[paragsachania]

Installed successfully - Rear Wiper with Washer

In its 10th year of ownership and after 240,000 km of driving, my first gen Ertiga VDi gets a fully functional rear wiper with washer. A meticulous and quite a laborious DIY project it was. DIY thread coming up soon.

[paragsachania]

The detailed DIY thread is now live here.

Here's a short video on the functioning of the washer and wiper.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcJZ1TsN3Ts

[paragsachania]

For lunch to Kundapura from Bangalore via Hubli and Karwar:

Driving has been the biggest stress reliever for most of us including me and impromptu drives with totally unplanned agenda adds more fun to it. On a Wednesday evening, all I had to do was to inform Dad to be ready by 4am for a drive next day. When he asked the destination, I said it is unplanned yet but we will be northbound and later decide where to divert or make a U-turn. Initial thoughts were to simply do a run on fast GQ roads and return but that would mean no fun. So decided that we should take some single carriageway sections and relish the weekday drive. It was peak summer and that meant we must carefully pick the route considering the weather and terrain.

We started from home exactly at 4:11am and simply drove on the Bangalore-Pune highway towards Hubli.

Drive on the wide dual carriageway road was fast and we stopped for our first break after 4 hours and 20 minutes and 392 km away from home, for breakfast at Ganesh Hotel before Hubli.

History in the making...


First break, at 400 km


One of the limited options for breakfast that is now getting crowded

The breakfast break lasted 20 minutes and this is where we were contemplating on whether to drive to Belgaum and then reach Vijayapura and return back or should we head towards Ankola/Karwar. Considering that it was peak summer and we were heading straight into the hot area of North Karnataka, we decided it was better to hit the west coast as humid coastal weather is something I or Dad would not mind over dry summer conditions elsewhere. I also thought Karwar would make an ideal place for lunch (Amrut or Shweta Lunch Home). Essentially, all we wanted was a full day drive that would end post dinner and anything else would mean we will return early.

But then, Hubli-Yellapura-Ankola is a delightful experience to drive as always. Those who have preferred to drive on single carriageway roads will never deny the beauty of this fast ghat. There are plenty of sections to unleash the potential of your driving skills on single carriageway roads. We reached Karwar at 11:30am itself and realized it was too early for lunch as the restaurants I wanted to visit would open only at 12:30pm.

So we decide to drive up north till the turn-off for Sadashivgadh, perform a U-Turn and now started driving in the opposite direction. Darn, we would have gone to Goa for lunch and returned !

Since we didn’t want to wait anywhere and waste time, we continue driving back after ditching plans for lunch as it was still 12 noon and decided to stop at IOCL COCO for refueling.

We then planned to stop further ahead either at Kumta or Murudeshwar for lunch and continued driving. The roads were smooth and traffic thin (despite of some summer holiday traffic though) and hence we decided to stop for a late lunch at Kundapura itself.

We reached our usual place (for Veg) called NR Nandini at 2:30pm and noticed a lot of rush at the restaurant even at this hour. We had to wait for at least 15 minutes before we were provided with a table.

Meeting BHPian AshtonCastelino:

I may have crossed his territory quite a few times over the last few 2 years alone but we could never meet. I casually messaged him for a super quick meet and Ashton immediately responded that we can. We started from Kundapur at 3:10pm and reached MIT, Manipal campus at 3:45pm and our meet lasted 7 minutes before we proceeded further towards Karkala. It was great catching up with Ashton despite the limited time we had though.

Next we headed to Karkala since we were to take the Charmadi Ghat on return to Bangalore. The route from Manipal to Karkala via Hiryadka is fantastically upgraded, with minor sections still undergoing expansion. Hoping that no speed breakers come up on this stretch too like the way they implemented on Karkala-Padubidre stretch.

Navodaya Circle, Karkala, 4:28pm


Guruvayanakere, 5:13pm


And Charmadi checkpost at 5:48pm

On Charmadi it was even more with beeline of inexperienced drivers stuck behind a heavy vehicle who would neither overtake nor allow you to, but will ensure to keep their Hazard lights on all the times.

Rains were battering Charmadi ghats specifically which further reduced the pace. Being a Thursday evening too there was equal traffic in both directions giving extremely less opportunities to overtake and wherever they were opportunities, hazardous holiday drivers were not overtaking.

https://youtu.be/-p_tulXzNE4

Narrow roads means one must make way

https://youtu.be/B4xmmOl4BHM

The loss wasn’t significant but still added 15m over my standard timing of 45 minutes that I normally take from Ujire to Kottigehara.

