Team-BHP - My journey from Bangalore to Kolkata in a Tata Nano, that too Alone

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Originally Posted by pganapathy (Post 3061476)

That said, I always had faith that the nano could do a trip like this. Of course the fact that you have a 15 litre tank and can't practically exceed 80 means it is time consuming, but overall it is pretty impressive as a machine.

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Originally Posted by nukeblitz (Post 3061482)

25kmpl is pretty impressive - I suppose cruising at 80kmph gives great FE in a nano. What's curious is that on speedo, 60kmph is marked in green, signifying the optimum speed. Would it be correct to assume that cruising at 60kmph would give even better FE? Can anyone comment?

On a side note, 25kmpl with a 15 liter tank gives a range of 375km. Assuming you refill when your tank is 20 to 40% full (which is what I do), that gives you an usable range of 225 to 300 km on the highway. Quite usable for any distances if you ask me.
... open gas stations become hard to find between 12am and 5am on many highways but 375km is quite usable too if you drive slower and conserve fuel.

Driving at 60kmph? On highways? You would be a traffic hazard, methinks. It's hard to know if this speed will yield a better FE, as it's painfully slow and I don't see anyone risking their own time and safety to carry out tests on this part.

With the kind of infrastructure we are having, 80kmph should be the recommended speed. The Nano is capable of being driven at speeds of 100kmph as well, which is towards the cut-off limit for its engine.

Also as I found out on my recent trip to Ankola, the Nano actually runs for around 350kmph or more before it runs out of gas. So the usable range could be defined as between 300 and 325 kms. Also on that particular stretch, it was no trouble finding petrol pumps (with a major part of our drive being in the night). However this observation does not apply to every location, and which is why I had also carried spare fuel with me (3 ltres, for an effective range of between 60-80kms at least).

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Originally Posted by sanjayc (Post 3061359)

Madtiger, how is the current road conditions in Orissa. Is the highway now complete?

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Originally Posted by rahul4640 (Post 3061471)

I was going to ask the same question too. I am leaving for Puri in next two or three days and this time have decided to drive at night. Is the highway (NH-5) already a totally divided four lane road? Or are there diversions present, when only one side is kept open for traffic, while work is continuing on the other side?

Hello Sanjayc/Rahul4640,

The roads from Nellore to Vijayawada has many diversions, once you cross Vijayawada the roads are excellent till Bhubaneswar.

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Originally Posted by kannan666 (Post 3061549)

Really lovely to note your spirit of adventure and the trust you imposed on your steed ! Why don't you share a few more pics of the trip, and a few of the trusty Nano too ?

Hi kannan666,

I wish I could take more photos, I wanted to cover as much distance as I could. But yes I would surely post pictures of my nano.

Congrats for your efforts MadTiger. But unlike many others I had no doubts in capabilities of the Nano, after all I have done many highway trips in mine. I cruises all day long at 90kmph. I once drove my nano with five adults , three kids and full luggage (even in front passenger foot well ) with ac on for 225 kms nonstop and we all enjoyed the journey.

Congrats once more. My love for my Nano and all the Nanos deepens.:)

Thanks MadTiger for the first hand account of the Nano-quest. You have conquered the Nano-quest, a dream run from Bangalore-Kolkata-Bangalore.

Nano can cruise at ease around 80-90kmph on the highways. I had completed a 600+ km journey using a Nano with two of my office colleagues in June last year. That was an official trip to Dhubri from Guwahati using a Nano. At the highways the Nano was cruising at 80-90 and sometimes climbed to 100kmph in some overtaking maneuvers. I did not stress it and the Nano rewarded us with the comfortable journey. There was not any single instance of worrying about the capabilities of it in the entire journey.

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Originally Posted by rahul4640 (Post 3061873)

Thank you. But what about the current condition between Kharagpur and Bhubaneswar? Are there diversions present in this stretch too?

When you leave Bubaneswar lot of fly over work is going on may be about 10 km or so, but after that till Kharagpur its not too bad, but you have to be cautious as the small bridges in between has road tar come off the road and big cracks, little negligence can hit your suspension real bad..

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Originally Posted by stringbh (Post 3061944)

That is one heck of a journey MadTiger ! nice going through your post. Just curious, how old is your nano (on the odo?)

also, did you face any problem near jaleshwar where there is traffic on both sides, with trucks lined up ?

Thanks stringbh, my God was that Jaleshwar? I dint even knew the name of that place, I almost got stuck there forever, it was night almost 8 pm I believe, a guy from no where came on a bike and asked me "where do you want to go?" I said to kolkata, he said "take immediate U turn and take the wrong lane", for a moment I was scared to do that, but then I took his advise otherwise I was not sure when I could get out from there. While coming back it was day so I had no issues taking the opposite lane.

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Originally Posted by nukeblitz (Post 3061482)

Assuming a nice round figure of Rs.75 per liter, that means you got a FE of 25kmpl!

25kmpl is pretty impressive - I suppose cruising at 80kmph gives great FE in a nano. What's curious is that on speedo, 60kmph is marked in green, signifying the optimum speed. Would it be correct to assume that cruising at 60kmph would give even better FE? Can anyone comment?

50-60kmph will definately be more fuel effecient that 80kmph. atleast 20% better if not more.

Interesting and I should applause for this feat clap:.

It was just yesterday me & my friends were planning to drive down to our hometown which is 1k kms further from Kolkata i.e. Guwahati and today I see your travelogue.

So what did you do to get over your boredom? I am sure you had music but then how much can you listen. Also, what was the FE you got plus it was good that you were finding petrol bunks easily.

I had done the same trip in Dec 2011 in a 3 day old Honda Brio. Though my times were considerably quicker, hats off to you for the energy and the zeal to do it in a nano. I had my wife with me and the plan was to share the driving but after getting the steering wheel, I drove it all by myself.

Though the drive was a bit stressful, there was not a dull moment. I plan to do it again sometime in the future.