Hold up, folks! We just hit our 12th issue completing our first year as Nepal Drives!

And to thank you for all your love and support, we are celebrating this issue with some exciting products to get YOUR engines revving! First up, we have the Škoda Kodiaq gracing our cover. Check out our review of this sophisticated SUV that has a wild side.

If that doesn't get you going we have the creme de la creme of crotch rockets, the MV Agusta F3 675 in our stables along with the blazing blue Suzuki Gixxer SF 250! That definitely made for some crazy corner carving fun!

We also have a featurette of the drool inducing, spine tingling, and mind numbing Mercedes SLC 200 Red Art Edition. And to round things off, we have the Subaru Forester making light work of everything we throw at its path!

Oh! And lest we forget to mention, we were also part of the first ever TVS Moto Soul 2019 that took place in Vagator, Goa. It was an incredible event for motorcycle riders, and a great start to the new event line. Do check out our feature on it.

Did we not tell you this issue would get you out of your chair? This is our way of thanking you for sticking with us for our first year. Now, onwards to bigger and better things.

We were on the banks of the river Narayani, wrapping up the day’s shoot for the Tata H5. Across the river, on the opposing bank, echoed the distant jingle-jangle of bells accompanying the sermons and prayers. The setting sun had cast an orange blanket over the skies and darkness quickly enveloped everything around us; bringing with it the cold nip of the winter air. The time we spent with the H5 was incredible, and our trip to Narayanghat got the ball rolling for us on our endeavor to travel Nepal in the year 2020. 
Lucky for us, we got to travel to the beautiful city of Narayanghat on what could be the most important SUV for Tata Motors yet. You can read our review of the H5 in the pages to come. We also drive what Suzuki says is the gateway car to SUVs. They call it the S-Presso and we see if we can get a jolt of excitement out of it as we drive through the tiny alleyways of Patan all the way to the hills of Chobhar.
On the opposite side of the size spectrum from the S-Presso is the new Toyota Hilux 2.4L Edition that we have test-driven in this issue.  We took it out to god-knows-where and did devil-knows-what with it. Wait, that didn’t come out right. What we mean is that we tortured it to no end and did things that other vehicles rarely could. Wait… 
Moving on. On the two wheelers front we have the Harley Davidson Street Rod 750.  The Street Rod is the second most affordable Harley-Davidson motorcycle in Nepal after the Street 750, and we see if it is bang for the buck.
Good enough for ya? We hope you enjoy reading through this issue of Nepal Drives. 
Until next time!

It would take something special for us to fight through rush-hour traffic, spend 20 minutes finding a parking spot inside Bhrikuti Mandap (only to have to park outside on the road), and spend sweaty hours walking amongst other sweaty people under the sweltering heat of Kathmandu’s mid-summer hell. But because we were heading to the NADA Auto Show, we made an exception. Was this year’s NADA Auto Show worth all that punishment? Of course it was. There were some amazing launches and incredible products that managed to keep our smiles and enthusiasm intact. You can check out the newest launches in our coverage inside. 

However, we can’t wrap our head around why it has to be that difficult. Why is finding parking so difficult? Why aren’t there any places for people to cool off? Why are companies forced to work two straight days and nights (often even after the event starts) to set up their stall instead of giving them an extra prep day? Why does it feel so mismanaged? And why has it been the same scenario year after year?
We don’t have the answers to all these questions. Nevertheless, this month’s issue might have the answers to your automotive questions. We drive the latecomer: Honda HRV, the splendid Suzuki S Cross, the electrifying Kia Niro EV, the brand new Mahindra XUV 300, and the talk of the town: Hyundai Venue. 

If you have more unanswered questions, send them to our Facebook page and Instagram and we’ll get back to you. Maybe we’ll even answer them in our upcoming issue. 

Until then, toodaloo.

