The torque is immense.

The torque is immense.

The obsession of the current generation with instant gratification is just crazy. Every thing in the modern world needs to be instant and full of many "things"....
From mobile phones to laptops and so on, frankly I won't even begin to describe how quick and easy all these modern gadgetry are and honestly I don't have a problem with that because firstly I'm using one! Secondly it is genuinely helpful and most importantly modern tech is offensively quick compared to the good old days. 

Now while all this is good at some level but there is also a flip side to this, the biggest example is just how we do our school/project work. How do we do it? Well...Google. The decline in sales of novel over the last ten years is also an indicator that we want information instantly without much effort. Even I'm guilty of this. Honestly for me it is so hard to read more than 20 pages in one go with checking my Insta-book-chat-tube once. You will be thinking that how does this have anything common with pulling capacity of a car - "Torque" but don't forget the behavior of a car is very similar to our behavior. The fascinating and never ending rivalry between what is more important  Horsepower or Torque is going on for ages and every car has a tilt towards one or the other that is for sure.


The legendary Ferrari 458 is associated with the elite club of 9000 rpm redline and hangs out with the horsepower big boys.



As you can see here is the 488 GTB the successor to the 458 and also turbo-charged and with a lot more torque. Sadly it doesn't rev as high, only revs to 7500 rpm unlike the brilliant naturally aspirated 458.

Two faces of the same coin yet they both feel so different. Now horsepower is like spending time with your favorite novel and a hot cup of chocolate. It is like the old classics by Lata Mangeskar. It's like masticating your favorite North Indian dish. What I'm trying to say is it has something amazing to offer, it has a climax, it builds up to a crescendo of absolute awesomeness. You have to wait for it. the revs climb and you hit the power band and you are smiling ear to ear like a child, the engine howls and that is when you experience a naturally aspirated engine's horsepower and it is the elixir of motoring for me.

Well torque is different ball game. It is Mr. Turbo-charger who makes the torque curve flatter and fatter! Torque is like listening to what some call music(trance, EDM)  which is full of computer generated sounds and starts from zip with no emphasis on lyrics in any way whatsoever. It is the automotive equivalent of instant gratification. Torque that you experience never builds up, instead it it served to you on a plate of mid range punch right in your gut. Quite similar to getting all the information available on Wikipedia. No fun. 

There are two sides to this. Torque isn't always bad, the ease by which you just waft along in the cement jungle and the amazing towing capacity torquey engines have which just getting to out of the way, but again it won't last long.
I just think that that nowadays there is an over emphasis on "getting stuff done" as quickly as possible and we sort of miss out on the fun. I guess for everything worth having you have to wait a bit and there will be delays but eventually you'll get there with a huge smile on your face!   

  

Crossing over Delhi

CROSSING OVER DELHI

The automotive industry in India is one of the largest automotive markets in the world and here in Delhi we love cars as much as we love to swear when talking among our friends, you know in the "Dilli wala" style.
Thing is that as much as we love our cars, there is a situation going on here in Delhi/NCR. Firstly as you'd expect people here have passion for cars in the same way and with the same intensity as they would have for a mobile phone or a sofa. It is the utilitarian kind and honestly there is nothing wrong with that.
 I totally understand people who think of cars like that because not every one is a petrolhead like me and this is the trend around the World too. I guess that's why Crossovers are a favorite now. I don't see much going on with the crossovers as a utility vehicle because it's not much bigger than a hatchback in terms of seating. Yeah you might be able to fit another goat in the boot but apart from that there isn't much to get excited about. Most certainly you cant get excited about the looks because a hatchback looks petite, chic, even European and stunning, like a future supermodel in her teenage years. But a crossover looks like the sort person who tells you that you could've got that fridge for half the price AFTER you bought it. Basically an irritating liar. The classic example of this is from the the Japanese giant Nissan. I give you the Nissan Cube -

Pretty isn't it? Whatever you think you are the one who is demanding this sort of car.

It's not ,as the Aussies would call it, "Ute" or a utility vehicle and its not as large and comfy as an SUV.

This is a hatchback. It looks stunning, it is definitely quicker than that and it returns more km/l because of better aerdynamics.

Now I'm obviously not targeting or promoting any brand here but what I'm saying is that there is a weird trend in the car industry and in Delhi about there crossovers. I'd rather have a pickup truck and Donald Trump as the president than owning and driving a crossover! 

Well all my above rant leads to the demand prevailing in Delhi. The obsession with a hatchback on Viagra, with the false perception that a crossover design makes you car look big and muscular and will somehow compensate the lack of other things.

Well if you really want large boot space buy an SUV and it's not like the olden days that SUV's are expensive.

I simply don't get it! What happened to those long and absolutely stunning Saloon/Sedans of yesteryear. Those great mile-munching, cool looking, slightly spy-ish stanced, quick and agile cars that we used to drive. Cars like  Maruti Baleno, Skoda Octavia, Mitsubishi Lancer, Opel Corsa and ofcourse the daddy of them all the Honda City/Civic. They looked appropriate and the driving/seating position wasn't 19 feet of the ground! You were right there with the car sitting in it's loving arms of a researched and developed chassis moving along like the Euro-star though the Channel tunnel (only you were on the NH24 at 90 kmph). Now you might say the market has moved on but moving in a direction doesn't mean it's the correct one.

Ciao.