[soulreaper_20]

Hello All,

So this was more of a challenge that we took up for ourselves than a proper travelogue, since the entire journey duration was about 20 hours. But there isn't any specific forum for such topic, I thought it would best suited here.

I got a loaner 630i GT from BMW India for a couple of days and we wanted to do something different. After a bit of brainstorming, we came to a conclusion that the best thing to do with a GT car would actually be to go on a grand tour. With that in mind, we thought that Goa would be the ideal destination for a couple of reasons:

1) Goa is the most obvious destination that comes to mind when people from Pune / Mumbai are looking for a relaxing vacation

2) We developed a craving for Goan food

3) It was the ideal distance to make the challenge doable, but at the same time a bit difficult due to the unknown road and traffic conditions

0430HRS: I started off from my house in Pune to pick up my friend who would accompany me for the journey. But by the time I could get him in the car and we could actually leave the city to join the highway, it was already 6:00 AM. So that plan now was to cross as much distance as we could before everyone got onto the road, so we didn't stop for any sort of refreshments apart from trying to film a bit of the introduction for the video.

1030HRS: We reach Nipani which is where travelers leave the NH48 to head towards Goa. While there is another way to Goa from Belgaum, we wanted to take this route as it is more regular between people traveling to Goa from Pune or Mumbai. After a short halt and some appetizing breakfast later, we once again, set off towards Goa. This is where the roads start getting tricky...

1030HRS - 1430HRS: The Nipani bifurcation goes through Amboli and Sawantwadi before connecting to the upcoming Mumbai-Goa highway that is slated to be complete by May 2019. While Amboli and Sawantwadi is as crowded as usual, accompanied by bad patches of roads that are continuously lined with potholes, unmarked speed breakers and at certain instances no roads at all, but the under-construction Mumbai-Goa highway is a whole different story. Currently, the roads are in terrible condition as all the existing roads are dug up, narrowing down the driveable patch to just one or two lanes. You can imagine the traffic and chaos that would build up in such situation. But that's not all, the chaos ensues all the way into Mapusa.

1430HRS - 1700HRS: This is what we'd driven all the way for. I had heard that Souza Lobo is one of the best, most traditional places to have authentic Goan/Portugese cuisine in Goa, so without wasting any time, we directly headed towards Calangute where the restaurant is located. Upon reaching, we were greeted by a lovely sea view restaurant that was relatively empty (Its March and the beginning of off season). So we grabbed ourselves a quiet corner and asked for the menu. As suggested by the waiter, the Lunch spread would include French Fries, Masala Fish, Stuffed Crab and Beef Xacuti.

This is where I regretted my decision the most, as in no way was my brain prepared to leave all this in a couple of hours and head back to Pune! But it had to be done...

1700HRS onwards: Our hunger satisfied, we once again got back into the 630i GT to attack the horrid roads back to Pune. But this time, for some reason, the same-as-before roads seemed to annoy us even more which was probably due to the fact that we were not staying back in Goa and we were a bit tired of sitting in the car for so long.

From here to Pune, it was a constant effort of avoiding potholes, wrong side traffic, high beams before we finally made it back under my home at 2349hrs.

At this point, I had been in the car for almost 20 hours, driven 900km and were still quite fresh in comparison to how much distance we had covered. So in the end with this challenge, we came up with a few conclusions:

1) Mumbaikars and Punekars... DON'T go to Goa right now at least till the new highway is complete.

2) The journey could be done much easily if the roads are proper... I reckon we can do Pune-Goa-Pune in less than 15 hours (or less) if the roads are good.

3) The BMW 630i GT is an extremely capable grand touring car

4) I love air suspensions

5) Don't do what we did and go to Goa for a day. Your soul will never forgive you.

Unfortunately, since this was sort of a challenge, we couldn't stop too many places and take photos. Plus I don't think there's anything special that people haven't seen between Pune and Goa. So instead of photos, what I have is this video of our entire experience:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYRawthFMXk&t=91s

[bhp_maniac]

Now, this is something interesting. No, wait! Adventurous The word Goa gets me goosebumps for it stays my favorite party destination in India till now. What you have accomplished is something only the brave and the adventurous dare do. Great to know that you had a great time with your loaner BMW. Keep GT'ing

[Axe77]

The exact kind of madness that I would expect from an auto nut on this forum. Loved your post and its making me look forward to buy own Goa road trip in the 3 GT scheduled for mid October. Which dash cam / camera were you using? Which Go Pro I mean?

Thanks

[JoshMachine]

Wow. On the face of it, this looks like a "marathon sprint" ride! Hats off to you for pulling off such a feat
Please do share some pics as well. Goa can be absolute fun!

However, on the other hand, your decision to take a loaner car out on such a day-trip adventure was risky as well, in my view.
Had something gone awry with the car, not sure how the dealer would have addressed the situation.

