Tryst with Seventy7

I have been following this forum since last 5 years and only in 2015 did I get a chance to become a member of it. This is my first post about my Car, the 2014 Elite I20 Asta CRDi Pristine Blue! I prefer calling her Seventy7 and this post is supposed to have a lot of Photos about my stint with this man made marvel. Driving was'nt a new thing for me and after 14 years of driving AllwheelDrive(for a week), RearwheelDrive(for 10mins) & FronwheelDrive Cars(all these 14years of this religious following), two things were understood:

1. Past is a wonderful place to visit but certainly not a good place to stay.

2. Follow your heart, but keep your head along!!! *Blast from the past:* Nope, I am not a millionaire but yes, I made it a point that I will get first hand experience/information about owning and living with a costly machinery. Maruti 800 served our family for 19years until she departed from us in 2011. After growing up, in 2010 the "Uber Cool" Hyundai i20 Asta 1.2 Kappa made its way to our home. That was the first time when following Teambhp helped me arriving at an informed decision. Ever since then, Blue Colour grew on me like anything. Till Date, we have owned 5 first hand cars i.e. Maruti 800 > Hyundai I20 Asta 1.2 > Hyundai I20 Asta Optional 1.2 Automatic > Hyundai Elite I20 Asta CRDi > Hyundai Creta CRDi SX Optional.

And right after I started earning in 2011, 2006 Honda Accord 2.4 Ivtec Manual was my first preworshipped car. This lasted 4 months when I traded it in for Skoda Superb 2.8 V6 2005 model. After 2 months of hoopla(however I almost brefriended all the staff of Nawab Skoda Noida), with God's grace, I was able to sell her off for a Toyota Corolla Altis which subsequently, I traded it off for a 2006 Honda Civic VAT which accompanied me for the next 4 months which was then sold to a 2010 Honda Civic VMT which lasted for good 2 years. During all this time, I kept learning about different engines, different vehicles, and their ownership.

While I was away from my home, my native cars were all petrol ones and I was a bit skeptical about the diesel cars and the nuisance(or may be my idea of it) which they bring with themselves. Teambhp by all means helped me change this preconception and finally I started understanding the basics that revolve around them. Just like any other car enthusiast, I was initially leaned towards owning a machine which would dismiss a ton from none in the fastest possible time and thats the reason why I wandered for good 3 years before settling for Elite I20 "CRDi".

I lived with Japanese Giants(Accord, Civic etc) to see the pioneers who introduced "Reliability" to the EU. I lived with the German Finesse and the absolute driving pleasure that they bring with themselves AND, in economic terms, "the amount foregone to derive such a utility". The risk value analysis outclassed the value and with a heavy heart, I waived goodbye to all the mighty 2800cc and 256nm of pulling power in the wake of something, that could be considerable fun, but doesnt look funny on my pocket:P. Civic VAT (with paddle shifters like Lamborghini) found a place in my life for 4 months.

The Ivtec was nothing short of a man made marvel because even after so much of powe r(considering it was born in 2006), she was amazingly endearing to the pocket. Come November 2012 and she went off to make way for the Sahib's abode, i.e. Toyota Corolla Altis 2010 1.8 G which i tried only to understand what a vehicle with equal power(almost identical) to civic can do for me and knowing that this car is "designated/suited to be chauffeur driven". This car was an easy going fellow and thats about it.

It failed to impress where Civic used to rush adrenaline everytime the tacho read 6000 rpm. Plus a big minus was the identity that this car has had, if a decent guy(not some greek god looking guy) is driving her around the city, with no passengers in the car, more opinions would be that its driven by a driver rather than the owner itself(IMHO). I sold her as my uncle left behind a very well maintained Civic 2010 VMT(with cruise control). This car being a manual car had that perfect feel for anyone who drive it.

This was the time when I actually learn ed what lies inside the Japanese Machinery and why reliability goes hand in hand with "T" and "H". The simplicity of technology(or a lack of it) made these cars immensely popular and even a novice person like me, was able to learn about the working knowledge of this phenomenal engine. Having owned a Superb in the past, i was able to compare these two cars and I was awestruck with the amount of technology that was used to propel two cars of entirely different nature to a mark of 100 from 0. The world needs no introduction about Ivtec technology and I am NOW a diehard fan of it.

During these 3 years of trial and error with a plethora of machinery, I was able to make out one thing. As someone rightly said somewhere "the definition of discipline lies in the distinction between what you want now, and what you want the most". After my father set sail for his tryst with destiny in 2010, i had to assume responsibilities which i never wanted to learn about. But yes, I learned it the hard way. I made up my mind that my next car(supposedly my first fully owned new car) would not be an act in haste and would be something that would strike the best balance between head and heart friendliness. After much deliberations and the next day of release of the official review of Elite i20, I concluded that its gonna be her.

The Indian Car of Year 2014, Elite i20 made its way to my home in September 25, 2014. Ever since then, we have made an adorable couple of ourselves in town and seem to compliment each other well. *The Contenders:* 1. Polo GT TDI/TDI: I was following this brand(more than the car) since long and in a tussle between head and heart, head won this one. Hands down, the looks, the composure and the elite feeling that this car brings with itself and the newly introduced (in 2014) 1.5 TDI engine, it made a real good case for itself. But personally, i felt that it had everything but something word would fail to suffice.

My mother was a disciple of Petrol Cars and the NVH was the last nail on the coffin. 2. Swift ZDI: After having owed a Maruti for 19years and knowing that this is such a popular car, you cant be wronged by going for her. But interestingly, for this one, the heart won over my head and i did not go with the most popular hatchback this side of Maruti 800/alto. We compared this car with i20 back in 2010 and the built quality, the cabin feel and many other things went against this car. But it was 2014 already and the facelifted Swift with ZDI variant made a real good case for itself, but again,i felt that it had everything but something word would fail to suffice. My mo