[sps]

Originally Posted by Allroad

Nice updates from your trips SPS. Also from what I am reading I am assuming the highways and roads connecting town and cities between these three states - KL, KA, and TN - are pretty neat.

I wish all the construction I am seeing on the NH-7 connecting Bangalore and Hyderabad will realize one day, 'coz that's the highway I'll be using mostly in the near future

Roads are of a mixed kind. Mostly good ones, but there are bad patches too. If we wait for all roads to be good before any trip, the trip will never happen. Bad roads sometimes add to the fun if you see it in that perspective.

Originally Posted by lohithrao

Sps, this truly is a tourer! has all the qualities of a vehicle which is perfect for long distance...
enjoy it

yes boss, I am enjoying it.

Originally Posted by unni.ak

B'lore - Tvm in 12hrs of drive time is very very impressive. Its more like 750 odd kms. Happy Mile Munching

We started from domlur area at 7.30am on a sunday. So escaped bangalore traffic. By the time we reached palaghat at noon, the roads there were empty too. Even the long queue of trucks at walayar check post was missing. We crossed cochin byepass between 4.30 and 5pm which is also a relaxed traffic time owing to a holiday. if it is after 6pm on a sunday we will get caught up in the slow moving traffic.
Good average speeds in the above spots means the total average speed will increase.

[vijaythacker]

SPS, nice updates of your journeys on your wheel, seems super comfortable on those long drives, roads also seems of good condition, keep on going, why didnt you opted for front sceen film?

[sps]

Second service was done last saturday. Odo stands at 5800 km now. Service was due at 5000km. Since only routine check ups were there, service advisor had mentioned that it is ok, if I exceeds it.

3 issues (minor) were mentioned this time
1. A whistling sound could be heard when I am revving in the range of 2k to 3k rpm and then releasing the accelator. Initially I thought of it as the turbo whistle. But turbo being in the range of 3k and above I wanted this to be checked up

2. Right side ORVM was a little lose. It was not shaking though. Noticed it when I tried to close the ORVM once.

3. Outside smell was felt inside even when the air intake is from inside.

The expected time of service was mentioned as 1.5 hours. So I waited at the service centre itself watching my vehicle getting serviced through the big glass window provided at the customer lounge. Service took about 3 hours.
Things done
1. There was some problem with the exhaust resulting in the exhaust air escaping through some gap. This caused the whistling sound. they tightened some bolt for rectifying it. I was not quite convinced about what it was. On test drive I could feel that sound is gone.
2. ORVM could not be tightened. The shake was attributed to some vehicle hitting the mirror, resulting in the bolt hole becoming a little larger. Has to live with this. Luckily it is not rattling.
3. There were some gaps in the cabling ducts which resulted in defective air isolation of the cabin. This also was resolved.

Next service due at 10k km. Oil change to be done at that time. Expected cost of that next service also marked in the service log. Overall a nice experience, but I felt it would have been nice if the service advisor could inform me of the delay in delivery time, owing to the problem correction rather than me going to him to enquire about the delay after 3hours.

Neverthless I could see that the vehicle was attended to by some technician or other when it was in the service area. This added to my curiosity on whether there was some major trouble to be rectified.

Nippon toyota service centre experience so far has been 8/10

[unni.ak]

Originally Posted by sps

We started from domlur area at 7.30am on a sunday. So escaped bangalore traffic. By the time we reached palaghat at noon, the roads there were empty too. Even the long queue of trucks at walayar check post was missing. We crossed cochin byepass between 4.30 and 5pm which is also a relaxed traffic time owing to a holiday. if it is after 6pm on a sunday we will get caught up in the slow moving traffic.
Good average speeds in the above spots means the total average speed will increase.

I'm from Ambalapuzha and travel home by car. I usually start from Pai Layout, Old Madras Road (maybe 8kms from Domlur) at about 0200hrs and reach Ambalapuzha by 1300hrs. And mind you this is mostly with just pee-breaks. Food is carried in the car. I loose a lot of time once I cross Trichur, with all the 4laning work and traffic.

You dont have to be modest, you did some good time, especially after starting at 0730hrs. Next time I'm at Tvm, I'll PM you.

[sps]

Originally Posted by unni.ak

I'm from Ambalapuzha and travel home by car. I usually start from Pai Layout, Old Madras Road (maybe 8kms from Domlur) at about 0200hrs and reach Ambalapuzha by 1300hrs. And mind you this is mostly with just pee-breaks. Food is carried in the car. I loose a lot of time once I cross Trichur, with all the 4laning work and traffic.

You dont have to be modest, you did some good time, especially after starting at 0730hrs. Next time I'm at Tvm, I'll PM you.

Yes we can meet up when you are in tvm. Once the trichur - ekm roads are completely done, it will take 1.5hrs to do this stretch, provided traffic is manageable.
This is the first time I am doing bnglr - tvm in single stretch. In all previous times I did break journey at calicut/thrissur. This time I was targetting between 13 - 16hrs for this journey.
Even had plans to break the journey at thrissur and then continue next day if my young kid is feeling bad. She did felt uneasy, but that was when we were near Quilon.

