[rjstyles69]

avi was holding on to my comments all these days, but then thought what da heck. That's real miles clocked in the CRUZE ,all in one drive and trust me on such drives even your company matters a lot. Am glad you chaps never lost focus at any point during this trip( I know you still haven't reached the end of the travelogue).

Thanks a ton for sharing your experience driving across various states. That said, IMO you should focus more on your photography. Over the 1st few pages I see some shots wherein sheer impatience has caused you not to get good images. I reiterate when on trips make sure you spend time compose the shot and then click. Saves you a lot of heartache once you are back home. I know driving and clicking is a pretty tough job, but trust me all it takes is some amount of patience.
I hate to nitpick , but then certain views will always remain etched in your memories and I definitely would like to have a nice picture of the same.Dont you agree ?

BTW cleaning the sensor isn't expensive and once again the address in Hyderabad is
1st Floor,
Above Bank of Baroda,
Beside Reddy Hostel,
Hotel Jaya International Lane,Abids
,Hyderabad -500001 /Contact number : +91-40 66460248 .

[MDe]

Great description of your travel. I liked the way your car looked on different terrains. Infact these reviews on Cruze pushed me to check it up in the showroom and when I went to Kun, their sales consultant Kishore couldnt stop talking about you and your travel. When I returned to team-bhp, I noticed your thread and read through it. I am thinking of diamond white or caviar black myself with a little bent towards diamond white.

[Sabby-069]

Avi... this time, read through the whole thing from start to finish at one go.... appritiate the whole thing (the patience to write man) much more now. It's more captivating, reading the whole thing at one go rather than waiting for the next bit to be put up.... Cheers!!! Awaiting the tribute.


Note from Support: Please take the time to use proper punctuation as per forum rules. Avoid...typing...like...this. Thanks.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

That said, IMO you should focus more on your photography. Over the 1st few pages I see some shots wherein sheer impatience has caused you not to get good images. I reiterate when on trips make sure you spend time compose the shot and then click. Saves you a lot of heartache once you are back home. I know driving and clicking is a pretty tough job, but trust me all it takes is some amount of patience. I hate to nitpick , but then certain views will always remain etched in your memories and I definitely would like to have a nice picture of the same.Dont you agree ?

Hey Riju, thanks for your comments and your valuable and positive nitpick on my photography. Well, My biggest weakness is that patience is not one of my virtues and even though i like photography, i never was able to take it to level of some of you expert guys here. I know its not too difficult but, problem is I just have too many passions and cannot justify all of them properly

Besides, i use my camera maybe 3-4 times a year which is too infrequent for me to hone my skills. Thanks for the tip on the sensor cleaning. I know that place as its just a km away from my home and I do know charges for cleaning sensor is Rs.1100.

Maybe, I will take photography seriously when i have more time on hand

Originally Posted by MDe

Infact these reviews on Cruze pushed me to check it up in the showroom and when I went to Kun, their sales consultant Kishore couldnt stop talking about you and your travel. When I returned to team-bhp, I noticed your thread and read through it. I am thinking of diamond white or caviar black myself with a little bent towards diamond white.

Kishore is being too sweet. He likes to keep in touch with me and I gave him quite a few leads which he converted so he ain't complaining.

If you have decided on Cruze, go with KUN and with Kishore. This combination cannot go wrong.

Btw, you will be second Cruze owner in Hyderabad Team-BHP. Welcome to the club

Originally Posted by Sabby-069

Avi... this time, read through the whole thing from start to finish at one go.... appritiate the whole thing (the patience to write man) much more now. It's more captivating, reading the whole thing at one go rather than waiting for the next bit to be put up.... Cheers!!! Awaiting the tribute.

Thanks Sabby. Even I dont know how i could muster up this much courage and time to give such blow by blow details. I am glad you and others enjoyed my hard work...lol


There was an interesting incident that happened when we were in Udaipur that just skipped my mind until now. While walking back to our hotel from City Palace. In one of the bylanes, we found this "gigantic" BMW bike with a foreigner astride it.

We stopped to chat with him and came to know that he rode all the way from Austria to India and his destination was Rajasthan.

Gosh! And, i thought I have seen everything on Team-BHP. He covered 19,000+ kms on his bike and was accompanied by his wife who was on a Bullet. She flew to Delhi and she hired the bike there and both rode from Delhi to Rajasthan. Crazy couple..huh?

Here is a short video of me interviewing him.......

YouTube - BMW bike drive.3GP

[gajadonga]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Hey Riju, thanks for your comments and your valuable and positive nitpick on my photography. Well, My biggest weakness is that patience is not one of my virtues and even though i like photography, i never was able to take it to level of some of you expert guys here. I know its not too difficult but, problem is I just have too many passions and cannot justify all of them properly

Besides, i use my camera maybe 3-4 times a year which is too infrequent for me to hone my skills. Thanks for the tip on the sensor cleaning. I know that place as its just a km away from my home and I do know charges for cleaning sensor is Rs.1100.

