Overdrive September 2009 Issue Preview

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ADVENTURE 11th Anniversary

SPECIAL 11 Great rally roads 11 hrs on superbikes T-55 Main Battle Tank Mopeds on the lake tour 300kmph in Lambo LP670 SV VW Beetle on St Bernard pass Porsche Boxster on Mille Miglia Mitsubishi SUVs swim, fly & everything in between Audi R8 & Suzuki Hayabusa on India’s fastest road Xylo smashes North-South & East-West speed records

Nine hatches taken to the roof of India

PORSCHE PANAMERA BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GTC NEW AUDI Q7 MARUTI suzuki GRAND VITARA NEW FORD ENDEAVOUR isle of mann tt FORCE INDIA f1's FAST & GORGEOUS TO THE track audi q5 vs a6 in rajasthan 100cc comparo 2009 YAMAHA R1 2010 RANGE ROVER SPORT & DISCOVERY 4 JAZZ YATRA TO RISHIKESH p220 vs RTR 180 vs KARIZMA vs R15 saddle sore on yamaha fazer

Test Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara

Mighty heart The Vitara is back for a test with a powerful new engine Words Martin Alva Photography Gaurav S Thombre

Road Test no. 796 OD Rating Price Rs 16,92 lakh ex-showroom New Delhi

+ Powerful new engine + Competitive price + Good fuel efficiency - Average handling - Dated interiors

Low on features

I

love chronographs. I love them so much I actually bought myself a Tag Heuer Formula 1. It has everything that a top of the line Tag has but not the 1/100 second chrono which is available only on the Grand Carrera Calibre. As much as I would have loved to buy the Grand Carrera, I can’t afford it.

I love it for its greater computing power but the premium on it would bankrupt me. The price difference after all is a whopping Rs 3 lakh. This is synonymous with everything that offers a bit more,

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where the extras also demand more money. Surprisingly this is not the case with the new Suzuki Grand Vitara. It now comes with a new, significantly more powerful engine and here’s the wow factor, the price hike is a mere Rs 40,000.

The last generation Grand Vitara had a 2.0-litre engine which produced a relatively low 120PS of power and 170Nm of torque. It was a bit of a letdown for a SUV, not a crossover mind you, but a respectable SUV with genuine off-road abilities. Compared to rival four-

cylinder competitors including certain soft-roaders, the Grand Vitara felt winded when the going got tough. But finally after introducing a slew of new products including the A-star, Ritz and the glam variant of the Swift, Maruti has finally shifted focus to the Vitara. And for a change the only recommendations made by us all those years ago are the only changes effected.

So has it made any difference?

Design Visually, there are no changes to the 2009 Vitara. The exterior and

the interior design is the same.

However you do get larger wheels and tyres which don’t make an impact on the visuals but do offer vital mechanical benefits. Basic features like AUX input and automatic windows would have been welcome. The steering wheel is also adjustable only for rake and not reach, another feature which should have made it on the 2009 model. We would have liked to see the above said changes but since the price hike has been insignificant we really can’t complain much.

Ride and handling The rain soaked express way and a little bit of mud plugging provided a good platform to test the handling and the ride quality of the Grand Vitara. Off the road, the Grand Vitara is a respectable performer. The all-time four wheel drive with low ratio, a central differential lock and good ground clearance is very effective in overcoming demanding off-road conditions. On-road, the first thing that comes to notice is the fair amount of roll. The suspension has a lot of travel, which aids tremen-

dously while off-roading but takes its toll on the on-road dynamics of the car. The ride is supple but not as comfortable as before principally because the tyre profiles have changed. You now get larger 17” inch wheels and tyres but the profile has reduced which stiffens the ride. It is also why the dynamics are executed more confidently than the older Vitara, assisted by full-time four-wheel-drive With the same brakes, no changes to the assist and very little change in the overall mass of the Vitara braking character has

not changed. The soft suspension nevertheless makes panic breaking a disorderly affair with some amount of nose dive. The speed sensitive steering could have been more communicative and direct.

decent 165PS at 6000rpm and a maximum torque of 225Nm at 4000rpm. It now has VVT (variable-valve timing), which makes the engine rev happy. VVT is also what enables the Vitara to pull away with fervour. Don’t expect it to gather speed like a rocket, it was not what we wanted out of the previously sluggish engine. Instead the acceleration is crisp and linear, and the engine responds immediately and that is what matters the most.

The engine is mated to the same five-speed gearbox which

Engine and transmission The new engine, the Grand Vitara’s most critical highlight, makes for a nigh on better SUV. It has the J24B engine which will find its place on the upcoming Kizashi and replaces the outgoing J20A. This all-aluminium 2.4-litre engine produces a

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Drive Audi Q7 3.0TDI

Two exquisitely made1:87 scale models and one 1:43 scale model of of the Audi Q7 from the Audi official merchandise line

What is the updated multimedia system on Q7 called? a. MMI Plus

B. MMI High C. MMI Low Mail your answers to contest@overdrive.co.in, subject: ‘Audi Q7’ or snail mail to the editorial office address.

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Q vadis Audi Q7 get a minor facelift

Words Vijayendra Vikram Photography Gaurav S Thombre

I

’ve always liked the Q7 for its intimidating stance and sheer road presence. It’s a proper rappers delight. Snap in huge alloys, rubber band tyres, smoked windows and this is what the Snoop Dogg Sharma would be flaunting. But somewhere in the back of my mind, I always felt it was a bit understated and far from portraying the sporty aura, the sort a youngster like me would yearn for. Come 2009, Audi has given the Q7 a face-lift that in smoker-speak would get labelled ‘ultra mild’ to make it look younger and more in your face. This, then, is the refreshed new Q7, due to go on sale in India by the time this issue reaches you.

The changes are few but striking. Take for instance the front grille. It now gets chromed vertical slats, adding to the overall bling factor. The headlamps have the same silhouette but they now sport a techno looking enclosure for the beams. LED daytime running lights, like all current Audis, and blinkers spruce up the menacing looks. The bumper too has been redesigned and comes with sporty lower lip treatment complete with

a skidpan in the centre.

The tail lamps also get the LED treatment and the tailgate has been slightly redesigned to accommodate larger number plates. The car flashes new chunky 18-inch, six-spoke alloys that can be upgraded to 10-spoke 20-inchers with the S-line package. There is no great change in the interior design. But if a bit of distinction is needed, the S-line package offers a new two tone finish. The trim in our car had an all-black dash with lots of brushed aluminium and gracefully employed dark wooden accents around the cabin. All the jog dials in the cockpit have a high gloss finish now. The effect is of a more stately car compared to the all-beige interiors of the earlier models we’ve driven. There has been no change to the seating and there is lots of space inside the opulent cabin.

The interior upgrade also brings the new MMI High system we’ve seen on the Q5 with a 40GB hard disk. Unfortunately, 30GB of this is reserved for the navigation module and will lie wasted till the service is introduced in India. The rest can be used to store

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Test Fiat Grande Punto 1.2

On the dot The smallest of the Puntos makes a big impression

Words Karanbir Singh Bedi Photography Gaurav S Thombre

F

1 is the undisputed pinnacle of motorsport. But only a fortunate few can even hope to own an F1 car. Rally cars on the other hand have road-going versions that can be bought straight from the showroom. They might differ in intent, but they’re identical to look at save for the aerodynamic appendages and the sticker jobs. Fact remains, every morning you can look at a car that just the previous day was being driven flat out, six feet in the air, on television. That should be reason enough for you to want one.

Apart from the Maruti Suzuki Swift in the JWRC and the Fabia S2000 in the PWRC, the Fiat

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Grande Punto is the only other car available in India which is campaigned by a factory team in international rally events. The Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000 is a regular in the Intercontinental Rally Championship. This, in fact, was the car that Kimi Raikkonen drove (and toppled) recently at the WRC Rally Finland.

Launched after the Linea, Fiat has now launched the 1.2-litre petrol engine in the Grande Punto.

Along with the bigger engined variants - the 1.3-litre multijet diesel and the 1.4 petrol - this 1.2-litre engine is expected to help Fiat up their ante especially because this is the engine that will be at the heart of Fiat’s volume aspirations.

Interiors The car on test is the sole variant, the Active, Fiat’s term for the base version. Which means all the glitzy bits from the Emotion variant - the dual tone dashboard et al - aren’t there. The air conditioner knobs are basic and so is the gear lever.

The smart instrumentation cluster houses well designed and easy to read dials which again are identical to the Linea’s. The LED screen between the speedo and tacho displays loads of information from the on-board computer, including instant and average fuel consumption, average speed and the trip meter.

You do get a height adjustable steering, but no such luck with the

seats. This makes the driving position a little odd and shorter drivers will have difficulty in sighting the road. Luxuries of the Emotion variant are all missing except for power windows which are available only to the front passengers.

The seats are finished in grey and black fabric and both the front and rear seats have good thigh support but are on the firm side. From the outside the Punto looks large but space is cramped especially for the rear passengers.