Driving for close to 20 hours in a day, especially on the return leg might have really kept you on the edge of your alertness, unless of-course, you are used to driving for such long duration periodically.

[CDM]

Wow! This is a new level. The closest I can come is having done a Delhi- Ambala - Delhi only for lunch. About 400 km and 7-8 hours.

CDM

[soulreaper_20]

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

Wow. On the face of it, this looks like a "marathon sprint" ride! Hats off to you for pulling off such a feat
Please do share some pics as well. Goa can be absolute fun!

However, on the other hand, your decision to take a loaner car out on such a day-trip adventure was risky as well, in my view.
Had something gone awry with the car, not sure how the dealer would have addressed the situation.

Driving for close to 20 hours in a day, especially on the return leg might have really kept you on the edge of your alertness, unless of-course, you are used to driving for such long duration periodically.

Haha, it was a completely unique experience! Honestly, when my friend and I were discussing about it, I was completely against it and thought that it can't be done (purely speaking in terms of the endurance). But then we did it!

The loaner was was from BMW India and not a dealer. So it was a press car which was given to us to create content, and that's what was our idea of creating something unique

In terms of endurance and fatigue, honestly, the 6GT's air suspensions are just amazing... We really didn't feel all that tired even after driving for so long (that's what I explain at the end of the video).

Originally Posted by Axe77

The exact kind of madness that I would expect from an auto nut on this forum. Loved your post and its making me look forward to buy own Goa road trip in the 3 GT scheduled for mid October. Which dash cam / camera were you using? Which Go Pro I mean?

Thanks

I am so glad that you liked it! Thank you!

Please, Please, PLEASE check the status of the Goa highway before you go. The roads are just horrible... If it wasn't for this car, we would have fatigued for sure! Perhaps you can also try going via Chorla (Belgaum route) which is much nicer (but 100+km longer).

I used 2 Go Pros for this, one Hero 6 and an old "scam" hero 4

Originally Posted by CDM

Wow! This is a new level. The closest I can come is having done a Delhi- Ambala - Delhi only for lunch. About 400 km and 7-8 hours.

CDM

I wouldn't have done it if we didn't take it as a challenge... But it was an awesome experience for sure!

**Also. I was not the biggest fan of how the 6GT looked... But those air suspensions just changed my mind about that car completely!

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[Axe77]

That is right. I would definitely pick chorla instead of Amboli although the last time I drove a few years ago I took the nipany Amboli route.

Fair to say you are happy with the Hero 6? Or is that also a thumbs down from you?

[noopster]

I do Pune-Goa-Pune at least a couple of times a year but would never dream of doing it in one stretch. Driving from Pune to Goa, reaching Goa is the best part and we stretch that out as much as possible!

Am against endurance runs in General but at 20 hours, it doesn’t look like you went for speed, which is commendable.

[Hayek]

Fun drive. Hats off for having the patience to drive 20 hours in a day - 12 hours seems like a lot to me.

Suspect you would have been better off using the Chorla route - at least back in December, it was much better and we made Vashi to Candolim in 10hrs 30 minutes, with breaks for Breakfast, a packed lunch, and tea.

What was the highway mileage and tank capacity of the 630i?

[soulreaper_20]

Originally Posted by Hayek

Fun drive. Hats off for having the patience to drive 20 hours in a day - 12 hours seems like a lot to me.

Suspect you would have been better off using the Chorla route - at least back in December, it was much better and we made Vashi to Candolim in 10hrs 30 minutes, with breaks for Breakfast, a packed lunch, and tea.

What was the highway mileage and tank capacity of the 630i?

The 630i holds about 68 liters of fuel. We had to fill once while going and once while coming back... total fuel cost came to about 9k for the entire journey.

Originally Posted by noopster

I do Pune-Goa-Pune at least a couple of times a year but would never dream of doing it in one stretch. Driving from Pune to Goa, reaching Goa is the best part and we stretch that out as much as possible!

Am against endurance runs in General but at 20 hours, it doesn’t look like you went for speed, which is commendable.

On our roads, I do everything to consciously avoid speed. Specially for such endurance runs, I think its better to figure out a comfortable speed and average out.

Originally Posted by Axe77

That is right. I would definitely pick chorla instead of Amboli although the last time I drove a few years ago I took the nipany Amboli route.

Fair to say you are happy with the Hero 6? Or is that also a thumbs down from you?

The video recording quality of the Hero 6 is good, but I am really disappointed by the audio. Even in this video where I used the Hero 6's default mic, the audio keeps changing and isn't consistent. If you attach an external mic, then it will sometimes use it for recording audio and rest of the times completely ignore it... which results in no audio recorded at all! Considering upgrading to the 7 as I hear that it has resolved the 6's issues.