Team-BHP - Bangalore to Madurai(Rajapalayam) Road Condition??

I have to go to Rajapalaym this weekend to attend a function. I plan to drive down in my Corolla; my wife, 1yr old son and parents would travel with me. I initially had plans to hire an Innova, they quote Rs.10 per km and the total cost works out to be Rs.14000. I could save at least 9000 rupees if I take my car.

If anyone taken this route recently, would you recommend to drive down in own car or forget about saving Rs.9000 and hire an Innova? I have done quite a bit of driving on Highways, so it shouldn’t be a problem for me but I am more concerned about totaling my car on bad roads.

Also please let me know if there is any better alternative to the route mentioned below,
Bangalore - Krishnagiri (95) - Dharmapuri (150) - Salem (210) - Namakkal (265) - Karur (320) - Dindigul (390) - Madurai (450) - Rajapalayam(550)

I would appreciate a quick response so that I can book a taxi in time, if required

Quote:

Originally Posted by novice (Post 714445)

Blr-Krishnagiri-Very good
Krshngri- dindigul- 4 laning work on ,not good
madurai-rjplym- very good double road

Hi,

Im planning to drive down to madurai tomorrow. Anybody travelled in the following routes?

Which is the best route and what abt road condtion?

Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Salem - Namakkal - Karur - Dindigul - Madurai

OR

Bangalore - Hosur - Royakotta - Palakode - Salem - Namakkal - Karur - Dindigul - Madurai

Thanks in Advance
Manjunath

I suggest you to take the main NH7 route, my friend drove down to Kodai last week, this is what he says:
Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri, potholes are patched up but it is advisable to keep the speed below 70kmph.
Dharmapuri - Salem, there are a few potholes, but if careful and slow you can avoid it
Salem - Dindigul, 4 lane work is on, infact till Karur there was no problem, only at Karur they faced diversion due to Construction.
Dindigul - Madurai should be fine as well.

They started at 4:30AM from Blr in his Indica and reached Kodai by 3:30pm including breaks for Breakfast and lunch. His return journey was faster.

Overall the route is fine so dont worry.

Happy journey
Abhi

Quote:

Originally Posted by smnrock (Post 747800)

Hosur - Royakotta is good. No issues. Its a two lane and there are a couple of tight turns.

Royakotta - Palakode has stretches of good roads and small stretches of potholed roads. Last month when I drove on this sector there were repair works going on.

This route is shorter by about 25 kms compare to Bangalore - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri

Palakode - Dharmapuri outer.. is also the same as above. Once this road joins the Dharmapuri - Salem road conditions are as akroy explained. Potholed roads before and after Thoppur ghat section. From near Omalur you have excellent 4 lane roads towards Salem.

On a side note, my friend did Bangalore - Attibele - Denganikottai - Pennagaram - Mechari - Salem and said that there was very very less traffic and a more interesting and comfortable ride.

Quote:

Originally Posted by csentil (Post 748302)

On a side note, my friend did Bangalore - Attibele - Denganikottai - Pennagaram - Mechari - Salem and said that there was very very less traffic and a more interesting and comfortable ride.

That is an excellent update senthil. People going to madurai, kodai in daytime can take help.
IF you are starting early like 4AM then I think sticking to NH7 will be faster.

Abhi

I had been to Madurai about a month back and took the
Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Salem - Namakkal - Karur - Dindigul - Madurai route.

I drove down with 4 adults(5 including me) and loads of luggage. By the time I returned back to Bangalore, my new suspension which was fitted only in last December was busted.

Road between Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri, around Thoppur Ghat and from Salem for about 30 kms is really bad. There are lot of huge pot holes. Also since the widening work is in progress, you can expect frequent lane diversions all along the route upto Madurai. Also the old and newly laid roads are not joined properly, the edges are rough and they differ in height. So be careful and slowdown when switchover from old to newly asphalted roads.

Quote:

Originally Posted by novice (Post 748523)

Road between Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri, around Thoppur Ghat and from Salem for about 30 kms is really bad. There are lot of huge pot holes. Also since the widening work is in progress, you can expect frequent lane diversions all along the route upto Madurai. Also the old and newly laid roads are not joined properly, the edges are rough and they differ in height. So be careful and slowdown when switchover from old to newly asphalted roads.

Then you know everything of the stretch, then why did you start the thread again. I dont know. probably you were overspeeding. you should be around 60-70kmph in Kgiri - Salem stretch and dont get carried away by the sudden smooth stretches in between.

My friend just did 3 days back (and we often do driving / biking together) and it was not a issue.

Wonder why are you worried of totalling your Corolla just for some uneven bad stretch. I happily did in my Alto with loads, luggage, ladies, kids in 2 days. read my Kodai - Madurai Travelogue.

You probably have hit your car on potholes quit a number of times at very high speeds hence all those bustings.

Abhi

If you are really concerned about busting your car's suspension, then try out the route I had mentioned. Its actually shorter than the usual route. However you would be driving through state roads and singe laned roads where you cannot rip. But traffic is definitely less and the drive is extremely enjoyable.

So whether you want to stick to National highways or go through state roads is your decision to make. :-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by csentil (Post 748802)

OT

akroy, novice didn't restart the thread. smnrock was the one. Novice was just adding his inputs. :-)

I too for a sec thought that novice was asking the question and giving the answer.

senthil, I was replying to post 7 of novice. The thread starter is also novice. Then the statements are contradicting each other. I mean you are asking suggessions and also answering.

Abhi

Quote:

Originally Posted by akroy (Post 748809)

senthil, I was replying to post 7 of novice. The thread starter is also novice. Then the statements are contradicting each other. I mean you are asking suggessions and also answering.

Abhi

@AKRoy, Novice did start the thread, but on 7th Feb asking for advise. He has updated with his experience on 6th March - and states that he did the trip last month-, in an attempt to answer the question posted by another TBHPian. I think it is good of Novice to post his findings.

Cheers,
Rajan

I guess there is some confusion here....let me clear it :)

I started this thread in early Feb and subsequently made my trip to Madurai. Then I saw a post by smnrock on the same thread asking for the road condition. So I answered his query based on my recent experience.

akroy...I wasn't over speeding, may be I was doing 80-100. I went over few huge potholes. Corolla's dampers aren't that good...they get busted quite easily. Anyways I plan to replace my stock suspension setup with after market ones soon...so not an issue.