[Bailey]

Hi everyone,

We start next Sunday Kochi to Mumbai. The 1st part of the drive upto Hubli is fine as I have recently covered it while doing a trip to Goa.

We plan to leave around 4 am from Kochi so hope to reach Hubli by 7.00.

My queries for places to stop between Hosur & Tumkur have been kindly answered by Dr. AD in the post above.

Based on the advice from the forum we plan to stay at the Fortune Park at Hubli to be able to make a quick exit in the morning.

My last drive to Mumbai was in 2018 again with a stop at Hubli so I really don’t have a clue as to what the traffic and road conditions are currently.

Was looking for suggestions on what would be a good time to leave Hubli and some guidelines on what kind of traffic to expect enroute based on a departure window of between 4.30 am to 6.30 am.

While we would like to start as early as possible, not sure whether we would be able to get up as early as 3.30 am 2 days in a row and after a 15 hour drive. Hence the window.

Thanks in advance.

[Ertigiat]

Any update about demolition of Karad flyover?

This (Mumbai - Pune - Kolhapur - Goa : Route Queries) was reported in Mumbai - Goa route thread

[Bailey]

Originally Posted by Ertigiat

Any update about demolition of Karad flyover?

This (Mumbai - Pune - Kolhapur - Goa : Route Queries) was reported in Mumbai - Goa route thread

This is from the TOI Pune Edition on Sunday

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by Bailey

Was looking for suggestions on what would be a good time to leave Hubli and some guidelines on what kind of traffic to expect enroute based on a departure window of between 4.30 am to 6.30 am.

While we would like to start as early as possible, not sure whether we would be able to get up as early as 3.30 am 2 days in a row and after a 15 hour drive.

I would suggest to start NOT later than 5.30 AM, as it helps in traversing the Kolhapur - Karad section where you would encounter lots of two wheelers. Other than that, factor in the disruptions coz of flyover demolition in Karad.

So, sometime between 5 - 5.30 AM in the morning should suffice.

[pjbiju]

How are the road conditions from Belagavi to Bangalore now? I have been travelling frequently to Belagavi from Pune and am familiar with the conditions upto Belagavi. Need to travel from Pune to Dasarahalli soon. Also any recommended budget hotels around Dasarahalli/Manyata Tech Park/Hebbal with car parking?

[rakesh_r]

Did anyone cover the Pune-Bengaluru stretch recently? How’s the situation at Karad?

[pjbiju]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

Did anyone cover the Pune-Bengaluru stretch recently? How’s the situation at Karad?

I travelled yesterday to Belagavi and Back from Pune. Passed through Karad in the morning before 9 a.m. towards Belagavi and passed through Karad after 8:30 p.m. while coming back. We did not encounter any traffic blocks. While going towards Bangalore from Pune, at Karad, all the vehicles are diverted to the right side of the highway. Similarly while coming back the traffic is diverted to the service lane. Road widening work is going on at several places. At most of those places, you have just two lanes on either side with some cement blocks and other barricades placed on the outer edge of the road. There is a big drop of a feet or two to the left of the barricades. So be careful if overtaking from the left side.

[udayjani]

Recently drove Chennai - Vadodara in Ford ES AT.

With few road diversions and pot holes between Chennai - Bangalore, NH48 from Bangalore to Pune was really good with few diversions after Tumkur and Hatargi.

It's been 5 years since I upgraded my tyres hence the long trip was a good reason to upgrade them. Decided to go with Michelin 215/50/r17. Stock tyres were 205/50/r17 which were low profile for Indian roads. Costed me around 50K for 4 tyres including Wheel Alignment and Load Balancing.

This was my 3rd solo trip to Gujarat and the 1st trip I drove non-stop between Pune - Chennai (Including night driving). Although I don't recommend night driving and I myself not a fan of it. In the previous trips, I tried night driving but due to stock OEM headlights (Yellow projector) the visibility was so poor that I had to stress a lot with my eyes to concentrate on the road. But this time around, I went for a headlight upgrade from motofocusz in Adyar.

Google Maps link for the shop -

https://maps.app.goo.gl/cKpnwn6hPzzNYPBi7?g_st=ic


The headlight upgrade not only increased the visibility but also I felt less stressful while driving in night between Pune - Chennai. Kudos to the shop owner Sathish who provided a demo for a day of Aozoom high beam since I had a confusion of upgrading them as I already have Baja from US for Dipper. The low beam were upgraded from Stock OEM to Aozoom Canbus 12V 110W with blaster. Had to stick to stock OEM for high beam and use Baja for dipper. Couldn't upgrade the Fog since the 2018 ES had triangle Fog lights which couldn't fit a projector fog.

Started from Pune around 10 AM and Reached Chennai next day morning around 8 AM. The drive was very pleasant and had no hiccups throughout the journey except the infraction with LE at Vadodara-Ahmedabad expressway where they stopped me for the Baja LED's (Fitted with external Bar) and no HSRP number plate.