Crossing Kottigehara checkpost at 6:31pm


Kottigehara to Mudigere handpost is a splendid 2 lane road with wide shoulder and perfect banking on curves allowing you maintain the momentum and pace.

https://youtu.be/h4XOlsVVXfQ

Mudigere to Belur had moderate traffic and allowed multiple opportunities to overtake. It was Belur to Hassan that was most painful. This section badly needs 4 lane and not the expansion to widen the shoulders that they have planned. The only traffic on this route which is significant is the tourist vehicles, all of them returning to Bangalore from Sringeri, Chikmagalur, Belur and even Mangalore/Udupi. Along with this, the numerous speedbreakers and unscientific and dangerous medians further slow you down. I have been driving on this route since 2002 when it was getting expanded (Belur-Bilikere road) and had loved the way it got transformed. But today, I hate this road to the core for all the reasons mentioned. Traffic has increased multifold that even a weekday late evening witnesses equal traffic on both directions!

This road is also known for a lot of fatal accidents and we passed one 6-7 km from Belur where a couple of the bike collided with a truck and died on the spot (2nd article in this source).

Crossing Mudigere handpost, 6:45pm


Biker couple were killed after they hit a truck


Scenes like these were aplenty for 35 km till Hassan

Also, I prefer taking the road inside Hassan city to hit the Mangalore-Bangalore NH instead of ring road or the bypass itself, both that are totally useless depending on the time of the day and the day of the week you are crossing the town.

Entering Hassan at Thanneruhalla, 8:11pm


Entering NH75 at the end of Hassan bypass, 8:23pm

Post Hassan, the progress was a smooth affair. Traffic was slowly pulling aside for their much needed dinner break while we decided to stop by at Swati Delicacy before reaching Bangalore.

At Swati Delicacy, Yediyur, 9:31pm


Home run from here, coming to full circle

Just before the Devihalli Toll before Nelamangala, we encountered this super human who decides to get onto service lane with total disregard to other road users.

https://youtu.be/g5TostkKA0A

It was around 10:35 pm when we hit Nelamangala Junction and 10:52 when we reached Yeshwantpura.

We were home at 11:20pm, after a beautiful driving marathon covering various types of roads and witnessing good rains in the western ghats. The trip meter recorded a distance of 1220 km for this drive and an average FE of 17.4 kpl for this entire journey which included some fast GQ run till Hubli, enthusiastic driving in the both the ghats and crawling in 2nd gear in Charmadi ghats with 11 Hairpin curves.

The car is now 9.5 years and 242,000 km old and it runs and performs as good as what it did on Day 1 and absolutely niggle-free. It instills the same confidence levels as it did when it was purchased whenever I want to take up such runs and ready to hit the road and run non-stop without a sweat.

All details about the trip:

• Total round-trip as per the tripmeter – 1220 km (as per googlemaps location history, 707 miles)
• Fuel consumed – 70.57 Liters
• Fuel efficiency – 17.28 kpl
• Start time : 0411
• End time : 23:17
• Total time : 19 hours and 6 minutes
• Total break time: 100 minutes
• Total driving time: 17 hours and 26 minutes
• Average driving only speed: 69.71 kmph
• Breakfast location : Ganesh Hotel, before Hubli
• Refuel : IOCL Ankola
• Lunch location: NR Nandini Pure Veg, Kundapura
• Dinner location: Swathi Delicacy, Yediyur

The day that it was:

EDIT: Interesting thing I noticed about this trip was that the toll amount paid was exactly 1220, the same distance that the trip was:

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

For lunch to Kundapura from Bangalore via Hubli and Karwar

Wow! This was an amazing drive, Parag! Hats off to you for doing such long drives in a single day! For most of us, this would be a full weekend drive, including a night stay somewhere. But you managed to do this in a single day, and going by your times, seems like you managed this with ease! Great going!

I always enjoy reading your travel posts. Thanks for sharing!

[graaja]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

All details about the trip:

• Total round-trip as per the tripmeter – 1220 km (as per googlemaps location history, 707 miles)
• Fuel consumed – 70.57 Liters
• Fuel efficiency – 17.28 kpl
• Start time : 0411
• End time : 23:17
• Total time : 19 hours and 6 minutes
• Total break time: 100 minutes
• Total driving time: 17 hours and 26 minutes

What an incredible trip Parag. Hats off to your endurance and stamina!

[condor]

Parag, is that the normal FE ? 17.28 for that engine/weight combination felt a little low. You dont drive extra fast, from what I have read.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

I always enjoy reading your travel posts. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you Doc. Your signature too is an inspiration. This drive was a time-off from hectic work and the only thing that was planned was to take a day off during the middle of the week but what was unplanned was where to drive. In fact, meeting a friend for lunch at Goa was on the anvil too but then that would have meant tracing nearly the same route back (Hubli to Bangalore).

