[raptor_diwan]

Congratulations on your new car! Your review was fantastic, and in fact, it was very detailed.

Regarding the surgery, I hope you're doing well now and have fully recovered. Please take good care of your health and enjoy many happy journeys with your new car.

[Axe77]

What an incredible story and review sir. It was as heart wrenching to read about your accident and injuries as it was heart warming to read about the slow crawl back to normal life.

Wish you thousands of happy miles and I hope you get back to your pre accident endurance abilities at the soonest. Look forward to reading your ongoing ownership updates here.

[Redline6800]

A lovely review and shows the impressive leaps Tata has made with its cars

I am sorry about the terrible accident and the ordeal you and your family had to go through and so happy on your recovery.

Did they catch or punish the culprit or did the truck owner help with expenses?

Enjoy the Altroz, it is a really good car and a good looker too. I feel a good amount of care in terms of running in period and using quality fuel from only a couple of trusted fuel pumps and some good highway drives will help the car settle in.

[theabstractmind]

May the story of your resilience give hope to those in need! Have a great ownership!

[Altrozed]

Originally Posted by ssathiyanarayan

The Ownership Experience:

What could be better:

• 1.2L NA - A small turbo could have made things merrier. More of it has been discussed in the forum, so keeping it short
• Rear row seating - Under thigh support is good, still with the curving roofline design, anyone above 6' will have trouble in getting seated comfortably for long runs
  
  -->Rear row seating is good but its more upright.
• Rear seat - Again a 60:40 split like in my cousin's old Jazz would have made things merrier. Also the cinema hall like seating in Jazz is sorely missed by me at rear
  -->Badly missed. 60:40 split is a boon and I dont see any reason TML skipping it
  
• Steering adjustment - The rake adjustment is provided by Tata. But i miss the reach adjustment as in my cousin's Skoda Rapid.
  -->Too much to ask at this price
  
• The NVH levels - I'm okay with it. But my wife is not convinced with it and points out to the stark contrast Tata Altroz has w.r.t Honda's or VW/Skoda twins. Maybe post EW period will take insulation
  -->Its not silent but Its not noisy as everyone claims.
• The GC - I'm with my wife on this point. 165 mm is decent, but not correct for our current Indian conditions. May be 175 mm could have been the sweet spot to hit with this premium hatchback.
  
  -->GC is good enough. Bengaluru bumpers are easy to crawl and cross it over.

What I'm worried about & skeptical:

• Tata service - Have a couple of Tata cars in extended family and friends ranging from Tiago to Harrier. It's always a Hit or a Miss. Not sure how it will be for me personally.
  -->As long as the product is in sale, you are safe.
  
• The provision for 360 deg camera on the ORVMs without having an official accessory from Tata Motors. Somebody cooked the food, thought it's not needed and left as it without fully completing, but forgot to delete it from menu card and served on platter
  -->Design or left it for future use, we dont know.
  
• Sunglass holder - Should have been provisioned with a small liner cloth or fabric. Will help avoid noise and scratches while driving
  -->Its narrow and deep. Right side, there is a small cubby hole where you can store your shades easily
  
• Auto dimming IRVM - Are these really Luxury items in Tata Motors thinking. My Brother in-laws little i10 Grand NIOS laughs out loud.
  -->The laugh ends there. Auto IRVM along with several AUTO features our cars have are grossly overrated which we end up paying eventually.
  
• The umbrella holder - Though its provisioned properly, I'm worried about how the feature given will perform without a proper vent out hole. Someone comes from a full fledged rain and keeps the drenched umbrella with water inside the socket provisioned, how water will drain.
  
