[pjbiju]

Inspiration
H V Kumar (for undertaking long road trips) and Technocrat for the Pune-Indore trip.

Reason
It was Christmas vacation and I conveniently forgot to book the train tickets since I wanted to give myself a convincing reason to drive to Indore.

Vehicle Preparation
I took the car, a Maruti Swift VXi, to Wonder Cars (Maruti dealer) for a routine check-up. Everything was found to be fine and they did not charge me anything for the check-up. I wanted to change the stock horns but did not get it done since they said they would have to replace the stock horns. They were unwilling to add a toggle switch and did not want to tamper with the original wiring harness. And I am unwilling to have a really loud horn to be used in the city. So I left for the trip with the stock horns.

By the way, my car is still stock. Stock tyres, stock everything. I do not even have a music system. Unlike most of the Team-Bhpians, I am yet to find music in the car as something that I cannot do without while driving. Just to keep the records straight, I love music and like listening to music. But I enjoy that only when I am doing nothing else but listening to music.

I love tools and DIY projects. So I have always wanted to have a complete set of hand tools and this trip seemed to be a nice occasion to start buying some tools. So I prepared a tool kit comprising of the following:

• 9 hex keys with ball point ends (Size 1.5 mm to 10 mm) - Chinese make
• 12 double open ended spanners (Size 6x7 upto 30x32) - JK tools
• 10 ring spanners, shallow type (Size 6x7 to 24x27) - JK tools
• 1 Nose Plier - Nagpal brand
• 1 Combination Plier - Taparia
• 1 Wirestripper & cutter - JP Jetron
• 1 Carpenter's Pincer (8") - JK tools
• 1 Adjustable wrench (Size AWP 12" 300mm) - JK tools
• 1 Hammer - unknown brand
• 1 screw driver set from Taparia
• 1 Long screw driver - JK tools
• 20 m of thick nylon rope
• 1 punch (the punch and hammer was to be used in case there was some emergency and the glasses had to be broken)
• 1 LED torch and spare AA cells - Eveready
• 1 Car Lamp - car battery powered
• Tubeless tyre puncture repair kit
• Tyre pressure gauge - Accutire
• Tyre pump - car battery operated - Durabuilt
• A pair of scissors
• A cutting knife
• A cigaratte lighter (I do not smoke, but thought it would be a good thing to have in the kit)
• Insulation tape
• Duct/Packing tape

I still have plans to buy more tools down the line.

Other things taken for the trip.

• Duplicate Car key
• Maruti Customer Care number
• Reliance Insurance customer care number
• Number and addresses of Maruti Dealers/MASS located in the cities/towns on the way
• Original Vehicle papers
• Copy of all original papers
• Eicher Road Atlas
• Extra Fuses for the vehicle and the fuse puller
• A medicine kit for most common situations

Safety Equipment

• 2 cans of Cobra Magnum pepper spray

Food

• Sandwiches - about a dozen
• 5 litre water bottles – 2 no
• 1 litre water bottle – 1 no
• Chips, biscuits and fruits (oranges & apples)

Route Finalizing
I sent emails to Technocrat and HVK which they patiently replied to. I then finalized the route using Mapmyindia, Google Earth and Eicher Road Atlas. Based on Techno's advice and my own bad experiences while travelling along NH3 (Agra-Mumbai) in buses, I decided not to take that route.

There were four variations to the alternate route. I was not sure which one to pick. So I left the decision to be taken somewhere along the way.

