[prabhusati]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

FE got screwed big time .. 13.6 kmpl as against 15-16kmpl usually on this route

Same thing with me too; during the return journey from Mangalore after Dasara. All the frustration of driving from Mangalore to Sakaleshpur on bad & horrible roads was taken later. Speeds of beyond 110kmph was tested quite frequently and as a result the FE on the trip was 12.5kmpl.

[lohithrao]

I guess its same with all my fe drops on my way back and i think its because of climbing up coupled with the bad roads...

Last time my adventure returned about 13+on my way back though i put it through lots of high speed driving.

Best was my OHC i never got lest then 16...

[@400Kph]

@Ashwin , thnx a lot for the photos.The road seems to be reasonably good.I guess we can take it.Hope they repair it to make it better.But again this might be the best we would ever get :-)

[fast_elegance]

Originally Posted by bullinb

Guys, try driving at night the next time. It is MUCH MUCH faster. I started from Udupi at 5:30 PM and reached Bangaloe by 12:45 PM with a 15 minute coffee break in Chikmagalur and a dinner break of 25-30 min in Channarayapatna. This was in late August with a some rains to give us company.

I hope you meant 12:45 AM

[amritnoronha]

Originally Posted by MCR

Amrit, You can take the following alternative route to Shiradi ghat.

1. Nelamangala - Hassan - Belur - Mudigere - Charmadi - Ujire - Belthangady - Bantwal - Mangalore.
2. Bangalore - Mysore - Madikeri - Sampaje - Sullya - Puttur - Mani - Mangalore.

thanks guys.. also, which roads are the best to take? its my first long drive... but yea, seeing the brand new condition of the car, i atleast dont want to take the bumpy ride as of now..

i heard the sampaje sullya road is great, but heard that it would take some extra time as well.... in short, are the roads good enough to avoid major bumpy rides?

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by amritnoronha

thanks guys.. also, which roads are the best to take? its my first long drive... but yea, seeing the brand new condition of the car, i atleast dont want to take the bumpy ride as of now..

i heard the sampaje sullya road is great, but heard that it would take some extra time as well.... in short, are the roads good enough to avoid major bumpy rides?

Of all the ghats, i still prefer shiradi. Shiradi is much wider and also shortest route to m'lore. You just have to spend more time to traverse the shiradi with care, so as not to scrape the bottoms and also for circumventing the potholes. Even with all that has been said about shiradi, i feel it is the best bet as of now.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by ashwinurao

Here are some pics of the Agumbe ghat section. The roads are in pretty good shape considering the amount of rain we have seen in the last two weeks. I could complete the 18-19 hairpin bends in under half an hour.

There are only 14.

[ashwinurao]

Originally Posted by Samurai

There are only 14.

Ah, my bad. I was so busy co-ordinating the photo shoot, I must have lost count

[dkamath]

Originally Posted by lohithrao

I guess its same with all

Not quite so . Our car still returns the same figures, consistently. It varies between 13.8kmpl and 14.1kmpl, either way, Shell or no Shell, rain, fog, etc. hehe. Precise metering of fuel by way of the CRDi/DiCOR technology ensures optimum fuel consumption, i guess. And oh, i almost always travel over night (with white elephants, ie. Airavat's, for company, hehe).

[lohithrao]

Amrit, dont worry about the time factor since its your firs long drive take the easiest route and i think either Shiradi or madikeri is best bet!

Kamath avre, i agree tourqy diesl engines mean less revving and also considering these vehicles can take pot holes easily so where a petrol car has to come to lower gears to most of the rough patches the suvs wont have to. so this way am sure lots of fuel could be saved. just my thought hehe

btw my car fe drops by a km max on my way up...

Originally Posted by amritnoronha

thanks guys.. also, which roads are the best to take? its my first long drive... but yea, seeing the brand new condition of the car, i atleast dont want to take the bumpy ride as of now..

i heard the sampaje sullya road is great, but heard that it would take some extra time as well.... in short, are the roads good enough to avoid major bumpy rides?

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by lohithrao

btw my car fe drops by a km max on my way up...

Same here, Excluding the hill climb, the other main reason according to me is that during return journey, how much ever you try, you ll end up reaching outskirts of Bangalore during peak hour and then its only crawling in 1st and 2nd to reach home


The figures i presented were taken from my last trips, i have got 1.5 kmpl less this time around both to and fro

In terms of the time taken, its still the same(So i am suspecting, i tried to be a bit more rash to manage time and thus less mileage)

For the first time i felt like i should have opted for a diesel.. anyway as long as my monthly driving wont exceed 1000km, i can live with low FE in once in two month long trips

[lohithrao]

Yes thats a very important factor, last time i took about 2.30mins from Kushalnagara to Kengeri and kengeri to my place more then 2hrs this itselfs shows how much fuel i would have lost

Yes travelling at night will save fuel for sure

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

Same here, Excluding the hill climb, the other main reason according to me is that during return journey, how much ever you try, you ll end up reaching outskirts of Bangalore during peak hour and then its only crawling in 1st and 2nd to reach home


The figures i presented were taken from my last trips, i have got 1.5 kmpl less this time around both to and fro

In terms of the time taken, its still the same(So i am suspecting, i tried to be a bit more rash to manage time and thus less mileage)

For the first time i felt like i should have opted for a diesel.. anyway as long as my monthly driving wont exceed 1000km, i can live with low FE in once in two month long trips

[Roameo]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

=
@Roameo,

It looks like a pretty bad cave in from the picture in the link below. I did not know it could be repaired so fast. But good thing is that they have done it

check this link for info about the cave in
Kalasa-Karkala highway cuts off near Kudremukh

Yes. Here is a snap of the repaired road I took last Sunday.

[MCR]

Originally Posted by amritnoronha

thanks guys.. also, which roads are the best to take? its my first long drive... but yea, seeing the brand new condition of the car, i atleast dont want to take the bumpy ride as of now..

i heard the sampaje sullya road is great, but heard that it would take some extra time as well.... in short, are the roads good enough to avoid major bumpy rides?

Amrit, Donot worry about your car's suspension. The suspensions are tested in much worser conditions and defenitely it can take the Shiradi ghat. Only thing is if you hit the pothole at speed, then the cars underbody scrapes. This should be your major worry.

Start early from Bangalore say at 5.00 AM and you can have breakfast at Madikeri say at around 9.30 AM even if you drive 80-90 kmph, this way you can avoid coming into Mysore. The roads from Madikeri till Sampaje are average, but from Sampaje onwards its smooth sailing all the way till BC road. The Sampaje - BC road stretch is not as wide as Shiradi ghat, but the traffic is lot lesser and you can comfortably cruise at 80-90 kmph.

My suggestion would be Bangalore - Srirangapatna - Hunsur - Madikeri - Sampaje - Sullya - Puttur - BC Road - Mangalore.

Enjoy your trip.

[prabhusati]

Originally Posted by amritnoronha

thanks guys.. also, which roads are the best to take? its my first long drive...

i heard the sampaje sullya road is great, but heard that it would take some extra time as well.... in short, are the roads good enough to avoid major bumpy rides?

My recommendation would be to travel via the Shiradi Ghat. Distance is the shortest of all the routes though the ghat road is damaged.

On the route via Madikeri, Bangalore-Srirangapatna-Kushalnagar is good, but Kushalnagar to Madikeri and then onto Sampaje is also with potholed roads. These 70 odd kms will take more than 3hours.