[megazoid]

A magnificent banyan tree

It was a beautiful summer Sunday and a perfect day to venture out. This was the best time for clear skies and predictable weather. We woke up really early, clambered into the Fortuner and made our way out of the city well before sunrise. I was driving the Fortuner after a hiatus and it felt absolutely great behind the wheel. We had plans of catching a late breakfast. Now, the trouble with these plans is they invariably go wrong and it is usually the stomach that has to bear the brunt. It was no different this time too. We chased a road and in pursuing it, moved far away from any possible easy breakfast option. The clear skies and morning sun made up for it and with the Fortuner also ploughing through some good roads and dirt trail, it was a win for both man and machine.

One of the worrying things to note while going around is the total lack of sense prevailing in travelling circles. Many a place close to the city has suffered at the hands of tourists. Indiscriminate use of plastic, throwing garbage, cacophony, haphazard parking and a complete lack of sense in sharing a public place with fellow visitors is alarming. All the easy to access locations have become garbage dumps and if this is what defines the traveling population, then we have some serious gaps in our school education and upbringing. This problem unfortunately has compounded with covid as tourists who otherwise ate at hotels, started carrying packed food and disposed it off right where they picnicked. These places are far out in the hinterlands and out of municipal limits with no designated workforce to clean up the mess (not that someone else should be doing this). Another fallout are the poor animals who come in due to the carelessly thrown waste and then get run over by vehicles on roads which otherwise never interested them. This has also led to villagers taking offence at people venturing into their localities and often lead to squabbles.

Back to the drive now. After meandering around for few hours, we stopped for lunch at a small shack run by a lady. The parotta and eggs cooked on the firewood Chula tasted great and the bill came so less that we had to counter check with the lady who smiled and waved us on.

The Fortuner has had a mild remap from code6 and it felt pretty nice to drive. The code6 folks are close to where I stay and it was during a random visit that Sajan pasted new behavioral commands into the Fortuner brain. The old fellow still chugs along well and sits tight without any creaks. The odo is within sniffing distance of a lakh and fifty thousand.

All picture credits to my travel partner.
Thanks for reading!


live to drive


countryside scenes


Essential ingredients in a drive. Hills, roads and a car.




Fortuner gobbled up by the forests.


We passed a beautiful shallow pond in a picturesque setting that had water lily decorating it.






faraway sights

https://youtu.be/Jz9zI1ZrOGA

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues section. Thanks for sharing!

What a beautiful, light travelogue! Nothing like an easy Sunday highway drive to rejuvenate the mind, body & soul .

[Dr.AD]

Lovely travelogue! Almost dreamy stuff. The photos are fantastic, and the write-up is succinct but poetic. You guys have a special talent for making these Sunday drives so beautiful and so unique.

Trouble with reading such travelogues and seeing such pictures is that it makes me want to grab my car keys and drive away somewhere immediately. I have a hectic workweek ahead and reading this is going to make that even harder :-)

Thank you for sharing this!

[JoshMachine]

Nice, easy drive out with some crisp pics

Liked the melancholy music that you added in the final video! I could visualize sitting in the passenger seat and just meandering along.

[humbleroadster]

Quite a poetic and a fresh travelogue, this!
Brilliant photos too. Love the snap where dogbert looks on, along with the fortuner.

[shashanka]

A thoroughly enjoyable travelogue - short, relaxed, soothing and laidback. A really enjoyable travelogue after a long time.

[duker2997]

Beautiful pictures!! Could you shed some light on the remap of the Fortuner. How has the driveability, outright performance improved? I own a 2012 2WD Fortuner and contemplating getting a remap.

Regards.

[megazoid]

Originally Posted by duker2997

Beautiful pictures!! Could you shed some light on the remap of the Fortuner. How has the driveability, outright performance improved? I own a 2012 2WD Fortuner and contemplating getting a remap.

Regards.

Thanks for reading. Regarding the Fortuner, I haven't dynoed the vehicle before or after to have a number to pass on but the car feels more alive across the useable rpm range. It feels more eager and the drivability has improved. The engine seems to have gotten a shade louder than earlier in terms of the clatter. The fuel efficiency has improved (0.5kmpl) in the short time I have tested which happened to be on small narrow roads and few dirt trails that involved lots of braking and lower speeds. So, on the highways am guessing it should be easy to extract more. Btw, this one is a 2012 4wd manual with a lakh and forty five kilometers on the odo. The acceleration has more urgency now. The 4wd (H/L) modes also should benefit from the little extra power that is made now. Maybe its a good time to try out a map. Mine is only a moderate map from what I understand. There are lot more aggressive ones available too. You could explore code6 options and see if they suit your needs.

[MarutiGuy1977]

Amazing post! Could you share the approximate route you followed?