1. Pune - Ahmadnagar - Aurangabad - Pahur - Jalgaon - Bhusawal - Raver - Burhanpur - Indore
2. Pune - Ahmadnagar - Aurangabad - Pahur - Jalgaon - Bhusawal - Muktainagar - Burhanpur - Indore
3. Pune - Ahmadnagar - Aurangabad - Pahur - Jamner - Bhusawal - Raver - Burhanpur - Indore
4. Pune - Ahmadnagar - Aurangabad - Pahur - Jamner - Bodwad - Muktainagar - Burhanpur - Indore

On the eve of the journey I tanked up the car and checked the air pressure. I inflated all the tyres to 35 psi while the recommended pressure for normal driving is 33 psi for the stock tyres. I increased the pressure by 2 psi since we were going to be driving continuously for many hours. We put most of the luggage into the car the previous night itself. I tried to go to bed at 9:00 p.m. I was going to be the only driver and I had never driven this long earlier. The longest I had driven earlier was around 400 km in a day. But it was very difficult to fall asleep. I kept drifting in and out of sleep. Finally I slept around 11 p.m. I woke up at least 3-4 times to check if the alarm on my mobile had not given up on me. Bad night’s sleep.

20 Dec 2008, 3:00 a.m. The alarm faithfully wakes me up. I then wake up my wife. We let our son sleep for a while longer. We had told him that we would be going to Mahabaleshwar but then he had questions about all the luggage. All our Mahabaleshwar trips had been "leave in the morning and be back home by evening". So we had said we were going to stay at Mahabaleshwar this time and his mama (uncle) would be coming down to Mahabaleshwar from Indore. He was really excited about meeting his uncle because they are great friends. We woke him up at 3:30 and then we were all ready by 4:15 a.m. We took the rest of the stuff like sandwiches etc. to the car and were set to go. We set off at 4:26 a.m. My wife was going to be the log book scribe simply because she had no choice. My son promptly went off to sleep in the back seat.

It was a very sedate driving till Ranjangaon. I think I never went above 80 kmph in the dark. Brighter headlights may have helped to drive at higher speeds. After Ranjangaon we realized there were many diversions because of the 4-laning work which was still in progress - 4 lanes changing to 2 lanes and sometimes even to single lanes. And as typical of our road works contractors, the diversion board would be bang at where the diversion actually is. That does not leave you with much room for negotiations if you are fast. Luckily we found some cars going ahead of us and then I just followed them and finally reached Ahmadnagar before day break. From Ahmadnagar till Aurangabad it was a fast drive on the 4-lane highway. There were a few diversions even on this road where the 4-laning work was still in progress.

we reached Aurangabad and then tanked up the car at the HP petrol pump on the Jalna road just after the Jalgaon road signal near CIDCO bus stand. Got back on the Jalgaon road and stopped at an Indian Oil petrol pump to use their washrooms. I had decided to go with Route No. 3 which Techno had used earlier. Here we met another couple travelling to Indore in their Maruti 800 and they said it is better to go via Muktainagar and skip Bhusawal. So we decided to follow the same route which was my initial choice i.e., Pune - Ahmadnagar - Aurangabad - Pahur - Jamner - Bodwad - Muktainagar - Burhanpur - Indore. I do not think there is a lot of difference between these routes in terms of the distance.

We stopped at the Ajanta caves junction for our breakfast of sandwiches and fruits and fruit juice. We kept going till Pahur which is around 28 km before Jalgaon and then turned right to go to Jamner. Until Jamner the road is a 2-lane highway. From Jamner we again turned towards Muktainagar and the road was a single lane road wide enough to accomodate 2 vehicles easily. We saw a big board above the road entrance which said "Indore 285km". The road goes through a small ghat section and some forest like area full of teakwood and other trees. There are no houses/shops along this road. There are some roads leading to interior villages along the way. Most of the traffic consisted of two wheelers, maruti omni taxis and 3-seaters. There are also plenty of bullock carts and tongas along these roads. One can easily do 70 - 90 kmph on these roads and on straight stretches you can easily go to 100 - 120 kmph. I was driving at 80 - 100 kmph most of the time. The roads had no potholes anywhere. All the potholes had been patched up quite well. As you reach Burhanpur, you will find plenty of banana trees in the fields along the road.