Maybe, I will take photography seriously when i have more time on hand



Kishore is being too sweet. He likes to keep in touch with me and I gave him quite a few leads which he converted so he ain't complaining.

If you have decided on Cruze, go with KUN and with Kishore. This combination cannot go wrong.

Btw, you will be second Cruze owner in Hyderabad Team-BHP. Welcome to the club



Thanks Sabby. Even I dont know how i could muster up this much courage and time to give such blow by blow details. I am glad you and others enjoyed my hard work...lol


There was an interesting incident that happened when we were in Udaipur that just skipped my mind until now. While walking back to our hotel from City Palace. In one of the bylanes, we found this "gigantic" BMW bike with a foreigner astride it.

We stopped to chat with him and came to know that he rode all the way from Austria to India and his destination was Rajasthan.

Gosh! And, i thought I have seen everything on Team-BHP. He covered 19,000+ kms on his bike and was accompanied by his wife who was on a Bullet. She flew to Delhi and she hired the bike there and both rode from Delhi to Rajasthan. Crazy couple..huh?

Here is a short video of me interviewing him.......


YouTube - BMW bike drive.3GP

The video clipping was amazing I never knew that you can cross country too in the vehicles.
The best part his wife joining him from Delhi driving a bullet.

[spadix]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Thanks for the tip on the sensor cleaning. I know that place as its just a km away from my home and I do know charges for cleaning sensor is Rs.1100.

1100!

Do it once or twice and you can literally do it with your eyes closed. In 2 minutes flat! For free.

Originally Posted by gajadonga

The video clipping was amazing I never knew that you can cross country too in the vehicles.

There are many of these and it's catching on. Bureaucratic processes are big hurdles, obviously, beyond the man/machine stuff.

Here's a very famous example (featured on TV and all) -

http://motorbike-search-engine.co.uk.../06_05_053.php

Closer home -

http://bikingtheworld.blogspot.com/

Originally Posted by MDe

I went to Kun, their sales consultant Kishore couldnt stop talking about you and your travel. When I returned to team-bhp, I noticed your thread and read through it. I am thinking of diamond white or caviar black myself with a little bent towards diamond white.

+1 to Kishore. I had scheduled many TDs with Chevy using other channels (booked a slot at their Beat display podium at RGIA, and then over phone and website) but it never happened. One word from Avi and Kishore was promptly at the office doorstep, having gone out of his way.

Considering I'm not a Chevy customer, eventually, that's a big endorsement.

Get the white Cruze. You'll struggle to maintain a black car.

Regards,
spadix

[ku69rd]

Mate,
Its been a good travelogue, and kudos to your WA for completing the trip with minimum hassles. Did a recent trip myself courtesy my Black Bandicoot completed 5400 K and my trip was all about Rajasthan.

Am a bit lazy to key in a detailed report and share the photos. Hope to bump into you one of these days on the highway...

[MDe]

Last week I could not get a test drive as their test drive vehicle was at Kondapur. Yesterday, the showroom was closed, so I am waiting for the weekend to get my hands on it.
@spadix: Yeah I am thinking more on more on white
@mobile008: Any tips for a better deal with Kun guys, they are offering the same 10K discount, mud flaps, matting and teflon to me. He also offered a black Lt readily available with 2010 manufacturing date where we will have 2011 sale and registration. Discount was only about 30K. I dint think it was worth and anyway it was black

[rmonie]

great travelogue! I enjoyed reading the entire drive in one shot.

[PVS]

Avi - that was a detailed trip report along with the pics - enjoyed reading it!
Your Cruze looks awesome - Happy Cruizeing!!

[n.devdath]

Thank you for that "India Darshan".

I believe the 2 parts that remain are the "Pros and Cons" of the Cruze and the tribute part.

Eagerly waiting for them as well, more for the Pros and Cons.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by rmonie

great travelogue! I enjoyed reading the entire drive in one shot.

I know its not an easy task to wait for each installment. Going through it in one shot is the best way to do it.

Originally Posted by PVS

Avi - that was a detailed trip report along with the pics - enjoyed reading it! Your Cruze looks awesome - Happy Cruizeing!!

Thanks PVS! So have you returned to STC?

Originally Posted by n.devdath

I believe the 2 parts that remain are the "Pros and Cons" of the Cruze and the tribute part. Eagerly waiting for them as well, more for the Pros and Cons.

Yeah! Its been a long journey both in realtime travel as well as the time it took to share it with you all. I am glad everyone enjoyed it!

As the travelogue has come to an end, it cannot be locked up without paying tribute to the real-hero of this trip.

