Jun 13, 2008 09:16 AM
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(Updated Jun 18, 2008 08:47 AM)
My 75th Review on MS.
“Indulge” is the one word to explain what I did for 72 hours starting June 5 2008 midnight till June 8th 2008 midnight. I took a Skoda Octavia on self drive from Hertz Chennai and drove all the way to Bangalore-Mysore and Back, totaling over 1300 kms in 3 days. This post is an experience account of this excursion. This is an abridged version for MS (due to limitations on length)-You know where to look for full version.
When a Mysore visit was being contemplated I decided to use this opportunity to indulge in what I always wanted to do-long drive in a sporty vehicle. I wanted to rent a TATA Safari but Hertz said they don’t have Safari on Self Drive.
(For the uninitiated, Self Drive is a rental scheme where you can take a vehicle from car rental company without a driver. You drive and take care of the car for the duration you rent it) Dream brands like Mercedez were pretty expensive (may be next time) so I decided to settle for a Czech beauty named Skoda Octavia, which I felt sporty enough (A beast of 1.9 liter engine within with 170 kmph max speed). Got a booking confirmation from Hertz.
Got my hands on the Skoda at around 2330 hours on 5th June. To my disappointment, the car was several years old model and had age old cassette player, except front left, remaining 3 tyres hardly had any threads on them. Natural with its age, it also had several minor dents and scratches. Took the delivery, reached home and when I wanted to take a reverse I was in for a surprise. All the cars I had driven so far had reverse gear on extreme right, below 5th gear, but in Skoda this was different-on the extreme left, adjacent to first gear. I could not move the vehicle backward-called the Hertz driver and he told that I need to push the lever down and then move to position. Not sure why Skoda has this crazy position for reverse gear-very tough to identify if the vehicle is in 1st gear or reverse, unless you experience the vehicle moving. Loaded my luggage, picked up my co passengers and it was nearly 0100 hours when we left Chennai city limits.
Read Complete experience here: https://enidhi.net/2008/06/chennai-mysore-self-drive-dating-skoda.html
3 days went off in a flash. Wish the journey lasted little longer…
About the car: Except that engine was powerful, didn’t find any appreciable difference in this car w.r.t interiors and suspension, compared to other cars I have driven, say WagonR and Indigo CS. (Note: The Skoda I drove is 4-5 years old model, cheapest variant in its class and was being used as a taxi. So one shouldn’t keep too many expectations.) But vehicle is quite sturdy and stable. Even at 160-170 kmph there were no hesitation from the engine or vibration in the body. For 1300 kms it consumed over 81 litres of diesel, resulting in a highway average of nearly 16 kmpl, which is quite decent.(AC was used for may be just 10% of the drive-rest of the time we rolled down the windows and enjoyed the cool breeze of nature)
I want to drive a Volvo bus next… Any rental company in this world giving me a B7R on self drive? Please let me know.
have uploaded few selected photos in MS. Other photos at my blog.