  -->There is a drain hole where the umbrella holder is designed. you can try with a glass of water.
• Connected car tech - iRA was goofed up at dealership. I spoke and wrote to Tata Motors and finally came to know that the eKYC was not provided from dealership. The DTE doesn't show data. Got intrusion alert on mobile at the middle of a meeting which my boss noticed and asked me to check out in person, since it was a new vehicle and first day I brought Optimus to office. A big show of embarrassment. RSA option not showing up. Geo fencing showing wrong alerts even when I'm within the set route option
  
  -->After the KYC Is updated, the iRA works and its flawless in all our works.It works exactly what is designed for.
  Intrusion alert comes if someone fiddles around car door locks or boot door. There is nothing embarrassing in this. Geo alerts and route options are working on our Altroz
• Connected car tech - iTPMS doesn't show or connect. The dealership has no clue how to help. The SM at dealership declared such a feature doesn't exist in Tata Altroz at all.
  -->TPMS is internal unlike other Tata cars. It shows red alerts if there is sudden drop of air pressure in off the cars. To test it, remove air from any of tyres and it will show alerts.
• Connected car tech - ConnectNext app really frustrated me. Someone help and save me.
  -->Connected car is already under use by you. What else you are looking ?
• What 3 words - I don't know which 3 words i would use to describe its working
  -->Any 3 words will work. Try in English, Hindi, Hinglish or Tinglish and it works
• The thick A pillars make things difficult for an already small car
  
  -->All Tata cars right from Nano has thick A pillars. Maybe, its over safety feature

What i'm yet to test and doubts:

• Cruise control - Yet to test Optimus with it. I'm sure the big boy will handle much better with the handling he has got
  -->Cruise Control works like a charm. On ORR and other NH, you can accelerate and slow down using the cruise control buttons
• Perimeter alarm and theft intrusion alarm - Are these both same. Does Tata Altroz XZA+ DCA have it
  -->Perimeter is for Geo Fencing and Intrusion is fiddling with door locks. Both works
• Rain sensing wipers, Rear wiper with wash - Time has not come to experiment this
  -->Keep Auto Wiper on and throw a bucket of water and it will start. Rear Wiper with wash works well
• Head lamp levelling - Have to learn this feature. Much needed in my locality where big dumpers and mixers roam Scott free with shear recklessness for small cars
  -->This is next to the steering and easy to play and lot of useful
• Cornering lamp - Can someone guide me on how to use the front fog lamps for this function. May be i need to dig deep in the forum
  
  -->2 button the RHS next to steering and turn it on.
  You drive with low beam and turn then steering a bit more, you can see that the illumination increases and goes off once the car straightens
• One long trip and a ghat ride will make me write a clear do's and don't for this vehicle
  -->It works with ease in ghats with full road. The engine grunt might increase but DCA does its job

The quote reply is working a bit weird when I am trying to update in-line. It shows that the content is less than 20 characters. Couldn't find a fixing it and hence adding this para to clear the error.
Excuse this please.

[ssathiyanarayan]

Originally Posted by hungrybarbarian

Excellent review!

Felt like I was visiting the showroom, PDI ground and all the test drives with you.

Wishing you many many happy kilometres with the car!

Also, Please upload more photos of Optimus, the blue colour is drool worthy

Thanks hungrybarbarian for the nice words. This credit goes to the forum for having such nice members who shared their journey which has guided me to make things better. Sure will upload some pics of Optimus with Bumblebee and Beater later this week.

Originally Posted by raptor_diwan

Congratulations on your new car! Your review was fantastic, and in fact, it was very detailed.

Regarding the surgery, I hope you're doing well now and have fully recovered. Please take good care of your health and enjoy many happy journeys with your new car.

Thanks a lot raptor_diwan for the nice words. Road to recovery is very promising.

Originally Posted by Axe77

What an incredible story and review sir. It was as heart wrenching to read about your accident and injuries as it was heart warming to read about the slow crawl back to normal life.

Wish you thousands of happy miles and I hope you get back to your pre accident endurance abilities at the soonest. Look forward to reading your ongoing ownership updates here.

Thanks Axe77. The road to recovery was rather long and filled with struggle. I plan to write a memoir of the same in future. A lot of inspiring and dedicated people spent their time and resources to train me back to normalcy. I'm thankful to all those Godly souls.

Originally Posted by Redline6800

A lovely review and shows the impressive leaps Tata has made with its cars

I am sorry about the terrible accident and the ordeal you and your family had to go through and so happy on your recovery.

Did they catch or punish the culprit or did the truck owner help with expenses?

Enjoy the Altroz, it is a really good car and a good looker too. I feel a good amount of care in terms of running in period and using quality fuel from only a couple of trusted fuel pumps and some good highway drives will help the car settle in.

