[DesertKing]

I am planning to participate in INDIA's Toughest 4WD off-Road Competition - TPC2009.

For that I need to drive my Jeep for aprox 2300 KM from Jodhpur to Kanchipuram in August 1st week. Can anybody pls suggest me the best route.

I was searching on the web and maps.google.c0m suggest the following way, pls evaluate this route.

PS :: I also like to invite all those who want to join me for this event.

[akroy]

Best route is the GQ route:

Jodhpur - Mumbai - Bangalore - Kanchi

Abhi

[arindamray]

I second akroy's suggestion. From Jodhpur you can join GQ at Udaipur, then to Kanchi it's all along the GQ.

[rhandle]

I was also thinking on lines of akroy and arindam. But even the route you have planned is good. Considering driving in jeep you wont be gaining much speed anyways, and away from GQ you would be getting lot of villages and mechanics if god forbids anything happens on way.

On GQ the villages are far and away. GQ would be longer, and since we cannot make up for the distance in jeep due to its limit in speed even the route selected would be good enough.

I would make an amendment though, from Ratlam to Indore and then to Nagpur and from there down to Chennai.

[DesertKing]

Originally Posted by akroy

Best route is the GQ route:

Jodhpur - Mumbai - Bangalore - Kanchi

Abhi

I have marked your suggested route on maps.google.c0m and it is going to be 2630 KM . You can check the below link to see the selected routed. But I know driving on GQ would a real pleasure due to the good condition of the road.

from:jodhpur to:Pali, Pali, Rajasthan, India to:Sanderao, Rajasthan, India to:Rajsamand, Rajasthan, India to:NH 8 to:ahmedabad to:Ahmedabad Vadodara Express Hwy, Gujarat, India to:Vadodara to:karjan toalej to:ankleshwar to:kosamba to:Pardi, Valsad,

Originally Posted by rhandle

I was also thinking on lines of akroy and arindam. But even the route you have planned is good. Considering driving in jeep you wont be gaining much speed anyways, and away from GQ you would be getting lot of villages and mechanics if god forbids anything happens on way. On GQ the villages are far and away. GQ would be longer, and since we cannot make up for the distance in jeep due to its limit in speed even the route selected would be good enough.

I would make an amendment though, from Ratlam to Indore and then to Nagpur and from there down to Chennai.

You have raised a vary right point of finding machanic in case of break down. Thought many of the parts in my Jeep have been replaced with the new and other all overhauled but the fact is that it is not a brand new Jeep and more chances of machanic things failure. While I was discussing with some other Jeeper, he strongly advice me to bring a machanic onboard, let us see.

If we drive on the non GQ route we will be saving somewhat 300 KM but I am bit affraid that than what is the road condition, trafic, very frequent town/villages. We need to consider all the points.

[Samurai]

That is minimum of 4 days of driving one way. Two days for the event, and then back again. Totally 10 days of Jeeping. Don't do it alone, many things can go wrong in a Jeep, you need company, atleast 3 Jeeps should be there.

[DesertKing]

Originally Posted by Samurai

That is minimum of 4 days of driving one way. Two days for the event, and then back again. Totally 10 days of Jeeping. Don't do it alone, many things can go wrong in a Jeep, you need company, atleast 3 Jeeps should be there.

Hummmmmm... I got your point. Let me see if anybody from NIOC (offroading club of Delhi) would like to join me.

I guess, even two Jeeps (in case we do not find three) and a machanic onboard would be OK.

[Surprise]

800 kms per day for continuous 4 days covering 2300+ kms in a Jeep. Phew, I plan, plan and plan for a 800 kms per day in a car.

Just take it for granted that your Jeep is going to fail and keep everything prepared for addressing it. That's just for preparing to the best. But in reality lets hope everything would be smooth for you.

Iam sure that's going to be a raining travelogues after this event.

[rhandle]

Naren one more option drive down to Mumbai and get jeep shipped to Chennai as GTO and everyone else are planning.

[nitrous]

The Palar Challenge is a real endurance event for man and machine. You will need atleast one whole day of rest to take it unless you're very fit and train regularly.
I would suggest you truck the vehicle down either from Jodhpur or drive it to Mumbai and truck it down along with the others interested.
If the latter, you could book a train ticket (right now) from Mumbai to Chennai and back too to keep costs minimum.

[vinod_nookala]

Naren, I appreciate your guts to atleast plan such a long drive. I suggest you to take the GQ, 300 kms is not much and that is the time you will take extra i you come by some villages etc plus you will be double tired. The best thing is to drive till bombay and then ship your jeep along with others till chennai. Points- 1. As samurai said, best if atleast 2 jeeps start together2. Have an onboard mechanic (compulsory)3. Carry frequently used spares as a precaution4. Keep all your vehicle papers clean and readyAll the best for your adventure trip

[ex670c]

Hi Naren,

From my experience 400Kms is max distance in a MM550 in one day.

How ever you can do up 600kms in a day but it will be too stressful.

I would suggest the following breaks

Day#1 Jodhpur - Ahmedabad.

Day#2 Ahmedabad - Belgaum

Day#3 Belgaum - Bangalore

Day#4 Bangalore - Kanchipuram (Reporting by 1600hrs)

On the return.