Engine and transmission The 1.2-litre FIRE engine on the Punto produces 68PS at 6000rpm and torque peaks at 2500rpm at 96Nm. The tried and tested 1242cc

inline four has been around for a while and over the years it has seen refinements in the inlet and exhaust manifold design, a new combustion chamber and fresh cam profiles to optimise the fluid dynamics of the engine, thus improving efficiency. The engine adopts a drive-by-wire system which eliminates the mechanical link between the accelerator pedal and the throttle valve, significantly improving the torque delivery on the basis of the driver’s demands, translating into better driveability and consumption. Compared to the power rating of the Hyundai i20 and the Swift which produce 80PS and 85PS respectively the Punto produces less power. But that doesn’t necessarily translate into a boring drive, I’m happy to report. For what it is the 8valve 1.2 engine feels peppy and eager to rev.

She isn’t a pocket rocket but there is enough torque available across the band and linear power delivery ensures you don’t need

to work on the gearbox to get her going. Not that you would mind using the five-speed gearbox because Fiat gearboxes are much improved with better precision and shorter throws.

Performance and Fuel Efficiency The power ratings suggest otherwise but the engine seems far more capable than what the meagre 68PS suggests. She tops out at 152kmph which is faster than the diesel variant and identical to the 1.4 petrol. Compared to the Swift and the i20 the Punto is slower but the difference is marginal.

Her acceleration times when compared to the bigger petrol variant are also impressive and the 1.2-litre engine takes 18.79sec to 100kmph, slower by only 0.6 of a second compared to the 1.4 Punto.

The time is over five seconds slower than the Swift and the i20 (but only 1sec slower than the Fabia) but you have to remember that the Punto, at 1120kg, is one of the heaviest hatches in the country - something

we’ve noted on the first drive and road tests stages of both the other engine variants.

With a linear torque curve we were expecting quick roll on times.

The gear ratios are well matched to the engine which explain the impressive top speed and rollon times. In third gear she takes 17.5sec from 20 to 80kmph. In fourth gear from 40 to 100kmph she takes 23.88sec and 29.73sec for the same speed in fifth.

The Punto runs 257mm ventilated discs in the front and 276mm drums at the rear. ABS is not even an option and the tyres (14-inch 165-section tyres) lock quite easily under hard braking. She still maintains a straight line though and takes 4.05s and 53.65m to standstill from 100kmph and 33.69m from 80kmph to standstill.

The gearing and efficient nature of the engine also endows the Punto with excellent fuel efficiency. In the city she returned 15kmpl while on the highway she returned an excellent 19.5kmpl when driven at a con-

stant 80kmph. With an overall fuel efficiency of 16.12kmpl, the 1.2 is more frugal than both the Swift, Fabia and i20.

Verdict The 1.4 FIRE engine was a disappointment but the smaller 1.2 is anything but. It revs freely with torque spread strongly across the band ensuring good driveability both in the city and on the highway. The interiors are bare basic and rear seat passengers will be cramped. On the road though the Punto is surprisingly composed and dynamically accomplished.

There is little body roll and she steers with precision though a little more feedback from the steering would have been better. And the ride quality is utterly brilliant.

What’s even better is the price.

Rs 4 lakh ex-showroom in Pune is unbelievably good value-formoney for what is a very attractive looking car with great road manners. Definitely the pick of the Grande Punto range.

Road Test no. 797 STAR RATING Price Rs 4,00,881 ex-showroom Pune

+ Torquey engine + Ride quality + Fuel efficiency - Rear legroom - Drab interiors & poor quality

The interiors are basic but power windows for the front passengers are standard

Road Test

PERFORMANCE

LxWxH(mm) 3987x1687x1495 0-100kmph 18.79sec Top speed

152kmph

Price

Rs 400,881 (ex-showroom Pune)

+ Torquey engine, fuel efficiency - Rear leg room, plastic quality

0

40

0-400m: 20.92s/104.10kmph

sec

0s

4s

ECONOMY (kmpl)

15

19.5 16.1

75 % 25 %

city

Highway OVERALL

Tank capacity Range

45 litres 725km

Standing 1km: 39.26s/128.1kmph

80

60

8s

12s

IN-GEAR ROLL ON

100

16s

TOP Speed (achieved)

100-0 kmph

True speed

24s

28s

32s

BRAKING 80-0 kmph

162kmph 152kmph

120

20s

20-80kmph 17.5s 40-100kmph 23.8s (4th) 40-100kmph 29.7s (5th)

Indicated speed

797

31

Max torque 96Nm@

2500rpm

ACCELERATION kmph

18.7

68PS@ 6000rpm

12.1

4-cyl inline, FIRE

Max power

7.1

Type

3.5

Specification

20m

33.69m/3.26s 53.65m/4.05s 40m

60m

80m

100m

Control Average Feel Average Overall Average

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Drive Ford Endeavour

Ford-ing new rivers The new Ford Endeavour packs in a few surprises Words & Photography Bertrand D’souza

T

he f i r st ge ne r at ion Endeavour was one of the better success stories Ford enjoyed in India. Not to say that cars such as the Escort and Ikon were not successful in their own right. Each carved a niche for itself and established the tone for Ford motor cars of the future.

For over a decade Ford has been

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administering its products to the Indian consumer, enough time then for them to learn just what the Indian consumer demands.

However in between learning, adapting and giving back Ford has in some cases hit the jackpot, in some it has lost the plot. Case in point, the Fusion and the Mondeo, both brilliant cars yet strangely

enough cars that the Indian marketplace just could not digest.

But coming back to the Endeavour, the best version we have driven to date was the last generation 3.0-litre Thunder +.

With 156PS of max power and 380Nm of max torque it was poles apart from the older TDCi variant. The sluggishness had

gone, the suspension was firmed up and despite the same old gearbox, the torque curves were better matched to the ratios. This lent the Endeavour the spirit it lacked, and the new sharpness made it very appealing. Oh and lest I forget, it also looked cleaner, smarter and contemporary.

Now that design has been taken

a step forward with a revamped and rejigged Endeavour on the cards. To get a first hand impression of the new Endeavour, I went to Philippines, to drive it on a river bed. How hard can that be was one of the first thoughts that crossed my mind, after all this was a press drive and Ford would make sure every body was comfortable, safe and did not get any negative impressions of this genuine 4x4 SUV. The thought went up in a pyrotechnic blaze like Mount Pinatubu when I heard the guys conducting that part of the drive were a team of Philippines who participate in the Malaysian Rainforest Challenge. If you don’t

know what that is look it up on the net, but to reduce your effort, on an ascending scale from 1 to 10, the Rainforest Challenge is a 9 for off-road events. Since I do know what that implies, I only hoped that the representative from Ford India knew what we were getting into. This was going to be fun but not going to be fun.

Enter the new Endeavour, we set off in convoy from Manila towards a hill station some 100 odd kilometres away from where we then proceeded to the river bed for our off-road excursion.

Manila in several ways is similar to any city in India. It’s crowded, the smell of various foods and

unhygienic conditions thicken the hot, humid air. And traffic is a bitch. Funky taxicabs dominate the roads going in any direction they please, which of course leads to a lot of chaos. Yet amidst all the chaos of a modern bustling city the Endeavour feels perfectly at home despite its size. The steering is light and the ride good. With less room to go hard around corners the Endeavour feels planted, secure and devoid of body roll.

The ride is plush and despite the broken patches of tarmac even in the city, the Endeavour feels unruffled.

Our fleet thankfully had no black Endeavours to make it look

like a funeral wake. Instead what we had were bright white and a sober yet very milky chocolate brown. In either the Endeavour looks astonishingly mature, and very stylish. The new range of colours clearly defines all the stylised details. Everything ahead of the A-pillars has been given a once over, so you get a new grille with teardrop like wraparound headlamps, a inverted lower lip that looks part goatee, flush fitting fog lamps, snazzy wing mirrors, chunky six-spoke alloys, an air intake scoop just under and a little ahead of the wing mirrors and what looks like even more flared out wheel arches (though

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Feature Crisis time

Supercars in crisis Is the current financial crisis the beginning of the end for super-powerful, 320kmph cars?

Words Ray Hutton

F

or seven weeks earlier this year, the assembly lines in S’Agata Bolognese were idle. The factory that makes Lamborghinis, the world’s most extreme supersports cars, has had to face the biggest downturn in its recent history.

The world market for expensive luxury goods has dropped 40-45 per cent this year – and supercars are the ultimate high-profile luxury goods.

S’Agata is one of the points on a triangle of Italy’s most famous makers of exotic cars. The skilled mechanics and specialist suppliers for the top end of the performance road car business are concentrated on the Po plain in Emilia Romagna, just a few miles from Bologna and Modena.

Ferrari, the most celebrated, is based at, and indeed dominates, the town of Maranello. Maserati, once Ferrari’s racing rival but now connected because both companies are owned by Fiat, has its factory in the centre of Modena.

Lamborghini, at S’Agata, is the youngest of these firms, established in 1963 when tractor magnate Ferruccio Lamborghini tired of the unreliability of the Ferrari he had purchased. Today, it is a subsidiary of Audi, part of the Volkswagen Group.

All three companies ended 2008 with record results, both in terms of volume of cars produced and pre-tax profits. But by the end of last year it was clear that two of them would have to invoke cassa integrazione, the Italian device whereby laid-off employees receive 80 per cent of their regular

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pay from a government fund.

