[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by Roy.S

The Chitradurga bypass flyovers also are being completed.

This is excellent news.

The highway between Tumkur and Chitradurga is not as smooth as it was a couple of years back. Time for NHAI to use the toll money they have been collecting.

Drat! This was the USP of NH4 in Karnataka.

[StarVegabond]

I travelled from Bangalore to Mumbai on 26th Afternoon. Left Yelahanka at 2.10 PM and Reached a relative's home at Ghansoli, Navi Mumbai today morning 6:50 AM on 27th March

Some mile stones are as below
--------------------------------
02:10 PM Departure from yelahanka
03:30 PM Tumkur BP.
05.00 PM VRL Check point & Resturant prior to Chitradurga
05:25 PM departure from VRL after tea and snacks
09:50 PM Hotel Sankam, Belgaum
11.30 PM departure from Hotel Sankam after dinner & refueling
02:00 AM 20 minutes break near Karad for tea
05:10 AM Expressway foodmall prior to Lonavala
05:40 AM Departure after some early hot breakfast & Tea
06:50 AM reached Gansoli, Navi Mumbai.

Some statistics:
--------------------
Total Time : 16 hours, 40 minutes
Break time : 2 hours 55 minutes
Journey time : 13 hours 45 minutes
Totak KM : 987 KM
Average Speed : 71 KMPH
Standard speed : 80-90 KMPH
Peak Speed : 110 KMPH
AC Usage : 97% except during toll booths, some minutes of fresh air intake at night etc

Fuel Economy
--------------
Total Fuel Consumed : 32.xx ltrs x 2 times = 65 Ltrs minus few ltrs left in the tank before reaching reserve (assume 6/7 ltrs remaining) = 58 LTR
Fuel economy : ~ 17 KMPH
The display indicator showed 18.4 KMPH (error of 1.4)

Driving Comfort :
-----------------
Except for sleep rushing in during wee hours and on the last leg from Panvel to Ghansoli, rest of the trip was very comfortable. My daughter had one of the most pleasant sleep on the back seat for the whole night.

Road conditions:
-------------------
Yelahanka to Dodballapur : Excellent, 2 lane, 2 railway crossings

Dodballapur to Dobaspet : Excellent except for the rumblers, couple of pot holed sections, one railway crossing

Dobaspet to Tumkur Bypass: Excellent

Tumkur Bypass : work in progress, old speed breakers are bypassed now section of the flyover is operational, new speed breakers do the same thing like old ones, scrape the underbelly of the car

Sira-Hiriyur-Chitradurga : Excellent

Chitradurga BP : Work in progress, but the service road is very good, but single lane.

Chitradurga-Davangere : Work in progress in couple of sections, overall good

Davangere Bypass : Work in progress, go slow,

Davangere - Ranebennur - Haveri : Work in progress, out of this ~ 120 KMs stretch, some 30-40 KMs of work is still pending, Lot of Dust clouds, sudden end to the roads, diversion to the opposite side, huge pot holes at the diversions. Easier to drive during day time. Ranebennur town is a traffic mess, i am sure the citizens of the town are fed up with the traffic
jams throughout the day. There are two railway crossings between Rane bennur and Haveri, often gets blocked due to the train. The diversion to Haveri bypass is not properly markeed. we drove straight into the haveri town which is another traffic mess. This entry into town took away additional 20 minutes of our time.

Haveri onwards till Mumbai: Roads are Outstanding. perfect time to drive is in the nights, we drove at constant 80 KMPH in one lane and only 2-3 vehicles (mainly the cars who appeared to be in hurry) managed to overtake us

Finding a resturant which is open at night is a challenge, there are small tea stalls ( called Tapri in Marathi) who serve fresh and strong tea, you can find these when you find several trucks are parked on the side of the road.

Some night driving tips for myself (for future reference) to be followed during next trip

1. ensure to eat light dinner as heavy food will make one drowsy
2. know the locations of good fuel stations that would be open at night and, else ensure that you have tank full.
3. do not change the lanes frequenty, drive in one lane
4. have some patience before the truck in front of you allows you to overtake.
5. when ever one feels sleepy ensure that you stop, get yourself re-freshed with a facewash or hot tea/coffee etc.

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

Some statistics:
--------------------
Journey time : 13 hours 45 minutes
Totak KM : 987 KM
Fuel economy : ~ 17 KMPH

Excellent numbers achieved.

2. know the locations of good fuel stations that would be open at night and, else ensure that you have tank full.

Kindly share this piece of info.

4. have some patience before the truck in front of you allows you to overtake.