Yup! you guessed it right. My "White Annihilator"

So picked out some random pictures of WA in against different landscape when it was put through its paces during this 5500kms journey. Hope you enjoy these pictures.

The last post that I will share is the pros and cons of WA during this trip hopefully tomorrow.





























Me with WA somewhere on the highway at night !!!

[kutlee]

photos of your WA are awesome. Happy cruze.

[Sabby-069]

Nice tribute photos Avi!! Good to see that the WA is gleaming and shining in all the photographs, considering some of the terrain you travelled through. Were you cleaning the car before taking each photo :-p

[mobike008]

Thanks Mahesh!

@Sabby, what you thought is right. WA was washed at almost every stop and even got a professional once over at Meerut.

I am finicky about cleaniness and both my cars are washed "daily" including the tyres/rims which are cleaned throughly.

If that's not done by my watchman, I dont take my cars out till he does it. So he's aware about this situation and doesn't dare bring it to head

OK, now its time to outline a few pros and cons of WA that we experienced during this trip. Posted already on my ownership thread but, added a few more specific to this trip

Positives
1. How much ever said about it's monstrous power is still less. When your on highway, its performance will simply dazzle you and can go up to speeds that will make you catch your breathe. Overtaking in 4th and many times in 5th is as easy as writing your name on a piece of paper. As matter of fact, car is so stable at those speeds that you have to double check with your odo or pinch yourselves to know it's for real

2. Second best feature of Cruze is it's brakes. To give you a simple example, if your on an empty expressway and doing 150kmph and with a gentle press on brakes the car slows down to 70kmph-80kmph so fast, you really need to get used to this phenomena. Initially, when i bought this car, maybe with an 1/2 inch depression of brakes the car would come to a standstill in traffic conditions which is dangerous if your not used to as it will result in collision from behind.

3. Driver seat design is really nice, it will wrap the you completely and provides good lumbar support and keeps you comfortable for long distance journeys. Due to my height ( 6ft. 1inch), in my previous car ( Accent Viva CRDi), I use to stop every 200kms for a few minutes to stretch my legs as my knees used to pain and then resume my journey. In Cruze, if i am on good roads, i can drive without stopping the car for minimum 400kms-450kms.

4. Steering Wheel is chunky and has an amazing feel. You can practically feel the vehicle turning left/right at the slightest turn of the wheel. As speeds increase, weight of wheel also increases and gives you a sturdy and confidence inspiring feeling.

5. Handling is superb and you can take steep turns at over 100kmph without even twitching. It's not flat on ground as compared to a say ; a Linea or BMW but, much better than anything between them. I personally feel change of tyres has done a world of good to my Cruze apart from adding a touch of cosmetic ooze.

6. Suspension and ride quality suprised me the most. It went through some of the roughest terrain which a sedan like is not built for but, it took all the batterring gracefully and bottomed out maybe 2-3 times in our entire trip. More than it bottoming out, you need to be careful about its front hang when reversing or going up an incline

7. Fantastic boot space. Imagine it took in 6 big bags and several other small packets which contained winter clothing of 4 adults and 2 kids. However, each time we had to jump a few times to close the boot it was so choked up. Not to mention, the additions that we further squeezed in after our shopping in Jodhpur and Jaisalmer.

8. Stock headlights are simply awesome. I usually beileve that most manafacturers cut corner in tyres and headlamps. However, in Cruze the stock headlights are more than sufficient. It has got an awesome spread and absolutely no need for an upgrade

9. Tried driving for sometime with windows rolled down. First time realized the sweet turbo whistle that emanates from the engine when you revv. It's music to your ears. Close the window, it's gone. That's some insulation

Negatives
1. For me, biggest downside in this car is it's swooping roofline which is also it's key oomph factor but, for practical reasons it makes the driver feel slightly claustrophobic if he's in the driving seat for long hours. Sometimes ( usually when i am at high speeds) i have to bend down to focus better on roads ahead

2. Turbo Lag! No point talking about this as 99% of our drive was on highways

3. I feel the absence of dead pedal an issue. During long drives, this small contraption would have come in real handy. I missed it sorely during my trip

4. Clutch! I dont feel the clutch heavy as mentioned by other folks. But, yes there is a slight springback to the clutch.

5. Rearseat space is not enough for tall people. Thankfully the ladies sitting behind were 5.4-5.6ft so it wasnt too much of trouble. But, 6 footers will definetly have a problem during long journeys especially if people in front are also 6-footers

6. Experienced a light vibration to steering wheel at exactly 120kmph a few times while in RJ. But, it disappeared as quick as it appeared. Strange!

7. FE was biggest disappointment during this trip. Best was 14kmpl and worst was 11.50kmpl in one-tankful. On second thoughts, i am not sure if i am being unreasonable keeping in mind the speeds that we kept up.

8. Arm-rest wasn't as comfortable as it should be due to its slightly incorrect position