Originally Posted by graaja

What an incredible trip Parag. Hats off to your endurance and stamina!

Thank you graaja. As I always say, give me the wheel and I will feel refreshed and remain one all day and night. The love of driving and roads remains close to heart and as I always say, there is a lot I learn during each drive. This drive was all about making the max out of the best stretches and it did work out as planned.

Originally Posted by condor

Parag, is that the normal FE ? 17.28 for that engine/weight combination felt a little low. You dont drive extra fast, from what I have read.

I have never referred anywhere that I am a slow driver. I am someone who sticks to 100-120 most of the times. My average driving speeds more or less will be similar to anyone driving faster and making all those silly mistakes getting stuck behind trucks or slow moving traffic ahead or unable to overtake on 2 lane roads due to inexperience.

The FE of 17.5 is perfectly normal for the following reasons:

136 km of 2 lane roads (Ghats from Hubli to Ankola):
This is mostly a descent but few small climbs too. But it requires one to be alert to find the right opportunity, downshift or remain in lower gear and complete the overtaking. It also involved overtaking a convoy of 3-5 vehicles at time on multiple occasions (based on visibility)

226 km of 2 lane roads from Udupi to Hassan:
In this, include 40 km of Charmadi ghat form Ujire to Kottigehara, with 11 hairpin climbs. Also include tailing traffic lasting kilometers and in 2nd or 3rd gear because there is a bus behind which you have 5 to 10 cars unable to overtake them. Now, try overtaking few of these vehicles at the right opportunity and gaps and the required downshifts. Finally, include a dozen plus speedbreakers between Belur and Hassan along with beeline of cars and group overtakes.

400 km of super fast roads:
Based on merit of roads and visibility that certain sections offer coupled with the fact of having better experience of driving on few of these known stretches a 100 times, there is absolutely no way I would be driving like a truck or a bus here sticking to the median at 90 kmph.

Considering the fact that ~30% of the total trip was 2 lane and mostly curvy roads, the FE is indeed what I would expect in such terrain and driving conditions and routes chosen. I always drive with 100% AC on and hence I never refer whether AC was switched on or off. At best, if there was no traffic between Udupi and Hassan, the FE would have been a km more and nothing else because there were so many occasions where I had to do quick overtakes in ghats and other 2 lane sections.

Here are the typical FE figures that I have quoted earlier and will quote today as well:

• 80 kmph | 24-25 kmpl
• 90-100 kmph | 21-22 kmpl
• 100 kmph | 19-21 kmpl
• 100-110 kmph | 18-19 kmpl
• 110-120 kmph | 17-18 kmpl
• 120 and above | 16-17 kmpl

All these figures are on dual carriageway roads and with 4 passengers and luggage. The same figures reduce by 1-2 km easily if the roads are single carriageway and there is quite a lot of overtaking. Figures will also reduce if there are frequent speed breakers. If you are climbing ghats, it will further drop.

However, let me also tell you that the FE in my car has remained the same till now with absolutely no change. I can based on the driving and progress that I made when I am crossing certain towns along the route can almost accurately tell you what the MID will display after having driven the same car now for 240,000 km.

What the MID displayed when we reached home:

[Ashtoncastelino]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

[h3]

Meeting BHPian AshtonCastelino:

I may have crossed his territory quite a few times over the last few 2 years alone but we could never meet.. We started from Kundapur at 3:10pm and reached MIT, Manipal campus at 3:45pm and our meet lasted 7 minutes before we proceeded further towards Karkala. It was great catching up with Ashton despite the limited time we had though.

T'was greating meeting You and your dad Parag Sir, Not to mention I finally saw the Ertiga. Was unexpected of you to ping me that day but I'm glad we could meet that too between my end semester exams ! Good relief for a while

You've done the remarkable job on the rear wiper project, much better than what I expected. The season to come will make you utilise that much more than you'd expect !

2,41,000km on the odo, done by the NON-TAXI Driver Parag Sachania !! Take a bow !

Regards
Ashton Castelino

[fusionbang]

Awesome Parag sir And big hats off to uncle who rides shotgun with you for most of the drives you do.

Reading this post brings back the memory of doing the monsoon drive with you during my XUV 5OO days. Even I prefer driving on weekdays for my outstation trips, just for the sole reason of these inexperienced drivers who never care for any honking, flashing headlights, hazard lights during rains and hogging on the right most lane.

