Blogadda advises to #LiveLodgycal

The monsoons had just made their appearance when I got a communication from Blogadda inviting me to be a part of 40 select bloggers from all over India to a Renault sponsored event in Goa to showcase the latest offering from Renault’s stable – Lodgy. The event was logically titled #LiveLodgycal. Now Goa in the monsoons has been a much touted affair hence I did not want to miss this one so off I flew with a few other bloggers from Mumbai to Goa where we were  

shepherded into the lovely 75 acre property of ‘The Leela’.

By the time everyone assembled the event had to be rescheduled as the rains had played mischief with the airline schedules delaying most of the flights by at least an hour.

The evening was spent in attending a crash course in ‘Renology’ – a study of Renault Lodgy by the team from Renault. Was quite an interesting affair after which the 40 bloggers who were divided into 10 teams had to introduce their teams so that everybody kind of got to know each other followed by a lavish dinner and some more tete-a-tete before retiring for the night. The presenter of the evening  

was the bubbly, witty, RJ Archana who kept the participants involved in the show every minute.

Next morning was drive time when the 10 teams would drive 10 Renault Lodgys to Lalit Hotel, around 50kms away on hilly roads which would give us a fair idea of how well or not the car handles.

A lot of activities planned by Blogadda to be indulged in during the drive kept everybody busy and it was a fun drive. The route was very well planned and though a map was given to us there were placard toting boys standing at turnings to direct us accordingly! So no way anyone could get lost. In addition there was a mapping device in the car itself!

The drive through the lush greenery in the hills and tiny villages was very refreshing. The wonderful music system in the car played some catchy tunes of our choice to make the drive peppy and fun too. We even stopped at some spots to dance to the music in the rains when we were not dancing in the car!

We arrived in time for a splendid lunch spread out just for us in Hotel Lalit. But since the rains had stopped we decided to go to the beach for some photo-ops as we were not exactly hungry after the heavy breakfast we had in ‘The Leela’. The beaches in Goa during the monsoons look lovely without all 

the shacks and other commercial activity which one would otherwise find cluttering the pristine sands. After everyone had finished with their photo-ops we all trooped back to the Hotel for lunch followed by the drive back to ‘The Leela’ for an evening full of music and masti!

‘The Forefront’ band was in attendance to liven up the show and it soon had everybody tapping their 

feet to their music. The bar was open and so was the mic! Fashionista blogger Neha Kapoor ruled the stage and brought everyone to the floor dancing to her songs. Not to be left behind were bloggers 

Om and Prateek Thakkar who too entertained us with their singing.

The evening ended with some fine dining and exchange of blog URLs and bidding goodbye to one and all as next morning everyone would be leaving at different times depending on the flight departure times for different destinations.

Overall it was an amazing weekend spent with amazing bloggers. A true bloggers meet it was at #LiveLodgycal in Goa. No one upmanship. Pure exchange of ideas. A model bloggers community. Thank you Blogadda for making it happen.
I was a part of the #LiveLodgycal Drive by BlogAdda.com in association with Renault India. 

For my opinion about Renault Lodgy please click here 

Renology (A study of Renault Lodgy)

Renault Lodgy the latest offering from Renault in India does have a strange stodgy not really appealing name – Lodgy. I read somewhere that the name is derived from ‘Lodge’ to signify the model’s ability to accommodate a family and its luggage. So be it. It was launched in Europe in 2012 and now makes its appearance in India to make inroads into the MPV market.

I would like to make it clear at the outset that this is a review of the car purely from a user’s point of view as I am no technical wiz. Shall also give a senior citizen’s perspective.

As far as looks are concerned I would not give it a second look when it passes me by on the street 

except maybe for the fact that it moves fast. Looks like any other MPV in the market till you actually

stop and have a close look. It has unique tail lights and a longer than normal wheel base.

Getting in and getting out is a breeze. No need to struggle. Once in, the seat is very comfortable and you get the feeling of space and does not make you feel claustrophobic. Enough of headroom and large windows too. However, while sitting in the driver’s seat, the left arm rest seemed more of an intrusion than an item of comfort. Fortunately it could be folded up.

A comfortable 7 seater if passengers and the driver are not tall as the 2^nd row cannot be moved ahead or aft so if the guys sitting in the front seat are tall and have pushed back their seats, the passengers in the 2^nd row will feel cramped. And the feedback from the 3^rd row was that they had to seat with their knees up. And if you are going to use the 3^rd seat you cannot carry much luggage hence it can be used only if you are maybe going for a picnic with friends. But, if you are going for a long drive then all you have to do is fold the 3^rd seat and voila! You have enough space for a month long road trip! So ideally, this is good as a 2^nd car to go trippin’ over the weekend or some nice long drives as it wont be practical to drive around in the city specially with the lack of parking spaces. So along with the hatchback for your nifty city drives this is perfect for long distance drives.

Drove both the versions, the 109BHP version and the 84BHP version. Both handled very well on the highways and the small potholes were not even noticed. Excellent suspension is a blessing on our roads here. The pickup and the braking, both were impressive. Especially the braking is important as we know how, even on our expressways, we have sudden appearances of cattle, goats and of course humans to remind you they were there before you!

It also has a touch screen entertainment cum navigation console where you can play the radio, or music through your phone via the Bluetooth and also navigate where you want to go on the preloaded maps. The console can be used to assist you in reversing too. 
There are 8 speakers to rock your world and the insulation of the car is so good that there is barely a whisper heard of ambient street noise apart from of course someone honking at you.

Overall a good vehicle if you like to travel with family and friends and maybe a pet in the last row too!

For all technical details please visit Renault at https://www.renault.co.in/vehicles/personal-cars/renault-lodgy.html and then their showroom for a test drive to get the feel yourself. 

I was a part of the #LiveLodgycal Drive by BlogAdda.com in association with Renault India.