Is there a real virtue to luxury cars, or are they just an exercise in vanity? With the safety and convenience features on automobiles getting driven primarily by advanced electronics, we have seen a recent trend where the equipment list on some inexpensive cars matches, or sometimes even surpasses that of their premium counterparts. Does that mean the so-called premium, or luxury cars are white elephants with no real virtues? Where does all that money you are paying for go? Well, to start off, a part of the answer is, yes, premium and luxury cars are expensive because they have to be differentiated. If everyone you knew in your locality started driving an Audi, you wouldn’t probably want to be seen in one would you?
But the larger part of the answer is no, as premium cars are inherently expensive to build. The componentry is costly and the powertrain, engineering, processes, structural integrity, safety and materials employed are generally of a much superior order as compared to mainstream cars. With premium cars, the advantage, really, is in the engineering, the expertise, the more intricate styling, the sturdiness, the quality of the mechanicals, opulence of the cabin and the finesse in the overall setup. There are some obvious distinctions, such as the more alluring exterior styling, more potent powertrains, advanced transmissions, higher safety ratings, superior handling and ride, and of course, a luxurious feel inside the cabin. There are some other aspects which aren’t so tangible, but silently make a massive difference to your experience. The superior quality of seats, the honed ergonomics, the ability of the suspension to filter out even the finer imperfections on the road and better adjustability for the seats are some of the things that make an enormous value add without being too evident. To top that off, the ability to adapt to various road conditions, the go-anywhere capability, the ability to offer performance or efficiency on demand, and audio systems that stands head and shoulders above even the best you’ve probably ever experienced in a mainstream car, are just some of the many things that transform your experience in a well-built, premium German machine.
Now when it comes to luxury machines, they seldom get any bigger or bolder than the Audi Q8, the flagship SUV from Ingolstadt that fuses presence, performance, capability, space and elegance, all at the same time. The three liter V6 petrol engine under the long bonnet of this massive Audi is one of the most advanced petrol power plants you’ll find anywhere. It’s got an elaborate pyrotechnics show in store to dazzle you. The super refined, yet potent engine dishes out 340PS of peak power and 500 Nm of stonking torque, which is available from as low as 1340 rpm. With that sort of shove at its disposal, the Q8 is ever willing to charge forth at the horizon with the slightest dab of the right pedal. At around 2.2 ton, it’s a heavy machine, and yet, it would dispose of the 0-100 sprint in less than 6 seconds. The top speed is electronically limited to 250 kays and the task to juggle all that power around its massive four wheels is taken care of by the ever-able quattro AWD. What’s astounding though, is that even as it’s hauling that heavy weight, and at a rather impressive clip, the Q7 is said to return an efficiency figure that nudges 10kmpl. That’s the official number, but as our experience showed us, the wizardry in the powertrain would allow you to surpass that number if you’re driving on an open highway at a relaxed pace.
That was about the Q8. But since I’ll be taking you through this journey, I guess a teeny backgrounder about myself is in order as well. I am a bit of an instinctive wanderer, and keep heading out in various directions, aimlessly, and quite often. Destination is an antithesis to my idea of excursions. Over the years, having gone through this deeply satisfying activity has introduced me to several patches of heaven, which are also my ultimate refuge from the madding stress that our profession can sometimes bring along. I have been to almost every lake worth visiting, big, middling or small within a 300 km radius of Mumbai. Some of these lakes are still inaccessible by road, though a good general sense of topography, immense patience and persistence, along with some help from the locals has allowed me to walk my way to their shores.
Now Mumbai is a blessed city when it comes to fresh water reserves. Unlike many other metros which struggle with water scarcity, Mumbai is surrounded by dozens of lakes which have enough and more water to quench the city’s thirst. I have visited all of these lakes in isolation, though they’re quite spread out and the torturous approach to some of them makes them inaccessible to lesser machines. What that means is, for a car that claims to be comfortable, swift, and capable off the road, it would be interesting to see if the Q8 could enable me to visit 8 of these lakes, all in a day, and bring me back. And since it’s a luxury car, it should do it without tiring me. The Q8, visiting 8 pristine lakes around Mumbai, all in a day’s work, therefore sounded like a good story idea to me. The round trip would be about 500km, and generally, with a mainstream manual car, it would be an insanely harrowing mission. Even if one pushes hard, the experience would not be enjoyable, if not excruciating.
