[deepclutch]

Auto drivers here are criminals and do dry your pocket the moment they find you are not from chennai!

They are goons working for political parties too?
and I agree -without tamil its tough in madras/TN unlike bangalore.

[rajatmakar]

Thanks Ajay, Sbala and deepclutch for your inputs. I will be careful.

To All,

I am planning to do full tank @ Hosur while going towards chennai.
While returning I want to do full tank @vellore and then again top up @ Hosur just before entering B'lore.

So, please advice on reliable fuel pumps at Hosur (LHS and RHS) and Vellore. I drive a petrol Swift.

Rajat

[hrag]

BP at Chinnar (between Sulagiri and Krishnagiri) on the LHS when you go from Bangalore. Identified by the BP Ghar and A2B (Adayar Ananda Bhavan) signs.

Between this and Chennai, you can fill petrol almost anywhere. Why Vellore? There's an HP bunk at Ambur that's good. After you cross the S-curve leading into Ambur town and the (second) intersection manned by a cop, take the service lane and you'll find the HP bunk.

You can take the double-entry tickets at each toll plaza. Will work out (slightly) cheaper and will show (if required) that you intend going back in 24 hours.

[cnaganathan]

Rajat, try to reach Poonamallee at least by 3.00 PM. While coming from poonamallee towards the city, expect a jam after you cross the ORR - you can identify this by the huge overbridge under construction. From this point to Koyambedu jn (a distance of around 7 kms) could take you anywhere upwards of 1 hr. Road on this stretch has been reduced to just 2 lanes due to the recent rains + 4 laning. Flyover construction at Koyambedu jn also adds to the traffic. You will see its cascading effect all the way up to Central but it is manageable.

On the return trip since you will be leaving Central after 6.00 PM (assuming that Coromandel arrives on time and you take half an hour to load and start) you will be getting into peak hour traffic. if you are unlucky, you would take at least 1.1/2 hrs to get to Poonamallee.

In short be prepared for a stressfull drive!!

[rajatmakar]

Originally Posted by hrag

BP at Chinnar (between Sulagiri and Krishnagiri) on the LHS when you go from Bangalore. Identified by the BP Ghar and A2B (Adayar Ananda Bhavan) signs.

...

You can take the double-entry tickets at each toll plaza. Will work out (slightly) cheaper and will show (if required) that you intend going back in 24 hours.

Thanks for both Hrishi. Regarding toll, I had planned the same.

Originally Posted by hrag

...
Between this and Chennai, you can fill petrol almost anywhere. Why Vellore? There's an HP bunk at Ambur that's good. After you cross the S-curve leading into Ambur town and the (second) intersection manned by a cop, take the service lane and you'll find the HP bunk.
...

If I do full tank at BP while going, it will surely last me till Chennai and then again for atleast another 100/150 kms. So, on the way back I was thinking of Vellore. Anyway, no problem. While returning, I will refuel whenever 2/3rd of tank is empty.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by ajay2233

Auto drivers here are criminals and do dry your pocket the moment they find you are not from chennai!

Well, i thought they were drying my pocket & I am a chennaiite & speak tamil too.

@rajat.. parking your car in motel highway is not a good idea. Driving from poonamalee to koyambedu is not as tough as it is being portrayed here either. Just give it enough time. Traffic will crawl, but not stop endlessly. Enjoy your drive & i hope you take back good memories of madras.

[rajatmakar]

Here comes my brief update after the trip:

We started as planned from Marathahalli at sharp 10.30 AM on Saturday. We took the Varthur - Sarjapur - Attibele road. There was very less traffic on this road and we reached Tamilnadu border around 11.20 AM.

We cruised the remaining distance along NH-7 to Krishnagiri and then along NH-46 to Chennai. We reached Poonamalle by 3.45 PM. As advised, we decided to continue straight along NH-46 till Chennai Central. Once the flyover construction part was reached, traffic was dead slow and fight started with private buses for grabbing road space.
Anyway, drove with patience, crossed the numerous signals and comfortable reached Chennai Central station by 4.45 PM.