Lamborghini took the most drastic action but Maserati also stopped production for two weeks in April. Ferrari, so far, has bucked the trend and may be the only car company in the world that has continued to build at the same rate as last year. Then it produced 6,587 cars. All three agree with Stephan Winkelmann, Lamborghini chief executive, when he says: “One of the key factors of the luxury business is to produce less than demand, to keep the market in pull, not push. Safeguarding the value and image of the brand and future investment is our biggest issue for this year.”

There is a theory that the super-rich and their ability to purchase personal luxuries are not much affected by the recession but Winkelmann doesn’t think so: “If you look at the global volume car business it is down around 20 per cent; luxury car sales have dropped much more than that.”

In the UK, the cheapest Maserati is the £78,215 (Rs 62 lakh approximately) GrandTurismo coupe.

Ferraris start at £135,690 (Rs 1.08 crore approximately) and the rival Lamborghini Gallardo is £140,300 (Rs 1.11 crore approximately).

How has Ferrari kept strong sales while its competitors – including British-built Aston Martin and Bentley – have been suffering the full effects of the financial downturn? Chief executive Amedeo Felisa admits that it was lucky to launch its California model at this time. The California, a frontengined GT car with a retractable hardtop is an easier, more gentle

“One of the key factors of the luxury business is to produce less than demand, to keep the market in pull, not push.� Stephan Winkelmann, Lamborghini ceO

Lamborghini banks on its bad boy image and of course the captivatingly sexy styling of its supercars like the Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder

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Drive Bentley Continental GT Speed

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Speed creed The Bentley Continental GT gets the Speed suffix

Words Bertrand D’souza Photography Gaurav S Thombre

R

ewind to six years ago when I drove my first supercar on the streets of Mumbai. I remember every detail of that drive vividly, not because it was fast, grippy, invigorating and all that stuff. No, what I remember is it being one of

my slowest drives ever. In fact the only one that managed to put some gratifying speed on the meter was the then OVERDRIVE road test editor. I was too low down the pecking order to warrant getting the needle of a supercar past 100kmph and was thus reduced to

a mere spectator in the passenger seat. Back then in all my naivete I could barely fathom why I was not allowed to press hard on that accelerator pedal, and so the passenger seat is where I got my first taste of what a supercar really felt like.

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Drive Porsche Panamera Turbo

Four competence Is the world going to be taken over by four-door luxury sports cars?

We drive the Panamera around the Tyrol mountains of Germany and Austria to find out Words Sirish Chandran Photography Porsche

O

nly once before have I attempted a test whilst seated in the back seat of an automobile. It was many, many years ago, in a Maybach, and restricted to a few laps around the Mercedes plant I opted to recline those aircraftstyle seats and attempt to understand what the fuss around that hopped-up S-Class was all about.

But, I must admit, despite a forest of knobs waiting to be prodded and twirled I quickly lost interest.

Sitting at the back, the driver going round and round the factory, me starting at the speedo crunching

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numbers behind his head was just unspeakably boring. I went home.

I’m similarly bored now.

That’s a word I never thought I’d ever use in a Porsche test. Bored.

Nobody on any Porsche drive, particularly not at a launch presentation, has any right to get bored. The problem is I’m not driving. I’m sitting in the back of the Panamera, watching the rain streak down the side, prodding the seat recline knob for the umpteenth time and making mental notes on the generosity of leg room, plushness of the ride and the rather exquisite trimming of the cabin. It’s the things I’d

be expected to make a note of in an S-Class or a 7 Series; it’s not, I’m guessing, why you flipped to a test of a Porsche.

But isn’t that what the Panamera is all about? Haven’t the rear seats got those cantankerous critics raving; the gloomy economic situation adding fuel to their rants?

So we shall start there. But before that there’s an even bigger issue to deal with. The way it looks.

Now I realise the 911 is a legend, an icon, the most recognisable sportscar shape around but does every Porsche have to be

designed around the 911’s template? Does every Porsche have to look like a pumped up, and rather unconvincing 911? Yes, says Porsche who proceed to highlight the 911-like details on the Panamera – the bonnet line, the headlamps and its placement with respect to the wings, the haunches, the fastback rear. And if you don’t like it, well, you better get used to it for if the Cayenne is anything to go by, Porsche buyers aren’t really bothered by a questionable line or two.

Like the Cayenne it is also imposing, and all the better for it.

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Comparo A-star, Fabia, Grande Punto, i10, i20, Indica Vista, Jazz, Ritz & Swift

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Caravanserai Nine small cars and one tall order – of driving up into the snowy altitudes across dizzy mountain passes… Crazy? You bet Words Sirish Chandran Photography Gaurav S Thombre

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Drive Porsche Boxster S

Legends of the Mille A 1000 miles on public roads, though cities, towns and villages. Flat-out. In a day. It could only happen in Italy. We retrace the Mille Miglia in a Porsche Boxster S

Words Sirish Chandran Photography Bertrand D’souza

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I

t’s 1954 and the Mille Miglia. The ‘most beautiful race in the world’.

Leading the 1.5-litre class is Hans Herrmann in the Porsche 550 RS Spyder, running an amazing sixth overall as they turn around at Rome and head back for Brescia. Brain doused with petrol fumes, numbed by fatigue and laced with amphetamine he lines up to cross the railway tracks at full chat when the barrier shuts unexpectedly. It might have been too late to stop, he might

have seen the barrier too late or he simply might have wanted to put on a show for spectators, we will never know. To the lasting astonishment of spectators (and gratitude of story tellers) lift off he didn’t, instead he shoved navigator Herbert Linge’s head between his knees and ducked, their hard hats mere inches below the barrier. Reportedly the express train for Rome passed moments later but by then Herrmann was long gone, probably treating Linge to yet another near-death moment.

Hermann and Linge duck under the railroad barrier on the ’54 Mille Miglia

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Drive Murcielago LP670-4 SV

Raging bull Driving the Lamborghini LP670-4 SV is an X-rated experience Words Bertrand D’Souza Photography Sirish Chandran

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H

ave you watched 9 ½ Weeks starring Kim Basinger and Mickey Rou rke? I f you haven’t now would be a good time to watch it before you read this story. Beware it has an ‘18’ rating so it’s not for the underaged.

It‘s of course an erotic thriller that revolves around an obsessive relationship. It sure stirred

up things in the relatively backward 90s and got a rise out of cine-goers. Bassinger sure sizzles up the screen in this thriller with a dark underside. Why am I going on about so about this film and Basinger?

Because this is the prologue to my testosterone-f uelling Lamborghini LP670-4 SV experience. SV stands for SuperVeloce

(pronounced Super Velloche) to mean superfast. It’s the crème de la crème of the Lamborghini bull pen and thankfully unlike the Ferrari FXX, you can own one and drive it wherever you please.

History repeats itself. In 1971 Lambo unveiled the Miura SV, the fastest production car of its time and probably the best Miura ever.

Designed by Bertone and Marcello

Gandini, it made 380 horsepower from a 4-litre V12, did 0-100kmph in 6.5 seconds and topped out at 300kmph. It was fast but more importantly was the last volume production Miura, if you can call 150 cars that. The last SV was built in 1975 much after its title as flagship product was taken over by the Countach. The next and only SV badge was carried nearly two

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Drive Murcielago LP670-4 SV

300!

What’s it like doing 300kmph in one of the most mental supercar on the planet?

Words Sirish Chandran

O

ne last run and we’re out ta here, says Moreno as we slope in to the slip road and wait for traffic to clear out. A few articulated lorries pass us, drivers slowing down as their retinas

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detach at the sight of the menacingly orange intergalactic timewarp shuttle rumbling away, that scaffolding of a rear spoiler all primed and ready for a quick blast into hyperspace. Lamborghinis are worshipped in these parts, even by

the Carabinieri who understandably are mighty pleased with their Gallardo cop cars, but even Italian cops have a finite tolerance to how often a raging bull can, well, rage across the countryside.

So we have one more run. One last shot at 300kmph. A last shot at glory in the final episode of the Murcielago chapter – one of the most epic supercars to have graced this planet. And if a few farmers get upset at such shattering the peace so be it. Gallardo cop car or not, we’ll be in the next continent before we know it.

Eventually the lorries slip over the horizon but wait, says Moreno.

Wait, wait, wait… I inch forward… wait! you’ll catch those truck before you know it. Okay go, now!

F****** HELL!

I want to use the word violent here but it seems so… tame. This Lamborghini ravishes the horizon; bites its head off, and drinks its blood. It howls like Katrina making for New Orleans. It fries my brain and simultaneously and instantaneously makes all the sweat glands erupt. The only bodily function is my brain screaming at the right fingers to keep pace with the car, to hit the paddles.

Quickly and rapidly. I might have stopped breathing.

It’s just f****** brutal. On another planet.

And it’s not just the speed, though the speed has a huge part to play in the episode unfolding.

I’ve done 300kmph in a hypercar before – in the Veyron – and it was so civilised I could think...

my brain made notes and filed it away in a cabinet marked to-berecounted-to-grandchildren. I had time to laugh at the sheer lunacy of it. I can also claim, though I use the term very loosely, to have been in control of the car.

Here the bull has taken me by the ears, given me a right proper slapping, and then laughed in my face as we, and there’s no better way of saying this, nuke 200kmph.

If I’m ever on a reality TV show and asked, for one million rupees if I knew what was happening, I’d have to say no. My brain is running a few car lengths behind, bamboozled by the rush of scenery and the velocity at which the lorry is closing in.

