6th March 2009, 22:33
| #31 |
| Team-BHP Support   Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Mumbai
Posts: 10,310
Thanked: 12,706 Times
| congrats on your car. if you think the stock innova is powerful wait till 5k kms and get petes.  it totally transforms the innova. |
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6th March 2009, 22:40
| #32 | |
| BHPian  | Quote:
Infact I read your thread about petes box before joining the forum. Keeps me excited. Indeed I don't get the same feel in Innova as I get in the swift vdi. Petes will be the answer to that. But my current decision is to run this stock for atleast 1yr before going for any performance upgrade. | |
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7th March 2009, 12:35
| #33 |
| Senior - BHPian  | |
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12th March 2009, 14:44
| #34 |
| BHPian | Calicut - Nelliyampathy - Calicut Drive report After the initial confusion on whether we should do a two day or one day trip, finally decided to do a one day ride to Nelliyampathy, since most of the people whom I contacted were of the opinion that it is an isolated place and nothing much to explore. I had to make a call to the service centre, since one of my friends adviced that it is not good to take vehicle which is still in run in period to highranges. I was confident though since for me run in meant keeping the rpm at the desired levels in each of the gears and doesn't matter whether it is hills or no hills. Anyway decided to confirm this with my service personnel and he promptly told that there is nothing like run in for Innova and you can take it where ever you want. We started early at around 5.30am. Total of 5 adult passengers and 2 kids. First time I was driving with this many members of my family and it was sheer fun. Roads were pretty good. We went through ramanattukara, manjeri, angadippuram, palghat, nenmara, nelliyampathy route. Small twisties in manjeri stretch is a delight, and I enjoyed the stability of innova in taking these turns easily. We had breakfast from one of the KTDC restaurant at manjeri. This restaurant was on the road side but at a slightly highly elevated land. The view from the restaurant is really good. Once we reach nenmara the trademark paddy fields of kerala are seen aplenty. Don't know how greenery soothes ones eyes. We were literally gliding through these stretches and I will not be exagerating if I say that we felt like watching some good scenic places in the comfort and luxury of an AC lounge. After about 2 and half hours of journey we reached Pothundy reservoir. No tourists were around. We asked one local whether there is anything to see here. He replied that there is a garden and a reservoir, entry is free, and sometimes tourists visit this place. From his tone we felt that it is not a good place. Anyway we decided to have a look inside. We climbed some 200steps to reach the top of the reservoir. But once we reached, atop we found that the climb was really worth it. Superbly scenic. Enjoyed the beauty there for about 1 hour or so. In the meantime another family came in a black safari. Snapped a pic of my vehicle near the beast. They left to nelliyampathy before we left. Meet on the way  From pothundy the climb to nelliyampathy starts with hair pin bends and real good high range roads. Roads were narrow but maintained well. Could test my innova's performance in such stretches. I simply madly fell in love with this vehicle during this drive, because, - never had to downshift from 3rd gear even in twisties, - only in hair pin bends had to go in 2nd gear, - twisties did not take its toll on the passengers, - airy and roomy cabin with good outside view made all the passengers enjoy the beauty outside, - never did I feel the need for more power to pull it, could catch up with the safari on my way, which on seeing me tried to accelarate, but soon I found that he's getting too slow after each of the hair pin bends (may be due to lack of driving experience) . Soon I enjoyed the look of the beast (a black one) in my rear view mirror. I don't know how a 10 year old design can still look so impressive. On the way to nelliyampathy  Once we reached Nelliyampathy we were in a different world alltogether. To summarize the place shortly, it is really wonderful landscape out there, you will have a munnar like feel minus the tourists, a kodaikanal like lake, 2 to 3 spots where only a 4 x 4 can reach. Atleast 2 days will be required to cover the entire area. Our plan being for one day decided to go to 2 spots where my innova can go. i want to spend more time at a single place than covering the entire picnic spots in one go. Hence went to poabs estate and kesavan para both of which were really superb. The poabs estate  the lake at Nelliyampathy  Stayed on till 7pm in the evening. Felt like staying there for more, but we were not prepared. Hence decided to proceed back to calicut. By the time we reached Palghat it was 9pm, thanks to a procession which made us halt for almost 1 hour. After taking dinner from palghat, we started our journey at about 9.30pm. The roads were empty by then. No sound at all. Only the sound of music. The chilling AC and the comfortable seats made all the occupants change there status to sleep. Once I saw this I ensured that no more hard brakes or no more rash turns, so that all can sleep well. Deep inside my heart I was happy that I chose this vehicle, for giving such comfort to all the passengers on board. We reached our destination at 12pm. Overall it was a fantastic drive experience. Total distance travelled: 380 km Mileage obtained: 13km/l (90% AC) |
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12th March 2009, 16:38
| #35 |
| Senior - BHPian | |
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13th March 2009, 14:59
| #36 |
| Senior - BHPian | |
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13th March 2009, 15:21
| #37 |
| Senior - BHPian  | sps a very good report there! after reading it Innova has been added to my list...whn i plan to pick a new UV/SUV this will be given lots of preference. I love the interior! have noticed that Innovas are very fast on hiways, number of time its was hard for me catching up with it  its surely a drivers car!Last edited by lohithrao : 13th March 2009 at 15:26. |
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13th March 2009, 16:29
| #38 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Pune
Posts: 804
Thanked: 447 Times
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14th March 2009, 01:25
| #39 |
| BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: bangalore
Posts: 158
Thanked: 123 Times
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14th March 2009, 08:51
| #40 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 4,143
Thanked: 567 Times
| That is one beautiful travelogue - a wonderful place and a beautiful vehicle to take you there! Great one, SPS. Few more photos will be appreciated. |
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14th March 2009, 14:23
| #41 |
| Senior - BHPian | |
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14th March 2009, 14:39
| #42 |
| Senior - BHPian  | The 3rd picture is very soothing to the eyes. What did you buy from Car Shoppe? And Innova should be able to perform more comfortably on curves as was observed by you in comparison withe the Safari. |
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15th March 2009, 12:25
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15th March 2009, 13:08
| #44 | ||
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16th March 2009, 10:41
| #45 |
| BHPian | First service @ 1300km When I was on my way back to Trivandrum after the nelliyampathy trip found that the odo has crossed 1000km and I have to travel 350kms more to reach TVM. It was only 5 days since I purchased this. Called up the service centre and got a reply that, itz not an issue since first service involves some routine checks and cleaning of the vehicle only. I fixed up an appointment with the service centre. They told me to bring the vehicle at 2pm and it will be ready by 4pm. Went to the service centre (Nippon toyota) at 2pm. Service advisor asked me for complaints if any, but I had nothing to report. Soon the service started. I could see what they are doing from the customer lounge. Vehicle was ready by 3.30 pm. Tested whether everything is ok. Vehicle looked clean and neat. Total cost of service: 0.0 Overall a very pleasant experience |
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