<%@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 25 Bareilly - Lucknow

We started today’s drive towards Lucknow at around 10.45am. We took NH-24 and drove towards Shahjahanpur via Katra. The highway was a two-laner throughout, hence maintaining a constant pace was a matter of concern. As we headed towards Sitapur we came across a very long line of trucks parked on the left lane, it was at least 4-5km long.
At first we thought that there was probably a check post ahead, and sure enough, after we overtook the trucks on the right lane, we were pulled over by two policemen. They told us that the line of trucks was a result of a truck breakdown on the bridge the previous night. After we crossed the bridge, there was a similar situation on the other side too; trucks on the right lane were waiting for traffic to clear up. We moved along slowly, cutting through lots of traffic, which slowly was clearing up. Continuing on NH-24 we crossed Sitapur from where on the roads opened up to an extent. However some patches were full of diversions as roadwork was being carried out.
We then joined NH-24 which took us to Lucknow. On filling, the first Ikon gave 30.01kpl and the second Ikon which was running with the air-conditioner on, gave 22.20kpl. Tomorrow we head for Jhansi.