Good bye Nightwing, you were a trusted sidekick! Taking up an new career opportunity in the US forced us to part ways.
My wife and I tested positive for covid 4 weeks before our visa appointment. As a result, we would only finish 3 weeks of testing negative after the interview date. Therefore, flying to Chennai was out of the question. This meant a road trip from Hyderabad to Chennai and back. Fate, thou art magical. That round trip created the ideal way to bid farewell. One last ride, one last time <3
Nothing short of excellence, Nightwing felt like a natural extension to me. Covering ~700km onwards felt so easy yet exciting. The first hour, we covered 100km, cruising at 98kmph, returning an impressive 17kmpl!
The next ~550kms, I unleashed the 2.0TSI beast, resulting in an average speed of 90kmph, returning an average mileage of 12-13kmpl.
We then spent an hour crawling through the last 30 or so kms dodging the infamous Chennai traffic.
Overall, we covered ~700kms in 9 hours including breaks (starting at 5:15AM helped!), and returned an average mileage of 10kmpl. Most importantly, ZERO near misses or incidents *thank god*
The return leg was eventful to say the least - Two narrow horrific near misses + an insane uncle racing in a fully loaded ertiga + torrential rain + dusk.
At one point, I was doing close to 100kmph on an empty stretch of the 6 lane road. I see a man get on top of the divider and crossing the road ever so slowly. I honked and started moving to the left. This mad man started walking directly towards our car. Panic breaking ensued, with me somehow taking Nightwing off road to the left and avoiding this detritus excuse for an individual. Thank god the roads were empty.
Soon after, the road became a 4 lane highway, with many trucks occupying the right lane and refusing to budge. This forced faster cars to use the left lane to overtake them. In one instance, I moved to the left, honked, and proceeded to overtake the truck. Just when my car is almost parallel with the said truck, he decided to cut left :O
The reason - some hitchhiker on the left shoulder signaled the truck. #fuming.
Finally, the icing on the cake, or rather, the rotten egg on the trash. An elderly "uncle", driving a fully loaded Ertiga like it was a Ferrari. Racing me, blocking me from overtaking, driving like a frenzied lunatic, doing 120+ even when the roads are soaking wet. While I wasn't racing him, I overtook him a few times on the open roads, he overtakes me when we slow down for construction or tolls or traffic, squeezing between me and traffic most of the time, which forces me to brake and give him room. After realizing that he's racing with me, I let him overtake and slow down for 15 minutes to put some distance between the lunatic and me.
Overall, we took just over 10.5 hours to cover the return leg, after leaving Chennai at 10:30AM.
Hyderabad to Chennai route summary:
- Gachibowli to Ramoji Film City via Outer Ring Road (ORR)
- Ramoji Film City to Nalgonda via NH65. Pothole ridden 4 lane highway for approximately 50kms.
- Nalgonda to Ongole via NH 16, 4 lane highway with brilliant roads.
- Merge with Kolkatta-Chennai Highway before Ongole.
- Ongole to Chennai - mix of 4 lane and 6 lane highways with great roads.
Overall, it's been a wonderful 20 months of ownership. Many long drives, many days spent washing and caring for Nightwing. The car has really impressed me and will always have a place in my heart. My first luxury car, the first European in the family & by far, the longest, widest and roomiest car ever.
The silver lining - the new owner and I got along really well, he's also a petrol head and adores the car that makes the deal so much sweeter! And, he has offered to give me Nightwing anytime I visit Hyderabad to rekindle the romance

. Couldn't find a better deal anywhere.
Guess it's time to hunt for my new car in USA (and update my handle too

)