[saildrive]

I have driven to a few cities from Mumbai
1) Mumbai to Goa - about 5 times (3 times in Indica Xeta and 2 times in 3rd-gen Honda City)
2) Mumbai to Mangalore - 2 times in Indica, 1 time in Ford Fiesta and 2 times in 3rd-gen Honda City
3) Mumbai to Bhutan and back - 1 time in i20

Almost all cars had tough times in places where the roads were pathetic. Scrapping the car from below - bet it speed breakers, craters on road makes me feel someone peeling off my skin.

During my trip with a friend to Bhutan from Mumbai (Mumbai - Bhopal - Lucknow - Siliguri - Paro - Thimpu - Gelefu - Siliguri - Vizag - Mumbai) was a 15 day non stop driving and the i20 got beaten on our way to Bhutan near Jhansi belt and on our return from Gelefu to Kolkata

I for one have made up my mind, my next car has to be a SUV (ideally automatic, if it falls in my budget) cos I will do another trip to Bhutan with my family which is easier (which is not time bound).

Not wanting to shell out money for the SUV atleast till 2019, hope we have a plethora of choices in AMT by then

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[CrippledLucifer]

I've done my fair share of long drives however, most of them have been overseas as I'm primarily based abroad.

I can however share my experience of relatively long distance driving after having purchased our Innova Crysta two months ago.

New Delhi to Bareilly, UP and then onwards to Lakhimpur-Kheri, UP for a total distance of ~430km. This part of the journey was rather uneventful. The distance between Bareilly and New Delhi is only about 250km. We were scheduled to make a two night halt in Bareilly before continuing on the 180km stretch to Lakhimpur. Understandably, we weren't at all tired. It's common knowledge that the Innova munches up highways and spits them out like no tomorrow. This was no different.

The return trip from Lakhimpur-Kheri, UP to New Delhi was more interesting. Distance from point to point was again ~430km, however due to extremely bad roads and a massive traffic jam in Noida the trip lasted close to nine hours. It was a direct journey with no overnight halts planned and I did the entire drive with my family (car was fairly with six of us in addition to luggage). Happily none of us felt at all tired by the end of it. We took just a single hour long stop for lunch and restroom use before continuing along.

My Mom and Aunt were seated in the Captain seats whereas my father was seated up front. Even after nine hours on the road, none of them felt tired in the end.

My younger cousin and sister were in the third row but didn't feel cramped at any time after the trip. Since the middle seat of the third row was empty, they took turns to stretch their legs between the two Captain seats.

As for me, I dare say I enjoyed the trip more than anyone. Driving, especially the long distance kind, is one of my favorite things to do. The car was extremely comfortable and with the seat set in just the right position, I didn't feel tired at any point. The AT is a blessing to have and while I initially missed the manual, I quickly forgot about it. The large dead pedal was also a boon to have.

Both the previous gen Innova and the current gen Innova are fabulous cars for long drives. Not much else can really compete with them.

[Ashish0485]

Here is a list of various cars along with routes that I have driven for long distances:

1 Hyundai Santro (GLX)

- Bhopal to Indore (2 times)
- Bangalore to Ooty

2 Honda Amaze (SX)

- Bhopal to Shirdi

3 3rd-gen Honda City SV i-VTEC

- Bangalore to Bhopal
- Bangalore to Madikeri (Coorg dist.)
- Bangalore to Ooty (2 times)
- Bangalore to Kodaikanal & Thekkady
- Bangalore to Cherai (Nr. Kochi, Kerala)
- Bangalore to Allepey
- Bangalore to Wayanad
- Bangalore to Goa
- Bangalore to Chennai (2 times)
- Bangalore to Mysore (2 times)

4 Maruti Suzuki Swift (Vxi)

- Bangalore to Ooty
- Bangalore to Virajpet (Coorg dist.)
- Bangalore to Kodaikanal
- Bangalore to Yercaud
- Bangalore to Munnar
- Bangalore to Pondicherry
- Bangalore to Mysore

5 Volvo S60

- Gothenburg to Stockholm (Sweden)

*The above cars or trips are in no particular time order. These trips have been done from 2009 till January 2018.