Enter MP and welcome the speed breakers. In my estimate there were at least a hundred speed breakers between Burhanpur and Indore. They came in different shapes and sizes. Most were marked and some were not. The speed breakers at some places consisted of steel brackets driven into the road. Sometimes the steel brackets were on either sides of bigger speed breakers.

Indore traffic used to be bad 8 years back. It is worse now. Many of the roads are in shambles because of road work. Two wheelers occupy all the lanes. Plenty of dust around and most of the 4-wheelers are pock-marked. Use the horn liberally. Thankfully everyone drives really slowly in the city. But nobody bothers to give you way. Many bikers do not have rear view mirrors because they were stolen or the smarter ones had removed them.

We reached our home at Old Palasia at 4:45 p.m.

Warning
Slow down whenever you pass through small villages & towns which are plenty along this route. The village folks tend to run across the road without really bothering to look for vehicles. In MP, you will be slowed down by the speed breakers and in Maharashtra there are warning signs before every village. We encountered only one pair of speed breakers in Maharashtra. They were on both the sides of a railway crossing between Aurangabad and Ajanta and were unmarked.

You will find villagers repairing their cycles and bikes standing right in the middle of their lanes at a curve on the road. They really do not expect people to be driving very fast over these roads. So one has to be careful while driving in these parts.

Statstics (Pune to Indore)
Route taken: Pune - Ahmadnagar - Aurangabad - Pahur - Jamner - Bodwad - Muktainagar - Burhanpur – Indore

Total distance: 648.8 km (Aundh, Pune to Old Palasia, Indore)
Total Travel time: 12 hours 19 minutes
Total driving time: 11 hours 34 minutes
Total break time: 45 minutes
Average speed: 59.06 kmph
Toll amount paid: Rs. 170
Average returned: 16.73 kmpl

Our return trip was on 27 Dec. We started from Indore at 4:32 a.m. and reached Pune at 6:20 p.m.

Statstics (Indore to Pune)
Route taken: Indore- Burhanpur- Muktainagar- Bodwad- Jamner- Pahur- Aurangabad- Ahmadnagar- Pune

Total distance: 657.2 km (we took a couple of wrong turns)
Total Travel time: 13 hours 48 minutes
Total driving time: 12 hours 21 minutes
Total break time: 1 hour 27 minutes (we also halted for lunch this time)
Average speed: 53.21 kmph
Toll amount paid: Rs. 170
Average returned: 15.35 kmpl

Overall average returned: 16.04 kmpl
A/C usage: 100%

We really did not stop to click pictures on the way. A couple of pictures that I have.

Somewhere between Indore and Burhanpur on our way back at dawn.




Sunflower near Ajanta


-Biju

[iceman91]

Excellent report/travelogue.
The details are very helpful.
Nice pictures too

[lohithrao]

Biju very detailed report! i like the tone of the pics.

[ASHISHPALLOD]

@biju-I inflated all the tyres to 35 psi while the recommended pressure for normal driving is 33 psi for the stock tyres. I increased the pressure by 2 psi since we were going to be driving continuously for many hours.

I think, you had done it in opposite way.
For long drive, Tyre pressure should below recommended pressure.[correct me if i am wrong].

Nice detailed report.

[iceman91]

Ashish I too am a bit stumped there, since I know a lot of people who increase the tire pressure on a long highway trip while logically it should be the other way. I personally just remain with the same pressure city and highway 28psi is what I personally prefer.

[sparkguy]

Very nice and detailed report. It paints a picture of entire travel and I felt that I myself have traveled the entire distance. Preparation part was very elaborate (Cylinder of oxygen is the only thing missing :-) )
Photograph of sunflower is excellent and if you permit I wish to use the same as my desktop background.
I also wish to know the cost of tools you purchased and specially Cobra Magnum pepper spray, Car Lamp, tubeless tyre puncture repair kit, Tyre pressure gauge Accutire and Tyre pump.

Have you got a chance to use any of them?

