Hill-climb with my Maruti Jimny; Drive observations!

I think we averaged 25 km/h and 8 km/l over the course of the onward journey and climbed about 5000 feet.

BHPian Vikram9193 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Yesterday we found ourselves going all the way up to Kanatal on a whim, to drop in on a good friend of my late father, who has retired to his apple orchard at 7900 feet. The three and a half hour drive up, via empty backroads, had the Jimny in its element bounding along some horrible broken roads, with landslides galore and innumerable blind corners. I think we averaged 25 km/h and 8 kmpl over the course of the onward journey, and climbed about 5000 feet. The Jimny made a miserable slog feel like fun as the suspension soaked it all up with aplomb and encounters with oncoming Bolero Campers were despatched with two wheels on the shoulder. The LED headlamps and stock fog lamps were not the best for the patches of dense fog we encountered, but not too bad either.

Our original plan had been to return via Dhanaulti and Mussoorie but our host pointed at the gathering fog and strongly advised against risking this famously exposed road in the dark, since it runs along a ridge and is regularly beset with fog, hail and worse. So we found ourselves taking the long way back on the extra wide Char Dham “racing track” road that runs down to Rishikesh via Narender Nagar. Here the Jimny was a very boring companion. The truth is that even a well-shod hatchback, like my old Punto, feels limiting on a road this good - you never have enough grip for the endless succession of fast, wide, downhill corners and are left wishing for a sporty sedan with suitable rubber. We also noticed that the gearbox was “hunting” a bit on some of the uphill sections on this road. Sharing some photos of the critters and views along the way.

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