Head turners
Filed under Gadgets
CRDi is making many petrol heads (including yours truly) look seriously into diesel as a more power at tap engine option. As with other fields, technology is taken for granted here as well. You will always find enough power under the hood, but it is another matter how you manage it. Many of the newer cars with CRDi plants come copper there — they are just cutting edge technology in rusted bodies.
Now, where would CRDi be a blast? SUV’s for sure. Imagine a Grand Vitara with a 1900cc JTD. But the cars to look out for (in your rear view mirror mainly) are the Elantras, Optras, Esteems. Do yourself a favor, give way 
Blind Motor Works?
Seen the latest Honda CR-V? I wish I never did. It looks horrifying. If you see one, you will also pray that you never had. (Hence the absence of links or images here).
Call me old fashioned. But if this is where the future-proof cars are headed, I should rather grab the current - dated, they say - Adventure before FIAT puts eyebrows and bangles on it. Come on, is there anyone who prefers the looks of a 2005 Bangled Beamer (banged is much like it) to a 1998 or a 2002? Probably it was a bright summer day and the bean counter folks were wearing dark shades when they looked at it. Blind Motor Works?
Cup-holders, anyone?
Do you know what women look for as the top (buying) feature in a vehicle? According to a survey done by GM in the US, it is the number of cup-holders. The more the cup-holders, the more they want to buy the car. And the reason stated was safety, when traveling with kids. Airbags and crumble zones didnt even appear in the top 10 features!?
A friend wants to sell his almost new mobile phone that he bought for his wife because she wants to buy a clam-shell model. First of all, I can’t understand how he can buy something for her without asking her what she wants. Anyways, that got me thinking of why women prefer clam-shell models.
IMO, the clam-shell mobile, provides (a feel of) more privacy. It’s like, “Why expose my screen to anyone?” It could also be that women see the entire activity of opening it, answering it, and closing it, is a form of ‘real’ closure to a conversation.
But it may not be entirely related to the x-factor. For anything that they do, human beings look for the “feel” of safety, if not safety. One big reason why Ford Explorer with 80 accidental deaths per million vehicles outsells Camry which has only 40 deaths/million. You will see more men in an Explorer, so we cant deduce a theory here.
But the cup-holder thing is true. It is a fact that more Camrys are bought by women than men, and it has 8 cup-holders! Touche.
Buying a car? Hold on
Filed under Gadgets
There is a huge queue of cars lined up for launches in the next few months. Ford has a new Ikon, Chevy is replacing Corsa and Sail & also bringing the new Matiz, Maruti is upgrading Baleno with a new design, FIAT is coming with new models, Toyota has a 11 lac SUV lined up, all in all it is going to be fun. So dont jump in as yet, let the party begin first!
