Akash,
Thanks Man, Have I Tried an OTR in my Punto!
Hell Yeah!
I have this habit of relying on technology a bit more than others, call it GPS in the context here!
Imagine what happens when going on your instincts that says "Don't worry, you can't go missing, you have gps, with local maps'
1 You mostly end up in a line on the phone/gps with no roads in vicinity.
2 Forest department gets angry, gives you a strict warning, saying vehicle will be confisicated next time.
3 You get struck in national park check post for missing entry before the allowed time, after enjoying photographing wild life. Spend the whole night in the car at 10'deg C.
4 Blow up a tyre side wall, bend an alloy, Claim warrenty for suspension struts(good that under body protection is there for my car, else something would have broken there too!)
5 Your direction sense increases many folds, learn new routes, surprise friends, make them go woaaow, you start longing for a 4x4 to explore even newer routes.
6 Know you get more than one spare tyre, learn to change a flat in less than 7 minutes.
This list can go long...
Aneesh,
Thank you!
I am looking at a Gurkha, the only problem is bangalore dealer dont have a TD vehicle yet, says a never ending 2 weeks when ever I call him.
Vijay,
Thank you! Review of punto coming up at 70k on the odo. I am starting to compose as and when i get time, biggest hurdle I see will be collecting all the photos along the ownership timeline.
Sam,
Double Thanks! (another for the LSD clarification in strome thread)
I am very new to offroading, I am in the plans to get a Gurkha.
Punto ownership review will come soon.
I think crawl ratio is 4.1 for the new gurkha. From the reviews I heard going up an obstacle is great, and going down hill requires little breaking.
Waiting for a test drive in bangalore.
A few months back after interacting in facebook with force motors they actually called me to pune for a test drive, I didn't know to laugh or feel sad at that time.
May be I need to explore that option soon.
Thank you All.