From the above cohort, the 3rd-gen Honda City has been the most comfortable. At high speeds the suspension holds quite well. The car is spacious which is a prerequisite for long trips. The car was really tested for the trip from Bangalore to Bhopal (~1,500 kms each side). We (I and my wife) took a night halt at Adilabad. So, 21 hrs of drive spread over two days; my body was able to hold well. However, I will not say it is the best vehicle for all conditions and terrains. For example: I have done a Bangalore-Ooty trip by three out of these five cars i.e. Santro, Swift, and the 3rd-gen Honda City. I might sound stupid here but the worst performing car here was the 3rd-gen Honda City. So, the entire length of road can be divided into three stretches:

- Bangalore to Mysore: The road is typically very busy during weekends and public holidays. Although, it's a 4-lane road it's difficult to maintain constant 3-digit speeds owing to presence of many towns (local traffic) and speed breakers on the way. Additionally, the road is quite narrow for a 4-lane.
- Mysore to Bandipur: It's a okay road with construction going on at many sections.
- Bandipur to Ooty: A two-lane (no median barrier) road mainly highlighted via the 36 hairpin bends.

Now, for the above given road and traffic conditions, the car that was the easiest, quickest, non-tiring and fun to drive was the Hyundai Santro (including the hilly region). Thanks to its peppy engine, short gear ratios, maneuverability, shorter wheelbase.

Mod Note : Please do NOT use acronyms (e.g. ANHC, T-Fort, ANHV) when referring to cars. You are ONLY permitted to use the full Make & Model name for cars. This will make our content useful, searchable & easy-to-understand for experts & newbies alike.

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[Ry_der]

IMO For ~200KM a day WagonR is a perfect choice. Good AC, nice headroom for a 6'2 person, good all round visibility.

For ~700KM, I've driven my Accent GLE for 12 hours in one sitting ( except loo breaks), reached home at 1.00 AM and was able to chat with family for 2 -3 hours. My wife has motion sickness yet she completed the trip without any problem. So if you've got highway on your platter, preworshipped Accent is the best VFM vehicle you can get. Just get a relay and throw-in a pair of 100/90W halogen bulbs and you are good to go. :

Recently I also got a chance to drive a Creta 1.6SX for 600 KMs a day, on a 3 days 1500KM trip and I was impressed with the performance but nothing unpredictable for a 16 Lakh vehicle.

[aniyo]

I drive a Brio and in past have driven Estilo and Xcent. Have been driven in the following cars, Verna, Astra (in 2003-4), Innova, xylo, scoripo, bolero
The Brio is surprisingly good for the highway..
it has decent highway manners, a very good engine and good NVH for the class.
I felt the seats are lacking a bit for the lumbar support but the ergonomics and the space inside is super.
The car is so stable around corners, low turning radius make sure you can navigate small lanes at tourist spots or reverse in small area.. imagine the pain doing the same in SUV.
I have done Bangalore-Munnar, Bangalore- wayanad, Bangaore-Mysore and few more places nearby and it was very comfortable for 2 of us on a 500+ KM ride in a day.
It can easily do 110-120 all day without problem.
Xcent has good interiors but the car does not feel safe beyond 90-100 on the highway. The engine is not peppy either. And the handling is sad.
Astra as far as i remember was very comfortable on the highway..never drove it long distance though.
The worst i have driven is the Estilo, absolutely horrible on the highway. Scoripo old gen was bad place to be in so was Bolero. Innova was the best for comfort.

[sajo]

Originally Posted by aniyo

I drive a Brio ..
The Brio is surprisingly good for the highway..
it has decent highway manners, a very good engine and good NVH for the class.

I agree with you. I was surprised at how nice it was to drive on the highway. And even more relaxing in the automatic guise that we have. The ride was good, performance was more than adequate, and even for the AT I saw a nice 21.0 kmpl figure on the MID for a large chunk of time.
I plan to get the seats bolstered with padded seat covers to improve under thigh and lumbar support. The best driver's seat on a hatch still belongs to the Swift (Gen1 and Gen2, not sure about Gen3. Tbhp review should tell us more).

[rajeev k]

Swift VXi - More than 500 KMs in a day
Ecosport - More than 500 KMs in a day
Both were good drives and the experience also quite noteworthy.

[locusjag]

I have a doubt: many people commenting on this thread are mentioning the ability to do high speeds as a plus for whichever car they prefer. But can people even sustain high speeds without taking breaks? Don't you tire out quickly due to the strain of the world rushing past you at a higher speed? I find fast driving to be tiresome since the eyes and the mind have a lot more to handle.

Personally, I have done long highway trips of 500 Km a day at sedate speeds of around 60 - 80 Kmph when faster cars would overtake us, but only to wind up stopped at a coffee shop or rest area by the highway. We would keep chugging on past them at our sedate speeds and those fast cars never overtook us more than once.

With this understanding of bursts of speed versus steady marathon driving, I bought a Mahindra TUV 300 a month back. I know I can do 80 - 100 Kmph for 2 hours at a time in it, and I usually take breaks every 2 hours whether I require it or not.