Truckers are not a great problem in the night. They often oblige.

Great writeup. Thanks!

[Roy.S]

Originally Posted by prince_pervez

......Drat! This was the USP of NH4 in Karnataka.

I noticed that most of the rough patches seem to be caused by fires lit on the road surface by stranded truckers. This damages the 'seal coat' and over months the damage spreads. The good news is that the speedbreakers between Tumkur and Chitradurga (there were about 3) are all gone

Originally Posted by prince_pervez

....Truckers are not a great problem in the night. They often oblige.....

True. 95% of them are really good chaps who always give way as soon as they can. I've noticed that if you don't honk they seem to move aside faster.
Like with elephants, honking just seems to aggravate these behemoths.

[sbraj]

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

I travelled from Bangalore to Mumbai on 26th Afternoon.
...

Some night driving tips for myself (for future reference) to be followed during next trip

Thanks StarVegabond, for the detailed writeup. It, for sure, helps newbies on the route.

[anainar]

Originally Posted by prince_pervez

Kindly share this piece of info.

Great writeup. Thanks!

There is a Shell pump @28 kms from Pune. I normally fill up there and do some topup as well. This will take me normally upto Bharat Pertroleum, Ghar Dbhaba just before Ranibennur while coming from Pune( @500 kms ) That pump is open 24 hours as well.

Nainar

[StarVegabond]

Originally Posted by anainar

There is a Shell pump @28 kms from Pune. I normally fill up there and do some topup as well. This will take me normally upto Bharat Pertroleum, Ghar Dbhaba just before Ranibennur while coming from Pune( @500 kms ) That pump is open 24 hours as well.

Nainar

I have noticed few pumps as below

1. Some pumps between Nelamangala - Tumkur
2. BPCL Ghar Dhaba after Ranebennur
3. Some Pumps (HP, IOCL) after the HUbli-Dharwad bypass
4. IOCL pump right next to Hotel Sankam, Belgaum
5. There was a pump open after Karad, we stopped at a Chai Tapri near this pump.
6. Pune-Mumbai Express way Food mall (before Panvel)

i have exeprienced the one between Nelamangala-Tumkur (not during this trip, but the previous one), BPCL Ghar Dhabha (again not during this trip, but previous one), IOCL pump next to hotel sankam.

there might be more as well.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by anainar

There is a Shell pump @28 kms from Pune.
Nainar

The Shell pump was never open after 10pm whenever I travelled in the night night forcing me to opt for the BP (adjacent to MacD). This is a 24 Hours pump.

Maharastra shouldn't be a problem in terms of the frequency of Fuel stations on boths sides. They number in plenty and more than adequate and most of them are operational 24 hours.

However, In Karnataka, A normal Full tank done in Bangalore usually took me till after exiting Hubli Byepass (though a good 8-10 liters left) and on both sides after the Dharward High court bench, there are 24 Hour HP pumps. While the Hubli-Belgaum section has normal fuel (Petrol and Diesel), The pump on the opposite sells only premium fuel. The Pumps are maintained well and clean as well with all facilities like Restrooms and Drinking Water.

[goandude]

can anyone suggest a dog friendly hotel between belgaum and nippani? plan on a leaving bangy 0530 on 5 th morning and entering mumbai 6th aftternoon

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

1. Some pumps between Nelamangala - Tumkur

I know there is a Shell bunk at Nelgmangala.
I filled at around 4:30 Am so it should be a 24 hour one.

[Milind]

You could take a break at Karad. Pankaj Executive / Hotel Sangam (under flyover @Karad)- Budget & good food.

Petrol/Diesel is cheaper in Maharashtra Good Option is Konduskar - BPCL Ghar before Kolhapur city on Right when approaching from Bangalore. Closer to Pune is HP Trucking centre about 60 kms before Pune. This one has Kamats Restaurant attached to it

[goandude]

dep bangy (big bazar OMR) at 0700 via dodbellapur dobesspet arr belgaum 1530. distance 535 kms. did sedate driving. plan staying here tonight and dep for mumbai tomorrow 6 apr. took three breaks of 40 min total.

Observations: the dreaded C'durga haveri stretch is MUCH improved. rannebenur BP should be opening any day now. who wwill break this news on tbhp? work on the Rail bridges is not moving. nh4 traffic was light, very few cars, mostly truckers who generally stay on left carriageway. outside air Temp was indicating 38-39 after 1100 hours and reached 41 at hubli BP at 1400 hrs. global warming?? The dzire acon did a great job on fan 1-2 settings.