Thanks Redline6800. Sure i'm exercising great caution not to get carried away by the road and vehicle pace. I tend to go fast when going Solo (like Han Solo of Star Wars) and rather double cautious when with a pack. So run in is very crucial with my "bad" driving behavior.

The culprit roams scot free as he and his owners are well connected and linked with good resourceful persons high up the food chain. Not a penny was shared/spent from their end. There is greater force above and I leave it to his wisdom.

Originally Posted by theabstractmind

May the story of your resilience give hope to those in need! Have a great ownership!

Thanks theabstractmind for those lovely words. Like I told earlier there are many individuals because of whom I'm like this today. Bless them for being selfless and helping me.

Originally Posted by Altrozed

The quote reply is working a bit weird when I am trying to update in-line. It shows that the content is less than 20 characters. Couldn't find a fixing it and hence adding this para to clear the error.
Excuse this please.

Thanks Altrozed. Query wise replies helps a lot.

Note to Admins: Sorry for quoting multiple posts. I'm not sure doing so is allowed. Correct me, if done incorrectly.

[nsbhagwat]

Originally Posted by Altrozed

The quote reply is working a bit weird when I am trying to update in-line. It shows that the content is less than 20 characters. Couldn't find a fixing it and hence adding this para to clear the error.
Excuse this please.

Hi, if you type inside the <quote> </quote> tags and nothing outside of it, the system will pop that message. It expects the individual to write outside of the quote tags.

Regards
Nikhil

[ssathiyanarayan]

Originally Posted by hungrybarbarian

Excellent review!

Felt like I was visiting the showroom, PDI ground and all the test drives with you.

Wishing you many many happy kilometres with the car!

Also, Please upload more photos of Optimus, the blue colour is drool worthy

This reply is for you hungrybarbarian. Post cleaning on weekday evening shot some snaps of Optimus and Beater. Beater is not cleaned though.











Tried to capture Optimus from all possible angles

My parking is cut to cut for width of Altroz. Can't even open door properly and add to this, the parking not so well lit. So shots may pan out bit under exposed. Will try to add some more shots of Optimus in due course

[ssathiyanarayan]

The check for PP at 3M and again a short trip to Ranjangaon Maha Ganapathi:

The check for PP at 3M Kalyani Nagar:

It was due for a check up of the PP coating at 3M by 13-June-2023. But due to the ongoing Palki processions, didn't want to venture out for fear of road blocks. Finally, fixed an appointment on 17-June-2023. My daughter told she will also join for the visit. Came a bit late and there was huge queue of vehicles for PP and ceramic coating. Mr. Jay, the representative at 3M told very politely that the delivery may spill over to the next day considering the crowd. I left the vehicle as i had to drop my daughter at her dance class. It should be around 04:45 pm in evening, got call from Mr. Jay, 3M. He informed that the vehicle is ready for pickup post check-up.

I reminded him to check for doing the Rodent protection this time. It was missed out during the first time. Didn't want to risk the trouble with many pesky rodent's in vicinity of my society. Both my son & daughter wanted to come for picking up Optimus. Especially my son wanted to see how things are done. So took them along. Visited Balaji temple at Kalyani Nagar and had darshan. When we entered 3M Kalyani Nagar, the final cleaning of Optimus was underway. My son got enthusiatic and went inside to see how the activities were going on. There was foam wash getting completed, interior cleaning in progress, PP wrap winding up and a ceramic coating in progress for different vehicles. He was quite fascinated and asked many question which i tried to explain to the best of my knowledge.

There was a rash two wheeler who literally dashed and fell on the bonnet of Optimus. All this happened last week when I was at a signal of a single road merging into Nagar highway with an on-coming cement mixer stopping due this incident. This created the first battle scar for Optimus. It hurts to see this kind of marks on vehicle. But this is part of life. I remembered my first accident at KSA on my Fortuner. Thanked that great gentleman for his words of wisdom. I recounted that and let it go. The policeman can and scolded the 2 wheeler guy. He asked me why i didn't say anything despite the mark on my vehicle. I told him, "Sir, this person is already scared because of the incident and you scolded. Further there is too much traffic and i don't want to create an unnecessary scene for this incident". All smiled and departed giving way for the traffic on weekend.

