<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> Autocar India Ford Drive 2009
www.india.ford.com                                
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.
 
Home Gallery   
Day 28 Bhopal - Nagpur

We Left from Jhansi relatively early. Even at 8:30 in the morning the temperature was 36.4 degree Celsius. So we decided that we will switch drivers midway of our journey today as it is very difficult for a single driver to be in the non AC car in this heat all the way. The road started as a four lane for some time later it became a two lane for most part of our journey. The road had some diversions but it was much better than the Jhansi road. We were able to maintain a constant speed most of the time.
Again the roads were a bit boring with nothing to see or stop and photograph. We expected the cars to give much better efficiency as we were able to maintain a nice constant speed. After the filling at the Bhopal pump we got some amazing figures the first Ikon gave a shattering 36.84kpl whicle the second AC ikon gave an impressive 28.29kpl.