Bangalore - Calicut - Bangalore, Crv 3.5 k kms

[Jaggu]

Updates updates and more updates.

It’s been 2 months and the car has done some 3.5 k Kms on odo and so far so good.

Recently (last weekend) took her for a drive from Bangalore to Calicut some 370 Kms away and then things fall into perspective. This confused car, Crv is not meant for city, personally I hate to drive it in Bangalore, its choppy ride along with the mental agony of having fellow bangloreans who can’t keep there brake levers, rear view mirrors and all sorts of gadgets they carry in hand away from the car.

Started of 8 am from Indira nagar, to avoid the traffic on the Mysore rd, took around 1 hour for both the cars (esteem on tag) to reach the out skirts of the city. And then the roads opened up a lil, and yeah baby yeah I started pressing the accelerator pedal harder n harder.

The car is dud until 2.5k revs and you have to be careful while overtaking that slow moving traffic or your corners will be sweet memories, trick is to slot in lower gear keep the revs up (2.5k) and just floor it and you will be surprised by the iVTEC, effortless noiseless (would prefer some more roar compared to the whine) acceleration (yup bloody thing will haul all of its 1.5 tons as if on steroids).

First break Kamat hotel on the Mysore highway (80kms from Bangalore), good clean food and some caffeine to beat the previous nights outing with whisky. Burrrp and I lead and just before Mysore huge traffic block, took the service road (katcha) and yeah this car is for all this alright! Took a deviation down hill, slip slide into a village road, pass through some narrow village galis and fields (yes barren field) jump the small culvert and back on tarmac. Lucky the traffic pile up hasn’t reached that long on the other end.

If u can find the sign board


hung over u will see horses


Forgot to mention, the ground clearance is not that great and scraped the foot board on rt side while getting down from the service road to katcha village road, lucky no damage apart from soft soil stick on the foot board.

Well esteem and that too with professional driver couldn’t take the risk and was left behind by 20 mts, new bypass for Mysore and well time to warm up the Crv for the twisties; yup it rolls, but yup can manage also. The ABS is a boon and without that Crv is a DANGEROUS VEHICLE!!

Caution rear seat passengers better belt up or be prepared to have the feel of soft carpeting on there butts during hard braking, I had quick learners as passengers (bro’s driver n cousin) at the rear and they immediately belted up after the first braking fiasco, trying to overtake a qualis and tucking behind a truck and the good ol state transport inter city bus not in a mood to brake. The rear seating with space between the rows the reason, along with the excellent grip offered by the Bridgestone’s and the ABS.

Left Mysore and waited for the esteem to catch up, some leg stretching with ciggie and couple of snaps of the car + 30 mts of wait and esteem lands.

Car modeling??



Small break at a shiv temple to keep mommy happy

temple..


banyan tree


elephant..


cont..

[Jaggu]

fun starts


follow follow n follow..


Nothing great happened from Mysore to Bandipur, especially tagging behind the pilot jeep (speed limit 90kph) n the car



Entered Bandipur after some 5 Kms, suddenly the pilot jeep screeches and the guys jump out flagging us out, ELEPHANTS ohhhh yeah and big heard, STOP/UNBELT/GRAB CAMERA and move close to them, remember to keep the flash switched off. Click click click…







bye bye guys… n gals :P

[Jaggu]

Off again and finally enter mallu land  and guess what greets u, he he he he twistieeeesss…





yup a beautiful narrow and steep down hill twisties, parked the car to enjoy a cigg n some snaps before we start the descent.





Oops am a sucker for the hills, has done this stretch some zillion times and trust me it still retains its charms. Weeehaaaa and some flat out low gear cornering, again the brakes on Crv spoil u and make u reckless.

[Jaggu]

Finished the hills and handed the keys to the driver (entering populated north kerala and no big fun to drive this ship, along with some bad sinus probs, ). Reached Calicut by around 545 pm, catch up with the bigger family over some vodka and snoooooooooreeeeeee.

Sunday morn family function and 3 pm starts off from Calicut, grab the keys from the driver, coz no head ache of pilot jeep n one is gonna lead the band 



Yup same “Kalpatta Churam” (GHATS for NON MALLUS) awaits you, and downhill ya uphill take in shtyle he he and hello the tailing car minus the owner means you need’nt slow down and wait after every corner. Ok some gyan time to the esteem driver, he complains the car doesn’t pull, hmmm solution: the MPFI motor loves to be revved and unless one does it, it’s a very sluggish machine. End result and he improves his style from 3 k to 4.5 k, nothing great to talk about but still any improvement was fine.



As for Crv keep her in 2 and 3 gear, keep rpm above 4k and trust me anything in front can be overtaken. Right from a CD 100 to BIG TRUCKS to Toyota Tercel.. GRINNNNNNNNNN.