Generally, at this time of the year, most of the lakes would be dry. But 2021, apart from featuring the COVID19 pandemic, was special in the sense that it blessed us with exceptionally good monsoons. What that means is that all these lakes would still be some distance away from running dry, and would give me some perspective on how much more water is left in them as compared to the previous year. Curiously futile as that trip might sound, such stupidities constitute one of my keenest interests. Most important of all, however, it would be a test for the Audi Q8 to ferry us swiftly and comfortably to all of these eight lakes, bring us back, and in the process show us if it has what it takes to be a do-all, premium, comfortable machine that justifies its hefty price tag.
Now June is no month to go out for such adventurous excursions, but I’ve been known to be a bit of a non-conformist. Moreover, the hot ambient temperatures would only make it more difficult for the Q8 to keep us in a good mood by the time we came back. So I packed in my RC boat to set sail in one of the lakes, and along with my colleague Karan Tripathi, set out for this trip to the eight most beautiful lakes surrounding Mumbai at, well, 7 am so as to beat the annoying city traffic that could have taken an additional hour had we delayed our start by as little as half an hour.
Lake 1 – Tansa Lake
Unlike what we had expected, the morning showed promise against the expected atrocious weather. The sky was nicely overcast, and we could see the occasional droplets on the windscreen as well. We knew we had quite some distance to cover, but at the very outset, we figured, we’ll never have to rush it. The 3-liter V6 on the Q8 is hardly bothered even as we took it, erm, close, to the legal limits. Even as you feather the throttle and the peripheral vision is more of a 120 FPS slo-mo than the blur of a timelapse, the speedo is still indicating a rather swift 120 kays. An atom more of enthusiasm, and we’d not be legal. Before we could finish half a playlist of John Mayer on the eargasmic Bang & Olufsen system, we had taken the left turn leading us into the wildlife sanctuary surrounding the picturesque Tansa lake. The approach road to this little piece of heaven is flanked by what I reckon are 12 feet dia pipes which do the all important task of hauling water from these lakes to Mumbai.
Tansa is one of the more important water supply reservoirs for Mumbai, and is vital for its survival. Built by the Britishers between 1892 and 1925, Tansa is an artificial lake, and the height of its dam’s barrier has been raised several times to increase its capacity. While you aren’t forbidden from entering the roads surrounding the lake, this isn’t exactly a tourist area either, and there is a chance that you might get apprehended by the police or forest officials if you’re caught loitering around. There are check posts for entry and exit, although you don’t have to register or sign any documents for entry. Almost the entire stretch of the Tansa lake is surrounded by pretty-looking hills, which don’t have any roads built over them. It sits in a valley, so there aren’t many points to get a panoramic view of the lake. The rare few passes over the hills allow for a rather obscure view of the expanse of this vast, exotic lake. Home to thousands of species of birds and many mammals, the Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary provides an abode for millions of creatures. The lush forest cover over the hills and plains which form its catchment area offer a generous green cover. The dam premises for Tansa are restricted to visitors and only designated officers can enter this area. The road network surrounding the lake is quite extensive though and for someone who wants to just drive around, absorbing one scenic vista after another, the Tansa offers a spectacular opportunity.
Lake 2 – Modak Sagar or Lower Vaitarna
Not too far away from the vast expanse of Tansa is the relatively smaller in area, but much deeper Modak Sagar Dam, which forms the barrier for the Lower Vaitarna lake. The two dams are separated by a distance of a mere 40 km. Navigating our way through the narrow, but well paved jungle roads, with tall trees flanking us, and forming a canopy above, the sinusoidal topography of the area made our drive truly blissful. With the big, wide, panoramic sunroof on the Q8 allowing us to soak in the views from all directions, our jaws dropped every single time a blind turn opened up to one spectacular view after another.
As John Mayer dutifully belted out his melodies, we put the drive mode into ECO, and proceeded languidly towards Modak Sagar. The air suspension on the car was set into Comfort mode, and the experience, with the ethereal surroundings and the cool, slightly moist air was nothing less than that of a glide over the clouds. We switched off the AC, as this was an unusually cool morning for an early June day. We were making the most of it, enjoying the uplifting environs and the company of the Q8.
Named after special engineer N. V. Modak, who finished building the dam in 1956, Modak Sagar has been quenching Mumbai’s thirst since 1957. Modak Sagar is fed by the Vaitarna River, and has a depth of 163.15 meters, which makes it the second largest lake supplying water to Mumbai. You can’t visit the Modak Sagar Dam per se, as the access is restricted. There is, however, a vantage point from which the dam and the lake is clearly visible. One has to park his car and walk for about half a kilometer to reach this point, but the views are definitely worth the effort. There are multiple ways to enter the Tansa area, and in a way, these roads are connected with the access roads for Modak Sagar as well. It’s a complex network of roads, and if one knows them well, he can enjoy hundreds of kilometers worth of mesmerizing landscapes, with plenty to discover and marvel at.
