Hyderabad International Auto Show 2009

The much awaited show was on and I managed to travel right across the entire city and get there, just out of the sheer enthusiasm. Already having checked the details, I noticed there wasn’t anything very interesting to look forward to. But still, after reading all the hype about it being the ‘biggest auto show in South India’, I fell for it. The original plan was to go there on the first day which was a Friday. But since half of the day was not open for public, we decided to go there the next day. I had a bad feeling about it as a Saturday would bring too much crowd in and create havoc. But it was a better choice than the final day which was a Sunday. And I was right about the crowd.

 

When I entered the gates of Hitex, I could see a long line of cars going deep inside towards Novotel. I just followed the cars and landed at the parking. I found another huge parking lot that was empty. I wondered if anyone came for the show. But after taking the short shuttle service that was almost unnecessary, I was proved wrong. There were hundreds of cars and bikes parked near the hotel itself which gave clear signs of crowd. Somehow I managed to enter and right in front were sitting happily, a Porsche Cayman S, a Yamaha MT 01, a Suzuki GSX 1300R and a superb Wolseley. I wondered what the organisers were playing at, leaving all the eye candy outside for free. Half the friends I met there advised me not to go inside wasting 100 bucks. But having travelled more than 25 KM for this, I refused to back out. Raj Kiran and I paid the 100 bucks and got in. What we found in there was nothing unexpected.

 

The usual brands that we see on roads were all in there. Nothing fancy, but paradise for a person who came there for some serious buying. The BMW X6 I saw for the first time in flesh, blood and bone and was stunned by its size. Along side it were the usual 5 series, 7 series etc and they too looked surprisingly huge. Maybe it was something to do with the surroundings that made these cars look bigger. The 6 series convertible caught some eyes and cameras. As we moved on, we came across the stall with the best line of the lot, the Mercedes Benz. Just 3 cars displayed but easily pulled most of the crowd. They had the sense to display cars weren’t too popular on the Hyderabad roads but had the potential in them to get that popularity. The high performance AMG (SL63?) was the most stunning followed by the SLK. I had a feeling the AMG’s engine was on, as there was a low rumbling sound coming from it. I am sure the engine would growl when raised. A little further ahead we found the usual WV cars and the Skodas. A particularly large section of the crowd seemed to be stuck at the Audi stall. Something that was no surprise to me. They had the longest line as far as I could see though they were the usual ones. People were thronging all over the place, jumping into frames of strangers’ cameras and falling onto the cars, leaving dirty finger-prints everywhere. It was quite a messy sight. The attraction was the TT, maybe because one doesn’t find it much on the Hyd roads, and the headlamps of the A4, and the Q5 were probably the most photographed headlamps in the hall. I was quite let down when I didn’t find the R8 there. I was also expecting the Z4 to appear in the BMW stall, which didn’t happen too.

 

After this, it was the journey back to the classics. Quite a few stunning models of cars and bikes were on display. The vehicle owners’ names were written and unsurprisingly, most of them were Colonels and Generals. The bikes had a clear World War II look about them, and were beautifully maintained for their age. There was a particular BSA that had an uncanny resemblance to a moped but had a 350 CC engine, a fact that none of the gazers could digest! The vintage cars on display were too good to be real. The sheer size of these cars and the intricate detailing on them definitely makes them priceless in the literal sense. It’s great that these owners agreed for their cars to be displayed to public.

 

The other stuff like SudhaCars the car audio, the mods, etc. also pulled in some decent crowd. I particularly went there for the cars and was mildly surprised to find racing kits installed on the Yamaha R15 and FZ models. And the R15 model promptly stood there with a flat tyre. Probably the number of people that sat on it might have been too much to handle.

 

And in no time, it was all over. Not knowing what to do next, we simply left the place. And the crowd at the time of leaving was extreme. The proof for this point was given by the fact that the other parking lots were filled to the brim including the one in which I parked my 2 wheeler. And clearly there were more exotics in the parking lots than in the show itself. Why would people come in Audi Q7s to find nothing more greater than an Audi Q7 itself? I couldn’t get the point. Maybe they were planning to expand their garage, coz clearly there was nothing new there for the eyes. It was all about doing some shopping.

 

And what was I doing there? Just hopping around and hoping that one day, one of them would fit into my tiny parking space (where a Zen struggles to get in)…

 

Shopping or hopping, it was a day well spent, though that wasn’t the case with the money.

