km to reach Mahansar where we stayed at the Narayan Niwas, a castle turned into a hotel by its royal owners. At night it looked quite haunted but the laal maas took my mind off ghostly spectres. It sure was spicy but oh so delicious and I gobbled it down by the plateful without fear of the conse-quences next morning. The local liquor, by the way, smells like tequila but is a lot more po-tent, be warned.

Next morning we headed towards Bikaner and thanks to KD’s deep hatred for good tar-mac we took to the back roads through nu-merous villages and sand traps which was both fun and nerve-wracking. We arrived at Bikaner well before time and visited the Juna-garh fort, one of the few in Rajasthan not built on a hill top but right in the heart of the city. We also indulged our taste buds with the fa-mous kachauris and bhujia of Bikaner. Jamba

was our next stop, bang in the heart of the desert and we stocked up on water, food and sunscreen. En route, KD led us off the road. It was a ‘fun’ shortcut with 7km of shin deep sand. The trick to riding on sand, as KD ex-plained, is to leave the handlebars loose, keep your momentum, and don’t go off the throt-tle. Easier said than done. When your bike is wagging like a dog’s tail your first instinct is to control it and that’s where the crashing starts and the 500 has so much torque that the rear just wants to kick the front. Just 3km into the ride almost everybody was having a hard time. It was blazing hot to boot and my bike kept going sideways regardless of what I did. Utterly frustrated, we then raided a watermel-on farm and gorged on the big juicy fruit.

By evening we were still 70km from Jamba when KD decided to test his newly installed off-road tyres, again, this time on a big dune. We followed suit. Many got mired in, but I reached the top somehow. I was going for it again when the main fuse blew. I got it fixed but it blew again and again. Finally I hitched a

Dawn to dust Words & photography Kshitij Sharma

Thundering across the Thar on a Bullet Classic

R i deTour of rajasThan

overDrive DEC 2010168

ride with a helpful fellow auto journo to the camp. Our next stop was Jaisalmer, 240km from Jamba and I couldn’t wait to hit the traf-fic-free, arrow straight Jaisalmer highway. But before that, we (auto journos) spotted a ‘Hawai Patti’, a long deserted air strip and nothing else needs to be said. The highway, truth be told, gets boring after 50km no matter how fast you are going because it is never-endingly straight. But the mile muncher that the Classic 500 is, it didn’t take us long to cover the 240km despite our hour long stint at the air strip. The Jais-almer fort is a must see, one of the largest forts in the world and there is an entire city within those walls.

The real fun began the next day when we were headed towards Sam which was just 50km away but we took the longer route via Tanot. At Jaisalmer I bought a very soft cush-ion for my bike. It seemed like a good idea at first but 70km later my bike and my back were ticked off. So I ditched the cushion. We reached Tanot via deserted roads with noth-ing but sand dunes on both sides and the army

posts were the only sign of civilisation. We crossed the Longewala check post, the site of the 1971 war, with a Pakistani tank as a remind-er. In the evening one of the riders hit a cow, earning himself the title of cowboy. We ar-rived at Sam in the night to be greeted by a campsite and comfortable beds. Sam is fa-mous for desert safaris.

The ride to Jodhpur was relatively unevent-ful except for KD keeping up with his off-road routine. Day seven was spent in Jodhpur to recuperate, nurse our aches and pains and of course check out the Marwar festival. We vis-ited the Umaid Bhavan Palace, part of which is an ultra luxurious Taj hotel and the other half is the residence of the royal family. While ev-erybody else was discussing the beauty of the palace, I was contemplating the idea of getting adopted by the royal family. Next on our itin-erary was the Mehrangarh fort which towers

Clockwise from left: The cushion that didn’t work so well. The folk music at Mahansar made our evening and seeing camels in their natural habitat is a rare sight indeed

DEC 2010 overDrive 169

motorsportF1 NEWS MOTOGP WRC INDIAN

Young wonVettel is the youngest ever Formula One champion

Words Dan Knutson

Sebastian Vettel is the youngest ever driver to win the Formula One World Drivers’ Champi-onship. He clinched the title by winning the Abu Dhabi

Grand Prix at the age of 23 years and 133 days. That beat the mark set by Lewis Hamilton who won the 2008 crown at the

age of 23 years and 301 days.“After Lewis won the championship, I

thought to myself, it will be questionable if there will ever be anyone younger than him,” Vettel said. “And to be fair, he only missed it by only one point the year before. You can argue but records are there to be broken in a way.”

The party reverberated through the Red Bull pit garage and hospitality area

DEC 2010 OVerdriVe 173


bootlidsimilar vehicle in your garage? write to us at [email protected]

Star peopleA week in the Merc and Shumi’s flying!