The very next day a Force Gurkha on a hurry brushed Optimus at the left ORVM at the signal. I didn't notice the vehicle even in my ORVM, it appeared out of nowhere and brushed and went. I was scarred at first on breakage. But everything appeared to be intact. Thought of giving a check once i reach home. The Gurkha had slowed at road side and driver waved his hands. I too came to a halt at left side before the vehicle. The owner enquired if things are alright and reached out to help if required. I saw the marks on left ORVM and told him they appear to be on PP coating and not on the actual part. Anyhow will have it checked. Both departed with smiles. I didn't expect such a nice behavior from a SUV guy in India.

My first accident at KSA - A short brief on waling down memory lane:

A Local Saudi person had bumped me from rear. Being the first accident, that too in KSA, I was pretty nervous. Approached the passenger of the next car with great caution. He was an Old Saudi Gentleman. He saw his vehicle and mine. It was minor dent in my Fortuner as his was a bulky GMC SUV and he bumped pretty hard at close corners. Before I could speak a word, he approached and asked if I care for a smoke. I was surprised. He understood I'm an Indian from my face outlook and English accent. Asked me to chill and told it was his mistake and should have been a bit cautious. I was relieved a lot. He enquired if it was my first accident. I nodded and told him it was my first in 5 years of driving (India and KSA combined).

He laughed for sometime and glanced me and told, "You should be good at driving then. Not having faced an accident in 5 years of driving. Drive cool with seat belts and proper safety. Everything is covered by insurance and authorities will take care of any damage even if we get hurt like including hospitalization and informing the company and family for emergency. Things like this are bound to happen on road and all you need is to stay cool at head and big at heart. He also added that I will understand this one day in life". He also told i was a good gentleman to handle in such condition as most start to shout at the heat of the moment. I told him I was shocked and also not the guy to pick a fight in road rage. Later thanked him for his word and left after the insurance and authorities signaled we are good to go.

Coming back:

My daughter was very much interested to take Optimus at the earliest and go on drive. She literally hated waiting and wanted to drive straightaway. Mr. Jay told to me check the car before delivery. I told her also to have a check of the car. My daughter took it seriously and inspected every inch. She along with her brother pointed out like 5 places which appeared like marks or places to check the coating once. She duly spotted the two battle scars. Mr. Jay and team had already redone the PP coating on the left ORVM. Being a fiber part the right side bumper scar was left as is with a touch of protection coat and wax coat later. The other one was a bad factory paint job on the right door scuff plate side. Rest were minor burr marks from stone chipping and that too on PP coating.

Mr. Jay appreciated the kids for sharp eyes. I was beaming as a proud father of junior inspection engineers . Requested Mr. Jay and his team if it will be possible for them to install beading for protecting the doors. Especially considering my cut-to-cut parking, this was turning to be an eyesore with marks on door starting to appear. Mr. Jay was happy to oblige and did the same himself due to the load at shop floor. He even installed the balance on the trunk door, thus fully covering all 5 doors to protect them from sudden hits in my parking due to accidental opening. I thanked him for the help done and requested a photo with him and Optimus in backdrop. He obliged and we thanked left for the day.


A snap with Mr. Jay of 3M, Kalyani Nagar

A short trip to Ranjangaon Maha Ganapathi:

The next day was Sunday and I wanted to take Optimus out for flexing muscles on highways. The options were Birla Mandir, Pashan temple or Ranjangaon Maha Ganapathi. Considering the timing the last option was selected as both kids had their share of classes in morning sessions. Reluctantly my wife and son agreed. The destination was finalized as Ranjangaon Maha Ganapathi. My daughter asked me how much long are we going. I told her the distance. She was like, "Only this much". Like father, Like daughter. She really loves travelling a lot, especially by cars.