[daniel990]

Amazing that no one mentions the Old Maruti Baleno here. Amazing ride, handling and sound insulation .

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by locusjag

I have a doubt: many people commenting on this thread are mentioning the ability to do high speeds as a plus for whichever car they prefer. But can people even sustain high speeds without taking breaks? Don't you tire out quickly due to the strain of the world rushing past you at a higher speed? I find fast driving to be tiresome since the eyes and the mind have a lot more to handle.

The closest analogy to this that I can give is sound.. people say that a tiny speaker pumped all the way up can be as effective as a large speaker with medium volume.. however there is a big difference, the large speaker needs less power and effort to create sounds that are crisp, clear and in general leverages the size into greater output.

Engines of today.. most of them make us work for achieving 'required' speed, call it variable valve timing, turbocharging, spooling etc.. it simply means that you can achieve necessary reaction to the accelerator input not instantly but a second or two later. In the highway its best to drive a car that cruises steadily and achieves the ton within as low revs as possible i.e 2-3k revs. This means that there is still some play available lower or higher up the revs to achieve speeds which a split second decision might require, i.e press the clutch, brake and again release after changing lanes so the speed loss isn't quite there. Ideally the best way to counterbalance the ill-effects of turbo-charging or variable valves is to choose an engine with greater torque and cubic capacity.. a 2 litre engine with a 6 speed gearbox will perform more effortlessly than a 1.6 with the same gearbox and similar principle applies across all ranges.

It is possible to push, push and push the accelerator of an 800 cc or 1000 cc car to reach competent speeds that bigger cars can, but the lack of power will be obvious when one lets go of the accelerator pedal, the car will immediately feel like an elephant sat on the bonnet and you need to keep the engine boiling again at higher revs to attain the same speed. The bigger car can do it more effortlessly and maintain revs easily and hence less fatigue. Of course other factors come into play here as well like chassis stiffness, agility, great tyres etc.. if all of them come together, driving a car at 100 kmph (I don't recommend a single KM more at highway speeds irrespective of it being lower than the new legal limit) will be as easy as driving a smaller car at 60 kmph. Bigger cars mask speed very very well and are deceptive.. mine feels like 40 when going at 80, I just learnt to enjoy cruising as our nation isn't meant for higher speeds.

[sjain2054]

The Tata Nano is definitely not the most comfortable for long drives. But this diwali I had no choice but to drive it 815 kms from Mumbai to Bhopal (and back). Train tickets were not available, flight tickets were prohibitively expensive and my small city car was the only option. Blablacar was not nice to me! People who listed their cars never responded to my requests and no one showed interest in my ride (probably because of the perception towards the Nano).

Anyway, I did 815 kms on 3 nov and it took me about 16 hours with 1 hour break. I was deliberately going slow to extract the max kmpl. I managed 24.5kmpl! (pat on back)

On the return journey, I did 815kms in 13.5 hours.

It is very comfortable till about 300kms. After that it starts getting progressively uncomfortable. What goes wrong? Well, the NVH levels really get to you because it is loudish (is that a word!?) in the cabin and after a point it contributes to the fatigue in a big way.
Once the engine has run anout 250-300kms, the AC blows verryy little air. Probably because the engine heats up and that has a negative effect on the AC. I do not know the technicalities but the AC only makes the blowing sound without any air as such and that gets really bad!

Thats about it. Other than this, no other factor contributes to the Nano being uncomfortable on long drives (16hours in one go!!!)

No niggles, no breakdowns. nothing! I have owned the yellow Nano from 2010 to 2015 and now the genx purple XT from 2015 onwards. I have done several long drives in different parts of the country. Delhi-agra several times, delhi gwalior few times, delhi jaipur-pushkar twice, chandigarh-delhi, chandigarh manali, delhi-bhopal, bhopal-mumbai, mumbai-bhopal-mumbai..to name a few! Never has any of the models, at any time, broken down or given trouble. THey just keep going on and on and on at their own pace.

[Dry Ice]

More than the car itself, I feel it's the speeds or the traffic that tires you out. Compared to maintaining a steady sane speeds (80-90kmph) on comparatively empty roads, I doubt any of the modern cars would tire you out.

The only time I feel tired after a drive is if there is a lot of traffic on the way or I try to reach early by driving fast - which invariably results in me accelerating/braking too often. It takes a toll on your senses as you have to concentrate hard on your surroundings as the reaction time is reduced and you are bound to miss signals which would otherwise be picked up by your subconscious mind at saner speeds.

These days, I try to time my departure/arrival from the city in ungodly hours (to avoid the maddening city traffic) and maintain a moderate 90-100 on the open stretches. Occasional bursts to 120 kmph as some expressways now allow speeds upto 120.

