I find it better to leave the lever in ‘D’ as the gearshifts are fastest in auto mode.ĭEF Handling: AdBlue tank needs replenishment after 7,000km. In frustration, I take control and flick the lever left, to ‘plus minus’, manually (there are no paddleshifters), but even then, the upshifts, especially near the redline, aren’t instantaneous. Put your foot down and it takes some time for the transmission to react. And that’s just as well because I also discover one of the flaws of the Compass Trailhawk – its sluggish 9-speed gearbox, which blunts performance and makes overtaking in normal circumstances a planned affair. No need to honk, no need to wait for the driver to pull over and give way – all I have to do is rely on the countless potholes which act as brakes for other vehicles. When the bus or truck in front of me is forced to slow down to tip-toe over a destroyed stretch of tarmac, that’s my cue to pull out from behind and accelerate past. The route? For me, it’s always via Poladpur, because it’s 30km shorter from Mumbai, and on the picturesque Ambenali Ghat, I have the road (or whatever’s left of it) all to myself.įeeling Lazy: Slow-witted 9-speed gearbox blunts overtaking capability.Ī side benefit of the Compass’s stop-for-nothing ability I discovered is that it makes overtaking on the narrow mountain road much easier. That’s exactly what our long-term Jeep Compass Trailhawk does, and that’s exactly why it’s been my car of choice for three consecutive Mahabaleshwar trips in two months. It’s fun when you have something that can flatten every bump, cushion you from every pothole, and stay stoically impervious to the surface beneath you. For the average family, it’s a harrowing climb and not a fun way to kick off a long weekend break. But because of its pathetic conditions, and the long and winding 40km Ambenali Ghat, it’s a road less taken. The road up from the western side, via Poladpur, is even in more of a shambles, but it’s shorter, prettier, and has very little traffic. Last year’s prolonged monsoon relentlessly hammered the roads leading up to the hill station and the final 20km Panchgani-Mahabaleshwar stretch had potholes large enough to be seen from outer space. Trouble is, the roads that take you there are simply hell, and, until early this year, they hadn’t been repaired. Mahabaleshwar just after the monsoons is simply heaven.
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