“E is for Electric"

Think the automotive market of Nepal is dull? Think again! We ran into an Audi Q3 with a, wait for it..., Nepali number plate. We are not exactly sure how this transpired but there is a high chance that it jumped a few legal hurdles to make its way into the roads of Nepal. However, being the only vehicle with the coveted 4 ring logo and wearing a red number plate, this particular Audi Q3 is not far from an orange beacon plowing the roads of Nepal. And that too looks like it’s going to change. 

Rumor has it, the Audi e-tron will be making its way into Nepal. It will be a significant addition to the electric car bandwagon that our country seems to be getting on. Speaking of the electric vehicle wave washing over the country, we have one of the frontrunners in the race: The Hyundai Kona EV. And to really give it a run for its money we put behind its wheel the biggest petrolhead from our team. Is the Kona EV “a toaster on wheels” as he first put it? Or will the Kona EV make him eat his words? Read on to find out. 

On the cover, we have the TVS Ntorq, a scooter so fun we decided to take it off the beaten path and away from the city. We met some amazing people, had great food, but most importantly had a lot of fun. Also, in this issue, we test out another scooter: the Aprilia Storm 125, the bright blue Skoda Rapid Onyx, and the DFSK Glory 580.

We had a lot of fun working on this issue, but we have an important task of looking into some Audis. Maybe we’ll have that here next month. You’ll have to come back and see for yourself then. Until next time!

If we were to tell you that the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross has its origins in one of
the riced up tuner cars from the Fast and Furious franchise, would you believe
us? Well, it does!
How does a furious, race tuned, speed machine trickle down to a compact SUV
plowing the roads of Nepal? Find out in this issue of Nepal Drives.
Another red hot product in this issue, although a lot later than we would
have liked, is the TVS Apache RR 310. This is what TVS put their research and
innovation into way back during the end of 2017, and we finally have it in our
garage.
In this issue, we also have the new Yamaha FZ-S Fi V3 and the new Ford Figo,
which have both been great machines to test out. We loved the engine in the
Figo, it was a fiesty little number which we think deserves
This has been a fun issue to work on, and we hope you enjoy going through
it. We will be back with more exciting content from the world of Nepalese
automobiles.

When we talk about iconic cars we tend to limit our list to the Mustangs, Testa Rossas, GT40s and the likes. As iconic as they are they make little impact on the lives of people in this part of the world, except for finding their way into our bedroom posters.

However, there are several cars that have had significant influences in the lives of millions of people and played a pivotal role in shaping lives of people. One of these unsung heroes is the Hyundai Santro; a vehicle that established the tall boy designs and became the “complete car” for hundreds of thousands of families in South Asia. 

After production for the Hyundai Santro ended in 2014, many thought the budget car hero had hung up its cape. But, the launch of the new Hyundai Santro this year has turned things around. The new Hyundai Santro is ready to plow the roads of KTM again and maybe even create new stories for a whole new generation. However, filling the shoes of the older Santros is a tall order and we look to scrutinize the new Santro the best we can, in this issue of Nepal Drives. 

Also, this month, we document the special occasion of our first time with a Harley Davidson. You heard us right, we popped our cherry with the HD Sportster Iron 883 and boy did we make the most of it. 

Elsewhere in the issue, we have the Nissan Kicks, the Cleveland Cycleworks Ace Scrambler, along with our documentation of our journey to the mountains with the Toyota Rush, our scrimmages in the Amazing Motor Rally, and our epic endeavors in Rajasthan with the new Ford Figo. 

That about wraps it up for this month, enjoy the issue. We’ll be back with a bang next month!