[JediKnight]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

More than the car itself, I feel it's the speeds or the traffic that tires you out. Compared to maintaining a steady sane speeds (80-90kmph) on comparatively empty roads, I doubt any of the modern cars would tire you out.

The only time I feel tired after a drive is if there is a lot of traffic on the way or I try to reach early by driving fast - which invariably results in me accelerating/braking too often. It takes a toll on your senses as you have to concentrate hard on your surroundings as the reaction time is reduced and you are bound to miss signals which would otherwise be picked up by your subconscious mind at saner speeds.

These days, I try to time my departure/arrival from the city in ungodly hours (to avoid the maddening city traffic) and maintain a moderate 90-100 on the open stretches. Occasional bursts to 120 kmph as some expressways now allow speeds upto 120.

I tend to agree to what you say. Apart from this from a passenger point of view i have noticed a few things:

1. Driver temperament/competence: A driver with aggressive brake/accelerator inputs can cause passengers even in the most comfortable vehicle to puke. On the other hand a driver that drives too slow can cause the journey seem to last forever and irritate the passengers.

2. Suspension matters. Cars which tend to bounce and sway side to side on highway imperfections or suspension joints tend to tire the passenger. A flat ride is a great comfort enhancer on long drives. E.g. XUV 500 has a weird side to side rocking motion on less than perfect roads at speed. In contrast the previous generation Innova just rides flat.

3. NVH. High noise and vibration tire people out. E.g. do a long drive in a Bolero DI. Even Etios which has a fantastic ride has too much wind/tyre noise at speed.

4. Seat height/cabin ambience: Low seat height were you cannot see outside can cause people to feel claustrophobic and hemmed in. My kids cannot last more than 30 mins in the previous generation Verna rear seat because of this very reason.

5. Unclean interiors: Damp smelly interiors can cause passengers to become nauseated. I have seen ladies especially very sensitive to this.

6. Sun management: Sun shining on your neck on a journey can make you extremely uncomfortable. Sun blinds and solar films can greatly enhance comfort in some situations.

7. AC. A good functional AC can go a long way in enhancing comfort especially in hot weather. I have found activated carbon charcoal cabin filter just makes your cabin feel nicer.

As a driver i am just too focused on the machine to notice any of these things. But as a passenger the most comfortable i have been, has been on the captain seats of a very well maintained Innova ( previous gen ) crusing at 90 kmph on a highway.

[manishk123]

I have driven quite often from Mumbai to Mahableshwar in my 2007 E class, BMW X5, Jag XJ and Toyota Prado. All the above provide quite a fatigue free driving experience, with the sedans performing slightly better than the SUVs. But as a passenger I must say nothing beats an Innova with captain seats in the back for long distance cruising.

[DrRC83]

Hi everyone,

Sorry for joining late in this party – joined the forum 2 days ago. Watching this thread as it seems to fulfill the requirement of my next car. But don’ know is it the right place to post this quarry or not. Requesting the moderators to remove it if seems inappropriate.

Currently, I’m a happy i10 user since 2012. I bought the car when I used to live 800 km away from my home and I was Single then. The wild memories of that life now seem to be of another world. I did the Kalchini(near Alipurduar, West Bengal) to Kolkata ride 4 times. It was followed by Jalpaiguri to Kolkata, 650km ride for another 5 times. My four-wheeled buddy has been served me very well till date.

The distance to my home now has been reduced to 400km from my current posting place but the riders are now the two of us. I did the Raiganj to Kolkata stretch almost 12 times at least (actually I prefer to go home by car now). Though my ride is always eager to take us anywhere, it is now seven years old. And on the top of it, in 2012 Airbag and ABS were for top variants only. With family, safety is always a big issue and I am concerned about it. So hopefully I will change my ride by the end of this year.

Now comes the big question, which car should I buy? Need help from you guys.

My budget: Rs. 10 Lakh (+1 max)

My concerns :

• Monthly approx 2000km highway driving (Local tours will be managed by my Office car).
• Good lumbar support, leg room and under thigh support is a must (I’m 5’10 and better half is 5’8).
• At least 10% of the driving consists of potholes and speed breakers.
• I love to cruise on highways around 100 kmph.
• Mostly going to travel 3 to 4 persons on board.
• SUV or CUVs are my choices of cars.

My least concerns :

• Packs of fancy features like color changing Odometer, Large touch screen with HD video (as if I’m going to watch a movie while driving), etc.
• Parking space will not be an issue.
• Fuel consumption is also not a big concern, though looking for a Diesel car.

I have shortlisted some vehicles :