It’s a regular chore for me to drive on a piece of land which the authorities call as the Thane-Bhiwandi bypass “Road”. But it was on Friday, 12th September 2008 did I get the shock of my life.

As I made my way between the innumerable potholes, it suddenly occurred to me that I saw the Spirit of Ecstasy. And as my Pothole-insane mind started to gain consciousness, I understood that it was indeed a Rolls Royce Phantom which had passed by the opposite lane. But one sec, something wrong with the Rolls…..but what is it….?

To investigate this, I chased the car, by driving in the opposite direction on the same lane I was driving before. And finally I was successful to reach there since our Rolls was stuck in the traffic.

And what I saw was the brutal act of cruelty. It almost made tears come to my eyes. The Rolls Royce Phantom was painted in Red and White….I said WTF. And it took me no time to realize that this kind of merciless act to the iconic car was done by The Mobile Store. For their promotional stunt they have painted this car in red and white simply showing to what extent they can be obscene and cruel to innocent cars.

I had seen many cars painted in Red and white…I have seen Swift, Indica, 800 and even BMW M3 painted in red and white but a Rolls Royce Phantom…..that’s pathetic…! To me it’s similar to asking your grandpa to dress in a Bermuda and a Hawaiian shirt and move out for an occasion……Imagine how he would look…!

At that point I didn’t had a camera to take a snap of that cruel act. But here are some photos I found on the net.

 
Source: Flickr.com  
 Source: Flickr.com

Things to be considered before fitting CNG or LPG in a car

Here are a few things you should consider before installing a CNG or LPG kit in your car.

1.    Your Budget – If you don’t have a high budget, you should go for LPG which would cost you around Rs 19 to 23K. But the running cost of LPG is 2.5 times that of CNG. The other option is to fit a second-hand CNG kit. Before buying a Second-hand Kit see if the cylinder has a valid certificate and have passed all the safety tests.
2.    Distance you travel everyday – If you travel a long distance (more than 50 Km) then go for CNG which will justify your initial investment of 40K Rs as well as the daily running cost.
3.    Size of your car – CNG cylinders are very huge and heavy usually eating up all you boot space. So if you have a small car or say a hashback then you may not want the CNG cylinder peeping out of your rear window. Instead you would choose for a LPG cylinder which firmly fits in the space for your car’s spare tyre.
4.    How old is your car – These days the RTO does not pass CNG kits in cars which are older that 1996. I may be inaccurate at that, so please check with your RTO, or the agent if you want to use the kit in a legal way.
5.    CNG or LPG stations – If there are enough CNG or LPG stations is your way then only go for fitting the kit. If there is a LPG station where you can visit once or twice in a week then go for LPG, because with limited CNG cylinder capacity you would have to frequently visit the station which might not be possible for you.
6.    Your car’s engine type – It is usually seen that engines with MPFI does not perform well with CNG. But LPG runs smooth with these engines.
These were my suggestions, do share with me your thoughts.

Related Post:
For a car, which is better LPG or CNG?