Apollo Tyres' Inaugural Bad Road Buddies Celebrates The SUV Crowd

It is hard to deny that SUVs are the vehicles of choice for most buyers today. Be it for the extra ground clearance, added safety or the need for some off-road adventures through marshes, deserts and mountains. And this has led to a sizable community of off-road junkies.

Members of this community like to buy SUVs and there are many to pick from. In many ways, they are quite different from each other and yet there is one common factor to ALL them. No matter how modified or how expensive or what brand of SUVs they own, they all need a reliable set of tyres. That's exactly what Apollo, one of India's biggest tyre manufacturers, has recognised as well. Using that common element, Apollo sought to bring the off-road community together onto a common ground for what it has named as "Bad Road Buddies". No, it doesn't mean people who drive badly on the road, but people who like to drive on bad roads.

As it happens, Apollo makes a range of tyres called the Apterra tyres which are specifically designed for SUVs. Now, instead of looking for people who use their particular brand of tyres, Apollo reached out to SUV owners and off-road enthusiasts to join the Bad Road Buddies event and provided the participants with a set of Apterra tyres for the event. All they had to do was register their interest in taking part in the adventure on Apollo’s website.

For this inaugural drive event, Apollo had selected Goa as the location with a looped route to cover over 350 kilometres in two days plus some off-roading too. The idea was to drive around the rough roads across Dandeli and Quepem to highlight the fact that bad roads go to good places. Before the early-morning flag-off from the hotel in Panjim, I decided to snoop around to take a look at the cars that would be attending and what Apollo tyres they were shod with. In our safety briefing the night before, the brand had introduced us to its exclusive Apterra range of tyres with the lead being Apterra HT2. For the style junkies, there’s an exclusive Apterra OWL tyres as well which has the tyre sidewall lettering in white.

Apollo had brought together not just a diverse range of SUVs but people from all walks of life including travel, photography and journalism too. From Tata Nexons to old Toyota Land Cruisers to highly modified Tata Xenon pick-ups and even a BMW X5, all of them on Apollo Apterra tyres. The people were as diverse as the cars with first-timers to professional off-roaders like Dr. Bani Yadav.

Another aspect of this event was to split and group people together in a 'Buddy' system. Luckily, my buddy for the journey was someone of many experiences with SUVs and off-roading adventures. The cars I'd be switching between over the next two days was a top-spec Nissan Kicks and the Tata Hexa AWD variant. Both unlikely contenders for the rough bits that were to come.

From Panjim, all the cars left for Dandeli in Karnataka before splitting into four separate convoys. Luckily, we were in the first convoy so we got to head out with the lead group in the Kicks and got out of the city early. The first stretch of highway tarmac was quite smooth and the first thing to notice was the Apterras muted much of the road noise in the cabin. When we turned into the hills, the roads became consistently bumpy. But the ride quality wasn't affected enough to be uncomfortable and the grip through the twisties was sufficient even though we were well under the speed limit. We reached the first stop of the day just in time for lunch and waited for the other three convoys to arrive safely.

Post lunch, we headed to drive to a location known as Bison Point which is famous for its view of the Supa dam reservoir and the sunset. The fun part was the route up there which included a stretch of tarmac before turning off the main road and onto a rocky trail for our first tryst with off-road driving. The combination of a loose surface, knobbly rocks, an incline and a heavy crossover such as the Hexa which was wearing the more dirt-oriented Apollo Apterra HT2 treads. The better-equipped SUVs like the Toyotas, Fords, Pajeros, D-Max V-Cross pick-ups and Thars were able to make light work of the trail with their 4x4 drivetrains while using the Apterra tyres. But the surprise was to see the front-wheel-drive Nexon and Kicks make their way up too.

Finally, all the convoys had made their way up to the top of the hill to Bison Point, and what a view it was - the bright blue of the Supa dam reservoir, the tiny outcrops of land masses around it, the dam itself and to the west we had the evening sun giving it all the perfect lighting. The plan was to enjoy the sunset from this stunning location and until then, the groups mingled and chatted. On the first day itself, we had a view and irrefutable proof that bad roads lead to good places.

