<%@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 5 - Mangalore - Bangalore

Ah what a refreshing day it was today. We were to make our way to the city of Bangalore – A distance of around 350kms after a good night’s sleep we eased out of the hotel at 10.00 am. We were told that the road conditions were not good and we could expect a long drive yet again and yes, the roads were patchy from right outside Mangalore but as we got on to the Bantwal bypass the road started getting better and 22kms later we reached some brilliant driving roads which lasted for almost 100 kms. The weather today was pleasant and we could feel the cars running smoother. The picturesque road also gave an opportunity to Ashley to go crazy with the camera. Thanks to lots of down hills we could maintain good pace and reached Hassan at 1.15 pm. the roads continued to be good but as we got closer to Bangalore the traffic started getting heavy. Despite this we reached Bangalore at 5.00pm, slightly earlier than our expected time. The cars had covered 343.5kms as per the GPS in an elapsed time of 7hrs 13mins. After tanking up the lead ikon returned 24.08kpl while the second ikon managed a similar 24.31kpl. The support fiesta returned 10.72kpl.
As u read this report the convoy will be making its way to the sun and sands of Goa. Our next report will come to you from the lovely city of Panjim.

Trip details
GPS distance – 343.5kms
Total time – 7hrs 13mins
Moving time – 6hrs 40mins
Stop time – 32mins
Average speed – 47.5kph