Objective was to clear Bandipur stretch before nigh fall and yes uneventfully we passed Bandipur.





The road inside is being widened (shoulder work) and at places its only wide enough for one car, so be prepared to reverse couple of tens of meters, BUT once work completed, it will be one of those dream drives you can take, guess some idea can be gathered from the pictures.

[Jaggu]

Some sun set pics.





Reach Mysore by 730pm and decides to tread the kanakpura rd to avoid traffic, BIG MISTAKE!! Road exist for only 1/5 of the total distance, rest is katcha track thanks to widening and elevation works to take care of the water logging issue.

Lights, one of the best sets I have seen on a motor car (non xenon type) headlights along with running lights give you amazing visibility and no oncoming traffic will dare to play the chicken trick with lights.

Shot @ 70 kph 



THIS CAR IS NOT FOR THE CITY BUT FOR HIGHWAYS ESPECIALLY ONES WITH ¾ foot drops on the road (ground preparation being done) and yeah this baby takes them without a single thud or broken parts hanging afterwards. Loved the car in this front, where you would have to slam brake and pray to gods and end up swearing the contractor, you just dab the brake leave it milli seconds before the THUD (for suspension to raise) and RIDE OVER ANYTHING!!! First time I really respected a HONDA machinery.

Arrive Indira Nagar at 1045 pm, open house door, unscrew a bottle of white wine and stretch on the SOFA. Thanks bro for not asking for the keys the whole trip

[Jaggu]

ps: moderators remove the ctrling at least in a travel section where people would want to post some extra pics :( in one post and not cut n paste as umpteen replies, IMHO its a PAIN in the BUTT!

[vinsanity]

Hey Jaggu,
You seemed to have loved the trip 'Big time'...
I too have been on that stretch a number of times.. Have lots of cousins in Calicut..

One of my uncle works as estate manager in Vythiri.. Vythiri is one of the most beauitiful places around.. Its so friggin cold at night.. He's got an estate bunglow with a pool.. I go there very often.. Its close to the Vythiri Resort, another awesome place where u find loats of KA reg cars especially on wekends.. It was once shown in Star World Weekend getaways with Charu sharma and son on a merc E class.... I wonder how he got that car up there cos the road to get there is very bad...

Would recomend a trip for the Bangy guys thorugh Wayanad-Cochin-Munnar and back.. Some awesome stretches of roads(not road quality wise).... numerous hairpin curves, beaches, and greenary all the way.....

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by vinsanity

Would recomend a trip for the Bangy guys thorugh Wayanad-Cochin-Munnar and back.. Some awesome stretches of roads(not road quality wise).... numerous hairpin curves, beaches, and greenary all the way.....

I'd second that. Except for the Calicut - Cochin section which is pretty much like driving in a city - bumper to bumper traffic for 400 kms is not your idea of fun.

Return from Munnar could be either via Udumalpet, Coimbatore, Ooty, Masinagudi, or Via Chalakkudy - Valparai - Udumalpet...

Will be a trip to remember.

RAHULMD ARE YOU LISTENING? Rally EFFBAW needs another outing.

[vinsanity]

Hey steed,
I know the Calicut -Cochin trip wont be all that fun but I put that too so that you guys touch Cochin on the way to Munnar, can visit a place or two in Cochin especially the beach... and the return as you suggested would be perfect....

[coloneljasi]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

I'd second that. Except for the Calicut - Cochin section which is pretty much like driving in a city - bumper to bumper traffic for 400 kms is not your idea of fun.

Return from Munnar could be either via Udumalpet, Coimbatore, Ooty, Masinagudi, or Via Chalakkudy - Valparai - Udumalpet...

Will be a trip to remember.

RAHULMD ARE YOU LISTENING? Rally EFFBAW needs another outing.

Calicut-Kochi is around 200Ks.The roads are much better than they used to be.Well,I like it anyway......I tend to drive up and down at least once a month.There are a few pretty bad stretches but the fast twisties make up for it.
Calicut-Bangalore is one of my fav routes.I haven't been to Bangalore lately,though.The updates were insightful and interesting.Encountering elephants in the Bandipur section can be fun alright,it can also be down right scary if you come face to face with a pachyderm in the dead of the night.Since most of my Bangalore trips are after 11pm,I've myself had a few frights.Funny when you think about it,days or even years later.

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by coloneljasi

Calicut-Kochi is around 200Ks.The roads are much better than they used to be.Well,I like it anyway......I tend to drive up and down at least once a month.There are a few pretty bad stretches but the fast twisties make up for it.

Thanks for the correction, Jasi. I was thinking more in terms of the traffic starting from Adivaram or even Kalpetta - the ride till there is a dream.

The Calicut Cochin road has a dream surface, but the traffic and the other users (especially the killler buses) make it as bad as driving in City.