Long Term Report 2

So I managed to take the Hector off Vikrant’s hands last month and boy was I overjoyed. I mean what’s not to get happy about. I get a smart looking luxury SUV with plenty of space, features and the best of all, a twin clutch automatic transmission too. Now I have had the Hector for over a month and it’s been driven for almost a thousand km in almost all conditions. So in this report let me talk about two things that I really liked and two things that I did not.

Now let me start with the biggest positive here, the interiors. Stepping inside the Hector feels great and that’s thanks to the welcoming interiors. Even though there is no beige at all, the dark interiors look and feel great. And then there’s that sense of space. The large windows along with that massive panoramic sun-roof add to what is an already very spacious car. Then there is the boot, at 587 litres, it's huge and if you need more space, the rear seats fold flat in a jiffy to make more room and that’s exactly what I did when I had to carry my bicycle.

There’s also the convenience. The Hector is loaded with so many features that it just makes small things so much more convenient. The powered seats means getting to your favourite driving position takes no time at all. A special mention must go to the massive vertical touch screen infotainment system. Not only does it look fantastic it’s good to use too. Yes it’s a tad slow to react, but other than that, goes about its job without any issues and its sounds the part too. The automatic headlights and wipers means you never have to use the stalks and the connected car tech means you can pre-cool it, start it up, operate the sun-roof all by just twiddling with your smartphone.

Now let’s get to the niggles. The Hector comes with a twin-clutch gearbox and on the move it’s seamless. But at slow speeds it does struggle at times and one really has to give a lot of gas to get going. And it gets a little jerky too as it hunts for the right gear, but once you go past the second gear, all is well. The Hector has been used mostly in the city, and going by the condition of our roads in Mumbai in the monsoons means the Hector has been dealing with more of craters and less of roads. Now being an SUV, one would expect the Hector to smother most undulations, but all is not well in paradise. Anything other than minor undulations and uneven surfaces gets to the Hector. It gets unsettled and the rocking movement can be a little annoying. However, I have also driven the diesel variant of the Hector and that definitely does ride a lot better. But on the not so bad surfaces, you have nothing to complain about.

Next report we shall take a look at the performance and fuel efficiency amongst other things so watch out.

Vehicle log

Odometer - 15,630km

Kilometer this month - 847km

Average - 9.2kmpl

Pictures: Kaustubh Gandhi