Keep going. At least I think that’s what Moreno’s saying, with

the deafening explosions behind my ears he might as well be ordering extra cheese on his pizza. So I keep it in, and I think that’s the bravest thing I’ve ever done.

250kmph. 260. 270. You’re still reading this so I’m guessing you’ve got some petrol in your veins, that sometime, somewhere and on something you too have made that lunatic lunge to max out the speedo. Remember transcending into the zone, the zone at which you stop thinking about consequences? I’m there. I probably was there some time ago but now I’m definitely there. Speed traps, people crossing the road, wet patches, cross winds, the lorry pulling out to overtake – neither is there time nor the bandwidth to process such thoughts. Keep it in. Yeah, keep it

in. 290, 295, 300! Lift off? Should I lift off? Will Moreno think I’m chicken to lift off at 300? In the time my brain takes to process this nonsense the needle climbs.

310kmph. Shit! Okay just a fraction more. 311kmph. I should lift off now. 316kmph, 317, 318, 319, 320, the adrenaline coursing through me threatens to burn my insides, melt my internals.

My brain needs oxygen. I need to breathe. My foot lifts off.

As we pull over my eyes are bloodshot, my expression horrified. Moreno describes it as a matador who has just sunk his estoque between the bull’s eyes, pierced its heart, drawn blood.

Yes, I nod, a matador, that’s me. A matador who perhaps, this time, was spared by his bull.

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Drive Audi R8 4.2FSI

The fast show The Audi R8 supercar given free rein on India’s fastest road Words Sirish Chandran Photography Gaurav S Thombre “100km. No more.”

The good man from Audi had spoken and that was that. Off he went on his holiday leaving behind at his office an R8, a flat bed truck, a bunch of phone numbers and 100km over which to open up all eight cylinders, release all 420 horses and give Audi’s supercar the proverbial beans. Sounds exciting? But before we could pinch ourselves or gnaw our left hand off, Audi’s PR team decided to interpret 100km as 100kmph.

And supercar or no supercar none

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of us were interested in driving an R8 at 100kmph. Wasn’t shaping up to be a very good story, this, but much back-and-forth-ing later we got our (derestricted) 100km.

In a supercar. In India. Cue much pinching and very gnawed at left hand cuticles.

The only question was where to drive it?

Now we do most of our testing between Mumbai and Pune, over some very good roads, but over roads that we could drive in our sleep (my wife says I actually do

drive over them in my sleep). No, a supercar as special as the Audi R8 had to be driven on a very special road, a road fit for the occasion, a road that could file an official application for ‘India’s fastest road’. A road that met Audi’s two key caveats – no speed-breakers, no potholes (there are animals, but nobody said anything about stags, chinkaras, neelgais or the odd cow and camel).

Welcome to Ja i sa l mer.

Welcome to driving heaven.

I doubt anybody introduced

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Feature Audi R8 & Suzuki Hayabusa

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Ringside seat An R8 takes on a ’Busa flat-out on the flattest and fastest road in the country. The producer of the OVERDRIVE show was there, filming in 45º heat Words Sandeep Srikanth Photography Gaurav S Thombre

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The two roads you must do.

NH15 runs south ruler-straight from Jaisalmer to Barmer 160km away. From Jaisalmer, NH15 also runs east to Pokhran and then NH114 to Jodhpur, 260km away.

Not quite as straight, but totally rocks

hey say I have the best job in CNBC-T V18.

In the past year I’ve clocked 300kmph hanging on for dear life in the exquisite passenger seat of a Veyron. I’ve been sideways on an Italian mountain road in a Murcielago. And I’ve gone to automotive Mecca – done hots laps at Fiorano in the cockpit of a Ferrari. I’m always in the passenger seat with a camera or standing outside in rain, snow or baking heat watching them scream past.

On to Jaisalmer then! The telly team had only dealt with one extreme machine at a time. But a supercar test on a super road was just begging for a superbike. And so it was set, the first test on Indian TV of a supercar and a superbike.

Two hours before sunrise and the R8 was already the show. From the moment the covers came off and it rolled off the flatbed the camera phones wouldn’t stop clicking. When Sirish first fired it up, I expected the noise to bring the villagers running, but it didn’t.

An hour of shooting by the dunes and we were off. Sirish floored the throttle and suddenly Dr Jekyl was

Mr Hyde again, every inch a supercar. The conditions were perfect - no snow or standing water, just scorching heat and beautiful tarmac. The car was so quick that after the first few runs we had trouble panning with the cameras.

Enter the ‘Busa. It’s just 11am and the road shimmers in the heat.

We set up at the top of a crest in the middle of the road. Action!

Sirish flies into the dip in the R8.

Any moment now he’d come blasting out with Shumi for company on the Hayabusa. Fifty feet ahead, two cameras wait for them to come screaming past at over 200kmph.

The R8 breaks cover first, literally gliding over the tarmac, the engine note is a low bass growl that builds energy as it rushes towards me and then all hell breaks loose.

With a whine like an Boeing 737 the ‘Busa comes blasting out of the dip, Shumi is on the limit and the front wheel lifts. He winds down for an instant and they both give it everything. Two guided missiles scream past in a storm of dust and noise and its over.

Time to shoot Shumi’s bits before he melts in this heat...

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Ride Suzuki Hayabusa

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Faster still The Suzuki Hayabusa inhales Jaisalmer’s long, long straights Words Shubhabrata Marmar Photography Gaurav S Thombre “You’ll have to ride it to Jaisalmer.

Can you do that?”

The sweet lady at Suzuki made us an offer we just couldn’t refuse.

And since I was already committed to getting to Jaisalmer in a car someone had to do it - Vikram was drafted in to do the deed - pick up the Hayabusa and ride it in to Jaisalmer, a city fast gaining the aura of being India’s driving capital

in our fevered imaginations. The contrast to the Audi R8 couldn’t be more vivid. They got a 100km, we were looking at roughly 2000.

Sirish couldn’t afford a R8 for quite some time, I could think of buying a ‘Busa within a couple of years as long my missus didn’t object.

Sirish could hit a 100kmph in 4.2 seconds, I’d need just under three.

And of course, just to be fair, the

R8 was gorgeous, the Hayabusa remains an acquired taste. Like caviar or tongue. Fortunately for me, I like both.

Question was, simply put, would the R8 actually be a credible partner in crime?

When we tested the Hayabusa at the very beginning of this year, there wasn’t a soul at this magazine who wasn’t completely taken

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Feature S-N & W-E records

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East-West record Koteshwar to Tezu - 3941kms in 84 hours and 52 minutes

Beyond the sunset From the west to the east of India in a frantic Xylo drive

Words and hotography Karanbir Singh Bedi

West to east

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A ferry is the only way to cross the Lohit and get to Tezu, the eastern-most tip of India

n the winter of 1961, tensions between India and China were at flashpoint, mistrust between the two most populous nations at an all-time high.

Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the top security brass had sent troops to the mounatin passes on the Indo-China border and China reciprocated by declaring war.

India’s eastern-most state Arunachal Pradesh was the battleground as the courageous but woefully ill-equipped Indian army jawans faced the Chinese onslaught. Reinforcements were rushed to Tezu, capital of Lohit, India’s eastern-most district, to stem the red tide but, as history notes, there was no stopping the onslaught. Fast forward five decades. Here we are, in a Mahindra Xylo, storming up the mountain passes in almost as single-minded and determined a pursuit as those jawans. Our mission was to set a new record for Limca record books for the fastest drive from the western-most to the eastern-most tip of India.

First things first was to sign up co-drivers for this drive and I turned to Harinder Sidhu who had driven the backup Scorpio Getaway when we set the South-North record on two-wheelers last year.

In fact had we notified the record keepers in advance that Getaway would have set a new four-wheeler speed record, a record we would now be trying to beat. Bhalinder

Singh Sangha, a rally driver of renown, took up the third seat in the Xylo, his experience running an auto garage proving to be a boon, as you’ll read later.

So why did we pick the Mahindra Xylo? Well, it was not supercar like performance we were in need of but rather a vehicle that was comfortable and easy to maintain a steady average speed in. To set a recordbreaking time, it would be crucial to maintain a constant speed and avert fatigue. Poor road conditions in most parts of the country also made it imperative that our record setting vehicle be endowed with sturdy suspension and good ground clearance - the Xylo fit the bill on all counts.

We also roped in Apollo Tyres who shod our Xylo with 215/75 15R Apollo Hawk tyres; tyres that we trust from our previous long-distance adventure on the Airtel Rally . After all we didn’t want to be wasting time worrying about tyres.

First twenty four hours - 1469km Koteshwar in Bhuj was our starting point, the eastern most point of India with the Arabian Sea on one side and the saltwater plains of Kutch on the other. We set off at 8am getting our log book stamped at the first of the 25 checkpoints specified by the Limca Book of Records (LBR). Getting the logbook attested and stamped along with the odometer reading and

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Feature CB1000R & CBR1000RR

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The long rangers Is India ready for sport touring? Vikram and Abhay find out in the 11-hour, 1100km test Words Vijayendra Vikram Photography Gaurav S Thombre, Abhay Verma, Vijayendra Vikram

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alf past five in the mor n i ng. He av y traffic on the outskirts of Pune. What am I doing? As much as I’d like to be dreaming this, I’m actually in that jam. I guess the fact that I am on a Honda Fireblade is some bleary-eyed consolation.