The forest at Hattiban primarily consists of tall pine trees, amongst which we had
spent the last 3 hours shooting the Mitsubishi L200 Sportero. The soil we stepped
on was still damp from the recent rains that had washed over the valley and its
outskir ts. The dying rays of the shaded sun glint and shimmered through crevices
in the skies and we concluded the last test drive for this issue.
A week earlier, we were carving corners on the Yamaha R15 V3, the newest
iteration of the iconic hero of the 150 cc segment of motorcycles. Before that we
were wreaking havoc on a hill we found in a Ford Ranger Raptor. Sometime in
between, we were cruising the city streets in the Skoda Octavia.
From putting the Raptor through its paces on the hilly roughs of the valley to wringing out every bit of power the R15 V3 we managed to cram a decent
amount of variation in this issue of Nepal Drives. And we present to you the result
of our efforts in the pages that follow.
We do hope you enjoy reading through this issue, we will be back with more next
month. And hopefully, summer will be in full swing by then and we can bring you
even more interesting content from the world of automobiles.

"DOWN & DIRTY"
They say you shouldn’t be afraid to play in the dirt because life is too short to always have clean fingernails. We couldn’t have come across this saying at a better time because at our disposal we had the dirt ready Aprilia RX125. To accompany the RX was its sibling, the SX125: less dirt ready, but not one to shy away from a little fun. These motorcycles, dare we say it, are a good definition of incongruity.
Massive big bike appeal but a relatively small engine, we jumped into this conundrum with our best foot forward. It had been a long time since we reviewed a 125cc machine and to get to do it in this avatar had us giddy with excitement. Also kicking up dust in this issue of Nepal Drives is the Jeep Compass. An iconic name in the off-roading scene, Life Automobile Pvt. Ltd launched the brand in Nepal and it made significant waves in the automotive market. So much so, that a 100 Compasses have already been sold. We wanted to know what the fuss was about so we made our way into the front seat to give it a shot.
On our first ever long-term review, we have in our garage the Suzuki Burgman Street 125. Suzuki’s maxi scooter has been with us for the past month and we managed to create a strong bond with it. We can tell that it is going to be difficult to return it to Suzuki but we managed to do a proper review of the scooter. It has been a fun issue to work on, with plenty more for you to browse through.
We’ll leave you to it then, see you next month with more of the best automotive content in Nepal.

“REAFFIRMING PROMISES”

The XUV 500 was Mahindra’s curveball to the world, at least for us. In terms of
the aesthetic appeal, it was a massive leap from the mundane designs they came
up with. It was a pleasant surprise and the XUV 500 backed up the good looks
with its performance. Long story short, we fell in love with it.
Close to 5 years later, we stand in front of the new XUV 500 which promises to be
all that was good with the first iteration and more. More “Plush”, to be exact. We
take promises very seriously here at Nepal Drives so we made sure we didn’t just
take it for its word. Which is why you see it on this issue’s cover.

Also under our scrutiny in this issue is the Tata Nexon Automatic which promises
to make lives easier, the Mahindra Scorpio Pik Up which promises to become the
untiring workhorse, the Hyundai Tucson which promises to be a luxurious midsize
SUV, and the Husqvarna FE 501 which promises to blow our socks off.

Promises have been tested here, so do read on to see if they live up to their word.
We promise you’re in for a good ride.

UNTIL NEXT TIME!

With this festive issue comes the dawning of a contender that is set to take center stage as the most sought after SUV of the season for Nepal. No, make that the most sought after MPV of the season. No… wait… SUV. 

As you might have already guessed, we are talking about the Toyota Rush. What the car has working in its favor is the rock solid brand name and dependability. What remains to be seen is how the Rush’s SUV cum MPV styling will fare in the market. Inside this issue, we dive in head first into this discussion in our review of Nepal Drives. 

Another point of discussion that we look into is the possibility of an all-electric future for the automotive world. The likeliness of this happening is all too real. And, like for many auto enthusiasts, the prospect of this happening is a little scary. However, we are happy to say that testing out the all-electric Hyundai Ioniq has helped calm our nerves. Read our review inside and you might agree with us. 

Also in this issue, we drive the Volkswagen Polo 1.0, ride the TVS Ntorq 125, and experience the Mahindra Maxximo HD. 

Oh, and before we forget, we also have an all exclusive feature of The Himalayan Challenge, an endurance rally that visited Nepal. But, it is not just any endurance rally; check out the feature to see what we mean.

