Hyundai Verna (Diesel) - A product of the Fluidic Revolution

Yes!! it was indeed a revolution of sorts. A revolution which has changed the company's fortunes. It was purely a shell design innovation aimed at increasing the aesthetic appeal. All the products which came out of Hyundai's stable after this fluidic design has been really standing out and could easily pass of as a premium segment vehicle. I wonder how the company has rewarded the persons behind this fluidic concept.

Thanks to this innovative design, the new Hyundai Verna seems to be ages ahead of the outgoing Verna. If the outgoing Verna looked "plain Jane", the new one is a "HOT Jane" a Ramp material. 

My cobrother booked one (diesel version) on March 2012 and eventhough the promised delivery date was September 2012, he got hands on the vehicle on April 2012 itself. Reason stated was that the color he booked (purple) was not of any demand. He was lucky Joe, forhe got it before the Tax rise proposed by the Government. Infact this is one of the colors, which in my opinion is best suited for Verna. But people of my State think otherwise.

Before I go into a detailed review the pros and cons

The pros 

- The most beautiful sedan inside 20 Lakh segment (She's a sexy lexy!!!!). 

- The softly tuned suspension and low Ground clearance results in a butter smooth drive (she guarantees comfort !!) 

- Seat cladding simply embraces you from the back. (She will hold you closer) 

- Power is more than sufficient, with minimal turbo lag. (Itz fun to take her for a spin !!) 

- Superb noise insulation, and you won't feel that it is a diesel. (She has a husky tone !!) 

- No diesel clatter and no vibration inside the cabin (She's elegance personified !!!) 

- Airbags and ABS in the middle variant itself (She guarantees safety !!) 

- Gizmos, gizmos and more gizmos. No need of any external add ons as the vehicle comes factory fitted with reverse cam, powerful stereo with USB input, bluetooth pairing, on board information system and a hell lot of others. (She's fully loaded !!!) 

- A veeeery big boot, something which the Indian's like (hmmmmm Now you know why shez a sexy lexyyyy!! )

The cons

- STRICLY a four seater !! Before leaving your company, put your boss in the middle seat of the back row and take him for a ride. There is nothing more you can do to him. 

- Bad underthigh support in the back seat. 

- Low GC and softly tuned suspension means scrapping of bumps in the great Indian roads, especially when the vehicle is fully loaded 

- Service cost seems to be on the higher side (Based on the input received from the service centre regarding the costs, Average cost of normal paid service comes to around Rs.6500/-). Free services with oil changes cost above 3500/-. 

- It is difficult to avoid a jerk during gear shift. (It seems to be a matter of getting used to driving this vehicle and as the vehicle gets older this problem slowly subsides) - It is really hard to find more cons !!

Mahindra XUV 5OO - Is it good to OWN or simply DROOL?

What a launch it was !!!

Bookings happening even before price is announced. Sneek peeks, spy shots, predict the price and all sorts of pre launch contests and discussions on almost all automotive discussion forums. People thronging in great numbers to the Mahindra Showrooms to take a glimpse of its new age avatar. Bookings getting closed since M&M did not support long waiting periods. The early birds who got hand on this vehicle were the most sought after feedback agents in traffic stops and on web forums who duly obliged and were enjoying their new found limelight. Further surprises related to this blockbuster came when Mahindra and Mahindra announced the reopening of the bookings along with a draw of lots. Again another surge of bookings and the lucky 10,000 ones got their hands on the vehicle.

By this time the first batch of owners had a reasonable amount of time with their vehicle and service experience. Niggles thread began to appear in web forums. Welcome to the reality of owning the first Blockbuster Indian SUV (I am calling it as an SUV, eventhough it is not a proper SUV).

Now the million rupee question in owning the million rupee Indian SUV - Should I buy it or not?

Should I answer it now or after the review. Well I will answer it now and then continue with the review on how I arrived at this answer.

My answer -

If you are on a 8 to 10 Lakh budget, but can stretch to 14 lakh by mobilizing all your savings to buy this butch looking SUV, I would recommend NO !! Since this SUV will give you lot of moments to think, oh why I put my money on this?

If you are on a 15 to 20 lakh budget, then this is a good buy, the Value for Money proposition suddenly comes to picture. The niggles, if appeared will then be written off with an attitude, "these ought to come as this is a cheap vehicle".

The above answer is based on the experience I had with this vehicle, thanks to my close relative who was one of the "lucky" ones in the draw of lots in the second booking phase.

The Looks

If curves are the sign of a perfect figure then watch this image.

DVD Player and Navigation System For Cars - The selection process and a review

Apart from the windscreen view of the beautiful roads through the woods ahead, do you notice anything in particular in the dash. 

I am talking about the in dash DVD Navigation system which looks like an OE fit. But it is an after market attachment. Want to know more about it. Continue reading. (In between, if you want to know more about the place through which I am driving just visit here - Duke's Forest Lodge) 

This post describes in detail 

 - The selection process of In car Entertainment system (DVD Player &  Navigation system with bluetooth and reverse cam) for Toyota Innova 

- A review of the selected product - Fly Audio 

This might help buyers of such a product in India as I am based at Kerala in India

Cham Cloth - Keeps your car scratch free

All those who love their cars truly-madly-deeply does the cleaning themselves. Anything if overdone can have negative effects. Cleaning can result in cloth marks all over your shining car which becomes more evident under the sun.

A little investment in the form of Cham Cloth will come handy in these cases.

It costs around Rs.250 and works wonders on the cleaning experience.

The absorption power of this cloth is truly marvellous.

How to clean your car ?