I had been to Mudigere this weekend and agree with you on the Belur to Hassan stretch. It was a nightmare during the day as well, with all the weekend traffic returning to Bangalore and some unscientific speed breakers at adhoc places. I just can't imagine how it would be during night.

Hope we catch up sometime for a small drive. Have a great day!

[Abhinav V]

Truly a fantastic update.
Irrespective of weather conditions, a drive is all we need to go through ups and downs of life.

I had visited Kundapura in November and I really wanted to return taking a different route but since I had gone on a solo drive, didn't want to take any chances.
Now thanks to Parag sir, I can go without any skepticism.

In July 2022, I had driven to Mangalore and while returning chose Charmadi Ghat.
The drive from Kottigehara to Mudigere to Belur was truly magical.
It started raining heavily when I had crossed Ujire and stopped at Charmadi Ghat viewpoint.
From Mudigere to Belur, that has to be one of the best experiences of my life. Skies had just cleared up, roads still wet and devoid of any traffic.

Sadly from Belur to Hassan, it was horrible. One moment there was a nice stretch of road and suddenly there's a pothole. I drove over one at 60 kmph and thought tyres would burst. I did not feel any wobble in the steering though and so I kept on driving.

Later the next day, I checked on the tyre and saw that the rim had bent.
Thankful to god that nothing eventful happened because once I hit NH 75, I did some good speeds after crossing Swati Delicacy hotel.

All over the years, we never kept our cars beyond 5 years even though they had been driven less mainly because we felt after that age we thought gradually one major service would follow with another.

After I came across this thread, I have been following the updates often and now my mindset has completely changed.
Now I have come to the belief that cars will keep us happy for as long as we hold them
and only regular servicing on time and pro active replacement of parts is all that is needed.
Cheers to Parag and his cars.

[shrk_18]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

All details about the trip:

• Total round-trip as per the tripmeter – 1220 km (as per googlemaps location history, 707 miles)
• Fuel consumed – 70.57 Liters
• Fuel efficiency – 17.28 kpl
• Start time : 0411
• End time : 23:17
• Total time : 19 hours and 6 minutes
• Total break time: 100 minutes
• Total driving time: 17 hours and 26 minutes
• Average driving only speed: 69.71 kmph
• Breakfast location : Ganesh Hotel, before Hubli
• Refuel : IOCL Ankola
• Lunch location: NR Nandini Pure Veg, Kundapura
• Dinner location: Swathi Delicacy, Yediyur

What a route!!! Great planning and timings. Heartening to see your Dad accompany you on this marathon drive. Great strength and endurance from both of you guys, hats off !!!

I hope to do it some day

[jkrishnakj]

Lovely stuff Parag. I loved the bit where your father just knew that he ought to be ready early morning. That’s how it should be.

And as always, great details from you.

I didn’t know bhp’ians were at Manipal. I keep visiting there. A trip coming up this weekend.

[Passatman]

A true stress buster drive by one who truly lives the Tbhp ' Live To Drive 'catchline !! A sprightly dad who wakes up with the lark ( should that be before?) and rides shotgun, Wow! And that nifty job on the rear wiper, sheer 'Jazz'.

I would have been tempted to visit and spend some time gazing on Lord Bahubali and the Chaturmukha basadi @ Karkala. Somehow reminds me of Shelley's Ozymandias .

Your videos literally plonk the viewer in the drivers seat ; evoked fond memories of my last drive to Karkala, kumta etc last year. Your headlights are great too; scrolled back to check if you have any auxiliary lights installed. Is the light set up stock or have you done some work on the fog lamps?

Good mileage too, considering the drive conditions. 17 hours at the wheel, wow ! The ertigas seats got to be good 👍.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by fusionbang

And big hats off to uncle who rides shotgun with you for most of the drives you do.

He enjoys riding shotgun as much as I do driving and he is not just a co-passenger. He is remarkable when it comes to roads and driving rules and also guides like a champ, better than some of my own roadie friends.

One of the example I recollect was when we were doing a non-stop Bangalore Ahmedabad run in 2014 and 4 of us. Dad this time was seated behind on the left while my friend was next to me. Those who frequent Bombay-Ahmedabad highway very well know what it is to make the best use of all 3 lanes for maximum average speeds unless you want to crawl behind slow moving vehicles all day. There was an occasion where I was in the center lane and I casually asked my friend if the left lane was free for passing to which my friend said it is not possible due to the gap while my dad could assess this sitting in the back seat and said I can. When I moved my car to the leftmost lane, I realised Dad was right with his assessment.

Originally Posted by fusionbang

Hope we catch up sometime for a small drive. Have a great day!

We certainly must Sunay. It has been a while, a long while now since we met/drove!