We hope you like what we have on offer in this issue. We will be celebrating our first Dashain as Nepal Drives, and we would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy Dashain. There is no measure of how grateful we are for all the love we have received since we started. Thank you for your support. 

Until next time!

There’s something about a sunroof that really makes a car more desirable for us. We know it’s vain, completely superficial, and probably not what a motor-head should be excited about in a car but this is our guilty pleasure. Maybe it reminds us of the good old days when, as kids, we used to fight for our chance to stick our heads out of the sunroof. Or maybe it’s the relaxing feeling of the sun cascading in through the roof while we’re driving that does it for us. Whatever the case, we fell a little too hard for the Creta when we saw the sunroof on the new facelift. The Hyundai Creta crunched some serious numbers on its way to the apex of the compact SUV segment. Now, with stiffening competition, the Creta facelift looks to reestablish its presence. Check out where it falls in our books in Nepal Drives’ cover review.

Now, before we forget, we would like to show our gratitude towards everyone for the overwhelming support we have received for the magazine and for the Ford Mustang GT video. Now that our YouTube Channel is also up, we will be making sure that things pickup there too.

Back to what’s inside in this issue. We have an exclusive review of the Mercedes GLE 350d coupe, a massive cocoon of luxury. A car that defies the traditional SUV design norms, this beauty definitely splits opinions for car fanatics. Dwarfing this pretty massive machine in size is a complete behemoth: the BAW Warrior. Check out the review of this 4x4 that serves in the Chinese army’s fleet. 

The MG ZS also finds its way into this issue, and this low profile artist really blew us away. We hope you enjoy yourself while reading through our third issue. We’ll be
back soon, keep an eye out for our coverage this NADA Autoshow 2018.

The tremendous response received by Nepal Drives’ first issue has left us staggered. For this love and affection, we thank you all. But, now that we’ve got the ball rolling, it’s time to keep the pedal on the metal and power on through to our second issue.

We kick things off with the third generation Suzuki Swift, arguably the most popular hatchback to ever come into the country. It’s an iconic car for the Nepalese automotive market and we take pride in having all three generations on our cover. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Within these pages, we have the detailed transcripts of our encounter with the Jaguar F-Pace. The first SUV from the British moniker is here in Nepal and we have the exclusive lowdown on the Jaaaaag! (Pssst, check out our poster too!)

On the two-wheeler front, we have the TVS Apache RTR 200 4V V2.0 that recently received a mega upgrade! The racing DNA is strong with this one and we put it through its paces this month. There is plenty more for your reading pleasure in this issue, from the captivating Renault Captur to the Force Kargo King. We hope you enjoy reading Nepal Drives this month.

We will be back with more very soon! Until then, goodbye and Godspeed!

We have a vision- to create the greatest, most innovative, authentic, informative, and inspiring automotive magazine in Nepal. No small feat, but one made easier by an extraordinary team of like-minded and passionate game changers.  Having been in the business for the past seven years, it’s not an undertaking that we took up on a whim. It’s a deep engrained passion that spurs us forward in achieving this vision. There is nothing else in this world we’d rather be doing.

This is our attempt to build the perfect automotive community and become the voice for the Nepalese motoring landscape by encompassing as much of the automotive sector as possible. Regardless of whether you find the joys of life on two wheels or four, or you make a living through what you drive; it is the unrelenting love for automobiles and everything related to it that binds us together.

Our goal is to create and become part of Nepal’s biggest and most comprehensive automobile community. Within these pages are our heart and soul, what we love, what we live. This is what drives us.

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Nepal Drives is an English medium, Nepalese automotive portal (web+magazine) that brings the world of cars and motorcycles to the Nepali readers throughout the country with the latest happenings of the auto-world, from test drives and test rides of the latest offerings to in-depth conversations with people who can give us more insight into the market and its activities.

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Nepal Drives - Volume 1 - Issue 12

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