Monsoon Precautions

The rainy days are finally here and for all those Mumbaikars who are fretting about what this monsoon would bring them and their cars- here are some handy tips that will help you whiz past this season in safety and style.

Your car

Ready to take on the lashing rains. Let’s start with pre–monsoon servicing. Checking simple things like tyres, brakes, wipers and lights will ensure that your car doesn’t fail you when the road conditions are harsh. Here is what you have to pay attention to:

- Check the tyre conditions (the tread grooves should be of min 1.5mm to 2mm in all the tires. Look for sidewall cuts in tires, if so, replace them immediately).
- Check the brake liners. Ensure proper functioning of the break system.
- Check Brake oil
- Replace old or brittle wipers.
- Ensure both the wipers; signal light and tail lamp are in working condition

Driving on city roads

No matter how well your vehicle is serviced, nothing substitutes your being alert and careful on the road. Here are some tips on how you can customize your driving skills for this monsoon:

Before the start of the trip - Wet-weather driving demands gentle use of all the main controls - steering, clutch, brake and accelerator - and a larger allowance for errors and emergencies. When you begin a journey in rain, your shoes or Feet will be wet and liable to slip off the pedals, drive with dried shoes or feet. All drivers should regularly check that their headlights, taillights, brake lights and turn signals are working properly. Carry emergency equipment. Things like a flashlight, spanner or ropes may not be required but it may come in handy during any eventuality

First and foremost: slow down! It takes longer to stop or adjust in wet weather. The speed limit during the rains should be 20 kms/ Hour to 25 km/Hour.

Expressway driving - Leave lots of space between you and the vehicle in front because it takes longer to stop. You're supposed to leave a few seconds between vehicles in dry weather. Make sure you add space in wet weather because if you have to hit the brakes hard, your tires will lock up, you will hydroplane and you will most likely hit the vehicle in front of you. If available, drive in the fast lane, where there are fewer vehicles and less oil deposited on the road. Also, because of the built-in slope of the road, water drains towards the slower lanes. Avoid lane changes, as water tends to build up between the tire ruts in the lanes.

Keep safe distance from the vehicle ahead, the distance should be double during the monsoon season than during the normal season, failing which you will not be able to get adequate braking distance in case the front vehicle suddenly stops. Keep Safe Distance (Count 2001, 2002, 2003 and more and you should not have crossed the point crossed by the vehicle in front when you started counting).

Turn on your lights on even in a light rain, or in gloomy, foggy or overcast conditions. Not only do they help you see the road, but also they'll help other drivers see you. If your vehicle has daytime running lights you still should put them on, so vehicles behind you can see you better.

Drive in the tracks of a vehicle ahead of you. That way you will get a picture of what lies ahead of you well in advance

Watch out for brake lights in front of you.

Now for some Don’ts…Here are some things you should absolutely not do on rain drenched roads.

Do not suddenly brake while driving in the rain, instead control the speed with the accelerator, pump the brake peddle and apply the brake slowly, as sudden braking may result in skidding or overturning of the vehicle.

Do not suddenly swing the vehicle while driving in the rain which can result in the vehicle skidding or rolling over.

Avoid driving in the rain during darkness. Never drive beyond the limits of visibility. At night, rainy roads become especially treacherous. The glare of oncoming lights, amplified by the rain on your windscreen, can cause temporary loss of visibility while substantially increasing driver fatigue. In rainy conditions pedestrians, livestock, and two wheelers are extremely hard to spot and even harder to avoid.

Don’t drive in heavy rain - When visibility is so limited that the edges of the road or other vehicles cannot be seen at a safe distance, it is time to pull over and wait for the rain to ease up. It is best to stop at rest areas or other protected areas. If the roadside is your only option, pull off as far as possible, and wait until the rain slows. Keep your headlights on and turn on emergency flashers to alert other drivers.

Never drive through moving water if you can't see the ground through it; your vehicle could be swept off the road.

Avoid off-road driving it's hard to judge the actual depth of puddles and you can easily become stuck.

During thunderstorm avoid contact with metal or conducting surfaces outside and inside the vehicle. Lightning that strikes nearby can travel through wet ground to your car.

Watch Out

Wet roads pose problems of their own. Being alert will help you identify potential hazards.

Oil deposits - Watch for intersections because of the oil spots in the road. Rain is most dangerous when it falls after a long, dry spell on to roads that have become polished and smooth: the rain blends with oil and rubber-dust deposits on the road surface to form a highly dangerous skid mixture. That mixture builds up at intersections, where vehicles stop and start frequently. Be extra careful immediately after it starts raining because it takes a while for the worst of the dirt and oil to get washed off the road.

Check your brakes - If you successfully pass through a deep-water hazard, test your brakes. They may be saturated, and only driving very slowly and braking lightly at the same time will generate enough heat to dry them out. Be sure they are pulling evenly on all wheels before building up speed again.