There were some inevitable holiday selfies while some whipped out and waved around their smartphones in a futile attempt to capture the stunning scenery. A rare few took this chance to kick back and take in the view while others parked their SUVs on rocks for an imposing Facebook display picture.

The drive back was in the dark and that's when travelling in a convoy really came in handy. The organisers of the routes, Cougar Motorsports, had all the big toys and were leading our groups with a couple of cars at the back to make sure nobody got lost or left behind. It wasn't long before we got back on the tarmac and towards our resort for the night. Apart from one Jeep that had broken down at the top of the hill itself and was being helped out by one of the crew to get his car going, everyone was in one big convoy of nearly 40 cars.

Even the route from the main roads to the resort was a mild off-road trail in itself. Back in the Kicks, even we made light work of the bumpy ride, and the promise of good food, cool beverages and a night's sleep had quickened our pace. The first day ended in the wilderness of Dandeli, the cars dusty, a few nicks from the rocks, a scratch here or there from the flora and the drivers happy.

Part two of the journey had even more packed into it and so we were told to report at 5am to head back down the hills and towards Quepem. We exchanged our Kicks for the Hexa and headed out with the first convoy again. We rolled out just as the gentle light made its way through the thick tree branches. Caffeine was given a miss as a rolled down window and the crisp morning air was enough to blink the sleepiness away. Even among the torquey and grumbling diesel engines, we felt strangely tranquil on our descent down the mountain road.

A couple of stops in between and we found ourselves turning off the tarmac once again towards a big clearing with large Apollo banners floating in the air. It was time to get to work. Four different tracks with a variety of challenges and different routes depending upon the capabilities of the cars with us. Steep inclines (for going both ways), jutting rocks, loose surfaces, tight turns and sideways articulation. Nothing too challenging for full-time off-roaders but plenty of fun for everyone including many first-timers, like me. It was a clear display of just how much difference it makes to have a true 4x4 with a low-range gearbox and lockable differentials. Even the baby-SUVs wearing the tarmac-friendly set from the Apterra range tyres were doing their best to find grip where possible.

In between all the fun, Apollo Tyres’ brand ambassador, Sachin Tendulkar, made a grand entrance to join the gathering. Driving a Polaris RZR1000 Turbo, he drove up the rough path carved into the face of the hill followed by two heavily customised Gypsy off-roaders. In the press conference that followed, the cricketing icon professed his keen interest in off-roading. At the press conference, Apollo Tyres' Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Mr. Neeraj Kanwar spoke in more detail about the Apterra range of tyres and the future editions of the "Bad Road Buddies" community. He announced the brand's intention to make it a regular feature, perhaps in multiple locations and maybe even multiple times in a year. Also present was Apollo Tyres Chairman, Mr. Onkar S Kanwar. Sachin Tendulkar was later seen tackling a few obstacles on the course in a BMW X3 and then all the four off-road courses in the Polaris buggy.

It is no unique idea for a manufacturer to create a voluntary community of people with similar interests, but by reducing the commonality to something as varied as tyres, Apollo has given Bad Road Buddies a wider appeal. It doesn’t matter if you have a sub-4m compact SUV or a tricked out pick-up truck with rally lights, just bolt on a set of their tyres and you’re welcome to join the fun. For an inaugural event, there wasn’t much that went wrong or off-schedule and the people who banded together, many of them did seem to become ‘Bad Road Buddies’.

Personally, this was an impressive experience overall as a first-time off-roader. The ability to overcome looming obstacles that tower over you, by trusting your SUV and tyres. That’s a lesson that can be used behind the wheel and in life too. The entire event itself was also able to prove and imbibe the sense of camaraderie, exploration and the spirit of adventure. After all, interesting places seldom lie at the end of well-paved roads.

Click to know more about Bad Road Buddies here