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smrsraja · 5th May 2008, 19:57

The overall distance between Chennai and Tirunelveli (Nellai) is 600 kms. This can be logically divided into Four quarters.
1) Chennai to Villupuram (160 kms)
2)Villupuram to Trichy (160 kms)
3)Trichy to Madurai (140 kms)
4)Madurai to Tirunelveli(140 kms)

Four laning is underway in this full stretch; infact till Kanyakumari (80 Kms from Tirunelveli). Work is taken up in parallel from all directions; so except some bad stretches (I would say 150 kms out of 600 kms), roads are in good shape (even after the recent rains)

Our car is an Indica Turbo. I planned to use this travel as a hard test on my car. In my observation these are the findings,

Mileage: With AC on an average for the whole 600 kms we got around 18 kms/PL. As the tank capacity is 37 litres, it exactly got into red when nearing my home.
Handling & Pickup: Indica is not good in handling bad roads. On good roads while cruising it’s stable and does well. Pickup works well when turbo starts working (2000 RPM) but I found it’s not adequate while overtaking in bad roads. I found other cars simply zooming ahead of my Indica in bad roads.
AC: We traveled by April 30th. That is it’s the start of a grueling summer in Tamil Nadu. So AC is very important and that too when its day travel you can’t go with out it. Indica AC worked very well.
Space & Comfort: This is the high point of Indica. On such long journeys one would realise the importance of space and Indica has no match in its class. Both in the front and back there are lot of space.

Now coming to the route, we covered Chennai to Villupuram in 3 hours. In this quarter, till Tindivanam the road is very good. It was laid long back and maintained by GMR. Currently work is in progress between Tindivanam and Villupuram(60) kms. So you have to slow down at this stretch.

We rested for 30 mts in Villupuram and already it was getting dark.

Next quarter is the bad one among the 4 quarters. Work is unfinished at many places between Villupuram to Trichy. We covered it in 3.5 hrs. As it was twilight when we traveled, we slowed further.

We stayed in Trichy that night. I suggest any one taking such long travel to have a halt in-between (if time is not a problem). It was really refreshing and I felt no pain while starting afresh the next day for covering the remaining half of the journey.

On another aspect, I found hotel room rents are relatively high in Trichy. We stayed at a hotel called Gajapriya near Central Bus stand, where a non-A/C double cot room costs 750Rs per day. They don’t give it for less than 24 hrs. But the hotel was spacious and decent. They would give morning tiffin as compliment.

The next day, we planned to start at 6:00AM; but (as usual, we got it late) we started only at 8:00 AM. Reached Madurai at 11:00 AM with a tea break of 15mts. We took the Viralimalai road. Except a few kms of bad stretches the road was good. It’s also under expansion for four laning. There is an alternate route via Dindugal which would take some 25 kms more than the Viralimalai route and the stretch is in the same condition. So it’s better to take Viralimalai route.

In Madurai, there are a good number of decent restaurants to have break fast/lunch. We stopped at Tirumangalam for lunch at 11:30. Had a good lunch at Meenakshi Bhavan, there and started for the last quarter of the journey at 12:30 PM. Surprisingly, the stretch between Madurai and Tirunelveli is good and except a few places where bridges are under construction, rest are neat and this is the stretch where I found least traffic.

So finally reached home at 3:30 PM.

5th May 2008, 19:57	#1 (permalink)
smrsraja Newbie Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Chennai Posts: 5	Chennai to Tirunelveli Trip The overall distance between Chennai and Tirunelveli (Nellai) is 600 kms. This can be logically divided into Four quarters. 1) Chennai to Villupuram (160 kms) 2)Villupuram to Trichy (160 kms) 3)Trichy to Madurai (140 kms) 4)Madurai to Tirunelveli(140 kms) Four laning is underway in this full stretch; infact till Kanyakumari (80 Kms from Tirunelveli). Work is taken up in parallel from all directions; so except some bad stretches (I would say 150 kms out of 600 kms), roads are in good shape (even after the recent rains) Our car is an Indica Turbo. I planned to use this travel as a hard test on my car. In my observation these are the findings, Mileage: With AC on an average for the whole 600 kms we got around 18 kms/PL. As the tank capacity is 37 litres, it exactly got into red when nearing my home. Handling & Pickup: Indica is not good in handling bad roads. On good roads while cruising it’s stable and does well. Pickup works well when turbo starts working (2000 RPM) but I found it’s not adequate while overtaking in bad roads. I found other cars simply zooming ahead of my Indica in bad roads. AC: We traveled by April 30th. That is it’s the start of a grueling summer in Tamil Nadu. So AC is very important and that too when its day travel you can’t go with out it. Indica AC worked very well. Space & Comfort: This is the high point of Indica. On such long journeys one would realise the importance of space and Indica has no match in its class. Both in the front and back there are lot of space. Now coming to the route, we covered Chennai to Villupuram in 3 hours. In this quarter, till Tindivanam the road is very good. It was laid long back and maintained by GMR. Currently work is in progress between Tindivanam and Villupuram(60) kms. So you have to slow down at this stretch. We rested for 30 mts in Villupuram and already it was getting dark. Next quarter is the bad one among the 4 quarters. Work is unfinished at many places between Villupuram to Trichy. We covered it in 3.5 hrs. As it was twilight when we traveled, we slowed further. We stayed in Trichy that night. I suggest any one taking such long travel to have a halt in-between (if time is not a problem). It was really refreshing and I felt no pain while starting afresh the next day for covering the remaining half of the journey. On another aspect, I found hotel room rents are relatively high in Trichy. We stayed at a hotel called Gajapriya near Central Bus stand, where a non-A/C double cot room costs 750Rs per day. They don’t give it for less than 24 hrs. But the hotel was spacious and decent. They would give morning tiffin as compliment. The next day, we planned to start at 6:00AM; but (as usual, we got it late) we started only at 8:00 AM. Reached Madurai at 11:00 AM with a tea break of 15mts. We took the Viralimalai road. Except a few kms of bad stretches the road was good. It’s also under expansion for four laning. There is an alternate route via Dindugal which would take some 25 kms more than the Viralimalai route and the stretch is in the same condition. So it’s better to take Viralimalai route. In Madurai, there are a good number of decent restaurants to have break fast/lunch. We stopped at Tirumangalam for lunch at 11:30. Had a good lunch at Meenakshi Bhavan, there and started for the last quarter of the journey at 12:30 PM. Surprisingly, the stretch between Madurai and Tirunelveli is good and except a few places where bridges are under construction, rest are neat and this is the stretch where I found least traffic. So finally reached home at 3:30 PM.