In the wetly gleaming darkness, the headlamps illuminate barely 50 metres. Which by Indian bike standards is perhaps spectacular.

But at 160kmph even that would be woefully inadequate. But what

am I complaining about? I’m about see a glorious sunrise from the saddle of the ‘Blade. Sharing the experience with me is Abhay, who is mounted on the Honda CB1000R. Being the clever one, I let Abhay lead in the darkness, happy to hang behind, shadowing him like Rossi does in races, waiting for daybreak to pass him.

You might wonder why the two of us were up so early. Well, we’ve set out with the goal of averaging 100kmph for the next eleven hours. This being our 11th

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Feature T-55 Battle Tank

Heavy metal A first drive to beat all firsts - in a T-55 battle tank Words & photography Martin V Alva

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his is a first drive and let me assure you, we aren’t getting this vehicle for a road test. A regular first drive usually involves a trip to the manufacturer’s plant and taking the vehicle out for a spin. Not this time though. This assignment had me travelling to a hush-hush destination along the Indian border for what has proved to be my most arduous mission in OVERDRIVE. Now I can categorically state that after all the myriad vehicles I have ridden and driven, nothing has come close to the rush and experience of driving the Indian Army’s battle tank called the T-55. Like for most youngsters, a career in

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the army seemed a most exciting prospect, the business of handling guns and tanks being enough to set my gears rolling. Heavy duty vehicles seemed to promise heavy duty fun. And the T-55 more than lived up to that promise. Ensconced in the driver’s seat, with a helmet for protection and a pair of levers to steer the multi-ton behemoth, I felt like a tank commander, though I sure did not drive like one at first go. After the initial hiccups I even relaxed enough to smile a little as the realisation dawned that I had landed the opportunity to drive a real live 40-ton battle tank, a scenario that eclipsed any boyhood fantasy.

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Feature Ashok Leyland Stallion

Behemoth

The army’s Stallion is a vehicle that tests the real man in every driver Words Karanbir Singh Bedi Photography Martin V Alva

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ike most adolescents on an adrenaline rush, I dreamed of heroic adventures, like flying into enemy territory in a MiG 29 and out... I also wished I was a truck driver since in my young mind, truckies had the best life of them all, driving anywhere they wanted to, all the time.

Given my all consuming passion for action and adventure, it’s a minor miracle that I’m here in the OVERDRIVE trenches, taking the bikes and cars I’m assigned to their limits, rather than living in danger zones on the frontline, dodging enemy bullets, missiles and such.

All I dodge are deadlines.

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I wonder sometimes why I missed out enrolling in the Indian armed forces. I was more than a little attracted to the army way of life.

Not only do army men perform the most vital and worthwhile of services, at times even making the ultimate sacrifice, the army life is also one where adventure sports is part of the curriculum. What’s more, the fast, mammoth and majestic vehicles that the army get around in were perhaps the main reason, I wanted to don the Indian army uniform.

The sight of an army convoy snaking along mountain roads, on my bike trips to Ladakh and to the Pakistan border, was truly stirring.

Once it was the Nissan 1-ton and MAN derived Shaktiman trucks that ferried troops and supplies, which have now been replaced by the Ashok Leyland Stallion. From the dizziest Himalayan mountain passes, along the Indo-China border in the far north-east and the Indo-Pakistan desert border, the versatile Stallion holds sway.

Along with the controversial Bofors gun, the Ashok Leyland Stallion 4x4s got their baptism by fire in the Kargil war of 1999. And the rugged and capable Stallion delivered at a critical time, in the most extreme of environments.

To trace its advent, in the early 70s, the government decided to

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Feature Mopeds on the lake tour

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Up-sie daisy

We take two TVS XL Super HD mopeds for a 12,000ft adventure in the Himalayas Words Vijayendra Vikram Photography Martin Alva

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sk a teen what bike he wants and the answer is likely to range from a Yamaha R15 to a high end Ducati or some such. Boy how times have changed! In my school days, I remember wanting a Hero Puch. Desperately. My school parking lot was crammed with Puchs and I envied their guys-about-town owners. Me, a lesser mortal, had to be content with my Kinetic Luna TFR/Super Star or TVS Champ.

In just a decade, the world is a swankier place. The two-stroke moped that was the focus of teenage lust is now a fossil for even the mofussils. For that matter most teens of today have not seen a moped and probably would not be caught dead on one.

My colleague Karanbir though has not forgotten the age when the little, now inconsequential puttering moped was the key to mass mobility in India. He even talked gullible me into undertaking this adventure as a sort of paying homage to the forgotten moped. The plan is to ride two mopeds to Leh. My jaw may have fallen ajar at the thought of riding a 50cc moped that can hardly stutter up the Pune University flyover into the rarefied air of Leh. But that’s what we do at OVERDRIVE, right? So what started as a tall topic during a regular night at the pub had slowly metamorphosed into a plan.

The starting point settled on was Karan’s home town Chandigarh.

And the mission was to ride the

mopeds to lake Nako, some 450km up into the stratosphere. Because from a lowly 1000 feet above sea level we were aiming to soar up to 12,010 feet.

The people to call were at TVS since mopeds are still on their production/assembly line. And the generous lot that they are we were promised two shiny new TVS XL Super HD mopeds. Having got me firmly embroiled in the imbroglio, cool cat Karan then dropped out of the scene altogether. to set about on his record setting marathon drives across India in the Xylo.

I had to bring all my wits to bear to rope in a partner and believe me, I’ve never had to use more glib a line than I did then, to convince Martin that riding a moped to Leh was going to be a brilliant adventure. I did not of course mean that literally...

Our tool for this lofty trade, the two-stroke TVS XL Super HD displaces 69.9cc, makes 3.5PS of power at 5000rpm and 5Nm of torque at 3750rpm, sports a 4litre tank and a ‘Heavy Duty’ suffix . TVS even fitted our bikes with bigger sprockets and knobbier tyres. But I was still sure that at some time we would be carrying the mopeds rather than they us, on the leap to Leh. Well, having muscleman Martin was reassuring, to say the least.

It was in this state of mind that we, or rather I, arrived in Chandigarh, a day before D-day.

Who could blame poor me? I did

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Feature Off-roading

Sea to sand

Eleven feats best attempted only in an SUV Words & photography Martin Alva

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am intrigued by statistics. In my collection of obscure studies and surveys, a recent one informs me that SUVs emit 30 per cent more carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons and 75 per cent more nitrogen oxides than passenger cars. SUVs also use up 33 per cent more fuel than regular cars.

Ironically, another recent study also proclaims that 83 per cent of all statistics are either false or made up.

Apart from the dim view that environmentalists hold of the big beasts, there still exist many misconceptions about SUVS. It is assumed that the imposing size of an SUV scares off other road users.

SUVs are also seen as safe vehicles to be in. The high seating induces in some or most a feeling of power, as do the waist high, tall tyres. But all these assumptions still miss the

crucial point.

Which is the SUV’s 4x4 capability. Power to all four wheels ensures a decent on-road ability and exceptional off-road virtues. Alas, my research also informs me that users of 90 per cent or more SUVs will never venture on to non-metalled surfaces. Perhaps they believe their 4x4s are too expensive to risk offroad adventures in. Play safe, and cancel the fun option. Think again.

If one has paid for hill descent control, central diff lock and lately off-road ABS, shouldn’t one be using these?

Personally, I think it is time the car using population delves deeper into and exploits the fun and adventure potential of a SUV, especially a 4x4 endowed one. Here then are 11 illustrations depicting the many kinds of merry mischief one can resort to in an able 4x4.

4x4...how does it work?

In a nutshell, 4x4 ensures power and torque is distributed to all four wheels equally. This is essential because if one of the vehicle’s wheels is stuck in an off-road situation power is still delivered to the rest of the three to extricate it.

A more advanced 4x4 system is that in which a low ratio is made available. A low ratio gearbox delivers even more torque to the wheels while restricting them from spinning too fast and reduces the strain on the engine as well.

Low ratios are ideal for navigating across rocky surfaces, and with enough torque you may not even need to use the accelerator.

There are a few things you must be aware of while maneuvering over rough and tough terrain. It is very important to familiarise oneself with the

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vehicle’s off-roading equipment, especially the four-wheel-drive gearing. Being stranded in the middle of nowhere or on a dune is not only hazardous, but can prove to a costly proposition too.

SUVs are tough, not invincible, remember. Get to know all you can of the vehicle’s exterior panels and undercarriage.

Pay in-depth heed to the vehicle’s low points and critical areas like the engine oil sump and gearbox. Awareness and knowledge of all the vehicle’s aspects will come in handy when you most need it.

The Mitsubishi Pajero is a 4x4 SUV that we rate as being among the best off-road vehicles. There are however quite a few SUVs around with the go-anywhere capability.

one >

DUNE BASHING

We flew off a 50-metre tall dune with what seemed like a 45-degree incline. It can be fun as long as the driver know what he is doing and remains within safety parameters. Dune bashing is among the most popular off-road stunts undertaken in 4x4s. Theoretically, it amounts to driving up and down a sand dune in a vehicle with high ground clearance, wide tyres and four-wheel-drive. Rapid build-up of and maintenance of momentum are essential and there are easy to come by in a vehicle with a strong torque spread.