Driving skill

Specific conditions on the road will demand fine tuning of your driving both for safety as well as comfort.

Manage speed: Traction is the tyre’s grip on the road. Decreased traction leads to increased stopping distance so appropriately adjust your speed for decreased traction.
Visibility: Adjust your speed to stop within your seeing distance according to the visibility conditions.

Traffic conditions: Maintain safe space cushion all around your vehicle.
Road characteristics: Shape affects traction and visibility; adjust speed for curves and hills

Skids

Skids are one of the most common causes for accidents and casualties during the monsoons. Here is what you must do if you ever happen to skid on the road.

Handling a skid - You can prevent skids by driving slowly and carefully, especially on curves. Brake before entering the curves. Steer and brake with a light touch. If you find yourself in a skid, remain calm, ease your foot off the gas, and carefully steer in the direction you want the front of the vehicle to go. This procedure, known as "steering into the skid," will bring the back end of your vehicle in line with the front. For vehicles without anti-lock brakes, avoid using your brakes. To avoid hydroplaning - which occurs when the water in front of your tires builds up faster than your car's weight, can push it out of the way -- do not brake or turn suddenly. This could throw the vehicle into a skid. Ease your foot off the gas until the car slows and you can feel the road again.

Front end skids: Release the brake and let the front wheels roll freely to regain traction and steering control.

Rear end skids: Take foot off of accelerator and turn wheels in the direction that the rear of the vehicle is skidding, and pump brakes slightly. Source - Castrol.

Super Fast Reva

A team-bhpian(Cinclaturbo) has plonked a Gixxer engine into a Reva and the result is 0 to 100 kmph in 4.4 secs with a 12,000 RPM Redline. Insane, you bet! Power to weight is 390bhp/ton and turbo is on the way.

Here is a test run of the insane Reva.

Monaco Race

The Monaco Grand Prix did not quite go the full distance as it hit the two hour time limit with Lewis Hamilton taking the chequered flag and his sixth career win around the streets of Monte Carlo. It was a fantastic drive from Hamilton who now takes over the championship lead from Kimi Raikkonen who failed to score today.

Rain at the Principality made it a very tricky race for the 20 starters and while Hamilton celebrates his second win of the season, it was a far from easy Sunday afternoon drive. An error on lap seven saw him returning to the pits after brushing the barriers at the swimming pool, slashing his right rear tyre in the process.

Ironically, Hamilton’s early stop allowed him to take extra fuel on board and he was then able to time his switch from the rain tyre to dry tyre to perfection. Hamilton was not the only driver to make errors however as Felipe Massa made one and Kimi Raikkonen made two...

Massa started from the pole position and controlled the pace in the early laps despite Hamilton slotting into second position. However, a mid-race error saw him run off track at Sainte Devote and lose position to Robert Kubica. The Brazilian would never recover the lost ground and took the chequered flag two seconds behind the BMW Sauber driver who put in a flawless drive to claim the runner up position.

Adrian Sutil was on target to take a sensational fourth position in his Force India Ferrari. A late race safety car bunched up the field and Kimi Raikkonen lost control of his Ferrari under braking exiting the tunnel.

The Ferrari struck the back of the VJM01 forcing Sutil to return slowly to the pit and retire. It was an awful end to a fantastic race from the German racer.

Mark Webber recovered to finish in fourth position, losing ground mid-race after pitting too early to take the slick tyres and losing position to Sutil. Still it was a good solid run from the Red Bull racer who picks up five points for the Milton Keynes-based team.

Sebastian Vettel kept out of trouble and like Webber used a one-stop strategy well to take fifth position in the Toro Rosso Ferrari ahead of Rubens Barrichello who finally gets back in the points with the Honda team. Kazuki Nakajima brought home two points for Williams with his seventh place finish ahead of Heikki Kovalainen who should have finished so much higher.

Kovalainen stalled his McLaren Mercedes on the dummy grid and was forced to start the Grand Prix from the pit lane. The Finn battled on but a mistake behind the safety car saw him slow to unlap himself and therefore dropped some 20 seconds to Nakajima. A late race charge saw him take eighth position and the final championship point just three seconds behind the Japanese racer.

For Kimi Raikkonen, the Monaco Grand Prix was a race to forget. A slow getaway from second on the grid saw him lose position to Hamilton. An error on lap 27 saw him running down the escape road at Sainte Devote and damaging his front wing and then his late race blunder that proved so costly for Sutil. Raikkonen finished ninth.

Fernando Alonso had an eventful race to tenth position but a rash move in the wet conditions saw him run into the side of Nick Heidfeld’s BMW Sauber. A pit stop for a new front wing and also a brush with the wall cost him a chance of points at Monaco.

