All posts by : Car Bima

The 2024 Dakar Rally has reached the halfway mark after the end of the gruelling 48 Hour Chrono stage. Indian rider Harith Noah made some big gains in this stage and has broken into the top 15 for the first time.

Unfortunately, the stage also marked the end of Hero MotoSports rider Joan Barreda Bort’s Dakar 2024 campaign, with the Spanish rider out due to mechanical issues. The Indian squad now only has one rider in the running – Ross Branch, who is currently second overall.

1. Branch just 51 secs behind leader Brabec
2. Noah P13 overall
3. Loeb wins Stage 6, while Al-Attiyah drops down order

Harith Noah breaks into Dakar top 15

Stage 6 marked the debut of the new 48H chrono stage, which required competitors to cover over 600km across two days. They had until 4pm on the first day to cover as much ground as possible before stopping at the closest break zone. Competitors then set off at 7am next day to complete the rest of the stage.

It’s been a challenging first half of the Dakar Rally for Harith Noah, but he’s on course to record his best-ever Dakar finish. He set the 12th best time in Stage 6 to leapfrog to 13th place in the overall ranking.

Noah’s 20th place result in 2021 was the best-ever ranking achieved by an Indian at Dakar. Despite spending most of last year recovering from two major injuries, Noah recently told Autocar India that he was aiming for a top 15 finish this time around.

Branch, Hero MotoSports P2 overall

It was a stage of mixed fortunes for the two Hero MotoSports riders. Joan Barreda Bort encountered mechanical issues with his bike, 529km into the stage, and was unable to reach the finish line. This spells the end of his Dakar 2024 run since Rally GP competitors are not allowed to continue the rally if they don’t finish a stage.

But the Hero camp still has reasons to celebrate. Ross Branch successfully completed the stage in fifth place. Although he’s lost the overall lead to Honda’s Ricky Brabec, he’s only 51secs adrift in second place.

Sainz takes Dakar 2024 cars lead

Reigning Dakar champion Nasser Al-Attiyah tumbled down the order after his Prodrive Hunter racer came to a halt due to a broken steering arm. He had to wait for his team’s assistance truck to arrive in order to repair the damage. While he did eventually finish the stage, he’s dropped to 17th place overall.

Audi now hold the top two spots, with Carlos Sainz in the lead, around 20 mins ahead of his teammate Mattias Ekstrom. Nine-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb set the fastest time in Stage 6, to move up to third place overall.

Also see:

Dakar 2024: Hero’s Ross Branch reclaims lead after Stage 5

‘15 is a nice number’: Harith Noah’s Dakar 2024 goals

The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, a new life-line connecting India’s financial capital to the mainland, has been opened for public use today. The 21.8-km long bridge connects Sewri, which is near the South of Mumbai, and various parts of what is being dubbed “Third Mumbai” – essentially parts of Navi Mumbai that border the upcoming international airport.

1. MTHL toll costs Rs 250, return journey priced at Rs 375
2. Daily pass costs Rs 625, monthly pass priced at Rs 12,500
3. Expected to cut travel time for Mumbaites headed to Pune, Mahabaleshwar, Goa

Also called the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Smruti Sewri-Nhava Sheva Atal Setu, the MTHL has has 6 lanes (3+3 lanes) plus one emergency lane on both sides, and spans 21.8km; about 16.50km is over the sea and 5.5km is over land. With a speed limit of 100kph, the bridge is expected to be handy for outstation travellers to and from South Mumbai. There are interchanges at Sewri, Shivaji Nagar, SH-54 in Jasai and at Chirle on NH-348.

Also See: Driving on Mumbai Trans Harbour Link video

MMRDA and the government have set the toll price at Rs 250 for a one-way journey, while a return pass will cost Rs 375. The price of a daily pass is set at Rs 625, while a monthly pass costs Rs 12,500. While most of the tolling will be automatic (open tolling) so the flow of traffic will not be affected, there will also be a traditional cash lane for those who want to pay cash.

Here’s more details on the feat of engineering that the MTHL is, how eco-friendly and safe it is and what it’s like to drive on India’s longest sea bridge.

Also see:

Mumbai Coastal Road drive in a Tata Nexon EV

Bandra-Worli Sea Link test

BMW Group India clocked sales of 14,172 units in 2023, registering a strong 18 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth. The company says 2023 was a trailblazing year for all its three brands – BMW, Mini and BMW Motorrad – each recording their highest-ever sales in the Group’s history in the country.

1. BMW sold 13,303 units; Mini retailed 869 units
2. BMW Motorrad sales grew 20 percent
3. BMW sold 1,474 EVs; 325 percent YoY growth

BMW Group India sales in 2023

While car sales under the BMW Group in 2023 were pegged at 13,303 units with an 18 percent YoY growth, Mini models went home to 869 buyers, registering a 20 percent growth. BMW Motorrad registered 8,768 units and a 20 percent YoY growth rate.

