[BUXX]

12kmpl ! Thats almost as good as my earlier Santro Xing !

[joe1980]

Mod Note : There are several spelling & grammatical errors in your posts. This negatively affects the forum experience for other readers.

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[ron_9191]

Hats off to your journey in your good old friend. I was around 11 years old way back in 1991 and I remember doing a journey with my cousins to Ooty from Kollam in a Premier Padmini. It did the journey with zero hiccups. Quite a lovely car and I will always have a soft corner to it even when I am a 100 years old. Cheers to you

[bejoy]

Wow, that's a great trip! Good to know that you had a pleasant and enjoyable drive and being on a weekday would have eased the traffic a bit.

Waiting to see your ride on Bangalore roads!

[pksnathan]

Dear friend,

I enjoyed reading your travelogue.More than that your car really looks majestic and in showroom condition.The travelogue reminded me of my college days when my father took us on a trip from Madurai to Ooty and Bangalore and back to Madurai in a Fiat 1100.I too had a Premier Padmini and now I regret my decision of having sold that.Now I am 58 years.

Thanking you,

pksnathan

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by DudeWithaFiat

Its petrol. Its a variant called S1 which is supposed to have 3 or 4 horses more than the regular Padmini. We had pumped in 53L of petrol and after driving 564km, there were still a few liters left. Translates to around 12kmpl.

Welcome to Bangalore. She is a beauty !!! I learned driving in a 73 padmini, felt nostalgic seeing some of your photos.

Our Padmini used to give around 15, during our kochi - Kozhikode drives.
Tip: Petrol prices are lowest in KL, lower in TN compared to KA. So filling the tank at Walayar or Hosur helps when you have a 50L+ tank.

[jacs]

Thats a variety drive Sreeraj. Most of my first driving sessions were on a Fiat 1100 followed by 118NE, so no doubt about its travel comfort. She is Prestine like your Merc.

Never thought she would return an average of 12kmpl. Had she shown any anger on the road? I mean heating up.

[DudeWithaFiat]

Originally Posted by bejoy

Waiting to see your ride on Bangalore roads!

Don't hesitate to honk/flash if you happen to see me there

Originally Posted by pksnathan

Dear friend,

I enjoyed reading your travelogue.More than that your car really looks majestic and in showroom condition.

Thanking you,

pksnathan

Originally Posted by jacs

Thats a variety drive Sreeraj. Most of my first driving sessions were on a Fiat 1100 followed by 118NE, so no doubt about its travel comfort. She is Prestine like your Merc.

Never thought she would return an average of 12kmpl. Had she shown any anger on the road? I mean heating up.

Thanks pksnathan and jacs, but you guys are making me feel guilty :(. The car does look good and shiny, but its not spotless or as clean as it looks in the picture. It does have a few spots where the paint has started chipping or have started bubbling. The front bumper does not look very good and the grill looks dull.

About the anger, we had 'upgraded' to coolant from water before this trip and had made sure that the temperature guage is working. Had anticipated some slight display of anger, but she behaved very well. . Was surprising even for me. I and my Dad had kept an eye on the temp guage making sure she is keeping her cool.

Originally Posted by arjithin

Welcome to Bangalore. She is a beauty !!! I learned driving in a 73 padmini, felt nostalgic seeing some of your photos.

Our Padmini used to give around 15, during our kochi - Kozhikode drives.
Tip: Petrol prices are lowest in KL, lower in TN compared to KA. So filling the tank at Walayar or Hosur helps when you have a 50L+ tank.

Thanks Jithin. The tank is only 38L and we had filled petrol of Rs.4000 in two installments. Yep, petrol is 2 or 3 rupees more in KA.

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by DudeWithaFiat

A beautiful and happy day it was and in its longest single day journey ever, our Padmini passed the reliability test with flying colours.



Expense:

• Petrol : Rs.4000/- (About 53 litres and there was still a few litres left in the tank).
• Toll : Rs.451/- (All for single trip).

Thanks for the wonderful travelogue and congrats. Could you please share more trip stats - Total time taken, total driving time, maximum speed, speed that you were maintaining on the express way etc?

Where do you plan to service your car in Bangalore?

[naveen.raju]

Awesome drive! and congrats. Enjoyed reading the travelogue. So will we be able to see the car again in Cochin any time soon? Heard a lot about your cars from aswin. Waiting for it.

[DudeWithaFiat]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

Thanks for the wonderful travelogue and congrats. Could you please share more trip stats - Total time taken, total driving time, maximum speed, speed that you were maintaining on the express way etc?