Lake 3 – Bhatsa Lake
Unlike the two dams mentioned above, one can get close to the Bhatsa Dam and witness it in all its glory. The water reservoir for this dam, however, isn’t accessible directly by road. To access the lake, one needs to know the road network around this area well, and then take a long, tiring kilometer-long trek down the hill from a village. While visiting the lake is a surreal experience, the big dam, which is easily accessible once you cross over to the other side of the highway from Tansa, is a sight to behold in itself.
Bhatsa Dam is fed by the Bhatsa and Corna Rivers. It’s about 100 kilometers from Mumbai, and just like Tansa and Modak Sagar, falls in Thane district. The water reservoir of Bhatsa is surrounded by dense forests which are home to animals like deer, wild boar and leopards. The lake is visible from a vantage point on a plateau, but the access to this road is quite tortuous.
The plateau surrounding the Bhatsa lake is one of the most pristine natural landscapes one could come across and is an isolated, calm haven for those who want a break from the crazy Mumbai life.
Lake 4 – Middle Vaitarna
If you’d be going only to the dam site at Bhatsa, you’d require only a half an hour road trip to branch out and come back on to the Nashik highway. And from there you can proceed straight on, until you reach the foothills of Igatpuri, before branching out again towards the Middle Vaitarna Dam. The rustic, forlorn roads leading up to the Middle Vaitarna Dam are often flanked by exotic date plantations, coconut groves, and would also delight you with an assortment of rather large waterfalls. A couple of picturesque bridges would pass over what might look like a river on the map, but in reality would turn out to be a vast lake with exotic, turquoise water. The sights enroute to this destination are quite breathtaking, and would make any nature lover’s heart skip a beat.
Middle Vaitarna Dam is the third tallest dam in Maharashtra and stands at 84 meters, although the elevation at which it’s built is 102 meters. This is another vital water source for the city and pumps its water to the Bhandup Water Treatment Plant, nestled in the beautiful mangroves of the Thane Creek. This little piece of paradise is just a stone’s throw away from my place and is home to the spectacular Bhandup Bird Sanctuary.
As one would assume, the entry to the dam is restricted, although you can soak in the spectacular views offered by the reservoir and the water that it lets out at the other end en route. As the majestic Q8 struck a pose against the blue waters, we quickly realized that we had covered four of the eight lakes we set out to cover, and even with all the posing, shooting and strolling around we did, it was still only 11 am. Gotta learn how to wake up early more often, I thought to myself, before setting out towards our next destination.
Lake 5 – Bhavali Dam Reservoir
The Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway, that’s being built as we discuss this trip, cuts right through the heart of some of the most beautiful, untouched and scenic jungles of Maharashtra. It pained me to know that the vegetation and the fauna in the area would be disturbed due to the construction, and every single time I witnessed the unsavory sight of an array of heavy machinery rumbling away to destruction, I felt like filing a public interest litigation of some sort. Thank God, though, a large part of the expressway is elevated and access controlled, and won’t (hopefully) affect the forests and wildlife by much.
I’m talking about this development here, as the route to the next lake that I am talking about seems to have witnessed the construction of some overbridges and commercial activity has increased significantly from the time I first visited the place. What once used to be a rather untouched, heavenly piece of land, is now strewn with tourist vehicles over weekends, with hotels and resorts of all shapes and sizes having sprung up in its vicinity. Not a pretty sight, but that’s the cost we have to pay for the so-called ‘development’. I just hope the locals take care of the pristine look of the lake, and ensure that tourists don’t dirty its water.
Bhawali does not supply water to Mumbai. In terms of size, it’s neither too big, nor too tiny, which means that it often dries up during the summers. As we approached this scenic lake, we realized that it had already revealed a large part of its bed. This presented an opportunity for us to test the clearance and articulation of the Q8, and drive it close to its bed. So we engaged the off-road mode, which pumps up the air suspension to increase the ride height of the car by several inches. This enables the SUV to go over even the more vicious humps or some really uneven surfaces. Extending its legs deep into the unsettling surfaces, and making good use of the capable quattro, the Q8 made its way very close to the lake bed to strike a pose before turning back.
This exercise made it abundantly clear as to why SUVs are taking over their sedan counterparts the world over. You can simply do so much more with them. Also, to see a car which was gliding like a magic carpet over paved surfaces, develop these muscular arms and legs to clamber over punishing terrains showed us how, despite being supremely sophisticated, these big beasts have the wherewithal to take on the some serious challenges, if the situation ever demands it.