Sirish handed me the Merc and flew off - leaving me his be-loved long-termer and this long-term update to write. In his words, this is a great car to

drive around daily. Even in Mumbai, where sometimes the traffic is simply too chaotic and too packed, the silence in the cabin and the very nice music system go a long way in keeping you calm and unruffled.

But the true eye-openers for me were two things. Firstly, that three-pointed star at the head of the bonnet is a brilliant idea. It appears to lead the way as it were and while I can’t fully describe it, seeing it out there definitely adds to the driving experience. Whoever thought it up was a genius.

More importantly, Mercedes-Benz still

has awesome brand value - especially among those who don’t have one. I went to a mall and there was a long queue at the park-ing entrance. The guard seemed genuinely surprised to spot to Merc ten-odd cars down the line. He asked me why I didn’t queue up on the other side - where there were no cars. I asked him, “But that lane isn’t open.” He smiled and said, “For you, right now, it is.” Whoosh and I’m in. Very impressive.

In fact, Sirish says that his local book-store reacts much the same way. People jump up to open the doors. They ask him why he hasn’t visited more often and so forth. When he rides up on a scooter, the same chaps look the other way. Amazing.

But non-tangible stuff aside, the Merc is an easy car to drive quickly and slowly

through Mumbai. The driver-friendly dynam-ics is a welcome trait although in my city’s lunarscape I do catch myself wishing for the glide quality of the erstwhile Es. And I think the fuel meter is broken. I’ve been driving it for four days now, and the To-Empty readout is stuck at 280km. It’s either that or it’s sip-ping diesel at an impossibly low rate - my daily commute is 43km, so that’s 172km without movement from the needle or the digital readout. Not that I’m complaining...

This car changes your geography. As in, you can’t go to all the usual places - espe-cially in Mumbai. On an evening out, our shopping and food destinations all depend on whether there is secure parking or not. Interesting way to make your itinerary.

Shubhabrata Marmar

ToTal Mileage 26,981km DaTe acquireD Jul ’10 THiS MoNTH: Mileage 618km Fuel 62.96 litres eFFicieNcY 6.6kmpl

B e t t e r r i d i n g 222

g e a r & g a d g e t s 224

h o t o n i c e 226

h e l p d e s k 228

c a r B u y e r s g u i d e 252

B i k e B u y e r s g u i d e 269

s h a k e n n s t i r r e d 274

mercedes e350

Gear & GadgetsT h e c o o l e s t s t u f f t h e r e i s !

VERTUASCENT FERRARI GTPrancing horse, on callWhen Vertu decides to do a Ferrari, it does it in style. This time, the Ascent gets inspired by a Ferrari V8 engine and classy red leather accents. You also get two new tones created from Ferrari 458 Italia’s exhaust note and an improved Concierge service. Sets you back by about Rs 5.5 lakh.www.vertu.com

The Swatch New Gent Collection features ten trendy watches in understated, frosted colours, inspired by the original Swatch Gent of yesteryears. Rs 2,930 Available at exclusive Swatch stores across India

Swatch GentcollectionColours on your wrist


AC Schnitzer CarImageThis iPhone app lets you customise your car with snazzy alloys. Just take a pic of your car and start shuffling wheels before you finalise. Available for free downloadhttp://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ac-schnitzer- car-image-tool/id397756356?mt=8

Tag Heuer MeridiistThe Meridiist is now wrapped in black lizard leather, emblazoned with black diamonds and rose gold.Price on requestAvailable at leading Tag Heuer stores

Garmin Asus A10The A10 is an Android 2.1 based smartphone that sports advanced navigation and geotagging capabilities. Features preloaded detailed maps and voice guided navigation. Rs 18,990www.GarminAsus.com

Soundracer V12 simulatorThis is one bit of kit we all want in our cars. Just plug it into the power socket and the Soundracer matches the revs of the car to deliver unadulterated v12 engine sound inside the car. Also available in v8 and v10 versions.Rs 2,625 approxwww.soundracer.se

Spyker watch collectionThe propeller badge adorns watchesFamous for sports cars for the purists, Spyker has unveiled its watch collection. The bezel features the company’s latin motto ‘Nulla Tenaci invia est via’, the propeller logo adorns the crown and the chrono buttons resemble tailpipes.

Rs 4.3-13.56 lakh approxwww.spykercars.nl


BMW bikers collectionThis one’s for you if you like clean cuts, simple colours and a classy look. Yes, you can wear it to the pub too.Price TBCwww.bmw-motorrad.com

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