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-   -   Chennai to vizag (1928 kms) on my new Beast! (EDIT: Beast=Fiesta 1.6 zxi Petrol) (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/38315-chennai-vizag-1928-kms-my-new-beast-edit-beast-fiesta-1-6-zxi-petrol.html)

Hi,

Was dying to post my recent experience of total 1928 kms drive in 5 days. finally, I got the time to pen down...

After lots of discussions with fmly members on whether to take the new Beast out for such a long drive I finally woke up on last Sat morning & decided to leave after a shower (9:30am am on ttk road, chennai). After getting the tank full I managed to leave the city limits by 10:30 am and touched the NH5. Its a superb road (end-to-end) so managed to maintain a steady >85 kmph except when confronted with villagers, small auto rickshaws, cattle etc. I reached Nellore (~155km) by 12:00 noon. Met up with a friend who gave me some mp3 - saving grace b'coz last 1.5 hrs of pure Tamil FM was taking its toll (I don't know tamil)...lesson learnt: Don't ask for lassi, its same buttermilk exept that they take more time to serve jus to make customers feel they're gonna get sth. really tasty!
Then started for Kavali (70kms) for lunch at my uncle's place. After lunch we started around 3.40pm for Kakinada. The detour is at a place called Ravalipalem...last 70 kms is the REAL winding road with lush green east godavari landscape (its one of the richest places in India)...we (uncle joined me from kavali) touched Vijayawada (river krishna looks beautiful) around 6pm. Next one hour was most painful bcoz the NH5 passes through the city, well almost with some 10 traffic signals. Lesson 2: Plan in such a way that you can avoid the major cities traffic otherwise both time & patience is lost. Finally, we reached Rpalem around 9.30pm from where Kakinada is about 70 kms, but again very painful road & traffic - avg speed of 50kmph only is manageable. Reached kakinada at 11:15pm. Had nice drinks, biryani, and a goooood sleep to start afresh next morning for Vizag (arnd 185 kms).

Return trip started at 3.30pm in Kakinada, dinner at 10.30 in kavali (~580kms), and then chennai back home at 4am.

Experience:

The beast handles extremely well. While on the SH from rpalem to kakinada, it was drizzling and the curves were blind & sharp. I almost hit the end of the road at 80kmph, when I noticed and managed to turn the steering as much as I can alongwith sufficient braking. Succeeded!

One the return there ensued a race with Honda City (appeared like some driver was on seat), the beast's acceleration just left the city wonder how best to compete. He did overtake me on one occasion. After few mins I went past him at some 120kmph, and then rest was history...he completely disappeared from the rear view mirror. I felt the grunt at top gears & >2500 rpm is sexy to keep Beast ahead of any other in the same segment. I finally noticed the city (still cruising at >100 speeds) when I stopped at a dhabha - ordered a tea - started enjoying it....then suddenly he went past...some 5 mins gap!

On the return, after we crossed chilakuliripet, I was as usual driving at 110, and suddenly barely 500 meters aways there was a dead buffalo on the right lane of the road (speeding vehicles lane). The ONLY thing I could do was manouver & avoid collision at any cost. Braking would not have helped anyways...the beast did it with no screeching sound or any imbalance...sexy, but risky!

My friend.... which is your "beast"!!
Did i miss it... or have you missed mentioning???

Fiesta 1.6ZXI Petrol. Bought last month.

even i couldnt figure out ...lol:...what beast is it

looks like it's a Fiesta 1.6. but if you have a look at his profile he goes to the future and buys the car in 2025. Then returns back to the present to cover this journey. Amazing.lol:

Changed the pic. Back to 2008 :)

good stuff man. where's pics of the beast and the winding roads? :)

How long was runin supposed to be btw? :p

Shouldnt this be on the travelogue's section, its about a trip.

some how donno why i am not feeeling good with the name BEAST that you have given to your FIESTA...the name is not matching for it....

Before when i read your post i thought your BEAST might be a safari or scorpio....but fiesta??

I thought it was a Getz CRDi or a Verna CRDi..

Thats a long drive Gopal. From your description it sounds like Rajahmundry comes before Vijayawada while going from Chennai, I know you did not mean it. It looks like you did this in 2 days from the way you wrote.

Actually many members of this forum have referred to their Fiesta as a beast (including me if you see my album). Another member suggested it is better to call it 'Beasta' :)

At first I thought it was a Safari. And then further reading of the sharp turning to avoid obstacles - I was like "Man, the Safari can do this also!!!".

Good that the title has been edited to reflect the right vehicle.

And Gopal, any photos? As Sreenivas said, the travelogue gives a feeling of a 2 day trip. Was it?

hehhee if i cal my scorpio pocket rocket.....it will sound wired hehehe

finally its up to the beast owner to call it as beast or not ....:)

Chennai to Vizag distance equals 1928 KMs? Am I missing here something? Dude, 870 KMs is more like it. You added over 1000 Kms to the distance. Unless you took a big detour that I do not know of. BTW, we generally address Safari and Scorps as beasts. Not mid-size sedans.