[unni.ak]

Originally Posted by sps

Yes we can meet up when you are in tvm. Once the trichur - ekm roads are completely done, it will take 1.5hrs to do this stretch, provided traffic is manageable.
This is the first time I am doing bnglr - tvm in single stretch. In all previous times I did break journey at calicut/thrissur. This time I was targetting between 13 - 16hrs for this journey.
Even had plans to break the journey at thrissur and then continue next day if my young kid is feeling bad. She did felt uneasy, but that was when we were near Quilon.

Guess she'll have to get used to your continuous drives now You have the perfect vehicle in hand as well. Happy Driving.

[hemanth.das]

I just returned from Thrissur this morning and covered this strecth in about 7.5 hours, actually It was a long trip from blr - munnar - tekkady - thrissur - blr.

[sps]

Only 6000 km in 6 months. Very less when compared with Innova standards.

The change that has come to my life is that I am planning for the next trip with my family whenever time permits. And if the trip is planned, I am excited to be behind the drivers wheel.

After very long journeys, my wife used to tell that next time we should go by air or by train. But now a days I am not hearing that tooo.

About the vehicle: it has hold well till now. Well I know that this is a reliable machine and that's why I bought it. Taking good care of it.

My kids now enjoy the vehicle so much that the moment they enter in a sedan/hatch they tell that we want to go in the innova.

It is a reliable cruiser, a fast one though, not the one which you can take to breath taking speeds. But reaches destination pretty faster than what you estimate. Very easily driveable in the city.

One pic of my innova which I took last weekend. Created a new BHP garage too.

[sps]

Originally Posted by vijaythacker

SPS, nice updates of your journeys on your wheel, seems super comfortable on those long drives, roads also seems of good condition, keep on going, why didnt you opted for front sceen film?

The local installers all are dependent on not so trained employees. I am not ready to risk with a bad installation on my front screen.
During travelling heat through the front is acceptable now. Only during parking under sun it's a problem. Plan to get some rollable windshield for the front windscreen.

[hemanth.das]

when you were in blore you should have installed it ... contact me if you need any help arround this I hav a good experienced guy in this dept.

[sps]

Cruised to vagamon last weekend. Enjoyed the space and comfort offered by the innova. The place is simply scenic. feels like as if we have gone into another world alltogether.
Watching the scenery around even during the scorching heat from the comfort of the chilling ac and aircraft like ambience is something special.

The resort which we opted for had some nice offroading tracks. Tried only a few kilometers in my innova. The rest was done in a 4x4 mahindra. Waiting for the next weekend to write a travelogue along with the pictures.

[GSMINC]

How far is vagamon from TVM ?
I'm planning a trip nex week, Bangalore-Sabarimala-Trivandrum-Tiruvattar-Tirunelveli-Bangalore
Hence, looking for a place to break journey after Sabarimala.
I generally stay in Trivandrum Club or Lotus club(Kochi) on my way back from sabarimala, my club in Bangalore is affliated to these clubs,
So thought if vagamon is a hill station, it might be a nice place to crash after climbing Sabarimala by foot.

[sps]

Vagamon is 210kms from tvm. It is in Kottayam - idukki border. you can reach vagamon from erumeli. It is some 50 to 60 kms from Erumeli.

Originally Posted by GSMINC

How far is vagamon from TVM ?
I'm planning a trip nex week, Bangalore-Sabarimala-Trivandrum-Tiruvattar-Tirunelveli-Bangalore
Hence, looking for a place to break journey after Sabarimala.
I generally stay in Trivandrum Club or Lotus club(Kochi) on my way back from sabarimala, my club in Bangalore is affliated to these clubs,
So thought if vagamon is a hill station, it might be a nice place to crash after climbing Sabarimala by foot.

[jkdas]

Originally Posted by sps

Cruised to vagamon last weekend. Enjoyed the space and comfort offered by the innova. The place is simply scenic. feels like as if we have gone into another world alltogether.
Watching the scenery around even during the scorching heat from the comfort of the chilling ac and aircraft like ambience is something special.

The resort which we opted for had some nice offroading tracks. Tried only a few kilometers in my innova. The rest was done in a 4x4 mahindra. Waiting for the next weekend to write a travelogue along with the pictures.

Attachment 144065

Attachment 144066

Great pix pal.

Changanacherry -Vagamon route is great. Nice road too.

[GSMINC]

Originally Posted by sps

Vagamon is 210kms from tvm. It is in Kottayam - idukki border. you can reach vagamon from erumeli. It is some 50 to 60 kms from Erumeli.

Thanks, but how does one reach Vagamon from sabarimala or erumely.
From Erumely should I go via Kottayam or Pala/Ranni or via ----- ?
Pls guide me, plus what facilities in vagamon, I mean, lodges, food sightseeing etc
After climbing from Pampa to Sannidhanam & back, the first thing we want is a nice room, good mallu food & a long sleep, hence pls help