[Shreyans_Jain]

The Tiago will get you to Manali, no issues. The highway is kept open all year round. Once there, it is best to keep the car parked at your hotel and avail the services of local taxis, especially the Gypsies. Will save you the trouble of struggling in traffic and on ice, plus a few places like Sethan (best for snow experience) are accessible only to 4x4 cars.

Do not try to venture on to ice and snow in your car, no matter what.

[Samfromindia]

Originally Posted by izzikio_rage

Have been planning a road trip from Delhi to Manali with a stopover in Chandigarh around Christmas. The idea is to take the Tiago and self drive the route. Is it doable? What would be the advise in terms of precautions, things to carry etc.

We've already bought the essentials - Tyre inflator, Tow rope, jumper cable etc. The idea will be to only drive during the day and spend the nights hopefully chilling in some cool hotels enjoying the scenery

Looking forward to all the veteran advise

There is no difference between a Tiago and say an Ecosport / Nexon. Its either 2WD or 4x4. If 2WD cars can ply there, so can you. If its a 4WD territory you cannot. In the hills I have seen smaller cars like alto are very popular.

[izzikio_rage]

Originally Posted by Samfromindia

There is no difference between a Tiago and say an Ecosport / Nexon. Its either 2WD or 4x4. If 2WD cars can ply there, so can you. If its a 4WD territory you cannot. In the hills I have seen smaller cars like alto are very popular.

Was actually planning to buy some snow chains or the zip tie things to ensure we make it there even if there is some snow. Most of the time the car will stay at the hotel if needed, just that one of the nights the stay is in one of the Glamping hotels (Nirvana Retreat, Pirini) so we'll go there by car as well.

[izzikio_rage]

The other option is that we take the Maruti Swift rather than the tiago, less safe but a bit more powerful

[khanmaj]

Originally Posted by izzikio_rage

The other option is that we take the Maruti Swift rather than the Tiago, less safe but a bit more powerful

You will be fine in Tiago. No need to worry about it. I went there last year around the same time. However, do hire a local taxi if you want to go beyond Manali as suggested by Shreyans_Jain in the earlier post. It will save time and effort and you will enjoy your trip.

[lemedico]

Surely! Do some DIY maintenance work before you get on the road like cleaning the air filter, pollen filter, topping up fluids, inspecting your Stepney and filling up air in the tyres. Also inspect the tread depth on your tyres.
Drive safe! No live vlogging or clicking when in motion. Do it all when parked safely.
You may want to take this opportunity to add some fuel injector cleaner to your tank, as it works the best on highway runs

[lpudr]

It will definitely! I've seen people driving Alto in Spiti valley which is much higher and poorer terrain than Manali.
Road to Manali is super smooth and you will enjoy your trip.
Having said that, you're the best judge of car's comfort -if it suits you, take that thing by all means.
All the best!

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by izzikio_rage

Have been planning a road trip from Delhi to Manali with a stopover in Chandigarh around Christmas. The idea is to take the Tiago and self drive the route. Is it doable? What would be the advise in terms of precautions, things to carry etc.

We've already bought the essentials - Tyre inflator, Tow rope, jumper cable etc. The idea will be to only drive during the day and spend the nights hopefully chilling in some cool hotels enjoying the scenery

Looking forward to all the veteran advise

Driving to Manali is the same as driving to any hill station around Delhi. No special capability is required in the vehicle. Even a low-slung german will get you there.
The kit you have bought should actually be in your car wherever you travel.

Originally Posted by lpudr

It will definitely! I've seen people driving Alto in Spiti valley which is much higher and poorer terrain than Manali.
Road to Manali is super smooth and you will enjoy your trip.
Having said that, you're the best judge of car's comfort -if it suits you, take that thing by all means.
All the best!

Alto's in Spiti are usually local folks. And their mantra is simple. They know that it will get stuck. And they know that 3-4 locals rocking the car will get it out of wherever it does get stuck. I doubt there would be many Delhi guys confident enough to take an alto to Spiti.

[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by haisaikat

Can anyone suggest good hotel with mall proximity in Shimla that has parking?

Very late response, me and wife had done the Pune-Shimla circuit in November last year. We stayed a Peterhoff, owned by Himachal Tourism. Its located beside the Shimla All India Radio office. Although a bit far from Mall Road, but has decent parking space.

[haisaikat]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

Very late response, me and wife had done the Pune-Shimla circuit in November last year. We stayed a Peterhoff, owned by Himachal Tourism. Its located beside the Shimla All India Radio office. Although a bit far from Mall Road, but has decent parking space.