Jenson Button made contact with Heidfeld on lap one and was forced to pit for a new front wing and the Honda racer would go on to finish 11th ahead of the Toyota duo of Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli who had their own incidents in the wet. Heidfeld’s F1.08 sustained damage when hit by Alonso and he would struggle on to finish 14th, four laps down in what was a dismal weekend for the German driver.

One nine finished the Grand Prix on the lead lap and there were six retirements. The first was David Coulthard who hit the barriers on lap nine and was then promptly hit by Sebastien Bourdais who went off at the same point in the wet conditions. Giancarlo Fisichella retired his Force India Ferrari with a gearbox problem while Nelson Piquet nosed his Renault into the tyres after switching to dry tyres.

Nico Rosberg had a tough race as he broke his front wing on the first lap as he ran into the back of Alonso at the Casino hairpin. He would work his way back up the order before running wide at Piscine and making very heavy contact with the barriers on lap 62. The final none-finisher was the unfortunate Sutil who was on target for the shock result of the season in the Force India Ferrari.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

Fiat Palio Multijet Test Drive

I test drove the Fiat Palio 1.3 Multijet. My observations about the car are as follows.

Looks - There is no denying the fact that the Palio is a head turner. It still manages to look absolutely gorgeous despite its age, and i find the Palio to be as good looking as the Swift, if not better.

Interiors - Fiat needs to work on it asap. Interiors are surely a generation behind and the beige treatment just doesnot work. Plastics used are on the cheaper side & no digital odometer is quite shocking.

Engine & Performance - For starters the Palio 1.3 Multijet has the same engine found in the Swift Diesel, albeit with slighly lesser torque. Quite suprisingly though Fiat's Multijet engine works much better in the Swift. The Palio just doesn't seem to go as fast as the Swift, having said that its no slow coach either. Turbo lag is prominent but thats the silence before the strom. Once the turbo kicks in the Palio just moves like crazy, the torque is insane and the car gives you a kick and moves rapidly. Turbo kicks in at around 2000RPM and the mad pull can be felt till almost 2400RPM. Engine is quite quiet but a tad noisier then the Swift inside, maybe due to better sound damping in the Swift.

Ride, Handling & Braking - Ride is still fantastic in the Palio, it takes to bad roads like Sehwag does to batting, absolutely effortless over poor roads and dare i say the ride is like a carpet. The Swift rides very harshly over bad roads, where the Palio glides. Handling is good but not as good as the Swift. The puny rubber can be blamed for this. Braking is very good but wheels tend to lock up on heavy braking. Lack of ABS, even as a option is a major disappointment.

Misc - The AC is pretty good, the seats are comfortable, the build quality is fantastic, doors close with a solid thunk and there are no rattles or squeaks whatsoever. Rear legroom is better then the Swift but the gearshift feels quite rubbery and is average at best. Fuel efficency is similar to the Swift diesel that is 15kmpl in the city and 20kmpl on the highway.

Verdict - The Palio diesel is quite value for money, being cheaper then the Swift and offering more features like rear wiper, rear demister, etc. However Fiat service is not as good and the resale is still poor. Some spare parts do take time arriving and Tata has a very casual attitude wrt Fiat cars. If you ignore the service and resale, the Palio makes a strong case for itself, its fantastic value and does everything well but my eyes are on the Fiat Grande Punto which is quite a machine and is coming soon too.

Monaco Qualifying

Speaking ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, Felipe Massa admitted that he did not like driving around the streets of Monte Carlo much compared to the sweeping turns of say Istanbul or Spa Francorchamps. This afternoon the Brazilian probably did enjoy his time in the Principality as he has claimed pole position, the 12th of his career, for the 78-lap Monaco Grand Prix by less than a tenth of a second from Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

It was a close run thing at the head of the timesheets, but Massa’s best lap of 1:15.787s would prove unbeatable as Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton both lapped the 3.340km circuit within a tenth of a second to start second and third.

With an all Ferrari front row, the Italian champions will tomorrow be chasing their first Monaco win since Michael Schumacher triumphed in 2001. Over at McLaren Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen will be disappointed not to be on the front row as qualifying is so important at this circuit. Given the dominance from McLaren at this circuit last year, it is a surprise to see Ferrari ahead in qualifying this year.

It was a very mixed day for the BMW Sauber team with Robert Kubica doing a solid job to qualify his BMW Sauber in fifth position. However, Nick Heidfeld’s recent qualifying problems took a further nose-dive this afternoon as the German veteran will start the Grand Prix from a lack lustre 13th position.


Nico Rosberg had said ahead of qualifying that his realistic target was sixth position on the grid and that is what he achieved in the Toyota-powered Williams. It was a good performance to get within four-tenths of a second of Kubica.

Fernando Alonso lines up seventh in his Renault and only a late push in the second round of qualifying saw him make the final phase of qualifying. Team-mate Nelson Piquet starts a distant 17th after two errors saw him lose time in the first part of qualifying. Piquet’s only saving grace however is that he was just three-tenths off his team-mate in the same session, but unfortunately for the rookie, those tenths makes all the difference.

