Phase II of the movie begins -
PDI day -
Got a call from the dealer after two weeks, telling that the car has Arrived, and thereby made an Appointment for a PDI. I made a Long 10 page PDI List beforehand, and took my friend for the PDI. Everything was more than OK, and really couldn't find any issues. Just One thing that caught my attention, was there was some rust on all the wheel caps and the Sales guy gave me a vague excuse for that.
Also made the balance/full payment after being totally satisfied with the car.
"D"elivery day -
Me and my parents were all exited from the morning. The delivery was scheduled after lunch hours.
We reached and Mom was seeing the car for the 1st time. She had her quota of apprehensions when she heard it's a big car....However, the moment I directed her towards the car, I could see a Disguised satisfaction.
Dad was getting involved in the whole process for the 1st time(as till now I was handling everything), and finished all the signing formalities.
The dealer arranged a small puja done by Mom, and a nice Key presentation ceremony for which they presented us a Hard copy picture., along with a Small Choclate box.
Mom seeking blessing for our RD
Dad sprinkling holy coconut water all over RD
An evaluation on the looks -
1) Front part - One of the best I have seen. (9.5/10)
2) Rear part - No way matches up with the front aggression.(3/10)
3) Side part - Gives the car the bulgy looks, but not so impressive.(6/10)
4) Interior - I loved it. (8.5/10)
5) Overall - It lives upto the Agressive; Mean; Fast; Strong SUV image (7.5/10)
And then I was behind the steering wheels. Fuelled up RD (Rouge Dumanator), and it was a 1.5hour trip back home.
Driving Experience:
To be frank I was still a bit afraid, since I didn't had any previous experience of Driving any SUVs. But the seating postion gave me Loads of Confidence, (since I could see the top pf the Bonnet and that made it very clear of how much area the RD was covering).
But comming from a Maruti 800 (and some tit-bit driving of other small cars), the 1st thing you realise seating behind the wheels is "You are the King!!" [and the feeling is in literal sense]. You feel BIG, you feel the POWER, you feel the LUXURY, and then there is added RESPONSIBILITY of not to hurt the car or any-one else.
Points noticed while driving( almost all positive till now)
1) Instrument cluster - Very informative and clearly visible digits (9/10)
2) Gear Shifts - Very very smooth. (but found engaging the 5th gear to be hard sometimes)(8/10)
3) Clutch - Quite soft. (8/10)
4) Steering - very very easy to steer. But didn't like the ergonomics of the steering wheel, and when turned it hampers the visibility of the Instrument cluster(7.5/10)
5) A.C - Does it job superbly and very fast. (9/10)
6) Brakes - Well, there is a lot of freeplay (which I like), but when pressed, It does it's job well (8/10)
7) Music System - Well, not the best in class, but at least the sound doesn't crackle at full volume (6.5/10)
8) Seating Position and Driving ergonomics - Just Superb (10/10)
9) Suspensions - Agian not the best in class, but does it's job. Humps can be felt (5.5/10)
10) Turning Radius - good enough considering it's size (7/10)
11) Micro-Hybrid feature - very useful for city driving but I have a litlle doubt on whether will it affect the battery (7.5/10)
12) Cabinet Envoirment - With the Windows rolled up, the inside cabin is very quite. Feels like you are in a different world, far off from the chaos of the city. At low speeds you can't even feel that there is a diesel engine running under the hood. However the necessary sounds like the sirens, and The horn from other vehicles behind can be easily heard. (8/10)
13) Vibration - RD is smoother than most of the small petrol cars I have driven (8/10)
14) 3rd party reaction - Almost ever car, 2wheelers gave me pass after a single honk out of Respect / fear (whatever you name it). Feels like Salman Khan of Bollywood. But those stupid autos have their own share of arrogance. (9/10)
Note - Most of the evaluations here are in comparison to our old Maruti 800. Also the points will be evaluated on periodical basis, and will be updated.
The following points are yet to be checked -
Fuel efficiency, Acceleration, Body Roll, Top Speed, Wind noise, High speed cornering ability, Amount of Understeer and some other features of the RD
Demerit :
Till now One thing which I really think is a Demerit of this car, is the view from the rear windsheild while reversing is absolutely useless. The only assistance being the Reverse parking sensors, which seems difficult to be trusted by me, as my age old habbit seems to stuck to believe my eyes than the sensors.
ALthough being nervous, But the ride back home was very comfortable and there was never any uncertain moments. However, I really had a hard time trying to squeeze the RD into my uncle's compact garage, after making sure Destiny gets her own space and doesn't feel neglected.
Overall Feel :
Me and my Parents are all very happy and proud of The Rouge Dumanator. Hopefully there can be lot of safe and happy miles chrunching with the beast.