Overland Travel long distance driving.

mmmjgm · 16th December 2004, 19:17

Any one has any experiences to share about long distance travel ?

I just did some long distance driving and returned a week back. I did Bombay-Vapi-Ahmedabad-Rohetgarh(heritage hotel outside Jodhpur)-Bikaner-Nathdwara-Vapi-Bombay.

Covered 2700 kms (approx) in my Sep 2002 DLS Indica. Gave an amazing average of 20kms per litre of diesel. Average speed was 80kms per hour. On the return leg the vehicle gave an average of 21kms since I had a service done in Ahmedabad as well as balanced my wheels.

Did an amazing 130 on the beautiful Baroda-Ahmedabad highway. The car could go more but I did not want to stress any other component of the car any further. I have had a few punctures in my OEM tyres as it is. Brakes were overheating for some unknown reason. Guess must be high speed driving.But nothing alarming. At no stretch did my speed drop below 80kmph. The roads in Rajasthan are awesome. So is the double lane highway right upto Valsad. After Valsad there are a few stretches which are yet being constructed.

I dont have spec/stock brake pads. Awesome cost of motoring in the winters due to the cold air did not use Air con at all.

Extremely satisfied with the vehicle in this trip. Very eager once past the 60kmph mark.

Any one have any similiar trips do let me know.

Regards
mmm

ravi_28_8 · 16th December 2004, 20:00

i have done a trip to rajesthan in march. we started from hyderabad to rajasthan via nagpur, bhopal, n reached jalawar - Kota(rajasthan). frm kota to bundi - chitthorghar - udaypur - mount abu - jodhpur - jaiselmer - bikaner - deeg - jaipur. frm jaipur to agra - gwalior - sagar - nagpur - hyderabad. it was total 7000 kms. it was a 14 days tour. we went on a zen diesel. we had some great drives esp frm pokaran to bikaner, 120kms in 1hr. Rest all areas we went quite fast but did not cross 120kmph. AC was on all the way. it returned us 17 to 18 kmpl. we planning for kulu and manali for next trip. might do that next year. before this we went to many places but on trains and buses and taxis.......... but we found this trip was more satisfying, nothing like going on ur own vehical.
i think many of tbhpins have done long drives. i hope all of u will contribute to this by giving the route. this helps us reduce the effort of planning to some extent.

mmmjgm · 17th December 2004, 02:42

If any of you need distance charts, hotel- good food, or waypoints and hotels on the way do let me know.

Also if you guys need help with a route/road conditions etc.

Hope it helps

MM

speedsatya · 17th December 2004, 11:48

i have done Mumbai -Mangalore (997kms) and mangalore -mumbai through the NH4,nh63 and nh17 in 14 hrs in my mpfi zen.thats the max that i did till now driving myself.thats an average of about 70kph with all the regular pee stops and pit stops for food and and a max of 80-100kph on the last 90kms from cundapur on the heavy traffic NH17.

when being driven around my longest travel is still in progress with me travelling all around punjab,haryana ,rajasthan in my f@#@$ indica which does not have a heater.
thats around 200-300kms daily.

satya

haryan · 20th December 2004, 11:56

I have done lots of long distance travel by road...
the best drive was HYD to Cochin in 1997 ..... and from cochin we did a tour of kerala and returned back to Hyd via Coimbatore and Bangalore ...
In 1997 /1998 went to Chennai by road
in 1997/1998 went to Mercara (Coorg) from Hyd ...
All this trips were done because either me or my friends were participating in Rally there ...
My first sightseeing drive was in 2000 when i bought my Opel ... Went to Vizagand From there to Orissa .... and then in 2001 me, my wife, my friend and his wife went on a South tour ... Hyd to bangalore one night break in BLR and from there went to Mysore anf from Mysore we landed up at Mudumalai ( Karnataka / Tamilnadu Border )
we had two day stop there .. from there we drove thru Ooty to Kodaikanal ... we had two day halt there and from kodai we went to Munnar .... we had a three day halt there .... From Munnar we went to Thekkady and from thekkady we came back to BLR ... after a night of partying in BLR we returned to HYD ... this whole trip lasted for 12 days and about 4000kms which i did solo driving ...
I also went to Bhubaneshwar by road , to Puna .... went to Indore From Vizag and From Indore came to Hyderabad that was about 3500 kms trip in a Bolero ....