Jarno Trulli did his usual solid job to start eighth in the leading Toyota ahead of Mark Webber and David Coulthard for Red Bull Renault. Coulthard made the final top ten shoot out for pole position with the tenth fastest time, but a huge accident in the final second of second qualifying saw his car badly damaged.

Approaching the braking area exiting the tunnel, Coulthard’s RB4 snapped right under braking, making firm contact with the barriers. The front and rear left hand wheels broke off as the RB4 spun at high speed down the escape road before making further contact with a softer layer of tyres. Coulthard was unhurt, but it was a big - and rather strange - accident.

Timo Glock starts 11th in the second Toyota ahead of Jenson Button in the leading Honda while Rubens Barrichello starts 15th behind Heidfeld and Nakajima.

The decision to bring the new Toro Rosso Ferrari STR3 package to Monaco is a brave one and Sebastien Bourdais starts a reasonable 16th ahead of the under-pressure Piquet while Sebastian Vettel starts 18th in the second STR3 ahead of the Force India duo of Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella.

Vettel however now takes a five grid position drop due to having broken the long-life gearbox rules in having the new unit – and car – at the circuit this weekend. Bourdais escapes the penalty as he did not finish the last Grand Prix.

It is Ferrari Vs McLaren again in the 78-lap Monaco Grand Prix.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

Bugatti Veyron Sang Noir

Bugatti has unveiled a third limited edtion of the superfast Veyron called the Sang Noir which means "Black Blood." The previous two limited editions were the "Pur Sang" and "Fbg par Hermès". There is not much in this special edition other than the all-black body, specially designed grille, unique alloy wheels, headlights with black background and the some what silly bright orange interior. Its made in homage to the Bugatti Atlantique 57s, however it is very difficult to appreciate these small details. Bugatti we want more power!!

How not to sell your car

Came across this hilarious description by a person selling his M3 at Autotrader.

“This car has gotten me laid so much it is ridiculous. I would like pull up to a pimp club in Scottsdale and the valet would crap his pants, but I wouldn't let him park it. I just leave it up front and make sure all the ladies saw me get out. I'm also totally ripped so that helps too. I inject myself with pure bull shark testosterone and lift 4 hours a day.

My diet also consists of 24 egg whites a day. I've got a killer 6 pack and some delts that you would not believe. I only hook up with 9s and 10s. Never less because I'm a winner! I'm not saying this car will do the same for you but it's a start.

If you're interested in taking the first step to becoming a true Jedi Pimp email me at (e-mail deleted for obvious reasons). I'll probably be working out so I'll get back to you as soon as I finish my protein shake (and probably hooking up with a hot chick).”

After reading this description i am sure many people wouldnt dare to buy this M3, there seems to be more info about the seller then the car, the advertisement has been removed at autotrader and seemed more of a prank to me.

Source

Skoda Laura RS

You must have seen the new Skoda Octavia called the Skoda Laura in India and just for a second mistook it for the RS version and thought Skoda have launched the RS version, well not quite! Some dealers are selling the RS body kit, which includes RS bumper with integrated fog lights, 17 inch RS wheels on 225/45/17 Goodyear Eagle F1(Bad choice of tires) and rear spoiler. All this for 1.70Lacs after buy back of your old wheels and bumper. Doesnot seem much value for money, but dont be disappointed, the 170bhp Skoda Laura vRS is coming and its a diesel!

Honda Civic Type-R Modulo

This is the Honda Civic Type-R Modulo and it certainly looks fantastic. The exterior doesn't have much, a rear spoiler, clear lens tail lamps and a set of hot 19-inch alloy wheels wrapped on 225/35 R19 rubber. Honda have removed everything they could in order to make the car lighter. The door panels were replaced with carbon fibre, the power windows have been shifted on the center console, the door handles gave their place to latches while the stock front seats were replaced by a pair of very impressive and lightweight Recaro bucket seats. I completely love the steering wheel, the speedometer looks similar to the Lamborghini Reventón and the gear shift indicator on the steering wheels looks alot like the one in the Ferrari Enzo. The presence of Electronically adjustable dampers can be seen in the LCD display where the normal 2-DIN head unit is. More pics after the jump.

ICE Demo

Many ICE shops have demo's but the best demo till now i have found is at Reliance Digital. The ICE is placed in such a manner, giving feel of a car, with recaro seats and ICE equipment placed on the center console.


This happens to be one of the best designs for ICE demo , obviously it doesn't come close to the demo ICE cars, more about that later.

Wallpapers

Car and bike wallpaper treat for you. Yes, its our 200th blog post and we have carefully selected the 25 best wallpapers for your desktop. More wallpapers after the jump, here.