[abhaybakshi]

Dear All,

Thanks a lot. Team-bhp never fails to assure you !

Appreciate help from each one of you. I have now decided to travel by Swift.

Will post the travelogue and snaps probably around 15th May.

Cheers !

-Abhay

Originally Posted by bblost

Don't count on the 17.8 kmpl mileage.

Its hot so take care with your water intake. I hope you use age appropriate seats for your kids.

Toll booths almost always have English Notices. So don't worry about it.

When entering Bangalore be careful at Traffic lights. Some of them have unmarked speed breakers at the stop line.

My swift gives me 16.2 kmpl in city (tankful to tankful approach) with 50% AC. I guess she should return at least 17.5 on highway ?

Mod Note: Please use the EDIT or MULTI-QUOTE buttons instead of typing one post after another on the SAME THREAD!

To know how to multi-quote, click here.

[condor]

Originally Posted by nileshch

The road & traffic situation is still bad around Yeshwantpur, once you get down the Nelamangala bypass flyover.

After Nelamangala, (about 15 km ? ) you will get on to the elevated road, which is about 5-6 km long. Once you get down, Take left at the second signal & you will be on the ring road.

[theMAG]

Originally Posted by abhaybakshi

1. I know the route is breeze till Bangalore. But in Bangalore it will get crowded due to flyover/metro works (I guess after Sira). What's the current situation ?

You will have a smooth drive until you start approaching Nelamangala (town just before Bangalore), where you will run smack into heavy Bangalore-bound traffic from all adjoining areas/industrial townships.

Originally Posted by abhaybakshi

2. If we leave Kolhapur at 5 AM, by what time we should expect to reach Bangalore.

Kolhapur-Belgaum is around 100 kms, and should take about 2 hours.

Belgaum to Bangalore is around 500 kms. Being part of the GQ, you can maintain a healthy speed throughout.

Kolhapur-Bangalore therefore should take around 8 hours as a minimum, exclusive of stops.

Originally Posted by abhaybakshi

3. I should not be concerned about language as the toll booths will be in multi language ?

Hindi is accepted - although it would be easier as well to simply mention the respective destination at a toll booth and mention as "single"/one-way ticket - should take out any language-stumbling blocks altogether that way.

Originally Posted by abhaybakshi

4. What's the good time to enter Bangalore? My final destination will be Kasturinagar (Near old Madras highway). Should above plan need to be adjusted so as to enter Bangalore during least traffic density ?

Any areas around Old Madras Road-Outer Rind Road have continuously high-density traffic. However, it would help if you could reach your destination before 4 pm, as a general thumb rule.

Originally Posted by abhaybakshi

5. Any special checks to be done on my Swift (2006 model) before leaving.
She has been serviced regularly and have done 90K so far without any issues. I replaced tyres last year after my stock tyres wear out after 5 years.

Glad to know we share the same car! No special checks - however, since your car has crossed 5 years, strongly recommend you either get the entire set of coil packs replaced (called "ignitors" in Maruti-speak), or atleast carry a spare set on this journey. The Swift's coil packs have been known to fail anytime from the 5th year onwards (mine included, and Vikram_D's as well). Please note that you will want to ensure that the new coil packs are compulsorily of the Swift's and not the Wagon R's (which some Maruti services stations are known to swap incorrectly with).

Since your car is serviced regularly, I presume all the necessary replacements - brake pads, spark plugs etc have already happened.

Originally Posted by abhaybakshi

6. Should I take care about any other things not listed here ?

Nothing specific - but Bangalore-city traffic is perhaps as crazy as anywhere else. Keeping this in mind would probably help not get any nasty surprises.

Originally Posted by abhaybakshi

7. How much fuel expenses I should expect for this return trip? I guess it will be around 7k. Please consider AC to be on for 50% of the travel time.

Divide the overall kms (700 kms) by the mileage your are currently getting. As an example, if you are getting 12 kmpl currently, 700/12 = ~ 60 liters petrol, or with healthy buffer, 70 liters is what is needed. If the current rate of petrol is Rs 72, which would equate to 70 liters * Rs 72 = around Rs 5000 for the single-trip, or Rs 10000 for the return trip, with all the assumptions made in this example.

Originally Posted by abhaybakshi

8. How much will be toll charges.

Assume roughly Rs 50/toll both as average. Dont remember the number of toll booths though.

[amit_purohit20]

Just one piece of advice-
1) Fill petrol to the brim of the tank because on bangalore highway distance between two petrol pumps is more. We made a mistake of not filling at one of the petrol pump because we were in high speed and then we were in tension when the next petrol pump comes. Luckily we were not very close of running out of fuel, but still it was an unnecessary mental stress.
2) Plan your breaks as food is not good at all the places.
3) Watch out for small speed breakers close to villages, I almost jumped over one set of speed breakers.

[EagleEye]

Did a Mumbai-Kochi drive a couple of days back.
The first leg, the Mumbai-Bangalore drive was done on the first day. We left from Mumbai at around 8 am and managed to reach Bangalore by 10 pm (but we were doing very high speeds consistently).

The number of tolls on the road is very frustrating; you'll have to shell out almost 1000-1500 rupees for this. And while the roads are excellent for most of the way, at points there are diversions due to road work and due to traffic the movement will be slow. It would be better to avoid night driving because the trucks are a huge menace.