[VW2010]

At Thad...you should have taken the road at perungalathur next to the police station to reach the same road that you were trying to take via Vandalur.

Never cross perungalathur via GST

[hserus]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Third mistake was to take what I thought was just the left hand lane and it turned out to be fit only for small vehicles. With a wall on one side, and the left front wheel stuck in a hole I was in a bad way. I managed to rock the car to get momentum to get out of the hole, but dented the door in the process. I had planned to touch up all the dings and scratches at the next service, but I had not planned on adding another major one first

Any turnoff leading to Vandalur Zoo = one giant traffic jam. After that there's the OMR turnoff but that's heavy traffic too and a much, much longer route. The only time I considered it and it proved useful was during the new year break, with all IT companies closed and their corporate buses not plying.

As for the repair bills for your door - and especially as you queued up some other dents and scratches for work, use Speed Motors in Shastri Nagar - excellent FNG and quite good at dent / paint jobs (besides other electrical / mechanical maint work on cars). It'll cost you far less than an authorized service center does. PM me for a contact if you need one - there's reviews in the chennai TBHP forum.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I've taken some notable wrong turnings in my time, but those I took today probably make my record for time wasted ...and repair bills!

That sounds bad. If we enter the bypass road, there is a U turn within the first couple of KM; miss that, and we will have to go almost to Maduravoyal toll booth before we take another U turn.

Sorry to hear about the dent. Why didn't you take her to Tiruvanmiyur? That would have been a lot easier. Maximum number of buses to pondy go through the ECR. Buses through Perungalathur will be considerably less.

[hserus]

The GST road route to pondicherry is also horribly bumpy for the last several dozen kilometers. ECR is your best bet for pondicherry.

[Gansan]

^^ Actually the Tindivanam route is the best. The road from Tindivanam to Pondy is like a runway! ECR is no comparison!

[bblost]

Originally Posted by Gansan

^^ Actually the Tindivanam route is the best. The road from Tindivanam to Pondy is like a runway! ECR is no comparison!

I second this.
Last drove this route in 2014.
ECR <<<<< Tindivanam road.

[hserus]

I took the tindivanam route quite a while back, it's clearly improved in the meantime. Thanks guys.

[gabrielthomas]

Traffic at Perungalathur/Vandalur/Guduvanchery has become horrendous. You would have just one hour as a 'happy hour' to do this route i guess. That is between 1 to 2. From 3:00 - high tide starts :-)

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by VW2010

Never cross perungalathur via GST

Never go anywhere near GST at all if it can possibly be avoided.

But I plan a visit to the zoo, before the weather heats up again. Would normally go OMR/Pallavaram/GST/Vandalur.

Originally Posted by hserus

As for the repair bills for your door - and especially as you queued up some other dents and scratches for work, use Speed Motors in Shastri Nagar - excellent FNG and quite good at dent / paint jobs (besides other electrical / mechanical maint work on cars). It'll cost you far less than an authorized service center does. PM me for a contact if you need one - there's reviews in the chennai TBHP forum.

I'm thinking about what to do. The dent should come out easily, and, although the scratches look bad, I don't think there is exposed metal anywhere; it just goes down to the undercoat/primer. The big advantage of authorised service centre is that their VW paint will be a perfect match. Sundaram did a touch-up for me on a front wheel arch dent for free, and, even without clear coat, it makes the damage only visible up close.

Originally Posted by Gansan

That sounds bad. If we enter the bypass road, there is a U turn within the first couple of KM; miss that, and we will have to go almost to Maduravoyal toll booth before we take another U turn.

The U-turn was blocked by police, and, given heavy, fast traffic on the other side, I can see why: it would have been a dangerous manouvre. Yes, I had to go to the toll booth and back; I think it was 17km each way!

Why didn't you take her to Tiruvanmiyur? That would have been a lot easier. Maximum number of buses to pondy go through the ECR. Buses through Perungalathur will be considerably less.

It would have taken (ahem... without the wrong turning) a lot longer for her. But you know how it is: wrong decisions tend to come in batches. One leads to another, and they all seem right at the time.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by Gansan

^^ Actually the Tindivanam route is the best. The road from Tindivanam to Pondy is like a runway! ECR is no comparison!

Originally Posted by bblost

I second this.
Last drove this route in 2014.
ECR <<<<< Tindivanam road.

Not so quick. Depends on where you stay.

From thiruvanmiyur where I stay, getting to tindivanam route is easily one hour for me. however, from my house to the french quarter pondy (Hotel L'Orient) is 150 min at max, and often 130-140 min. Tindivanam route would surely not beat that by any stretch of imagination, esp given the multiple tolls.

[supremeBaleno]

^^^Yes, depends on from where one starts the journey. For those of us staying on OMR, the quicker option would be via ECR. Getting to GST and then the nightmare at Perungalathur is something we would avoid.

But yeah the GST road is safer (wider with multiple lanes each way & most important has a median) than ECR. But ECR is fun to drive on .

I did Pondy last Wednesday with friends and to & fro was via GST. We escaped Perungalathur jam both ways since we left Pallavaram at 2PM and returned at 10PM.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Not so quick. Depends on where you stay.

I meant "best" as in "best to drive on", not merely convenient! This route is the nearest for me, but earlier I used to take the ECR for the fun factor! After completion of Tindivanam - Pondy four lane road, this route is the most fun to drive. Also, no on coming traffic and no share autos! I mostly drive out on Sunday early mornings and return by 3.00 PM, so traffic is never an issue!

[Thad E Ginathom]

If we accept my friend's invitation, I'll be doing the drive soon, and we'll get to see what low-budget hut auroville-hut accomodation is like ...but we'll stay in a guest house.

I think I said it before: I can't do Pondy and back in a day: just too exhausting.

When I take people down the ECR to the various tourist places, I stipulate getting back to Chennai-city roads before dark. I'll drive in the city at any time, but ECR in the dark is a nightmare. Not because of the road, of course; because of the other drivers. My stipulation does not always work out, so I do get the experience.

[VW2010]

I think I said it before: I can't do Pondy and back in a day: just too exhausting.

Common Thad, we do this every other weekend. Our favorite spot for team hang out. We usually start at 6 though, have breakfast at Mamalla and reach around 11ish where we do our strolling through the city, the beach, the pier and mostly around the beach.

We avoid most of the common places and usually get to some good restaurant with some thirst busters(hehe) , road side juices, cd shopping and return by 7ish to chennai itself.

Since we do so often we usually dont do the site seeing (or in my world. time wasting).

[Thad E Ginathom]

I'm old!

Well, a bit old...