[arindamray]

ditto ashish and iceman.

It could be kept a little lower, as it will heat up, and thus increasing the pressure.

Though I keep it as recommended.

But definitely it does not take away anything from this lovely little travelogue. Wishing pjbiju more of such long journeys.

[pulsar56]

Nice & detailed travelogue. I like the picture of the sunflower with the bee! 16.04 kmpl - nice average too.

[pjay_in]

Biju, you have such a meticulous and methodical approach towards making a trip as well as to writing the report! Enjoyed every bit.

[vkochar]

Originally Posted by pjbiju

By the way, my car is still stock. Stock tyres, stock everything. I do not even have a music system. Unlike most of the Team-Bhpians, I am yet to find music in the car as something that I cannot do without while driving. Just to keep the records straight, I love music and like listening to music. But I enjoy that only when I am doing nothing else but listening to music.

Ditto !! Same here, I have a verna Crdi since the last 7 months and I have no ICE.

I use my Sony network Walkman or my newly acquired Xperia to listen to Music if I am on the highways.

Very well written travelogue.

[emkay456]

Nice report, good to see that you got a mileage of 16+ with 100% AC !!

Please give the total cost of the list of accessories that you have mentioned.

[pjbiju]

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

I think, you had done it in opposite way.
For long drive, Tyre pressure should below recommended pressure.[correct me if i am wrong].

Originally Posted by iceman91

Ashish I too am a bit stumped there, since I know a lot of people who increase the tire pressure on a long highway trip while logically it should be the other way. I personally just remain with the same pressure city and highway 28psi is what I personally prefer.

Originally Posted by arindamray

ditto ashish and iceman.

It could be kept a little lower, as it will heat up, and thus increasing the pressure.

Though I keep it as recommended.

For long distance high speed driving, the recommended practice is to increase the cold tyre pressure. Quoting from Bridgestone site:

Maintaining low inflation pressure shall lead to hydroplaning, standing wave and tyre rupture due to heat generation. Therefore always increase the pressure by 5 psi (0.3 kgf/sq.cm) than the recommended inflation pressure before high speed driving.

Link: Go to Tyre care, Tyre maintenance, Basics of tyre care, Guide to tyre care, Care radial tyres. and click on the title BE A SAFE RIDER

The reason for this is that when the tyre pressure is lower, molecules have more room to dance around and this generates more heat because of molecular friction. When the air pressure is higher, molecules have less room to move around and the heat generated due to molecular friction will be lesser.

A simpler example would be a bus running over a really bad stretch of road. Imagine if it had a few people standing - they would be thrown all around inside the bus. Now if the bus was jam packed, most people would remain where they are - less of throwing around inside the bus.

[Technocrat]

Wow thats one nice Trip & an interesting Trip Log

I was wondering if you ever did that trip

I am glad I could of help (Btw I did Pune-Bhopal :-))

Any more long trips planned?

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Originally Posted by pjbiju

For long distance high speed driving, the recommended practice is to increase the cold tyre pressure. Quoting from Bridgestone site:

Maintaining low inflation pressure shall lead to hydroplaning, standing wave and tyre rupture due to heat generation. Therefore always increase the pressure by 5 psi (0.3 kgf/sq.cm) than the recommended inflation pressure before high speed driving.

@biju,
as you quoted, this is new theory for me.
now, i have to check where this formula of PV=mrT fits in this theory.

[dushmish]

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

I think, you had done it in opposite way.
For long drive, Tyre pressure should below recommended pressure.[correct me if i am wrong].

Nice detailed report.

Hi Ashishpallod! Inflating tyres more than normal is a recommended practice. Maruti recommends over-inflation by 5 points in Dzire ZDi for long drives. The tyres get hotter on longer drives and therefore lose more air pressure. Also slight over inflation helps reduce the rolling friction. The assumption is that highways are SMOOTH and therefore comfort will not be compromised.