Will share a detailed FR of the journey with photos and video from 70maiA800s Dashcam and the Fuel expenses. Noticed new Shell fuel stations in Pune.

[udayjani]

Originally Posted by Bailey

Hi. Any suggestions for clean toilet stops between Hosur and Tumkur. Travelling from Kochi to Mumbai. The last stop would normally be at Salem Radisson. So would be looking for another in between before lunch. Also suggestions for lunch post Tumkur. Read about Ghar Ka Khana - Farmveda https://goo.gl/maps/8xGiQuczXKWV5xrL8. Any reviews on this please and also the toilet facilities here.

I travelled from Chennai to Gandhinagar (Gujarat) and undoubtedly, by far the best restrooms I found was in Reliance Fuel station. They were the cleanest and well maintained restrooms along the whole stretch until Bangalore outskirts.

[rakesh_r]

Did a Pune Bengaluru round trip. There’s a new scam being done. Almost at every toll plazas from Kognolli, I was being approached by shady people who tried to sell me a brand new unopened box of AirPods. The box looked genuine and were being sold at super cheap prices. Looks like a bunch of thugs who might have looted a consignment. Thought of reporting to Police, but then better sense prevailed. Pretty sure they too might be getting a cut, so are the employees of the toll plaza since this entire racket was being done under their nose.

[ranmenon]

I drove from Kochi to Mumbai last week. I covered the distance over 3 days. The road to Coimbatore outskirts was fine. The road between Coimbatore and Bangalore was just average for most part with too many barriers on the NH. The Bangalore Belagavi road was fine, but there were quite a few patches where the road was already being relaid. That was surprising because the road is quite new. As others have said, the Kolhapur Karad stretch is painful due to two wheeler traffic. Karad was not an issue.

Originally Posted by Bailey

Hi everyone,

We start next Sunday Kochi to Mumbai. The 1st part of the drive upto Hubli is fine as I have recently covered it while doing a trip to Goa.

We plan to leave around 4 am from Kochi so hope to reach Hubli by 7.00.

My queries for places to stop between Hosur & Tumkur have been kindly answered by Dr. AD in the post above.

Based on the advice from the forum we plan to stay at the Fortune Park at Hubli to be able to make a quick exit in the morning.

My last drive to Mumbai was in 2018 again with a stop at Hubli so I really don’t have a clue as to what the traffic and road conditions are currently.

Was looking for suggestions on what would be a good time to leave Hubli and some guidelines on what kind of traffic to expect enroute based on a departure window of between 4.30 am to 6.30 am.

While we would like to start as early as possible, not sure whether we would be able to get up as early as 3.30 am 2 days in a row and after a 15 hour drive. Hence the window.

Thanks in advance.

[YCJ]

https://twitter.com/TheINIofficial/s...402585092?s=19


Detailed alignment of the upcoming 8 lane Greenfield Access Controlled Pune-Bangalore Expressway plotted on Google Maps!
I believe this surely deserves a separate thread!

[pudarsanketh]

I was also approached by someone at a petrol pump near Amanora Mall Pune last week and trying sell Apple Airpods. Seems like a huge racket.

[ghodlur]

Travelled from Pune to Bangalore yesterday. Started at 4.30 am and reached Bangalore at 4 pm with 3 breaks totalling 55 mins. Breaks were for fuel + tea at BPCL Kognoli, Breakfast at Kamat Upachar Dharwad and Hotel Sai Grand near Chitradurga for light snacks.

Following are the diversions encountered:
1. At Karad, service road is good enough.
2. After Kognoli till end of Hattargi. Couple of place the existing 2 lane side is completely closed and opposite side lane is converted into 2 lane traffic movement. Slows down the travel in this stretch of 70 odd kms.
3. After Davengere a couple of long time pending diversions.
4. Roads near Tumkur were full of patch work and few potholes too making the travel bumpy.

After Dharwad, starts the Dance of death road of 27 kms till Hubli. Luckily the heavy vehicle traffic was less hence covered up in good time. The traffic was again seen in the Tumkur Nelamangala patch with drivers having poor lane discipline and speed sense. Got stuck at Hebbal junction due to water logging. If the above could have been avoided, could have shaved off 30-40 mins easily from the actual time taken. Over all its a fun to drive on the NH48 but this time it was bit different as the outside temp were around 38, Had to switch on Ac at 8.30 am in the morning too.

Since I started early in the morning, the low & high beams throw is pathetic in Harrier, any suggestions to upgrade this is welcome.

[SharathScorp]

Latest Update on Tumkur Bypass: Travelled Bangalore-Sira last Sunday. Tumkur bypass is having new tarmac except for first few kilometers after Kyatasandra signal. So, the horror story of big potholes on highway is no more. Thanks to election season?
Bangalore - Tumkur stretch is same old with heavy trucks in both lanes and delays. Need lot of patience always.