We parked in the premium parking as it was close by and also convenient.
Coromandel express was almost running right time and arrived at 5.30 PM. We received our relatives and immediately started back by 5.45 PM.

When we were taking the u-turn opposite to the station for going back along NH-46, the traffic police guy asked me to stop, pull down windows and breathe out. I happily did and he unhappily asked me to proceed on my journey.

Once again it took around an hour to reach Poonamallee. For the next 1 hour traffic was a bit heavy on NH-46. After that again cruise mode started and we reached Krishnagiri at 11.00 PM and home by 12.15 AM.

Road quality was superb. We comfortably did consistent speed 0f 120 - 130 kmph. The road markers and reflectors were very well placed and driving back in the night was actually more fun.

Food - We had packed sandwiches, coke etc from home and that was good enough to last the whole day. While returning, had coffee at "Red Chilly" restuarent on the way.

Fuel - While going at BP-Chinnar and while returning at a HP pump after Vellore.

FE - Approximately around 15 kmpl. At highways, I have earlier got around 17.5 kmpl. But this time it was a bit less due to some spirited driving by both of us.AC was on throughout.

Car Performance - My stock Swift Zxi performed well. It has become very smooth after the 20K service + clutch replacement at Surakshaa.

Chennai Traffic - Not much different than Bangalore. I expected worse and so was quite happy with the traffic I faced.

Thanks to all of you for providing your inputs and making this trip a seamless one.

Regards,
Rajat

[Blue Thunder]

Glad that you had an incident-free drive to Chennai and back : and it went almost with clock-work precision , as planned !

[csentil]

Yeah.. everything worked out really well. 1 hour from Poonamallee to Central is excellent time. In that respect getting into Bangalore is not so easy.

Yes the cats eye and reflectors on the GQ are absolutely great. I don't like night driving but I was pleasantly surprised when I did one to find all the reflectors in place.

[pypkmsrikanth]

Originally Posted by rajatmakar

Here comes my brief update after the trip:
Once the flyover construction part was reached, traffic was dead slow and fight started with private buses for grabbing road space.
Anyway, drove with patience, crossed the numerous signals and comfortable reached Chennai Central station by 4.45 PM.

Hi Rajat are you referring to the MTC buses or are you referring to the Private Company Vehicles because Chennai does not have so many Private transport buses

[rajatmakar]

Originally Posted by pypkmsrikanth

Hi Rajat are you referring to the MTC buses or are you referring to the Private Company Vehicles because Chennai does not have so many Private transport buses

I don't know whether they were MTC buses. But for sure they were not private company vehicles.
The buses were trying to scare smaller vehicles and bully their way through. This was only in the flyover construction area.

[hrag]

Rajat must be referring to the private mofussil buses jostling for road space between Maduravoyal and Koyambedu.

[anainar]

Originally Posted by rajatmakar

Road quality was superb. We comfortably did consistent speed 0f 120 - 130 kmph. The road markers and reflectors were very well placed and driving back in the night was actually more fun.

Yes, with those Cat eyes, driving in the night is even more fun. I intend to drive to Chennai on Wednesday for a new year get together. Have done this stretch four times and all the times, it was enjoyable. I had to drive upto Chromepet and hence I used to take the deviation from NH to Kanchipuram and hit Tambaram and GST from the south side. The road from NH to Kanchipuram and beyond is two lane, but sparse traffic and well laid roads. I have done Koramangala - Chromepet in 6 hours with a break at Kanchipuram for dinner.

But this time I am driving to Saidapet as my relatives moved from Chromepet to Saidapet. Am in a dilemma whether to follow usual route and reach Saidapet or go via Poonamalle.

Even NH4 till Chitradurga is replete with these fluorescent markers, and it is like flying a plane instead of driving a car. I dont understand why they dont install it all over GQ..

Nainar

[csentil]

It is definitely faster to get to Saidapet via Poonamallee and Guindy. The 2 troublesome spots would be the Porur junction and the Guindy flyover work. That is also almost complete now so you shouldn't have a problem. Porur junction is bad during peak hours. Its just slow moving in that sector.