Originally Posted by Abhinav V

From Mudigere to Belur, that has to be one of the best experiences of my life. Skies had just cleared up, roads still wet and devoid of any traffic.

Thanks Abhinav. Kottigehara Mudigere is recently upgraded (between 2021 and 2022) while Belur Mudigere remains same since many years and am amazed. Belur Mudigere is narrow but still provides multiple opportunities to overtake (if you know the roads here) and the best thing about this section is that there are no speed breakers (except one pair).

Sadly from Belur to Hassan, it was horrible. One moment there was a nice stretch of road and suddenly there's a pothole. I drove over one at 60 kmph and thought tyres would burst. I did not feel any wobble in the steering though and so I kept on driving.

The road that was a benchmark on how to make fast 2 lane roads in 2002-03 to a road I hate to drive today. I just cannot stop ranting about this section now that sometimes I feel like taking the alternate route via Helebidu Salagame to reach Hassan.

Now I have come to the belief that cars will keep us happy for as long as we hold them and only regular servicing on time and pro active replacement of parts is all that is needed.

Exactly true. For me, upgrade is on need basis and will never be due to age of the car. Driving a 10 year old car doesn't make you someone who doesn't like latest cars as most arguably presume. I go get my share of driving most modern cars for long distances many times even today.

Originally Posted by shrk_18

Heartening to see your Dad accompany you on this marathon drive. Great strength and endurance from both of you guys, hats off !!!

He has many such examples where I can vouch for his endurance:

• Bangalore to Surat in 2010, 1250 km, 17 hours
  
• 6.5 days GQ drive in a WagonR in 2012 spanning 6000 km, in which the lonest non-stop was Mehesana (North of Ahmedabad) to Varanasi via NCR, a distance of 1750 km and 31.5 hours
  
• Bangalore-Pune-Thane-Charoti-Dahanu-Vapi-Jawahar in 2012, 1300+ km with 4:00pm start and 6:00am arrival at Thane and the joining the monsoon drive convoy and calling it a day at Jawahar at 8:00pm in my WagonR
  
• Bangalore to Ahmedabad non-stop in 2014, 04:00am to 11:00pm in our Ertiga
  
• Rajkot to Ahmedabad non-stop in 2016, 10:00am to 1:30pm (next day)in Ertiga
  
• Nagpur-Aurangabad-Bangalore, ~1500 km and 20 hours this January in Ertiga

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Lovely stuff Parag. I loved the bit where your father just knew that he ought to be ready early morning. That’s how it should be.

And as always, great details from you.

I didn’t know bhp’ians were at Manipal. I keep visiting there. A trip coming up this weekend.

Thank you jkrishnakj. You never know we will bump into each other next time whenever you are at Manipal .

Originally Posted by Passatman

And that nifty job on the rear wiper, sheer 'Jazz'.

The rear wiper was put to first actual use on Charmadi ghats after it started to rain and seeing it work flawlessly was a totally satisfactory feeling for all the hard work that went in.

I would have been tempted to visit and spend some time gazing on Lord Bahubali and the Chaturmukha basadi @ Karkala. Somehow reminds me of Shelley's Ozymandias .

Don't remind me of that. Karkala is where I have spent 2 years of my education and the places you have mentioned are those we would walk in during the evenings from our hostel.

Your headlights are great too; scrolled back to check if you have any auxiliary lights installed. Is the light set up stock or have you done some work on the fog lamps?

Headlights - H4, 100/90 with a Relay wiring kit since nearly a decade now but I always drive on low beams. High beams are only for occasional flashing for assessment and not for "Bangalore special panic flashing" on narrow roads with "make way for my beast" intent.

Fog lamps - Osram LEDriving DRL+Fog. Nothing great but I had always loved the DRLs from them and they continue to perform without issues after 6 years now. You will be able to judge the lighting better from this video with the same set-up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w88jhJMtRXw&t=330s

The ertigas seats got to be good 👍.

I am 6'3". After driving WagonR and Ertiga, I am now sure I will never feel comfortable in a low slung car for such distances.

[rajwheelz]

Parag bhai, sorry to use your thread for posting about my car, but since this is the GO TO thread for Ertiga, I thought I should put my post here too.

This year my Ertiga completed 10 years and 1.3L kms. What a car sir ji!
Not a single day in the 3650 days, did I regret this purchase.

And I use your thread for all the inputs regarding preventive maintenance and ensured it stayed in top shape. Should there be an award for Ertiga, then there should be a honorary award to you too sir, for giving the community so much of information and support on this GEM of a car.

Thanks again and wishing you many many more happy miles and smiles