It is also essential to survey the dune from every perspective. Sharp edges indicate a sheer drop on the opposite side, and a smooth rounded surface indicates a flatter nature. The way to go about it is, pick up as much momentum you can, hit the dune

head-on and hold the steering wheel firm with the throttle pinned down. You will not bury yourself and the SUV into the dune but will go up the dune given the approach angle. Build up enough momentum to avoid downshifting which may make the front end dig into the dune.

Rajasthan is the place that’s ideal for dune bashing. We drove our Pajero to Manvar on the Kandla-Pathankot highway. We got to revel in eye-catching views of the desert from this location and the super sand dunes are within sight of the highway.

Our lodgings at Manwar Resorts, were most convenient, being on the highway and very comfortable too. Besides top notch facilities all around it also has a swimming pool - a big boon amidst the desert.

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Comparo Audi A6 vs Audi Q5

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Luxury lap Car or SUV? We answer the question with a circuit of Rajasthan’s regal hotels Words Shubhabrata Marmar Photography Gaurav S Thombre

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Q5 takes to the riverbed while A6 has to take the high road. 1-love in favor of the SUV

open my eyes slowly and take in the butler in Rajasthani dress, bent double with respect rather than the weight of the silver on the tray.

“Coffee for you, hukum?” Thanks, Jeeves. Butler? And then my cognitive ability shifts a cog and it comes back to me. I am the prince, or would have been if it wasn’t for this pesky Indian government.

That explains the butler and the superb coffee. “Anything else I can get you, hukum?” Yes, my good man, how about a 2009 R1? “Right, sir. Would hukum like it in whitered or blue, sir?” Good man.

I’ve had these royal fantasies almost as often as I’ve wanted to swindle Nkimba Mbele’s eyepopping bank balance with help from son/widow. Just one email...

In the real world, I’m trying desperately to stay awake. Not succeeding - I’ve been dreaming.

The wrought iron chair I’m weighing down is situated on a startlingly opulent terrace of the Deogarh Mahal. It’s been a long day of driving and the still silence, the nip in the air and the cold one on the table are all lulling me to thankful sleep. Except that I am also intensely hungry. Deogarh Mahal has a homegrown Michelinstarred type chef hidden on the grounds. His legend wafts out of the kitchen like messages on the talking drums of Denkali. The laal maas is as good as the last meal before you hit the electric chair.

Tingle, taste buds, before you taste a few thousand volts.

Pigging out done, I walk past the

still ticking engines of the two cars that whisked us here. In the dark corner is the car we didn’t ask for, the 3.0-litre TDI Audi A6 Quattro and resplendent in silver is the SUV we didn’t want either, the 2.0-litre FSI Audi Q5. Oh, and we’re not on a holiday, we’re working. Sirish and I have come to royal Rajasthan in similarly priced automobiles to see whether you should be putting up for a car or an SUV. We'd originally asked for the diesel Q5 and the petrol A6.

Muted diesel clatter and torqueheavy performance are the cliched preserve of the SUV, while the roar of a petrol engine at high revs and the low slung slickness of being is equally the attribute of the sedan.

Sweating madly at a posh Delhi hotel with slow valets, we didn’t know that the engines’d been swapped. Logistics. Fastest way to get what you don’t really want.

But I’m not complaining. I only spotted the swap when I parked up outside the hotel to plug in my electronic appendages. I walked back to speak with Sirish and only then heard the diesel rumbling quietly amidst the cymballic clash of aggression that’s Delhi traffic.

“So you’ve a petrol?” Eyes shaded by sunglasses, Sirish nods. Smug.

We extricate ourselves from Delhi-Gurgaon's congealed treacle and point our two luxurious cars - notice how you can lump SUVs with cars but not the other way round - towards Rajasthan. First stop is Deogarh, eight hours away, through Jaipur and right turn before Bhilwara.

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Ride 2009 Yamaha YZF-R1

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Hot cross one Gunning it on the revolutionary ‘09 Yamaha R1 Words Harriet Ridley

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n 1998 Yamaha turned the world of superbikes on its head with the YZF-R1. It was the lightest and fastest production sportsbike to ever grace our roads. The litre machine roared onto the 1998 scene with 150PS and 180kg, to cries of: ‘That’s far too monstrous to manage!’ Of course, those numbers are peanuts

nowadays. Take last year’s bike.

The 2008 R1 got 180PS wrapped in a claimed 177kg dry weight chassis. It was capable of 168kmph in first gear, did nought to sixty in less than three seconds and it could lap a grand prix circuit within 10 per cent of the fastest MotoGP times. Oh, and I clocked a genuine 199.3kmph on a bog standard 2007

R1 fresh out of the showroom.

But forget all of that. Eleven years after the first ever R1 hit the scene, Yamaha’s done it again, revolutionising the litre bike class with the all-new R1 that’s unlike any other motorcycle on our roads.

Or racetracks…

It’s at Brands Hatch race circuit that I get my first chance to ride

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Location courtesy: MMST race track, Chennai

Feature Fast & Gorgeous

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Hot laps

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You’ve seen them on the tele, now watch the winners of MTV’s Fast & Gorgeous hunt scorch the Chennai race track Photography Gaurav S Thombre

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he brief was simple - the editor was taking his Mercedes-Benz C220 long-termer to the Chennai race track to give it a proper send-off. We asked if he could take a few readers on some hot laps, show them the lines around the track and if possible, clock their lap times. Not being shy of scaring a few readers he said yes, little knowing our readers include the four winners of MTV and Force India’s Fast & Gorgeous talent hunt.

You’re guessing the editor had a lot of fun but (and so he says) teaching four track novices the fast way round is the most difficult thing he ever

attempted - particularly with only a day in hand, and, that footwear. Not to mention the difficulty one has in concentrating when pupils are wearing what they’re (not) wearing.

Adding an element of competition we promised the quickest girl a car. A model car, but we may have been guilty of not making it clear. The ensuing (over) enthusiasm, howling tyres and smoking brakes made for an OVERDRIVE episode you don’t want to miss, if not for the women then for the priceless expression on the editor’s mug (YouTube.com/odmag now!). This is the girls’ account of a track day in two Mercs.

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Comparo Pulsar 220 vs Karizma vs Apache RTR 180 vs YZF-R15

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Tour wheels only We set out to find the best touring motorcycle in the country Words Shubhabrata Marmar Photography Gaurav S Thombre

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n India, so far, the Royal Enfield Bullet, and its various versions have come to represent the automatic choice for the long distance rider. This story is about other motorcycles that can play that role as well. I believe that to go touring you need a powerful engine. This isn’t because I’m a throttle-rolled-to-the-stop, scenery-ignoring, apex-hunting tour-

ing person, but because a powerful engine allows you to run consistently at a good speed, say 90kmph, without actually pushing the limits of the engine. This helps you avoid stress, avoiding stress lets you ride longer. Marvelling at all the beauty that fills the space between you and the horizon is kind of hard when your engine is screaming its lungs out, its rev needle hovering

exactly 6mm from the limit.

Of course, a good engine isn’t an end in itself. The proficient touring motorcycle also needs to have great ergonomics so twinges in the tail bone, or a numb bum or aching wrists don’t enforce shorter riding days. It must also be fuel efficient so your hallowed holiday isn’t reduced to a wildly expensive way to spend time in petrol pump forecourts.

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Feature Jazz Yatra

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Water shed Visiting the ‘Beatle Ashram’ in Rishikesh, by Jazz Words Shubhabrata Marmar Photography Martin Alva

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av ing somehow managed to learn a little bit about Jazz on the Goa trip last month, I was supposed to head to Bangalore. But the moment that article went into print, Murphy kicked into action and ensured that Bangalore was a bridge too far. So instead, I went to Rishikesh. Once more, I am the hapless victim, caught in the wrong place, though perhaps not at the wrong time.

See, I’m religious, but about motorcycles rather than gods. Now Rishikesh is a place with sadhus, temples and the Ganges, but more importantly, it is a place without beer and meat. Which are central to my appreciation of a place.

Then again, the Beatles did spend a few weeks of the good year 1968 there. And on that idea, which dangled like an old tooth from a decayed gum, I set out for

one of the holiest towns in India, for Hindus and music fans alike.

Instead of taking the NH58 all the way, I decided to swing a loop via Chandigarh to spice things up. Having an absolutely delicious lunch of mutton made by a legend called Trilok (ask me about him sometime) only helped my decision. It was a melancholy drive. The sun never went out, and the rain never came down.

Thankfully, the Jazz is a sprightly performer, keeping up with and passing traffic effortlessly. Giving us something to smile about.

Why so glum? Everyone I knew told me that Rishikesh, unlike Marrakesh (no relation), had no meat and no booze. Unless we were prepared to hang out with the shady characters of the town.

Not what one wants to hear when you’re heading out.

Martin played trance off

his music player while the Jazz smoothly hummed along doing the high speed cruise that the C’garh highway allows so easily. In its boot sat two massive duffels with 14-days worth of stuff (Rishikesh was but a detour in the big picture), a suitcase and along the way we would add ten kilos of apples to the mix. We only stopped to devour some great onion paranthas and lassi at Karnal before turning on to the initially bumpy NH72 to Dehradun and then, Rishikesh.