Lake 6 – Lake Arthur
As we started our journey from Bhavali, already having covered five of the eight lakes we wished to visit, we realized we had ample time to cover the remaining three, although the distance that needed to be covered now was a lot more than what we had traversed until now. It was noon, and since we didn’t have a particularly heavy breakfast, we thought it would be a good idea to have lunch before heading any further.
Nestled between the beautiful hills of the Bhandardara region is the pristine, awfully beautiful Lake Arthur, our next destination. Lake Arthur gets its water from the Pravara River, and is situated within the safe confines of the Bhandardara Wildlife Sanctuary, duly gated and protected by forest officials. A 50 kilometer loop through the Bhandardara system would show you some of the most amazing sights as you make your way through hills, forests, waterfalls, lakes, bridges spanning rivers and through villages which are often the starting points for some of the most amazing treks in Maharashtra.
The lake had partly dried up as one would assume it to, at this time of the year, though the level was still not bad, as the last time I was here during this time of the year, I could literally play football in its bed. The Q8 made light work of the obstacles as it approached the flat platform which would give us the best opportunity to shoot it against the lake. The bright red shade of the resplendent machine looked striking against the perfectly contrasting yellowish-green backdrop of the Sahyadris.
Lake 7 – Ghatghar Lake
Situated deeper into the Bhandardara System is the Ghatghar reservoir, which serves the purpose of generating 250 mw of electricity. The pumped storage hydroelectric power station makes use of a lower and an upper reservoir to generate power. The power station was commissioned in 2008, and has been contributing meaningfully to the energy needs of the state ever since. Although extremely beautiful, the Ghatghar area is still inhabited primarily by the tribals and there aren’t many places to stay here. While there is a lot to see and explore here, this region isn’t for luxury seekers, and can be quite a drive from Mumbai. We returned from this point, as we had to go back all the way and cross over the Nashik highway again, near Ghoti to reach the last lake on our list, the Upper Vaitarna.
As the sun shone bright and strong, still a few hours away from kissing the horizon, we decided to give the Q8 the beans, with the roaring V6 showing us what it was capable of, and leaving a beautiful aural note and a large plume of dust in its wake for the villagers to marvel at.
Lake 8 – Upper Vaitarna
Switching back to the left side of the highway after reaching Ghoti, while traveling towards Nashik from Mumbai, you would be taken to the picturesque Upper Vaitarna lake. Enriched by the waters of both Vaitarna and Godavari rivers, the expanse of the Upper Vaitarna Lake is a sight to behold. The pristine blue waters and the panoramic views are in contrast to the Tansa Lake which hardly ever reveals itself fully. Meant for water supply to Mumbai, and for 60MW worth of power generation as well, the Upper Vaitarna is often frequented by tourists for night camping and boating. Some boutique hotels and guest houses have also sprung up recently to cater to the tourists, although the landscape is still largely untouched.
Bonus – Mukane Reservoir
While not meant to supply water to Mumbai, the lake formed by the Mukane Reservoir is as spectacular as it gets and is separated only by a thin piece of land from the Vaitarna Reservoir. While not known to many, the pristine blue waters of the lake look absolutely stunning against the backdrop of some exotic hill-structures of the Sahyadris, offering a great place to to simply sit down and soak in the views.
Apart from the Bhavali Lake, this was another water body, to the bed of which the Q8 made a trip, showcasing its off-roading skills en route.
As we headed back home, our playlists had gone all haywire. Having started with John Mayer, we switched over to Gypsy Kings, briefly allowing Sam Cooke to take over, then switching to Kings of Leon, before Bob Dylan and Floyd were allowed to perform for some time. Eventually, as our Indian genes would have it, Palash Sen’s Euphoria, along with Indian Ocean and Silk Route took over, their songs interspersed by some Bollywood fare. Why this needs a mention is that it’d been over twelve hours since we set out, and even as we approached home, there didn’t appear to be a shade of tiredness on our face. The B&O Audio on Apple Lossless stream revealed some of our most favorite songs in a totally different light. It was an elevating experience, as we seemed to be energized by the drive, rather than feeling drained or exhausted. The 30 color line and surface ambient lighting inside the Q8’s cabin did its bit in making the cabin tastefully lit and keeping our mood and spirits high.
As I parked the car in the designated slot in my building’s parking areas, the average fuel efficiency read 9 kmpl. There was ample fuel left, both in the car, and in my body. Heck, I could go back halfway and come back, I felt. Which brings us back to where we started off. The difference. Fresh as a daisy, as I felt after thirteen hours of driving over a variety of surfaces, on a day that turned hot during the latter half, the Q8 revealed exactly where the money Audi is asking for went. You really have to experience it, and you’d ultimately know why it’s all well worth it.