[GeeTee TSI]

Originally Posted by Dieselritzer

Just a question: Do we have a list of good fuel pumps on highways which we can be sure do no sell adulterated fuel?

Company owned company operated CoCo pumps would be the best bet AFAIK. For the trip, we generally topped up either at large pumps on highways or those in the heart of the city.

[GeeTee TSI]

Originally Posted by Kings_Wit

Is there anything more you could point out about the car's long distance performance for a prospective GT TSI buyer?

I would put it this way, my wife is generally prone to travel sickness (car- sick specifically) but not even one 'stop' was required in this regard throughout our 3K drive. That for me speaks about smoothness, power on command.
95% of my odo reading has been on long distance drives and I frankly never felt the need to use beyond D (S and tiptronic mode only used for the effect ) PM me in case if any specific aspect needs some elaboration or an opinion

[MaxTorque]

Well written travelogue with simple yet interesting explanations and photographs. Loved the photography and narration.

I am from Malappuram district, good to see the photographs of Teak Museum. I just went back to my college days. Thanks mate.

[YoungSaint]

Great trip! Can you throw some light on the performance of the car and FE that it returned? Also, how was the highway cruising speed and the experience?

BTW, I love the idea of strapping the luggage on the rear seat by seat belts. I would be doing the same from my next trips.

[AveekKumar]

Fantastic write-up. Appreciate the lengths you have gone to prepare this travelogue. Since my wifey is from Kozikode, i have always had a dream/wish of doing the Pune-Kozikode road trip during monsoon. Now the fire has been rekindled.

[varunraizada]

Absolutely loved the way you have left the photographs to do all the talking ! Superbly written

Also, the first thing I noticed was the post in February for a trip in September !

Cool tip on the full sleeve shirts.. I usually wear them to keep people from noticing the differential tan

[Amit_Kapoor4750]

Thanks GeeTee for this brilliant travelogue. Your travelogue gives a very lovely presentation of southern part of our beautiful country to the people like us, living in the north, who cannot live the experiences of a road trip down south, so often.
The weather seems very pleasing throughout your journey. All the pictures are beautiful and refreshing. You managed to click and post all the beautiful moments, that too with crisp write up and details. I noticed that you traveled in daylight only, which is very good when you are in god’s own country where every turn takes you to a picturesque place.
Your car performed very well in terms of reliability and efficiency. I found the sum of tolls paid is quite low in comparison to the 3000 kilometers traveled.

[meetzap]

Very well written GeeTee. South Indian Highway pics are great. This is certainly an inspiration for me and other TSI owners.

I am going to get my Vento TSI DSG this week. Just a question though, how useful is the cruise control feature for such long trips? How comfortable is the drivers and co drivers seating for such long drives?

[carfreak]

A very well written travelogue GeeTee. You passed through where I stay too! Nice photographs and I liked the Teak museum very much. I should plan a trip there sometime.

Originally Posted by GeeTee TSI

For someone who had learnt driving in Kerala (family hatchbacks), I was quite used to the narrow winding 'dual carriageway' where one practices 'point and shoot' overtaking techniques. This I would say was the true test of the GT TSI's depth, (apart from crawling traffic of Mumbai) as overtaking opportunities are very short timed. A sluggish auto could ruin the drive as people otherwise stay in 3rd, waiting for the opportune overtaking moment. After some time on KL roads, I could make the DSG execute perfectly timed kickdowns to slingshot past slower vehicles with ease.
(P.S. I still maintain with all humility that one should not mess with Monster Private Buses of KL)

After going through your entire article, I found this piece, the one I could relate to the most. I am currently visiting a hospital in Kasargod on a twice weekly basis. I have an automatic Creta and trust me when i say this, the drive is nothing short of frustrating and nerve wracking. Yes the traffic is heavy and like you said, in Kerala, the 3rd and 4th lanes mysteriously vanish. But the worst bit is the auto box in the Creta. Overtaking slow moving traffic is a pain due to the slow to react auto box and many a times I prefer taking my Cedia (though a petrol engine car) to my hospital.

I guess the DSG will be the best automatic to drive on Kerala roads due to it's quick shifting nature. But for me, any day, give me a manual gearbox on Kerala roads.

[nitheeshsreeram]

Wonderful write-up.Gave me memories of my KL-MH-GJ trip but I did not visit so many places. I am missing Kerala a lot after seeing your pics.

[J_Man]

Wonderful Trip GeeTee. Kept me glued to this thread. I was literally feeling the monsoons in these hot days of summer.

Keep posting many more of those

[GeeTee TSI]

Originally Posted by Amit_Kapoor4750

I found the sum of tolls paid is quite low in comparison to the 3000 kilometers traveled.

Almost all of the tolls were incurred on one day each during onward as well as return (MH of course and the AH47). The rest were country roads in KA, KL is probably too densely populated to have roads were a toll could be levied in the first place.Only the odd bridge had a toll, that too between 2/- and 5/- one way!

Originally Posted by meetzap

how useful is the cruise control feature for such long trips? How comfortable is the drivers and co drivers seating for such long drives?

Alas! Mine was the model prior to the feature upgrade (no cruise control et al) and hence cannot comment on that part. However, I feel cruise control would be totally redundant in KL given the absence of vast open streches.
The driver seat has sufficient adjustments possible to zero-in on a comfortable position. Passenger seat misses height adjustment, which could have helped with a better angle of the knee (seat is set quite low for taller passengers). But we both had no body aches of any sort throughout our drive, I would rate the good ergonomics for that besides just the seats

[Chrome6Boy]

Great write up and brilliant photography! It really makes me want to visit Gokharna.

Did you use the manual mode or the S mode in the hills or on the highway?

[GeeTee TSI]

Originally Posted by Chrome6Boy

Did you use the manual mode or the S mode in the hills or on the highway?

I never had to use S nor Tiptronic for lack of response, for instant surge kickdown feature helped. However, on narrow roads with gradual inclines and dips, I found Tiptronic avoided unnecessary shuffling of gears (prevent an unnecessary downshift and a subsequent upshift) and helps 'trundle' along better.

[pduttaghy]

A wonderful travelogue GeeTee TSI. Very informative and entertaining. I must say you took a big risk driving through a Bandh that too in a state not very well known to you. Glad that at the end you managed to reach home safe and sound.