Kanchipuram - Belgaum (Chennai to Belgaum 12hrs)
Belgaum - Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad - Jodhpur

There is no need to take a mechanic along, JEEPs don't break down that easily. Just service the vehicle thoroughly before the drive.

Also stick to GQ as the roads are better and in JEEPs its all about maximum average speed.

Regards,

Arka

[pypkmsrikanth]

Hi Arka I doubt he would be able to make Kanchipuram- Belgaum in one day because you are talking of close to 800 kms which includes passing through Bangalore during the day time. Even if he takes the NICE road I still see anywhere around 4 hours as the time taken between Hosur & Tumkur for a distance of about 110 kms.

During my trip from Mahableshwar I left Belgaum at 1 PM and reached Chennai at 2.45 AM in my car. What you are talking off is only about 70 kms less than what I had travelled.

[DesertKing]

Originally Posted by nitrous

The Palar Challenge is a real endurance event for man and machine. You will need atleast one whole day of rest to take it unless you're very fit and train regularly.

Yes, we are targetting to reach there at least one day prior to the reporting date.

Originally Posted by nitrous

I would suggest you truck the vehicle down either from Jodhpur or drive it to Mumbai and truck it down along with the others interested.
If the latter, you could book a train ticket (right now) from Mumbai to Chennai and back too to keep costs minimum.

Originally Posted by rhandle

Naren one more option drive down to Mumbai and get jeep shipped to Chennai as GTO and everyone else are planning.

There are two reasons to choose driving the whole distance..

1. I doubt if trucking is going to be less expensive (I am only considering the fuel cost of Jeep)

2. I really want to drive such a long distance. I am going to see my own limits too.

Originally Posted by ex670c

Hi Naren,

From my experience 400Kms is max distance in a MM550 in one day.

How ever you can do up 600kms in a day but it will be too stressful.

I would suggest the following breaks

Day#1 Jodhpur - Ahmedabad.

Day#2 Ahmedabad - Belgaum

Day#3 Belgaum - Bangalore

Day#4 Bangalore - Kanchipuram (Reporting by 1600hrs)

On the return.

Kanchipuram - Belgaum (Chennai to Belgaum 12hrs)
Belgaum - Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad - Jodhpur

Jodhpur - Ahmedabad = 559 KM.
Ahmedabad - Begaum (I hope it is same as Belagavi) = 1295 KM
Belgaum - Bangalore = 776 KM

If I use a simple calculation, by using GQ route, it is going to be 2630 KM alltogether which we want to cover in 3 days. That means we have to drive 875 KM per day. If I consider that we will drive at the speed of 80 KMPH, we will get an average speed of around 60 KMPH. This mean we have to drive aprox 14.5 hrs everyday. If I consider 3 haults of half an hour on the way, it is going to be 16 hrs.

Which means we would hardly having 5 or 6 hrs to sleep (that too on DHABAS most probably, since no budget for lodging ). We will be carring the militery styled sleeping bag.

I and my brother are the two confirmed member and also I one more T-BHPian is serioully planning to join us. All of us can drive so I guess if Jeep will not have any problem, we would be sharing the driving and targeting to cover the whole distance in three days.

We are planing to leave on the 8th August morning from Jodhpur. We are keeping a margin of two days additional so incase if something goes wrong with the Jeep or we fail to maintain 875 KM per day driving, we atleast do not miss the event.

Originally Posted by ex670c

There is no need to take a mechanic along, JEEPs don't break down that easily. Just service the vehicle thoroughly before the drive.

Also stick to GQ as the roads are better and in JEEPs its all about maximum average speed.

Regards,

Arka

You are right Arka, you read my mind.

1. GQ will give us a advantage of better average speed for sure and also it will be less tiring (a bit boring though).

2. My brother was also in the openion that a machanic might not be required.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Surprise

800 kms per day for continuous 4 days covering 2300+ kms in a Jeep.

It would be 575kms per day actually. Still, it is a lot for a Jeep.

Originally Posted by ex670c

There is no need to take a mechanic along, JEEPs don't break down that easily. Just service the vehicle thoroughly before the drive.

Arka, mechanic may not be required for people like you. Most of the newer Jeepers like me will be helpless in case of breakdowns. When my oil hose broke at 1AM in the Munnar ghats, I didn't even know where to look.

Originally Posted by DesertKing

That means we have to drive 875 KM per day. If I consider that we will drive at the speed of 80 KMPH, we will get an average speed of around 60 KMPH. This mean we have to drive aprox 14.5 hrs everyday. If I consider 3 haults of half an hour on the way, it is going to be 16 hrs.

After driving 700kms a day both ways to Munnar, I can tell you one thing. It is not the KMs that matter, but the quality of roads. If it was Karnataka roads, I don't believe I could have done more than 400kms in a day on the CJ340. But I could push it to 700kms in Kerala roads despite the heavy traffic on the highways. Therefore, if you get GQ quality roads with little traffic, you can cover 600kms a day in just 12-13 hours.

Driving long distance in a Jeep, your main problems will be heat, dust, bad roads and traffic. That's what really gets to you, not the actual distance.