Made in Italy

I got a call from Srikar yesterday that his new Linea was in. Though I’ve seen enough pictures and ads of it, I couldn’t wait to see the real thing. A jam session was the perfect excuse to feel the new leather in the car and of course I was desperate for a jam session too.. Finally today, the black thing rolled into my street, maybe one of the first few in Hyderabad, and my first sighting. I wanted to peep at it from the 4^th floor itself, but I held myself till I got to the bottom. The first look was from the rear as he drove it into a tiny lane opposite my apartment. When I saw the rear lamps, I knew I was blown away. The amp that I was carrying nearly slipped from my hands. I just couldn’t take in the size of it. The real thing is always the real thing. No substitutes can take its place. All I could see was the huge logo and stylish tail lamps. He opened the boot and I was blown away once again. Clearly one of the largest boots among the cars around, we fit in all our equipment, four guitars, 2 amps and a few covers, and it still had like place for a whole person to sleep in. Maybe one can host a party in that boot. Once the guitars were in, it was time to check out the rest of the car. I moved to the front of the car, and for a brief moment I thought I lost my vision. My brain shut off for a nano second and restarted. All I could register was, “Drive me, or else I’ll slit your throat”. It was just like Srikar mentioned. It reminded me of the famous Mafia stories from Italy. The superb grill reminded me a lot of Maserati and the nose was jutting out beautifully finishing that slow taper from rear to front. Finally it was time to step in.

 

Once I got in, I was in another world. I didn’t know when he started the engine, or whether the engine was on all the time, I just couldn’t feel it. While he backed, I still couldn’t make out whether the engine was on. Finally when he revved it up a bit, I could hear a faint sound, the sound that comes when my Zen is just on and not running, and vibration? What’s vibration, there’s no such word in the Linea Dictionary, not at low nor higher speeds. Yeah I read a lot that it’s slower and underpowered compared to other cars, but in a city where the average speed meanders around 15 Kmph, even an F1 car can lose to a cyclist. The ride for our new Jamming Place was simply awesome. I just didn’t feel like we traveled 20 odd kilometers though Srikar drove extremely cautiously and it took a good 45 min to get there. Meantime he made a few calls with his car’s voice-detection feature that connects to the phone and makes the calls. And the music was a good experience too. There were so many customizable stuff that I couldn’t count. I wonder what car gets so many features for such pricing. The jam session was a disaster with the power department cutting us out exactly at a time when we were getting into the groove. We left almost as silently as we left, not before a splash at McD’s. The car was parked next to a ‘Beamer’ as we call it, and I felt the Italy vs. Germany game was won by the Linea. The traffic was as crazy as ever, and I observed a new thing today. The pillon riders of almost 90% of the bikes turned around atleast once for a look at the car. Finally when we reached home and I reluctantly got out, a few guys stepped over and started asking questions about the car. “Excuse me, what’s the mileage of this car?” “What is the cost?” “What is this?” “What is that?”. I was too busy unloading the guitars while Srikar had to go through that grueling ‘interview’. And he left. Happily tucked away inside the Linea… I could last see it’s rear ‘eyes’ saying, “I’ll come tomorrow too”. A mafia don with a soft heart, Made in Italy.

Supercars 2007

I managed to get my hands on the list of the top ten supercars of 2007. Let me warn you that most of these cars are concepts or limited editions. So they are definitely rare cars and we might never find them on roads, atleast the concepts.

The list:

1. Bugatti 16/4 Veyron Pur Sang (Best Veyron, Rarest - only 5 are being made!)
2. Lamborghini Reventon (Styling Renaissance + LP640)
3. Koenigsegg CCXR Edition (1018 bhp, 1.5 million)
4. Ferrari F430 Scuderia (F430 with proper intakes)
5. Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera (100kg CF Diet)
6. Aston Martin DBS (James Bond's Whip)
7. Mazda Taiki Concept (Most Radical Concept Ever?)
8. Porsche 911 GT2 (Most Powerfull 911 from Porsche)
9. Vector Avtech WX-8 HPV (Revival of the outrageous)
10. Gumpert Apollo Sport.

LA Auto Show

  Well, this happened last week and whatever I was talking about the Reventon is out in the form of images. Some pics of Reventon and other cars from the show. Hail Supercars!




  That is the Reventon in its true form. It's a carbon fiber stunner. The design has been based on fighter aircraft, and sure enough you can see hints of the F-22 Raptor on that. The wheel rims are like razor sharp blades and those 19" wheels are awesome. That's the 2008 Lamborghini Reventon for you...


2004 McLaren Mecrcedes SLR


2007 Audi R8 (from the leMans Concept Car)

Lambo's Lambs

I wouldn't call them lambs coz they are Bulls!!. But just to make that perfect title, i had to do it. Anyway, Automobili Lamborghini has stepped up their old Murcielago again and this time they came with a GT version. They are talking about some updated BF performance which has added a few more horses to the power. Nice pic they got here, and that is along with the design of their new Reventon. Looks a bit futuristic, let's see how far that gets real. They seem to be really trying to put everything under covers so that it springs at us suddenly, just like a Bull!