It was evening and we started from Home to Ranjangaon Maha Ganapathi after picking my son from his classes. I had done a trip meter reset before starting from home. The kids were elated at the grunt of the car on highways. My wife was constantly looking from back at the speedometer and throwing a word of caution to lookout for any trouble due to speed. All I did was from 60 to 80 kmph well below legal speed limits but still my better half didn't want to take any risks during initial runs before first service. My son was elated at the mileage which started to increase throughout the trip. Frfom 8 kmpl which he saw during local runs, it was touching 21.5 kmpl during the trip. The average mileage stood at 19.5 kmpl for the trip

We had a great darshan at Ranjangaon Maha Ganapathi temple. He is very special to us. A month earlier we went there on way back from Shirdi darshan. And exactly a month after, we are going in our own car. I always consider Ranjangaon Maha Ganapathi and Shirdi as my lucky charms. Kids had their gala time in photoshoot at park. We had evening snacks at Jogeshwari Misal, Kondhapuri and then night dessert at Coolato Gelato, Wagholi. The food at both places were yummy and filled the tummy well. Worth every penny spent there.


Snaps at Ranjangaon Maha Ganapathi temple


Snaps at Jogeshwari Misal Kondhapuri


Snaps at Coolato Gelato, Wagholi

Originally Posted by ssathiyanarayan

Thanks Redline6800. Sure i'm exercising great caution not to get carried away by the road and vehicle pace. I tend to go fast when going Solo (like Han Solo of Star Wars) and rather double cautious when with a pack. So run in is very crucial with my "bad" driving behavior.

While coming back home after dessert, had a minor niggle on road with a autowala cutting across my way despite being indicated duly. The autowala showed off his might and finally I requested him to go ahead signaling his victory. He left immediately and later I realized my mistake. I should have let the guy pass in the first place. Unfortunately got carried away in the heat of the things and engaged in a road rage. This was the sole thing that made sour memories on the otherwise great and enjoyable short trip. I recollected what I told to Redline6800 the other day. Getting carried away by the flow of the vehicle pace.

[hungrybarbarian]

Originally Posted by ssathiyanarayan

This reply is for you hungrybarbarian. Post cleaning on weekday evening shot some snaps of Optimus and Beater. Beater is not cleaned though.

Thanks very much, good friend!

Absolutely lovely pictures

Cheers!

[ssathiyanarayan]

Memoir recollecting the days since last update:

Optimus was not part of the running cars in the trip to Diveghar. The unexpected and unplanned trip wnet on to become a great experience and memory. It was trip dearly missed riding him.

There should be some balance to make a bucketlist right!

Don't want to have repeated contents on post. So sharing the travelougue link for the trip below

(Unplanned road-trip to Diveagar turns out to be an entertainer)Unplanned road-trip to Diveagar turns out to be an entertainer

[ssathiyanarayan]

Citing fellow TeamBHP ians:

Had cited several TeamBHP ians on travel and commutes on various occasions. Sharing them below.


Honda City 4th gen near Shaw Toyota Showroom, Kharadi



Maruti OmniE at Bengaluru



Tata Safari Dicor at Lexicon School, Wagholi



Ford Figo at Wagheshwar Parking signal, Kharadi



Mahindra Scorpio at Grant Road, Kharadi

Would definitely like to meet fellow TeamBHP ians and get to know each other. Interested members ping me. Let's meet up for a up of tea/ coffee.

[ssathiyanarayan]

First free service experience:

Had heard a lot about the horrible ASS of Tata. Even during my purchase phase, everyone cited the same. Tales on how they handle the customers during service time, how the problem is attended to, how the solutions are a misfit/ aggravating the problem / doesn't solve the issue. Praying the almighty that there should be no unknown source of issue surfacing out other than the known issues discussed in the forum threads.

Had 3 minor issues in my car before service. All related to the wipers. First, the rear wiper was making a lot of noise. Second, the throw of the wiper washer fluid felt very improper at the front and rear. Third, the wiper washer fluid was getting used up very fast - Like i was refilling every 2 days. I'm a generous user of wiper fluid and never start the wiper without fluids - both front and rear.

I was sure that these being minor issues the Tata SC should handle this well. Booked an appointment about a week in advance after regular follow-up from SC. Dropped the vehicle at 9:30 am sharp on 23-July-2023. Was informed that they will call me after the vehicle is getting ready. I left the SC and returned home. I waited till 1 pm and called with vehicle details. They told the vehicle was getting ready after the washing. It was my cue to start. I checked with the SC advisor and she told the vehicle was ready.