We were soon wafting through the broken tarmac that’s the initial part of the road from C’garh to Rishikesh. Then the road started to twist, the backdrop turned properly green, the 'Watch for Wildlife' signs appeared and life became truly wonderful. This 211km stretch of road isn’t really a fast road, but it has a lovely loping rhythm that suited us just fine.

The Jazz absolutely revels in this environment. The tyres stick, the chassis flows and the massive greenhouse obstructs very little of the view. Lovely.

So what were the Beatles doing in Rishikesh, then? Well, back in the '60s, having met the redoubtable Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the UK, the Beatles decided to do a course in transcendental meditation. Which I was amazed to discover is a form of meditation that has little to do with either trance music or dentistry. I guess the Beatles paid closer attention than I and so they duly turned up here in the middle of 1968, 51 years ago almost to the day. Oh, by the way, did I mention I don’t get the Beatles' music either?

From what I’d read, the ashram they stayed at en famille had fivestar service, seven-star tranquility and a helipad. The Beatles came to

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Feature Isle of Man TT Races

Super Man A ringisde view of the 2009 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy races

Words Harriet Ridley Photos Stephen Davidson, Pacemaker Press/fottofinders.com

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wo-thousand-and-nine marks one of many milestones in the UK’s Tourist Trophy races.

Not only did Valentino Rossi visit the island for the first time, but lap records were smashed once again.

And then there was the mindblowing television coverage that brought the reality of these insane races straight into our homes…

Living it up in India is no longer an excuse for missing out on motorcycling’s greatest historic event, even if it is stashed away on a tiny island off the Irish coast. For the first time in the history of the Tourist Trophy races, television crews used high-speed cameras capable of taking 600 frames per

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second. This allowed for the spectacular slow motion footage that gave us an unprecedented view of the superbikes bucking and weaving across the extremes of the 37.7-mile (60.32km) course. What really stood out for me was seeing first-hand how much the tyres deformed and worked as part of the suspension as the bikes landed from the 240+kmph jumps. And the way John McGuinness wheelied over Ago’s leap at nearly 260kmph, then backed it into Parliament Square in Ramsey, had to be seen to be believed…

Reckon the riders hold back a little because of the dangers of the TT course? Then think again.

The footage showed the full-on

commitment of the riders – on the brakes going into tight corners, sheer corner speeds and extreme lean angles, and the millimetreperfect lines on the corner exits where riders would often skim the brick walls with their leathers…

These TT heros displayed the skill and on-the-limit riding you’d usually only find at the highest level of short-circuit racing. As Rossi said when he turned up on the Monday to do a lap of honour of the course on board a Yamaha YZF-R1 guided

by TT legend Giacomo Agostini: “They are true gladiators.”

In 2008, John McGuinness had been the only man to achieve a 130mph (206kmph) lap of the TT course on his 1000cc Honda

Fireblade. But this year other riders busted the that barrier, including Steve Plater and local rider Conor Cummins. During the last day’s Senior race McGuinness posted a record-breaking lap of 131.578mph (210.525kmph). And it doesn’t stop here – lap records were beaten throughout the week in all the solo classes. Bruce Anstey managed a 126.54mph (202.564kmph) lap on his 600cc Supersport machine, while the top 1000cc Superstock racers were putting in 129mph (206.4kmph) laps. That’s just two miles an hour less than the full-on superbikes, and on machines that cost £80,000 (Rs 63 lakh approximately) less.

So that’s £40K (Rs 32 lakh approx-

Valentino Rossi made the trip to the Isle this year, and after watching bikes flying through the air he commented, “They are true gladiators�

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Feature This Issue In Numbers

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Feature 11 Rally Roads

Great rally roads An airborne rally car is among the most stirring and enduring of images in the exuberant, over-the-edge arena of motorsport. No surprise then that the WRC venues are equally mind-blowing. We pick the 11 finest Words Martin Holmes Photography Martin Holmes, www.sutton-images.com

Rally Finland, Ruuhimaki stage LOCATION: 25km east of Jyvaskyla, direction Kuopio. Turn south towards Ruuhimaki at the Neste fuel station.

STAGE ROUTE: The stage has been run from south to north in recent years. The crucial section is the kilometre stretch south of the main road that features a series of high speed jumps. The surface is good as is the case with all the main thoroughfares in the country that are not asphalted. www.nesteoilrallyfinland.com

ThIS stage is conveniently close to Jyvaskyla. There are jumps even on minor roads in Finland but there are not that many well made roads with so many jumps.

Two of the jumps are straight while another is on a slight bend.

For many years this was one of the most popular locations on the rally but recently it has been held as the final stage. So instead of the spectators watching cars flying through the air for two days, now see the pyrotechnics at the finish. The jumps are the visual highlight of the rally but are not the most important sporting aspect. The choice of line through the bends is the most critical issue since only a perfect line will pre-

vent the need to reduce speed. As a Finnish saying goes, brakes are the enemy of speed. Certainly one dab of the brakes through hesitation in choosing the line at which to cross over a blind crest can lose the driver seconds at the end of the stage. Another Finnish saying is that jumping is bad because you lose time when you are in the sky. This is also true, because every moment the car is airborne, is is not being propelled down the track.

Don’ts: Avoid getting caught f louting the laws when you are driving in Finland. There is zero tolerance for alcohol offences and speed limits are rigorously enforced.

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Feature BMW X3 to Rohtang

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Build a campfire, have lunch and you still do not move ahead

X-treme holiday To the top of the world in a BMW X3 Words & photography Bertrand D’souza

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o you know what the toughest part of going to Ladakh is? No, it’s not the altitude or the fear of contracting altitude sickness along with the headaches and nausea, nor is it the inclement weather, cold one moment, searing hot the next, nor is it the terrain that is smooth in places and non-existent in others. Neither is it making do with a diet of omelettes, noodles, biscuits, thukpa or plain rice and dal. At some point you manage to overcome all of it and begin to enjoy your journey. There is that one bit though on the way into Ladakh which I like to call the ‘make or break point’. To elaborate, you either make it over the gruesome Rohtang Pass or you bang your head on the steering wheel.

Confused? Let me sort it out.

A month and a half ago while compiling stories for the anniver-

sary issue, I decided to take a break and head along with my wife and kid into Ladakh. Just as far as Jispa which is roughly around a 100 kilometres from Manali. The choice of wheels for the drive, is a BMW X3.

Why? Simply because it is an SUV, it makes sense given the terrain, it has the space, lots of torque and is diesel powered. Actually it’s a BMW and that is all the reason I needed.

I did not want the slightest feeling of being stressed with an underpowered car in Ladakh, so there.

Okay, since we did the hatchback shoot-out in Ladakh just recently, you may wonder what I am talking about. The fact is, that sort of drive is something for the adventure seeker. For a more sedentary outing I advise taking an SUV. So, decamping from Manali, I made a late start for Rohtang. I could not skip breakfast, especially the one at Johnson’s Lodge.

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Drive Land Rover Discovery 4 & Range Rover Sport

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Within range Land Rover’s 2010 model range is set to be a treat for Indian buyers. We drive the Discovery 4 and Range Rover Sport Words Ray Hutton

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he arrival of Jaguar and Land Rover in India has corresponded with an impressive new model programme. There is the sparkling new Jaguar XJ (Overdrive’s cover car last month) and now a whole range of improvements to the Land Rover range for the 2010 model year.

You could call these face-lifts but they are more than that. The

named Discovery 4.

The top-of-the-hill Range Rover is actually the least changed of Land Rover’s three full size models.

Apart from the 5-litre V8, it has a new wide-screen electronic instrument and display panel incorporating dual-view, where driver and front seat passenger can watch different things at the same time.

The Range Rover remains a stately thing, the Bentley among

Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Land Rover Discovery all benefit from engine transplants. The new engines started out in Jaguars: the 5 litre direct injection V8 petrol engine, naturally aspirated and supercharged, and the 3-litre V6 diesel with two sequential turbochargers. Then there are styling changes and re-modelled interiors.

The changes are extensive enough to justify the Land Rover being re-

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Ride Suzuki Hayabusa

’Busa ticket Delhi to Jaisalmer by ’Busa

Words Vijayendra Vikram Photography Gaurav S Thombre

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could’ve had a scrumptious last supper of my life with delicacies ranging from cattle, goats, sheep, mongoose, peacocks, dogs and even humans.

I would’ve been on God’s own barbecue if I had hit any of the above.

India is cattle country but you never realise this till the speedo needle is hovering at three-digit speeds. Chilling experiences under a hot sun are bound to happen when you’re riding the world’s fastest production bike on India’s fastest roads. Was I prepared? Not really. What I thought would be a cakewalk had me baked like a cookie over the next few days.

The start didn’t go as intended.

While I wanted to set out early, a delayed flight meant I got the bike only at 4pm. The only thing soothing in the Delhi heat was the Hayabusa in pristine white. My deadline to reach Jaisalmer was by nightfall the next day and my map showed distance as 798km. By the time I had crossed traffic infested Delhi and reached Gurgaon, I was completely drained. That’s what a waterproof riding jacket, leather pants and kit can do to you in 42-

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degree heat. The only stop was the McDonalds outlet after Gurgaon.

Where I sipped on strawberry shake while the Busa cast its spell over the locals. I spent more time there than I should have and the sun was on the horizon by the time I hit the road. Jaipur was the night halt in my mind.