2008 Lamborghini Reventon



2007 Lamborghini Murcielago GT660

Montreal ... MONey for REAL

Some nice supercar action in Montreal... some nice pics to spice up the blog as well...


Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder



Porsche Carrera GT



Maybach 57 (some cool dudes around the car !!)



Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 Roadster



BMW M6 Cabriolet



Ferrari 360 Spider



2007 Mercedes Benz SLR 722 Edition (he parked that sooo close to the Gallardo..)

Egg-scamz .. !!!!

It's been a very long time since i posted, and that's simply because of the crazy schedules made by the college. We have had internal exams till the last day of 2-2, and within a day, the lab externals are gonna start. It's something unimaginable when we look behind and see how time has passed. Within no time, 2nd year has come to an end, which means half of college is over. God knows what we are gonna do after we find ourselves out of college suddenly before realising it.

Anyway, the preparations for the exams hasn't started yet and right now, i am still stuck thinking about the lab exams. Though the CAD lab is kinda simple, the EEE lab will eat up all the energy. It's gonna be the first time i will be handling heavy-electricals after my shocking experience during band practice. The ease is no more there.

And ease it all up, i just found some interesting pics on the net ... some more cars again. And again i put in the Lambo Gallardo. They bring out new editions faster Michaelangelo's guitar picking ....

	Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera.
	Koenigsegg CCX
	Mosler MT900 GTR

Mahindra reno ready for Login ...

Renault has finally brought in that much awaited car, The Logan... coming in with M&M, the car's design finally gives something different for the onlookers. Man, i was bored seeing the same old indianlike designs... this logan got some interesting stuff like, chrome on the grille and stuff ... looks are moderate coz they wanted to keep the cost low.. but a welcome change to see a new logo on a car.. how long do we want to see the same old marutis and hyundais and toyotas??

Price is very effective - 4.2 to about 6.5 lacs range .. got some good bootspace in the rear as well. Dashboard looks boring but rear seats are said to be comfy with larger headroom as well... Mahindra wanted to compete with cars like Accent, indigo, fiesta, aveo and stuff and tried to keep the cost low though they tried to make this look more upmarket especially for our indian buyers. We always liked good looks for a lower price. Heard that the diesel is more fun to drive than the petrol..

Pics here ..



Related post found here in my blog: Posted in Jan... Click here

It's the number game !!

Well, posting after a long time means nothing coz, i am simply posting after a long time. This time around, i got some mindboggling stuff here. This is a video of a bugatti veyron pushing to the limits. Well, i was actually dying to see a veyron do it's famous 407kmph. And you get to see it finally. The Top Gear guys do it in top style in top secret places and in this top-end car .... Watch the Veyron (10 radiators!!, 16 cylinders, 1001 horsepower, 407kmph .... !!!!) do it in the Volkswagen Test track ....

Something to watch !!!

If you want to see a jam of Supercars, then this is the chance. Imagine all the dream supercars going in a line on your street. Amazing !!!

And Now, this one ... coming to India are these !!!!

Skoda Fabia Hatch

Renault Logan (with Mahindra)

Other Cars include Audi TT, Honda CRV, BMW 3series, BMW 5series, BMW X-5, Spark, Captiva (both Chevy), Bentley Convertible GT, Ford Focus and many more !!... keep waiting, this year has some great cars for India.

Concept King

    2 more striking cars i have found ...

1. 2007 Honda Accord Concept



2. 2007 Chevy Volt Concept

Ferrari all the way !!!

This one is truly stunning. You might wish you were the photographer here.... A train of F-40's burning rubber on this winding road.



i wonder who that guy is, left at the back of the pack ??

More Cars .....

It might be looking like a Car BLog but then, I am finding such great cars that i feel it must be here. Check out this Lambo Gallardo Black Edition 2007. It's called Gallardo Nera (Black). It was shown on September 20th, 2006. It's been made for the Paris Motor Show and it's built in a limited edition of 185 units. Orders are likely going to be taken at the Show.



This one is the 2007 Acura Advanced Sports Car Concept. Check out it's sleek bodywork , narrow headlamps and sharp edges.

Cars, cars and cars ..... from 2006.

You might wish this Civic came on Indian Roads.... but dudes, it's gonna take a long time...



Watch and enjoy is all i can say. As for this one, The 400+ kmph car, The Bugatti Veyron, hear and enjoy is all i can say, coz i am pretty sure your eyes will miss that car when it zips past you.

Check this out

Ok, this one is gonna make heads turn .. just check out this one. A Lexus Concept shown in Detroit 2007 Concept Motorshow. Other cars were shown, I am gonna put those in soon. Despite a huge focus on fuel efficiency, many manufacturers dished out some exotic concepts. Both Acura and Mazda get top marks for rolling out some innovative and interesting cars. More to come soon.