The company said that Q4 CY23 (October-December 2023) was the best-ever quarter for all three brands, with BMW particularly clocking sales of 4,306 units (up 41 percent), Mini clocking 287 cars (a 54 percent growth), and BMW Motorrad selling 1,990 units (a 3 percent increase), respectively. December 2023 was also the best-ever sales month for BMW and Mini.

While SUVs dominated BMW’s 2023 sales with a 54 percent contribution to overall volumes, sedans were not far behind at 46 percent. The BMW 3 Series emerged as the highest-selling model, contributing 20 percent to the company’s overall sales and going home to 2,702 buyers. At No. 2, the X1 crossover clocked 2,633 units, and also contributed 20 percent to the company’s total 2023 volumes. The flagship X7 SUV registered 1,513 units to become the third highest-selling model for the company, with an 11 percent sales contribution in the year.

BMW India EV sales in 2023

With a five-model EV portfolio, the company sold 1,474 EVs, registering a substantial YoY growth of 325 percent. “We have been No. 1 in the EV segment for the second consecutive year in a row with over 50 percent market share in the luxury segment as per the Vahan data,” Vikram Pawah, president of BMW Group India, told journalists in New Delhi.

While BMW Group India’s EV sales stand at 10 percent of the total by the end of 2023, the company is aiming for 25 percent by 2025. “We plan to introduce two more EVs in 2024,” Pawah highlighted.

Its EV portfolio includes the 3-door Mini hatchback, BMW iX1, i4, iX, and i7, with the iX being the top-selling luxury EV in India with sales of 639 units in 2023. The all-electric Mini 3-door Cooper SE hatchback went home to 239 buyers last year.

The Group had around 1,500 pending orders at end-2023 for BMW and Mini models; the BMW Motorrad order bank stands at a similar number. The company sees a two-three month waiting period for the all-electric i7 sedan, and has confirmed the iX has sold out. It says it aims to fulfill all committed deliveries of the i4 by March 2024.

Also see:

BMW, Mini line up 4 new India launches for 2024

Mercedes EQE SUV vs Audi Q8 e tron vs BMW iX vs Jaguar I Pace comparison video

We drive on the 21.8km-long Atal Setu that connects Sewri with the mainland, in an Audi RS e-tron GT.

Published On Jan 10, 2024 06:26:00 PM

Dr Sanjay Mukherjee, Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA.

Mumbai, the financial capital of India, sits on the west coast of India. Only it doesn’t. Originally a group of seven islands merged over the years into one single entity, it is situated approximately 10km off the western seaboard of India.

This is why connectivity with the mainland of India has always been something of a long trudge. To go north is easy, the mainland isn’t far. But to go east or south, you first had to travel 40km north to Thane, take a U-turn, then backtrack another 20km before starting your journey, and this took hours. Then in 1973, the authorities in Mumbai built a bridge across the Vashi creek, making the drive around considerably shorter. You still needed to backtrack 20 odd kilometres, but it did save a big chunk of time.

Mumbai Trans Harbour Link: saving time

This then, fifty years on, is the next step; a bridge that connects the heart of Mumbai to the west coast of India. No need to drive 20km, take a U-turn, backtrack. With the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) or Atal Bihari Vajpayee Smruti Sewri-Nhava Sheva Atal Setu, you can cross directly onto the mainland.

 

To drive onto the MMRDA-built Atal Setu, all you have to do is hook right on Mumbai’s Eastern Freeway and drive straight on. We first pass through a spaghetti bowl of eight on and off ramps that look straight out of a sci-fi movie. As the bridge stretches out ahead, I’m happy I have something fast, fun and appropriately forward-looking today; Audi’s RS e-tron GT. This electric supercar puts down 646hp on the road and does 0-100kph in just 3.3 seconds. And as I zoom onto the bridge – the RS pushing me back in the seat – I can’t help but marvel at the scale and size of it.

The roads are perfectly lined up ahead, there are three lanes (plus one emergency lane), the heavy duty guard rail and retaining wall can contain a fully loaded trailer, and the gantries above even have speed guns and cameras already mounted. Why couldn’t we have made a similar bridge earlier? 

Fact is, a similar bridge was thought about and discussed. The bridge back in the ‘80s would have cost around Rs 2,000 crore. Today, that figure is close to Rs 18,000 crore and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) along with finance and technical collaborations from Japan started construction in 2017. More on this later.

Mumbai Trans Harbour Link: the drive

The road up ahead is totally empty and I can’t resist a long, hard pull. As I mash the accelerator down, the Audi bolts forward, and what makes things even more exciting is that the bridge now curves right. The shortest and quickest way of course would have been to go straight, but the Atal Setu has to meander its way around a myriad of hurdles. 

 

So why does it twist and turn and rise and dip? The initial turn right is done to stay clear of the refineries on our left; there are a couple of them. Then there are a couple of power stations, after which the bridge needs to daintily step over gas and oil pipelines that drift and move with the tide. The first step up to a higher level is to allow easy passage to creek dredgers, ships that constantly de-silt the channel. And further up, the bridge rises again to its maximum height of 32 metres (according to the display on the Audi) to allow for larger ships to pass below. 