Asked the mechanic who attended the vehicle about the problems and wanted to check. Found that none of the issues were attended to. I went mad mode and soon things started to be attended to. A technician took me to the car and started with the complete capacity test of the wiper fluid tank. I told him clearly, that don't fix things in a hurry and I need a complete solution, not a quick temporary fix. He immediately got the issue of the throw being high led to the excessive usage of water in the front wiper. The rear throw was like a leaking tap. He immediately corrected them. Used some cleaning solution to wipe the rear wiper blades.

I checked again and found that the second and third issues to be resolved. However I was not convinced with his solution/ fix for the first issue. Even to date I've the issue of sound from rear wipers when they are operational. Will take some solutions from forum and implement them. Starting with cleaning of the rubber with cleaner solution using toothbrush after soaking for 10-15 minutes, take a 1200 grit sandpaper to file the rubber gently. Hopefully this should help the rubber regain some lost glory. As a last resort trim the rubber. Wait till next monsoon season and replace the wiper rubbers. After all they are consumables and not long lasting accessories right.

One thing is very clear to me. The ASS of Tata is going to be bad, no matter the city or the dealership compared with the Suzuki and Korean twins. It is all about accepting that fact and proceeding to get a fix for the problem. Just icing on the cake, Its a lovely car at hand and with good and responsible ASS SC the experience would have been great. Tata has sold more vehicles recently only because their build quality is good. People will start to search elsewhere if the ASS is not reliable and bankable one. It's high time they realize and recognize this.

[ssathiyanarayan]

Some short trips before and after first service:

I'm a lover of travel and always felt that Tata Altroz is a nice platform to explore things. Honestly speaking Optimus needs some good stretching and I've never given him the such chances. My office commutes have always been in B2B with horrible, unpredictable peak traffic conditions. Except for filling the gaps, a patch of empty road, some quick overtakes nothing has been a positive sign to write about. Feeling like doing some disservice to Optimus

Quick trip to Rajgad:

With everyone back home having their own set of engagements for keeping themselves busy, planning things on weekends became a nightmare. So dropped the idea of any trips altogether after some heart sore instances. The first of the opportunity to ride long came during a weekend when everyone agreed to it. The place was a resort in Rajgad.

We started very late again to accommodate the late comers. There was huge traffic due to weekend and this meant we had to tackle the horrible thing heads on - the city traffic in Pune. The first car went inside city piercing the traffic, while the rest 2 cars decided to take the outskirts route to avoid tension and frustration. The main reason was mine had all kids, infants and the other was with new comers to Pune. Things appeared good for us, until our got separated. The first trouble came, when our infamous Beat with new comers came down blowing all alarms.

But luckily for us, the member who had dropped the trip told he was available. Upon request, he agreed to go into aid of the struck member's. It was a huge sign of relief. But that now meant all 3 pups were on their own. If things went bad, they have to fend for themselves. I repent my decision on giving up to go back to them once they got separated. A big learning - Never leave the pack and especially have the young/sick pup under your personal guard.

Had some snacks, tea and bio breaks to restart the journey. We decided to have dinner at resort. After crossing Katraj, things started smoothly. It was night and with a rumbling stomach, we acknowledged that it was bad idea to plan dinner very late. But the new members had completed their dinner by the time, the rescue team came. The Beat was handed over to the workshop through a RSA. The only consoling fact for the drive was the completely deserted highway from Katraj and the scenic route from Nasrapur to Rajgad. Had it been broad daylight driving here would have been super pleasant. We reached the resort by 11 pm. The dinner followed by the customary lemon grass tea followed. Everything felt God sent due to the hunger raging inside us.

The night passed by waiting for the 3rd car to come. They pitched in 01:30 pm. Everyone was just too exhausted and tired and had a good night's sleep. Early morning, woke up and had a quick tea. Then started the sport activities like Basketball, Shuttle, Carrom. We decided to check out on the good sightseeing spots. Amazing greenery was live and with the night rains, everything was showing off their beauty in the most audacious way. Lovely sight to catch. A collage of the spots and the scenery is shared below.


