For the Enthusiast in You!

With all the growing festivities including Vishwakarma Puja and Durga Puja right round the corner, the ongoing parties interjected by work (or was it the other way round?) having barely subsided and an official tour to Trichy scheduled a month forth, I thought I’d just step back for a while and write on something a little off-course, but nonetheless something I’m deeply interested in and researching which I’ve taken up as a serious hobby since quite a while... There are tonnes of topics out there, starting from the mysteries and complexities of the human mind to the possibility of finding extraterrestrial life in the universe that is one of the holy grails of modern science, which can instantly get me riled up and talking. But very few of those connect to me as much as... CARS!

It might sound a bit anticlimactic but imagine where we would all be without the science and engineering behind commuting. Don’t get me wrong! It’s of course not just about commuting but also about speed, torque, power, acceleration... Hoof! I just love uttering those words... One can find these elsewhere too, including spacecrafts, aero planes, trains and in a myriad of other exotic machines, but there’s only one that all (or at least most of) us have been behind the wheel of! Cars!

So what is it that makes a car a car? Of course it’ll have an engine, a drivetrain, a chassis and a set of wheels, but aren’t the intangible things as important as the tangible ones? So before we get into the scientific jargon in automobiles, let’s talk about style... The exterior design, or let’s say looks, of a car is the first thing that catches the common gaze and defines a car’s personality. Now, why is it that we attach human traits like style and persona to a vehicle? May be because the traits of the vehicle define the owner’s identity as well? So other than practical aspects of style like aerodynamics and LED lamps, the flowing curves and the muscular contours really get our adrenaline pumping!

Audi Q3 Quattro Test Drive!

I’ve been fortunate enough to have driven a wide variety of cars over the last couple of years, starting right from low end Maruti Suzuki hatchbacks to high performance SUVs like the Audi Q3 Quattro, and of course everything in between that was accessible to me including sedans from the house of Toyota, Chevy and Honda. The cars themselves offer an insight into their companies’ philosophies, which in itself should be a subject of study. For example, some brands use turbo- or super-chargers to deliver higher power from smaller engines while others prefer larger naturally aspirated ones to deliver uniformly high power throughout the rev-range. Some have an SOHC while others a DOHC. And then there’s the eternal debate over an auto transmission known for shifting efficiency and straight-out speed and acceleration versus the good old manual tranny with stick shift, loved by auto enthusiasts for the complete control it offers.

Moreover, nowadays as fossil fuels gradually become a thing of the past and gasoline engines obsolete, car technology is being pushed into the future by revolutionary companies like Tesla with their all-electric hyper-cars like the Model S which can go from naught to 60 mph in just 2.5 seconds, thereby shattering the 'toy car' image of the electric vehicle! Other prominent developments include a self-healing coating for cars, which uses chitosan that is derived from chitin, the main component of exoskeletons of crustaceans, that heals its own scratches when exposed to sunlight. Also, BMW promises the world's first completely self-driving car by 2020.    

Indian manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki swap out a few extra horses for a few extra miles per gallon, offering maximum features in their vehicles at a relatively budget price, in tune with the economy oriented Indian mentality. On the other hand, the Volkswagen Vento is a torque monster in its segment with a solid German build, though the design being a bit Plain Jane. Soft sprung Hyundai cars offer good ride quality and a handsome fluidic sculpture but have poor handling and minimal steering feedback. Honda cars not only have good driving dynamics but are also comfortable, although they lose out on high-speed stability like the City with its skinny 175/R15 tyres. I myself was in a dilemma over my first car, so I thought of going for the Ciaz while my parents buy the City. So, for all the motor-heads out there... Good luck car hunting and cheers!

**A word of caution: Drive only AFASP i.e. 'A's 'F'ast 'A's 'S'afely 'P'ossible!

Ciaz & City! #Rivals united