As we continue on our drive, we pass a group of workers erecting barriers. There are a couple of types used on the bridge; transparent ones keep the sound in but allow you to see out, and towards the refinery and other sensitive installations, there are slatted baffles that block your view.

Mumbai Trans Harbour Link: environment-friendly

This bridge has also been designed keeping the environment in mind; specifically the intertidal mudflats. Ecologically sensitive, these mudflats support a lot of biodiversity such as flamingos and other water birds, so plans for a sea link-like cable-stay bridge were scrapped — the fanning cables would have interfered with the flight path of the flamingos. In addition, to protect the biodiversity that lives on the mudflats, no permanent embankments were allowed to be built, and this made erecting the massive pillars and spans of the bridge extremely expensive and difficult, forcing them to do it from temporary bridges and floating barges.

 

The Ministry of Environment and Forest also directed the project leaders to set aside around 2 percent of the cost of the project, around Rs 330 crore, for the replantation of mangroves, air and water pollution monitoring and flamingo monitoring. A sum of around Rs 30 crore was paid to the Bombay Natural History Society to monitor the latter for 10 years. Concerning the efforts to be eco-friendly Sanjay Mukherjee, Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA, said, “Considering the environmental impact and the minimum disturbance to the flora and fauna, we have used reverse circulation drills when we have drilled in and that has caused minimum vibration and minimum disturbance to the marine life and aquatic life and other life around this area.” 

Back on the ‘gas’ in the Audi and I’m revelling in how planted it feels. The low-slung battery, the sporty and sophisticated suspension, and the stiffness of the chassis make the car feel super comfortable at high speeds. Up ahead there’s another steep rise with the road disappearing over the crest. As we get into a corner towards the top we notice that the side of the bridge is painted a shade of pink. Done to indicate the largest and highest span to ships passing under, the colours are also chosen keeping the flamingos in mind.

As the road dips down again and we effortlessly gain speed, I spot the mainland of India. But can this be right? We’ve only been driving for what feels like 15 or 20 minutes. Then I look down at the speedo; better slow down. And that’s the other thing about this bridge, the tarmac is just brilliant. Smooth, silent, well marked with wide lanes and near seamless transitions between the segments, this will be Mumbai’s best surfaced road.

As we pass Elephanta island on the right, and another drop, we now clearly see the mainland of India. The connecting roads up ahead aren’t finished, so we drive up to a ramp that ends abruptly. 

 

Wow what a ride! And a healthy 100kph speed limit. Also, once all the connectors and roads are finally built, most journeys out of Mumbai will be considerably shorter. It will open up a whole new region of Mumbai for faster development; faster connectivity will mean the economy of Greater Mumbai and India will be boosted; and once the new airport opens up, it will only be a quick drive away. As Mukherjee says, “The connectivity of the MTHL to Marine Drive is also a very crucial thing. So we are constructing a tunnel and we shall be starting that work soon. That will be from Orange Gate on the Eastern Freeway down to Marine Drive.” There’s little doubt that the MTHL is going to change Mumbai forever. Like the name too; it was PM Vajpayee after all who dragged India into the modern era when it came to roads, and built the Golden Quadrilateral and many others, a fair number of them under budget.

Also see:

Mumbai Coastal Road drive in a Tata Nexon EV – video

Copyright (c) Autocar India. All rights reserved.

Triumph has finally taken the covers off the Daytona 660 and in this bike, the 660cc triple is in its most powerful state yet making 95hp at 11,250rpm and 69Nm at 8,250rpm. 

1. Gets radial calipers and IMU
2. First fully-faired Triumph after original Daytona 675

While the Daytona 660 is a fully-faired machine, its rider triangle is much more relaxed than the original and quite unforgiving 675. Owing to the fact that the clip-on handlebars are placed above the fork tops and the footpegs not being set very high up, the riding position is sporty yet comfortable. 

The split seats are also larger than a traditional supersport, like say a Kawasaki ZX-6R, and should be more comfortable for both rider and pillion. 

While the main frame, wheels and most of the cycle parts are carried over, there are a few key changes. The Daytona 660 weighs 201kg (12kg more than the Trident), has Triumph-branded radially mounted calipers and gets a Sport riding mode over just the Road and Rain modes on the other two Triumph 660s. 

Seat height too has gone up by 5mm over the Trident, to 810mm on the Daytona. And unlike the sport-touring Michelin Road 5 rubber on the Trident 660 and Tiger Sport 660, the Daytona 660 runs on sportier Michelin Power 6 rubber. 

As with all Triumph models, an extensive catalogue of accessories is on offer, including luggage, protection, a Bluetooth module for the dash and a bidirectional quickshifter. 

In the UK, the Daytona 660 costs 8,595 pounds (approx Rs 9.09 lakh) – priced above the Trident 660, which costs 7,895 pounds (approx Rs 8.35 lakh). Considering that Triumph retails nearly its entire international lineup here, we can expect the Daytona 660 to be launched in India in 2024. The closest rival to the new Daytona would be the Honda CBR650R, which is currently not on sale in India but we do expect it to return in due course.