[chanprakash]

Hi guys,

I'm Chandra, a 26 year old software engineer from Hyderabad living currently in Bangalore. I have been following the forum for almost a year now and am glad that I can finally be part of such a wonderful community. Wonderful, because I get to hear honest and genuine analysis and opinions of people who actually drive and maintain the cars in the real world. Unlike the many magazines and YouTube channels doing car reviews, folks here don't have to worry about losing ad revenue or negative perceptions from auto dealers.

I've liked cars from my childhood. I didn't necessarily know the many technical details, but had a liking for the design, comfort and driving of cars. Didn't have much access to TV and magazines growing up as I was living in rural and semi urban areas. My exposure to cars came from visiting family and relatives in cities. My eyes used to light up looking at the beautiful sedans on the road. Sadly, sedans are starting to disappear nowadays. Of all, Toyota Corolla in pearl white was my favourite. The elegant styling and the plush interiors would give me butterflies.

My grandfather had a maruti zen. having ridden in an ambassador before, zen felt like a futuristic, modern car. With the smooth engine and slick handling, I enjoyed going shotgun with my grandpa. He was a motor enthusiast and drove everything from chetak to RX100, bullet and ambassador to zen and Maruti GYPSY (used to be a fun drive on highways, sitting in the back)

My uncle is a great driver too and I rode along with him in his first car, Santro. He used to talk about cars and driving on long drives from Hyderabad to Vijayawada. Learnt a decent amount of things from him. He then bought Honda Jazz. He let me drive it a little bit. This petrol automatic was smooth like butter. It could fit 3 adults pretty well, had loads of space and good handling. The lack of tech and features recently might have pushed it to the bottom of sales. But, it was my first drive experience and a really pleasant one. My uncle had to sell it recently because of the horrible service experience in Hyderabad.

Coming to my first real car ownership, it was the 2013 i20. My dad had bought this car when I was about 18. The 1.4CRDI sportz was an absolute delight to drive. The engine is punchy and pulls very well. I rarely have to downshift to overtake and the engine redlines at pretty high rpm. This bad boy has crossed his half life now and I'm in the process of giving it a new lease of life. The community here was my guide in rejuvenating my car.

I have a lot more to share, but feel like it's too long for an intro post. Will share more in the coming posts. Thanks to the mods for giving me the opportunity to join team BHP. Have ordered my Stickers and key chains just yesterday!