Thanks dear for the response. We completed our roadtrip in October and stayed at Combermere, it had direct mall lift inside the hotel and own parking too although a few stairs need to be climbed to get to the hotel lift which takes to reception. The lift to mall had the unique advantage of operating 24 / 7 as against the Tourism lift that closes by 9 pm

[izzikio_rage]

Originally Posted by lemedico

Surely! Do some DIY maintenance work before you get on the road highway runs

Yup thats definitely the plan, plus a general check up of the car. The tyres are new and the kit has been kept in the car. Hopefully we'll get you all some amazing pics (safely taken in a stopped car )

Originally Posted by mayankk

Driving to Manali is the same as driving to any hill station around Delhi. No special capability is required in the vehicle. Even a low-slung german will get you there.
The kit you have bought should actually be in your car wherever you travel.

Do you think we need to get snow chains or those zip tie type things for the wheels? Chains that we saw are pretty pricy, getting some 10 odd zip tie treads might be cheaper if they work

[Drdriver]

Have been wanting to do the drive from Chandigarh to Tosh, Manali, Atal tunnel and a bit beyond in my Tata Punch. I have driven an alto on ice and snow en route Shimla without snow chains and pretty much used tyres. But this snow will definitely be different. Looking for AT tyres in the stock size or should I go for snow chains made custom for the cars from a blacksmith.

[izzikio_rage]

We completed our Delhi-Manali trip in the Tiago, thanks a ton to the group for all the advise and reassurance. Overall it was a breeze, barring some small stretches the highway is amazing, smooth, multi-laned and a joy to drive over

The route
We did a stopover in Chandigarh and started early to Manali, the dense fog, till the HP border, slowed us a bit but it also ensured the roads were empty for almost the entire way. You start getting stretches of hills as soon as you enter HP and there is a pretty bad and broken patch just after Mandi. From there till the Aut tunnel it's winding narrow roads, which are very very scenic. Cross the Aut tunnel and you are in the valley with 6 lane highways till Manali with beautiful hills and the Beas river to keep you company. Definitely the kind of stuff to make you fall in love with driving again

The car
The Tiago performed pretty well over the mix of roads, the light steering meant the twisty roads were a pleasure. In Manali it handled the steep climb to Hamta (30 turns, and a ~600 m elevation gain, gasp) with grace, just slot into gear 1 and keep chugging along. There were some really bad broken stretches on the Hamta route and the ground clearance was enough to navigate them easily. A little detail, the car heating system is amazing and was much much used.

The Kit
As advised by the group we carried a tyre inflator which was pretty helpful to check and top up pressure if needed. Also a good backup if we needed to deflate for more grip on ice. Speaking of ice, we found none on the roads. lucky on one hand and a bit of a missed experience on the other. We did carry some snow boots for the tyres, but again weren't sure how well they would do if the need arose. We also got the car washed (there are plenty of dedicated car washing shops) to ensure the social media gods did not frown on us. Luckily none of the other things like puncher kit etc needed. There are plenty of petrol pumps and shops on the way though if we really needed to repair something and it's only on the barren hilly bits (1-2 hours out of the 10 hour journey) where we might have needed them.

All in all the Tiago has been blooded on the mountain roads. ~1200km with a fuel efficiency of close to 21kmpl. Definitely looking forward to some more trips

[raptor_diwan]

Hello,

How is Shimla right now? Is it accessible via road from Chandigarh? According to the news, there have been landslides and some issues. Is it a good time to visit, or would it be better to avoid for now?

[BinoyR]

Dear fellow BHPians!

This is my first post on here, and super glad to be a part of this resourceful community. I hope to seek some help, and vice-versa with my limited knowledge about cars.

I am planning to visit Shimla in September 3rd week with my fiancé, and was wondering if anyone happens to know how the current situation of the roads are, from Jaipur-Shimla? With the new Delhi/Mumbai expressway, I don't think it should be a problem till Chandigarh, but was more concerned about the journey from Chandigarh to Shimla. I often find my cars belly touching the bumpers/pot holes since it has low GC. I don't want to be putting myself in the same situation, since this always hurts right in the middle of the heart (I'm sure some of you low sedan riders would be able to relate).

Anyone who has done this route recently, or can give some information? We're planning to stay at Wildflower Hall and as far as I know, this is about 10 kms further ahead from Shimla.

Cheers!