bhp · 20th December 2004, 12:16

hey that was fast speedsatya

bhp · 20th December 2004, 12:31

my longest journey was to banglore 2 years back . i drove all the way with my mom and small sis accompaniying me . i had a one night stay at kolhapur on the way and it took me around 21 hrs to reach blore bcoz i have to drive slow when i am with ma family . i cruised at 120 kmph when the road would look empty . it was just fun i had also been to mysore from blore and also returned back to bbay . i travellled in ma ford ikon which returned an mileage of 14 kmpl . hurray !!

speedsatya · 20th December 2004, 13:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhp

hey that was fast speedsatya

yeah that was really fast n scary as i did the first 580kms till dharwad in maybe 8hrs.and the next 500 in abt 6hrs as i had got into a race with an ikon.
it was very much unlike me as i did sum very bad driving which involved me overtaking one car which in turn was overtaking another.
also i had just missed going head on in to truck at abt 130kph as this ikon cut into the rhs to stop me goin ahead.
but now u can easily do this trip in 15-16hrs as most of the golden quadrilateral is complete.even a volvo bus takes only 16-17hrs to do this 1000 kms drive.and sometimes even less.

Revvmaster · 20th December 2004, 15:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedsatya

.
it was very much unlike me as i did sum very bad driving which involved me overtaking one car which in turn was overtaking another.
also i had just missed going head on in to truck at abt 130kph as this ikon cut into the rhs to stop me goin ahead.

Well pal that's really gotta be quite a bitta bad driving. With our 2 lane highways (in most places), overtaking can be quite tricky at times. Anyways, i think a bad drive or two with hair-raising moments really sometimes makes u a better driver since the next time around you tend not to do it again.

Drive safe pal.

Revvmaster

speedsatya · 20th December 2004, 21:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Revvmaster

Well pal that's really gotta be quite a bitta bad driving. With our 2 lane highways (in most places), overtaking can be quite tricky at times. Anyways, i think a bad drive or two with hair-raising moments really sometimes makes u a better driver since the next time around you tend not to do it again.

Drive safe pal.

Revvmaster

yeah revv,
i was shocked at my driving .i am the last person to do anything rash .
i am considered as the most relaible driver in my family n my friends.
but this time i was provoked into behaving like that by that ikon driver.
but yes

the near miss with the truck has definitely changed me.even a slight touch wud have been enough to make me history,even the car that i was overtaking wud have been wiped off .
i was so fast that when my mom called me i lied that i was still 2-3hrs away when i was only 30 mins away .adn too bcas i was veryy slow in the end.

hehe.

16th December 2004, 19:17	#1
mmmjgm BHPian Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: BOM, PNQ, DXB Posts: 398 Thanked: 30 Times	Overland Travel long distance driving. Any one has any experiences to share about long distance travel ? I just did some long distance driving and returned a week back. I did Bombay-Vapi-Ahmedabad-Rohetgarh(heritage hotel outside Jodhpur)-Bikaner-Nathdwara-Vapi-Bombay. Covered 2700 kms (approx) in my Sep 2002 DLS Indica. Gave an amazing average of 20kms per litre of diesel. Average speed was 80kms per hour. On the return leg the vehicle gave an average of 21kms since I had a service done in Ahmedabad as well as balanced my wheels. Did an amazing 130 on the beautiful Baroda-Ahmedabad highway. The car could go more but I did not want to stress any other component of the car any further. I have had a few punctures in my OEM tyres as it is. Brakes were overheating for some unknown reason. Guess must be high speed driving.But nothing alarming. At no stretch did my speed drop below 80kmph. The roads in Rajasthan are awesome. So is the double lane highway right upto Valsad. After Valsad there are a few stretches which are yet being constructed. I dont have spec/stock brake pads. Awesome cost of motoring in the winters due to the cold air did not use Air con at all. Extremely satisfied with the vehicle in this trip. Very eager once past the 60kmph mark. Any one have any similiar trips do let me know. Regards mmm
	() Thanks

