A Mumbai Kinda Weekend!

Another trip to the City on the Coast coming up this weekend. Since I got the Safari, Pune and Mumbai seem almost fused together now. The comfort levels for the driver and passengers are very high on this run and every trip is looked forward to by all in the family. A true measure for the beast that does its job well.

Also coming up a review of the STP Diesel Additive. I have been using System D but many people have suggested STP as a better alternative. It is mostly never in stock so today I was lucky to get 4 bottles from Poona Motors. ;-)

Since this is used with every tank full I will have to wait till my return trip from Mumbai to test it out! Watch this space for the results.

@ 5000kms Report!

Crossed the 5000 mark a few days back and thought it would be a good idea to share the current state of my very own "Highway Star". The overall status is satisfactory. None of the squeaks came back after they were fixed a few months back. The engine is smoooooth and so is the gear change. The plain diesel + System D combo continues to work well.

On the minus side the front RHS headlamp is collecting condensation on the inside and the map light cover fell off a few weeks back. Other than this the beast carries on to thrill everytime we hit the highway.

Trip to Goa on the cards in mid March. Will probably take it through to the workshop to check all fluids and get the headlight sorted before that happens.

The new Blaupunkt speakers do their job very well and the need for an extra sub-woofer has diminished.

The highest speed clocked has been 165kmph on the Pune - Mumbai Expressway with engine not sounding troubled at all.

The MapMyIndia Navigator will be getting its first free software update in a day or two. Hopefully they have added Goa to the list of cities. :-)

To The Hills We Go!

This Saturday saw us off to Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar for the day. It took 2 hours either way and the journey was comfortable. My first trip on the NH4 going South of Pune and was pleasantly surprised by the good condition of the highway.

The MapMyIndia Navigator did well while on major roads but it got a bit lost once I went off the main roads. To be fair the little towns are not yet mapped and am awaiting the first update any day from their office in New Delhi.

With 5 people and A/C on the beast had no trouble climbing the ghats in third. System-D continues to help keep the engine super smooth and crisp.

Mumbai for Lunch!

Ok, as mentioned earlier Thursday was the day I had to run up to Mumbai just for a few hours. It gave me a good opportunity to test some of the new bits that have been added to the Beast since my last highway trip. Before I get into the specifics generally the truck behaved well. I have now clocked 4009kms and was doing 160kmph on long stretches on the highway without an signs of the engine stressing or getting into any drama. It seemed it could go faster but the traffic plus road situation at the time did not permit a higher speed.

I pretty much overtook everything in my path, including the Mahindra Mhawk Scorpio. :-)

Going to Mumbai there were no passengers or luggage. The A/C also only came on after the halfway mark as it was still quite nippy early in the morning. On the way back I had two adults plus me with 2 big suitcases and a few little carry bags. A/C was on for the whole trip back. On an earlier trip there was a 140kmph ceiling that when crossed led to engine making a whining sound and sounded very stressed. There was none of that this time and I can now safely say I am the proud owner of a Highway Star!

Ok, now lets get down to the details, the following is a list of new components added to the Beast since my last highway run and the results of the same:

• Plain Diesel: As mentioned earlier the beast is now running on plain diesel. The noise and vibration levels had come down considerable after the fuel change. But the perceived zip also seemed to have reduced a little. Hence, decided to give System-D a shot.
  

• System-D: Filled up 40 liters of diesel before the trip and added 40ml of System-D to it. After a few kilometers I noticed the difference straight away. Even lesser noise and vibrations than before and now the engine was smoother than its ever been. I will highly recommend this to all Safari owners.
  

• MapMyIndia GPS Navigator: I was really looking forward to test this baby out. It worked as expected, flawlessly. It also came in handy to get a more accurate max speed reading with this. It showed the speed about 5 kmph slower than the in-car analogue speedometer. The highest speed it recorded on this run was 159kmph! The first Map update is to be released on the 1st of Feb so it should be with me soon!
  

• New Speakers: These guys helped a lot to keep the boredom away. Sound is now much fuller and also the helped in suppressing the wind noise after 120kmph. Having said that the insides have bin very quite all round after the last go that Pandit Auto had with it. The squeaks have not came back and that is good news!

• Blaupunkt RC-10 Remote: Makes life much easier. You don't have to take your eyes off the road to change tracks or volume. The music system still remains clunky to use with mp3 tracks on disc and the iPod usage has been pretty much written off!