It was 9pm when I reached Jaipur. I did not know the route and took the Jaipur bypass. As I stopped to ask a cop for directions, there was a crowd admiring the Dhoom wali bike. Of the two routes to Jaisalmer, I was advised the one through Bikaner that has less traffic. I was ready for the 700km ride after a good night’s sleep in a surprisingly cheap haveli.

It was rush hour traffic till Fatehpur, and I had to battle for space with the truckers to keep the Hayabusa going at a decent pace.

On the deserted and straight ones approaching Ratangarh, I opened up the throttle. I made sure I was in the full blown ‘A’ mode before teleporting myself in to warp zone.

Once past 7000rpm, the Busa feels unstoppable. It’s amazing how beautifully manageable it feels at it

limits. Grip the handlebars firmly, tuck behind the windscreen and feel the adrenaline soar to stratospheric level.

While I was enjoying the blast, I completely ignored what the sun was doing to me. About 80km from Bikaner, I felt severely dehydrated.

The stretch between Ratangarh and Bikaner is absolutely deserted. I stopped at the first dhaba I reached, jumped off, stripped to my pants and crashed. Literally. An hour and a half and two bottles of water later, I was good to go. With the prospect of spending the night at Bikaner and I didn’t want to ride any further. Call it the Hayabusa effect, but I was completely charmed with its comfy seat and mind-boggling speed. I was sure by now that this is the bike to be doing this on.

Bikaner welcomed me with a sandstorm but the weather had cooled. My plan to halt vanished in the storm. High beams and flashers on to make myself visible to the Army Stallion trucks, I was back to speed with Jaisalmer about 260km away. Roads got absolutely straight and the Busa was in its element. It was raining and I thought

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Ride Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade

Scything ‘blade Are superbikes really practical for our country?

Words Abhay Verma Photography Gaurav S Thombre, Abhay Verma

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housand k ilometre bike rides in India are still far from realistic.

When I told my father, for instance, that I intended to ride from Coimbatore to Pune, a distance of 1250km in a single bound, he thought I’d gone crazy.

But when Honda offers you the CBR1000RR Fireblade for a ride, you can’t say no. I was jumping for joy at the prospect of riding Honda’s a litre-class superbike over such a distance.

The plan was to leave early morning, when people are just waking up and roads are devoid of traffic. Unfortunately, owing to some confusion about the location of the registration paper for the bike I could only leave by half past ten.

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Joy of riding apart, I was also looking for answers. Is India ready for big bikes?

As I set out, I almost started believing my father was right.

The roads for the first 150km up to Salem in Karnataka were in pretty bad shape. Actually, the whole country is in the middle of a marathon road infrastructure development drive and that means highways are being widened. And that in turn means diversions.

The Fireblade is not the right motorcycle to ride such stretches.

The suspension is simply too stiff and puts your wrists through quite a work out. Scared of scraping the fairing belly, I had to slow to a near halt and traverse ultra carefully. But once past this particular stretch, the road was wide

and open and I could experience the effects of a twist of the wrist.

This was good since at low speeds big bikes aren’t fun and the heat from the engine is very uncomfortable. If all our roads were like this, I’d have to rue the fact that India isn’t ready for big bikes. But when I calculated the stretches of bad road encountered over the full distance, they totalled up to roughly 300km throughout my ride, and all of them places where highway construction work was in full swing. Which gives me hope that we’re nearly fully prepared to handle big bikes.

The central part of enjoying a big bike is its ability to go fast.

Which is not to mean hitting top speed on public roads, but that you can cruise between 100 and

140kmph easily. A significantly smaller motorcycle can also do this, of course, it’s just that our country is stuck with that 800cc or more rule for now.

But can you cruise for extended periods at speeds like this? I managed to for some stretches. The problem begins when you approach towns or villages on the highway.

You are forced to slow down to avoid people, animals and unruly traffic which is simply not conducive for fast motorcycle rides. This chaos is one of the reasons touring the country on a fast motorcycle isn’t pleasant.

The Fireblade does help in this department offering C-ABS, the combined anti-lock braking system as standard fitment, even though it makes the bike even more expen-

Superb, high quality Vortex t-shirts from Performance Racing Store with motorcycle themes. Want one?

Round necked t-shirts were popularised by? a. Richard Nixon

B. Marlon ‘Wild One’ Brando C. Jack Black

Mail your answers to contest@overdrive.co.in, subject: ‘PRS’ or snail mail to the editorial office address. performanceracingstore.net

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Drive VW Beetle Cabriolet

Beetle mania The Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet meets the saint of the Alps Words Bertrand D’souza Photography Sirish Chandran

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Ride Yamaha Fazer

Saddle-sore The Yamaha Fazer’s tourer credentials put to the test

Words Abhay Verma Photography Gaurav Thombre, Abhay Verma

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he Americans, in their list of excesses have saddle sores for bikers. You earn a saddle sore certificate from the Iron Butt Association by riding 1600km in 24 hours. Which is as American as it is barmy. I’ve wanted to do it for a long time. So does that make me a crazy American?

When Yamaha launched the new Fazer, billing it as the first touring bike in the country, I thought it was the bike I would go and get saddle-sore on.

Internationally, the 1000cc Fazer is also billed as a tourer.

The naked FZ1, which is identical mechanically has zero wind protection. So wind blast is a factor to contend with on long cruises. The half fairing leaves the motorcycle naked but offers crucial protection on the open road.

The fairing is a scaled down version of the international one and at first glance, though with that catty styling of the R15 they are different. The fairing looks and feels classy, and the integra-

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tion with the FZ16 is extremely well done. The mirrors look great too and because they are mounted higher and wide, the rear visibility is excellent. The only other change is the standard handlebar which is mounted on aluminium risers. The placement of the handlebar is taller, which should make for a great riding position, a stance that your body can hold for hours on end if need be. That in essence is the idea of the Fazer.

Mechanically, the Fazer is as different from the FZ16 as the FZ-S, it’s a cosmetic variant. There have been no changes to the mechanical components at all.

So I was going to verify if these changes actually work. And if they did, I could end up achieving one of my dreams. If they didn’t, on the other hand, I’d just put that down as a practice lap. I planned to make a road trip to Bangalore, which is conveniently located 850km away at the end of a wide four-lane fast road. My only worry was that the test bike had only 270km on the clock and I was

going to work with a brand-new engine. At least I’d finish running the bike in about 400km from home and then I’d properly cane my way back home. Here’s how it went.

4:30am

I tanked up, requested God to pass me some luck and good wishes and began my epic journey. While adjusting to the motorcycle, I was wondering how much distance would I cover, what physical state would I be in by the end? How would the motorcycle take it? As if sensing my thoughts, the Fazer gave me this sense of a comfortable familiarity. Within the hour, I could tell that this bike was definitely more comfortable than the FZ16. You probably won’t notice the difference riding in town but give it a few good hours on the highway and the difference is obvious.

I made my first stop after two hours for a cup of tea. I’d come 150km, averaging a good 75kmph. The saddle sore requires you to stay on or above 67kmph

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Comparo Discover 100 vs Passion Pro vs Star City vs Alba

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Executive decision Fill it, shut it but can we forget it? We zero in on India’s best commuter bike

Words Vijayendra Vikram Photography Gaurav S Thombre

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Feature Camel vs Cycle vs Xylo

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Camel trophy A camel, a mountain bike and a Xylo, an odd menage a trois Words Karanbir Singh Bedi

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envy Marco Polo. I envy the time he had to travel. Across Central Asia for twenty four years and over 24,000km, the Venetian merchant must have seen it all. At a time the world was yet to discover America and Australia, Marco Polo’s travels took him across the high central Asian mountains and into India through the Nubra valley.

One of the most beautiful Valleys in Ladakh, Nubra lies at the foothills of mighty Siachen glacier and the equally beautiful Nubra river snakes through it.

The Valley is a historical romance, cultural synthesis, left in isolation even today. Even the most poetic expression of this valley will fail to do justice to the reality.

The famed Silk Route meandered along the banks of Nubra through which Marco Polo travelled. It thrived in a period when travellers, traders and missionaries were agents of influence and change. From China via the mighty Karakoram Pass romantics travelled up and down in this valley on camels before reaching Leh.

A place set in eternity, Nubra has seen the world go by and change.

Change from the days Marco Polo walked the Silk Route and some would say we have progressed.

Cell phones, laptops, internet, private jets. Hours have been reduced to minutes and minutes into seconds. Nubra stands testament to a changing world and here we pit man against animal and machine to see if we’ve been successful in making life simpler and faster.

The idea is to see if Marco Polo during his years of travel across the Trans Asian highway would

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Motorsport

Leap of faith “...a giant leap for mankind.”

Breaking records and pushing the limits is what Robbie Maddison does, as a rule. No man has accomplished what he has on a motorcycle and the exciting thing is he’s only getting started.

The Aussie Red Bull’s X-Fighter motorcycles stuntman made a death-defying jump across the raised sections of the London Tower Bridge. Maddison, who

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holds the Guinness World Record for the longest motorcycle jump, made a spectacular back flip across the 262-metre gap, in the darkness.

With an approach speed of approximately 65kmph, Maddison took off from the north side of the bridge, performed a no-hands back flip and landed in front of the south tower of one of the world’s best known sights.

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