Where do you plan to service your car in Bangalore?

Thanks Pramod.

Total time taken : 14 hours (including about 2 hours of break).
Maximum speed : The highest I hit was 80kmph (GPS speed) though the car is capable of doing higher speeds.

The speed maintained at the highways were between 60-70 kmph (GPS speeds).

Had gone to Nandi hills yesterday and maintained a speed of 90kmph (GPS speed) for quite sometime through the Bangalore - Bellary road.

For servicing, I am hoping to get some help from BHPians Karthik1100 and Pavan.Kadam

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Awesome drive! and congrats. Enjoyed reading the travelogue. So will we be able to see the car again in Cochin any time soon? Heard a lot about your cars from aswin. Waiting for it.

Thanks Naveen. Sure. Will keep an eye on the Cochin Meet thread and will try my best to be there for the next meet. I can't promise Padmini to be back to Kochi anytime soon (a to and fro drive can put a hole of over 8k in the pocket you know ).

[ashpalio]

Holy Moly of a trip!
I miss my 2 Fiat Padmini again. Wonderful narration of the drive. Glad to know the healthy stats of your beauty, skipping the small rashes. I will certainly flash when I see your Padmini zooming by

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by DudeWithaFiat

Total time taken : 14 hours (including about 2 hours of break).
Maximum speed : The highest I hit was 80kmph (GPS speed) though the car is capable of doing higher speeds.

The speed maintained at the highways were between 60-70 kmph (GPS speeds).

Since you keep speeds low, it makes sense to try alternate roads to Kochi that can avoid toll and are shorter. I am a regular in the Bangalore - Kochi (Vaikom) route and drive 4 - 5 times a year.

Option 1 - Bangalore - Mysore - Gundlupet - Gudalur - Nilambur - Perinthalmanna - Pattambi - Kunnamkulam - Chavakkad - N Parur - Kochi

( almost 0 toll)

This is shorter than the Salem route by atleast 50 KMS.

Option 2- Bangalore - Attibele -Rayakottah - Palacode - Pennagaram - Mecheri - Mettur - Bhavani - Coimbatore - Kochi

This also should be shorter than Salem route by aronf 40 KMs and should save around Rs 250/- toll.

[sharoncr_17]

Lovely machine and excellent travelogue. Its the motor that makes the t-log so special.

Reminds me of a trip me and my buddy made from Kollam to Mangalaore during 2009 in a W123 300D Merc. We were literally driving non stop from M-lore when the radiator hose gave up near Kayankulam in the middle of the night.

Love the decal on the hood. Original ORVMs would make her even beautiful. (personal opinion. No offense meant)

[DudeWithaFiat]

Originally Posted by ashpalio

Holy Moly of a trip!
I miss my 2 Fiat Padmini again. Wonderful narration of the drive. Glad to know the healthy stats of your beauty, skipping the small rashes. I will certainly flash when I see your Padmini zooming by

Thanks ashpalio. Hoping to see the flash sometime soon

Originally Posted by pramodpk

Since you keep speeds low, it makes sense to try alternate roads to Kochi that can avoid toll and are shorter. I am a regular in the Bangalore - Kochi (Vaikom) route and drive 4 - 5 times a year.

Option 1 - Bangalore - Mysore - Gundlupet - Gudalur - Nilambur - Perinthalmanna - Pattambi - Kunnamkulam - Chavakkad - N Parur - Kochi

( almost 0 toll)

Shall try the 'Option 2' next time. I had driven through Nilambur - Gudalur stretch in my Merc about 2 months back and man, it was horrible. Decided, never to take that route ever again. But thanks for the suggestion. BTW, you are from Vaikom? I frequent Vaikom from my home (Udayamperoor) quite often.

Originally Posted by sharoncr_17

Lovely machine and excellent travelogue. Its the motor that makes the t-log so special.

Reminds me of a trip me and my buddy made from Kollam to Mangalaore during 2009 in a W123 300D Merc. We were literally driving non stop from M-lore when the radiator hose gave up near Kayankulam in the middle of the night.

Love the decal on the hood. Original ORVMs would make her even beautiful. (personal opinion. No offense meant)

Thanks sharoncr. I love the W123 and plan to acquire one in an year or two (depending on Vitamin M ) .

The sticker on the hood is the one I got during last year's Fiat Meet at Kochi. And yes, about the ORVMs, no offense taken and I share the same opinion. Had checked for Padmini ORVMs at Shivajinagar last week, but they were unavailable and I was running short of time too. Planning to go there again searching for it.