Thread: Back from India
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Old 04-01-2010, 03:29 PM
kerry kerry is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 18,350
Back from India

A few short automotive impressions:
Traffic is unbelievable. It takes a very high level of skill and attention to drive there. In the city, roads are filled with cars, bicycles, cng/auto-rickshaws, pedicabs, buses etc. Millimeters separate the vehicles.
Intercity roads are filled with almost all Tata trucks. A few Eichners (?). Tata has a medium duty truck whose cab seems to be borrowed from the MB 408d vans/trucks. Force Travellers are used by most of the tourist transportation companies. They are the early 80's MB vans that were the precursors of the current Sprinter and use the OM616 (I think) but turbo'd and intercooled. Engine sounds a little different. India must have heavy tariffs on imported trucks because I saw no Toyotas, Mitsubishi, Isuzu or MB trucks. I saw a few Matadors which are Indian built versions of the old Hanomag/MB 206d front wheel drive vans/trucks. Cars are mostly small Suzukis. A few Toyotas and Tatas. Tons of Mahindra jeeps and a modicum of Force 4wd suv's.
Driving under all conditions in the city or intercity is bizarre. Driving on a divided 4 lane highway, one might run across a truck in the left lane with its differential on the ground being rebuilt while trucks whiz by at high speed. For no apparent reason, people would drive the wrong way on a 4 lane divided highway at full speed with their headlights flashing. It didn't phase anyone. The oncoming vehicles simply swerved out of the way and kept going. I saw vehicles going around roundabouts the wrong way. Nobody thinks twice about backing up on a 4 lane intercity highway. Workers simply put up a couple of cones blocking a lane, stand in the middle of the lane doing work while traffic swerves madly around them. It is amazing that half the population of India is not killed in auto accidents every day. Saw a few truck accidents. In one case, the driver's involved where brawling in the middle of the highway.
__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13
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