<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> Autocar India Ford Drive 2009
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Ford India and Autocar India are on an epic 20,000km drive across the country. The 'Ikon Cross Country Drive' will pass through 26 state capitals and three union territories of India and will take a total of 46 days to cover the entire distance.

The drive was flagged off from Ford’s manufacturing facility in Chennai on 22nd April 2009. A Ford Ikon with the new 1.4-litre DuraTorq, common-rail TDCi engine under its hood, is the chosen vehicle for this pan-India drive. The car is a standard Ikon diesel, without any modifications what-so-ever. The car will be undergoing service checks at stopovers at Ford's widespread authorized service centres en-route the 20000km run.
The journey will test both man and machine as it traverses through varied and extreme conditions. From the sapping heat of Rajasthan to the numbing chill of the Himalayas; from rutted mountain trails to smooth expressways; from the gridlock of Hosur Road to the runway-like Rajpath; the drive will encounter the complete tapestry of climatic, geographical and road conditions.
The car is manned by a two person crew from Autocar India who are rotated every six days. KPMG have been appointed as independent auditors to validate the proceedings and the end result of the drive program.

The team will monitor and log every parameter of the car’s performance including fuel consumption, tyre wear, and consumables like engine oil, brake fluid etc to establish its true-world fuel efficiency and cost of ownership after 20,000km.
The drive will end on 6th June 2009 at the Ford India's manufacturing plant in Chennai.
 
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Day 24 Dehradun - Bareilly

Today we began our journey towards Bareilly. The distance to be covered for the day was about 300km. We found that the locals had been right in telling us that the highway would be a two-laner all the way. Wrapping-up our shoots, we started at around 12.00pm. Taking NH-72 and later NH-58 we started driving towards Haridwar.

The roads up till Haridwar were narrow but the traffic was fairly light. We stopped at Haridwar for a quick bite and then continued driving towards Bareilly. We entered the town late evening and due to some miscalculations by the GPS, were directed through a rather crowded market, and it took us about an hour to get out of it. On filling up the first Ikon gave 23.97kpl and the second Ikon which was running with the air-conditioner on, gave 19.91kmpl. The destination for the next day’s drive was Lucknow.