16th December 2004, 20:00	#2
ravi_28_8 BHPian Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 77 Thanked: 2 Times View My Garage	i have done a trip to rajesthan in march. we started from hyderabad to rajasthan via nagpur, bhopal, n reached jalawar - Kota(rajasthan). frm kota to bundi - chitthorghar - udaypur - mount abu - jodhpur - jaiselmer - bikaner - deeg - jaipur. frm jaipur to agra - gwalior - sagar - nagpur - hyderabad. it was total 7000 kms. it was a 14 days tour. we went on a zen diesel. we had some great drives esp frm pokaran to bikaner, 120kms in 1hr. Rest all areas we went quite fast but did not cross 120kmph. AC was on all the way. it returned us 17 to 18 kmpl. we planning for kulu and manali for next trip. might do that next year. before this we went to many places but on trains and buses and taxis.......... but we found this trip was more satisfying, nothing like going on ur own vehical. i think many of tbhpins have done long drives. i hope all of u will contribute to this by giving the route. this helps us reduce the effort of planning to some extent.
	() Thanks

17th December 2004, 02:42	#3
mmmjgm BHPian Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: BOM, PNQ, DXB Posts: 398 Thanked: 30 Times	If any of you need distance charts, hotel- good food, or waypoints and hotels on the way do let me know. Also if you guys need help with a route/road conditions etc. Hope it helps MM
	() Thanks

17th December 2004, 11:48	#4
speedsatya Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2004 Location: bangalore/manga Posts: 3,169 Thanked: 738 Times View My Garage	i have done Mumbai -Mangalore (997kms) and mangalore -mumbai through the NH4,nh63 and nh17 in 14 hrs in my mpfi zen.thats the max that i did till now driving myself.thats an average of about 70kph with all the regular pee stops and pit stops for food and and a max of 80-100kph on the last 90kms from cundapur on the heavy traffic NH17. when being driven around my longest travel is still in progress with me travelling all around punjab,haryana ,rajasthan in my f@#@$ indica which does not have a heater. thats around 200-300kms daily. satya
	() Thanks

20th December 2004, 11:56	#5
haryan BHPian Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: HYDERABAD INDIA Posts: 345 Thanked: 5 Times	I have done lots of long distance travel by road... the best drive was HYD to Cochin in 1997 ..... and from cochin we did a tour of kerala and returned back to Hyd via Coimbatore and Bangalore ... In 1997 /1998 went to Chennai by road in 1997/1998 went to Mercara (Coorg) from Hyd ... All this trips were done because either me or my friends were participating in Rally there ... My first sightseeing drive was in 2000 when i bought my Opel ... Went to Vizagand From there to Orissa .... and then in 2001 me, my wife, my friend and his wife went on a South tour ... Hyd to bangalore one night break in BLR and from there went to Mysore anf from Mysore we landed up at Mudumalai ( Karnataka / Tamilnadu Border ) we had two day stop there .. from there we drove thru Ooty to Kodaikanal ... we had two day halt there and from kodai we went to Munnar .... we had a three day halt there .... From Munnar we went to Thekkady and from thekkady we came back to BLR ... after a night of partying in BLR we returned to HYD ... this whole trip lasted for 12 days and about 4000kms which i did solo driving ... I also went to Bhubaneshwar by road , to Puna .... went to Indore From Vizag and From Indore came to Hyderabad that was about 3500 kms trip in a Bolero .... Last edited by haryan : 20th December 2004 at 11:59.
	() Thanks

20th December 2004, 12:16	#6
bhp BHPian Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: lokhandwala mumbai Posts: 840 Thanked: 168 Times View My Garage	hey that was fast speedsatya
	() Thanks

20th December 2004, 12:31	#7
bhp BHPian Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: lokhandwala mumbai Posts: 840 Thanked: 168 Times View My Garage	my longest journey was to banglore 2 years back . i drove all the way with my mom and small sis accompaniying me . i had a one night stay at kolhapur on the way and it took me around 21 hrs to reach blore bcoz i have to drive slow when i am with ma family . i cruised at 120 kmph when the road would look empty . it was just fun i had also been to mysore from blore and also returned back to bbay . i travellled in ma ford ikon which returned an mileage of 14 kmpl . hurray !!
	() Thanks