[StarVegabond]

Returned to Banglaore today from Mumbai. Did a Solo Drive (Lone Driver as well as passenger)

Key Milestones are as below:

* Left Navi Mumbai (Ghansoli) at 18:15 hrs,
* Reached Pune 20:15, Dinner, Fuel Top up, Wallet Top Up etc 1.45 hours total
* Left from Pune (Simhaghad Road - Pune BP junction) at 22:00
* Fuel Top up just before Karnataka Border @ 01.00 hours
* Hubli BP Toll @ 03.15 hours
* Tea Break at Bankapur Toll gate @ 3:50 hours (10 minutes)
* 2 railway crossings before Ranebennur consumed about 15 minutes together
* Breakfast at Kamat Upachar after Sira 7.35 to 8:10 AM
* Reached Yelahanka at 10:10 hours

Total Distance: 1020 KMs

Total Travel Time: 15 hours 55 minutes
AVG speed : 64 KMPH including break time

Total Breaks : Pune (1.45 hours), Fuel Top up @ border (10 minutes), Tea Break @ Bankapur (10 minutes), Railway crossings (15 minutes), Some morning photo breaks (total 10 minutes), Breakfast at Sira (35 minutes), Facewash after after Snooze (2 x 5 minutes = 10 minutes), totalling 3 hours 25 minutes

Total Journey Time : 12 hours 30 minutes
AVG Journey Speed : 81.6 KMPH (excluding break time)

Peak Speed : 120 KMPH
Standard speed : sub 100 KMPH (just below 100)

Road Conditions : Mostly same as what reported during onward journey

Mumbai to Bankapur Toll Plaza : Roads (total 640KMs) are outstanding
Significant Improvements in Chitradurga and Tumkur BP,
There are too many speed breakers

My car got a bird hit today morning between dobaspet to Dodballapur
the dashboard and the top of the car was full of the body parts of the dead bird, i was fortunate it did not do any harm to the car/windshield
Got the car completely washed/cleaned at the near by car wash.

I have some caution for neo night drivers
------------------------------------------
i almost dozed off 2 times early morning today, i realized in time, else most probably i would not have reported this post today. I immediately stopped, had a face wash, took a brief walk for 5 minutes and re-started.
This happened between 6:30 AM to 7:15 AM.

take enough precautions to avoid snoozing off while driving.
If possible avoid night driving.

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

take enough precautions to avoid snoozing off while driving.If possible avoid night driving.

It is advisable to have power-nap of 15 minutes to half-hour to avoid dozing off at night.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

I have some caution for neo night drivers
------------------------------------------
i almost dozed off 2 times early morning today, i realized in time, else most probably i would not have reported this post today. I immediately stopped, had a face wash, took a brief walk for 5 minutes and re-started.
This happened between 6:30 AM to 7:15 AM.

take enough precautions to avoid snoozing off while driving.
If possible avoid night driving.

Good enough detailing and +1 to your thoughts on early morning episode. I have actually driven starting exactly the same time from Pune (22hrs) through the night and crossing DVG, CDRG when the sunlight is pinching hard on your eyes between 6-30am - 8-30am. I have done this for about 6 times in the past and have stuck to these for various reasons mentioned earlier in my posts.

After having driven all through the night for almost 8 Hours and when the eyes are really strained, the harsh sunlight is a real pain to the eyes. Hence I preferred putting on my shades once the sun is up and brighter and never ever remove them under the sunlight even while I took quick breaks. This ensured that there was no burning sensation in the eyes.

Moreover, due to constant driving in the night facing the beams from the oncoming traffic, the driver's eyes would've strained itself to the maximum and become red enough that even a slight look at your own eyes in the RVM can make you feel sleepy or irritating.(From DVG all the way till Tumkur and even Nelemangala, the sunlight is almost hitting your eyes except for a few curves). My habit was to look at the RVM but only for the rear view of the road !! A breakfast break at Hiriyur or Sira is a very good option to break for a while and even gain some energy.

But of all these drives with my Dad as the co-passenger, I never dozed off even once may be due to the reason that I would've take 3-4 hours nap before leaving from Pune.

Carrying Fruits like Banana and oranges is also a good option since they not only provide a bit of energy after the tiresome drive but also keep you awake due to the activity. Constant Music and empty straight roads too become a good reason for dozing off.
Wet wipes come in handy to keep oneself feel fresh too.

All this in addition to the pre-requisite that one has done enough night driving in the past and is comfortable with the terrains and good/bad patches of the road. If I were to attempt this on a road which I have travelled once/twice during the day, I would never attempt a night drive.