Superb scenery and lovely display of the nature's beauty

We returned for breakfast at the resort. After breakfast we decided to take the nearby mountains for a small trek and see if we can get access for the nearby private property having a small waterfall fed by the small streams going down the mountains. We started the trek in full rain gear - umbrellas and rain coats. The other residents who had come to the resort felt envious at our preparation. After getting permission we spent a good time there. Everyone including Kids, infants enjoyed the gala time at the waterfall. With slight drizzles it was awesome time to be in that place. We came late for the lunch. Being a private property, it was the first rule that strictly no photos or videos. So nothing to share on that account. Some amazing time at the resort and sharing another collage of the lovely moments.


Lovely fun filled time and sight seeing

We planned to return a bit early. So all three members having driving duty along with co-pilots went to take a quick nap. We had a good tea again to brisk us up. Driving down the twists and turns from the resort to highway was a sight to behold during evening time. Lovely moments. I repent on not having a dashcam still on my beast. Seems a bad miss from my end. Again the awesome Pune traffic struck and all 3 got separated in 3 different routes. Finally all reached home by 9 pm safely with a lovely memory to cherish with.

Quick trip to Narayanpur:

Come another weekend and we had a sudden time void as the engagements of the members got cancelled. So all voiced in unison for a quick outing. We choose Prati Balaji temple near Narayangoan. Kids were definitely not happy but voiced happiness when they heard the mountainous route ride. Had a good darshan and mahaprasad at the temple. Kids were very happy with the mountainous scenery and we obliged for a small photoshoot. A collage of the same is below


Snaps of the beautiful sights on route

[ssathiyanarayan]

Quick update after some 4 months and 2800 kms

Having driven across a variety of terrains and mostly in the urban jungle with heavy B2B the principle contributor to mileage here are some observations over the months:

What I Love

• Mature ride handling - Though I've not touched / crossed the triple digit speeds, the ride of this beast is very mature for its class
• Good AC - The AC unit is very good. Xpress cool is added boon
• 1.2 NA Engine - I was wrong at being skeptical about its performance. It is good and has been doing the duties well. Its very rev happy as well
• iRA - After the initial hiatus and the app glitches, things have improved after the new app updates
• Rain sensing wipers, Rear wiper with wash - really useful features
• Head lamp levelling - Finally found the desired level
• In the heavy traffic of city like the B2B, the DCA is a bliss to drive with just a foot on the brakes and no A pedal inputs
• Sound system - Many have really complimented for such a nice audio system on car

What could have better or changed:

• Tata ASS - They have a long way to go
• GC of 165 mm - Though the suspension set-up is good, the GC at 180 cms would have done wonders, my personal opinion
• The car's rear design - I like the ones on Harrier and Punch. Altroz seems a bit half cooked one
• The omission of the driving modes in the DCA variants
• Provision of led strip lighting on the boot door
• Rear seat could have been a bit more reclined
• Magic seats 60:40 split at rear - Would have brought practicality and value for the hatchback
• Provide an option of Tan orange interiors - It would have added colour and pep to the dull interiors
• Rear camera resolution could have been better along with a different spot to avoid getting covered in mud and muck during rainy days
• Add front parking sensors & integrate them with radar sensor to provide real-time collision alerts. Could be done with rear parking sensors as well.
• Redesign the headlight assembly and provide separate LED projector lights as well with a 4500k hue

Mileage:

This is the biggest thing that matters in India. "Kitna deta hai". One thing I've learnt in life being a Quality and ESH personnel is nothing comes handy that a well built and safe product. So for me mileage is not principle deciding factor but nonetheless expenses have to be tracked. My mileage figures are below:

• B2B drives - 8 to 10 kmpl
• City drives - 10 to 12 kmpl
• Highway drives - 16 to 20 kmpl

I'm neither a pedal to metal driver or a sedate one. I'm an opportunistic driver willing to rev, take cuts and quickly pull over the gaps, finish a quick overtake. So my mileage figures are bit on the lower side. I don't maintain things in steady state - like keeping the rpms steady and providing very steady throttle inputs. It's one thing I'm trying to master and envy those who have such gifts. I'm starting to drive with a light foot and cool head - This has helped me to avoid road rage issues and also get decent mileage figures over the experimented drives. Maybe a couple of long drives and I should have got habituated well with Optimus.

Altroz wishes me on Birthday


A very thoughtful one

Freak infotainment hangs:


Couldn't reproduce this one freak incident